Well, you guys overwhelmingly voted for Maria. And, honestly? That's fair. So, here we are. Also, sorry for the delay, I was working on some personal works. Anyways, this chapter is also fairly chill.
The Knight travelled Mistral,
Through rivers yellow and red,
And through it all,
He rode with the ferrywoman for the dead.
Mistral was connected with roads, a lot of them. Three types of road, to be specific. The paved roads, the ones carriages, trucks, cars, and convoys all went on. The metal roads, which were travelled by trains and exclusively trains. And the third one were liquid roads, the ones paved in the land by nature, not by man. And it was bustling. Systems of rivers connected Anima. From the rivers extending from Lake Matsu that led to Argus, to even the base of the mountain of Mistral. Not even eastern Anima was without them, with paths of greenery cutting through the dessert.
And to that end, there was a bustling business in Anima for ferry workers. People who were willing to pilot their ships through the rivers. People willing to take the risk of carrying cargo on their ships, willing to take the risk of bandits ambushing them on the rivers and stealing their cargo. And that was a real problem, for while some were willing to simply board and take the cargo, others simply capsized the vessel and took whatever they could fish out, typically leaving the ferry captain to either drown in the river or die in Grimmlands. On top of bandits was the even bigger threat of Grimm ambushing you in the waters. Either from below or above.
That was the fate of the cargo drivers, but a smaller niche in the ferry captain business were civilian drivers. People who exclusively transported other people through Anima via the river system. These were less attacked. First, robbing people was less profitable than just stealing goods. Second, beyond robbing them, you couldn't really do much with people. Most bandits didn't have enough resources to hold humans captive. Only the Branwen tribe could really afford to engage in human trafficking and even then, targetting ferries weren't worth it. They'd need to have boats to board, they'd have to fight guards on the boats, and the only reward was a handful of people. Small villages had way more people and weren't moving in the rivers.
So, when he wanted to travel, he decided to go with a ferry. Hey, wouldn't hurt saving his feet the trouble. Plus, it was a new experience. Unfortunately, all ferries were fairly pricey. And while his pragmatism served him fairly well, it definitely failed him here. He couldn't afford to go much of anywhere with his current wallet. Well, that was until he found someone whose prices were cheaper than anyone else's. The only caveat? The boat was tiny and the only crew member was a tiny old lady named Maria.
He paid her the fee and met her on the docks.
"Oye, where do you wanna go?" Maria Calavera was, just like how she was described when he asked the dock worker about her, a tiny old lady. Her skin was dark and her hair was white. She wore a blue and orange bead necklace around her neck. She also wore a bright orange cloak on top of a long sleaved blouse. Her dress had multiple layers and while the main cloth was dark blue, the frills were a bright variety of color. Not even her shoes were left drab, with bright paintings of skulls making them just as lively and vivid as both her clothes and her. The eye-catching part of her were the optical prosthetics on her which practically dominated her face. Large blue eyes without pupils stared into him, yet Jaune felt comforted by the gaze.
Plus, the bright colors she added onto those also made them quite colorful.
"Anywhere, really." Well, she was certainly a character, if her dress was anything to go by. "Name's Jaune. Short, sweet, rolls of the tongue, lad- gods damn it." Jaune sighed, still ingrained in him. "I'm just a traveling huntsman, looking to go where the winds take me."
Maria pointedly either ignored or didn't notice the accidental letting out of the corniest pickup line known to man. "Oh? Well, should've gotten a boat with sails then!" Maria pointed out with a good laugh for her own joke. She leaned on her cane, the head of which had a decorative dark blue skull on it), and walked into the boat in question. It was a small thing. A raft would've outclassed it in terms of carrying capacity. It was also very old, it even had a figurehead, which was that of a dragon's neck and head. It cut quite the menacing figure. Well, it would, if it weren't for the fact that it was relatively tiny.
Anyways, Jaune stepped on the boat as well, holding onto the edges as his weight made it waver a little, shaking from side to side.
"Oh, don't do that too much, you might make old Shadeferry here sink. And I don't know about you, but old ladies tend to have the buoyancy of most old bones." Maria laughed again, keeping a chipper smile as she picked up the oars from the sides and began rowing. "Old bones like the ones they stole and put in museums!" She chuckled again.
"Eh, what?" They were leaving dock now, with the busy sounds of the place becoming nothing more than background white noise.
"Oh, nothing. Just an old story. Now, we have a lot of time on our hands. And unless you'd like to test whether or not that heavy looking armor will help you in water, you're going to be listening, alright nino?" Yea, this was going to be an interesting ride.
"You should probably put 'comes with a life story' on your listing." Jaune said.
"Are you, fishing?" Jaune pointed out. The river was considerably wide with an ambient flow that carried the fairly small rowboat, but Maria actually just had a fishing rod out and had cast a hook into the waters.
"Yea, what about it?" Jaune chose to not say anything. There wasn't anything wrong with it, he just thought to point it out. "I'll have you know that fishing is an extremely useful exercise. It trains reflexes, it gives you an opportunity to learn to control your strength, it connects your bond with nature, and it allows you to practice mechanical skills with maintaining the fishing rod." Maria adopted a lecturing tone on top of her accent as she crammed the reasons for why fishing was useful down Jaune's throat.
"Really?" She was making a fairly persuasive argument.
"Hah! No." She chuckled a bit as she caught a salmon. "That's just bullshit my papi fed me when I complained about how much we fished." She sighed as she cast the hook into the waters once more. "I lived on a small farming village on the dip, south of Anima. It was a dry place, the desserts were only a few miles away to the east, and to our west were plains, the forest, and the sea. But there also rivers, rivers whose water we're likely riding on right now. My uncle Pedro, like papi, liked fishing. He liked it so much that he lived on the rivers in his boat, even got married on it. When he visited the family, he'd park it by the river dock and come by with fish and stories." Maria adopted a narrating tone. And she seemed experienced with this sort of thing.
"Stories?" Well, on the frontier, where entertainment was often limited, and where the average villager probably had at least one good story to tell, listening to the tales of others was a good way to pass the time.
"Yes, grand stories. Stories of him ambushing enemies and stealing their treasure like the naval heroes of the Great War." She smiled and sighed. "He was a vetran, he could never let go of that small ship of his. He called it the Lifesaver, after when his original ship had capsized and he got away by the hair of his skin with that small thing. We'd later learn he was a prolific bandit hunter on the rivers. Good with a rifle, good with a saber, and good on his ship. With the help of a militia, he'd take down the Gunship Gang that was terrorizing trade ships." Jaune listened intently and thirsted for more.
"Well? Anything else?"
"Oh, he died. On his ship, of course. It just, hit harbor one day and they found him dead in his bed, rotting a bit. I think he would've appreciated how we set his ship ablaze and let it drift away at sea. He never liked the rivers, but he went on them anyways. Far closer to home that way. And less dangerous Grimm to worry about. But every time he returned from del mar, he always had a story to tell. He once told us he made the Leviathan retreat by going down its gullet and planting a bomb on its heart. Though, now that I think about it, he probably lied." At the thought of the Leviathan, Jaune shuddered. That thing was massive. Bigger than Beowolves, Ursai, and even the giant horde of Sulfur Fish he had once encountered. If Goliaths represented the inevitable, then the Leviathan demonstrated the futility of resistance.
And yet, he heard stories from Saphron about how an Atlesian Colussus had fended off the Leviathan, preventing it from raizing the town for years by then. She told him of how awe inspiring the feat was.
Even the most futile of efforts had a point, he supposed.
That didn't mean he'd want to try and fight the gods damned thing, hell no. That was a death sentence, thank you very much.
"What did your family farm?" Jaune was mostly just keeping the conversation going. It didn't hurt that he genuinely wanted to know more about the little old lady who was ferrying him across Anima on the Shadeferry.
"Oh, the usual. Corn, wheat, onions, tomatoes, apples, and all the things you'd expect. Oh, but we also raised animals! Cows and pigs, yes, but we also had these beautiful goats." Maria sighed, her fist clenched. "At least, until the Chupacabra came."
"The Chupacabra?"
"It means 'goat sucker'. It was a Grimm. Loved killing the goats and leaving their bodies dry of blood."
"Hmph! Wait, goat sucker?" Maria scowled, as if the joke had been told a billion times before.
"Get your head out of the gutter! Anyways, the Chupacabra terrorized the town for years, killing our goats and occasionally making a wayward farmer disappear."
"Well, did a huntress get it?"
"Eh, in a roundabout way, I suppose." Maria spoke evasively on that, probably looking to end the conversation. Meanwhile, Jaune put some facts together. The first thing was her cane, Jaune could see small lines that marked mecha-shift. Next was the prosthetic eyes, why would some ferry driver in the middle of nowhere have eyes as advanced as those? Then there was the fact she was comfortable traveling alone on a rickety ferry in Anima. And finally, Maria was, in fact, at the very least in her choice of clothing, quite eccentric. And while not all weird people were hunters, practically all hunters were weird people.
"I take it you were the hunter?" Jaune asked. They engaged in a small staring contest before Maria sighed.
"I suppose I wasn't hiding it as well I should've. Whatever." She seemed resigned at the fact. She couldn't stop telling those stories, even if she apparently should've. "Oy, chico, you said you were a huntsman, correct?"
Jaune looked down at his outfit and then back at Maria. "I thought the clothes made it obvious."
"Don't sass me, nino. Now, have you ever heard of the Grimm Reaper?" The world was quiet for a moment as Jaune pondered that. He felt as if he did, the name was fairly familiar, but it was also rather far back in his mind. As he thought, the boat continued to be carried by the flow of the river and Maria's glowing blue eyes stared unblinkingly at Jaune, only shuttering out of habit.
And then, he remembered.
"Oh! You're a, hunter, aren't you?" Or well, he pretended to. His acting was horrible, as evidenced by the fact that Maria was so shocked, her blinking ceased for half a minute.
"Oh fuck it, I'm telling a story. Listen closely, It all began at the end of the Great War, I was 15-"
"You're 95!?"
"Will you stop interrupting!?" Maria scowled as she bonked Jaune on the head with her cane. "And yes, I am 95. Unlocking aura early in life does wonders for long term health. It's just that most don't live long enough to see it. Anyways, the Great War had ended and I was but a young girl of 15. Ever since my birth, my family has known the suffering of war. Countless aunts, uncles, brothers, and cousins had perished. And for farmers, it was barely any better. We worked day and night to plant and harvest the food. My mami had a semblance, Green Thumb, that allowed her to grow her crops faster than any others. But with every harvest, we saw only a fraction of it. It was taken from us at dirt cheap prices to be fed into the war."
Maria had choked up for a moment.
"Mami died when I was 13. The doctors said it was from exhaustion. I say it was grief and guilt. She'd never stop crying whenever our plates were empty." Maria instinctively wiped the glass surface of her prosthetic eyes, clearing her face of phantom tears. "Funny thing is, she was close to the war ending." Maria looked down at the skull on her cane, and with that reminder, a smile formed on her lips. Not forced, nor with a wry edge, but a genuine and graceful smile. "She was a good woman. Had a heavenly voice and could dance better than I in my prime. She was so full of life. You know, now that I think about it, she was the first one who inspired me to hunt." Maria clicked her staff, revealing a kama blade from the skull. And from that, Jaune had his own revelation on who she was.
She was who the copy he fought in Vytal was based on.
"In the farms, when harvest time came, she took two small kama, just like these, and she danced in the fields. While the rest of the family toiled away, hunched over, mami would spin and prance and hop around with a wide smile, never losing it as she cut down the crops. She even taught me a few steps. It was a style passed down in the family, Harvesting Steps." Maria spoke less like a melancholic mourner and more like she was giving a joyous eulogy. She chuckled a bit more, remembering something. "Well, enough about her, let's talk about me!" Maria gave a good chuckle at the rather conceited segue. " It was the year the Great War ended, I was 15, and we were hungry. My family was large and the harvest hadn't arrived. The food from the last harvest was all taken by Mistral before the war ended. And all we had left were our animals and what food we could afford. And then, a goat died. It'd been going on for a while, goats had all their blood sucked out of them, all but making their bodies inedible. At that point, I'd have had it. So, against the wishes of my scared papi and brothers, I took my mami's kama and went off to face the Chupacabra."
"Did you have aura?" To that, Maria chuckled a bit.
"Yes, of course. But it wasn't for combat. We had aura to let us plant and harvest more without becoming exhausted. So I still bled when struck, even if I did heal it a bit faster. But I thought I could move fast enough to offset that." Well, it was more than what Jaune started with, he supposed. "I was told more than once that my decision was totally loco. Anyways, I took the fur of one of the dead goats and wrapped it in a bundle before taking off towards the plains. I laid the bundle on the floor and hid, waiting for it. And, just as I planned, it came. It was like a beowolf, but it had no hair, and its back was arched and spikes stuck out from its spine. Its claws were long and it had prominent fangs, which it'd use to suck out all the blood from the goats."
"Did you win?"
"Eventually. I got stabbed a few times, lost quite a bit of blood. But then, it was like I awakened to something. I began moving on instinct. I saw a weak point and I struck, instantly tearing its paw off by the wirst. Then, I took a leg with a cleaving twirl. And then, I tore the whole thing apart with a spin. It was glorious, it was bloody, and it was my worst fight. And that's saying something!" She chuckled, failures upon failures now looking like comedies in retrospect. "Well, there was this old lawman, Raul, he saw me fight. He was one of the first official huntsmen of Mistral, and he was looking for talent. He had heard of the Chupacabra and had come to investigate. Do you know what he said to me after I killed it?"
"What?"
"That I was a fucking moron." Wow, getting real deja vu here. "Well, I did deserve it. Anyways, he then invited me to join Haven academy. He said even though I was messy and lost a lot of blood, that he could see me becoming much greater with training. To top it off, he even offered a care package that would sustain my family as I left." Maria sighed. "I joined in a heartbeat. I was a young and foolish girl, hungry for adventure. When I learned that huntresses would travel the land, I couldn't resist. Years of stories told of lone gunmen on horseback in countless adventures pushed me to join."
"And then?"
"Then I joined." At that moment, both of their stomachs rumbled. "But it seems like we're at our limit today. Why don't we have something to eat, first?"
"Uh, how?" She had been fishing, sure, but it wasn't like she had a freezer in here.
"Like this!" Maria then pulled out a small icebox from under her seat, as well as a burner from Jaune's. She then proceeded to prepare a meal with a variety of ingredients, including the salmon she had just caught. Jaune idly grabbed out some jerky, but found it was caught on Maria's kama and then chucked to the river. "Ok, new rule on the Shadeferry, never eat that cardboard. I swear, every huntsman I meet eats rations and only rations." Maria proceeded to grumble a bit as she continued to cook.
With plenty of vegetables, spices, herbs, fish, and some water she just picked up from the river, she created a lovely fish stew. In terms of how much Jaune liked it, it was about as good as home cooking. That was to say, pretty god damned amazing. It was just amazing in different ways. The style and taste was different, but it was still extremely good.
He had seconds, earning a laugh from Maria at his enthusiasm in filling his bowl.
"Huh, the river is yellow now." Indeed, the river was quite yellow. Jaune poked his finger in it occasionally, enjoying the cool feeling on his finger. It had been a day since he'd arrived on Maria's small boat. While they'd occasionally dock to stretch and use the restroom, it was mostly just a straight ride. And the entire time, Maria and him had been talking. Mostly about small things. Observations, jokes, some inconsequential stories, and all that jazz.
"Yes, it is. The Yellow River-"
"Creative naming."
"You never cease to make my hair grey." Maria had her eyes in her hand.
"Isn't it already?"
"It'll fall out at this rate," Maria deadpanned, "Anyways, the Yellow River is yellow because of the extreme amount of silt in it." Jaune was well versed enough in farming to know what silt was.
"Wait, what's the difference between silt and plant dust?"
"How fast and how plentiful. Moving on, the amount of silt in the Yellow River means plenty of villages and farms have been established on it. On top of that, it also meant that it's been used as a trade route a lot." At that moment, she fished out something from the murky waters. That something was a waterlogged, rusty, and very old gun. "That also means that plenty of things have sunk to the bottom."
Jaune blinked, that was food for thought. Maybe if he jumped down, he could find some sunken treasure. Then again, gold was practically worthless nowadays, so at best he'd find a hopefully not defunct Lien card or some artifacts he could pawn to a museum. Meanwhile, Maria promptly tossed the gun into the yellow river with an unceremonious 'plop!'
"I've been wondering, why is this boat called the Shadeferry?" Jaune decided to stop dwelling on the contents of the river. If he went on any longer, he might've been tempted to dive in himself and likely drown from the weight of his armor. And Maria was content enough to start a new conversation.
"Well, I got it from an old friend, his name was Charon. He was my partner at Haven and a monster with an oar. This boat was just something he worked on which at Haven. And when he died, he gave both to me. It seems only fitting to give that fool's prized possessions some more use, let his spirit see the waves a bit more. The thing's so old and rickety that I'm pretty sure that his ghost is the only thing holding it together." She then looked to the remains of their breakfast that Jaune was slowly eating and scoffed. "The man was an idiota as well, almost never ate. Looked skinny as bone." Now that was an image to see. "He made a habit of doing rescue operations with this boat. It's seen many perilous missions. He's carried three rafts full of refugees to safety while fighting off a small legion of Grimm, painting the river below black with dust."
As they drifted further down the Yellow River, they saw a small boat. It was a metal speedboat, one Jaune would assume someone would take for fishing, but it was towing along a raft carrying crates full of produce.
"And people still use it today. Bullheads are so expensive. And why bother paying for dust for a truck when you can rely on the currents?"
And then, grappling hooks darted out from the woods surrounding the river and hanged onto the farming vessel and its cargo. The farmer in the boat seemed surprised and pulled out a revolver, cursing to himself that he should've gotten an escort. And as bandits (were they pirates?) lept out to ransack the now stationary ship, Jaune, being Jaune, lept out of the Shadeferry and poured aura into his boots, letting out a blast of wind on top of shooting himself at the vessel.
Maria, for her part, didn't seem to surprised. Jaune was dressed like a knight errant and acted like it. It did slightly surprise her about the dust infused armor. Metal with dust folded in it had a tendency to shatter, but it seemed like his was as durable as anything.
While at the head of the ship the captain had taken cover and was poking out from the rim to occasionally take shots at the bandits, Jaune rolled onto the backmost raft, where a club wielding pirate (he decided pirates sounded cooler) was untying some crates of fruits from the greater bundle. They noticed him and put up their club, only for it to be chopped clean apart by Crocea Mors and for him to be tossed into the river. With a few flicks of Crocea Mors, he cut the ropes keeping the backmost raft in place.
He essentially wiped the floor with the bandits. They were untrained ambushers, not elite fighters, so it wasn't exactly hard. As he did it, the farmer had begun fully standing in their boat and were taking shots at the pirates who were hiding in the woods. Maria had actually chipped in, though only by throwing her kama and retrieving it with the help of the gravity dust ring on it in order to either knock out a bandit or cut a rope.
"Thanks for the help, friend!" The farmer exclaimed, thankful for the intervention from the surprisingly young hunter. Though, before Jaune could say it was no problem, he realized something
"Grimm's coming!" Jaune screamed. Jaune got to cutting the last of the ropes immediately. He had actually half-submerged in Calm Waters in order to see if he had missed anything and could sense a dreadful presence encroach closer and closer. The pirates in the river heard that and, predictably, got their shit together and ran away. Meanwhile, with the help of his own grappling hook, Jaune tied the Shadeferry to the farmer's fishing junk right as the farmer turned the speed on his boat to the max.
"Oh, I hate being old." Maria groaned as her boat was dragged along at high speeds by the farmer's small ferry. Jaune rapidly fastened any loose crates back onto their rafts, making sure that nothing flew off and hit Maria. And the Grimm were coming, that much was a certainty. Behind them, gleaming red eyes poked out of the forest, and from the river Chompers, bone plate fronted piranha Grimm, began jumping out to try and take a bite out of the humans, only to either be met by a sword, shield, scythe, or bullet. Maria had actually begun firing (with rather disturbing accuracy) on the Chompers that popped out. And as for those that tried to eat from the bottom?
Well, the speeding boat did well enough to propel them fast enough to avoid sinking. But in front of them were rapidly approaching, then slowly distancing Beowolves, Ursai, and even a Boarbatusk and small murder of Nevermore. It was truly a cavalcade of horrifically effective murder machines. Jaune, with Crocea Mors began slashing and hacking at the ones that tried to make the jump towards the fisherman, while Maria was adept at protecting herself with her single staff, managing to cut each and every one in their vital areas in order to end fights quickly.
Jaune had even pulled out his flare gun (though he only used gravity flares, lest he accidentally set the forest ablaze) and began firing at swinging Beringels while chopping down swooping Nevermore. The farmer was actually quite helpful in that regard. Jaune had to keep his shield up and be aware of any threats to him, but he actually held his own with his gun. Though not a crack shot, he was good enough at shooting down the nevermore that Jaune actually had time to stop swinging at the pesky overglorified pigeons to sever Ursa and Beowolf claws.
And despite the Shadeferry appearing to be a rickety old artifact, it was actually holding its own very well against both the waves and the small horde of Grimm that was chasing it.
"Jeez, so many Grimm nowadays." Maria sighed as she pulled out a bottle and drank some tea, occasionally tilting to the side to avoid a nevermore dropping or a Beowolf claw.
It wasn't all success, because Jaune had to dedicate himself to protecting the farmer from incoming attacks, plenty of the farmer's cargo was tossed into the river. In the end, they were saved with the ringing of machine gun fire. Shadowy flesh was pierced by high caliber rounds that tore through skin and exploded inside the murky flesh. They had reached a walled town. And the gunners had good aim.
They were admitted through the river gate in time. The farmer thanked them with some of their produce and a hug before going off to sell their harvest. Meanwhile, Maria was sitting at her boat, preparing a meal with the food they had recieved.
"Jeez, we just had a fight." Jaune sat back down in the Shadeferry. After paying Maria her toll, he didn't have cash to use in any of the shops.
"All the better, makes you appreciate how good it tastes." On one side she was preparing the rice. And on the other, she was cooking some meat. "Anyways, you never told me what a kid like you is doing out here in Mistral. I thought a Valean wouldn't stick their hand into the depraved depths of Mistral." Maria chuckled a bit. Mistral had a reputation in Vale for its industries. In particular, the very big adult entertainment industries. To be fair, it did increase morale and actually did help in preventing Grimm, but it also made them the butt of many jokes.
Well, ever kingdom had these types of things. Atlas for its dogma, Vacuo for its instability, and Vale for rampant corruption.
"Oh, well it's not really that much of a story." And yet he told it all the same. A young boy, told so many stories as a kid, who should've died in that forest so long ago. And yet, he lived.
"You're estupido."
"I know." Jaune had heard it plenty of times.
"Anyways, your description of your mentor was rather familiar. What was his name?"
That gave Jaune pause, but he ignored the doubt and said it.
"Raiden?"
"Ah!" Maria laughed and slapped her knee. "Old Jack is still kicking? I thought he died. Well, good for him."
"Wait, you knew him?
"Kid, I was part of the first generation of Haven, of course I knew him. I remember the entire graduating class." Silence hung in the air for a second, until Maria resumed her cheerful explanation. "Jack was a moody piece of crap, always picking fights. Always got away with that attitude because he was really good at fighting." Huh, meeting someone this old was already rather new for Jaune. As was meeting a huntsman who was that old(the only other ones he knew were Raiden and his grandfather and Prometheus Arc was dead). What was even weirder was the fact she knew Raiden.
"Sorry, why do you keep on calling him Jack?"
"Oh, it's just a nickname his Valean partner gave him. I dunno the context. Anyways, I guess that makes me the second surviving member of the first generation. Maybe me and old Jack can have a class reunion? I'm sure it'd be funny. Never stopped trying to duel me after I made fun of the title he chose for himself. Pfft." Jaune looked confused, title? "Oh, yes. Our teams were at lunch and we decided to come up with nicknames for ourselves when we graduate. Some were alright, like Guardian, Hearthflame, The Hammer. Some were really good, like mine!" Jaune rolled his eyes. "The Grimm Reaper, it was a good name. And some were absolute basura! Like Jack's, his huntsman title was 'Mr. Bluebolt,' and I just so happened to be terrible at holding in my laughter."
As was Jaune. He had to physically restrain himself from laughing, mostly because if he started he wouldn't stop.
"Really? He never told me."
"Yea, that's fair. Most of us never got to use those names enough for them to be known. And Jack got to be called a different name. Lightning Shogun. It fits, I guess." Maria shrugged. "Still, it really would've been funny if the most revered huntsman in Mistral was 'Mr. Bluebolt.' I would've had a hard time not laughing every time that name was said with awe and wonder." Miles away, a certain old huntsman sneezed. Was he growing feeble from age? Or was that brat talking shit about him?
As they were talking, Maria had unhooked the boat and they were taken out by the river once more.
"Anyways, was that display back then a standard?" The tactics were rather impressive. Simply forcing the boat to halt before ransacking and ditching was very effective in stealing the cargo while also being quick and minimizing damages.
"Yes, muchacho, it was. Pirates by the rivers stick in the woods. They usually either board the ships or stop them. After that, they'll either hold it up if it has enough guards to make charging it feasible but wasteful, or just board and pillage." That made sense. In the wild, the needlessly sadistic and battle hungry were eaten up, leaving only the lucky and smarter of the few to do their work.
"And the bandit clans?"
"Oh, them? They raid outer villages. Why ambush a ship on the river when you can just go to the farms themselves?" Jaune looked at her, as if expecting more. "Oh, you want to know more about the bandit clans? Well, not really much to tell. There are the Branwens, the Spartans, and the Conquistas. Nothing special. Branwens control the southwest, Conquistas the southeast, and Spartans the north. And in the center is the safe spot, where Mistral can afford to deploy troops and hunters to protect them. Out there, though? They're either occupied or raided by the clans. I hear occupation is slightly better. Sure, they occasionally come by and treat them like garbage while also taking tribute, but they do show up to fight the Grimm."
"Huh, really?" Though Jaune was only surprised for a moment. He then realized why they did it: Because it'd be stupid not to. Why let a large farming village die and lose out on all of that food? For all intents and purposes, the clans were essentially small conquering states. Maria recognized the realization Jaune went through instead of correcting his misconception.
"You understand, good. Still, it's not like the people like the clans anyways. Whenever the Branwens come by to collect their dues, they also harass the townspeople. The Spartans have a tendency to outright kidnap children. And the Conquistas? They are relatively kinder."
"Oh."
"They also commit mass slavery and genocide on the Faunus on the frontier."
"Oh." Wow.
"Yes, just because they don't self destruct by destroying all of their vital resources doesn't mean they're good in any way. The White Fang are actually in active warfare with the bandit clans, deploying men with guns to villages across Anima. I won't say its unappreciated, especially for those nearby one of their usual resting grounds."
"Huh. Oh yea, I heard the Branwen tribe is nomadic, what about the others?" To that question, Maria hummed.
"Eh, the Spartans are semi-nomadic, regularly moving. But they always take refuge in one of their occupied territories. Meanwhile, the Conquista? They sow their seeds deep, placing barracks in every single town they take over. Many times, they'll force people under their thumb to move and establish a new village."
"Huh. And, what, nobody can deal with them?"
"Numbers, chico, numbers. They're all extremely large and have survived this long by not being easy to catch in one place by a larger force." Maria sighed as she rowed the Shadeferry to avoid crashing the bay. "You know what I hate most about all three of them?"
"What?"
"All three of these bands of idiotas are people obsessed with the past. And I know what that feels like, I'm old!" Maria laughed again. "The Branwens liken their methods back to the nomadic conquerers of old. The Spartans call themselves the rebirth of an old city state that used to occupy Argus. And the Conquistas take inspiration from some Valean settlers that did as they did in Anima. But the thing is, these people have forgotten why all three of those things are long dead by now." Maria huffed. "Morons, all of them. Can't they tell the world has moved on beyond such foolish and cruel things?"
"How do they maintain their population?" Jaune asked. Maria shivered.
"That is a, how do you say, extremely disturbing subject. I've liberated my fair share of bandit occupied outposts, but it's never pretty. I mentioned the kidnapping of children, correct? Well that's one of the kinder methods, I suppose. Let's just say that in a vast majority of cases, one of the partners aren't willing." Jaune gulped. "And the children don't leave because of both conditioning and because legally, as part of the clan, even if by simply being born, they are to be put to death."
"W-w-what!?" The death penalty? He'd heard it was a common frontier thing for lawmen to do. Why risk taking prisoners when death was cheaper? At least, it was used more frequently against bandits and murderers. Petty crimes were often forgiven with compensation or, if done enough, exile.
"Yes, those born under one of the clans are, unless defended in court well enough, to be put to death. They are, I suppose, guilty of the many sins of their family. As is repeated ad nauseum, born in the clan, die in the clan." While Maria spoke with joy and life in almost everything, here her speech as dry and weighty as a mountain of sand.
"O-oh, well, I know someone who actually used to be a part of the Branwens."
"Oh?" Maria raised an eyebrow. "They must've left to Vale or Vacuo. They'll find much more opportunity beyond pillaging there." Maria sighed. "If they did change themselves, I'm glad. I've never been one for decimation."
"I'd say he's reformed, but definitely not tame by any means." Qrow's tendency to pick fights with Winter, to drink (though he had a feeling that was rooted from something else), to swear, and tendency for brutal teaching (in a few training spars he had with the man, he was ruthless) were proof enough.
"As long as he's no longer part of it." Maria sighed. "Nino, may we move on from such a drab topic? I'd really much rather talk about something else." Jaune looked at Maria and, even though her eyes were defunct, he could see an immense fatigue in her. She's been in Anima for a long time and, as a huntress, has been weathering the reality that was the bandit clans for a lifetime.
"Alright then." And so, they moved onto lighter things.
"You know, you first used farming scythes as weapons, right?" Maria nodded. They were on a minor river system. It was definitely thinner than the Yellow River, which was wide enough to house larger ships or even just a full brigade of smaller vessels, but it was wide enough to hold the Shadeferry in the middle and give them some distance from the dirt. "Why did you stick with them and not pick up, like, a sword, or gun, or something!"
"I did, chico." Maria revealed the gun built into the skull of her kama. "And I could ask the same thing, why didn't you get anything beyond a decorative sword?"
"Eh, I had it and couldn't afford anything else."
"Well, I had the exact same situation. Remember, Jaune, I was a poor farmgirl back then. While my family wouldn't be burdened by taxes because I was a student at Haven, it didn't mean we had the money to afford me much equipment. And I did want to change my weapon. Everyone else had swords, hammer, axes, rifles, shotguns, and one guy had a cannon! Jack's sword alone looked like a million lien." The wakizashi-revolver one Raiden always complained about, or the other one that he lost before, Jaune wondered.
"So, what happened?"
"Well, I went to my combat teacher and told him my worries. He sat me down and explained to me why I should keep the scythes. You see, he said that the people who wielded scythes were the most dangerous of them all." There was a pause, with Jaune staring into Maria's eye as if looking for a joke.
"Uh, really?" No offense to Qrow, but he was going to die in a few years from perpetual liver damage, even if aura dampened the effect of alcohol poisoning.
"That was my response. Or, well, I swore him out before he explained. For swords have nothing to do in rest besides sit atop the fireplace. Axes find no use against the woods when the muscles grow too weary to work anymore. Spears aren't as good as skewers and hammers grow too heavy. But the scythe? The scythe is a weapon you may use to cut the weeds no matter how old and feeble you grow. And so, the wielders of scythes, they are more dangerous not for the weapon themselves, but the bold declaration that they intend to live to old age in good enough shape to tend to the fields. And now? Here I am! Old, withered, and alive." Maria's smile was melancholic as she stared down at her body, then at her scythe. "I never introduced you, did I? This, is Life. Used to have two, but I lost the other one."
"It's quite nice." Jaune admired the craft of Life. The mecha-shift employed was definitely old from how simple it was, but it was beautiful in its own right.
"Yes. Well, anyways, I told my teacher that he was full of it. But hey, I was a poor farmgirl, what was I supposed to do to afford another weapon?" There was silence for a moment and a thousand messages were conveyed in a single glance. "I hate you, muchacho."
"Snrk! Sorry." Jaune keeled over when he was jabbed in the gut by the cap of Life's skull.
"Well I made mami's scythes my own. Gave them skulls and names. Life and Death. And like how mami would cut through the weeds and crops with graceful steps, I'd slaughter Grimm with ease." Maria stared (her prosthetics didn't have pupils so he really couldn't tell) at the eye sockets of Life's skull.
"Heh, we're weirdly similar." Seriously, it was uncanny. They both stole their family's weapons and left to become hunters. Maria sighed.
"Well, the difference is that you're still a novice. No matter how much experience you may have, you still don't have anything on me." Was this old woman seriously saying she could beat his ass? Well, Jaune was fairly sure she could, if the legends about her ability were to be believed. "Also, I at least had my aura when I left."
"Will anyone let me live that down?" Jaune groaned. Yes, he was more than used to getting flak for his decision making skills, but it was becoming a bit of a running gag that had gone past the finish line and was chasing the audience members like a maniac.
Where was that analogy going again? Probably the same place that gag was sprinting.
"Ah, we're arriving in the north." Indeed, the land had turned from dark and light greens to a bright white, while, for some odd reason, the rivers weren't frozen over. After a while, the horizon had been lined white, and the rivers were steaming.
"Woah." Jaune actually took off his armor (well, just his chestplate) in order to cool off. The hot air radiating from the river was definitely odd. He'd heard about Mistrali hotsprings, but he didn't think it was like this!
"Welcome to the Phlegethon river system. It goes all throughout the north of Anima. It's known for being heated up year round by fire dust deposits. That makes it sterile, so feel free to drink!" Maria took a small pail and scooped up some water to pour into the pail in the center. She pulled out some powders and Jaune would eventually find that Maria knew how to make a very good pudding. And, as they ate it, Maria put up a small tarp to act as a roof to brush off the snow (if any even got past the hot clouds of air).
"Huh, you know, I have a sister in Argus." Yea, he really should visit Saphron.
"Oh, you never did tell me about your family life."
"I have seven sisters." Jaune deadpanned that line and got the response he expected.
"DIOS MIO, WHAT!?" Maria seem positively flabbergasted at the absurd family size. "And I thought my family was large." Maria began muttering in words Jaune couldn't quite comprehend before calming down. "Jeez, nino, you almost gave me a heart attack with that bit of information. Why did a Valean move to Argus anyways?"
"Oh, it was for college." Maria nodded, that made sense. Beyond practically being the fifth big city, Argus was known for its robust and state funded education programs. "But she got hitched and is living there with her wife." Terra would also be relieved to know he was alive. She was basically his 8th sister (And hoo boy, if the number of siblings he got was doubled as his sisters grew up, he'd be upping the amount of people he counted as siblings just to surprise people).
"Ah, young love."
"They're like, in their late 20s."
"How many times must I say that I'm old for you to get it into your thick skull?" Jaune offered a helpless and disarming smile, which did nothing to defuse the fond scowl that was on Maria's wrinkled lips. "I never was one for love, really. Yes, my mami and papi were passionately in love with each other. And I know at least some of my brothers did the same. But me? I just never saw the appeal."
"I guess it's because they want a permanent companion?" Jaune shrugged. There were also other reasons people wanted romantic partners, but he wasn't about to talk about that with Maria, who was already reminding him a lot of Prometheus Arc.
"Well, that's what friends are for." Maria shrugged. "Ah, who am I to judge?"
"Yea." A pause as Jaune ate the last of his pudding. "By the way, do I have to pay for all the food?"
Maria laughed and waved it off. "Nono, you were looking thin, pobrecito. You need to eat more."
"But it's so heavy!" Jaune whined, sagging a bit lower in his seat. Maria was taking on a tone that Jaune, as someone with a strict mother, was very familiar with.
"That's no excuse! I'm so old I've grown half my own size and you don't see me complaining about how heavy food is. Every time we hit a stop I have to haul a crate of supplies from the shop to my boat and I never so much as let out a word of whining. So don't give me that." Jaune groaned as Maria continued to lecture him on the importance of eating well. And she did so even more when he revealed he knew how to cook (and cook well).
"Aghhhh." Jaune was in hell, he was in hell on a boat with the devil.
"Phew, that always takes the air out of me." She had finally stopped, giving Jaune some room to breath without being lectured on that. "Reminds me of Cordovin!" Maria laughed some more.
"Uh, who's Cordovin?"
"Oh, some Atlesian puta who thought I was some big headed tonto because I thought sending in her troops to die was something only a pinche idiota would do. And then she made such a big deal out of me eating peanuts on the flight and complaining about the seats! Those pinche seats were worth verga. I told that zorra to veta al carajo and besame el culo before going back to Atlas and sticking her head up the culero of whatever pendejo she had to bribe to get a promotion!" Man, that entire rant weirdly reminded him of Qrow and Winter. Well, if Winter swore even a fraction as much as Qrow. He also didn't understand half of that. Then again, he didn't have to. When she had finished, she was panting and huffing, before she realized she had lost her cool for a moment. "Sorry, sorry. Es una cosita after all. She just has a personality that makes you want to swear her out." Maria chuckled. "I wonder if she's dead like me? Though, people in the military do have longer lifespans than us hunters."
"Glad you got it out?" Though, there was some Grimm approaching.
Luckily, he was good at swinging his sword at things and Maria was good at rowing a boat.
It was a few hours later and they were on the Matsu Lake now, where Jaune could see a few other ships come and pass, as well as areas of hot water, where fire dust deposits passively burned underwater and boiled spots in the bottom of the lake. After their previous conversation had found its end, Jaune was wondering what to ask next. Eventually, he just slashed another thing off the list. "Hey, I've been wondering, how did you lose your eyes?"
He quickly realized he had touched on something very sensitive very quickly when Maria had fallen to complete silence. She seemingly noticed this and laughed a bit.
"Oh, don't worry, it's nothing too bad. Say, Jaune, are you aware of the tale of the silver eyed warriors?"
"Yea." Qrow told it, after all.
"Really?" Maria paused, as if expecting him to not know it as an excuse to tell the story. "Oh, well, what if I told you it was real?"
"Eh, I've seen a lot of things."
"..." Maria sighed. "Children nowadays, whatever. Well, in my fight with the Chupacabra, I would've been dead meat if it weren't for my eyes. Because when I stared at the goat sucker, I felt like I knew every was possible to kill it. And so, I did. Because I was so near death, I leaned into those thoughts and destroyed it. I would only later learn that I was a silver eyed warrior, born with the natural affinity towards the hunting of Grimm. You could say my choice of career was destiny. Or not! I very well could've just stayed a farmgirl." Maria laughed.
"So, what, you were born a fighter?"
"No, Chico, I wasn't. I was born knowing how to kill a Grimm. Actually doing it was another thing entirely. My slaying of the goat sucker was sloppy, slow, messy, and it took me almost dying and having mystical powers to really beat it. I still needed strength, speed, and skill." Jaune nodded, that made a bit of sense. "My eyes also let me meed interesting people, like the last king of Vale, Ozymandias." Maria smiled, with a bit of melancholy. "That man was a weird one, eccentric. He was nearing old age when I met him, but he just wanted to know about me, a little farm girl. It was definitely the eyes, but it was a nice experience. He also loved my coffee, I wonder if he's having it in the Everfields?" In the distance, in a tower, a certain man with white hair sneezed as he was about to have his coffee. And now he was craving Maria's. God damnit, did she really have to die before he could have some more?
"And you lost them?" They had left Lake Matsu, entering another river system.
"... Yes, I did. But before I tell you about that, I need to tell you a different story. The story of a young girl. I had just graduated from Haven. My team and I decided to split up. We were friends, yes, but we all had different wishes. Charon wished to go to the rivers. Mash had business in Vale. And Ibn wanted to head to Vacuo. Meanwhile, I just wandered Anima. Town to town, village to village, outpost to outpost. I killed Grimm, I saved lives, and I cooked for the people I visited. It was, by all accounts, a very nice life." Much like the life he was leading, minus the cooking for people.
"So, what happened?"
"I grew into a legend, White Knight. Soon, I heard tales about me, the Grimm Reaper, the savior of the frontier. It was a pretty good boost to the ego. I dived into my work without hesitation. I got a bit careless. Started using my eyes more. I once froze a legion of Grimm in order to save a village. It was worth it, I know, but then I lost my eyes."
She told the story. All of it. She was ambushed, she fought, she killed, but the last one got a single good attack off on her that made all the difference. Her eyes were slashed out, rendering her blind. She may have killed the one who did it, but she was blind, and alone in the mountainside.
For all her strength, all the deeds she had done, and every single accomplishment, it was all for naught. Because now, she was in a treacherous environment without the ability to see. With the help of the stronger current of the river they were on, they had reached the Argonian sea, the patch of water that was between Solitas and Anima.
"Jaune, did I ever tell you what these skulls meant to me?" He shook his head, she didn't. "This was for my mami." She pointed to Life. "She gave me life to me and my family. This skull is to honor her. My other staff was for me, its name was Death. It's a guarantee for all, moreso for us. So to the little girl who had sentenced herself to death, my papi had made a calavera as a gift to the dead woman walking. And in that battle, I had lost Death. I still sometimes think, what if I sleep in the Shadeferry and don't wake up? What if I join Uncle Pedro in the afterlife in the same position?" Maria's hands were calm, still, she had thought about this a lot. She was acceptant of her demise. "One day, Death will come back to the hand that once wielded it. And it will slice my palms and suck out my soul. But it didn't that day, because of an old grudge."
They had drifted far from where they originally were. They were basically stranded on the Argonian sea, no land, no ships, no nothing. Just big dark blue, and them.
"When I was starting out, there was this little snake, a Prince Taijitu. I killed its white head, cut it in half, and called it a day. But the black half that was left never did forget my face, nor my smell. Years later, it'd come back for me. And it was larger this time, as large as a house. I thought I killed it again when I cast it off a cliff, but once more, it didn't die. And on the third time, I found it. This would go on for years and years. We'd hunt each other across Anima to end a petty feud. And finally, on that mountain, it had me dead to rights. I was crying blood, begging for the end. And maybe this was a cruel act of mercy. Or perhaps it learned the meaninglessness of trying to pursue vengance, but it didn't grant me that wish. Instead, it helped me up, and it carried me to the bottom of the mountain." And suddenly, the water started moving. An overwhelming presence emerged from the sea. Water was giving way as a large head poked out of the water. And then it slithered up and up and up, revealing itself.
A giant Grimm snake with black scales revealed itself. Beady red eyes stared at the two humans on a boat. One familiar and old, the other new and young. It was large, larger than a goliath, larger than a mega goliath, larger than a hundred King Taijitus! It was larger than anything Jaune had ever seen. And it simply stared.
And then, it moved. Jaune was so paralyzed with fear that he didn't even reach for Crocea Mors. It moved slow but with the tiny waves it created crashing against the boat, it felt like it lurched towards them.
And Maria put out a hand to greet it like an old friend, because it was.
"Jormungandr is their name. It sleeps at the bottom of the sea, growing older and larger and larger as time goes on. I think its recognized something that the rest of the Grimm and those who actively hunt in the woods don't, that in the end, it doesn't matter if a Beowolf kills fifty men. Because those fifty would've died anyways. Why kill humans if their deaths are inevitable?" Maria smiled and continued to rub the scales of the large thing. "It chooses to live life for itself, not for some goal as pointless as genocide."
It was oddly serene. Once Jaune moved past the fact there was a giant Grimm snake that probably was larger than a few towns, it was actually peaceful.
"Chico, going so soon?" They had gone back to a port in western Anima after getting a bit lost and traveling the entire west coast of the continent. Now, at a small town port, they were departing. It was oddly melancholic. He had only known Maria for a few days, but it felt much longer than that.
"Sorry Maria, I think the road is more my thing."
"Alright, but remember to eat well, alright? I didn't put so much effort to just have you blow it off and eat jerky." Jaune chuckled guiltily, earning a sigh from Maria. "Oh, and Jaune?"
"Yea?"
"Remember, hold onto that hope of yours. Its important, keeps you running from the Grimm."
Jaune smiled and looked at Maria for what might be the last time before saying, "I will."
And with that, the two split up.
I see funny calavera lady and I see boat. I make obvious joke. Also, Phlegethon is a flaming river in Hades in Greek Mythology.
Also yes, I'm changing the colors of Maria's clothes to be more colorful because RWBY's designs are about colors, cause why the hell not? Also, spanish, cause why the hell not?
Anyways, here are your options I suppose
1: Magic, same as before. It's Jaune meeting someone who has magic and they go on an adventure to learn more.
2: May. Same as before, Jaune meets May in Vacuo and helps her out.
3: Backstory. Same as before, Jaune at the beginning of his training is thrown against a beowolf and has to bullshit until he lives
4: New, Jaune helps a man in Vacuo on a pilgrimage