New chapter, Sorry it took me 4 months to get it done, Got distracted with a lot of things
"What do you know about her?" was the question that Jaune received almost immediately, Jaune licked his lips as his mind filtered through all the information he knew about the older Branwen
"She's a bitch for one" Jaune blurted out as Yang's eyes narrowed dangerously, Bad start bad start Jaune veryyyyyy bad was the helpful thoughts that his brain provided, Jaune ignored this as he slowly gathered all the information he knows that wouldn't lead to Yang being gaslighted into becoming the next leader of the Branwen tribe or getting herself killed by said tribe
"Raven Branwen, The Leader of the Branwen Tribe who is an Ex-huntress that raids settlements outside the kingdom of Vale and attack any traveling merchants they can find, Their captives are usually put into the death game where the last one standing get to leave alive, If they can defeat her in a one on one" Jaune said as he gauged Yang's expression, With each word her hair became brighter and brighter until her eyes eventually flashed crimson
"I KNOW THAT" Yang roared as she slammed her fist into the metal table sitting outside of Junior's club, The metal crumpling under her fist like paper, another innocent piece of furniture to add to the property damage was the unhelpful thought that Jaune's mind supplied before she grabbed Jaune's collar and pulled him close, In ordinary situations, The person that was facing Yang would be begging for their life or pissing their pants in fear but Jaune wasn't exactly Ordinary
"I know who and what she is and I don't care what I have to do, Tell me where she is" She growled out, her fist raised behind her as she readied herself to pummel the living daylight out of her fellow blond who stared into her raging crimson orbs, Dark Blue met Scarlet Red as Jaune's breath hitched... Before he bursted into laughter
"What's so funny? Do you WANT to get your ass beat?" Yang asked as she shook the man but all she got was even louder laughing, Jaune tilted his head back in hysterical laughter as if Yang had just told him the funniest pun in his entire life while Yang waited for him to stop, Only for his head to suddenly shoot forward and crash into her nose before she could react properly
"Do you really think you can find Raven and then get away scot-free when you get your answers? your revenge? when you can't even beat a newbie like me?" Jaune questioned as he smoothed out his collar before he finally turned to meet Yang's hate-filled glare and reversed their positions, this time with Yang on the bottom and Jaune holding her shirt collar
if this was any other time, I might have made an comment or two... Don't look down Jaune Remus Arc Do not look down under any circumstances
"Listen to me Yang, Raven Branwen is an full blown Huntress who graduated along with her team as the top huntress and it's been decades since then, so unless you have anything that could kill her outright, I'd suggest you stop looking for her" Jaune warned as resetting Yang's broken nose, Earning him an grunt of pain and an powerful hook to his liver "Keep this warning close to you: Never engage Raven Branwen because no matter who you are, She WILL use you and if she can't then she will dispose you"
"Yang... what are you..." Another voice interrupted the two as they both turn to face an horrified Ruby, Jaune sighed as he released Yang's collar before readying himself against another opponent, An opponent that was too fast for him to handle and too unique for him to parry outright
"What are you doing with my sister"
"RUBY NO"
"I hate this already"
"So...You were out beyond the curfew, You snuck out of the house after curfew, and You... I don't know you but I know you have something to do with these two if you are with them" Taiyang Xiao Long stated as he leveled a glare at all three of them, Yang sported some bruises, Ruby looked roughened up but had no injury that Taiyang could see, but the boy had several cuts and bruises over his face and arms but was ultimately in a good shape
Jaune simply nodded at the man, He had met Tai before but never in the circumstance of literally beating an lesson into his daughter, well once but even that occasion was different, Tai simply sighed as he walked into the house with Ruby and Yang following after with an guilty smile
"Come on in then, If my daughter caused any trouble than I apologize... These two usually never bring boys over" The older Xiao Long said as he welcomed Jaune into the cabin and ignoring the wails of embarrassment that came from both his daughters while Jaune looked around the place, Trying to spot any differences from his many many time in the cabin
"Uhm, Cozy place Mr...?" Jaune tried as Tai simply stared at him, Jaune stared back before he realized that he was still holding onto both of his weapons while standing in front of his host "oh yeah sorry about that"
"call me Tai, Mr. Xiao-Long makes me feel old" The man said as Jaune slowly slid both sword out of the belt and placed them onto the table, No blondes missed the excited glint that appeared in Ruby's eyes when she saw the weapons being laid on the kitchen table, She immediately turned to her father who tried to level a glare at his youngest and most adorable daughter
"So..." Tai started as he tried to think of a nickname for Jaune, Something that Jaune wanted to avoid with every single fiber of his body as the last time he had been stuck with Goldilocks #3 as his nickname thanks to Tai
"Jaune" Jaune helpfully supplied as Tai's face brightened up in relief, The hint of disappointment never made it's way past Jaune as he let out a silent but thankful sigh
"Jaune... You going to Beacon? Or are you already a huntsman?" He asked as he leaned onto the table along with Yang, Curious to hear about the experience of the man who had taken her by surprise, The bruise on her stomach might be gone but she can still feel the pain of being struck
"A little bit of both, Knowledgeable enough to take care of any grimms I might encounter, Not enough skill to take on the rare ones that will eventually appear" Jaune answered as Tai nodded, Yang almost did a double-take at his words as her eyes narrowed but stayed with the lilac hue instead of flashing crimson
"Not enough Skill to take on the rare ones?" She asked indignantly as Tai's own eyes narrowed, A dangerous glint appeared in Tai's eyes and although much subtler and much more threatening than the one Yang has, Jaune could easily pick out each distinct cue that both Yang and Taiyang had in common but now wasn't the time for that, now was some top-tier topic diversion
"Not skilled enough to take down a certain bandit leader that you are looking for" Jaune shot back as Tai shifted his glare towards Yang, The teenager shrank back as they had an silent conversation that Jaune wisely decided to let family settle, He know Taiyang well enough to know what he was conveying to his daughter anyways
"You mind demonstrating some skill? And letting my other daughter see your weapons up close?" Tai quickly diverted as he handed Jaune one of his swords, Jaune almost sighed in relief at the sight of his Katana instead of Crocea Mors, If he tried to show off any skill with Crocea Mors then he would have to fight Tai with said skills to escape alive
"You got any wood? Metal? live Grimms?" Jaune asked half-jokingly while he slid the sword back into the belt, Tai chuckled at the last suggestion before leading the three teens to the backyard and setting up three beams of wood, Jaune immediately recognized as Mistralian Buloke which was a wood notorious for it's hardness and used for Hunter trainees
"cut the beams of wood into three slices in less than 30 seconds then I'll trust you with Grimm, Now on Go" Tai said casually as Ruby's eyes widened, That challenge was the one that he had both her and Yang do, She managed to cut the beams of wood in just around a minute while Yang had barely missed the mark by 10 seconds
"Ready, Set, Go"
On the word go, Jaune wasted no time as his blade shot from his scabbard for the second time that night, The blade sliced through the beam of wood like a hot knife through butter before his sword shot back and cleaved the falling piece into two, Quickly turning to the second beam of wood he slashed twice in rapid succession before turning to the final beam and cleaving the wood in half the metal before wrenching the blade from the wood and cutting it horizontally
"35 seconds, Not bad" Tai said as Jaune sheathed the blade, His breathing was a little quicker than he liked but he had matched his time perfectly, Another 35 seconds to convince people that he wasn't an immortal who has been polishing his sword skills for lifetimes, he turned to the duo sitting at the sideline to see that Yang was looking at him with a hint of respect whilst Ruby was staring at his Katana in awe
"My daughter is a little... obsessed with weapons, If you let her see your sword I'll let you stay the night" Tai offered as all three teenager looked at him with varying expression, Yang with Shock, Ruby with shocked happiness and Jaune with amusement
"How do you know I don't have a place to stay? for all you know I could be a resident that was camping" Jaune asked as Tai smiled, Yang and Ruby turned to their father as they waited for his answer
"Kid... The smell of grimm blood basically radiating off of you, and you keep glancing around like a grimm would attack at anytime. Not exactly something that residents would usually do, oh and the weapons are a dead giveaway" Tai pointed out as Jaune frowned and took a sniff but smelled nothing but the fragrance of nature, His favorite shampoo brand that he managed to snatch from his sisters before he left, Suck on that Alyssa wouldn't have happened if you learned how to SHARE
"only trained nose can smell the Grimm blood kid, Something you might learn in the third year of Beacon, Only way you can't smell it is when you have killed THAT many grimms or when you are untrained" Tai explained as he tapped his nose with an smile, Yang and Ruby edged away from him as he took another whiff before shrugging and handing the Katana to Tai who passed it to Ruby
"woah... This is really well made, does it have a name?" Ruby asked in awe as she drew the Katana, giving the weapon a few test swings before sheathing the Katana and mimicking Jaune's stance and looked at the Scabbard
"WAIT" Jaune tried to warn Ruby as he ran to stop her but it was too late as Jaune watched her thumb pushed the eject slide and the blade shot out toward him, time slowed to a crawl in front of Jaune's eyes as he saw his hand move slowly toward the blade heading for him, No matter what he did he couldn't avoid losing a few digits but maybe if he...
It's useless, I made sure that eject would have enough energy to cleave through a Grimm's bone plate like it's nothing but empty air, Aura would be nothing more than butter to it Jaune recalled before his aura flashed anyways ,and to his surprise, hardened into a crystal layer on his skin just as the blade made contact and bounced off the layer, Time returned to it's normal speed as Ruby lost her balance and fell flat on her butt while clutching the Katana with an confused expression
"What happened?" Ruby groaned as she rolled her shoulder in pain, Both Taiyang and Yang rushed to their sides, The elder Xiao-Long tended to Jaune as the younger went to her sister
"Iaijutsu... A technique that revolves the idea of quickly drawing your blade to kill your opponent or injuring them severely as they attack, Developed by the Elites of Menagerie during the Great War due to the poorer quality of iron on the island and the shorter range of their blade" Jaune explained as he watched the crystal layer on his hand slowly dissipate into aura before fading entirely, Ruby's pale complexation became paler as she stared at the weapon in her arms
"Yeah yeah, History lesson come later, What the hell did you put in your sword that caused it to shoot out like that?" Yang asked as she picked up the discarded scabbard in confusion, Jaune shook his hand before walking over to Yang and taking the scabbard from her hands
"Wind dust doesn't really get a lot of attention unless it's for energy or for a cool breeze and little Jaune had the great idea to put wind dust into an metal bottle that wasn't sealed fully and hand it to his father as an idea for cooling, The father activated the dust, The bottle shot through the five different walls and Jaune was grounded for a month" Jaune said as he pushed the eject slide and an powerful breeze rushed past Yang
"oh... So that whole thing relies on dust to pull off? And you have to hurt your shoulder every time you do this?" Ruby asked as she mimicked the motion of drawing the sword and waving it around making fake whooshing sounds as she does
"No, You were lucky it didn't dislocate your arm with the way you swung it, Clearly you had more experience handling sudden force being placed onto your arms because the first time I did it, It broke my arm and dislocated my shoulder, My teacher laughed at me for an entire week before teaching me how to handle the force from the ejection"
Ruby instantly handed the weapon back as Jaune chuckled and sheathed the sword before Tai cleared his throat, The three turned to an impatient Taiyang as he pointed towards his cabin
"You all can continue this show-and-tell tomorrow, It's one in the morning right now and Jaune you can take the couch"
"Aw... I hate couches"
"HA"
"don't think I forgot about you two, You two are grounded as well"
"awwwww"
"You know with how badass you seem to be, I can't believe you have motion sickness of all thing" Yang giggled as Jaune groaned, In his hand was a bottle of Motion sickness pill that Tai had helpfully provided and when asked why he had given it to Jaune, The man's response was simply:
"Octavian and I go wayyyy back, Trust me, The Motion sickness is definitely hereditary"
Which also solved the mystery of why Tai had allowed Jaune to stay at his house even after what he had did to his daughter, Taiyang agreed with what Jaune had to do and had no hard feeling over it but it was still his daughter so there was obviously going to be some bias there, but the friendship between Tai and his father was what ultimately saved him from getting skinned alive
"It's Hereditary, If i had a choice I would have picked to be born with every disability than to be motion sick" Jaune grounded hatefully as another wave of nausea slammed into him causing him to groan while Ruby rubbed his back in soothing circles while her dearest sister was laughing her ass off at the sight of Jaune reduced to nothing more than an average civvy on a bullhead
"Seriously, you went toe to toe with YANG Xiao-long and yet one little lurch and it's game over?" Yang teased as Jaune groaned, He will never get over motion sickness or the fact that he would need pills for it, His wallowing in sadness was cut off when Yang snatched the capsule from his hand earning her nothing more than a groan of anguish and heated glare
"You know throwing up will re-pill women right?" Yang said as she shook his capsule of pills and for a few dramatic seconds, the only thing anyone could hear was the roar of the airship's engine while Yang turned with a bright smile as she looked for any hint of amusement in the crowd, The only expressions she saw were grimaces, sadness or the back of people's head
"Is it possible to jump off this airship?"
"Maybe..."
"I think my aura actually took damage from that..."
"I hope she isn't on our team..."
"She was so hot too..."
"OH COME ON IT WASN'T THAT BAD"
"IT DEFINITELY WAS"
"Sneeze, Explosi-" An explosion went off as Jaune clicked his tongue in annoyance while he watched the interaction between Weiss Schnee and Ruby Rose, He waited until Blake joined the conversation before standing up and making his way towards the trio
"DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?" Weiss's shrill voice made Jaune wince as a bottle of dust rolled over to him, an vial of Wind dust that the SDC conveniently forgot to mark just as he had ran out of wind dust
"Weiss Schnee, Heiress of the SDC? Famous singer as well?" Jaune asked as his smooth voice capturing the attention of all three girls as they turned towards him, both Ruby's and Weiss's expression brightened slightly at the sight of him while Blake gave him a quick up-down before settling into an emotionless expression, Probably an unconscious habit she picked up from being in the White Fang
"Finally someone that knows who I am" Weiss said in relief as Blake's eyes narrowed slightly, Not enough to be noticeable but it wasn't a hidden action whatsoever, Jaune ignored it as he put on his best smile, He was going to speed everything up so he doesn't have to suffer through everything again
"Have to know the person who hired someone that almost killed my father after all, Personally I thought the SDC could have at least performed a background check " Jaune said politely as Weiss turned paler and paler with each passing word, Blake and Ruby barely managed to hide their amusement as she turned to face the two girls before growling and snatching the wind dust from Jaune's hand
"This event you proclaimed never made it onto the news, therefore you must be lying" Weiss argued as Jaune raised an eyebrow before pulling out his scroll and searching the information up and found several articles before he turned it towards her
"Uh- Uhm-, You'll pay for this, No one defame the SDC and get away with it" Weiss growled in embarrassment before storming away as Jaune chuckled before turning to face the two- One girl behind him, Ruby had a bright smile on her face and Blake... Blake left after he had pulled out the scroll but not before snapping a picture of the heiress's shocked expression according to Ruby, Jaune chuckled as they continued on with their day and a sudden thought slowly floated to the front of his mind
Yeah, I'll be fine this time
I am not fine Jaune thought as he soared through the air, He met with RWBY and JNPR the night before and had somewhat of a pleasant conversation with the majority of them but he forgot one key detail, he didn't exactly have a landing strategy in mind because while his scabbard have some recoil when he fire, it wasn't enough to slow him down at all
"Well... This is going to fucking hurt" Jaune muttered to himself as he pulled Crocea Mors from it's sheath and expanded the shield, before curling into a ball behind the shield as he reached the apex of his flight, His heart hammered away in his chest as the wind pushed against his shield at a hundred miles per hour before he finally collided with something and the good news is that whatever the thing was, it slowed him down
The bad news however was that it didn't stop him and instead sent him into a spiral as he continued to fall, Jaune cursed his luck as a layer of white formed on his back before hardening just in time for Jaune to hit the ground and dig a trench into the ground Good to know that my Aura can be activated through my instincts
"Ow..." Jaune grumbled as he laid in the strangely comfortable trench while his aura dealt with the throbbing pain in his back, His crystalline aura may have helped with his survival but it didn't help with the impact at all, Jaune hesitantly probed his aura and was happily met with an 80% estimate after he made sure nothing else was broken except a few trees and some poor bird's home
"Hey, You alright?" the voice asked before a pair of amber orbs stared into his, His mind noting unhelpfully that they were now partners as he stood up and heard a loud crack coming from his back, He sheathed Crocea Mors as he turned to the ninja of what was RWBY before fate decided to fuck him over
"Name's Jaune, Nice to meet you" Jaune greeted as Blake as the pair started to make their way towards their objective, Wincing as more cracks and pops echoed from Jaune's back as he stretched
"I'm Blake... You didn't hurt anything did you?" Blake asked somewhat nervously as she looked the blond over as he gave a huff of amusement, he has been punted by Salem through mountains and he was pretty sure that some random Launch pad that Ozpin brought would never be able to match the strength of the Grimm Queen herself, If it could then him and Ozpin would need several talks about his initiation exams
"Well... Except for a few trees, some crazy naturalist's bleeding heart and a few birds? No, Not at all" Jaune replied as Blake snorted in amusement before the two fell into a comfortable silence as they continue, It was an unnaturally peaceful walk until they reached an particular section of the forest that Jaune vaguely recognized yet couldn't put a finger on why he recognized it
"WATCH OUT"
"RUN"
The two familiar voice instantly had the two on high alert as they turn to see Ruby and Pyrrha running for their lives from an particular deathstalker, Jaune groaned as he started bolting into the forest with the three girls not far behind, His brain unhelpfully reminding him why he recognized that particular section, It was because that were he was launched after running away from the Deathstalker
"WHERE THE HELL DID THE TWO OF YOU FIND A DAMN DEATHSTALKER?" Jaune asked as he fired off three shots that simply bounced off the Deathstalker's shell, He knew where the deathstalker came from and he was cursing every single deity that he could think off as the Overgrown scorpion's stinger slammed into his side and sent him flying through the forest
"oh for fuck sake not again" Jaune muttered as he tumbled through the air once more, upping the count of "Achieving flight VIA deathstalker" by one along with "I wish deathstalkers didn't exist in this god forsaken world" before an particular blur of black with just a hint of ginger caught his eyes, Hope lit up as Jaune positioned himself in the air
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" Jaune cheered as he crashed into the Ursa at an unholy speed that only made the grimm stumble before the ginger beside him grunted and forced the death bear to follow her demands, Jaune grinned as he turned to the Hammer Maiden of his former team JNPR and the one girl that was "together with Ren but not like together-together", Nora Motherfucking Valkyrie
"So you like riding Grimms too?" The ginger asked with an smile as she slammed her fist into the Ursa's nape making the Ursa let out an pitiful roar, One that sounded more like an dying dog's howl than a bear's roar, Jaune laughed as he gripped onto the fur of the Ursa before the two let out cheers while the grimm carried them to their destination before finally collapsing to the ground, Utterly exhausted and humiliated as Jaune finally gave the poor bear mercy, driving his blade into the beast's brain
"Holy shit did you two just ride in on a Ursa?" Was Yang's question as she looked upon the duo in awe, Next to her was an familiar face dressed in pure white as she scowled at the blonde standing next to her, Yang however either didn't mind or simply didn't care too much about what her partner thinks about her
"Language Xiao-Long, language" Weiss said tiredly as a blur of green appeared in Jaune's vision for a brief second before he turned to see Lie Ren giving Nora a once over before sighing in defeat
"Nora what did I say about running off?" Ren tried scolding only for her to let out an giggle before getting distracted and running off, Ren smiled fondly before shaking his head and chasing after the girl
"JAUNE" The collective scream of Ruby, Pyrrha and Blake shattered whatever moment the remainder of them were having as they turned to the trio with their weapons ready, Even Nora had her weapon out with an unnaturally serious expression, however their expressions faltered when the Deathstalker came into their vision and they looked at each other nervously
"Really, A deathstalker?" Yang asked incredulously as Weiss simply huffed before she lifted Myrtenaster, Her icy expression never changing as she took up the proper pose for the rapier while the blade glowed light blue, it would have been a sight to behold if there wasn't an ancient Deathstalker chasing the rest of Jaune's team
"A LITTLE HELP WOULD BE APPERICATED" Ruby terrified scream interrupted whatever routine Weiss was going through as she quickly thrusted the weapon forward and created an wall of ice that trapped the Deathstalker's claw before it could impale Ruby
"Probably shouldn't wait for that thing to break free" Jaune warned as he swiped a relic from the pedestal while Ruby quickly backpedaled away from the raging deathstalker into her sister as Pyrrha quickly nabbed another relic from the pedestal
"Uh guys... The deathstalker is trying to break free" Yang warned as her eyes darted between the grimm and the Ancient tower that they could climb to finish off their initiation, On one hand they could fight the overgrown scorpion and rid the forest of a danger while getting even more points, It WAS a 8 on 1 after all. however Yang's internal conflict was quickly resolved when they heard the screech of an Nevermore
"Oh great another ancient grimm, WHY DON'T YOU SEND US A THIRD ONE HEADMASTER" Yang screamed in frustration as she fired off multiple shots just as an alpha beowolf's howl was heard, Yang never bother to look back when she felt glares pointed at her back, She knew that wherever a Alpha is there was surely an pack behind
"Alright, I have an suggestion" Jaune piped up as everyone turned to him with hope sparkling in their eyes and the proud smile that Jaune has on his face does not deter them before he uttered out three words that killed said hope
"how about running?"
The group didn't need any more encouragement as they all took off towards the ruins as feathers was pelted at them, The Deathstalker and Beowolf not far behind as they edged closer and closer to the ruins, Jaune glanced back almost nervously as Ruby's eyes lit up
"WE CAN COLLAPSE THE BRIDGE" She shouted out as the rest of the group looked at her in confusion, Nora didn't hesitate as she transformed her favorite hammer into her favorite grenade launched and promptly shot out the supports from under the bridge
"Great shot Nora" Ruby complimented and Jaune was inclined to agree with her, if it wasn't for the fact that the Ruin bridge quaked and forced the eight to try their best not to trip and fall into the valley below, The fall would not be fatal... But it will hurt a hell of a lot worse than being impaled
"WE GOTTA GET OFF OF THIS BRIDGE" Jaune screamed as everyone suddenly noticed the feeble columns under the bridges barely holding the weight, The screech of the Nevermore forced them to run to the ruined building as the bridge collapsed behind them
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