The lush forest of Mistral, with it's unique mountain ridges and slim trees, are serene. The birds sing happily, the critters of the forest lounge lazily, there's not a single Grimm in sight to ruin the picturesque scene.
Until it is by the sound of wood cracking harshly against flesh. The horrid sound drives the birds and critters of the forest away, but thankfully doesn't draw any Grimm, the sound originates from a clearing nearby. In this clearing is a grizzly mountain of a man and an unusually small boy.
The man stands at an impressive six and a half feet, with broad muscular build making him look like a monster from a fairy tale, his long shoulder length salt-n-pepper hair is tied up in a low ponytail, with two battle scarred bear ears poking out from the top of his head. He wears an opened red furred collared vest with charcoal pants tucked into black boots. The man lazily scratches his bushy beard and regards the boy with his one eyed gaze, the other being scarred and milky white, with his weapon, a stripped branch he had torn from a nearby tree, hoisted leisurely on his shoulder. The man speaks with a heavy Atlasian accent.
"Give up, lad. You lasted longer than the rest and there's no glory in needlessly dying, despite what your mother claims, no one that matters will look down on you for it, Da?"
The boy is about seven years old, his blonde hair slicked back and matted with sweat and his body covered in bruises and scars in equal measure. He wears charcoal divided hakama style pants tucked into a pair of black boots that are covered by dark blue suneate shin guards. He grips his wooden training sword and glares at the man with his unswollen eye.
"No way, Mishka!"
The now named Mishka chuckles. "I've known grown men who could not take so much punishment, you impress me boy."
As Mishka was about to continue the beating disguised as a sparring lesson, a red portal opens and out a masked woman in pseudo traditional Mistralian dress with her signature weapon Omen, a long chokuto style dust blade housed in a rotary scabbard that held her other blades. She removes her mask to speak, only to be interrupted by the boy. He runs up to her shouting.
"Mom!"
The woman slaps the boy upside the head.
"You know you're not to refer to me like that around the others."
The boy bows his head apologetically.
"Sorry, Mo-Raven."
Raven nods. "Better." She turns to Mishka. "I assume Jaune's training is going well, since he's still standing?"
Mishka nods. "Da, he's best one in class, others need more work, as to not collapse by twentieth round."
"Good, then it's time to step up his training, which I shall do myself, you will have two new recruits to train in his place." Raven turns to the still open portal and yells. "You two, come through."
At Ravens command two girls walk through.
The first is a tall girl who's about a year or two older than Jaune with short brown hair and dusky skin that contrast with her blue eyes. She suffers from resting bitch face with a prissy sneer. She wears brown cargo shorts with faded and rough leather boots and vest. She stands next to Raven with her arms crossed across her chest and looks Jaune up and down, then scoffs.
"Shorty's the best student? Heh, maybe this tribe isn't as strong as I thought."
The second girl is a petite thing about a year or two younger than Jaune with white hair and oriental features, her pink eyes look around worriedly. She wears a white and pink yukata with with wooden sandals. She spots Jaune and gives a small shy mile.
"H-hi!"
"This is Vernal and Aruna, you will be in charge of their training until further notice." Raven commanded.
"Da, what ever you say, Boss." Mishka replied.
Raven nods before turning to Jaune. "Come boy, your real training starts now."
"Yes, Mo-Raven!"
10 YEARS LATER…
An older Jaune, with his longer hair pulled up into a high ponytail and some heavy stubble on his face, maintains his katana. He is dressed in a light grey Shitagi style shirt with charcoal hakama style pants tucked into knee high slim black leather boots, his hands are wrapped in strips of cloth from his knuckles to his elbow. As he's maintaining his sword, Aruna rushes into his tent with her battle gear on.
Aruna gear consisted of attire similar to Jaune, only with a pink and white armored hakama style skirt with pink and white kote, yugake, and jinbaori. She holds her Kitsune Grimm mask with her twin katanas holstered on her back. She gives Jaune a megawatt grin.
"It's finally time!"
Jaune grins at Aruna's excitement. "Yup, it's the big one Ru, just let me get my armor on and we can get going."
Aruna nods excitedly as Jaune his own armor. Which consisted of dark blue and silver jinbaori, kote, yugake, and suneate. He grabs his own Beowolf mask before leaving his tent with Aruna for Ravens war-tent. Along the way they pick up Vernal, and after a short walk make it to Ravens tent. Raven looks up as they enter.
"Good, your all here." Raven lays down a map. "This is the coastal town of Tsungun, Jaune your our strategist, so what's the plan?"
Jaune, knowing he was being tested, jumped into action. "The town is protected by sheer cliffs with a singular rudimentary gate leading into a valley, and the ocean. It's only means of travel are by boat, which do to our intel just left a week ago." Jaune recaps as he thinks. "We should send a handful of tribesmen to hassle the front gate, and while the guards are busy with them, the rest of the Tribe will descend the cliffs into the heart of the town."
Raven smiles. "Good." She turns to the two girls. "You two, go spread the word."
Aruna and Vernal pass Jaune as they leave, giving him a smile and sneer respectively, Jaune turns to leave as well, only to be sopped by Raven.
"Jaune, stay."
Jaune stops and turns to regard Raven once more. Raven mulls over her words or a moment before finally speaking.
"I'm proud of you, Jaune. You'll make a fine war-chief one day."
Jaune gives her a megawatt smile. "Thanks mom!"
Raven scowls. "I told you not to call me that!"
"No, you said not to call you that in front of the others. As you can see, we're alone."
"Just get out of here and prepare for the raid." Raven huffed, shooing Jaune out of her tent, once he was gone she sighed and thought sadly to herself. "He reminds me of Tai."
After a few hours of travel, the tribe made it's way to the town of Tsungun and the break of dusk. Raven spit off a handful of fighters to target the gate and then looked to Jaune and Aruna.
"You two will scout out ahead to find a safe path through the forest and down the cliff. Jaune, go north. Aruna, go south."
they both nodded before turning in their designated direction and bolting off to finish their tasks.
Halfway through a clearing, Jaune's instincts screamed at him that something was coming. And so Jaune drew his katana and turned just in time to block three arrows that were headed right for him. Jaune assumed a low stance with his left knee bent slightly and his right leg extended behind him to his right, he held his sword across his chest with the edge of the blade pointed up. His eyes scanned his surrounding for his attacker. His head whipped to the sound of clapping as a man emerged from the trees, followed by many more surrounding Jaune.
The clapping man, who was dressed like a samurai minus the helmet, showing his X shaped scar across his face, stopped.
"That was impressive, boy. Not many could have defected by arrows like that, so I'll make a deal with you. You survive my boys, we'll fight one on one, how's that sound?"
Jaune glanced to the men surrounding him before looking back to X. "If I win, you'll tell me what you want?"
X smiled. "Sure, why not." X then made a loud shrill whistle. "Get 'em boys!"
At X's command all of his boys attack, unfortunately for them Jaune was channeling his Semblance the whole time X was talking. Using his Semblance to enhance his reflexes he was able to cut Mr. X's posy in practically the blink of an eye, so fast in fact that they only realized they were dead when he sheathed his sword, Jaune turned to Mr. X.
"You owe me a duel." Jaune said calmly.
Mr. X looked at Jaune like he was the Grimm his mask portrayed. He turned to flee, only for Jaune to fling two throwing knifes into his knees, showing the man lacked Aura.
"Backing out of our deal? Tsk, tsk, tsk, you shouldn't have done that, it would have made your death quicker."
Mr. X rolls and tries to strike Jaune with his own sword, ineffectively flailing it in pure desperation than any real show of swordsmanship, Jaune simply brings up his shin to block the blow, shattering the blade upon contact. Jaune steps on his sword arm and applies a little force, causing his ulna and radius to snap like a thanksgiving wish bone. Mr. X screams in pain before being muffled by Jaune's hand.
"Now, when I remove my hand, you're going to intelligible explain to me what you are doing here wasting my time." Mr. X muffled screams persist, causing Jaune to sigh in frustration. "If you continue to scream I will break your collar bone and keep you alive out of spite!" Jaune's threat was effective. "Thank you, now why are you here?"
As soon as Jaune removes his hand Mr. X starts blabbering. "T-the girl, we're here you the girl!"
"You have to know how little that narrows it down, right? What girl?"
"M-mistralian, w-white hair, pink eyes. We were told to-" Mr. X was interrupted by the fact his head was no longer attached to his body.
Jaune scowled as he took of to the south, hoping he wouldn't be too late to assist Aruna.
Meanwhile on the south side of the cliff, Aruna senses a familiar presence and turns.
"I always knew this day would come, though I admit I thought you would have found me earlier."
A mad cackling, like that of a demented hyena, was the only sound that greeted her as a spindly man in a trench coat walked out of the trees with a troupe of men behind him.
The man cackles once more before answering. "My Goddess graciously let you live as she had no need for you, but that has changed, and she has pleased me with the task of retrieving you for her glorious plans!"
Aruna huffed behind her mask. "Well then, come and get me!"
No sooner did she say this did a massive storm appear out of thin air, as she let her Maiden powers flow through her. The men that weren't thrown into the murky depths below were quickly smote by sudden strikes of lightning. The cackling man threw off his coat, revealing the all white outfit beneath, and charged her, gun-blade gauntlets extended and singing for blood. In the distance Raven saw the sudden storm and knew something was wrong, and so running until none could see her, she transformed into her raven form and flew as fast as she could to help her adopted child.
Aruna and the man were now locked into combat. Both fighters equally agile and skilled, trading blow for blow and exchanging bullets and blasts of magic respectively when their opponent was out of range. All of the man's men were killed, the two stop for a moment in a standoff, waiting for the other to make a move. Eventually, they both decided to attack at once, the man landing a strike and shattering the top right portion of Aruna's mask, Aruna retaliated by slashing an X across the mans chest. As both fighters were preparing another standoff, Raven burst through the tree line, though this proved more detrimental than helpful as Ravens appearance distracted Aruna long enough for the man to close the distance and strike with his hidden scorpion tail.
The man, knowing he could not continue in his current state, ran off with a maddening cackle. Aruna collapsed from a combination of exhaustion from the battle and the poison now flowing through her veins. In an instant Raven was cradling Aruna in her arms. Aruna looked to her adopted mother.
"I… I'm, s-sorry."
"Hush, child. There's still-"
"N-no. I… I'm tired, tired of running, tired of lying to him… please make it quick, don't let me die like this."
Raven stood, barely holding back her tears. "As you wish, my child."
Aruna held up her hand towards Raven. "Tell… tell, Jaune… I love him… I… always have."
Raven solemnly nods as she plunges Omen into her daughters heart, killing her instantly. This is the scene Jaune arrives to. Jaune arrives in time just to see his mother plunge her blade into his sister in all but blood. He numbly walks towards Aruna, Raven is talking to him but he hears none of it, he collapses next to her and cradles her head. She looks serene, happy, with the same small smile she always wore, if he didn't know any better he would think her simply asleep.
Numbly, Jaune gently sets Aruna down. Before he removes her swords and mask, he adjusts the harness her swords were attached to and wears them on his back. He sits there staring at the broken mask for awhile, until he clips it onto his sash. He sits there, staring at her, he stares for what feels like but a moment, and what feels like an eternity. Until his stupor is broken by a hand gripping his shoulder, his body reacts by drawing his sword and trying to strike the body attached to the hand.
"You killed her!" Jaune roared.
"Jaune! Please, I only did what she wanted!"
"Liar!"
Jaune charges at Raven, forcing her to draw Omen. Both fighters were even in might for different reasons, Raven through her experience and Jaune through his Semblance. Both fought along the cliff, clashes of steel like thunder, the sparks flying from there sword like lightning. Jaune stuck with the ferocity of a wild beast at speeds fast enough to break the sound barrier. Raven had to use every once of her experience, wits, and Dust blades to hold back the grieving mans onslaught. Finally, Raven had forced Jaune to a low point along the edge of the cliff.
Raven panted from her vantage point. "Don't do it, Jaune, I have the high ground."
"You underestimate my power!"
"Don't try it!" Raven begged.
Jaune then leaps at Raven, using his Aura to enhance his muscles, unfortunately for Jaune. He left himself open, Raven slices Jaunes across the torso from his right shoulder to his left hip, shattering his sword in the process. Jaune tumbles to the edge of the cliff, but manages to hold on with his right arm.
Raven can no longer hold her tears. "You were the one! You were meant to bring light into this family, not cast it in darkness!"
"I hate you!" Jaune roared, consumed by hatred.
"You were my son, Jaune. I loved you!" Raven cried.
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning strikes the rocks in front of Jaune. Casting him into the murky waters below, screaming the whole way down. Raven turns and walks away, berating herself for thinking she could have the family she always wanted, and promising to harden her heat so that she would not feel so weak and defenseless for a third time.