And welcome back to the next chapter. Like always I Do Not own the rights or properties of One Piece, RWBY or anything else in this story. So I hope you enjoy.
How long has it been now, probably almost a year? He didn't fully know since it seemed like it barely snowed or anything on the island. A young man with shaggy blond hair sighed as he continued his training with a determined smile on his face with a goal in mind. Ever since he recovered he didn't know what to really do but he knew one thing. If he wanted to get off this island he needed to get stronger. With a shine of energy reflecting in his eyes he found a sudden boost of speed as his training weights did nothing to stop or hinder his sudden acceleration.
As he reached the small area he started from, the young man was greeted with another, and it figured that his teacher would be waiting for him to finish his laps around the island. With whatever was left of his tracks in the darkened sand washed away by the salty waves of the ocean, Jaune Arc reached the tree that acted as a starting line. The other man grinned before crossing his arms. "You've gotten faster, guess we're going to have to find heavier weights tomorrow" he said with a small amount of praise at his newest student's progress. He managed to race around the island in around an hour. The fact that it was probably as big as Atlas itself if not a little bigger meant something as the island had its own share of obstacles to deal with.
Man-eating plants, giant boars known as War Hogs and these weird scorpions known as Puzzle Scorpions were just a few of the things that Jaune had to deal with and somehow there was worse in the island's center. That wasn't the most shocking thing though. It was what awaited him off the island that was his current goal. "Yeah, so when do you think I'll be ready to take on Old Scales?" Jaune asked as he referenced the resident sea monster that claimed the island as its territory. The older man shrugged.
"Too soon. Even though you've gotten stronger physically you have no real fighting ability other than that wooden sword I gave ya to protect yourself with. Not to mention you barely know anything about navigating or sailing in a boat" the older man said as Jaune frowned. "Still I think we're ready to take on the next level of your training. I think you can handle the basics of what comes next… hopefully" the man said again as Jaune looked at him confused.
"Really, you think I'm ready? I thought you said I wasn't ready yet?" Jaune asked before a small smile began to form on his face. "You're saying we're going to start training in-"
"Yeah, sure… I suppose you could probably learn at least one of those skills now… but it's going to be a while until you actually get it down without trying. Hell if you master the basics of that style you can at least rely less on a blade" the older man said. Despite carrying a sword himself, it wasn't a bad idea to learn how to fight unarmed. Hell if anything his sword was more of a ruse at times. One didn't expect a swordsman to fight better unarmed.
As the man turned around and motioned the younger man into the deeper areas of the island, Jaune followed while a small grin on his face as he recalled how he first met the man in the first place.
…
Pain, pain was seemingly an old friend by this point as Jaune let out a soft moan in the dark, his body was screaming in pain as he tried to move and say something, barely a whisper came out as he felt his throat hurting the worst. Opening his eyes, he was assaulted by light he hadn't seen in who knew how long while he tried to stay awake.
What happened, what could he remember from the last time he was conscious? He tried to think but all he wound up doing was making the migraine and body ache more. Thankfully though, he still had his aura and it seemed like it was capable of helping him heal a little more.
Now if only it could null pain…
"Heh, guess you're finally up again, kid" a man said in a slightly amused tone as Jaune turned his head to face him. The man stood up with a bit of a limp while wearing an open black trench coat and a buttoned up white shirt, while he had a bit of a grey beard growing the man was also grinning at him, hands in his pants pockets with a few teeth missing. "Then again, after the state you were in I was about to make a grave for ya. Not many people tend to survive with that kind of damage, kid."
"W…where… who…" Jaune whispered out hoarsely as he tried to voice a question to the man before he held up his hands to his throat, something was wrong and the old man frowned.
"I'd rest those vocal cords for a bit, kid. I don't know what you went through but your neck was nearly crushed and burned the most. Truthfully it is a miracle you can even talk at all. If it wasn't for me finding you when I did I think Old Scales would have had an overcooked snack. But for now I guess this will surface…" the man said as he reached over towards a notepad and a pen before handing them over to the younger man who accepted them with a wince. As he did, the old man seemed to inspect him.
This brat reminded him of something, he was curious on just how he even got here in the first place. Eventually the kid fought past the pain and managed to write something, the older man took it and frowned.
"Huh… straight forwards I see…" the man said as he saw only three words on the paper. "Who, Where and Why" etched the surface of the page while Jaune was still struggling. The man sighed and sat down in a nearby chair; by looking around they seemed to be in a cabin of sorts with some furnishing and sun peaking through a nearby window.
"Well, for now you'll rest until I can get some questions answered from you. But to answer your questions… we're currently on my island, in my house, second my name is Miles, just Miles… and finally the reason you're hear is because imagine my surprise when I saw a half-conscious, naked kid wash up on my shore with second degree burns and a nearly crushed neck. Honestly it's a miracle you're even alive by this point."
Jaune said nothing as he stared at the older man in many degrees of shock. He was on an island, with burns and a nearly- crushed neck? How did he get...?
…Injured…
His eyes widened when he remembered that he was burned alive by Cinder Fall until he saw something and then darkness took over. But that didn't explain the island part. Miles however noticed the shock and sudden realization. Crossing his arms he probed for more answers. "I'll take it you know how you got injured" the older man said as he cursed for a second as he realized something now that he looked at the kid.
Kid, yeah he was going to get to the bottom of this…
"What's your name?" the older man, Miles, asked as Jaune looked at him confused as his mind was snapped out of his musings. Given the notebook again and hesitantly began to write before Miles spoke up to clarify. "And I want your full name. First, middle, last, the works" he said as Jaune took a second longer until he finally wrote down his name, despite the pain in his hands. After handing it back he winced once again, silently wishing his aura could do more to help him. Trying to concentrate and let his semblance work it's magic to improve the amount of aura he had he missed the older man look at the notebook in a brief surprise before nodding.
Now wasn't that a coincidence…
"So, what does the initial mean?" Miles asked curiously as Jaune looked at him and shrugged, he didn't know but he remembered his dad saying something about him having that initial. Something about a family secret or something, he didn't fully know since not many people asked about that back home.
As the pain started the older man nodded. "Well I guess there's nothing I can do now other than wait until you can actually talk and move about then. When you can though, we need to have a talk, okay, kid?" the older man said as Jaune nodded, not knowing what to believe. What was going on, where was he, were the others alright. The more he tried to think about it the more his head hurt.
And with that he saw the older man leave before deciding to close his eyes he would wait for his semblance to heal him more until he could get those answers. 'I just hope the others are alright' he thought to himself before he tried to get some more sleep.
…
"So, you sure you're alright to be up… most people wouldn't be able to get up and walk around in less than what… a week and a half?" Miles said as he crossed his arms as he eyed the younger man who frowned as he felt his neck with his hands and felt a small chill travel down his spine as he recalled the burns he got from Cinder, a slight bit of phantom pain surging into his body as Miles looked at the kid in slight concern before sighing.
It wasn't his problem but oh well, he digressed…
"I… I'm fine…" Jaune said as he ignored the pain as he sighed. Sitting down at the table Miles nodded before joining him, the room was about as bit as his old team's room in Beacon with enough room for a one person with shelves and counters around them with a fridge in the corner. "W-where exactly… what exactly happened?" Jaune asked as he only heard the basics from the other man while Miles sighed.
"Alright, so like I said I found you unconscious and half-dead both burned to a crisp and naked-" Miles said as Jaune just sighed at that bit of information while Miles continued. "-And brought you back to my cabin. Honestly you should be dead… you're very lucky, kid."
"…I don't feel lucky at all… and you said I'm in the South Blue or something?" Jaune asked as Miles nodded, having told a little bit of where he was to the younger man who now just seemed lost. "Great… I guess you don't know how to get back to any of the kingdoms then, right?" he asked with a mix of tired amusement and doubt-filled uncertainty. Miles shrugged.
"… Well it all depends on the Kingdoms in question, kid. I'm not escorting you to a place like Dressrosa or Totto Land because you wound up washed up here… which begs the question. How exactly did you get here?" Miles asked with a narrowed gaze, now getting a bit more serious as Jaune blinked at the question.
"Well… it's a long story" he sighed as Miles remained quiet and nodding his head, silently telling him to start. "I… I was fighting a woman who could manipulate fire… she tried to choke me… and lit me on fire" he said as he felt uncomfortable with that memory still, Miles nodded as he could tell that by the neck. "I… the last place I was in was in Atlas… or in some doorway connected to Atlas" Jaune explained as Miles raised an eyebrow.
"Doorway… and I take it this Atlas is one of those kingdoms then?" Miles asked as Jaune nodded.
"Yeah, my friends… they used something called the Relic of Creation to create a doorway to another kingdom called Vacuo…" he started to say as he told his entire story while Miles nodded, asked for clarification or questions and even asked a few questions in return. After an hour or so, Miles finally nodded his head, now having a bottle of liquor next to him on the table, having gotten up to grab it to take a few sips.
"Right… so let me see if I got this straight, kid. You're from some place called Remnant, a place with magical bullshit called dust, semblance and actual magic that was somehow created by gods… actual gods… that destroyed the world and have some kind of immortal woman who can make these things called the Grimm?" he asked as Jaune nodded before Miles took another drink from his bottle. "And you were some stupid kid who faked his way into some school to fight these Grimm things before getting involved with this whole maiden, relic, immortal wizard and now some dimensional doorway that you fell from… all because you pissed off some woman that wanted power or something… that about right?"
"More or less…" Jaune answered with a sigh, his hand covering his eyes as he rested his face into his palm while Miles nodded.
"…In all my years of living, kid. I have seen shit, I have heard of shit, I have experienced shit and have personally done shit that people would call bullshit on many, many levels of disbelief… and somehow this… this is the wildest thing I've heard in my time in this world" Miles said, stressing what he was told as lunacy in an emotionless and dry tone, clearly not reacting how Jaune thought he would.
"I know you might not believe me-"
"Kid, you looked at the moon and nearly had a panic-attack, freaked out because it wasn't "broken" and had me calm you down to get some sleep" Miles reminded as Jaune flinched at the memory. He didn't know what happened but according to Miles he was knocked out by an empty bottle of wine…
It did explain the extra head pain he had the next morning…
"Not only that but believe it or not… I kind of see it. I doubt you would wind up half-way like you did if it wasn't for some other reason… and it's not like I haven't seen stranger shit before…" he said while Jaune looked at him confused. "I mean between the fruits, the bizarre seas in the New World and all the other shit out in the world, this doesn't seem all-too-strange"
"And me being from some other dimension isn't!" Jaune shouted before standing up in shock. "B-but you just said that this was the wildest thing-"
"Calm down, brat" Jaune heard the older man say as he let out a sigh. "Look, I said it wasn't strange but it was wild. If what you said is true then I question a lot of things in my life… but for now, let's just say that, yes. You are some kind of dimensional alien or something… and yes let's just say that you have some kind of magic powers out there… I have faced a man who could turn into a god-damned wyvern, a man who could create earthquakes, know at least three people in the marines that can turn into elements, all from fruits by the way…. And in my time during my… uh, career, have trained assassins of an underground unit that's a secret from the world. And living in a world of fish people, giants, long-limbed people, dwarfs… supposedly, an all-female group of amazons, the bullshit nightmares on that island, and whatever the hell Moria is supposed to be…yeah, not exactly the strangest thing in the world" Miles said somewhat sarcastically while he took several drinks out of his bottle while Jaune stared at the man in confusion.
"Uh… what-"
"And that's not even talking about the shit that's out in the New World" Miles finished as he placed the now-empty bottle on the table. "So since we have that clarified now, what now?" he asked while Jaune was confused at the question, more confused actually as he still had no idea what Miles meant about half the things he said. After a moment of silence, Jaune finally sighed. Turning away from the man, he thought about it and found no answer. Miles understood, he could only imagine what was going on in the kid's mind by this point.
"Look, Jaune. I'll be blunt with you. If what you said is true… I'm not exactly sure if you can get back… hell the way you made it sound and the way that you looked I'm surprised that you aren't already considered dead by this point" Miles said as Jaune flinched at that. It was true. He fell from whatever world or dimension he was in and wound up here… wait hold on a second.
"Hey, Miles…?" Jaune asked as the older man looked at him, "did you find anyone else… I mean, I wasn't the first one who fell or anything like that, wouldn't they be around here as well?" Jaune asked with a little bit of hope while Miles shrugged. He didn't know, he only found the blond.
"Not sure. I only found you so unless Old Scales ate them or they drowned then they're either somewhere else on the island, or somewhere else entirely. You said you didn't know what happened if you fell and you wound up here. If this is some kind of time-space thing then who knows where they went" the older man replied bluntly and somewhat uncaringly causing Jaune to frown but there was that name again.
"Who's Old Scales, exactly?" Jaune asked as Miles looked at him for a second to weigh his options. Eventually shrugging he picked up the empty bottle and headed out the door.
"Come on, I'll introduce you to him" the older man said as Jaune said nothing before nodding and following the other swordsman to the beach. As he did he noticed something off, the sand was tainted in an ash-like grey color while the waves seemed a little darker than they should have. Miles waited at the shore before turning to Jaune with a small grin on his face, this should be fun to see. "This is Old Scales" the older man introduced before chucking the empty bottle at such a speed that Jaune barely noticed where it went. After seeing where it dove under the water Jaune's heart stopped a second later as he saw what he could've considered this world's variation of a Grimm.
It was like an eel or something, two eyes and a fanged snout. As Jaune openly gawked at the size of the monster that could probably coil around a bullhead from back home without breaking a sweat, Miles crossed his arms and turned towards the monster in question.
"W-what the hell…" Jaune muttered in a mix of disbelief and fear while Miles elaborated.
"That is a sea king" Miles started as he ignored the look of the younger man. "It's like the guardian of this island or something. As far as I'm convinced however it's a little on the smaller side… probably just a baby still" he said more to himself than to Jaune but saying it out loud still didn't help the blond knight.
"That thing's still just a baby?!" he shouted in horror before pointing at it in a state of panic. "What do you mean that thing's still just a baby, how big do they get, I thought you said it was Old Scales, as in old?!" he asked while Miles shrugged, he didn't know for sure if it was still just a youngster or not but he heard rumors that sea kings lived a whole lot longer than even the most healthy of people with ample abundance of longevity.
But he digressed. Looking back to the younger man, he grinned. "So, like I said. What are you going to do about that? I hardly doubt that you'll get away from him any time soon. Unless you can fight off monsters like that you're probably not going to last too long" Miles admitted as Jaune said nothing at that as a feeling of familiar helplessness crept back into him.
What could he do? He in all honesty didn't know the answer. As he fell to the beach's sands with his borrowed black pants and white shirt doing nothing more than keep the grains off of his torso and legs he looked down in contemplation before thinking of something.
"Wait, I know this is bad to ask all of a sudden but do you think you could-" Jaune started before Miles interrupted him.
"Yes I could defeat Old Scales and help you get off, if that's what you're asking… but I'm not interested in leaving anytime soon, kid." Jaune's smile at hearing he could fell to a frown at the words of he won't, "Not only that but like I said, I don't know when or even if you're able to get back to that alien world of yours."
"It's not an alien world… if anything this is an alien world" Jaune said annoyed as he suddenly pointed at the man who looked at him uninterested. "Hell to me, you're the alien!" he declared as Miles shrugged, it was a matter of one's perspective really. Oh well there was no use complaining about it.
Seeing Jaune frown, he looked at the seas where the giant eel submerged back into the blue waves, much to his despair he wondered what would happen next. Before he could ask again to have Miles hopefully reconsider the man beat him to it.
"Tell me, Jaune. What exactly do you want out of life?" he asked out of the blue, catching the younger man off guard.
"What I want… I don't know what you mean, I want to know what to do but I need to get off this island first" he said hastily as Miles stayed quiet, eventually however he spoke again.
"Kid… I'll strike you a deal. If you can answer what you want to do with your life then I'll give you a hand" he said as Jaune was confused. What did that mean? "What I mean is that even if you leave this island then what would you do then? How would you live, what would your goals and dreams be? If you can't get home then what will you do?" he clarified as if he read the blonds' mind.
"I… I don't know…" Jaune admitted having been put on the spot like that while Miles nodded.
"Well when you figure it out then I want you to tell me, until then I won't be doing much for you except waiting for your answer… though I suppose I'll give you one more week to decide that for yourself. But if you can't think of a single thing then I'm kicking you out and leaving you alone, understood?" he asked as Jaune looked at the older man and nodded.
Seeing the nod, Miles smiled before heading back inside. He had a feeling that the next week was going to be rough for the both of them. He could already feel the urge for another drink.
…
Back to the present, Jaune caught up to the old man who seemed to have sat down on a large stump with his wooden blade in hand. As Jaune made his way and leaned against a tree, the older swordsman began. "Now then, before we begin I'll ask you again, what are the six skills of the Rokushiki?" the old man asked as Jaune thought about it.
"Well… first is the Soru… it's running really fast to move at high speeds, right?" Jaune answered as Miles nodded, he was right in the basics of it. Soru was the easiest of the Rokushiki, even basic… well basic in certain terms, could do it well enough. Kicking the ground in a mere second ten to twenty times was rather easy, even when he was an old man.
"Then there is that Geppo move where you kick air and fly… how exactly does that even work again?" Jaune asked as Miles shrugged in a not knowing or not caring way. It was another technique that focused less on combat and more on maneuvering in the area. There would be times where it could be used for offensive capabilities however and that was something that the former agent wanted to nail in at some point.
"Then I think there's Tekkai… it's just taking a hit by hardening your body" Jaune said as Miles nodded again as it was one of his more fun techniques to train the poor unfortunate victims-er, he meant, students of old how to fight. Hardening your body and manipulating your muscles was indeed a decent form of defense against physical strikes.
"Then there's that Kami-E move… which is just relaxing your muscles to dodge" Jaune continued while Miles once again nodded. It was the use of relaxing one's muscles and predicting one's attacks, dodging them with little effort and avoiding attacks. While not the most used one it was better than actually getting hit if you didn't have to.
A certain pirate taught him that… he would shove that damn wyvern's attack straight up his own-
"Then we have… uh, are you alright?" Jaune asked with some concern as Miles snapped out of his train of thought and focused on what was currently in front of him.
"…Yeah, sorry about that. Just thinking of something else at the moment… go on" he said as he motioned the Arc to continue as Jaune seemed hesitant at first. Eventually he continued with a small nod.
"After that is Shigan which is stabbing people with your finger… and then Rankyaku which is kicking so fast you generate and shoot blades of wind at your opponent" Jaune finished as Miles smiled. Seemed like he fully memorized the Rokushiki abilities, and now Miles thought he was ready. he spent a full year or so, maybe not that long but enough time training to properly attempt those techniques. If they were lucky enough then Jaune could perhaps learn the basics of one or two of them. He didn't think Jaune would manage all of them…
…But with enough training…
"That is correct, kid. And like I said, you might be ready to try and learn one of them, in this case… the Soru" Miles said as Jaune blinked. Soru, the high-speeds moving one, he wasn't fully sure if he was ready to learn that one but he was interested in it regardless. Miles smiled wider as he slowly got up.
"Not just that but I think we can begin training in Tekkai as well" Miles informed as Jaune paled at that. Tekkai as well…?
Not to sound rude but why Tekkai? It wasn't the fact that he didn't want to learn it but he heard stories from Miles in how it was trained in others. It was the similar process to him throwing away Nora's pancakes, shooting a baby sloth and hurting Ren in front of the hammer-swinging woman in front of her, or worse. Hurting Ruby and cutting Yang's hair and taking the beatdown without any aura.
That was how Tekkai was taught to someone, they got their ass handed to them and had to take it over, and over, and over again until they were able to not budge or feel damage or either got knocked out or worse.
"You alright there, Jaune…?" Miles asked as Jaune squeaked in horror as the older man was taking some enjoyment in teasing his student who realized what was probably going to happen once they started training. Oh well, a little bruised bones never hurt anyone more than it needed to. He'd be fine.
"…I'm going to hate this…" Jaune muttered as Miles shrugged. If he did then it wasn't his fault. But with as much fun as it was to tease the blond swordsman…
"Next I think we should work on your swordsmanship next" Miles stated as Jaune looked at the man in confusion. his swordsmanship. "You said you had some skills with a sword and I want to try and improve what you have. Teaching you how to fight with a blade should be easy enough. Just don't expect to be some kind of sword master by the end of it. I'm not some Mihawk or anything."
Mihawk? Oh that was right, Dracule Mihawk or otherwise known as Hawkeyes Mihawk was a pirate and renown as the best swordsman in the world. Jaune recalled the conversation with Miles about the Shichibukai as a whole, each one with strength, skills or a reputation that would make them dangerous to anyone that wasn't at least an admiral according to the man's words.
Among them were the Pirate Empress: Boa Hancock, the Tyrant: Bartholomew Kuma, and the Knight of the Sea: Jinbei of the Fishmen. Not only were they renown as pirates but they were imployed by the World Government, something that Miles had told Jaune to stay the hell away from. When asked why he simply said that they were corrupt at the top that trinckled down into some of the lower ranks of power.
When Jaune asked for clarification the older man said two words that made his blood boil as he thought back to some of the things he said those people… those monsters did.
The Celestial Dragons… the World Nobles… they went by several names but Miles said it best himself. They were self-entitled, moral-less monsters. Blue eyes began shining with a sense of loathing that the blond only had felt for one Cinder Fall since he could recall. The Celestial Dragons would make even Cardin's superiority complex over faunus or the White Fang's hatred for humans pale in comparison.
They claimed themselves to be "Gods" and did what they pleased. They killed innocent people, they enslaved people of different races, ages and often tortured and executed them if they were no longer "Entertaining." They stole and demanded complete obedience while beliving anything else or anyone else mere pawns of toys to them.
It infuriated the blond swordsman to no end that people could be so… so…
"Jaune… Jaune calm down" Miles said with some concern as he noticed just how worked up the swordsman was becoming. Seeing this, the Arc slowly closed his eyes and took several calming breathes. He needed to after thinking about how completely corrupted the World Government was that supported this. And that was more or less just some of the shit that they would do.
"…Sorry, it's just that I was thinking about what you said, about the World Government…" Jaune admitted as Miles narrowed his eyes at the name. "Not all the marines that follow them are like that, right?" Jaune asked as Miles felt older than before. Closing his eyes he nodded as he took a deep breath as well.
"Jaune, when I told you about the World Government I wasn't just talking about the marines or the actual kingdoms that follow and make up the World Government. To answer your question though there are a few good ones, Tsuru, Garp and Sengoku are some noticeable ones… Kuzan and Borsalino too… but a lot of them follow Absolute Justice and I know someone who would probably make it into some kind of religion of he could…"
"Absolute Justice…?" Jaune asked out as he recalled some of what that actually meant. Miles looked up at the sky, thinking it over.
"Absolute Justice, the thought of Justice being carried out both absolutely and without relent, even if it means sacrificing things such as innocent lives or doing worse actions to do so. It is not something I agree with any longer but not something I can fully disagree with" Miles admitted much to Jaune's shock.
"What, you mean you actually still believe in that!" Jaune shouted as Miles remained unfazed. Jaune glared at his teacher while Miles elaborated once more.
"I agree that in certain cases there are times sacrifices must be made, and whether it is to choose lives of the few over the lives of the many, to sacrifice yourself or your image to protect someone or something that would one day bring about something important… that remains up to you. However while I might agree that sometimes the ends will justify the means there are times where it is taken too far." Miles felt too sober but continued.
"I have killed people in the name of Absolute Justice, both as CP9 and eventually in CP0. It wasn't until I went rogue and was betrayed by my so-called employers that I chose to see the world in a slightly different light" Miles continued as Jaune frowned as he remembered what Miles said about his past.
He was an agent of the World Government and participated in many events that he either supported or lamented. But whether or not he supported it or not it was something he had to accept at the time. It didn't help the blond that much to think about his teacher as a agent that protected the Celestial Dragons though.
"It's still not right, Miles" Jaune said bluntly as Miles shrugged. He was right, Absolute Justice was too extreme and in that name a lot of tragedies happened, some of which he was a part of. He had debated telling Jaune some of them, unsure how he would react to it. but with a sigh he changed the subject a little.
"We all have our own views of justice, Jaune" Miles said with a sigh as he clearly didn't want to get into that can of worms at the moment and preferred now to continue their talks of training. "Just know this, justice is a term that describes what people view is right and wrong. To many people it could be misused and taken to the point of true injustice. On whatever side or whoever uses it…"
"…I don't get it" Jaune admitted as Miles nodded, he was still young so he had time to learn. Maybe then he would do better than he did.
He could only hope. But now he was going to continue what he wanted to talk about. "So back to the sword training… I think you should continue to focus on using a broad sword for now… maybe change to a saber or something" he admitted while Jaune was interested.
"Yeah, I mean I am more comfortable with a weapon I already know how to use" Jaune said as Miles nodded before thinking of something.
"You said you use a shield as well, right?" Miles asked as Jaune nodded. Miles, seeing this also nodded before deciding something. "For now I think I should teach you how to fight without it."
"But I can do really well in a fight with a shield" Jaune said as Miles shrugged at that. He was sure he could but despite how he knew that everyone blossomed under their own styles he wanted to give it a try.
"I'll take your word for that. If you want to use a shield then go for it" he said while Jaune nodded and smiled. "But it doesn't hurt to have a second style under your belt so for now I want to make sure you know how to use a sword without a shield" he clarified as Jaune nodded at the older man. Despite him feeling more comfortable with a shield he figured he could still use it if he needed to.
"So you're going to teach me Soru, Tekkai and help me become a better swordsman?" Jaune asked with a small smile now on his face once again as Miles nodded, however there was one more thing he wanted to figure out.
"For now, but there is one last thing I want to see, Jaune I want you to channel your aura into that sword of yours" he said as he pointed to the wooden blade he had given the blond swordsman who seemed confused but he did so regardless as Miles watched it closely.
"…You said that aura was an energy produced from the soul? It amplifies your physical abilities like endurance, strength and such?" he asked as Jaune nodded as Miles went on. "And you said it was possible for people to sense others with it, correct?" he asked as Jaune nodded, recalling some of the conversations he had with Ren. He had displayed those abilities when he fought against King Taijusu back during initiation before he found Nora.
When Jaune tried to do something like that though he had a hard time but even after training and his semblance now active and him aware of it's capabilities, Jaune had a feeling he could train to that level if Ren could. It just was going to take a lot of time and effort. Miles however was smirking at the answer to that.
"And your semblance thing is like a buff to that aura of yours?" he asked as Jaune just sighed by this point but nodded. Where exactly was he going with this? Miles decided to take a bit of a chance. "Well I think we might be able to squeeze some other training in as well. Between the Rokushiki training, swordsmanship training and some training in some haki lessons I think you'll be ready for nearly anything up until you get to the Grand Line's first half" Miles said as Jaune was confused.
"Uh… haki?" Jaune asked as Miles nodded. Pulling back out his own wooden sword he channeled some of it into his blade, Jaune stared in amazement as a dark hue coated it as the older man demonstrated. Seeing a good area to demonstrate he merely raised the wooden blade up and released a strong wave of energy, his haki transferred into the blade and mixing with the wave of pressurized air that sliced nearly anything in it's path.
Jaune looked at the destruction it made as he saw not only trees but boulders and even part of the nearby mountain get sliced into like butter. Miles began to talk once again. "That is haki, or rather a part of it. You see Jaune, there are currently three known main colors of haki" he began holding up his fingers. "The first one is known as the Busoshoku Haki, with it you can channel your will power into things such as your sword or your fist, similarly to your aura. This is especially useful against those who had eaten devil fruits" Miles informed as Jaune seemed interested. He remembered Miles mentioning them to him.
There were three classes, Paramecia, Zoan and Logia. To him, they seemed like a double edged blade of sorts and Miles agreed. While the user would gain any ability they would be essentially lead hammers in the sea. Drowning was something that Miles was sure to alert the blond about in case he ever ate one, even Miles himself had to be careful.
But to him it was easy to place. Paramecia were similar to a semblance, Zoans were the equivalent to something like Qrow's abilities to transform into a bird or how a faunus had animals instincts and features wrapped up together and turned to eleven. The only abilities that made Jaune worry were the Logia. He didn't exactly know how well he would fight against a living being made of pure fire or sand but he would probably try to use water to extinguish the flames.
"This form of haki is especially useful against Logia users, it allows the user of the logia to be tangible and susceptible to attacks and can increase the defensive and offensive capabilities of both yourself and your weapons. Moving on we have Kenbunshoku Haki, the means of observation" Miles informed as Jaune nodded.
"Kenbunshoku Haki is clearly your mind and predicting the moves of both your opponent and your surroundings, think of it as a sixth sense. However there are some people out there that can do more with it than that. They can sense emotions, hear people's true intentions and even on rare occasions can see into the future" Miles said somewhat amused.
Jaune didn't look convinced. "You're telling me that people can see into the future… I mean I know Ren and some of the others could sense emotions with his semblance or their aura control… but seeing into the future?" he asked as Miles smiled.
"Kid, trust me. in comparison to some of the people I fought, seeing into the future with haki, while rare, isn't impossible" he said while muttering something under his breath about someone in particular he had apparently fought. Jaune was confused but left it at that. Miles then continued. "But, yes. With enough training you can reach full potential if you try hard enough I suppose, it's just the matter of grasping the basics" he informed as Jaune frowned.
"Yeah, it sounds a lot like some kind of super aura or something" Jaune joked as Miles shrugged at the suggestion. It probably was to be honest. Hell from what the former assassin heard about Jaune's world then there were some parallels. Aura and haki, semblance and devil fruits, he was a little curious what his own version of Grimm counted as but he would just assume it was similar to the diverse animals around the world. He just wondered what Jaune's answer for something like an ancient weapon was… one of those relics most likely.
He didn't know and he didn't really care but if Jaune had his aura which was essentially like his world's haki then that was already a decent place to start. Add that with some sword training and some unarmed techniques and the kid would be fine.
Hopefully
"So wait, what was that third haki you were talking about. You said there were three?" Jaune asked as Miles looked at him interested as he smirked. He didn't know if Jaune could do that or not but he would explain that to him later.
"Just focus on the first two for now, kid. When you master the basics of Kenbunshoku and Busoshoku Haki then we can see if you're capable of using Haoshoku Haki… and even then it won't be exactly pretty to learn since that is just throwing darts blindly in the dark hoping for a bulls eye" Miles informed since he wasn't sure if Jaune could even use haki at all.
Aura, while much more spread out and capable of the properties of haki was a lot weaker in terms of density. Still anything would help the kid get an advantage over anything he would probably face out there. But if he could amplify his aura to a matching degree… oh yes, that would be fun to explore.
"Uh, Miles…?" Jaune asked his teacher who seemed to be grinning from ear-to-ear as he thought of ways to torment-er, train his beloved student in the ways of haki and Tekkai. Normally he would have used a club or a branch but he thought of something else to use as a sense of nostalgia began to fill the former assassin.
He almost pitied the kid… oh well, this was beneficial to both of them. For the sake of training the boy and his morbid sense of entertainment, Metz D Miles, the man known as Chiper Pol's Forest King, would not hold back his punches.
"Miles…?" Jaune asked again as he noticed the older man beginning to laugh to himself as Jaune felt like he was going to hate what came next. It didn't do much when Miles, having a kind smile on his face that reminded him of his mom before she punished him for something he did wrong, stood up, places a hand his shoulder and lead the now somewhat frightened huntsman, a huntsman who had faced soulless monsters known as Grimm, super-powered humans and animal people like Cinder, Tyrian, and to a far less degree Cardin, who fought giant robots, fought armed personnel and who had grown up with seven sisters and became their walking-talking doll and so much more, down to what he would consider hell.
"So… let's start with some basic Kenbunshoku training, shall we?" Miles asked in a chipper tone. A tone that Jaune would later come to fear…
…
Ruby looked out the window of her hospital room, a week having passed since the incident and the literal fall of Atlas. As she looked out and saw the many others of civilians of Vacuo go about their busy days she barely noticed a knock on the door and focused on that. "Ruby, I'm going to come in, that alright?" Yang's voice called on the other side as Ruby said nothing while the door opened to reveal the blond brawler with a small smile on her face despite seeing her step-sister in such a state.
"Hey, Yang…" Ruby called out as she looked at her sister with a wince, her face covered with an eye patch while a new scar was now dawning her face. "W-weren't you with Weiss and the others?" she asked as Yang frowned at that. True she was told Ruby wanted some time to think and be alone but seeing her like this didn't make things any better for either of the two daughters of Taiyang Xiao Long.
"Weiss wanted to be with her family and Ren, Nora and Oscar… needed some time together… or alone in Oscar's case" Yang said as she sat down near the bed with an empty chair nearby. Ruby nodded, understanding why. Weiss was a wreck after that and only got worse after learning her dad died.
With both him and Author Watts in jail in Atlas it was clear to assume that he died too. That meant according to Oscar all of Salem's agents should've been accounted for. Watts died in Atlas, Hazel died in that explosion from Ozpin's magic, Tyrian fell off the edge to his doom and she made sure to take care of Cinder herself.
…Cinder…
Her single eye narrowed until she glared at the name of the woman who essentially killed three of her friends. As much as she hated to think about it, Neapolitan was after revenge, she blamed her for killing Roman and Cinder used that. If it wasn't for that woman then maybe Blake wouldn't have been knocked off taking a blow meant for here.
Maybe her first friend wouldn't have been burned alive and thrown into the abyss. If she was just a little faster or thought straighter then she might have been able to save him. If she was a little faster, fought harder… maybe they would've still been here with her.
Maybe Vale wouldn't have fallen and Penny and Pyrrha would have been left alone and spared from having their powers of the Four Seasonal Maidens taken from them by a mad woman working for Salem. Seeing her sister's hands grip the blanket and shake in restrained frustration, Yang spoke up again, hoping to try and change the subject.
"Well on the bright side, the doctors said you're going to be good to go in a few more days… after that… I mean, I don't know" Yang finally said, catching her sister off guard. "I mean, after what happened we don't need to worry all too much now, right. Jaune threw the Relic of Knowledge off the edge into that abyss and the Relic of Creation probably fell with it by now. Even if they'll eventually reappear in Remnant we don't know when that'll be. We managed to buy some time, right?" she asked as Ruby frowned at that
"It was my idea, Yang. Because of me Blake, Jaune and Penny are gone. Not only that but even Emerald fell and that's not taking into account how many other people fell when Cinder attacked us. And for what, a few more years until the Relics are restored? For Salem to form her army back up again?!" she yelled in frustration as Yang visibly flinched at the outburst.
"Ruby, we didn't know-" she tried to say while Ruby interrupted her again.
"When we should have known, we should've known Cinder or someone could've made their way into those portals, and not only that but it was a one-way trip!" she ranted as Yang frowned as she recalled what Nora and Ren had told her about why they didn't come back for help. For a second she hated it but soon enough she was forced to accept it. Looking down at her mechanical arm she was reminded more of what she was forced to accept.
Even after she thought she overcame them, even after killing the guy with Blake back by Argus, Yang still had nightmares of Adam Taurus even though she pushed them down. It was the first time she had killed someone… something that wasn't a Grimm or a robot from Atlas. It traumatized her in more ways than one but she had to be strong.
…If not for herself than for her sister even more so.
Meanwhile, Ren leaned against the wall of his hotel room with Nora leaning next to him, it was clear that they were under a lot of stress; bloodshot eyes were evident enough for that. Looking down at an old picture, the two fought the tears from escaping once again. It was their Team Picture that every one of them had a copy of, nothing very important in hindsight but something to hold onto.
In the background was Pyrrha Nikos, the red-haired Spartan that left them first to fight Cinder Fall alone and died because of it. It hurt them when they learned the truth, how Pyrrha had made some kind of choice and became some kind of Maiden that would've had to hide her powers for the rest of her life.
It was clear that wasn't the full story. Ozpin wouldn't have told them if he didn't have to. Even now they still held that against the reincarnating wizard to some extent. But they were forced to let it go. Pyrrha wouldn't have wanted them to suffer like that. It was hard to let go though, some more than others…
Which now had lead them to the next fallen teammate, scared and confused was none-other than one Jaune Arc with one Nora holding her arms around his and Ren's heads with a signature smile being on her face like nothing had happened to them.
Looking at the hammer-wielder now, Ren sighed as he wondered if he'd ever see his teammate smile like that for a while. They had fought back in Atlas and now they didn't know what to think.
"It's not fair, Ren… it's just not fair" Nora muttered to herself while Ren looked down to avoid her gaze. "Only a few years ago… we were all so happy. And now half of us are gone. Pyrrha, Jaune… even Blake died" she said as Ren merely placed a hand on her own, his way of trying to help soothe her.
"Nora… even if they aren't here right now… we'll still have our memories of them" he said more to himself than to his partner who merely stayed quiet as she wiped away some random tears that began to fall.
"Even so… I wanted them to see us graduate, to see us all become super-cool huntsman and huntresses together… to maybe even see them get together, we could've told them so many more stories… had so many more pancakes together…" Nora listed off as she tried to calm down. Ren nodded at that.
"Yeah, you do tell the best stories…" he said as Nora smiled at that bit but frowned. The more she thought about it the more she wondered what was left for them. But before she could she was interrupted by Ren.
"Nora… I know this might not be the best time… but, do you think… we can go out for a bit tonight… together I mean?" he asked as Nora looked at him in confusion. Ren wanted to actually go out?
"But didn't you say it was a waste of time? With Salem and-" she began to say before Ren exploded.
"I don't care about Salem, Nora. I don't care about her and Ozpin's war anymore. We already lost Jaune and Pyrrha because of it… I already lost two of my friends. I lost my family once, Nora… and I'm losing them again… because even so we… I was right. We are in-over our heads. Nora… I'm not saying we just give up… but I don't want to die in this battle… I… I don't want to see you die next."
With that, the normally stoic member of Team JNPR, or rather formerly Team ORNJ just remained quiet, his anger, sadness, grief being expelled from him with tears falling once more while Nora said nothing. Before he knew it however, he felt her move up to him and take him into an embrace.
"Ren… I won't go anywhere. Not this time, not again…" she muttered as Ren slowly returned the embrace as both living members of the sister team of Team RWBY were left alone to find comfort in themselves.
She wouldn't let him go and he wouldn't let her go. They had both lost too much. And now they wouldn't let the other be taken away like their friends were.
"Still… do you think… they're waiting for us?" Nora asked with tears in her eyes as Ren didn't know how to respond to that. Eventually he thought it through. Jaune and Pyrrha waiting for Nora and him… Jaune being nervous while Pyrrha being her shy but respectable, humble self, both of them then greeting the fallen sword-wielding teammates with hugs once again before chatting about their lives they lived.
It was enough to make the young man smile softly. "I think so, Nora. But I think we should keep them waiting a little longer. After all they probably have a lot to talk about" he said with a small chuckle as Nora nodded before she suddenly gasped.
"Wait, Renny… do you think that when we see them again there will be little Jaune-Jaunes and Pyrrhas with them?" she asked as she suddenly had a thought that made the black-haired man look at her confused. What did she mean by little Jaunes and…?
Oh… OH…
"N-Nora… I'm not sure that's how it works. I mean… I don't know but I still think you need… you know… things to make children" he said with a blush as Nora looked at him in thought before grinning.
"Yeah, oh well I guess we'll just have to have a lot of Mini-Rennys and Mini-Mes to make up for it, right… Ren?" she asked and somewhat declared, missing the expression on her now-again boyfriend's face.
"N-nora!" he shouted as he felt scandalized by his oldest friend and now once-again girlfriend while she merely laughed at the idea. Meanwhile they didn't know or notice that a person overheard them from outside the door. A young boy with darker skin and wearing a new set of clothes sighed; he didn't know what to do. He didn't want to intrude or interrupt them; instead he turned around and left.
"Oscar" a voice said in his head while the young boy sighed. "Oscar… I know what you're thinking… I know I can't say anything to make up for it-" Ozpin said within his mind while Oscar nodded before interrupting him.
"Yeah, I know… but I still don't like it. I know you didn't like it either…" Oscar muttered out loud while Ozpin would've frowned if he could.
"No… I don't. After what Miss Schnee told us as well as her sister… this victory cost us greatly. Miss Belladonna died due to a young girl's revenge" he started as he recalled their own encounter with one Neapolitan and how the Relic of Knowledge was taken from them. "More so we still don't know how this will affect Salem's plans. Two kingdoms have fallen and the Grimm will more-than likely increase while Salem lies low until the two missing Relics are restored in Remnant. That will be a gamble as not even Salem or I will know where they are. More so…I fear that when they do come back we won't be able to properly protect them anymore" Ozpin stated as Oscar nodded.
"Jaune bought us some time though… at least Salem doesn't have them" the young boy said softly as Ozpin nodded. After a moment of silence, Oscar asked the wizard a question. "Do you think he'll believe us though, I mean when we called them-"
"I'm not sure… but unlike Ghira who was currently on his way with his wife for more answers on his daughter's death it was actually Mr. Arc that seemed assured his son was still somehow alive. But even so that doesn't mean we know where he is or what condition he is in…nor does it guarantee his possible return…" Ozpin said to himself. He was not looking forward to this meeting. As the headmaster of Beacon Academy, conversations were more common than some might have thought. And it always filled him with sadness or despair when he had to inform any parents of a child's death. Even Hazel who lost his sister was proof enough that some people were often changed for the worst because of it.
But even so he never expected someone like one Jacques Arc to be so open about this kind of thing. He was an enigma of sorts with barely any records of his past until he met his would-be-wife, Isabelle Romonee. It was even stranger at what they had done regarding their son and children. According to Mister Arc, it was his father's side that fought in the Great War…
But that was not the case. It was the Romonee that fought for Vale as tacticians and helped secure several victories during the many battles fought. Yet as time went on the Romonee name became more and more uncommon. Their bloodline nearly wiped out during the war and he would probably say Salem had something to do with it as well. If it fueled her desires for the relics then anything and anyone would be used for her goals.
After all with the Romonee's family semblance of Aura Amplification it was easy to understand why. They were not really what one would call fighters. They were more the leaders and support. A role that he was happy that Mister Arc had grown into despite his lack of formal training prior to Beacon Academy…
But now he wouldn't be able to see what would truly become of it. With the son of Li Ren, an orphaned girl possibly from that clan, a young woman known as the so-called "Goddess of Victory" and a Romonee with a strange upbringing and a mysterious figure for a father… it would've seemed that the nieces of a dusty old crow, an heiress and daughter of the former leader of the White Fang were given a run for their money.
…An interesting year indeed…
Still he knew that there was more than family relationships and blood to determine the value of a person. It was about how much they wanted to better themselves and their drives in doing so. He also knew that if Ghira and Jacques didn't kill him for this most recent failure of his, Qrow would after he learned what happened to Ruby. How could this day get any worse?
Before he could respond to that metaphorical question, his scroll rang. It was kind of strange but eventually he did pick it up. "H-hello?" Oscar asked before a familiar voice echoed in the boy's ears…
It was an angry one at that…
"Cut the crap, Oz. What the hell happened to my nieces?!" one Qrow Branwin demanded as Oscar paled.
"Qrow, calm down, I'm trying to fly this thing as fast as I can-" the voice of one Maria Calaveras said over the speaker before static reigned over it.
"Not now, Granny. Oz… I just got a-hold of Yang… I swear if what she said happened to Ruby, so help me, Oz I'm taking Omen and shoving it straight up your-"
A sudden loud beep was heard followed by a "call ended" message on the scroll. Oscar was pale as so was Ozpin. It seemed that Qrow found out and was after blood.
…Misfortunate indeed...
And there is the second chapter. Overall I think it is pretty good. So I am going to be putting in some of Joan of Arc's mythos in this story, one of them being represented in Miles and Jaune's parents.
For Jaune's parents their names were Jacques D' Arc and Isabelle Romee so with Isabelle being short for the color Isabelline and Jacques being well... that'll be brought up later.
Meanwhile Metz D. Miles is more based off of Jean De Metz, someone who initially took Joan in to see Prince Charles and one of the first to believe in her mission. I figured it would be nice to have Metz be the first person to help Jaune as well. I'll be getting back to the whole CP9 thing with him later, especially when we get to Water 7.
Now for clarification I want to address the whole Aura/Haki debate. initially aura is a watered down variation of haki of sorts, think of it more like a tier level of strength. You have basic haki levels, advanced levels of haki such as Haki coating similar to Zoro and Luffy's haki levels after the time-skip and higher levels of that which is Katakuri's Kenbunshoku style of haki.
Aura is around the lower basics of haki in terms of strength, however in exchange we can see aura can do some things that haki cannot. a Semblance being the main example. So while aura does have it's downsides in comparison it also has it's plus sides. Jaune's semblance, Aura Amplification, will be helping him when time come for him to fight some of the bigger threats but just don't expect him to take on someone like Doflamingo, Akainu, or god forbid someone like Big Mom with just aura. It won't work out for him well.
And finally we have the whole thing going on in Remnant. Honestly I have an idea involving that down the line but for now it's just tying up loose ends on their side of things. The Relics will eventually "respawn" back to Remnant, Ruby and the others are going through the aftermath of what happened to give some sense of closure and will even give us some insight on a few things laid out down the road involving aura strengthening, semblance evolution and more.
With that said, Hope you have a good day.