Chapter-8
Sigurd
Qrow took a swig from his flask as he entered the village of Sauvage. Usually, he would be travelling through the countryside gathering information on the strange people popping up in Vale's villages who were sabotaging their defenses to allow them to be overrun by the grimm. One of them had managed to kill a team of elite huntsmen so Ozpin had almost all of the Huntsman's association to protect the villages, leaving the capital to be defended by Ozpin, the Valeian police and the Valeian military and a few villages that didn't see reports of the saboteurs.
Sauvage was one of those villages. It rarely took the contract of huntsman because it itself was home to many retired huntsmen and huntresses who regularly set out to clear out any grimm nearby under the leadership of John Arc. But for some reason, many of Sauvage's townspeople had started disappearing, with the retired huntsmen being unable to find the culprit while always finding the corpses of the townspeople being consumed by wandering grimm.
Ozpin had sent an experienced team, Team SOLR, to deal with the problem. But they hadn't reported back to Ozpin for a few days, hence Qrow had been told to go and check up on them.
As he approached Sauvage's reinforced steel walls, two town guards holding two atlesian-model rifles looked at him with deadpan looks. "Oh boy, a drunkard…" He heard one of them tell the other. "Are you looking for a place to stay?" He asked in a slightly disgusted tone. "Cause I must tell ya that its not safe here right now."
"Come on, fellas, is that a way to treat a huntsman?" He spoke showing his license, chuckling at the flabbergasted reactions of the guard.
"Oh shit! Sorry about that, sir. Open the gate!" He yelled as the doors opened for Qrow to enter.
Another guard came up. "We're very sorry, sir, we didn't know…"
"Nah, no need, bud. Just point me to the bar and call Arc over." Qrow replied as the guard nodded.
"It's down the main street, sir. The house with the red bricks." He spoke before walking off.
Qrow made his way to the bar and ordered a bottle of whiskey before sitting down on a chair and waiting for John to arrive.
Soon, he arrived. His blonde hair was longer than it was the last time they met. He wasn't wearing his signature white knight armor and even more surprising, he wasn't holding his family's sword.
If John Arc went somewhere without keeping Crocea Mors close to him or didn't praise it at least once, something was seriously wrong with the world.
"Where the heck did your sword go? " Qrow asked as John sighed with an annoyed look on his face.
"It got stolen."
Qrow choked on his drink. "Hold on. The same sword that you would literally sleep with in your Beacon dorm, got stolen?"
"I don't want to get into the details, Thunder thighs. Someone took it." John replied in a neutral tone. "I'm going to kill Jaune the next time I see him…" Qrow heard John mutter under his breath.
"Now enough joking. I'm pretty sure you're here to check on the team Oz sent?"
"Yep. I was the only huntsman around who wasn't busy keeping an eye out for those shady guys. Is this their work?"
"Oh no, it's a grimm. A really nasty one, apparently. Wiped the floor with SOLR, killing Olive, fatally injuring Shamrock and Lily and Rouge…it's better you see what happened."
Qrow's eyes widened. Team SOLR had been on the field for almost as long as him, racking up a lot of successful missions. It was a common belief amongst huntsmen that team SOLR was unstoppable while they were together. It was almost unbelievable that a single grimm managed to take down all four of them.
"Shamrock's the only one who has seen the grimm. We need to get to him before he succumbs to his wounds." John spoke as he and Qrow started running to the hospital.
"Why are the streets so empty, Arc?" Qrow called out.
"Ever since the people saw what happened to Team SOLR, they've been scared shitless, thinking that the grimm would jump on them at any moment and rarely go outside of their homes. Whatever this grimm is, it can't be something normal. Not when it has created more panic and fear in Sauvage than any grimm has since the great war."
The more Qrow heard about this grimm, the more concerned he grew. Among Salem's ranks, there was a special grimm called The Hound. It was apparently made from the body of a beowolf with silver eyes attached to it by Salem which became corrupted. Ever since then, it had the ability to vaporize living creatures like how Silver-eyed warriors could vaporize the grimm as well as a level of intelligence no grimm even after decades of experience could develop. Ever since its creation, it was kept on a low profile with only Oz and his inner circle knowing about its existence. But now, had Salem finally revealed what is one of her most terrifying underlings to the public?
John took him through the hospital, a medium-sized building that looked like any other house except for the symbol of a medical cross on it. He lead him through the hallways to a room whose door was closed. There was another room after it with its door shut as well
John looked at him. "Just a warning, even I felt queasy seeing the extent of damage done to Shamrock. So just, keep calm." He spoke before opening the doors.
Shamrock's condition was even worse than he thought. Blood soaked bandages covered most of his body, with his right eye also covered while his left darted about in frantic motions.
"Here's a picture of his injuries." John spoke showing a picture that made Qrow gag. Something had bitten off Shamrock's abdomen and his intestines had spilled out, while his arms and legs looked like lumps of flesh than actual body parts. His chest was filled with deep claw marks with pieces of bone sticking out and his face had been bitten into a mangled mess with his right eye gouged out and his throat torn out as well.
"H-Holy…"
"Sham, it's John. Can you hear me?"
"A-Arc?" Sham spoke in a strained voice. "And is that…"
"What the hell happened to you, Sham?"
On hearing the question, Sham's eyes widened as his heart rate started increasing. "G-Grimm…purple eyes…Lily…NO…GET AWAY FROM ME!" He screamed before coughing out blood.
"Sham, Sham! Keep a hold of yourself!" Jaune exclaimed trying to soothe him.
"N-N-N-N-…"
"He's lost it again. Now you can see what happened to him." John spoke as Qrow continued to stare at Sham. Sham was a pompous asshole for the time Qrow knew him, but he was a really brave huntsman who wasn't shaken by a lot of things. To see him reduced to a pathetic state like this…
"What…did he say about Lily?" Qrow asked in fear as he and John walked out of Sham's room and to the one after it.
"That's…the scariest part of their encounter." John spoke as he gripped the handle. "The grimm tore Olive apart and mutilated Sham to the point of death like most grimm, but what it did to Lily and Rouge…" He opened the door to reveal two stone statues that looked like Lily and Rouge.
"…It turned them to stone."
In the other room, Shamrock's heart rate monitor became a flat line.
"I have a mission for you, Saber." Ozpin spoke in a grave tone to Sigurd. Ozpin looked a lot more worried than usual with his hair more unruly than usual and some dark bags under his eyes.
"Yesterday Qrow called me about something very serious. About 4 days back, I had sent a team of huntsmen, Team SOLR, to deal with a grimm that had been harassing the village of Sauvage. They hadn't responded to my calls so I sent Qrow to check on them. And…"
"Something happened to them."
"One of their members was torn apart, one was fatally injured and died of his wounds yesterday but the other two…" Ozpin showed pictures of two stone statues.
"They were turned into stone."
"Turned into stone?" Sigurd questioned. The ability of turning people to stone was most famous in the Greek Legend of Medusa. Seeing the stone statues, Sigurd could assume that Medusa had been summoned and was causing harm to the people.
"Yes. No grimm with these kinds of abilities before so I am sending you to Sauvage to kill this grimm."
"I understand. Will others be coming with me?"
"No. At this point, it is too dangerous for anyone but you. Henceforth you will have to do this mission alone. I hope you have no objections?"
"Not at all, Headmaster."
"Excellent. I have contacted John Arc and he already preparing your accommodation for your stay at Sauvage. Qrow will meet you once you arrive there. The bullhead is scheduled to leave in 1 hour so be prepared. Good luck on your mission, Saber."
"Took you long enough." Qrow commented as Sigurd walked out of the bullhead that transported him to Sauvage, which looked like the mix of a medieval and a modern European town. Qrow stood alongside a man with messy blonde hair who looked a lot like Jaune, most likely his father John Arc.
"I just found out about it, Qrow." Sigurd retorted as John stepped forward.
"Forgive me, but did Ozpin only send you?" John asked skeptically.
"He did. He did not believe it would be safe for anyone other than myself to undertake this mission."
"…I'm sorry, but I don't believe you would be enough."
"And why is that?"
John sighed bitterly. "You've seen what happened to team SOLR. They were one of the best huntsman teams we had before they all died. If they couldn't beat this grimm, then I cannot believe that a single huntsman, no matter how strong, would be able to."
"Not to be arrogant, but I wouldn't say I am on the level of most huntsman. I am, in fact, much higher than you think. I believe I can handle this." Sigurd spoke. If it was Medusa, then she would require a lot of power to unleash her eyes. Before she could do that, Sigurd would have cut her down with Gram.
So then, why do I feel something is going to go wrong? John kept referring to the creature as a grimm instead of something different.
"Sure…" John spoke narrowing his eyes. "Alright then. The grimm roams around in the forest. It's too difficult to find the places its rest so you'll just have to hope that you manage to run into it."
"I see. Then I shall begin next morning."
"Good idea. It should give you time to prep up for tomorrow's hunt. I'll show you where you live." John spoke as he led Sigurd to the arc estate while Qrow walked off to the bar again.
"DAAAADDD!" A feminine voice screamed as a little girl with a toy opened the door. "You're home!"
"That I am, sweetheart. Where's your mother?" John asked with a smile. "She's making lunch right now!" The girl replied before her eyes fell on Saber. "Who're you?"
"I'm Saber."
"Saber…that can't be your name. What's your real one."
"I can't say that, little one."
"Why not?"
"Reasons I cannot state right now."
"Oh come on! Please?"
"Sweetheart, he's a guest. Don't start annoying him like that." John scolded her. "This is my youngest daughter Sapphire. She's turning 10 in a few weeks."
"Is that so? Then happy birthday in advance."
"Thanks, Saber!" Sapphire chirped before running back to the house. "MOM! Dad's back and he's brought a guest." Her voice could be heard as Sigurd and John sat down on a couch. The living room very modest for one as important as John in Sauvage with its concrete walls and simple furniture.
Soon, a woman in a householder's clothes came out with blonde hair like John's. "Welcome home, honey. And good afternoon, Mr. Saber. I'm Carmine, John's husband. A pleasure to meet you."
"A pleasure to meet you too, Ms. Arc." Sigurd greeted back as Carmine chuckled. "Oh call me Carmine. I prefer being called by that."
"Honey, where are the girls?" He asked.
"Well, Violet's practicing with her sword in the training room, Sunny and Ebony are reading some books, Sapphire's playing with her doll, while Silvia and Rosa helping me out in the kitchen."
"Call them."
"Alright, GIRLS! Your father's home!" Carmine called as a number of girls of different ages came out from different parts of the house. There was little Sapphire with her doll, two girls holding books, two wearing aprons like Ms. Arc and one in full armor with a sheathed sword.
"My eldest daughter Saphron lives in Argus and my son, Jaune…you're a professor, so you know about him."
Sigurd nodded as the armored girl's eyes widened. "You're one of Jaune's teachers?! Then you must have seen just how poor he is at combat."
Sigurd kept silent. It was true he had noticed, and he also knew that Jaune faked his papers to come to Beacon. Pyrrha had approached him regarding the issue about Jaune and Sigurd had suggested to train Jaune herself privately to improve his skills. Sigurd himself had been planning to conduct extra classes before he was called to this mission.
"I have. But in the end, it is upto the headmaster whether Jaune should leave or not." He spoke.
"But Jaune's our wimpy little brother! He can't go off fighting grimm! That's dad's job!" One of the Arc girls holding a book spoke.
"What if he get's hurt?" One of the Arc girls wearing an apron spoke.
"And that's why I hate Ozpin's weird decisions…" John spoke. "once you go back, could you talk to Ozpin about it?"
"I will. But I don't think Ozpin will budge. But enough of that, I haven't properly introduced myself. I am Saber, who's come to your town on work."
"I'm Violet." The armored girl spoke.
"Ebony. Sunny." The book girls spoke.
"Silvia and Rosa." The apron girls spoke.
"And I'm sapphire! But you knew that!"
"Of course, Sapphire."
Sapphire giggled. "You look pretty funny in those glasses."
"Saph!" Violet scolded her younger sister while Sigurd let out an amused snort. When he was alive, people would call him wise for wearing his crystallized wisdom, not odd or weird as Sapphire was saying.
"It's alright. I suppose most huntsmen don't wear glasses?"
"Dad says they don't because wearing glasses means bad eyesight!"
"Well, I wear my glasses for other reasons. My eyesight is still good without wearing them."
"Oh…" Sapphire spoke in wonder as Carmine shook her head. "Don't disturb our guest, sweetie. Now that you've met him, go back to your rooms. I'll call for dinner when the time comes."
"Ok mom." The arc sisters spoke and all left except for Violet and Sapphire.
"You use a sword?" Violet asked as Sigurd nodded. "And daggers as well."
"But no gun forms?"
"No. my semblance is of a ranged-type so I do not need guns."
Violet raised her eyebrows. "I didn't think there would be anyone other than us using old-fashioned weapons."
"Well, now you know there are."
"By the way, Violet," John spoke up, "Why're you training at an odd hour?"
Violet froze up. "Um…uh…I didn't feel like doing my usual schedule…"
"I am your father, young lady. I didn't raise you to skip classes because you didn't feel like it. So why are you training right now?"
Violet looked down. "I…wanted to join the taskforce for hunting the grimm."
"You…what?"
"Dad, I…"
"No. Absolutely not, Violet. Everybody in town knows what happened to the huntsmen who came here. I don't want you to go and fight that thing."
"But I want to help…"
"And doing so will get you hurt. We can't hope to hunt down that thing because it kills all of us without us being able to fight back!"
"Dad, I've improved a lot in my skills. I can do it!"
"No, you can't!"
"Yes, I can!" Violet snapped as she walked away.
John clenched his jaw before sighing. "I'm sorry, Saber. I shouldn't have lost my temper in front of a guest."
"I don't mind. But your daughter seems to mind you keeping her away from hunting the grimm."
"She's not ready. She is skilled, but she's also very emotional and can get disbalanced easily. Dragging her into something like this would have an adverse effect on her."
Sigurd nodded in agreement. "Alright, that does sound reasonable. But still, you should at least place her to defend the village in case any grimm attack it from the negativity."
"Yeah, you're right. Anyways, let me show you your room."
After settling down in his room, Sigurd spent his day in the arc household, talking to the members of Jaune's massive family. And they were so unique that the arc household seemed to be in a state of chaos. It made it more impressive that Jaune was able to endure this for most of his childhood.
While the arc sisters were a bunch of nice girls, Violet and Sapphire would be the ones he interacted with the most. With sapphire, he humored her childish excitement by asking her questions about it and with violet, he discussed sword styles and even sparred a few times to test her skills, which he found satisfactory for being a town guard.
The next day, Sigurd woke up early and put on his armor and weapons before stepping out of the house. John, Carmine and Violet had come to see him off.
"Good luck, Saber. I hope you come back in one piece." John spoke as Sigurd nodded before heading out of the town and into the forest.
Entering the forest, sun was immediately reduced and Sigurd's surroundings got darker. But he paid no mind and walked deeper. There were almost no signs of life, except for the occasional bunch of beowolves who he sliced apart with Gram. There was no sign of the creature that killed Team SOLR.
That was until he reached a part of the forest where it was dark enough to be night time with little sunlight illuminating parts of the forest floor.
A scream that sounded like a woman's echoed through the forest as Sigurd pulled out Gram. The woman's scream seemed to have come from the direction in front of him.
"Sowilo." He spoke inscribing the rune as it lit up in the darkness and gave him a clearer view.
Sigurd ran towards the direction where he heard the scream, hearing it happen again and again before he noticed something big move towards him.
It was a trap…! Sigurd thought as a massive humanoid 8 feet tall with black fur all over its body swung at him with sharp white claws. It was extremely fast even for servant standards, so in his weakened state, Sigurd was forced to stay still and let his armor take the hit.
He grunted his pain as the claws somehow managed to penetrate his armor and leave a gash on his stomach as he jumped back. Taking a good look, he noticed It was resembled a deer with hooves on its legs while its head was shaped like deer's skull with sharp fangs protruding and two red dots staring at him from two bottomless eye sockets with a lot of bloodlust.
A Wendigo… Sigurd identified the creature. A phantasmal beast from North America that was infamous for its diet of human meat.
"Algiz!" He chanted as the Wendigo's wild swings were blocked by a shield for a few moment before it broke. Using this opportunity, Sigurd swung Gram to decapitate the Wendigo, only for it to dodge back at high speeds and charge again with its jaw wide open to bit Sigurd's head off.
Sigurd crouched and ducked under the jaws, rolling forward to land a hit on its legs while its claws cut a gash on his left arm.
"Uruz!" Sigurd chanted as the uruz rune mended his wounds the Wendigo pounced on him. He raised gram's flat side to block the Wendigo's bite and kicked it away. The Wendigo charged at him as he got up and Sigurd blocked its claws. Sigurd pushed back against it before punching it in the stomach, making the Wendigo shriek in pain before thrusting Gram at its heart. The Wendigo was able to shift in time for Gram to miss its heart and sink into its shoulder. Another slash landed a deep cut on Sigurd's chest as he spat out blood and disengaged.
Before Sigurd could make another move, the wendigo's red eye dots suddenly lit up into glowing red eyeballs as Sigurd felt sounds of stone forming.
Mystic eyes of petrification… He realized. That was what happened to Lily and Rouge. This Wendigo, like the Trolls, had been given abilities not its own. It also explained how its claws were able to pierce his armor made of dragon scales. His magic resistance prevented from turning to stone immediately.
The Wendigo let out another shriek before charging at Sigurd with its claws outstretched as he struggled to break free.
"Algiz!" An unfamiliar voice spoke as its claws were blocked by a shield.
"Close your eyes!" The same voice ordered as Sigurd did so.
"Sowilo!" The voice spoke as the telltale signs of light flashing appeared on Sigurd's closed eyelids.
"Uruz!" He spoke before breaking out of the petrification spell cast on him and noticing that the Wendigo blindly flailed about, letting out another shriek before running into the darkness of the woods.
Sigurd noticed someone come out of the bushes and tensed.
"Relax. I was the one who cast those runes." The man who came out spoke.
Sigurd stared at him before relaxing. "Thank you for your help." He spoke as his sowilo rune lit up the man's feature's. He had blue hair tied up in a ponytail wearing a blue body suit with armored shoulder pads carrying a blood red spear. His red eyes had slit pupils that indicated his divinity.
"No problem. Seeing that this isn't a Grail War, I think I can trust you in this…weird world. Servant class Lancer. True name…"
"Cú Chulainn." Sigurd spoke, the his crystallized wisdom deducing the man's identity. "The Hound of Ulster. Ireland's child of light and one of its greatest heroes."
A/N: And here we go. The first arc of the story that's absent from canon. Considering that it's the beast stated by Rider to be able to kill Sigurd, I gave it some abilities to counter Sigurd and the win for round-1, with only a timely interference from the next servant to be introduced in the story - Cu Chulainn. You bet I'm going to give him the badass scenes he deserves.
Also, Volume 9's teaser is out. When I first saw the other world at the end of Volume 8, I had started speculating about its relation with RWBY lore. What i had believed is that the Brother gods are trying to achieve something which involved creating planets and a prosperous civilization to flourish on them. That meant the other world could be :-
1. The homeworld of the Brother Gods that they left behind to set out on their mission but after probably failing on Remnant, returned to live on it again.
2. The trash heap of all the broken worlds the brother gods tried to create, with Remnant being spared because it was the closest for the brother gods to achieve their goals.
And with the teaser out, I'm starting to think it's the second theory. Although I honestly wished it was more of a Garden of Eden type thing that leaned towards the first theory than the Literary Nonsense world it's going for, since I don't like the genre of Fantasy Literary Nonsense.
Just to let you guys know, none of these theories will apply to the other world in this story. It's got something completely different.
Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed and constructive criticism is appreciated.