Aand we're back again! This time we rush forward (though not too much) to get to the one scene…

That one scene…

At least, that was the plan, but now you get the one scene I have been agonizing over for ages!

Merry fucking christmas!

Enjoy!

For want of a knight

Chapter 30: the thing about legends

Two weeks.

Two long weeks on the water were finally coming to an end, as the ferry neared the island of Menagerie, home of the faunus.

To Octavia, this end could not come any sooner. Neo developing seasickness, May flaunting some serious honkers and Neon and Dew collectively being bored enough to play pranks on everyone grated on her nerves. Dew had already complained about her aggressive scissoring.

Though now, finally, it could end.

For a time.

Until they had to head back.

Yeah, Octavia was not looking forward to that one, either.

Blake was in front of everyone, having all assembled on the front deck, and readying a briefing about Menagerie. Considering she grew up there, she was the one best suited for the task.

"Please, any humans have to lay low when we're there," Blake instructed, her gaze fixed on Team NDGO and a pouty-looking Neo. Who knew what she thought. "That goes for everyone, but especially the humans. Kuo Kuana is full of people who lived through the Revolution and still hold some apprehension against humans in general. It's why the secondary headquarters of the White Fang are here."

Neon perked up. "Secondary?"

"The primary one is in Mistral, for strategic value."

"Ah."

"Anyhow, tread lightly, for Oum's sake, and do not start any fights," the black-haired beauty finished, staring at Neo in particular, who smirked back in defiance.

At last, the voyage had come to an end; the ferry safely docking at the harbor of the tropical island. Already, as the group walked down the ramp, a woman awaited them at the pier. Her sight seemed to have upset Blake; perhaps because they look so-

'Wait, is that her mom?'

"Tori!" the woman yelled at Jaune's mother, who ran down the gangway at first notice.

"Kali!" Immediately, the two engaged in a mutual glomp, overjoyed at seeing each other again. The girls were well used to Mama Arc's antics and rather...inexplicable nature, to the point where it barely fazed them.

Blake even muttered a "I should've known…wait, we have known!" True, the girls realized, as Arturia Arc had mentioned being friends with the ruling couple of Menagerie, id est Blake's parents.

Kali Belladonna, a less grouchy looking version of Blake and MILF of a woman, happily danced around with her old friend as the rest of the entourage left the ship.

Menagerie, and their ultimate goal, was waiting for them.

"Kitten!"

But first, Blake had to be tortured, it seemed. Immediately, Kali had her daughter in a vice grip of a hug. The unflappable ninja was looking decidedly uncomfortable at being embraced like this.

"Mom?"

"We can talk about things later, kitten," her mother soothed her. "Right now, we need to entertain our guests, right?"

"Ooh, yes!" Tori agreed. "Oh, it really has been too long, Kali! We have a lot to talk about."

"Like?" the cat woman drawled playfully.

"Like your Blake and my Jaune getting involved?"

Kali gasped.

"Along with many others?"

Kali gasped harder. She looked like picture perfect joy, a massive smile on her face. "Oh finally! I was afraid she would never come out of her shell!"

"Mom!"

"Well, your ex doesn't count."

"MOM!"

"Anyway," Tori interrupted before they made too much of a scene. "Let's go to your place, hm?"

The First Lady of Menagerie lit up at her friend. "Oh yes! Don't you all worry, there's enough beds for everyone!"

The good mood the team had arrived to did not disappear, even as they had started discussing more than past happenings and current incidents. To Glynda's shame and the students' endless delight, Tori and Kali had been troublemakers during their school times. Sure, Kali was not a Beacon graduate, instead having worked as an assistant teacher for faunus studies at the time, though that had not diminished her mischievousness. It usually fell onto the sterner blonde to rein the both of them back in.

How unfortunate it was that they had been interrupting the good time for the sake of strategy.

"The White Fang arrived only two days ago," Kali reported. "They had a blonde boy as a prisoner; that's Jaune then? My, he grew up. Anyhow, they've been keeping them at the headquarters. And Tori, don't freak out, but I overheard the Albains urging to make an example of him."

Tori was pissed, but didn't freak out. "If they lay a hand on my baby boy, I'll make sure they regret being born."

The panther faunus tittered. "I would be the last one to stop you. These two support Adam's way of things, dreaming of supremacy. Now, where is Ghira…?"

"Yeah, that would only bring more problems," Neon jumped in. "Like the Grimm."

"True. Oh dear, Ghira! Where are you?"

"Right here, right here," a deep male voice assuaged, and the girls balked at the giant panther man coming into the room. "Ah Tori, it has been a while. I heard about the-"

"Oh, shush, you! No talking work now, hm?" the blonde woman waved off. "Although, maybe the girls here would have a few things to talk about, in regards to faunus rights?"

From there on, Kali and Ghira basically hosted an open forum among the students, happily moderating as the girls talked about politics and faunus rights. Of course they all supported those, but the White Fang way of things was only bringing more problems. Blake was spiritedly arguing along.

"That was not what the Fang intended!"

"Does it matter? Now is now, and now they're weirdos."

"Misguided!"

"I think that's not the right word here."

Tori, however, noticed something among the din of the conversation. A multi-colored head of hair left the room quietly, the face it belonged to looking uncomfortable.

She decided to follow, leaving them to their talk.

"Wasn't there a movement supporting fraternization?"

"We don't talk about them!"

"Oh yeah, the Silken Tail! They're a porn company now."

"Yeah…"

"Awesome! Wait, why have I heard the name before?"

"Because Oct has been watching these vids?"

"Did not!"

"Oh right, that was Neb."

"Hey, don't you throw me under the bus!"

Neo looked confused. She had never suffered from any form of motion sickness before, which was why her time on the ship had blindsided her so. That, and her odd cravings for lemon ice cream, which the ferry thankfully had in stock.

As she pondered these sudden changes, she noticed the mother of her crush enter the room she had retreated to, holding something that made her eyes go wide. She shook her head, whereas the MatriArc insisted.

An embarrassing moment and ten minutes later, she stared at three pregnancy tests. All of them had two lines, showing what Neo thought impossible.

"That can't be," she signed hastily at the mother of eight; her expression had been unreadable the last few minutes. Now, her eyebrows heightened in curiosity at the diminutive troublemaker.

"And how is that?"

"There was an incident. The doc said that I could never…." Her arms sank down as she started shivering.

"Sometimes doctors can underestimate what the human body and what aura is capable of. I mean, these things, all at once, can't be wrong."

Neo held herself as reality set in. All she felt…

She signed slowly, unsurely. "I'm scared."

The older woman wrapped her up in a hug, gently so. "You shouldn't be afraid. I'm here for you," she calmed her, her voice low and soft. "I know my son. He will take responsibility, so that makes two. Everyone will be there for you, sweetie."

Hearing that, Neo pressed her face into Tori's body and sobbed. She cried out her fears, her relief of not having to do this alone. She sat there, in the arms of the blonde, and cried.

A few minutes later, as she calmed down under the soothing voice of Tori, cooing at her that it would be okay, she loosened their hug. The woman smiled at the mute expecting mother, looking for a way to calm her down some more.

"You never told me, you know?" Neo looked up at her. "About how you met my son. Everyone else has."

Hesitantly, she raised her arms to sign, before she took a deep breath and began.

It had been a good day, way before the message went out that the Vytal festival would be delayed. The latest heist went off without a hitch, Cinder was satisfied with their haul and Roman felt like partying. Neo was, too, and she partied like she always did.

With a good, big pint of ice cream.

Strolling down the street, she spotted her favorite shop for the delectable treat; they made it so creamy and full of flavor! As she walked in, the bell jingling, she saw him.

Jaune was there, agonizing over his pick for ice cream. He had felt like it, to calm some nerves in the face of the approaching tournament. Seeing him at first, she saw a sucker to get a free meal out of.

Tori fixed the mute with a dirty look, who shrank under the gaze.

"Naughty, naughty, young lady," she chided, shaking her head slowly at Neo before motioning for her to continue.

Thus, Neo waltzed up to him, giving him the cutest look she could muster while tugging on his shirt. He looked down at her - my, what pretty eyes - blinked at her and played dumb.

She pointed at Neopolitan ice cream, her favorite, for which she was named. Finally, he let out an "oh", understanding, looking for the money. As he grew more frantic in his search, she realized she was trying to meal ticket a guy with no money, felt bad and decided to threaten the store clerk with bodily harm, drawing Hush out of its umbrella sheath just enough to make him pale and interject that hers, and his, was free.

Because they made a cute couple, he added without thinking. She just winked at him as he blushed adorably, ducking his head.

Cute, she had thought back then.

She decided to stick around, seeing some entertainment value in teasing the guy. Upon being asked some questions, she just played coy.

Then he did what she hadn't expected. He asked, in sign language, if she was mute. Baffled, she gaped at him before replying affirmative in sign. From then on, they actually had a pleasant conversation about, well, anything. Truth be told, Neo couldn't recall what they had talked about, only that she had a good time 'talking' to Jaune.

Hours had gone by, and Jaune was shocked by the messages he received, asking where he was. He had to bid her farewell, though Neo was not one to just let him leave like that. So she gave him her number and it went from there.

Neo expressed her jealousy at not being able to be there for all the shenanigans at Beacon, like the cookie war Ruby had won by a tiny margin. Tori laughed and held her as the mute's arms and fingers grew tired from her signing.

Then the others came in and asked what was going on.

Then they saw the tests.

No guesses on what happened next.

Adam was angry, though that was not news. The days where he felt content or happy could be counted on one hand, particularly after Blake had betrayed the cause, betrayed him. The cause of his anger, as usual, were humans. Heavy, furious steps carried him towards the throne room of the Khan, her audience chamber, where she lorded her authority and listened to reports and pleas. She should listen to him; his voice had weight among all faunus in the Fang.

The humans that yesterday came to shore in Kuo Kuana already launched inquiries about the chief annoyance to Adam. Jaune Arc, the blonde human he fought against in Beacon, had been taken prisoner on explicit order from Sienna, for whatever reason. If it had been up to Adam, the huntsman-in-training would have perished then and there, yet the Khan had assured any faunus with the same misgivings that his life was of value to them.

How, she had yet to reveal, and that was another grievance to be uttered. The Albain brothers shared Adam's vision of the faunus subjugating humans all across Remnant, as they would never see them as equals. Though humanity should be cowed by faunuskind.

As it should be, to prevent any more suffering.

Adam Taurus had played with the thought of staging a coup more than once. The Albains would support him, as they saw Sienna as increasingly weak, easily cowed by whatever humans thought. Now would be the best moment to do so, he found. Faunus were dismayed at the presence of a human in their midst, particularly one that was to not be harmed. If he were to strike now, he could not only assume leadership of the Fang and oust those humans and their pet faunus from Menagerie, but execute the impudent human that dared to take Blake from him as well.

His sword arm twitched in anticipation, and his old scar throbbed. The bull faunus reached the door and pushed hard to open them.

There she sat, imperious as ever. In his eyes, Sienna had already cowed to humans, becoming nothing more than a house pet for them. He wanted to make no concessions to humanity beyond "surrender or die".

To him, that was the only option humans should be given.

"Adam." The Khan sounded all too annoyed at his presence. "Why are you here?"

"You know why," he snarled. "These humans are still on this island! Their very presence insults faunuskind!"

"They are envoys of the kingdom of Vale and guests of the Belladonna family. If they come to harm, we have a diplomatic incident on our hands." Her tone was as if she was chiding a child. Adam took a deep breath as to not kill her then and there. He had to win over all those others present first.

"It matters not. At best, they can take their human and leave. That is what they're here for." A lie; he didn't think about letting them leave alive, making them an example to those that dared insult faunuskind. His mind was full of rage, too full to think rationally.

"That is not an option right now. They ask for Arc, yes, but I first have to deliver demands."

"There are no demands, Sienna. You already fraternized with-"

"Mind your tongue!" she roared, yet Adam could see he struck a nerve. That made his blood boil; Sienna had indeed lain with the prisoner. As he drew Wilt, a panicked faunus intruded upon the room.

"Grimm!" they shouted. "A giant Grimm is coming!"

Adam readied himself; he calmed just enough to craft a new plan. In the commotion, no one would notice if Sienna were to be struck down by him. Neither would anyone of importance miss that blonde they locked away. It could be covered up by the Grimm, leaving him in control and in reach of his ultimate goal.

The only thing he had to do was wait to strike. It galled him, especially when he was so close, but he knew that timing was of importance now.

Things moved fast, too fast for Jaune. A few days ago he had spent banging a feisty tiger faunus across a ship cabin. The day they came to Menagerie, he was bound and dragged to a cell. It was comfortable enough, but still disconcerting. Sienna had assured him that this was temporary.

Now, Ilia was fumbling with a bunch of keys in front of his cell, clearly panicking.

"Ilia? What's going on?"

"No time to talk now," she insisted, finally finding the right key. "Grimm are attacking and we need to move. Sienna is anticipating a coup."

"A what!" Jaune was alarmed, even as he ran out of the door, grabbing the weapons the chameleon faunus held on to for him. "By whom?!"

"Who do you think?!" Ilia barked back. "Adam wants to kill you and those that came for you!"

"I didn't hear about this, what the hell!?"

"What?!" The more they shouted back and forth, the more they panicked, even as the two ran towards the nearest exit. Both of them hoped that no one would get in their way; Jaune had seen the malicious looks and heard the threats of some of his guards and was not eager to test himself against them.

He was not comfortable fighting humans or faunus to potential death.

Lady Luck smiled down upon him for once, as no one tried to halt them on their run. Still, Jaune turned to Ilia for a question that burned in his mind for a while.

"Why are you helping me?"

"You're asking that now?!" She was in disbelief.

"I mean, yeah!"

The faunus he had befriended over their boat trip stayed silent as explosions could be heard. The sounds of fighting became louder as they neared the outside. Jaune could hear an all to familiar voice shout, clear as day.

"You stay away from them, you assholes!"

His mother really was among those that came for him. Jaune was equally happy and worried at the prospect. He had never seen her fight.

"Blake would never forgive me if I let you die," Ilia finally blurted out. "And Adam has turned into a nutcase!"

There it was. Jaune could have guessed as much, really, as the faunus had made her attraction to the aloof book lover abundantly clear. That, and her growing frustration in light of the Red Bull's increasing madness.

"I mean, every second word out of his mouth was about killing humans! I have serious issues with them, but not like that!"

"Ilia."

"It's always-"

"Ilia, you told me before!"

"Oh." She turned her gaze forward, now focused on their escape to battle.

Would this really be an escape?

It did not matter. What mattered was that the people who meant a whole lot to Jaune were fighting right now. They needed his help, as he was the healer. Knowing this, recalling this, the blonde knight steeled himself.

On his hip, Crocea Mors was glowing faintly.

Adam was well in his element, battling impudent humans and despicable traitors. The Fang, or at least those loyal to him, were fighting against these envoys from Vale.

They themselves were losing, but Adam paid no mind, even as his trusted lieutenant battleda blonde woman with a greatsword, his attacks doing nothing to her defenses. The bull himself engaged against a fearful-looking team of humans that faltered with every strike of theirs not hitting and every attack of his connecting near flawlessly. If he were the kind to banter during a fight, the swordsman would have told these girls that they behaved like training dummies.

The problem in facing them was twofold, as it turned out. Not only did a short human use any openings he left, his reflexes just barely enough to ward her off, but also another, greater annoyance.

"Fall back, girls! Neo and I will handle this!" Blake called out to them, realizing they stood no chance against Adam Taurus. Neither was she, yet his love seemed eager to try again.

One of the humans argued against her. "But Neo is-"

"She knows the risks, damn it! We need to force the Fang's surrender before that giant Grimm arrives!"

That was the greater issue, Adam recognized, even as he crossed blades with Blake once more. The Grimm approached, bringing certain doom upon the island. Yet, he was certain, faunuskind would persevere.

It had to.

Blake, the one he had held dearest, parried a strike of his, even as he intensified his attacks against her. Wilt was like a snake, twisting and biting into any opening given, and the cat was losing ground fast. The pest interrupted a stab of his, veering it off course and letting it hit the ground before his actual opponent.

"I will not let you harm them!" she insisted, fire in her amber eyes. Adam withheld a chuckle.

"You have said so before, my love, and failed to do it. You will fail again and realize your mistakes."

The biting remark only served Blake in redoubling her efforts, not realizing how Adam was baiting her into a secluded spot, away from most of the fighting, away from reinforcements.

The headquarters came closer, and Adam once more intensified his offense. Wilt came down harder and faster than before, Gambol Shroud barely keeping up. Blush then darted forward, pelting Blake with shotgun pellets, before being used as a bludgeon to swat the pest buzzing around Adam.

He felt the hit, not needing to look, as he saw amber eyes widen in fear. She had to be punished, he knew, and this was the best way to ensure her compliance. He had to make her realize that she had no other place than by his side, witnessing a new age for faunus.

Yet she resisted. Her weapon slashed at him, batted aside by Wilt before a wide motion struck her to the ground, aura flickering.

At the least, it would have been so with other opponents. Adam knew Blake, and he knew that she used her Semblance to evade and strike him.

He also knew how predictable she could be when she felt cornered. Blush lashed out again, landing a clean hit against a ribcage, eliciting a cough from Blake that hurt Adam's heart and soul. The sound of aura fizzling out rang through the air. Yet, he knew that she could not expect mercy.

Only suffering without him.

He knew that she would not listen without a lesson from him. Turning away from Blake, who was staring up at him with fear and loathing, he settled his sight on the pest.

A peculiar looking human, for certain. Approaching her with murderous intent, he suddenly saw her huddling, curling up.

She was not scared for herself, Adam realized, as he looked into mismatched eyes. This girl was protecting her stomach. A baby, most likely, was growing inside her.

Human or not, Adam felt disdain at the prospect of killing a defenseless baby, one that was not even born yet.

Still, just as she was Blake's ally, she was also a threat, just as much as a lesson to Blake. She had to be dispatched.

For the Cause.

Jaune stared blankly at the scene before him. He had just left the headquarters, Ilia screaming Blake's name as she exited, as he saw the black-haired faunus on the ground, gasping for air and curled up in pain.

Not far from her was Adam, poised to stab Neo, who had curled up on the ground. She was protecting her stomach as best she could.

Blake was screaming at Adam. The blood in the Arc's veins felt ice cold as he heard her words all too clear.

Neo was expecting.

Within the fraction of a second, Jaune's mind raced with memories of the night shared, when he was filled with self-loathing and doubt, when she helped him see the obvious, see the path of unconditional love and happiness.

The very night they had relations.

Neo was bearing his child.

And she was about to be killed by this…

This….

Unacceptable.

Five voices roared as one in Jaune's mind, and he barely recognized that four of those did not belong to him.

"Allow me to help you, Jaune," one of them said to him, voice filled with rage and steely conviction. "Family above honor."

"What-"

"No time. I know how to best him."

Jaune had heard the Arc creed before. He had tried his very best to adhere to it in life, and now, someone he knew was vaguely familiar to him was offering aid.

He had no choice. Jaune would die in a fight against Adam, the way he was now. If the voice knew what he was doing…

"Please."

A whisper, and Jaune felt the control over his body slip. Another consciousness took over as he took the metaphorical backseat, an iron will touching his.

"Do not worry, it is only temporary," the voice assured him, then added with a determined growl just one thing.

"Enjoy the show."

Jaune's body started glowing as the look in his eyes and his very posture changed in an instant. The very next blink of an eye, he charged the swordsman, one far too focused on the bile he felt rising up in his throat in the face of killing an unborn child.

Thus, the kick nailed Adam right in the ribs.

Lacking any grace, the faunus tumbled briefly before righting himself once more, glaring at his opponent, narrowing his gaze at the oddness.

Jaune Arc stood before him, and yet he was different. His aura glowed around him, his eyes held a gaze like naked steel and murder, one arm was behind his back and his weapon was held with a poise not at home with the teen he had fought before.

"You," he snarled, secretly elated at having a better target to kill. Who better than Sienna and Blake's favorite human?

On who has betrayed his love, it seemed.

"Not quite." The voice was different, deeper and rougher. "What you face can be called an echo of the past. Yet-"

The blonde struck with a speed and precision Adam could not reconcile with the picture he had of the Arc's fighting style. Blade against blade, yet followed up by another kick, too fluid in motion for him to ward off fully. The force rocked the leg Adam had raised against him, though it left him open against a renewed strike against Wilt, one that actually forced him back.

He grit his teeth as his arm shook under the force. "How?"

"You face a man with an ancestral heirloom that will never belong to you," the human taunted him, eyes following his movements. Adam struck once again, though the blonde fenced against him. A stab was deflected, a diagonal strike parried and rebuked with a stab of his own, forcing the bull on the back foot again.

"You face a dead man."

"Indeed I do." Semblance charged, the swordsman readied his stance, all too eager to wipe this impudent human off the face of the earth. Moonslice dipped its immediate surroundings in haunting red light roaring forward to kill the enemy.

The human's arm moved.

And Moonslice shattered. Adam stood, shocked, before another attack hit him hard in the shoulder. His opponent had taken advantage of the distraction of that which should not have happened. Moonslice had unfailingly destroyed anything in its way, yet it became useless.

'How?!'

"You face Scipio Arc, sword saint of Vale."

Blades clashed again, and Scipio relished the battle, even as he despised killing. Though against a man threatening family, those bets and scruples were off. Nothing, not even death, would stop him from killing this wretch before him.

Never before was he this thankful for the effect of Crocea Mors on the souls of its wielders. As he moved with nary any effort, befitting someone who had mastered the way of the sword, and struck again and again, he relished the fight, the chance granted to him by the ancient blade allowing part of his soul, along with his conscious, to lay dormant within until the time of need.

Only three others had dared to make this sacrifice, to be banished from death until their task of leading their family was fulfilled for good.

The eerie thought put a smile on his great grandson's face as he had taken control of it. His opponent, a young man seeming to try all too hard to look cool, grit his teeth with every failed attack.

A temper uncontrolled was a blade without hilt. Scipio had fought enough of his kind to know the weakness they all shared.

"A nice windshear you had," he started to banter. "Such a shame you are so slow in executing it."

The red-haired edgelord took offense, it seemed. "A windshear?! It is called a moonslice!" he punctuated his words with violent slashes, none of them hitting home.

"Moonslice?" Scipio barked out a laugh as he leapt back, out of range from a horizontal slash. "What a tacky name. I take it that that is your Semblance?"

The faunus roared and huffed, reminiscent of the animal which traits he possessed, and began a new flurry of attacks.

"Of course it is. You are far from attaining true mastery."

"You dare patronize me, human?!"

"Oh, I do. And I would feel sorry, but-"

Another of his windshears, slow but powerful, easily cancelled out by the real deal. One swift, fast and strong motion and a wind like a blade smashed against the auric technique, dispersing it.

The frustrated growl and the way his opponent breathed told Scipio everything. This one was nearing the end of his rope, intending to end this quickly. This youngling staggered just a small bit as he righted his posture. That red blade of his still pointed at the Arc, a testament to his tenacity, if anything.

This one would not give unless for death.

All too convenient for him. The right arm of his great grandson was under serious strain from movements it was not used to, much like several other parts of his body. All save for one.

His left arm. Scipio had lost his own in his lifetime thanks to a Grimm. Thus, the feeling of having one again was unfamiliar, even uncomfortable.

However still, this Arc intended to use all he had.

The next attack would be the last. The youngling's aura was nearing its end, as was the endurance of his progeny's body. The next few seconds would decide it all.

Do or die.

The two swordsmen charged, the younger raising his scabbard against the dead man puppeteering the living for the sake of family. A two-pronged attack of such ferocity that would put anyone else on the backfoot, exposing them to either of the two attacks.

"Adorable," Scipio snarled, not at all feeling coy, and hammered Crocea against Wilt, batting the blade aside. His left struck the scabbard away.

And the Yellow Death did its name proud.

In a reverse slash, the steel cleaved through aura, flesh, organs and bone. The arm screamed in pain, yet Scipio paid no heed.

It would heal. His opponent would not.

Adam was cut open from his left hip to his right shoulder, lungs and heart torn apart. The mask on his face did not move an inch throughout their scuffle.

It did not move as the faunus fell, breathing his last.

Scipio wondered if this one felt regret. Seeing the regrets the killed held as death approached had filled him with a hatred for killing. He had done it because it had to be done.

One last breath, and Adam Taurus was gone, his malice bleeding out onto the earth.

As he felt his conscious retreating back into the blade, Scipio gazed towards the horizon, an impossibly large Grimm approaching.

"Let us see if your mother is one for mercy, Joanna."

As Jaune's control over his body returned to him, pain wracked through it all. His right arm felt numb, his legs like they would fall off in a moment.

And yet, the immediate threat was dead.

It was strange how he felt no malice from the Grimm. He wondered what it meant as he collapsed under the strain.

Jaune hit the ground as he heard several voices call out to him.