This one is rather interesting. Kind of a strange idea, crossing RWBY with a mildly AU version of Jackie Chan Adventures. This AU in particularly is IGNORING Seasons 4 & 5 of the show, and while the Chan clan has had some mildly magical misadventures afterwords, the main storyline for them ended after Shendu was reverted back to a statue and locked up in Section 13. So I'm hoping I don't get a string of people all asking me why Shendu was locked with the Talismans in Section 13, rather than being banished to the Netherworld as he was after season 5...I'm sure I will though. I get the distinct impression that most people don't read notes at all.
Hopefully you all enjoy, this is my first non-Naruto story, though I'm sure something will slip through at some point.
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY nor do I own Jackie Chan Adventures
"Get...over...yourself..." The young woman grunted as she struggled forward, her body seeming to resist her own actions. She growled dangerously, her newly forked tongue slipping from between her lips in frustration. "The best thing to...do is to...find some kind of...town or city." A reptilian tail which she hadn't had an hour previously wrapped itself around a tree, trying to hold her back as her eyes began to glow red. Now a raspy whisper, her voice was cold and hard as though someone else was speaking through her.
"And I refuse to be ordered by a child."
"A child that's kicked your scaly butt multiple times now, Shendu," Jade grit out, reasserting control. The Fire Demon was not making things easy, nor was her...physical situation.
"Oh yes," Shendu replied sarcastically. "Because your 'butt' isn't just as scale-covered." Jade shivered as she glared at the tail now ripping through her pants. She wasn't sure how to get out of this mess, and she idly scratched her chin with what were now clawed hands. Blowing a few strands of black hair from her face, she sighed before continuing forward. It wasn't too difficult to figure out what was happening.
Someone had released the Dragon-like Demon Sorcerer from his statue form, within the Vault of Section 13. With Shendu up and about, her family had been called in to handle the situation. They had prepared for such a thing, but it still came as a surprise, after so long. The 'Child' which Shendu still saw her as had grown into a young woman of Sixteen, and for several years she'd been living in San Francisco with her Uncle Jackie Chan, the elderly chi wizard known to both family, strangers, and even himself as simply 'Uncle', and the mountain of a man that was the enemy-turned-ally Tohru.
By the time she and the others had gotten to Section 13's headquarters, Shendu had begun some sort of ritual or spell, which Uncle had - correctly, it seemed - identified as a portal spell of some sort. Boy was it ever.
"The Portal has fused us together," Shendu hissed out, looking over Jade's more...dragon-esque features that she'd acquired. Claws, a tail, and several patches of what looked to be scales along her arms. "My physical form destroyed and infused into your own."
"And your soul has latched onto me, yadda yadda, why are you still here? This isn't like Valmont where you were stuck until you freed the other demons...is it?" Jade growled, crossing her arms over her chest. Blushing, she looked down and realized she seemed to have grown a size or two. That wasn't concerning at all, nope. She dreaded the thought of what her face might look like, given all the changes she'd gone through. "Never learned about demonology in Sex-Ed," she muttered.
"Me leave?" The demon was aghast at the notion. "You have stolen my body from me. I consider this payment for that. Not even equal payment, either. My Talismans are missing, likely scattered across this new world. You have no idea how your new form works, or how to separate us into our separate forms. You've no idea even where we are! So you. Will. Listen to me!"
"Tch, I don't even listen to Jackie half the time, and I actually respect him. Besides, you don't know how to get us back to normal either."
"You insolent little..." Shendu was interrupted by the sound of crushing leaves and snapping twigs. "What was that?" The two used their shared eyes to look across the small clearing, only to witness two rather large bears lumbering toward them, slobbering and growling menacingly. However, these were nothing like any bear Jade, or even Shendu, had ever seen before. Black as darkest night, with pure-white bone-plates growing out from its skin, and boney spikes protruding from its back like a porcupine.
"...bad day."
With a furious roar, the two bear-like creatures charged the dragon-girl. The closest lunged at her and made to smash her with what looked to be razor-sharp claws lining massive paws. Jade swiftly ducked back, then dipped under the second strike.
"Bad day, bad day, bad day!" She yelled, dodging a few more swipes by only inches. Trying to backpedal, she shouted as her feet caught her new appendage. Years of Martial Arts training with Jackie had made her a fierce fighter, but her Uncle had never trained her to fight with what was essentially another limb. Her tail tripping her, while also disrupting her balance enough to prevent righting herself.
"Allow me," Shendu hissed, a strange mix of anger and smugness lacing his voice as Jade's eyes blazed red. Pushing off from the ground, the demon sorcerer spun in the air, landing in a low, wide stance as he readied for the next attack. It came only a moment later with the bear-creature leaping at the possessed girl. Rearing back, Shendu threw a backfist strike, smashing into the Bear's face. As Jade regained control, she witnessed the strange sight of the bear's head almost molding around her fist, its broken fangs flying from its mouth before the force seemed to catch up with the strike and the creature was sent hurtling through the air, crashing through and toppling 3 trees.
"Whoa..." was all Jade could utter as even the bear's partner stood and stared at the dragon's handiwork, almost seeming to be dumbstruck. Taking advantage of its surprise, Shendu wrenched back control again, spinning and slamming the girl's tail into the back of the beasts head, knocking it to the ground, before plunging clawed hands into the Bear's skull, piercing it and ending its life. Before Jade could be sick at the sorcerer using her to end something's life, the two merged beings watched the body begin to smoke and begin to almost disintegrate. Turning, she noticed the other bear a way off, and it was fading away as well.
"How'd you do that without the Ox Talisman?" she questioned, for once her natural curiosity beating out her disdain for her family's biggest enemy. She could practically feel the dragon rolling his eyes in her mind.
"The Ox amplifies strength, it does not create it. As a demon, I am far stronger than most other creatures. Even as a spirit possessing Valmont, I could send humans like Tohru flying. You are no longer merely human, and as such I can push your strength even further." Jade did indeed remember that moment. Sent Tohru flying indeed, more like put him through a wall.
Jade was ripped away from being lectured as a searing pain erupted from her back and she was sent flying face-first into a tree. She hissed in pain as she pushed herself up, looking to see the new pack of creatures stalking toward her. They looked like massive wolves, but something was severely wrong with their bone-structures. However, they all had the same pitch-black fur and white bone-like armor as the bears. One took another step forward and she noticed its claws were bloody, and clutching torn rags that she knew was once the back of her shirt.
"You wanna take care of these guys too?" she asked, her vision growing hazy. With neither the Horse Talisman or the Dog Talisman, the pain in her back was nearly blinding.
"Actually, I appear to be making the situation worse," Shendu admitted. "If the bear-creatures are any indication, these things are obviously born of magic and darkness. Meaning they are hunting for magic and darkness..."
"You gotta be kidding me," Jade slurred out, barely managing to work herself to her feet, realizing what the demon was saying. This forest was teeming with dark monsters, and she was walking around like a living homing beacon to them. Gritting her teeth in pain, she settled into a guarded stance, not even caring when her shredded, now bloodstained shirt completely fell away. The massive, writhing pack of freakish wolves all began to howl in unison, before charging to the injured girl, looking to rip her to pieces. Before they could reach her, a shrill whistle took their attention, and Jade looked up at the whirring sound like a machine warming up.
"Hey Mutts! You should know better than to mess with a girl's clothes." Jade saw to the side a rather strange group of people moving quickly through the trees. The young woman in front had been the one to speak. She was wearing, in Jade's opinion, clothes that were way too nice for trekking through the forest, a beret, and dark sunglasses. The rather fashionable girl was also hefting a massive mini-gun that had she been in better condition, she was sure she'd be geeking out over. With a furious sound, she opened fire, causing Jade to fall back and try, painfully, to scramble away. She was soon joined by a small young woman, wearing some sort of brown outfit, brown hair and...bunny ears?
She could only stare up at the rabbit-eared girl as she began to look her over, particularly the deep tears across her back from the wolf's claws. "Yatsu!" she called, getting the larger of the two boys to come running, while the smaller one began slashing at the wolves skirting the edges of the mini-gun's spray, utilizing the bladed gauntlets on each arm. "She got hit pretty badly. We need to get her back to the village." The large boy took one look at the deep trenches dug across her back and immediately agreed with the assessment. Gingerly, he picked her up and while he wasn't near as wide, the boy had a calm, quiet demeanor even in the current situation that reminded her vaguely of Tohru and she relaxed despite the pain. She was vaguely surprised by how quite Shendu had become, but figured the Dragon was probably taking his own advice and looking to avoid attracting more of the dark creatures. Shendu was evil, not stupid. He wouldn't fight with her for control if it meant summoning monsters to attack them in her injured state.
Melting into the strange, comforting warm seeming to radiate off the large boy who was carrying her, she let the adrenaline from the day's events finally wear down, and let the world fade to black.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Team CVFY stood in the small medical building, waiting for news on the faunus girl they'd found out in the forest. While their leader, Coco Adel, spoke with the town mayor regarding the completion of their mission, Velvet Scarlatina, Yatsuhashi Daichi, and Fox Alistair sat outside the girl's room. They had arrived in time to watch her easily dispatch two Ursa bare-handed, meaning she likely had huntsman training of some kind, and the sheer strength she'd displayed doing so was assumed to be her semblance. In fact, they wouldn't have interfered at all, but found their hands forced when the girl was blindsided by a large pack of Beowolves – which as luck would have it was exactly the reason their team was in the area – one of which had gotten in a devastating blow across her back.
This was a rather shocking turn of events for the Beacon team, as even first years should have been alert enough to notice a whole pack of beowolves advancing on them, though Velvet had thought the girl looked distracted by something. The really concerning issue was that no Aura had blocked the clawed slash, nor had begun to heal the wounds inflicted by it. They hadn't seen the telltale flash of an Aura breaking, meaning one of two things. Either A, this girl's strength semblance drained so much Aura from her, that it left none left to shield her from blows and they simply missed her Aura failing, or B, the perhaps more disturbing notion that she had no unlocked Aura, and had still manhandled the two Ursa with nothing but sheer physical strength. It very much appeared to be option B, but they were waiting for the town physician to finish cleaning and dressing her wounds so that he could hopefully clear a few things up.
Velvet looked up as Coco shook hands with the mayor and the woman turned to walk off while their leader walked over to join them. "Bullhead's ready to head to Beacon when we are," Coco casually announced, leaning up against the wall next to Fox. "Mission's done, payment issued...and she didn't recognize the Faunus girl. Nobody has." The fashionable girl looked to the closed door, the gears in her head turning. Nodding to herself, she pulled out her scroll, going through her numbers. The signal was absolute crap out here, but the girl was enough of an enigma, she knew that she should report in to Beacon about it. Finding the number she was seeking – that of the Headmaster's office – she looked to her team for a moment.
"I'm going to go call it in. Ozpin might wanna know about this. Come grab me if they finish up." She didn't even wait for her team to answer her as she walked off to go make her call in private. She took a step outside, looking out at the small village that Team CVFY had been called in to help. Plagued by a rather sizable pack of Grimm, they had contacted Beacon in Vale to help with their plight. Her team, no longer rookies, had returned from break two weeks ahead of the new Term to take on a few missions both in and outside the walls of the kingdom. Seeing as how teams needed to complete a certain number of missions prior to graduating, and also received classroom credit for missions completed, they saw nothing wrong with padding their grades a bit. Which ultimately brought them to Goldstone. She hit the video-call button, and waited for a moment for the Headmaster to answer...if he wasn't busy of course. Though if he was, she might get lucky and Professor Goodwitch would answer.
It wasn't to be, however, and she was connected straight to Ozpin himself. "Miss Adel," he greeted, allowing a slight smile to grace his lips. "I just received word from Goldstone's mayor that your mission was a success."
"All the Grimm have been hunted down and eliminated."
"And yet you felt the need to call-in rather than wait to give me your report in person," Ozpin surmised, taking a sip from his mug, the Beacon Academy logo emblazoned proudly across its front. The leader of Team CVFY nodded her head in the affirmative.
"We saw something today that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, and if this is going the way it's going, I figured that you should probably be informed."
"Well, now I admit I'm intrigued," Ozpin replied, placing down his mug and lacing his fingers in front of his face.
"While we were going through the forest west of the village, we found a young lady, probably only sixteen or seventeen. She managed to kill two Ursa before being blindsided by the Beowolf pack we were sent to kill." She saw Ozpin quirk a brow, but he said nothing, clearly understanding that there must be more to it than that, and didn't want to interrupt. "The Beowolf Alpha took a decent chunk out of her back. Her aura didn't protect her, but we never saw it break. This happened only a second or two after she struck one Ursa with a backhand that sent it flying through multiple trees, and killed the second by putting her fist through its brain. She killed two Grimm bare-handed, with insane strength and skill, but apparently didn't notice the entire pack of Beowolves coming from behind, and didn't have any Aura to be broken, let alone shield the blow." Ozpin's smile had faded, but it seemed to be more from her now having his rapt attention.
"You believe she doesn't have an unlocked aura at all?" he asked.
"We're waiting for a confirmation from the town doctor, but that's the most likely scenario, even if it doesn't make any sense." Now Ozpin was stroking his chin in thought.
"You're very much right, Miss Adel, I am extremely interested in this development," he announced after a moment. "If at all possible, I'd like you to escort this girl to the Academy so that I may see for myself what she can do. If you're correct and she has no unlocked Aura, yet was capable of fending off two Ursa while unarmed, I can only imagine what she could accomplish with Aura."
"If she wakes up before we leave I'll make the offer, Professor. But what if she stays knocked-out?"
"Well, then it would be irresponsible to leave her there when she could have the much more advanced Medical technology available here at the Academy, don't you think?" Coco cracked a sly smile and had to hold back a chuckle.
"Professor, it almost sounds like you're suggesting kidnapping an unconscious girl..." Ozpin simply reclaimed his mug before taking a long sip of the steaming liquid within.
"Why Coco, I am the Headmaster of the most prestigious academy for those looking to uphold the values of justice, peace, and unity. I would never suggest something like 'kidnapping an unconscious girl," he chastised, though with a smile mirroring her own. "What I am suggesting is that if someone were to bring this girl to Beacon without her being conscious, I couldn't possibly punish this person or persons for performing a good deed..."
Back inside, Velvet and Yatsuhashi looked up as the door opened, allowing the town doctor to step through. A man in his late 50s by the look of him, the man possessed a severe look about him. Thinning, silvering hair was combed straight, while thick ram horns curled out from his skull. "The girl is going to be fine. Some scarring perhaps, but that can be mitigated if and when you unlock her Aura."
"So it's like we thought," Yatsuhashi stated more than asked, watching as Fox went off to fetch their captain. The doctor nodded.
"As far as I can, she's a normal, if a bit banged-up, faunus girl. No unlocked Aura, so if what you said you saw her do is true, it's quite impressive. She's awake in there, but she's been extremely quiet. Seemed nervous about something."
"Well, Velvet and I will go and talk to her then," Coco announced, walking in with Fox. "Yatsu, Fox, how about going to get us prepped to head out?" The two nodded, before walking out, as Velvet stood and moved to the door with Coco.
"Wouldn't Fox have been better to talk to her?" Velvet asked her captain. "His telepathy could probably make it easier to talk to her." Coco shrugged in response, pushing her shades up a bit more to hide her eyes.
"It could also cause her to clam up and not wanna talk to us. Ozpin wants us to bring her to Beacon so he can meet her himself."
The two took another moment before moving into the room where the girl was sat up in bed. She was now wearing a two-size too large white t-shirt, while underneath they could see the bandages wrapped around her. Probably keeping her uncomfortable too, Coco figured. She'd gotten a pretty good look at the girl's bust when her shirt was torn off, and she had to imagine her twins were wrapped pretty snug in those bandages. Her gaze snapped up to them as they entered, and Velvet shivered a bit as she thought she saw a flash of red in the girl's eyes. Now, however, her amber-brown eyes gazed up at them through her messy black hair. "Well, you're certainly looking a lot better," Coco opened, pulling a chair up to the girl's bed. She noticed the girl shift uncomfortably, and idly wondered if maybe she should have brought Fox. "Something the matter?"
"J-just...sitting on my tail," the girl replied, slipping the lizard-like tail out from under the sheets. Something about that didn't really seem right to the two Huntresses-in-training, but they silently agreed to drop it for the moment. "I recognize you two. You pulled me away from those monsters," she said motioning to Velvet, who smiled slightly, before motioning to Coco. "...and you took them out with a freaking mini-gun." Now the girl sounded more normal, causing Coco to chuckle slightly and lean back in the chair.
"That's us," she said. "My name's Coco. She's Velvet...you gotta name?" The girl seemed to hesitate before holding a clawed hand out to the team captain.
"Jade Chan," She introduced. Coco nodded, taking Jade's hand and giving it a firm shake. Jade held her hand out to Velvet as well, who likewise shook the girl's hand.
"Well, Jade Chan...what exactly were you doing wandering around a Grimm-infested forest, unarmed and without an unlocked Aura?" There was a flash of confusion on Jade's face for a moment, but she did at least move to answer.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
"Grimm? Aura? What the heck are these girls talking about?" Jade thought to herself. She'd have thought that the first thing they'd notice was her dragon-features, but given one of these girls seemed to be part rabbit, and the doctor had mountain-goat horns, maybe animal-people weren't uncommon in whatever world she'd fallen into.
"Wouldn't be able to tell you. Got lost," she told them. "As for weapons, something happened to mine. Not sure exactly what, I just came-to and they were gone." It wasn't a lie, if you considered the Talismans to be weapons, which she, Jackie, and the US Government (or at least the people working for Section 13) certainly did.
"We will need to seek them out," Shendu hissed into the back of her mind, not willing to risk saying it out of Jade's mouth. Without the Talismans, and trapped in a body that, while stronger than most humans, was far weaker than his normal form. These girls were trained, or at the very least were in training, to slay monsters, and at the moment he was rather certain he – and by extension Jade – qualified by their standards. The dragon demon was proud, but not stupid. He wasn't going to reveal himself to people such as them when he was stuck in such a vulnerable position. "Even if you don't trust me with the Talismans, you also know the damage they could cause in the hands of mere humans." He felt her begrudging agreement, but on the outside she was simply smiling and doing her best to answer the questions she was being asked without technically lying. Though to be fair, playing with words to avoid technically lying was one of the things Jade was actually quite good at.
"...but with how you took out those Ursa without your Aura, Headmaster Ozpin would like to meet you. We've kind of been instructed to escort you to Beacon Academy in Vale," Coco finished, standing. "Technically speaking because you are awake, you could choose to stay here. But let's be honest, I don't think someone like you wants to be out in the wilds on your own all the time." Jade could hear the protests from Shendu, and she had to admit that he did make a decent point about someone who was basically a half-demon going straight to the headquarters of a monster-slaying organization. However, a school sounded like the perfect place to get her bearing and figure out her next move. Or as Uncle would have put it, Jade needed to do research. The dragon would simply have to deal until they could figure out a better situation.
Jade gingerly adjusted herself to move her feet to the floor, her body still in pain both from being blindsided by that creature, and also from being forcibly combined with a demon. "I've never really been a great student, but if this Ozpin guy wants to meet, I guess I could go and see him." Velvet moved toward her and helped her stand and Jade again really wanted to ask about why some people had animal features, but given her new form she figured it would not end well to reveal she had no idea what was going on. She casually slipped on a pair of sandals that had been provided to her – unsure of what happened to her own shoes – and the trio of girls made their way outside.
The village wasn't huge, Jade realized. To be fair, she'd seen smaller in her travels with Jackie, both of the exciting magic-hunting trips, and the boring archaeological excursions. It was quaint, she thought. For the most part, people looked happy to see them as they walked through, headed for the edge of town. She supposed that must be because the group escorting her were monster hunters, and the sheer number of creatures she'd seen in the forest was probably a large indicator of how badly this world needed people to keep those 'Grimm' at bay.
The threesome stopped suddenly as Velvet felt a tug at her pants-leg, looking down to see a little girl – probably no older than eight or nine – looking up to her with a large grin. "Ms. Velvet, look at what I found!" Jade nearly tripped as the girl held up a piece of stone, formed into an octagonal shape. The girl was clearly excited to show the bunny eared girl, and Jade instantly could tell why, by the etched markings on the Talisman denoting a rabbit. Jade quickly steeled herself, but to the credit of the two training huntresses, they both seemed to know she knew what the thing was.
"Where did you find that?" Velvet replied, kneeling down to address the child at her own level.
"I was playing down by the stream, and there was a big splash. I think it fell out of the sky," the young girl replied, clearly excited. "It's got a picture of a bunny on it, so I knew I had to give it to you. For getting rid of the Grimm." Velvet looked to her captain, who motioned with her head to the still-transfixed Jade and nodded. The rabbit-faunus turned back to the girl, flashing her a smile as she took the small, shaped stone bearing the image of her animal.
"Thank you," she said with a nod, standing. "I'll take good care of it." The girl just flashed a bright smile in return, before turning pale as the voice of an older woman rang out from the window of one of the nearby houses. Coco gave a knowing smile, lowering her shades to look at the girl.
"I'd get going, kiddo," she said. "Wouldn't want you to get into trouble, would we?" The young girl took off at a sprint, shouting her goodbyes over her shoulder, getting a smile from all three of the young women watching her go. Coco's smile turned into a lazy smirk as she turned to Jade. "Sooooo...what is that thing?" She saw the lizard-faunus stiffen slightly.
"What makes you think I know that?" she asked, her instincts screaming at her to swipe the Talisman and use that speed to make a break for it. At least she thought it was her own instincts. Could have been a whispered suggestion from Shendu. She thought better of it though, and did her best to relax.
"Maybe the fact that from the minute you saw it you've been looking at it like I look at beautiful women. Like you wanna get your hands all over it and never let go." That one threw Jade for a loop for a minute, before subconsciously trying to put Velvet between her and the girl who was staring intently at her through her sunglasses, still smirking. "Hey, if it make you feel better, you're definitely up there. Seven out of Ten...Probably eight if you weren't all wrapped up. Get you a new wardrobe and I guarantee I won't be the only girl picturing you naked...Guys too, but that's just because they're guys."
"Coco!" Velvet eeped. Her team captain was always pretty blunt about this kind of thing, but it was rare to see her to this degree. Velvet's face was bright red from embarrassment. "Jade, I'm really sorry about her. She gets like this sometimes, and none of us can stop her."
"Damn right," Coco chuckled, before crossing her arms and turning serious again. "But seriously now, Velvet and I both saw how you looked at the Bunny Rock there. Be nice to know why." Jade wracked her brain for a proper answer, and in the end, all she could come up with was a way to buy herself some time.
"Not here," she said after a moment. "When we get to Beacon." Coco shot her a look that Jade thought for a moment meant she was about to call her out on her stall tactics, but the girl just shrugged. Velvet pocketed the Talisman and the group continued heading toward the edge of town, where Jade saw two guys – one of whom, the taller one, she vaguely recognized as the one who physically carried her to town – waiting next to a large vehicle of some kind. Jade thought it looked a bit like a smaller, futuristic cargo-plane. Based on how the two guys hopped into it the moment they saw them coming, she figured it was some sort of transport for small teams of people, likely the Monster Hunters from this 'Beacon Academy in particular. She was helped into the open side of the vehicle, before grabbing one of the metal bars overhead. The moment that all five of them had entered, Coco rapped twice on the side, presumably to signal the pilot. This was proven the case a moment later when Jade was nearly thrown off her feet as the flying ship lurched and began rising into the air.
They flew in relative silence, though Jade got the feeling a lot was being said during the thirty-or-so minute flight. The way the team of hunters were looking at each other, back to her, back to each other...it was like an entire conversation was taking place between them.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
"I'm telling you, something about her is just not right," Fox argued, his voice ringing within the minds of the rest of the team. The Team was used to this by now, holding conversations secretly with Fox using his telepathic semblance to relay the rest of the team's mental messages to each other.. While he either wouldn't or couldn't go outright digging through people's thoughts, he was still getting weird feelings from just being near the Faunus girl.
"I don't know," Velvet replied. "She seems a bit secretive, but nice all the same." Coco shared the sentiment.
"I kinda wanna know what that Rock thing is though," Coco added. "She seemed really excited and nervous when it showed up. And I'd be willing to bet she just told us to wait til Beacon to stall for time." A quick glance over at the girl revealed that she was trying to sneak nervous glances in the team's direction, snapping her gaze away when she thought herself noticed. "Relax," she said out loud, turning fully to the girl. "We're within the Walls of the main Kingdom now, and it's only a few more minutes til we arrive at Beacon."
Jade nodded to her, and Coco continued. "The Headmaster will be waiting for us there, and then maybe you can explain to all of us what your Rabbit Rock is." She saw the girl flinch again, and wondered once more what she was hiding. "And I cannot stress enough that you are not in trouble, so just breathe, girl." Jade shot her a nervous smile.
"You hit on her, didn't you?" snarked Fox in her head. "You know you can't just flirt with any cute girl you see."
"Can and will," Coco triumphantly replied, getting a better grip on her safety handle as the bullhead began to descend.
The airship jerked a bit as it touched down and the team escorted the new girl towards the white-haired man waiting for them at the Beacon Air-dock. One hand kept a grip on the cane which he leaned upon, while the other raised a steaming mug of something to his lips. Coco knew it wasn't coffee. In fact, she'd been quite surprised to learn that the mug that the Beacon Headmaster always kept close was near constantly filled with Hot Chocolate. Coffee was more Doctor Oobleck's thing. Looking into it further after she had first met the man, she found a paper published by Ozpin himself from near two decades prior that went into scientific detail about the positive mental effects of consuming chocolate, and how such content, positive feelings brought on by it could keep away the creatures of Grimm, who were attracted to negativity.
Team CVFY were thoroughly convinced he was simply grasping for a justification for his hot chocolate addiction.
Coco smirked as she noticed that Professor Glynda Goodwitch was standing close behind the Headmaster, as she was usually wont to be. If she wasn't heading up a class, she could usually be found acting as Ozpin's second-in-command. The stern-looking woman gave the team a nod of recognition, slipping her weapon, a riding crop, under her arm. Oh the things Coco had fantasized Goodwitch using that Riding Crop for...she shook the perverted thoughts from her head. Time to be serious. She nodded back at the Professor, before turning to the emotionless face of Ozpin himself.
"Welcome back, Team CVFY," he greeted almost genially. "I'm glad to hear the mission went smoothly." Without waiting for an answer, his attention turned to the lizard-like Faunus girl. "And welcome to you, Young Lady. My name is Ozpin, and I'm the Headmaster of this academy." He paused, clearly waiting for her to introduce herself in kind, which she did.
"Jade Chan. I'm really honored that you want to meet with me, Headmaster, but I'd really like to know why." Glynda looked about to reprimand the girl, but was cut off before she could speak by Ozpin.
"Indeed," he replied. "And I look forward to speaking with you, though I'm afraid you'll have to allow me time to receive Team CVFY's full mission report. Though Miss Adel filled me in on a few things when she last contacted me, I'd rather like a more detailed account from the entire team. To that end, Professor Goodwitch will escort you to find something to eat. I can imagine that after wandering Grimm-infested woods and a thirty-minute flight immediately after waking, you're probably feeling a bit hungry." If Jade was going to protest, it died on her tongue as her stomach growled almost menacingly. Goodwitch's original expression of distaste towards who she considered a fairly rude young lady softened a bit, before she motioned for Jade to follow her. Meanwhile, Coco and her team followed Ozpin across the Campus to his office.
Ozpin's office was always so curious a sight. Empty for the most part save for the man's desk and chair, the windows overlooking the entire Academy grounds. The place was kept clean, almost excessively-so, filled with Clockwork and cogs both above and below.
Up in the tower, the four stood opposite the man at his desk as they answered his questions to the best of their ability. When the subject of Jade's odd behavior regarding the hunk of uniquely decorated rock came up, Ozpin's interest was piqued. At his request, Velvet pulled the item out and gently placed it on the desk in front of Ozpin.
"And you say she seemed anxious when the villager gave it to you?" he asked the rabbit faunus, who simply nodded in response.
"She definitely knows something about it, though I'm not sure exactly why it's so important. I mean, it is just a rock," Coco answered, as the Headmaster picked up the octagonal hunk of stone and examined it with a completely unreadable expression, running his fingers over the rabbit-like markings across its face. There were a couple symbols across the back as well, but they weren't shaped into any image, nor were they any language that Coco or the other members of Team CVFY recognized. She doubted they'd mean anything more to Ozpin, either. After a moment of examination, he looked back to the four of them.
"I know you'd planned to take more missions before the Term starts, but should Miss Chan desire to stay at Beacon, I'd like you to keep an eye on her, help her where she needs it, and make certain she settles comfortably. For now, I'm going to hold onto this," he stated, holding up the stone. "I admit, like you all, I'm curious about its significance and will ask the young lady when I speak with her shortly. If you would be so kind as to go and inform Professor Goodwitch that I'm ready to speak with Miss Chan now, and then you may return to your room. You've all earned a rest."
Coco found herself disappointed that she'd have to wait longer to find out about the rock, and she was sure her team was likewise burning with a similar curiosity, but rather than protest the decision, she simply gave a nod and turned on her heel, her team following her to the Elevator that would take them down from the tower where Ozpin's office resided. As the door closed, they never saw Ozpin frown and take up the carved stone again.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Ozpin held the stone in his hand and almost glared at it. This enigmatic rabbit which vexed him so. He was old enough, and knowledgeable enough to recognize that the small piece of carved rock held magic of a level he hadn't seen or felt in ages. The girl who could tell him about it, this 'Jade Chan' also had, while no unlocked Aura of her own, an aura of magic about her that would be imperceptible to likely anyone else on the planet, save himself and one other. Which should be impossible.
Initially he'd been intrigued at meeting the mystery girl. Defeating two Ursa while unarmed and without an unlocked Aura was an incredible feat, after all. Upon seeing her, he was forced to resist the urge to have Glynda restrain her. There was a dark edge to her magical presence, and it worried the ancient wizard. The Fall Maiden had been attacked just recently, a portion of the Maiden's power stolen, and before his common sense kicked in, he'd for a singular moment labeled the girl – at the very least in his mind – his prime suspect. Having thought about it for a cursory second however made him realize that just because he could feel out magic, didn't mean he could tell the nature of the magic he felt. And even the Maidens themselves, while powerful, each only held a small portion of the power he felt radiating from the girl. There had been times in the past where the young women, who in their own rights could overpower seasoned Huntsman, barely registered to his senses unless actively using the magic he himself gifted them ages ago.
"What exactly are you...and how can you exist?" he questioned, giving the stone a squeeze, before the rabbit etching on the magical stone began to shine with incredible light and Ozpin suddenly found himself staring out the window, across the room from where he'd been sitting. Looking down at the stone still clutched in his hand, he let a small smirk make its way onto his face. Ozpin was no stranger when it came to moving at extremely high speed. Usually however, it was something that he did voluntarily. He'd only been looking to get out of his chair and calmly move to look out the windows, and the magic of the stone had accelerated him rather than his own power. He supposed it made sense. Rabbit, Speed. The animal and ideal had been inextricably linked since the days when the Gods still lived upon Remnant.
"Oh yes, Miss Chan...you and I have quite a bit to discuss..."
Chapter End
Ok, hopefully you all enjoyed. I'm going to say once again that this story ignores Seasons 4 & 5 of JCA, they never happened in this story. I'm not going to give any pairings away at the moment, but please note I will absolutely be messing with the teams. So, get ready for that.
Also, I'm not sure I wrote Team CVFY really well, but I'm hoping it was at least acceptable.
Peace to All My Fans
Fan of Fanfics