-Jaunes POV-
Well, my stomach is empty, so i've stopped vomiting. Now I rested on the floor, leaning back on the bench I sat on. "You ok back there?" Stryder asked.
"I think." I groaned back, looking at my ghost. "Hey, ghost. Do you want a name? Or is ghost your name?"
"Heh. ghost is not my name. Guardians normally name their ghosts Jaune. And before you ask, guardians also decorate their ghosts in 'shells'. You can buy or make them too. There are some really cool ones too! Great mods that can be attached to-"
"To my baby! Isn't that neat jaune? Just imagine how much better I could make the sliding shift blade mechanism with some of these parts. Oohhh look! They have dust infused metals here!" said a young girl with silver eyes and dark hair as she zipped off across the weapon store.
"- Rose, calm down. I can't keep up with you, you know." I said with a laugh.
"-Aune? You there? Buddy?" The ghost asked, pulling me out of my flashback.
"Sorry, just remembering something. Hey, how does Rose sound?" I smiled weakly at my ghost.
"Rose huh? Like the flower?" I blanked for a moment. Uhh, sure. That would be why.
"Yeah. sounds like a good enough name. Unless you want to be called like Kevin or something." I replied. The ghost shook his… shell? I guess? "No, no. rose is good. I like it, it's… pretty? Is that a good description?" he asked. I could not help but laugh at Rose's innocent energy.
"Well, Rose, i guess that means we'll have to find you a red shell sometime soon." I said, leaning back.
The two guardians sat in silence for a moment before a beeping came from the console. "Oh, shit. KID!" Stryder yelled behind him, already prepping for whatever was going to happen
"What? What's going on?" I yelled to the Hunter.
"BRACE FOR IMPACT! ENEMY AC-130!"
'What in the world is an AC-130?'
BOOM!
Turns out an AC-130 is a big ass Anti-Air Missile. That just shot down our ship. That was the last thought that went through my head before we hit the ground. The ground was white and cold.
Then there was a warm blankness, much like the post nap haze. It was strange, in that blank whiteness.
-no ones POV-
A hunter pulled himself out of the wreckage. Looking at the now destroyed ship, scanning it with his ghost, he saw that it was unfortunately unsalvageable. Stryder looked around, and saw exactly what he was looking for. The glowing orb of a ghost in the wreck. "Ahh, there you are." He held his hand over the orb. Jaune popped back up in a blaze of light. "Good to have you back, Jaune." he smiled at the blonde.
"Man, that was weird. Is dying always like that? Was I dead?" Jaune asked Stryder.
"Yes, it is always that weird. And as for dying? We are all already dead." Arwren answered for her guardian.
"Uh, ok then. Rose, where are we?" the Arc asked, looking around at the snowy area, long gone rusted cars littered the area in front of some large wall like structure.
"We're in the Russian dead zone. Taken by Fallen a long time ago. We really should get out of here asap. What are the chances of there being an operational ship in there?" Rose said, gesturing to the wall.
"Maybe. There is a chance." Arwen said, looking at the wall. A gutteral howling sound could be heard in the distance. "But we need to move. This is fallen territory, and we can't be out in the open." Stryder only nodded, and strode towards the wall. "Wait, what? What are the fallen?" Jaune asked, stumbling after the hunter.
"The fallen are one of the many, Many enemies of the Traveller, jaune. Didn't I explain that?" Rose said from inside Jaunes head.
'Not particularly well.' jaune thought, catching up to stryder and entering inside the wall. It was dark here, overy dark.
"Ok, this is not good. We need to get out of here. The fallen thrive in the dark, while we guardians need light to live." Rose said worriedly, popping into existence next to Jaune.
"Like plants?" Jaune asked, confused.
"No, not really, but kind of? We need light to be able to respawn and what not." Rose explained, shining a light in front of the two guardians.
"Thank you Rose. now let's go find a ship." Stryder said, leading the way in the dark halls of the wall. A flight of stairs, several hallways, and a hole in the ground later, the two found something of interest.
"Oh, god, is that?" Jaune asked no one, blanching. He pointed to the huddled body resting on the door.
"A Corpse? Yeah. looks a guard, poor soul. Probably fell when the fallen took over here." Stryder said, not even giving the dead man a glance.
"As much as I hate to say it Jaune, the dead man is a guard, which means weapons. And you, buddy, are a weaponless guardian in fallen territory." Rose said, floating over to the dead man. A light flashed as the ghost scanned the dead man.
"You want to raid a dead man?" Jaune asked, a little sick and shocked at the idea.
"It's not like he's using it. Grab and go, Jaune." Stryder said, pulling a bow out with a small burst of light. Jaune closed his eyes and prayed for a miracle, checking his inventory.
kOVOSH-VT88: Auto Rifle, common, kinetic
Many a good man have died wielding this gun. Pray you aren't among them. -unknown soldier
Standard stock; improves stability, fitted scope; improves range.
'That is… not a lot.' Jaune thought. 'Much less than my sword does.'
"Yeah, well, your sword is kind of special." Rose said with a shrug. At this Stryder turned, about to ask something.
"Stryder, Jaune! Fallen up ahead!" Arwen called, flying to hover near Stryder.
"Well, get ready for your first fight, kid." Stryder said with a smile, moving forwards slowly, bow already drawn. "Lets hope you can fight."
Jaune took a deep breath in, shouldering the auto rifle in his hands. Rose vanished into light.
"Don't worry Jaune. You'll do fine." Rose assured him from inside Jaunes head.
'Thanks buddy.' Jaune said, cocking the firearm. The duo moved forward slowly, until they saw a balcony, where a group of Dregs sat around. Stryder motioned to them with a nod. Jaune nodded back, shouldering and aiming the rifle. Stryder let go of his bow, the arrow piercing a dreg violently. It proceeded to explode in void light. Jaune just held down the trigger.
Brrat, brrat, brrat. Went the old auto rifle as it hailed bullets at the dregs. The void bow made quick work of them. Stryder looked at the new guardian. "Aim next time."
"I was aiming!" Jaune protested indignantly. Stryder facepalmed, his green helm shaking.
"We have a lot to work on." the veterain hunter sighed.
-Jaune's pov.-
So, I cannot aim for shit. That's good to know. I wonder if that's why I used a sword and shield before I died.
Man, it's weird thinking that i was dead.
That i had a whole life that i could not remember.
I wonder if I'm missed at all. By whoever i knew. I shook my head. Probably not mentally healthy to dwell on that.
"Hey, Jaune you ok? You've been staring into the void for a while there." Stryder asked, snapping me back into the present.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm good. Just thinking." i replied, reloading my gun.
"About what?" Arwen asked, being the more socially adept of the two.
"Life and stuff. What life was like before I died, ya know? Did anyone miss me? Was it important to anyone? What was I like as a living person?" I said, looking into the distant dark.
Stryder looked sad at my questioning, as though I was talking about my crippling depression or something. "It's not good to think about your past too much, Jaune. It will only lead to despair." Stryder said solemnly, marching onwards. "Take your mind off such things, Jaune. We have the dark to hunt."
"Uhh, ok." I said, left behind. I took a moment, thinking about before registering that Stryder had left me alone. "Hey! Wait up!" I called after him.
- No ones POV-
Ozpin sat in his office, looking at his empty cup. Looking up at the dusty old alcoholic with a look of well hidden annoyance and contempt. "Qrow, you had better have something good for me." the wizard sighed, putting his cup down on his desk. Qrow shuffled a little, and took a swig of liquor.
"I found a trail." he said finally, pushing himself off the pillar he leaned on. Ozpin shot his attention to the huntsman.
"Really? Where is he?" Ozpin asked frantically, excited and hopeful. They might, for once, have a lead on the surprisingly elusive Jaune Arc.
"The tracks are on the old path to Goran, up north. He took the dirt road through the woods." Ozpin's face fell just a bit.
"That road is infested with grimm." he said quietly, praying to the brothers that his student was safe.
"I found his boot prints. Turns out he encountered a pack of grimm." Ozpin's face worsened at this. "I found blade marks in the ground. And grimm prints. And blood." Qrow said, taking another swig.
"Oh brothers, he's dead, isn't he?" Ozpin nearly sobbed, gripping his cup.
"The grimm don't eat armor, Oz. and besides, I found a second pair of boots. I think he was saved at the last minute by someone. The tracks led off into the forest, and just disappeared. Both tracks." Qrow shook his head, sitting down.
"So, this gives us nothing." Ozpin sighed, relieved that he was not yet dead.
"No, this means that he's not dead yet. Injured? Maybe. But still alive. And farther north than we thought." Qrow corrected, leaning backwards. The chair leg snapped as he tumbled to the ground.
"Damn it." he cursed, picking himself back up. Ozpin paid no attention, instead lacing his fingers together, leaning forward.
"So, where in the world are you hiding, Jaune?" he said, looking at the globe that rested on his desk.
- no ones POV-
Jaune was currently hiding behind a crate, on a far off planet, loading his last bit of ammo into a rusted auto rifle. A rather large fallen was currently causing havoc for the duo of guardians. The colossus sphere being fired upon the crate, causing the Arc to jolt. "Stryder! Help!" he cried out, turning to take a couple bursts of fire at the fallen. "What even is this thing?!"
"This, kid, is a Servitor, and a large one!" Stryder responded, grunting as his arrow flew.
"Great! How do we kill it?" Jaune quipped back, running to another crate to hide behind.
"I mean, it's basically a giant eye, so one would think that shooting it in the eyeball would be effective, right?" Rose offered, trying to help.
"I figured, but I can't hit its eye!" jaune protested, pulling the trigger of his auto rifle once more. A void arrow hit the giant spheres outer shell. Jaune realized several important things at once. Firstly, it was nearly impossible for him to hit it accurately. Secondly, Stryder could hit it accurately in the eye with his bow, but was unable to. Thirdly, Stryder needed to be able to hit the thing.
A rather stupid idea came to Jaunes amazingly tactical mind.
He was going to hit it with his sword.
"Stryder! I have a plan!" Jaune yelled to his comrade. Stryder looked at him from across the room, head slightly cocked.
"It better be good, Kid!" he yelled, shooting another arrow at the thing. "What is it?"
"You're going to shoot it in the eye!" he yelled, drawing his sword. Stryder blinked for a moment confused. Jaune took his chance, standing up.
"Oi, Ugly!" the Arc yelled, waving his hands. The eye focused on him, blazing with rage.
"Yeah, You! Eyeball! You need glasses, cause your aim sucks!" Jaune yelled, arcing around to bring the eye's focus within range of Stryder. With a leap, enhanced by light, Jaune jumped into the air, dodging the barrage of energy blasts from the orb. "For a living eyeball, you can't see shit!" the Arc insulted, barely escaping another volley. The orb spun, recharging it's lazer eye.
'Now' Jaune thought to himself, leaping at the eye. The sword swung once, twice, three, four times. Each time he could feel the over shield that the weapon provided grow with each swing of the sword. He landed, only to hear the whipping of an arrow fly past him. The eye had finished recharging, and unleashed it's ammo entirely upon the new guardian. He leapt up to meet it, hacking away at the Fallen eyeball. One, two, three, four, five, six. Jaune could feel the energy from the eye blasts rip into him, tearing him apart.
"Guardian Down." He heard Arwen say as he fell dead to the ground. The strange white blank warmth embraced him once more. It was only the fourth or so time today that the Arc had died.
It took a bit before Stryder revived the new Guardian. He glared down at the blonde, with anger, disbelief, and annoyance in his hidden eyes. "You, Sir, are the dumbest dumbass that I think I have ever met. What kind of plan was that?!" Stryder yelled at the Arc.
"Is it dead?" Jaune asked, pulling himself back up.
"Yes, but that is not the issue at hand!"
"A working one then. Besides, it's not like death is a permanent thing for us guardians." Jaune defended. At this, Stryder wheeled on him, slamming Jaune into a wall.
"Make no mistake, Jaune, you can still die. And you can most certainly not come back one time. There are places where our light cannot reach, and dying there, there are no second chances. Do not get cocky just because you come back here. Understand?" he snarled, hoping to impart a life lesson into this new guardian. Jaune only nodded, scared.
"Good. here, something to prevent you from having such dumb ass ideas." Styder let the Arc go, tossing him a simple face masked riot helmet.
"Thanks." Jaune said, inspecting the helm.
G-17 RIOT HELM: helmet, common.
A standard among the armed forces
Mobility: - Resilience: 3 Recovery: -.
Empty weapon mod
Jaune equipped it, the helm covering his face, a slot of dusty plexiglass was the viewhole. "Well? We don't have all day. Come on kid." Stryder called to his fellow guardian, moving onwards into the wall complex.
"Hey, Rose, what are the chances of finding a working ship in this dump?" Jaune asked his ghost, looking around the old and decrepit complex.
"Eh, not high, but not zero." Rose offered hopefully. Jaune sighed, slumping.
"I need a number, Rose." the guardian sighed, catching up to the hunter. Rose shrugged.
"Ehh, about four?" the ghost said, floating ahead.
"Four? As in four percent?" Jaune asked, not wanting to believe it.
"Ok, that's a bit pessimistic. Maybe six or seven." the ghost said, shy and a bit embarrassed that they had to break the bad news. Jaune just sighed, shaking his head at the ghost. 'Really?' the Arc thought.
"Hey, I heard that." Rose said, still looking around the dark halls.
"Hey, Arc! I found a ship!" Stryder yelled from beyond the shadows. The young guardian ran over to see what his hunter friend had found. He saw a rusted, old, and frankly ancient looking ship. His jaw dropped in disbelief at the ship.
"Will this thing even fly?" he asked, not sure if he wanted an honest answer or not.
"Debatable. It should have enough juice in it to get you to the city." Arwen said, scanning the ship.
"Wait, what about you guys?" Jaune asked, concerned for his new friends.
"We have a faster way home. I know a shortcut." Stryder said, changing boots via space magic.
"Why did we not do that in the first place?!" jaune asked, a bit peeved. They could be at the city by now!
"One man trip. Can't take two people with me." Stryder explained. "Anyway, your ghost should know the way. Best of luck, Kid. see you home." he bid his farewell, and proceeded to disappear into void light.
"God damn it." Jaune cursed, hopping into the ship. Which he had just dubbed the Rust Bucket. "Rose, get this thing started up. Let's go home."
-No one's Pov.-
Stryder popped back into existence in a broom closet in the City. 'damn it.' he thought as he stumbled out of the janitors room. 'I can never quite get shadow walking down can i?'
"It does seem to be the case Stryder." Arwen said from inside his mind. "Do you think that Jaune will be ok? He is in the RDZ."
'I think he'll be fine. He seems smart enough.' Stryder thought. "Arwen, please call Star or the rest of the fireteam."
"Of course Stryder. You'll be in contact with them shortly." Arwen said, connecting to the fireteams ghost. Stryder asked them all for a meeting.
"Hey, Stryder! You wanted to talk about something?" B0lt, a silver and dark blue exo hunter jogged up to her awoken hunter friend.
"Yeah. where's the rest of the fireteam?" he asked, looking around for the rest of their shared fireteam, Fireteam Huevos.
"Alpha was with me, but I'm a little longer legged than he is. I don't know about the others." B0lt said with a smile, her eyes glancing around with mirth.
A soft padding of shoes came as a warlock, not much shorter than B0lt ran up. His red and blue color scheme stood out in the group of dark hunters.
"Alphanafa! So glad you could join us!" B0lt said, pulling the warlock into a headlock.
"Bolt! Let go!" he complained, pulling away from the exo's chest, a deep blush on his face.
"How does she not notice?" Arwen asked in stryders head. Stryder just gave a shrug.
"Bolt, let Alpha go." came a booming voice from behind them. The three of them turned to a large Exo Titan in Oranges and black, and a Warlock dressed in chocolate browns and cream whites. She, the warlock, just sighed at B0lts antics. B0lt dropped the warlock, stiffing under her superior.
"Stryder, you called for us to meet?" Star-48, the large Titan exo asked, looking at his long time friend.
Stryder cleared his throat, starting to speak. "I found a new Guardian, Jaune Arc." At this, the other members of fireteam Huevos looked at the hunter in surprise.
"Stryder, you hate new guardians." the cream colored warlock said blankly.
"I know Night. And there is a good reason for it, but I saw him die." Stryder continued, as everyone's faces soured just a little at that.
"And his death influenced your decision to make him a guardian somehow?" Star asked, assuming he knew the reason Stryder chose this Jaune Arc. he also knew that you could not beat around the bush with Stryder. He hated it.
"Yes. He died well enough to convince me that he would be a good guardian." Stryder said solemnly, as everyone winced. It was B0lt that broke the silence.
"Ok then. That was… deep. Who knew you were such a softy, Stryder?" She laughed weakly, hoping to ease the tension in the room. It was met with silence.
"So, where is he?" Astra Night asked, looking around.
"Oh, I left him in the RDZ. we found a functioning ship for him to take back. He should be here sooner or later." Stryder said casually, striding over to the Hangers.
"You left him the Russian Dead Zone." the brown and cream warlock asked, looking at him sceptically.
"Yup. he should be here any moment, Night, so let's get moving"
The rest of Fireteam Huevos followed the veterain hunter and proceeded to hang around the Hanger for a bit until a very old and very rusted ship sputtered in.
"Define functioning, Stryder, cause i don't think that should count as functioning in the slightest." Astra Night said, watching the Rust Bucket collapse unceremoniously onto the ground. A muffled yelp and groan accompanied the thud. The door opened and a surprisingly tall man stumbled out. A strange mix of jeans, older styled plate armor, a black hoodie and an old riot helmet completed his look. The Guardian took off the riot helmet, his shaggy locks falling down on his face.
'At least he's got some looks.' Astra Night thought to herself.
"Hey, Jaune! Over here!" Stryder waived him down. The guardian jogged over to the five man fireteam. "Fireteam Huevos, this is Jaune Arc." Stryder introduced him
"Hey guys, my name's Jaune Arc." he stuck his hand out for a shake. His face contorted into a bit of a confused grimace, as though he forgot something.
"Something wrong?" Astra asked him, a bit concerned.
Jaune shook his head, dismissing the effort. "It's nothing. I just can't help but feel that I forgot to say something with that."
Astra laughed a little, and was joined by B0lt. "i like him, he's funny." B0lt said with a smile. Alpha rolled his eyes in good nature. "It's nice to meet you, Jaune. I'm Alphanafa, but please call me Alpha. The laughing exo is Bolt, and the big guy here is Star. he's the designated Leader of Fireteam Huevos." Alpha smiled, shaking jaunes hand. Astra stepped forward, taking Jaunes hand. "And my name is Astra Night." she said with a grin.
Jaune shook, smiling. "Nice to meet you Astra. Can I call you that?" he said, realizing that he should ask for permission to call someone a nickname. The rest of the fireteam immediately winced, waiting for Night to rip the new guardian apart. Astra Night considered it.
'Ehh, he seems like a good enough person.' was the simplified thought process of Night's mind, which decided at that moment to run at a thousand miles per hour.
"Sure, why not." she shrugged. All other members of fireteam Huevos jaws dropped to the ground. Jaune noticed this, and glanced around.
"Uhh, you guys ok?" he asked his new acquaintances.
"Night never lets anyone call her Astra. No one." B0lt said, slumping. Night grabbed Jaunes arm, a forced smile on her face, along with just a bit of red face.
"Hey, why don't we go acquaint you with the rest of the tower. That sound good, Jaune? Yeah, that sounds good." the warlock said, pulling Jaune away.
- Astra Nights POV-
As we walked away from my fireteam, I could not help but groan. I loved them to death, but they were like family, and family is meant to be embarrassing. We walked and talked, and I learned several things about jaune.
Firstly, he was a dork. This six foot one? Six foot two blonde was a complete nerd. That was good, it meant he was just like the rest of Fireteam Huevos. B0lt and Stryders weird obsession with old movies and music respectively, Alpha being made of memes and red bull, and Star being a secret tabletop game fanatic.
Secondly, no one has ever taught this boy how to talk to a girl. Ever. The conversation was a mix of me giving Jaune expositions about various areas, like the Hangar, where the ships were stored, the various people there, etc. and awkward small talk.
We walked side by side when Jaune opened his mouth once more. "So, how old are you?" he asked, casually, as though it was a normal question. I blinked, looking at him incredulously
"Excuse me?" I said, glaring at the Arc. he immediately flushed, looking apologetic.
"Sorry, Sorry. Wrong phrasing of the question. How long have you been a guardian?" He back pedaled. I could not help but laugh at this poor awkward guardian.
"I'm eighteen, but i've been a guardian for about three and a half years now." I respond, recovering from my outburst of giggles. "Anyway, let's get you to the Vanguards, decide what kind of guardian you'll be." We had almost made it out of the Hanger when a voice from behind us called our attention. "Oi, Guardians! Which one of you owns that sorry excuse for a ship?"
We turned to see Amanda Holiday, the Shipwright. The blonde human stood imposingly, despite being almost a foot or so shorter than Jaune. He cocked his head before shooting the ship he arrived on a look. "That one, the Rust Bucket?" he said, pointing to it. He walked so his back was to the ship, looking at the Shipwright.
"Yes, is it yours?" Amanda asked, unimpressed. Jaune smiled sheepishly.
"Yup." he rubbed the back of his head. Amanda just sighed, shaking her head. I noticed that was something he did often.
"I want it flying relatively soon." Amanda said curtly. Jaune looked at her, and turned to look at the ship. As if on cue, an entire engine wing bent downwards, falling off. The ship, now unbalanced, fell in the opposite direction. Jaune winced, turning back to the shipwright, who looked severely disappointed in the ship.
"Yeahhhh, I think i'll just get a new one." Jaune said, turning back to face the shipwright. I could not help but feel embarrassed for the blonde.
"Let's get you some new weapons, Buddy. I have a feeling that your guns are as old as your ship." I said, leading jaune away from the Shipwright. Today was going to be a long day.
-Jaunes POV-
Astra led me down a hall and to an elevator. "Soo, you always that socially awkward?" she asked after a moment of accent in the box. Her brown eyes looked into mine before glancing to the side.
"I'm sorry, what?" I asked, my expression faltering with indignity.
"Sorry, that was a bit blunt. I'm just saying you're not all that great with people, right?" Asta said sheepishly, looking away. I made a so so gesture with my hand. "I'm not sure if I was great with people when I was alive, so maybe?" I said, unsure. The elevator dings after a couple moments of awkward elevator silence, the doors opening to the top floor. Astra led me down the grand halls to a large command room where three guardians stood around a very large and very old map. "Ah, Astra. It is good to see you. And you brought the new guardian. Welcome to our home, the Last city." the shortest one said, her tunic denoting her to be a warlock.
"Enough pleasantries. It is time for you to decide, guardian." the large awoken man, who was probably a titan, boomed as he strode to be in front of me. Holy shit, this dude is taller than I am. "Uhh. Decide, Sir?" I asked, unsure what decision was to be made.
The Titan sighed as the third and final person just patted him on the back. "The decision that must be made, guardian," the Exo said with a smile, "is what type of guardian you want to be. There are Hunters, the silent scouts and assassins of the vanguard." the warlock stepped forward once the hunter had finished. "The Warlocks, the scholars, spies, and wizards gifted with magic from the traveller." she smiled, her arms open. At this, the titan shifted his shoulders to take up even more space. "And there are Titans. The Wardens, knights, and fighters of the Vanguard." he boomed. I blinked, looking him in his pale, ghostly eye. "Can I have a minute?"