RWBY: Son of Salem
Marek's POV, a few months later
"Watch it!" I ducked under a giant boulder as it swung at me. We were fighting a Geist that had possessed a boulder and was using multiple large rocks as its arms and legs.
I dashed between the Geist's legs as Ruby and Nora kept it busy. "Jaune!" I shouted. "You got anything?!"
"No! Just give me a second!" he shouted back as the Geist swung it's rock arm at me again.
I jumped onto the makeshift limb, running up the arm and trying to attack it's face.
I shielded itself from me and flung me off of it.
I landed on the ground and slid next to Pyrrha.
"You ok?" she asked.
She helped me up as I readied my weapon.
"Guys, I got it!" Jaune yelled. "We need to hit it, harder!"
"Is..that it?" Ren asked.
"No, seriously, we need to hit it harder." Jaune repeated. "It's protecting its face. If it doesn't have any limbs, we'll be able to take it out!"
I shrugged.
"Marek, keep attacking!" he ordered me as I jumped up and plunged my blade into its arm.
It tried to fling me off as I held on.
"Feel free to help out!" I shouted.
I lost my grip and smashed into a tree. Shaking my head, I stood back up to see Nora slam into the giant boulder, smashing its limbs off as the torso fell to the ground.
The Geist floated out of the piece of rock and started to flee.
I watched with a smirk as Ruby lined up her sniper and took a shot, killing the Grimm.
I walked over to the piece of stone my weapon was sticking out of and yanked the blade free, placing it on my back.
"Good shot." I told Ruby as I rejoined the group.
Salem's POV
I watched as Mist twirled her sword around her, cutting down all of the Grimm in the room with ease.
"You're getting stronger." I said with a smile.
She smirked as she finished the last Grimm with a column of fire. The creature turned to dust as Mist held her hand out, collecting the dark substance.
"I think you're ready." I told her. "Tyrian!" I shouted.
"Yes, your highness?" Tyrian asked as he entered the room.
"Take Mist and track down Marek." I ordered him. Tyrian started to clap as he chuckled.
"I don't need help dealing with him." Mist growled.
"I know." I replied as I turned to Tyrian. "Which is why you will not interfere with their battle. You're only job is to make sure no one else intereferes. He will most likely have a group with him, keep them busy. If he's with the silver eyed girl, bring her to me, alive."
He pouted before smirking. "Very well."
Marek's POV
We walked back to the village that had asked us to deal with the creature.
The village elder had thanked us for our support and we started making our way to the blacksmith.
"Hey, Pyrrha." I turned to the red head. "What kind of upgrades is Jaune getting? I don't think you told me."
"Better armor, for one. Sharper sword, better shield, and a little surprise later on." she replied with a smirk.
"Surprise?" I repeated. "What kind of-"
"Here you go." the blacksmith said as he placed Jaune's new armor on the table. "It's gonna be heavier than you're used to, but you'll thank me the next time you go up against a set of claws!"
"Wow...uh...I don't know what to say."
"Don't gotta say anything! Just put it on!" the blacksmith told him. "I'll go get the rest." he walked away.
"What are you waiting for?" Pyrrha asked. "Try it on."
"Right!" Jaune started taking off his old armor. "Guess I was gonna grow out of it eventually..." he said softly.
"A sign of progress." Ren said.
"Progress." Jaune repeated as he turned around.
Ruby gasped and started to snicker as she held a hand to her mouth. I raised an eyebrow as I stared at his hoodie.
"What is it?" Jaune asked.
"What is THAT?" Ruby yelled, pointing at his hoodie.
"What, my hoodie? I've always had this!" Jaune replied.
Ruby started to snicker again. "ITS GOT A CUTE LITTLE BUNNY ON IT!"
She started to laugh as I stared at her with a confused look. "It's not that funny."
"It's Pumpkin Pete! Y'know, from the cereal?" Jaune said.
"What did you do?!" Ruby asked between laughs. "Send in a box top for a prize?!"
"Yea! 50!"
Ruby burst into another fit of laughter as I rolled my eyes.
She fell over as the blacksmith returned with the rest of Jaune's gear.
"Can't have a hunstman without his weapon!" the blacksmith said. "Made all the modifications you asked for." the shield expanded. "That was some fine metal you brought me. Accents the white nicely. Where'd you get it from?"
Jaune glanced back at Pyrrha with a smile.
"Oh."
Me, Pyrrha, Ruby, Ren and Nora, left the shop as Jaune put on his gear.
"He cleans up alright, don't ya think?" the blacksmith asked as Jaune stepped out.
"He certainly does." Pyrrha said with a smile.
"You kids sure you won't stick around?" the blacksmith asked. "You've been real good to this town."
"Sorry, but we've got another mission." Ruby said.
"Make it to Haven academy no matter what!" Nora said.
"Besides, I think I scare some of the kids." I added as a group of them stopped and stared. I pulled my hood up and watched, out of the corner of my eye, as the kids walked away quickly.
"We heard the next village over has a working airship." Pyrrha said.
"No way to know for sure." the blacksmith said. "Scroll signals were bad enough out here when Beacon Tower was still up. Haven't heard from Shion village in a while."
"Only one way to find out." I said as we began walking away.
As we walked, Jaune started asking if we had supplies.
"Food?"
"Check!" Nora said.
"Water?"
"Check!"
"Ammo?"
"Locked and loaded! Thank you Schnee dust company!" Nora said.
"Got the map?"
"Uh...Ren's got it!"
"No I don't!" Ren replied. "You have it."
"What?"
"Guys, please tell me you're joking." Jaune said.
I reached into my backpack and pulled out the map. "Here." I tapped Jaune's shoulder with it. "Nora handed it to me."
He took it from my hands with a sigh of relief. "Thanks."
We walked for about an hour before stopping.
"We should rest up." Jaune said as he pulled out his sleeping bag.
"No arguing here!" Nora said as she did the same.
I walked towards a nearby tree and grabbed the lowest branch, hoisting myself up.
"What are you doing?" Pyrrha asked.
"Making sure no Grimm are around." I replied as I climbed higher. "Don't want to be attacked in the middle of the night."
"How come you haven't done this before?" Nora asked.
"I do this every night." I replied. "You guys just pass out too quickly."
"Oh."
I continued to climb higher as I reached one of the highest branches. I scanned the surrounding area, making sure there are no signs of Grimm.
After a few minutes, I started to climb down. I stopped on the lowest branch and took my backpack off, lowering it to the ground as I leaned back and closed my eyes.
Mist's POV
Traveling with Tyrian was a huge chore.
"I can't wait!" he said with a laugh. "He won't stand a chance!"
"Will you shut up?!" I growled.
He glared at me and opened his mouth to say something.
My eyes started to glow with the power of the maiden as I held up a fireball. "Or else!"
He closed his mouth and we continued to walk in silence.
End of chapter 20