Holy fucking shit it has been a while since I updated this, originally I was working on a completely different idea for Chapter 5 but that changed around November when I had an idea that later became this monster of a chapter.
Sorry for the wait and thank you to Zedeff, Balls1124, Sorcerer of BS and Lownick67, from the Shiro's Gaming Omniverse discord. All of whom contributed at various stages whether it was by giving advice, doing a quick read through, or just lightning a fire under my ass to make me keep writing.
Sorry it took so long, won't make any promises on timeline for the next chapter of this fic but I should have a pokemon fic releasing soon enough.
He slept alone, huddled in among the dark and craggy caves shivering under the cold blue night. One of his eyelids was barely cracked open, allowing him to keep an eye on his surroundings even when deep into his dozing state. This was not a natural sleeping method for him, instead, it was something that his body had forcibly adapted to over the last few days/weeks since he had fallen into this place. In the beginning, he had slept just as heavily as he would have back at his home but after several close calls including one where he had woken up to his legs being gnawed on by some form of wispy beast, he had become unable to fall back into a night of normal deep sleep or a day of sleep, time was hard to tell in the realm he'd found himself in.
Being the only boy out of 8 children, Jaune had never thought that the family had treated him differently, though his grandfather had often called his parents 'overprotective' His mother had always had a slightly contentious relationship with the older man, disapproving of the long hours that Jaune would spend with him, believing that the older man was filling the child's heads with pipe dreams.
It was true that they always seemed to be against him training under his grandfather, or any of the other active huntsman in the village. But despite their efforts, Jaune was still drawn to the life of the huntsman. And soon an event would occur that took the decision out of their hands. It all happened on one singular night, the same night that his grandfather, the patriarch of the Arc family passed away.
But the young boy did not care, for to him the highlight of his days would be when his grandfather came home from whatever excursion he had been on, the old but still active man would slowly remove his armor in the entranceway of the Arc family house, placing it on a stand that had stood there ever since before Jaune's grandfather's grandfather had been born.
The elder Arc would then pluck the scabbard shield that held Crocea Mors off of the side of his breastplate and latch it onto his belt as he went into the living area. No sooner had he started a fire and sat down than the youngest Arc and the sole male of his generation would crawl into his lap, the elder would smile and ruffle the hair of his youngest grandchild and the only grandchild he was ever able to truly spend time with as the young boy had somewhat of a knack for evading his parent's attempts to keep him away from his grandfather's influence.
Often times the young Arc would be carrying along a book that he would request his grandfather read out for him, the subject matter ranged from the magical feats accomplished by the Mantlean to the desperate last stands of Vacuon Warrior Dukes against Grimmtides. Of course, the most common stories that he asked for were the tales of his own ancestors, for the Arc family line had given birth to many Huntsmen and Huntresses. So Jaune's grandfather would regale him for hours on all manners of stories both real and fantastical until late in the night when the child would fall asleep on the old man's lap. Alas, these times would not last.
It was a cold night, snow fell lightly on the windowsill while frost glazed over the panes of glass through which Jaune gazed. The fire within the fireplace kept him warm and comfortable as he climbed off of the small bench by the window where he kept watch for his grandfather's return. The young boy ran over to a small bag that lay on the floor beside a large armchair near the fireplace.
The bag had been a gift to him from the town's librarian to help the young Arc carry the large number of books he and his grandfather would withdraw, right now it mostly held books on the fairy tales of Vale that he picked out for his grandfather to read him. He quickly sorted through them, The Warrior in the Woods, The Story of the Seasons, The Indecisive King, The Deathless Crown, The Three Paths, on and on they went, Jaune wracking his mind over which book he would choose to have his grandfather read for him tonight.
The sound of hurried footsteps crunching in the snow outside drew his attention away from his books and he absentmindedly slung the bag over his shoulder. He had barely passed into the hallway when the front doors were slammed open admitting a group of men that he recognized as part of the town's watch. He saw his mother among them hunched over a limp form atop a red stretcher, bits, and pieces of rent blood-soaked armor dropping from the stretcher as they rushed into a guest room.
As they passed Jaune he was able to get his first look at the figure on the stretcher failed to recognize the shredded figure at first, but as they grew level the wounded man's head dropped to the side and Jaune's gaze met the misted eyes of his grandfather. For a moment time slowed to a crawl as The Arc patriarch and his scion stared at each other in a bubble of silence. Jaune's grandfather seemed to scrutinize his face for a few brief seconds almost as if he was searching for something in him.
Whatever it was, Jaune would never know as after a moment his grandfather let out a soft shuddering sigh, before breaking into a wet cough, droplets of blood starting to spill from his mouth as his eyes closed and his head lolled to the side, Time went into motion again as the body was carried past the child, but not before an object fell out of the limp right hand of the old Huntsman.
Jaune stood in shock and confusion, left alone within the now bloodsoaked hallway as the stretcher-bearers entered the guest room. The boy felt his legs go weak as if the blood in his veins had been turned into jelly, and he collapsed onto his knees. He stared at the object that had fallen out of his grandfather's hand, it was something he was very well familiar with. After all, his grandfather would sometimes let him hold Crocea Mors, "to let him get used to the weight" he would say whenever Jaune's mother or father protested.
But Jaune still struggled to connect the sword that was lying on the ground with the pristine weapon that his grandfather carried around. Because the Crocea Mors that was lying on the ground, with its blade missing from its sheath was covered in blood and shattered into several pieces.
Jaune's eyes moistened and blood slicked his knees as he crawled across the hallway's wooden floor, collecting every disparate piece of the family heirloom he could find and placing them in the sheath as if hoping the sword would magically repair itself. Finally, the boy found the largest remaining shard of Crocea Mors, the hilt and the only part of the lower blade still attached to it, forming an almost dagger length shard but shattered into a jagged point.
The boy picked it up, his mind trying and failing to reconcile his image of a shining hero's blade with the piece of scrap he now held in his hands. Slowly, almost reverently he slid it back into its sheath before he hugged the weapon to his chest in a death grip his body shaking as he began sobbing, after a moment his silent crying was joined by wails of grief pouring out from the guest room.
All the while, Jaune sat in the living room, watching the slowly dying embers of the fire as he cradled his grandfather's sword in a death grip. Later that night, when the rest of his family had finally collapsed into bed from exhaustion, Jaune quietly snuck out of his room, still holding Crocea Mors in his hands. He quickly passed down to the foyer and slowly unlocked the door, cringing at every little creak or groan the latches and bolts made before he slowly inched open the door itself and passed quickly outside. His mind was focused on one thing and one thing only, taking revenge for his grandfather.
Maybe it was the Grimm that did it, maybe it was the foolish belief of a child too young to fully understand the true dangers of the world, or maybe he just wanted to prove himself. Whatever the reason, it would not change the fact that after Jaune crossed out over the threshold of his family home he would not be seen again on Remnant for over a decade.
Ruby Rose, Silver Eyed (Another point in favor of the veracity of the old fairy tales? Further investigation required) Semblance: Specialized super speed, splits into rose petals akin to Dendro Vision holders. (mark as possible teleportation if similarities to Dendro Visions persist) Strength: in battle, she uses a combination scythe/sniper rifle, her semblance can be used for rapid repositioning around the battlefield…most commonly she uses it to rush targets to engage with her scythe.
If conflict is inevitable suggested strategy would be to lure her in and punish her. if she breaks convention and uses semblance to kite? Remove traction by freezing ground, create ice hazards, spikes that she'll either have to change course to avoid or run into. If unable to defeat in short term simply stall out her aura before finishing.
Finding the wolf proved far easier than anyone could have expected, he had barely crossed any distance at all into the tree line that surrounded his village when he came across a Grimm, a young Beowulf to be exact. But it was not the Grimm's species that was important, no instead it was the fact that the Beowulf was dead, its body covered in open wounds that had clearly been caused by the swipes of something with massive claws.
As he approached the corpse he noticed a shadowy black mass that seemed to be growing out of the opposite side of the Grimm, but as he drew closer the mass shifted, as a large shape detached itself from the corpse's side with the sound of tearing flesh. At that moment a beam of moonlight shone through a crack in the clouds, illuminating the clearing that Jaune had found himself in and allowing the boy his first look at the beast that would haunt his dreams for days to come.
It was long but not too large, a sinewy creature in the shape of a wolf. Its sides were lean as if it was in a state of perpetual starvation. Instead of flesh its body seemed to be covered by a hard rocklike substance, though its maw was organic, its limbs were not connected to its body instead floating independently allowing the creature to use them to much greater effect than a common wolf would be able to. Purple light shone through the gaps between the limbs and the body and along its long snakelike tail, but it was brightest within the beast's two sharp eyes which were separated from each other by an almost crown like brow that seemed to be inscribed with some kind of sigil.
The beast drew back from the moonlight, letting out a quiet hiss as it slunk back into the shadows that dotted the clearing, in its mouth it held a lump of black flesh that it quickly gulped down when the light was no longer bothering it. Jaune stood transfixed as he beheld the monster, previous thoughts and plans of somehow triumphing over it vanishing as he was confronted with the real thing and he found himself wanting. It is not surprising that Jaune would fail when finally presented with his foe, after all he was not a warrior, he had never received any training and he hadn't been entrusted with any kind of special mission or magic sword, he was just a small child that had foolishly disregarded the cautionary tales and warnings that his parents had given him numerous times before. And now he would suffer for it.
As Jaune froze up his foot came down upon a small stick, snapping it with a crack that resounded around the clearing and broke the deathlike silence that had lain over it while also attracting the attention of the Abyssal Wolf whose head shot over to the source of the sound. For a moment nothing moved as boy and wolf observed each other, then the wolf cocked its head whether in amusement or slight befuddlement Jaune didn't know, but what he did know was that a few moments later the wolf began to advance on him.
The boy backed up slowly holding his grandfather's sword up in his hands in an attempt to ward off the monster, and for a moment it seemed to succeed as the wolf stopped for a moment looking at the sword warily. Then it cocked its head in confusion opened its mouth and let out what almost sounded like barking laughter as Jaune realized he had never drawn his sword. Before he had a chance to do just that the wolf pounced, colliding with Jaune and sending them both through a slight shimmer in the air and out of Remnant.
Yang Xiaolong, biological half-sister of Ruby Rose (Father cheated? {Reassign Martel to investigate after he completes current assignment} Possible psychological manipulation avenue). Semblance: Converts damage taken to strength, triggers based on anger/causes anger when triggered. Bog standard brawler with some training from a professional huntsman, lack of self-control hampers her in fights. If forced into conflict force her to trigger semblance before adequate energy storage is reached, options for accomplishing this: A, target hair, has an obsession with it that is fatal in a combat scenario. B, target sister. C. if I am in a combat scenario assume that her semblance is already triggered due to my "betrayal." Her semblance gives off flames, possibility for Agents to wrest control. Otherwise, she shall burn herself out relatively quickly especially if mobility is kept up, be aware of shotguns kept within gauntlets.
Jaune watched with shocked eyes as he fell into the void between worlds, the moonlight changing as he saw Remnant disappear into a void of stars that he seemed to linger in for hours before it was being replaced by cavern walls dyed blue by the light of fluorescent flora and crystals. His bag of books which he had forgotten he had on throughout all the commotion that night broke his fall as he landed on the cavern floor, allowing him to scrabble out of the wolf's grasp and roll to the side to escape its groping claws but not fast enough to escape his arm getting torn up by them.
The pain was unimaginable, like white hod metal rods being shoved into his skin and it didn't stop there. Jaune watched with horrified eyes as his wounds grew the pain changing to the self-same rods being used to pry open his flesh as the wounds doubled in size. Suddenly, Jaune felt something click in his being like a fog had lifted from his mind, his thoughts became clearer and more focused while warmth enveloped his body, briefly lighting up the cavern and driving back the hissing wolf that had begun to stalk towards him. His aura had activated! Jaune realized with glee, his grandfather had told him many stories about the benefits this miraculous power gave mankind, though he only focused on one for the moment. Aura healing, the process by which wounds incurred would be healed as the aura spread over the affected area.
Jaune looked back down at his arm, expecting to see his arm healing, only for hope to turn to dismay as he beheld the state of the limb. His arm was healing yes, but it was in a stalemate with growing wounds. Whenever his aura passed over an injury the skin would close back over it, only to be torn asunder a moment later as the aura was beaten back by the corrosive properties inherent to the wolf's claws. Thankfully the activation of his aura did at least deaden the pain a bit, though the pain of his wounds constantly closing and then tearing open again mitigated the positive aspects.
A hissing growl drew his attention back away from his arm and to the monster that had brought him into this place, but contrary to before it wasn't trying to attack him. Instead, the wolf was just pacing back and forth, growling and hissing, but not at him? The wolf's attention seemed fixated upon something behind Jaune, so the boy slowly turned around only to come face to face with a rusted helm.
Jaune caught himself before he fell backward in shock which would have inevitably put him back within reach of the monster, instead he chose to examine the helm closely and quickly discovered that it wasn't just a helm but an entire suit of armor adorned with softly glowing red gems. It was propped up against a shadowed wall of the cavern in a seated position, but had rust growing across its surface indicating that it had been lying there a long time; one gauntleted hand was clasped around the handle of a mighty cross spear.
Out of the side of his eye, Jaune saw the wolf growing more and more impatient before finally, its barriers broke and the creature lept at the young boy saliva dripping from its mouth…if Jaune hadn't been so close he might have missed it it happened so fast. One moment he was on the ground close to the rusted suit of armor, the next The armor had managed to bring its spear around, stopping the wolf in its tracks as its jaws wrapped around the cross-section of the polearm, mere inches from Jaune's face.
The armor moved again, with smooth but paradoxically jerky movements it swung its spear, throwing the wolf off of its weapon, sending it slamming against the far wall. Unfortunately, the beast quickly regained its balance, baring its teeth and growling at the armor, its posture tightening in clear intent of attacking again.
Jaune felt an arm wrap around him and tighten as the suit twisted its body around to move him behind it while still keeping its weapon between him and the wolf. Jaune's face brushed against the arm as he was moved, and the proximity caused him to realize something, while there was definitely something inside the armor, he would hesitate to call it human.
Any bit of flesh that was uncovered by metal was glowing a deep orange. Odder still was the fact that the metal pauldrons and other bits of armor seemed to move along the limbs when the Husk made a motion as if what had once been the armor had long since truly become part of its wearer.
As the wolf crouched in preparation for another pounce the husk of armor acted again. It let go of Jaune, freeing up its left hand, while raising its right hand and the spear held within it. almost hitting the top of the cavern. Before Jaune's astonished eyes orange sparks started to build along with the cross near the tip of the spear, spreading out along its length before falling down into the farm of a translucent orange banner, with a star proudly portrayed at the center. To Jaune's shock the wolf froze at the sight of this emblem, it let out a slight whimper and seemed to slowly began to back away before its bloodthirst reasserted itself though traces of fear could still be seen.
Fear that was justified Jaune's unexpected savior wasn't about to let the wolf back down after all that it had husk of armor put its hand on the cross shaft of the spear, slowly sliding it down as if it sweeping something off, in a way it was as the energy making up the banner coalesced within the gauntleted fist as it traveled down the shaft. When the husk's hand drew away it was holding a smoldering ball of fire and with a flick of its wrist, the fireball was sent flying into the body of the Abyssal Wolf. The monster let out a yelp of pain as the fire hit it, the singular yelp quickly split into multiple as the fire spread and within a few moments, the wolf was utterly consumed by the flames.
Jaune watched on from his spot of safety behind the husk as the creature that had killed his grandfather was enveloped by flames, though the fact that it was dead now brought him some relief, he felt…unsatisfied. Just a few hours ago he had stolen away his family's sword with one thought in mind and purpose in his heart. To kill the monster that had killed his grandfather, and while the beast did lie dead, or would soon.
It left a foul taste in his mouth that he had not been the one to land the killing blow. But for the moment, all the exhaustion and stress of the night finally caught up to the boy and Jaune felt his energy leave him as he approached the raging fire. An almost fatal mistake.
It happened too fast for him to fully register, one moment he was standing watching the crackling fire as the husk approached him. The next moment his vision was dominated by red hot jaws as the wolf burst out of the flames like a demon from the hells of his books.
Jaune attempted to leap back, but the monster was too close already and he surely would have died then. If the suit of armor hadn't put itself between them, grabbing Jaune and throwing him away.
The boy rolled as he landed, looked back towards his savior, and almost broke down. It was a familiar scene, the wolf had caught the husk's throat in its jaws while its claws did grisly work on its torso, rent pieces of armor falling to the floor as deep purple blood gushed out. The armor, however, wasn't acknowledging the massive pain that was being inflicted on it, instead, it had wrapped its arms around the wolf, cutting off any avenues of escape. Its spear once again glowed with orange energy as the wolf's struggles grew more frantic as it attempted to extract itself.
The husk looked over at Jaune as the glow of the spear reached its apex, and with a sound like air being forced through a pipe, it spoke.
P̷̧̹̲̘͔̭͑̍̽͐͝ͅȑ̶͓̼͇͎̣̭̭̟̜̠͖̤̟̒̍͂̚ơ̷̢͖̖̹͓̻̳̲͜ ̸̛̠͛͛͑̆̉͛̄̔͑ḙ̴̜̖̲͍̥͂͒͜ȉ̶̡͚̭̓̉̃͌̆̎͑̓̈́̍͗̕ͅş̷͍̞͚͈͇̪͚͛̿̈́̓͂̑̐̀͆́̈́ͅ ̵̨̰̇̀́̾̏̒̿̾̓̚͘͝q̴̮̻̱̞̈͑̓̎͗͋͒̑͋̌̚͘͠ừ̷̢̑͌̂͐͋̀͆͊̋ö̵̡̮̘͍̟̥̰̪̟̺́͂́̿́̃̑̈͌̈́͆̉͗̍͊ͅͅs̴͇̭̞̳͚̬͍͕͙̩͎̝̹̽͝ͅͅ ̸̙̭͆̌̿̌̀̎̈̄́̒̿͘d̸̢̆̓̚͝ǐ̷̛̦͓̜̠̀̀l̶̝̲̜͗̐͊͆͑͘i̵͚̯̗̥̾́̈ģ̵͕̣͚̻̘̟̲̯̭̹̥̣̰̳͐͑̇́̕į̴̞̼͚̻̦̩̮̹̘̖̠͍̮̄̈́̓͒̑͐̈͌́̕͘m̴̢̡̧̭̹̝͈̝̹̥̮̦̔͛͠ư̷̂̓͂̈́̓̈́̃̓͒̉̑͌̏͜͝s̴̘̗̘͖̦͈̼̔͜,̶̨̨̜͙̀̀͆͐͒̽̃̏̚̕ ̶̨̡̢̬͎̣̪͇̥͚͆̈̎̀́̇̀͌̋̕͜ç̴͙̪̝̟̦̤̭͚̳͔̓̎̊̈́̄͑̿͊͗͂̒̚̚u̷̮̱̐̐̏̉̈̍́̾͠ͅm̴̨̢̧̻͙̫̮̱̑ ̷̡̢̧̨̛͕͇̼̙͚̻͔̜̘͓̓͐̈́̈́͑̽͘g̷̬̫͍͈̻͕͖̎̈́͋̍̌́͘͝ļ̴̨̛̦͎̝̹͈͍̠͈̦̀͋́͒̇̇̏́̽̍͒̽̿̈́͜o̸̡̡͙̥͚̯͙̹͙̖̭͐̉̐̆̾͋̇̏͘͠ͅr̵͍̘̓́͊̀͝i̵̘̼̱̣̬̱̜̫̒͋̎̇͂͝a̴͖͇͙͈͈̤͔̘̩͎͆̐͜͝ ̶̢͔̺͚̙̳̯̈́̄͐̾́͊̓́́͛̕͜͜͝ͅm̴̲̮̗̪͇̻̻̘̲͓̗͋͐̅͊̍͌̿̑̈̒͜͝ò̵̱̭̯̪͔͐̓̐̈́͒̌͌͋̆͊̋͛̕͜͠r̸̼̬̔̑̈́̔͊́͌̓̐͋̓̍̓̚i̵̢̛̫̹͔̟̘̩̜̤͒̎̀̋̓m̸̧̧̢̛̠͎̘̙̦͈̰̲̞͓͒̾͛̋̔̅͒̚͘͘͠͝ͅṷ̵̢͍͉͎̯̈̌̄͑̎͌̓͑̅̈͠͠r̸̢̙̟̣̝̞͓̩̄̈́̈́̋͒̍̉́͛́̽̔͝͝ͅ.̷̛̭͋̉̅̓̅̾̑̄̿͗
And then it twisted its hands, snapping the glowing orange spear with a crack and a blast of heat and orange light. The shockwave blasted Jaune against the wall, and though his aura bore the brunt of the impact it sparked and failed a moment afterward. The last thing he saw before unconsciousness claimed him was a small orange light flickering as it approached him, and a warm feeling in his chest.
Weiss Schnee, Schnee Heiress (Most likely holds valuable information about dust supply plus deposits. Addendum: Upon further interaction I have discovered that beneath her this veneer lies a wellspring of resentment against her father and the upper class of Atlas, target for subversion and recruitment if need/opportunity arises.)
Semblance: Schnee glyphs, multifaceted power (see supplementary material for documented powers) capability of using summons has so far not been displayed (note: due to the rigid nature of Atlesian society, it is unlikely that she will go down a creative route when she unlocks summoning. if conflict is inevitable study her previous engagements to prepare yourself for possible summons.)
If engaged simply smash aside her defenses, due to her lack of mastery and confidence in her own abilities once she starts to lose she will spiral downwards. Be aware that she carries large amounts of dust on her at all times both due to her heritage as a Schnee though she has a slight overreliance borne out of her lack of control over her semblance limiting her to the glyphs instead of the more well-known summons. Vision/Delusion wielders can seize control at range and preemptively activate her supply (for further guidance consult supplementary material and the training video on your scroll.)
A few weeks later
Jaune woke up to something gnawing on his foot… again, he looked down and sighed when he saw that it was another one of the strange incorporeal monsters that populated this world. And when he said world he did mean it, at first he had dared to hope that he was still on Remnant, but as the weeks drug on the fantastical sights and lack of Grimm had disabused him of that notion. Plus, he thought to himself as he kicked the little beast off of his foot, if these little things had existed back on Remnant he would have heard of them before.
It had been weeks since the wolf had dragged him through the portal into this place. After he had awoken from his bout of unconsciousness he found that there was nothing left of the battle except for a few pieces of broken armor shards, and some charred bones.
He stayed there for a few hours fighting back the crushing melancholy, before placing a few armor shards into his pack and forcing himself to leave. After a bit of investigation he had found an opening in the far wall, exiting through it, he found himself in a location beyond his wildest dreams.
The cave exited onto a cliffside path that ran alongside a deep dark canyon, the path that he was on seemed to circle the geological feature, winding its way up higher and higher as it went on until it went out of sight. When Jaune had crept closer to the edge he found that he could just barely see that the path he was on would also lead deeper into the canyon and if he strained his eyes he found he could even see the bottom as it was lit by more of the same blue fungi he had seen in the cave he'd just exited. With no other real choices left, he made a quick decision, shouldered his bag of books, and began walking downwards.
And that Jaune reflected, had led him to where he was now, much time had passed in the beginning of his journey as he traveled down into the canyon. Sometimes he would see other suits of armor in various states of repair, most were inert not activating whether because of damage or something else, and of the few he saw that were active none reacted to him instead patrolling back and forth like puppets on strings. Jaune felt that if there had ever been any humanity in these creatures then it was long gone leaving them as husks of their former selves. Plus, calling them husks was a lot easier than "that suit of armor" or "the armored creature" but he was getting ahead of himself.
That was another thing, his thoughts. He hadn't thought (haha) about it much during the first days down in this place, but his mind felt somehow sharper, clearer than it did beforehand. He wasn't sure if it was a side effect of his aura activating or something else entirely. But for now, he had other things to focus on, mainly breakfast. As the small wispy beast came closer to his leg again he grabbed it and quickly bit down gagging a bit at the foul taste.
Back when he had been traveling down the canyon he had been able to forage a few fungi and small luminescent fruits from along the walls of the caves he would pass, but once he had reached the bottom he had found himself in a craggy plain honeycombed with caves and tunnels. The fungi he had become to rely on grew rarer and rarer until he had been forced to rely on other means to sustain himself and since the small creatures were plentiful within the plains and tended to come within easy reach they had been the obvious choice.
But still, Jaune could barely keep the mouthfuls of raw flesh down when he bit into the little creatures, he looked at the half-chewed corpse in his hand purple mist bled upwards out of its body instead of blood. he sighed while the Purple ones weren't the worse (that honor was a toss-up between the orange and blue ones, the former was too tough to bite into and the latter was disgustingly soggy) but he would have much preferred it to be one of the red fiery variants, at least those cooked themselves. He reached over for his bag only to find that that it wasn't where he had left it last night (day?) he pushed down an undercurrent of worry, it was too dark to really see anything in the cave he was staying in at the moment, as it lacked some of the bioluminescence of other temporary shelters he had found.
Luckily the small creatures glowed else he would have had time catching the one he was currently chewing on. All the same, though Jaune would prefer to have some added flavor, so he focused on his aura for a moment focusing it into his hand which lit up like a torch, it wasn't a technique he had ever heard of someone doing back on Remnant, but then again his parents had seemed deadset against him even learning about the existence of aura in the first place so for all he knew it was common. With the added light he quickly found his bag, he shooed away a blue wisp lizard (if it had been a red or orange one he would have tried catching it as they didn't go bad) that was poking at the top. Jaune grabbed the backpack and quickly went through it, his books were still in there he couldn't bear to throw them away despite the added weight, a few bits of previous meals dotted the bottom serving as an emergency snack for when he was on the move. he brushed Crocea Mors to the side and found what he was looking for a handful of blue mushrooms he had managed to pick from a small grove he had found a few days ago. He withdrew one and crushed it in his hand before smearing it on the remains of the little lizard he was eating before taking another bite letting out a small contented hum at the improved flavor.
After he finished his meal he stood up, stretching as he did so with a satisfying crack as he worked out the kinks that had formed during the night. He had acclimated rather quickly over the previous weeks and although he still missed sleeping in a real bed, he no longer had problems with falling asleep on the hard ground. Barring a few…annoying awakenings he thought as he kicked away one of the little lizards that had regained enough confidence to come closer.
Jaune slung his bag back over his shoulder and headed for the entrance of the cave, passing through it and out into the artificial light of The Abyss. He paused for a moment as he passed through the entranceway, the area he had found himself in was a stark contrast from the claustrophobic canyon pathways and caves he had grown so accustomed to during his early days in this place. The area Jaune was in was utterly massive, he couldn't even see the opposite wall of the canyon despite knowing that it should be there. Prairies of grey grass covered the land as far as his eye could see were interspersed with rocky outcroppings and the occasional ruin of some ancient building or archway. Large herds of beasts wandered the plains grazing on the vegetation while communicating with distant members through honks amplified by the large crests on their heads, while above them flying creatures that resembled the rays that the fisherman would sometimes bring into his home village flitted between stones that floated in the air, some of these stones big enough to be islands in their own right.
But Jaune's attention wasn't on any of these fantastical sights, for he had long since grown used to them. Instead, the boy had his eyes closed as he focused on the cold wind that blew through the plains, listening for the howls of the apex predators that stalked the area. It was a routine that had formed out of necessity after a few close calls when he had first come down into these hunting grounds, luckily he had been able to evade the wolves and secret himself away in some hole or cave whenever he had encountered them, with the predators usually more interested in the larger more filling beasts that roamed the grassy sea. But still, he took no chances, and while relying on hearing to check for predators that could seemingly tear holes, in reality, to teleport at will might seem hideously ineffective it was in the end the only method he had
After a short while without any sounds aside from the occasional goose-like honk of the crested lizards Jaune figured it was safe to head out once more. And with one last check of his bag, he set off across the plains. It seemed like things were finally looking up.
Blake Belladonna, daughter of Ghira Belladonna, founder and former head of the White Fang, current Chief of Menagerie, and Kali Belladonna. Like with assets R and W avoid fatal wounds if possible due to extreme political importance. Semblance: Solid clones of herself, she uses said clones to rapidly reposition around the battlefield as well as to confuse the enemy. She is able to imbue clones with dust to act as traps for opponents.
If engaged proceed with caution, she is one of the more dangerous combatants at Beacon due to her actual combat experience and training from her time in the White Fang. She tends to use her weapon to grapple or traverse the environment, target her during these instances. Do not aim for where she is, aim for where she will be. If she attempts to grapple you exert force onto her weapon's ribbon in order to unbalance her and drag her in for a critical blow. (Addendum: she can be damaged by her own clones as seen in exhibits A{Beacon Combat Footage} and B {Footage recovered from scrapped Atlesian drone} if she uses clones use them against her) She is trained as a Fang saboteur so will always go for stealth tactics to start off a fight. engage with anti-rifthound countermeasures.
Months later,
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH"
Jaune was in trouble, it wasn't the first time that he'd been caught in a spot like this, but it was by far the most threatening of the encounters so far. The boy dove to the ground dodging the rending claws of the shadowy orange wolf, he had learned his lesson from his first encounter with one of these creatures and the others since then. Usually, he would have some warning before facing Riftwolves, howls in the distance, or tracks that would give him some time to prepare for the confrontation, but not this time. Instead, the wolf had appeared out of one of the dimensional tears almost literally right on top of him which quickly set him on the back foot. He rolled back onto his feet but was forced to duck his head, the wolf's claws skidding off the rocky wall behind him causing a shower of sparks to fall on his bag his teeth gritting at the pain.
Adding on to the sheer bad luck of the encounter was the fact that it was taking place in a cave and he had grown complacent after using them as safe zones for so long which had led to him letting his guard down even further, Luckily the wolf was one of the biggest ones he had seen so the tight space of the cave hampered its movement somewhat, unluckily for Jaune it was one of the biggest wolves he had ever seen, and it had tagged his shoulder with a swipe when it first manifested so as long his aura was fighting against that infection it wasn't able to tend to any other injuries he received in the battle.
While this wasn't the first time he had had to fight in the abyss (there had been several instances not counting his eventful entrance into the realm) the current situation was by far the grimmest. Most of the time when he was in combat it was against foes that were close to his own size, like the adult versions of the little mist lizards that had by now become a staple part of his diet. But when it came to the Riftwolves he had taken a different approach, namely hiding. After all, they usually roamed in packs, and to take a group of them on alone was the height of foolishness, he had chanced upon the occasional lone member but unless they were juveniles or pups he tended to hide until they passed. It was smarter to stay out of their way if possible, especially since he didn't want to draw the attention of the truly big ones, at one point he had chanced upon a pack of the wolves fighting some kind of massive stone lizard, the pack had nipped in, again and again, trying to whittle down the defenses of the lizard only to retreat as the creature shook the ground with its heavy blows.
Jaune had been forced to hunker down and observe the ongoing battle as the blows of the lizard made the surrounding paths a bit too treacherous, especially after it started controlling large swathes of the earth with its mind. The battle lasted hours as the wolves didn't seem to be able to do much damage despite their toxic bite while the lizard wasn't fast enough to actually hit the wolves with anything other than glancing blows. In the end, though, it wasn't the wolf pack or the lizard that ended up ending the battle. Instead, a giant rift had formed admitting a truly massive purple wolf, the wolf lacked the legs of its lesser brethren, having given them up to swim through the air like a sea serpent. Upon its entry into the area, its smaller relatives had drawn back, ceding their ground and taking up positions of submission while the giant lizard roared in a gesture of defiance to little effect. Jaune could only watch awestruck as the wolf barely glanced at the lizard before frying it with a massive bolt of lightning, ending a battle of hours in less time than it took to blink and then moving in to feed.
So no, Jaune did not go out of his way to hunt the riftwolves, electing to instead hide away whenever he had the chance and avoid any type of conflict with them if possible. Sure, on one hand, he was no doubt bringing great shame on himself and the line of heroes he had always tried so hard to emulate on his grandfather's knee, but on the other hand, he was still alive so it seemed to be working out. Of course, all of that sneaking around and avoiding conflict meant nothing if the thing you were avoiding was dropped right on top of you. Jaune mused as the beast struck again, overextending and hitting the ground underneath him but pinning him down.
"Get off!" The boy yelled, pushing back the beast with his aura-enhanced legs, the wolf's stuck claws were ripped from its paw with a yelp as they caught in the rocky ground. Jaune's spirit lifted at the apparent disarmament of the wolf, only to fall as a moment later the claws were regrown in a flash of orange light.
"I knew I should have taken the other fork." the boy moaned as he brought his broken blade up in what he hoped was an adequate guard formation. The wolf snarled and leaped at him again though Jaune was able to bring up his sword quick enough to deflect some of the blows. However, the beast's assault was relentless and its strength was far greater than Jaune's even with his aura enhancing his muscles, slowly but surely the boy was driven back further into the cave all the while his mind racing to try and find a way to get out of this situation.
Soon though he hit a wall. Literally. Jaune's back hit the rock wall of the cave and knew that if there was ever any chance to turn the struggle around it was now. The boy watched the wolf approaching him, it knew it had the upper hand and was now taking the time to play with its food before the end. The sadistic tendencies of its species had been driven into Jaune's mind when he had first fallen into this realm, and now he was banking on them to turn this fight around. The wolf lunged forward aiming towards his midriff only for Jaune to throw himself to the side at the last second. The wolf was unable to correct itself and found its arm buried deep into the rock face, it tried to tug itself free but the earth was holding for the moment and a moment was all Jaune needed.
The young boy lunged from the side, his hands forming a death grip around the handle of his grandfather's broken weapon as he plunged it into the wolf's side. Only for the tip of the sword to bounce off of a hardened osteoderm, the swords' jagged point having long since been blunted by Jaune's necessitated the use of it to dig up roots or carve open springs. The momentum of the action instead rebounded back onto Jaune the force of the impact ripping the weapon from the child's hands and sending him onto his back.
The boy lay there looking at the stalactites hanging from the ceiling. "You're kidding right?" the boy bemoaned "I can't be this unlucky" the growls of the wolf as it continued trying to free its claw was his only answer. And then a moment later he heard the telltale sound of falling rock as the monster finally freed itself.
Now truly helpless, with his last-ditch effort having failed to cause any noticeable damage the young boy backed up in fear as the wolf slowly stalked towards him, its mouth was dripping with saliva splattering on the floors as its long tongue flicked out and across its bared lips, the monster clearly savoring the terror that it was inflicting on the boy. With nowhere else to run Jaune continued shuffling back, but soon enough he felt his back hit something and he could go no further. Having no other action open to him and without any random animated husk in the cavern to save him Jaune had no other option. He could only close his eyes and grit his teeth as the monster continued advancing raising its claw in the air as it prepared to end him.
Just as the claw began to descend, the sound of running footsteps broke through the air, drawing the wolf's attention away from its kill. The Riftwolf turned towards the origin of the sound only to have its face get flattened by the boot of a young teen, sending it flying off of Jaune, The younger boy's eyes snapped open as the older youth prodded him in the side.
"Oh good, you're not dead!" The older youth beamed down "I saw the end of your fight back there, not the best showing I've ever seen, but hey! You survived! That's better than most could say when fighting Rifthounds…if they could say anything when they get eviscerated."
Jaune noticed said Rifthound getting back onto unsteady feet in the corner, but before he could say anything in warning a knife seemed to grow out of the beast's face. It took a few whimpering steps before it collapsed. Jaune looked back at his unexpected savior who despite having his hand outstretched didn't seem to have taken his eyes off of Jaune at all.
"Sorry about stealing your kill, but I figured you might want to get those glanced at before they fester" he nodded his head towards Jaune, and as the younger boy checked himself over, though his aura was fighting back the worst of his wounds they were far from the only injuries inflicted on him by the wolf, and his aura was already spreading itself thin trying to beat back the spreading infections.
"Let me give you a hand." the older boy grabbed Jaune's less injured arm and lifted him to his feet, "I have a camp nearby, and master might be able to help treat some of your injuries." before Jaune had a chance to protest or ask who his 'master' was the teen had started walking with Jaune's arm over his neck to act as a support. "You can call me Ajax by the way."
Pyrrha Nikos, undefeated champion of Mistral, 'The Invincible Girl' Semblance: Magnetism/Polarity is able to control ferrous objects, used it subtly to win her tournament fights, treated it as a crutch when her own skills failed. Due to her only using it on the small scale it is unknown whether she can control large objects (her own self-esteem issues might compound this due to her aversion to being in the spotlight {in a recent event she showed that she has the ability to control large amounts of aluminum cans, though it is still unclear whether she can control large amounts of high weight objects.)
If conflict arises assume I have dealt with her unless stated otherwise. If engaged wear her down from range, our abilities counter hers, agent's daggers should be uncontrollable by her due to the heat treating and anti-magnetic properties. If ever an occasion arises that she enters into combat with a standard squad send Anemoboxer vanguards in first, while she might be able to slightly turn their punches she will be unable to avoid their air blasts.
Additionally, Geochanters should be able to interfere with her abilities and wrest back control of allied equipment. Pyroslingers are free to engage at range due to the non-metallic nature of their projectiles. Cryo and Hydro gunners are also free to engage or provide support at will. Electrohammer wielders are advised to stand back until she is too occupied to exert control.
"He can train with you from now on. But I don't care to know his name, If he survives long enough then I'll actually care."
Those were the words that Skirk had said after she had examined the boy that Ajax had brought back, granted that wasn't exactly what she had said but his mother had been very clear on what language was considered acceptable in front of his younger siblings and he would keep to that teaching even if he hadn't seen his family for weeks… now he was sad.
Ajax sat beside the remains of last night's campfire stirring the cold ashes with a bone leftover from the rift beast they'd hunted for dinner. He missed his mom…it wasn't often that he really thought about home, but that wasn't due to forgetting anything instead he just tried to find ways to avoid thinking about it, and luckily there was a convenient excuse sitting just a few feet away from him. Ajax glanced over at the boy he had dragged rescued, the kid couldn't have been much older than Tonia, and certainly too young to be stuck in the Abyss…but then again so was he.
Ajax dropped the stick in the ashes and stood up, dusting himself off as he crossed over at Jaune. The younger boy didn't notice as he was absorbed in sharpening the jagged end of a broken sword, across his knees lay a long wooden polearm that Skirk had unceremoniously tossed to him a day or so after he had entered the campsite. he seemed to be in the process of attaching the broken sword to it as a spearhead. A strange choice but Ajax figured that the sword had some sentimental value to the younger boy, and if it had kept him alive in the Abyss then the pragmatic side of Ajax wouldn't fault him for clinging to it, he still kept his first stone dagger with him after all, although though he did question the ragged bag of books that he held close.
Ajax cleared his throat hoping to get the younger disciple's attention, but Jaune was too focused on his task to notice so Ajax put his hand on his shoulder and gently shook him. He used his other hand to catch the younger boy's arm by the wrist as he attempted to drive the broken sword into Ajax, the Teyvatian forced Jaune to drop his weapon by squeezing his wrist and then locking the arm behind his back, pushing him into the ground and forcing him to stop his reflexive attack.
After a moment Ajax let the other student go, leaving Jaune to massage his wrist as he looked up at the older boy with suspicious eyes. For his part Ajax just laughed and extended his hand in reconciliation, Jaune eyed the hand for a bit before taking it and allowing himself to be pulled up.
"Sorry for startling you, but I was wondering if you wanted to go fishing?" Ajax asked, holding out a wooden fishing rod.
Jaune stared at him then at the fishing rod, then back at him before he reached out and grabbed the rod. "Sure"
…
A few days later
Ajax and Jaune were seated by the side of a small river near a waterfall that spilled off the side of one of the floating islands. Next to each of the boys sat a small bucket with the two competing to see who could fish up more than the other. Ajax had already filled five buckets and was working on a sixth, while Jaune glared at his lure bobbing in the water having failed to catch even a single minnow.
"This is bullshit" The younger boy stated eloquently as he reeled in his line and picked an old skull off of it, he dodged a slap from his companion only to be nailed with a flick a moment later.
"Language!" Ajax admonished as he too started to pack away his fishing tackle. "Fishing is all about patience, if you don't take the time to just sit still and wait then you're never going to catch anything."
"Since when did you have any right to teach me anything about patience? I've only known you for a few days and you've already blown 8 hunts by running in early, not to mention the whole fight with the Rifthounds."
Ajax smiled as he recalled that specific fight "Ah man that was a good one, why are you complaining though? It was fun." The Snezhnayan sighed as he remembered the incident "Putting your life on the line, giving your all, and leaving nothing on the battlefield, there's nothing else like it."
Jaune snorted "Yes but our lives wouldn't have been on the line if you hadn't gone out of your way to provoke the entire pack."
"It was a valuable learning experience though, plus it got us dinner."
"Considering how they tasted I think I may have preferred starvation."
Jaune's reticence the first few days had bled out as he spent more time with the older boy and his often absent master, though it had taken him a while to reacclimate to being around other people a mixture of Ajax's nonstop talkativeness combined with Jaune's own mounting frustrations at his lack of success with fishing along with pent up annoyance from several other failed excursions had finally broken down his barriers.
The first day had been spent mostly in silence, with what little conversation that was brought up quickly dying, on the second day they ended up deep in the discussion on the different flavors of Abyss Lizards and which ones were superior after Ajax had caught a batch to put on skewers over the campfires. Another day they discussed how they had ended up in the abyss, and discovered common ground in that they both aspired to be like the heroes in the stories their family members had told them.
The discussions went back and forth as time went on, at one point Jaune even warmed up enough to share some of his books with the older boy who learned the Valean script extremely quickly though that was probably due to the lack of anything else to serve as leisure activities. Sometimes Ajax would refrain from fishing and instead lie back against a nearby tree or rock and flip through a book of Valean fairytales while tossing out unhelpful fishing advice while Jaune attempted to procure dinner. Skirk popped in now and again, sometimes randomly launching attacks to "keep them on their toes" but for the most part she kept up a hands-off method of training, when Jaune had asked Ajax about it the older boy had simply shrugged.
By far the most common activity for them to do outside of training was fishing. In the Abyss fishing had its own nuances despite it being one of the safest ways of gathering food it still had its own dangers, every once in a while one of the boys would hook in a relatively unpleasant creature that resembled a fish if it had horribly mutated and grown frog legs while also developing the ability to shoot elemental beams from its eyes.
Unfortunately, they were quite common and tended to school in areas with high concentrations of fish, fortunately, they were also quite easy to kill…unfortunately they tasted like melted garbage, and if they weren't killed often enough their cries would summon other members of the species. This led to the boys having to switch up their spots quite often as the creatures grouped up in large enough numbers to clog up streams and drove any other fish deep into hiding.
It was precisely because of one of these mini migrations that the two boys were currently fishing near the side of one of the floating islands, far from their usual spots. Thankfully, they had been able to clear out the mutant fish in the area, letting them cast their lines in relative peace. This had led to them having a bit more success than usual and after Ajax had pulled in his first two fish Jaune had challenged him to a competition…though it hadn't turned out well for the young blond. And that in turn led to their current bickering as they packed up the last of the bait (this time they were using abyss lizard tails, it was an ongoing debate between Jaune and Ajax as to which form attracted more fish, though both agreed that rifthound claws were the best bait by far) and tackle
"You know, if you're worried about attracting unpleasant attention then maybe you shouldn't be arguing so loudly out here, just a thought."
"Hey, I wasn't the one who started the argument."
"No, I think I remember you starting it when you disagreed on baits."
"Yes you did Jaune, you wouldn't admit that Electro Abyss lizards just don't cut it as bait, all I did was suggest that you switch to Fire Abyss lizards like I use," Ajax replied.
"Yea you do kind of suck at fishing yellow-haired kid, everyone knows that Electro Protoshaps send out constant currents in the water which drives off fish. Personally, I would vouch for the Dendroshaps as they have a fruity taste that the fish of the Abyss don't get to experience often. But those are rare so usually, Geoshaps are a good substitute since they have the taste of clean Earth, much like a worm."
"See he agrees with me…" Ajax stated before realizing that there had been a third party participating in their conversation for the last few minutes.
Both the boys turned around finally seeing the floating red figure that had been behind them for the last ten minutes. It was looking down at a book it held in its hands before it looked up and saw that they had finally realized it was there.
"Yo," it said, giving a jaunty wave "While I have to profess my admiration for the combination of sheer guts and stupidity that made you think that one of the royal bathing pools would be the perfect fishing spot. it doesn't change the fact that you two are coming with me" faster than the two could react a blast of red energy shot out from the book and hit them both, knocking them out instantly.
Lie Ren Semblance: Allows him to calm his emotions and mask negative feelings to enable hiding against Grimm. The possibility of his semblance evolving must be considered. If a conflict arises assume that he has been dealt with by me personally unless otherwise informed. While skilled in the arts of aura manipulation he lacks the stamina to keep up fights for a long period of time, exploit this flaw to great effect. Be aware that he is emotionally close to Nora Valkyrie, with possible romantic feelings existing between the two though they have not been acted on yet. However, due to his semblance exploiting this bond against him would not be effective.
Jaune woke up gasping back at his house in Vale, he didn't know why he'd had that weird dream, but he silently swore to never eat so late at night again. As he slipped off his bed he doubled over, clutching his head a wave of pain and nausea washed over him. He sat like that for over a minute before the pain finally cleared and he began to dress for the day, Jaune paused for a moment as he put on a shirt to touch his side where the monster had clawed him in his dream. There wasn't a single mark or blemish on the skin, Jaune let out a sigh of relief and finished putting on his shirt. He walked down the hall to the bathroom, thankfully it was free so he was able to get in and brush his teeth before heading downstairs.
As he reached the first floor he could hear his mother making breakfast in the kitchen, but what immediately drew his attention were the voices he could hear coming from the study. He quickly walked over to the large wooden door and waited for a moment with his hand on the handle as he listened to the two voices within. Finally, he managed to quash the sinking nervousness in his stomach and turned the handle to open the door…only to feel something drop onto his head.
Jaune's eyes shot open, and he groaned as he found himself staring up with blurry eyes at a damp mossy ceiling from a cold stone floor, a leak in the ceiling was dripping water directly onto his forehead. He tried to raise himself from the ground only to grit his teeth as a wave of pain washed over his body from cramps and sore joints that he wasn't even aware he had.
The most prominent pain was from a throbbing headache that had him groaning again as he cradled his head in his hands in the hope of some relief, relief that didn't come as instead the water from the leak started dropping onto his scalp, making his hair uncomfortably wet and adding to his pain as the large droplets thudded against his head.
For a few moments, he sat head in his hands as the water continued to drop on him before a tap on his shoulder broke him out of his fugue state and a hand offered him a wooden cup.
"Here, drink this, but take it slow." a voice said. Jaune took the cup gratefully and touched it to his lips, savoring the water as it wet his dry mouth, he drank slowly as he didn't want to end up vomiting it all up by rushing it. But in the end, it didn't take long before he had drained the cup the crisp water relieving his throbbing pain.
"Alright, now how are you feeling?" the voice asked again and as Jaune looked up he realized that Ajax had also been thrown into the cell with him, speaking of. Jaune looked around as he was finally able to focus through the pain of his headache. But what he saw was probably what he should have expected, a generic cell right out of some of the stories his grandfather used to read him. It was made of stone and not overly spacious, covered with damp luminous moss with the only breaks in the stone walls being a door and a window, both with bars of cast iron. Realizing that he had left him hanging Jaune turned back to Ajax, only to groan as his headache flared up again.
"Not great, head aches. Where are we?" he asked the question on his mind.
"A dungeon of the Abyss Order, one of the wardens came by earlier and left some food and water so I was able to get a bit of an answer from him. Apparently, the Lector who captured us overpowered his stunning spell so we were out longer than anticipated, they brought us here while they waited for it to wear off so we could stand trial."
"Stand trial?" Jaune asked, confused.
Ajax nodded, "get some rest while you can, from what I heard they'll be back to check on us again in a few hours. Here, take this" the older boy placed a small bowl filled with some kind of porridge. though Jaune was uncertain as to what it actually contained he quickly dug in any way to fill his empty stomach. The taste wasn't the best, and it had a gooey consistency to it that made it hard to swallow if he ate too fast, if he had to Jaune would guess that they had mashed up some of the hydro lizards with a bit of grain, but he was careful not to think too deeply about the process as he much preferred to keep the food inside his stomach once it got there.
It was only when his spoon scraped the bottom of the bowl that he finally looked up from it, and discovered that he and Ajax were no longer alone. The Lector that had captured them was standing just behind the bars that formed one wall of their cell, Ajax glaring daggers at him from the side.
The Lector met his gaze head-on, neither side looking away, this continued…and continued…finally after a few minutes Ajax's eyes dried out and he had to blink, Jaune noted that the Lector seemed to be vibrating with a sense of accomplishment as the older boy rubbed his eyes.
"That makes it 3-0 for me, I had hoped by this point you would have accepted my superiority in staring contests. Though it's not like you'll have much time to dwell on your own inferiority." the servant of the Abyss chuckled as both boys' eyes widened. "Yes, you're in luck! It's not often that we get such young prisoners, and your case has even been brought to the notice of those in high places, in fact, I'll be collecting you for trial right now!."
In a turn of events that was becoming annoyingly common a red sphere of light shot out from the Lector's hand and sent Jaune tumbling into darkness once again.
Jaune awoke to his head smacking against the hard red plate that covered the body of the Lector. Said Lector was currently carrying him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes which explained both why his head kept smacking against the armor and why his headache had gotten even worse, his groan of pain was heard by his captor and somehow Jaune felt him brighten at the fact.
"Oh? you're awake already? How interesting." Jaune abruptly felt the arm that was holding him release, and he hit the ground like a sack of potatoes, Jaune groaned as he got up to his feet under the Lector's watchful eye. "Oh stop whining, I've seen you deal with worse back when you were running from the rifthounds and if you've recovered from stunning this quickly then you'll be able to walk just fine. I am surprised though, your comrade waking up sooner was expected, but I believed you'd be out longer"
But he was broken out of his thoughts by someone offering him a hand up, which he took upon seeing that it was Ajax who was offering. The older boy pulled him up and brushed some of the dust off of him
"You good?" he asked as they were forced to begin walking again.
Jaune nodded "yea, how long were we out?"
Ajax shook his head "I don't know, I tried to dodge back in the cell but his spell still clipped me, I only woke up a little while ago.""
"My, my. whispering among yourselves? How suspicious…" the amused voice of their captor rang out from overhead and they turned to look up at him, only to see that he was once again leafing through his book. He turned to look at the "Well, we'll soon know the truth of your sordid deeds, after all, we've arrived."
He gestured to a rocky cavern wall in front of them and Jaune watched in amazement as it faded away like a mirage. Craggy and uneven rock was replaced by polished gold and marble, fungus and sopping wet ivy disintegrated and were replaced by intricate latticework while stalactites and stalagmites were replaced by massive stone pillars that lined the causeways. Where an unassuming sat a moment ago Jaune could now see the massive gateway to enter into a thriving under ground city.
"Ah it's good to see you're taken aback by even the lowest imitation of the beauty of long lost Khaenri'ah, there might still be hope for you yet. But first, we've got to go to the palace for your hearing!" The Lector pointed to a gleaming building in the far distance "Alright now kiddos get moving, chop-chop."
Although both Ajax and Jaune shot him glares they had little choice but to move forward towards the palace in the distance, though there were large amounts of people in the streets the crowds parted when they caught sight of the lector. Now and again Jaune or Ajax would catch sight of the lives of the city's inhabitants, at one point a patrol of the armored husks passed them with a floating mage leading them like a drill instructor at a parade.
Another time they were held up by a small booth as the lector had to give some papers to an intricately dressed figure Ajax whispered in Jaune's ear that this person was called a 'herald' and that he had once seen one annihilate an entire tribe of abyss dwellers.
Finally, though they reached the entrance to the palace, and after their captor had signed off on some documents they had finally entered the halls, coincidentally their captor also decided to start talking with them again.
"You should be honored, your case has been brought to the attention of the princess herself, though this opportunity is somewhat wasted on you. you should probably be on your best behavior. Normally we wouldn't bring prisoners directly to her for judgment, but apparently, when the report crossed her desk she took an interest in hearing your case. Ah, how fortunate~"
With that, he lead them through a doorway at the end of a hall and they entered into a magnificent throne room. Utterly bedecked in gold and yet not once overstraining the eye, a mixture of white marble ran throughout the walls and ceilings with gold embedded in it like little streams and rivers flowing towards an endpoint that was dominated by a massive throne.
But it was the figure that was standing in front of the stone that commanded their attention. she didn't possess much in terms of physical stature, but she more than made up that for in sheer force of presence as she glared down at a kneeling man. In her hand, she held a blade, hints of gold still shining out beneath a mist of purple energy. Behind them, another Lector, garbed in blue read aloud from a massive book set on a table in front of him, after a few moments Jaune realized that he was reciting a list of crimes.
"...Sedition, rebellion, illegal gathering, illegal gathering of a group numbering more than 5 at night without proper authorization, intent to supply rebellious elements, weapons dealing, murder, propagation of seditious material." The Lector flipped a page and paused before putting his finger on a line "And most damning of all, possession of icons honoring Celestia." he spat out the last word like some vile curse.
The Lector looked up at the woman standing in front of the throne "My princess you have heard the list of the crimes that he has been accused of and you have heard the recounting of how he was finally captured along with the rest of his rebellious retinue, you need only to render your judgment- " he was cut off as the prisoner finally spoke out
"This is a mockery of Justice!"
The blond princess did not move her gaze from the kneeling man, but its intensity seemed to double "You who remember the destruction of Khaenriah as well as I do… dare to bring up the word 'Justice?" she slowly advanced as the bound man visibly cowered "Where was justice when Khaenriah burned? Where was justice when her children were slaughtered and cursed to an eternity of darkness?"
She placed the tip of her sword under his chin and tipped it up so he was looking her in the eye. "The answer is simple" the sword of the Abyss princess flashed and his head parted from his shoulders, landing on the throne room with a dull thud. "Justice doesn't exist
As she watched the blood of the executed man drain through a nearby grate the princess handed off her sword to an attendant who had been waiting in the wings with a cloth, as soon as the blade entered their hands the servant started wiping it of clean any traces of dirt or blood with an intensity that bordered on fanaticism.
More pressing to the two boys was the fact that as the princess turned to hand off the sword she had caught sight of them and their captor standing at the sidelines. she stared at them for a few seconds before turning to walk up the steps to the throne, pausing for a moment to wash her hands in a small basin held by a servant and then drying them in a handcloth given to her by another servant.
Then she sat down on her throne and beckoned the party forward. as they approached her throne Ajax saw her eyes wander over both boys, she gave Ajax a cursory glance over before dismissing him, but as her gaze fell on Jaune her eye seemed to widen imperceptibly before narrowing.
However, before she got a good look at his face the two boys reached the foot of the throne and were forced to their knees with their heads bowed. Meanwhile, their captor stood in front of the steps and bowed but remained quiet as the blue garbed lector turned a page in his massive book.
"These two captives have been brought forward for you to pass judgment over, your highness They are charged with trespass, espi- "
The girl upon the throne raised a hand to silence the scribe, rising from her seat she stepped down towards the two bound captives, The sound of her steps as she descended the stairs echoed out over the near-empty audience hall. Before the boys even realized that she was approaching she had already stopped in front of them. She crouched down a brought her head to their level (the blue lector letting out a stifled sound of discontent at seeing this) and attempted to look them in the eyes. Jaune tried to avoid making eye contact casting his gaze, but his attempt was smothered when he felt a hand grasp his head and turn it back.
"Hmmm… how interesting, the resemblance is there…but I do not believe you are related, though I suppose for one of his knights the resemblance was enough to force action."
"Wha-what are you talking about?" Jaune asked nervously his facade of bravery crumbling.
"Can't you feel it? Though I suppose you might not, it sometimes requires a push from an outside influence." saying this she slammed her palm against Jaune's chest, with the boy powerless to resist as he felt something being drawn to the surface of his body.
A moment later the princess pulled her hand away with a small orange ball of energy flickering inside it. It seemed to be trying to escape her hand as if pulled towards Jaune as she examined it with a look of..sadness?
"You were all entirely too much like him, so eager to throw your lives away for the short term and ignoring the long-term effects your losses would bring us. Such heroic nonsense." The orange energy seemed to flicker angrily at these words, bringing a smile to the princess' lips, Jaune could even swear he heard her giggle slightly.
"Oh don't try to deny it, you could have joined us, and brought some relief to your pain…but you didn't have much time left anyway, did you…and I see you've made your choice." her words seemed to mollify the orange wisp and she cradled it in her hands for a little while longer before she released it, and watch it waft through the air back into Jaune's chest.
The princess straightened herself up again and looked down at the boys "You two should count yourselves lucky."
She turned around and walked back towards the throne, addressing the blue-robed lector as she crossed the floor. "Note their names down, have someone take them to the edge of our territory and then free them. To end their lives here would be to spit upon the memory of a royal guard's sacrifice...and we do not betray our own."
As the boys were removed from the room she once again took her seat upon the lofty throne. Staring out over the empty hall as the scribe's quill scratched across the pages of his massive book.
"Oh, and compose a message for Skirk to congratulate her on finding some new apprentices after the untimely demise of her previous batch."
Years later, a fortress in Snezhnaya
The air was expelled from Burattino's lungs as he hit the stone wall his body sent a spiderweb of cracks through it was embedded into the structure. Arlecchino was nowhere to be seen. funny how quickly he disappeared as soon as he ran out of orphans to throw at the problem, just as that thought passed through his mind another Harbinger was sent flying his way and Burattino quickly found himself with a neighbor in the wall.
"Balladeer." Burattino spat out a wad of phlegm and blood as his aura worked on his internal injuries "not often you drop by like this..
Scaramouch just silently stared at the sky for a few moments from his hole in the wall contemplating whether turning on Burattino was the best course of action at the moment.
"No Arc, I think the view from here is delightful, I'd give it a 5-star review in my next editorial for the Teyvat Times travel section."
The two Harbingers lapsed into another silence as they watched the ongoing battle, Tartaglia was visibly the only Harbinger enjoying himself at the moment as he dove in again and again seeking to get under the red-haired knight's guard. Meanwhile, the other Harbingers had backed off, some like Dottore and the aforementioned Arlecchino had left the battlefield entirely when the weapons they had pulled from their collections had proven ineffective. The rank and file troops had also pulled back, the destruction of several fortresses already demonstrating their ineffectiveness against this threat.
"Puppet." Scaramouch acknowledged the other Harbinger "it doesn't look like it's going so well for the others right now." the diminutive harbinger proved himself a master of understatement as it was more than not going well on for the Harbingers on the battlefield, The red knight had managed to land a lucky hit on Tartaglia putting him temporarily out of commission and allowing him to focus his attacks in on La Signora though Capitano was putting up a decent defense to prevent him from breaking through.
"Any aura left? For once it would come in handy."
Burattino scowled "I've been trying to concentrate whatever I have left ever since I got sent into this wall." He held up his hand and it visibly glowed white for a brief moment before dissipating. "I'll be able to boost it back up a bit with my Vision but only if you can buy me a few more minutes."
Scaramouch sighed "How many?"
"Five"
"Do it in two. And you owe me" and in a flash of purple lightning, Scaramouch was gone. A moment later just as the red knight broke through the guard of the Captain a bolt of electricity struck him on the back distracting him long enough for Signora to launch a wave of icy wind blasting him back and forcing him to regain his footing.
Seeing that the tides of the battle were beginning to turn again Burattino quickly took action. Grabbing his spear from where it lay he closed his eyes and focused, trusting in Scaramouch and the others to divert any possible incoming attacks as he gathered his aura, it would only take a few moments but in a battle like this seconds passed like hours. Deep inside him, he felt a few tinges of warmth from the long-faded energy of the Black Serpent Knight that had sacrificed itself for him on that fateful night.
Soon he managed to gather enough aura from the dredges that remained, and as he opened them again his eyes glowed a cold blue matching the color of the shining Vision at his hip. With a loud cry that drew the attention of the other combatants, he drove the butt of the abyssal spear into the ground, a shining banner of pure cryo energy unfolded itself, and pale blue lines formed under the cracked ground connecting to each of the other Harbingers who quickly found themselves reinvigorated. those who had been wounded found that they had enough energy to throw themselves back into the fight as Burattino collapsed to one knee behind them before falling into blissful unconsciousness
Diluc who had been running on fumes at this point quickly found himself getting overwhelmed by the renewed assault. Not for the first time in this battle he regretted leaving his Pyro Vision back in Mondstadt for despite the sheer power that he was able to bring out from his delusion he knew that there was no way he would be able to overcome these new increased odds.
But these thoughts were driven from his mind as Tartaglia had already recovered from his earlier setback and was upon him. Diluc ducked under his first sword and then brought his greatsword up to parry the slash from the Harbinger's second blade away from his body, stepping into his guard and ramming him away from him with his shoulder. Diluc barely has a moment to breathe before he is assaulted on both sides by blasts of ice and lightning from the reinvigorated casters, thinking quickly he jumps into the air just as the two blasts meet with an explosion of melted water and electricity. But the young knight still has no room for rest as his evasive maneuver puts him in the clear line of fire for The Captain, an opportunity the harbinger takes as he opens fire on the knight with his rifle.
With no time to think Diluc taps into his delusion, a barbed vine shoots out and wraps around the nearest stable target and pulls Diluc out of the air towards it, unfortunately for him that target happens to be Tartaglia who opts not to cut the vine and instead grabs onto it and pulls, causing Diluc to lose control of his momentum as he hurtles towards the Harbinger, just before they collide the knight summons a blast of black fire beneath Tartaglia and dispels the vine. The blast sends dust and snow into the air, momentarily obscuring Diluc as he lets the shockwave carry him a few feet away before he hit the ground with a flip back into a guard stance.
But at this point he could barely keep his sword upright, the nonstop fighting finally taking his toll on his stamina as his opportunities to break off engagements grew less and less over the course of the battle. Up to this point, he had mostly been taking on the rank and file Fatui guards who manned the garrisons of their various forts and strongholds, and as victory, after victory had piled up in his quest for vengeance he had grown cocky and let his guard down. He was paying for that choice.
Ragged pants came from his mouth as he tried to suck in what air he could, but they soon devolved into coughs as he ended up sucking in dust from the cloud he kicked up in the air. Luckily it was still dense enough to hide him from their sight, Unluckily it didn't hide him from their hearing. Scaramouch burst through the cloud towards the knight, catching him off guard as the Harbinger reminded Diluc that just like they couldn't see him, he couldn't see them.
Scaramouch resembled a falling meteor, his eyes glowed purple with the power of electro and his hands trailed behind him bleeding lightning which struck the ground, tearing up huge chunks as he hurtled towards the off guard knight. The harbinger planted a foot in front of him as he drew close and brought forward his arms, the lightning snaking up the limbs and stretching between them like a web before combining within his splayed out palms and hurtling towards Diluc in a pulse of pure electro energy. Diluc knew at that moment that his end had come, but just as he brought his sword up in a last act of defiance he felt a hand on his shoulder… and then he was gone.
Scaramouch's blast continued onwards, the shockwave blowing away the lingering dust clouds and revealing the battlefield once more. As Scaramouch observed the lack of a body he grit his teeth in a scowl of rage before turning and walking back to the sidelines of the battlefield, ignoring some of the other Harbingers who had already started poking their way through the aftermath. After a short while, he reached the command center, the crowd of menials and lower-ranking soldiers parting as he approached the building.
The command center had once served as a storage building within a long-abandoned Fatui stronghold, repurposed to serve as bait to draw in the Dark Knight who had wreaked havoc on so many others before today. As he drew near he saw that he was not the first Harbinger to return to the headquarters as a small field hospital had been set up medics worked on the injured Harbingers, Burattino was being carried away on a stretcher as a vision wielder attempted to stitch together the wounds that covered his body now that his Aura could no longer close them up.
Tartaglia was lounging back as a nurse tended to the injuries he had taken from their enemy's delusion -that their enemy had one of the high-end delusions was another sore point for many of the Fatui, as their rarity was made up by them lacking the more negative side effects of the mass-produced delusions- the younger Harbinger despite his wounds looked like he had just come in after an exhilarating day of snowboarding or skiing judging by the smile on his face, and when he saw Scaramouch his grin only widened as he reached behind him and tossed something towards the electro Harbinger.
Scaramouch caught the object on reflex, looking down he realized it was his hat, the same one that Katsuragi had made for him when he was still young. A quick check revealed that besides a few frays and tears it was still in good shape and he quickly placed it back onto his head, purposefully not letting a small smile break out as the comforting sounds of the windchimes calmed him down somewhat.
"Apparently it was lying just behind the wall that the Darknight sent you into, must have come off when he sent you through it." Tartaglia answered the question Scaramouch hadn't asked: "Did you get him?"
Scaramouch shook his head "Nobody, someone interfered at the last second, but I doubt he'll be eager to try our hand again after what happened today."
Tartaglia rose to his feet, shaking off the medics who were trying to keep him put "Damn, would have been nice to take him on without having to worry about crossfire from the others."
Scaramouch snorted and turned to walk off "Damned Pierro and his 'team-building exercises' if I hadn't had to worry about pulling you all from the fire I would have taken him down within half the time"
Tartaglia cocked an eyebrow at the retreating figure "This is coming from the one he yeeted through a stone wall?"
"I hate you with every inch of my body." Scaramouch spat out from behind gritted teeth.
"That's not a lot of inches"
A moment later Tartaglia ducked under a bolt of lightning and summoned his water swords as the menial fatui quickly cleared the area. And things in Snezhnaya quickly returned to normal
It was a quiet restaurant, but one that Burattino had grown fond of during his stays in the homeland. Its distance from the palace was also appreciated, as there was less chance of running into 'coworkers' and so he often found himself spending his evening meals here when he wanted to unwind after finishing his work, whether that be the training new recruits, or curating the royal museum.
But tonight he was not just here to unwind, instead, he was expecting company as was evidenced by the two other places that had been set beside him at the long table by a visibly shaking young waitress. She was a fresh hire and hadn't expected to be taking the order of a harbinger that evening.
He was distracted from his thoughts by a hand-clapping down on his shoulder as the seat next to him was pulled out, allowing Tartaglia to drop into it. The older Harbinger removed his gloves and breathed some feeling back into his hands as Burattino slid over a bowl of solyanka.
"I ordered before you got here, it's smoked fish," he said as Tartaglia dipped his spoon into the broth.
For a few minutes, not much was said between the two as they ate, Burattino had already started his Stroganoff before Tartaglia had arrived, but the portions that this restaurant provided were enough to keep him working on emptying the bowl for a while longer. A little while after they got started cold air blew into the restaurant as the door opened and shut again before the other chair was pulled back and Scaramouch took his seat at the table.
"Burattino. I presume you have a reason for inviting me here tonight?" The short Harbinger asked as Burattino slid a bowl of Borscht over to him. Scaramouch looked at the bowl before glancing over at Burattino and Ajax with a raised eyebrow.
Burattino rolled his eyes "I ordered, it's normal, he didn't get the chance to swap the meat out with anything."
Scaramouch nodded and delicately dipped his spoon into the bowl before taking a taste. He mused over the flavor for a moment before reaching out to the center of the table and grabbing a slice of rye bread to put on the side.
"You still haven't answered my question," he said while he spread butter on the bread.
"New orders have come down, I'm getting reassigned. Figured I'd touch base before I left" Burattino said.
"I can understand why you would contact Tartaglia about that, but I fail to see why you've roped me in on this. While the food is…acceptable. There are far better ways for me to spend my evening."
"Well, we've worked together a few times so I thought I'd check-in and make sure some stuff is cleared before I depart since I'll be gone for a year or two at least, plus I have something I need to give you first. Though I'd like to hear from Tartaglia beforehand"
The ginger looked up from dunking pieces of bread into his bowl and quickly swallowed before responding "I'm been ordered to go down to Liyue and take command over the Northland bank before collecting on some outstanding debts down there. After that, I was told to stay in position and wait for new orders, though considering the rumors of Signora's mission in Mondstadt I have a feeling I know what the orders will be."
Scaramouch nodded in assent "I can confirm whatever rumors you've heard, apparently she's run into some delays so I've been reassigned down there to assist her division while she completes the mission."
"So if I'm going to Liyue and Scaramouch is heading to Mondstadt where are you heading? Natlan? Fontaine?" Tartaglia asked
Burattino shook his head "Neither." he set some folders on the table in front of the other harbingers "as you've heard there was a recent energy fluctuation in some of the old ruins up north, when investigated it was discovered that an abyssal rift had formed. By the time a team had been formed to investigate it the rift had grown enough to allow some beasts to pass through it, luckily there wasn't anything from the Abyss order. The monsters that made it through were quickly killed by the investigating team though not before one of the team members snapped some pictures. A lucky decision since the bodies evaporated after death."
The other harbingers opened up the folders and saw the aforementioned pictures, though they were confused as the monsters didn't resemble the ones usually associated with the Abyss. Instead, they were all black saved for white masks and other bits of bones on their bodies.
"What are we looking at here?" Scaramouch asked while Tartaglia seemed to recognize something about the photos though it took a moment for him to remember fully.
"Are these Grimm? I remember you mentioning them a while back, and they were in some of the books you'd let me borrow. But they shouldn't be showing up in Teyvat unless…?"
Burattino nodded "unless the rift connected to Remnant. And it does. We sent a team through to do some preliminary scouting and they managed to find the remains of a village nearby. Apparently, there were some survivors barely hanging on, but they were able to confirm it was Remnant before passing."
"So, it connects to your homeworld. What does this mean?" Scaramouch asked as he flipped through the files.
"It means that I'm getting assigned over there, from what we've seen the rift is pretty stable and Pierro set up something to keep it open, but he wants me to investigate some things over there." he turned to Tartaglia "you remember some of the stories in those old books I lent you?"
Tartaglia sat back in his chair and cupped his chin in thought "I never got around to reading all of them but I think I know what you're talking about"
Burattino nodded "Pierror wants me to investigate whether there's a grain of truth in those old stories. there were some legends about pretty powerful artifacts in there and despite it probably being a pipe dream he figures that it'd be a waste if we didn't investigate"
"Where will you start?" Scaramouch asked, interested despite himself as he too had heard and even read some of the stories about Burattino's old world.
"As soon as possible. Besides from a few agents, I won't be able to bring the rest of my division with me, so they'll be stationed here though a few will probably get attached to some of the other Harbingers to aid in their missions. As for how I'll go about my investigation…it's been a few years, but if I remember correctly Jaune Arc of Armorica would be at the perfect age to enter into one of the Huntsmen Academies. And if there's one place where I'm likely to find information about the more esoteric part of my old world then it'd be in Remnant's equivalent of the Adventurers Guild.
Jaune sat back, spinning his spoon in his hand "And if I recall my grandfather's old advice correctly, there are fewer questions asked about prospective students who walk in off the street than there are for fully trained Hunstman popping up out of nowhere."
The other two harbingers seemed to agree with the logic of that answer before Tartaglia thought of something.
"I'm not sure if that'll fly too long though, you're too skilled with your polearm to just be a student and even if you try to dumb down your skills at some point you'll blow your cover by acting on reflex."
This comment pierced through Jaune's shell of confidence causing him to lose control of the spoon as it clattered back onto the table. "Ah..um.. well..ahem…..Pulcinella already thought of that…ugh, remember when he was training me after he took me in."
It took Tartaglia a second before he burst out laughing "No way, are you talking about when you skipped on the sword lessons?"
Jaune grit his teeth "Yes. On this mission, I am only allowed to use a sword or a sword and shield combo while undercover. And you remember how skilled I am with them"
"If by skilled you mean useless then yes, thank the Archon we found that polearm."
Jaune let out annoyed Jaune sounds before continuing "to put us back on track (and to change the subject) I will be gone for a while, but there's something I want to do first."
He turned over to Scaramouch, idly noting that the Inazuman had finished dusting off the borscht as well as a large amount of the bread and was now sipping a cup of chai. "Scaramouch, remember how I owe you a favor from that one time? When we were fighting the Dark knight at the fortress?"
Scaramouch took a drink of his cup as he cast his mind back in thought before nodding so Jaune continued "well I finally have a way to pay it back."
He put his hand under the table and drew out something that was bundled in cloth, unwrapping it revealed a beautiful sword in its scabbard, the sight of which nearly caused Scaramouch to choke on his tea.
"Where... Where did you find that?" Scaramouch asked as his hands unconsciously extended towards the sword. Jaune placed the blade within them and watched as the Inazuman looked over it with eyes full of emotion.
"I had a run-in with an old Kairagi a while back, took it off of his corpse. Since he seemed to prize it highly I decided to look into it but it took me a while before I realized what it was. Then I remembered that you had a standing request about information pertaining to these kinds of items, and since I know you haven't gotten many hits on the request, and none involving blades I figured you'd appreciate having it. So are we even?"
Scaramouch didn't reply, instead just staring at the weapon in his hands. Jaune cleared his throat and was about to repeat his question when Tartaglia tapped on his shoulder and shook his head. The older harbinger put his gloves back on and motioned for the younger one to follow him as they left the restaurant.
Scaramouch however, sat alone in the restaurant until long after the others had left. when closing time came, the employees erred on the side of caution and did not bother the Harbinger as he mused over the sword in his hand. For a long, while he just ran his hand over the exquisitely carved scabbard, tracing the delicate designs of Nozomu, the small touches by Kinjiro…he couldn't bring himself to unsheath the blade. He knew what he would find there. After all, Katsuragi often helped Nagamasa with the forging itself, and if he saw his old friend's art once again, it might stop what he was about to do.
"It seems I owe you this time, Burattino," Kunikuzushi said aloud as electro energy poured into the sword before he clenched his fist around the scabbard and shattered the masterwork blade into a million pieces.
A knock from the doorway startled a sleeping Jaune into wakefulness to shoot up from his cot, dislodging the notebook that had been lying on his chest before grasping his head with a hiss as the hangover from last night hit him, breathing deeply before he massaged his head in his hands and let out a shuttering sigh as the cool from his vision helped ease the pain. It was not often that he dreamed about his past, mistakes made, lessons learned, enemies fought. But when it did happen it came with a vengeance, his brain bringing to mind every small slip up in his life that could have been avoided, and with the recent events on Remnant it had even more ammo to keep him up on sleepless nights or to torment him in his dreams.
Jaune sighed to himself as he lay back on his pillows. To say he regretted his actions in Remnant would be incorrect, he had come in there with a simple mission, and that mission had morphed into an opportunity that could turn around the entirety of the Tsaritsa's planned rebellion. To miss out on that chance would have possibly damned the people of Snezhnaya to death or a cursed existence.
But to say he didn't regret it was not to say that he didn't feel saddened by some of his actions. Specifically his abandonment of his team and team RWBY, especially those who had front row seats to his turning of the coat. Pyrrha would obviously have been distraught, his suspicion of her feelings for him having been confirmed when she had kissed him just a few minutes prior to his departure…he was still unsure on how to deal with that, or what he himself felt.
And Ruby…poor Ruby. in so many ways she was like him, she too dreamed of being a hero, just like he had when he was younger, just like he did now. But she was still too naive, though she had faced personal loss she was unprepared for the hard reality that life sometimes was. He knew she would have learned by now though, he could tell from the look on her face as he descended the steps that the event would be the catalyst for her own growth. After all, he had once had a similar expression when he had first learned about the truth of Celestia, on the day that his vision had been pinned to his chest.
It was ironic, for later that night he had seen another variation of that expression on Cinder's face when he had run her through in front of the opened vault. A better fate than what would have awaited her if she had fallen into Dottore's hands. Though to be fair, he did benefit somewhat from Cinder's actions, what with the relic and other acquisitions. But he also did it as a way to somehow make amends with his team and his friends, by gifting Pyrrha the power they needed to push back against the upcoming darkness. A power they would sorely need now that they lacked the power of the Relic. Just as he finished this train of thought another knock came from the entrance to the tent.
Shrugging off his thoughts he quickly climbed out of his cot and threw on the outfit he had carelessly laid out the night before. Striding over to his desk he slid a few papers of files off to the side to uncover a slightly moldy mug. Wrinkling his nose in disgust at the foul odor wafting from it. He waved his hand, his Vision lighting up causing ice to envelop the drinking vessel. Sighing to himself he conjured another mug in a shower of golden particles and filled it with the last remnants of the previous night's pot of coffee before seating himself down at his desk, shoving a few more files into a bin on the side in an effort to make the surface somewhat clear.
The sound of knocking once again came from the entranceway, and after a few moments of checking himself over to make sure he was presentable he responded.
"Enter."
The tent flap was quickly lifted aside admitting one of the newer recruits, A Geochanter's hat sitting a bit uncomfortably on top of their orange hair. And as Jaune busied himself with another day of work the dreams of the past slowly faded into the back of his mind.
The Survey Team of the Artifact Acquisition Division, the title given to the elite squad of the Artifact Acquisition Division, this group of Fatui Agents have many different responsibilities due to the nature of their division and the workstyle of their Harbinger. However, their most noteworthy task and the activity for which they are named is the surveying of the various archaeological sites that their master visits. For this purpose they often range far ahead of the main force, disarming ancient traps, clearing out mountain bandit dens, mapping sites, searching for sites, establishing communications with locals, suppressing cursed artifacts, and so on.
Because of their duties, these agents hold a high amount of respect and importance among their peers in the division as they are each handpicked and trained by their harbinger in order to prepare them to deal with such threats that may arise as they go about their duties. It goes without saying that wherever their Harbinger goes they have either already been there first in order to map our the terrain or they will soon follow.
A calm had settled over the village, not unlike the old saying "the calm before the storm" but in this case, it was more the calm between storms. Just a few nights before, the long-abandoned ruin had been shaken by a battle that had raged in the old village plaza, shaking its crumbling buildings and the old decayed bones of the former residents. No one in the wider kingdom had witnessed the battle, and no one yet knew of its outcome, but as of a few days ago, the village had once again become safe for human habitation.
As the darkness of night overtook the abandoned town a light still shone from the house that had once belonged to the last mayor, who had vanished down the gullet of a Beringel as he fled from the town during the fatal attack. The house was attached to a tower that had long ago been used to send and receive signals from the kingdoms, and currently, it was being reused for its original intended purpose.
Light breathing could be heard coming from a figure slumbering on the old wooden bed in the corner of the room, while on a table near the window sat a plate with several pieces of hardtack, one spread with jam had a bite taken out of it. to the side of the plate was a powered-off scroll. Next to the bed was another table, with a glass of clear liquid and an opened book beside it.
The book was simple in design and heavily worn with bits of tape being the only thing keeping its spine intact, a pen was slotted into the crease between pages, having been left there by the book's owner when he had stepped away for the night. The writing on the pages was in a plain and simple script, lacking any flourishes or embellishments, simply being a list. It went: Beowulf, Beowulf, Alpha Beowulf, Forrest Green, Ursa Major, Boarbatusk, and on and on until it reached the last entry on the list, with the ink still drying: Nuckelavee.
Thank god I am done with this chapter, as mentioned I started this back in November when I was working 2 jobs, I've moved on from both of those jobs and am now working only one however it does require a good deal more attention. Additionally, plans for the chapter kept getting upset by random lore reveals that either helped or hindered progress (fun fact, I had the Shadowy Husks in the chapter from the very first day they were leaked since I knew they were perfect for the Abyss.) Hopefully, this was enjoyable for you guys to read, it took a lot of stopping and starting over many months to finish which is why it might seem a bit cut up and jarring at points. I apologize for that in advance.
