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Official Supporters:
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If you want your name on the lists of my stories and videos, head over to P a t. R e . o n and search for the Temple Walkers. Just let us know you're from Fanfiction, alright? There's a thousand of you, so a dollar a piece would really add up and help me a lot! Once I reach five hundred Supporters of any value over a dollar, I will make a concerted effort to put out a chapter of something once every three days at the very slowest.
As of now, I and the channel are struggling financially. So please, if you can, become a Supporter. We'll be uploading art and concepts soonish on a project of my own making too, and you'll get to be a part of it~! And I'll get dinner as a side benefit~!
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Neo slid to a stop a few feet from him in the cargo bay as he embarked, panting heavily and looking at him in concern and fear and fright, wet clothing and hair stuck to her. Her pants were hiked up her shins slightly and plastered against her legs. Her jacket was bunched around her shoulders awkwardly, hands full with her parasol and rapier and unable to smooth out the clothes as much as she was unconcerned with it. "Jaune, are you okay?"
"I'm okay, Neo. Salem… Intervened, I guess, with Winter, and sent her away. I… Don't know if Winter will take her warning to heart, but we should be okay now." She slammed into his chest in a needy hug, arms wrapping around his chest and forehead pressing against his breasplate and he felt her relax, laying her arm around her shoulders to hold her. "I'm fine, Neo, just a little beat up, okay? Now, what happened after I went out the window?"
"Roman and Cinder shut down the drones, they kept attacking us so they had to. Cinder took Pyrrha off to try and get her leg fixed up, and I ran off when they weren't paying attention. Cinder didn't want me to come looking for you, said you were busy or something. I dunno, didn't pay enough attention to her." Neo informed him, pulling away and leading the way further into the ship. "Nikos got hurt pretty damn bad though, gotta hand it to her. She kept demanding we leave her and go help you."
"Of course she did, she's as protective as you are. How bad is she now?" He asked worriedly, Neo noting it with a small barb of jealousy at the care in his tone. He sighed and added, "She's my friend, and… Well, everyone on this ship is a bit more than that. Even Roman is, thanks to you. I'd be just as worried about Cinder, or Roman."
"I know, but I'm possessive. Can't help it, and yeah, I know it's kinda… Contradictory, I guess, what with everything else going on." She shrugged, the duo making their way through the ship past deactivated droids lying around, having fallen wherever they'd been when Cinder or Roman had pulled the plug on their programming. "Roman said that he'll, you know… Try and get something to fix the drones for us."
"But you're not sure what he said or meant, because you rushed off to find me." He teased, the girl pouting slightly, puffing out her cheeks and looking away with her arms crossed. He chuckled and, after a few minutes of quiet walking just enjoying each other's company, he added, "I would have rushed off too, you know, Neo. If you'd gone out a window with someone, probably hurt and definitely alone? I would have dove out the window after you, and not a damn thing you said to me would stop me."
"I know." She said, smiling and flushing lightly before stepping closer to him and letting her left arm drop, touching at his fingertips as they walked through the halls towards the medical area. "You're a good guy, it's why I… Why I went for this, you know?"
"That's not why you were around me at first." He observed, the small woman nodding. She wasn't the kind to be ashamed of hat she'd done or why, and he knew that. "You threw yourself at me to protect Roman, even though he didn't want you to. Remember?"
"I remember you blushing and stuttering a storm whenever I pressed my tits against your back or blew on your ear." She said, Jaune laughing at the image she sent to him, his arms stiff as boards at his side and face red enough to match Pyrrha's hair, and a sense of amusement at whatever Neo had done to fluster him so much. "And you ended up on top of me anyways."
"For different reasons." He argued honestly, shrugging nonchalantly at the assertion. It was obvious enough, even Neo saw it. "Now, there's… We have something there, you know? I didn't see a point in it without some reason to want to be with you like that. Just… Not that kind of guy, you know?"
"I know." She said, the two stopping outside one of the medical rooms and giving each other a smile. She didn't need to explain that she knew, he understood it entirely, and he could tell she didn't feel it was needed. She trusted him implicitly in that way, and he felt his appreciation well up over the idea that anyone like Neo would ever trust him with such absoluteness…
He couldn't help but pull her in for a kiss, turning to press her against the wall and lifting her up so she could kiss back more comfortably. They broke apart after a few seconds of it, of course, they didn't have time for anything more and they stood together with her legs wrapped around his hips and her arms around his neck, her back aching from the wall's pressure and his ribs aching from how she pressed against his armored chest, the only support for her weight bein the wall and his hands under her armpits, tucked up behind her shoulders to play and pull gently at her hair. She tucked her forehead against his neck, smiling and breathing comfortably, and he enjoyed the contact regardless of their soreness, and the chill that them both being drenched brought on.
After a moment, Neo pecked at his neck hungrily and said, "Either carry me to one of these rooms and get me out of these wet clothes, or let me down." He laughed and let her down, feeling the slight disappointment she felt at that, and gave her forehead a kiss before heading for the door to the medical room.
Inside, Pyrrha was lying on a bed with her leg at her side, limp and lying at an odd angle on the mattress while Cinder worked to line the joint up, both turning to look at him when he opened the door. Pyrrha propped herself up on her elbows, smiling in a relieved way. "Jaune." "I was worried when you went out the window like that..." "I'm sorry I couldn't fend her off, Theros. I was not expecting the attack."
"No one was, Pyrrha. Don't blame yourself for what happened any more than you are willing to blame me. Understand?" He said, the Mistralian woman nodding at the semi-order and lying down on the bed. Looking at Cinder, he asked, "How bad is it?"
"Not bad, Master. Her leg is a bit dislocated, but I'm aligning the limbs so her Aura will heal the rest of the damages." Cinder explained, turning back to the limb and tucking a wet strand of hair over her shoulder, gently turning the leg the way it needed to face to heal properly and then using pillows to anchor the limb the way it needed to rest. "It will take some time, of course, I am no doctor and ours left some time ago." "Much as I wished to stop her… But I would never go against your wishes, Master." "I have done similar before, on Emerald once or twice, and had it done on myself twice."
"And I-" Pyrrha cut herself off with a sharp breath, right hand raising and baling into a fist before slamming into the mattress when Cinder moved her leg again, pushing the joints together as gently as she could. Jaune grimaced in sympathy, feeling her pain echo into him so deeply his leg actually ached and he had to take a seat in one of the two chairs in the otherwise empty room, aside from the bed of course. When she spoke again, her voice sounded strained, her chest heaving as she forced her breathing to stay steady. "And I have had this done before, in tournaments, as well. Actual doctors can have you up and moving after an injury like this in a few hours. No offence, Cinder."
"None taken." She murmured, concentrating on the leg she was working on. "I am no true doctor after all, Pyrrha. What you say is true. Now try and sit still as you can, alright? The itching should set in soon."
"Already has." Pyrrha grumbled, resting her left forearm on her forehead and groaning, "It itches horribly… My skin feels like it's crawling with bugs."
"I know." Jaune observed, Pyrrha looking at him and sighing in sympathy.
"I'm sorry." She said weakly, Jaune laughing at that. She raised an eyebrow at him for it, genuinely sounding confused at the prospect. "What?" "I was trying to be polite…" "Cinder could fetch your helmet, if you wanted?"
"No." He said, suddenly serious before he sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, "We never considered that Atlas might come after us. I didn't think they'd feel I was a threat, really, I knew James and he knew I wasn't against Atlas. At least I think he did. So why send Winter after me?"
"He has to consider you a threat of soe kind, probably not a hostile one. Or he's… Not sure if you are, at least. In all likelihood, he probably tried to take you specifically to decide if you were a threat to him and his precious Kingdom." Cinder sneered lightly, turning to rest at the bottom of the bed, careful to avoid jostling. She gave a sheepish look when Jaune raised an eyebrow at her, and she explained, "Sorry, Master."
"So Atlas is after me." He groaned, head rolling back against the wall behind his chair as Neo slid into his lap comfortably and curled against his chest, head on his shoulder and eyes sliding closed. He rested a hand on her hip to hold her there a bit, "Perfect, Just perfect. Now what do we do? All of my plans have been based around not being hunted by the Dust damn Kingdoms themselves."
They all fell silent for several minutes before Pyrrha finally spoke, "I… Have a suggestion, but it is not one you will like, Theros." "Not at all…" He looked at her, and she smiled apologetically at him, "You need Ozpin to get Atlas to back down, he's the only one who can control Ironwood from everything I've experienced of them."
"Great." Jaune grunted, sighing, "And how do we find him?"
"I know a man who we could see about that, Master." Cinder started, "But we need to get to Mistral first to find him. He can get us in touch with everyone else we need to speak with after that." "Whether he wants to or not."
Jaune didn't like the sound of that at all…
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Oscar smiled, looking around at Vale's landing port as Bullheads came and went, carrying all manner of cargo from people to Dust and metals. Around him, soldiers and droids bustled around warily, and civilians worked on loading and unloading the vessels. "This place is amazing… I've never seen so many buildings like this."
"Wait until you meet James and get to ride on one of his ships. You'll see far more from up there, I assure you." Ozpin chuckled in his head, "He does enjoy taking people on his ships, when he can. Something about 'showing off Atlas' might', or so he says at the least."
"And he's-" He stopped when someone came near, etting some distance before continuing , "He'll help us? Er, me? Gods, this is confusing."
"Yes. Once I get word to him, regardless of where he is now, he will send someone after me.' Ozpin explained, urging Oscar to turn towards a direction he knew would lead to Beacon. "Head that way, I'll guide you to Beacon. Glynda will get us in touch with him and we can find out what needs to be done."
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It took only an hour to return to the Atlesian base near Ansel. Dirty, wet and miserable as she was, the Grimm completely ignored her, sometimes huffing in annoyance and watching her make her way through the forest. When she stepped into the base, she gave the soldiers there the same treatment, ignoring them and making her way to the communications office and commandeering it to make a report.
"Sir, I don't think he's a threat to us." She said when he asked her opinion, jaw hard on the other end of the viewing screen. He gave her appearance a once over, her clothes muddy and stuck to her skin, and she flushed when she realized how much of her chest was visible through the shirt. "Or, he wasn't, Sir. He may be opposed to us now that we have attacked him-"
"We attacked a perceived threat." Ironwood corrected chidingly with an edge to his voice, Winter stiffening at the mild rebuke.
"Of course, sir." She responded simply, nodding her head lightly at the general. "All I meant was that the perceived threat wasn't one, and that there may be one now, unfortunately. Assuming he holds what has happened here against you, of course. Or against Atlas, that is, at the very least."
"Then perhaps a force needs to be mobilised against the threat." James said simply, Winter grimacing at the prospect. "What is it, Winter?"
"Sir, he… Grimm aided him, I had him pinned outside and… Someone claiming herself as Queen of the Grimm as a whole was there. The Grimm surrounded him and forced me to leave." She explained, James straightening on the other end of the call, his back and shoulders going rigid at the words.
"All the more reason to mobilize a response." He said simply, "I will be there in a few days with my flagship, Winter. Hold your position and report if he attempts to depart. Should he do so, you have orders to use the base's resources to intervene." He leaned towards the screen, looking Winter in the eye seriously, "He is not to leave. Am I understood?"
"Yes, Sir." She saluted, and he ended the call. Something felt off about all this to her… But what?
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Okay, I know that I said these should be feature length moving forwards, but… Shit keeps popping up so I'll just do my best to make good stories. Sorry, guys just too busy to do more than write short spurts right now.
However, some good news, in the coming weeks content about an original series of mine will begin being released for Supporters and later on YT as well abou it. I hope you all look forward to it, just Sub on my YT channel for the details.
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Big Bad Beowolf :
Glad you found it, bud! I was concerned when you mentioned being excited for the next story and I couldn't PM you to tell you it was out.
Prxmer :
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. I'll keep them coming as well as I can. Hope yo continue enjoying what I can produce.
The Impossible Muffin :
You have no idea~!
Merlin of Tarre :
I apologize, but…. I have to disagree with you. I use my characters as well as I can, wherever possible. She showcased incredible tactics and theoretical techniques of her Semblance to get a win against several opponents.
Further, she will have a bit more involvement in the story going forward. This is to put an idea in her head, nothing else, and establish for the group that they have more direct threats than they know.
Salem also has you missing something critical : She needs Jaune because it can take thousands of years for another like Jaune to happen by. She can't afford to risk his life like that. Losing him would cost her an exorbitant amount of time.
So, and again I apologize, but I have to disagree.
Smokey Panda :
Yeah. He's not overpowered, and sure in a duel in open ground he can stand his own, but… I mean, come on, it's one of probably Atlas' best military people in combat against him, and in a surprise scenario. He can't possibly win that fight on his own without something intervening.