Outcasts and Outlaws

Chapter 9

The Temple Guardian

Yes, I know it's been a while since the last chapter. Life always gets busy around this time of year. Anyway, this is another flashback into Connor's life, this time with Mars. There's a little interaction with Team JNPR before that though.

Music: RWBY OP 1

Music starts, shows Connor in a red shirt kneeling behind a tall figure in a green cloak in front of him) (Connor raises his hand, a depressed look in his eye)

THEY SEE YOU AS SMALL AND HELPLESS!

(The figure's green cloak flaps in the wind)

THEY SEE YOU AS JUST A CHILD!

(Dark clouds start to form in Connor's eye, it being zoomed in on until he evaporated into dark clouds)

SURPRISE WHEN THEY FIND OUT THAT A WARRIOR WILL SOON RUN WILD!

[OUTCASTS AND OUTLAWS]

PREPARE FOR YOUR GREATEST MOMENT!

(Shows Ruby in a training room with her scythe)

PREPARE FOR YOUR FINEST HOUR!

(Shows Connor standing in a tree wearing a long black coat)

THE DREAM THAT YOU'VE ALWAYS DREAMED

(Shows Yang on her bike)

IS SUDDENLY ABOUT TO FLOWER!

(Shows a horde of Grimm advancing)

WE ARE LIGHTNING!

(Shows Damien with Brook standing on one side of him, a shadowy figure on the other)

STRAYING FROM THE THUNDER!

(Connor looks behind him as a Grimm drops down and charges, but slashes past it)

MIRACLES OF ANCIENT WONDER!

(Shows Connor, Yang and Ruby charge in)

THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE WAITED FOR!

(Shows Connor standing in front of Beacon looking apprehensive)

THIS WILL BE THE DAY WE OPEN UP THE DOOR.

(Connor starts to fall forward)

I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOUR ABSOLUTION!

(Ozpin catches him and pulls him back up, then Team JNPR come to stand with him)

HOPE YOUR'E READY FOR A REVOLUTION!

(Shows Ozpin walking away from Connor with his Kane over his shoulder)

WELCOME TO A WORLD OF NEW SOLUTIONS!

(Zooms in on Ozpin's eye as a gold gear spins around in it)

WELCOME TO A WORLD OF BLOODY EVOLUTION!

(Shows Ruby, then Yang, then Ozpin, then a shadowy figure)

IN TIME, YOUR HEART WILL OPEN MINDS!

(Connor steps through the shadowy figure and draws his arm blades)

A STORY WILL BE TOLD!

(He does an epic pose)

AND VICTORY IS IN A SIMPLE SOUL!

[END]

Connor was released from the infirmary the day after he was admitted, the doctors not being able to do anything for him until they could fit him into the surgery schedule. For the time being, he had a bandage diagonally covering the side of his head with the scarred eye. He was still getting used to the difference in his depth perception, but the doctors had assured him he would learn quickly, probably before his surgery.

He was hesitant to return to class, but Ozpin encouraged him to, so around midday he stumbled into Professor Port's class twenty minutes late, it being excuses to due obvious reasons. He glanced at Ruby and Yang as he walked to his seat, the elder giving him a warning glare. He was actually glad to be seated at a distance from them. Once he found his seat and sat in it, intent on not talking to anyone, his attention was grabbed by a noise to his immediate right. Turning his head, he reeled back at the sight of Nora getting right up in his face with a wide smile.

"What are you getting all scared for, you silly billy?" Nora said, trying to whisper. It was not exactly her specialty.

Connor didn't know how to put it at first, but he decided to just be blunt. "You and the rest of your team heard my story, you know what I did." He replied, looking away and sitting up straight. "Why are you talking to me?"

He heard shuffling in the row behind him, but didn't turn his head. "As it happens, Ozpin had a word with us about that. He said he saw it all." Said Pyrhaa's voice, sounding sincere. "I'm inclined to believe him. We all are."

Connor fought the urge to look around as he heard Ren and Jaune scooting up next to him, trying to make it seem like he was concentrating on the class. Weiss had just come down the steps to demonstrate her skills against a captured Grimm. "Why?" He simply asked.

"Well, you looked really upset trying to tell that story, like you regret it a lot." Jaune answered, keeping his voice down.

"Ozpin asked us to be here for you, make sure you have friends to talk to, so that you don't go running off. He said that's somewhat likely." Ren added. "What do you think? We can be here for you, help you through this."

Connor felt his throat dry up. These people who barely knew him were offering to be his friends just on the basis that Ozpin vouched for him? Just what had the old man told them? He had to close his eyes to stop himself from tearing up, taking a deep breath. "I'll try." He told them, keeping it short. Nora let out a celebratory sound, Professor Port scolding her from the front of the classroom, after which she covered her mouth with her hands and went quiet again. Connor couldn't help but smile. He had people willing to be his friends. Kane didn't seem to care. All that came out of him was a slight grunt.

Connor started paying attention to the class properly after that, watching was use a glyph to summon up a giant white knight in shining armour. He recognised it from somewhere, thinking he'd seen one similar to it somewhere before. Then, he remembered. He knight itself was designed after an ancient sentinel, but he had seen one whilst he had been with Mars. Just after the fight with the King Tajitu, in fact...

"That wasn't the guardian." Mars had said as the pair of them stood in the southern jungle, having just killed a giant King Tajitu. Connor looked confused, Mars seeing that as he looked over his shoulder, so he explained. "That was just an everyday Grimm. They're very common in these parts. The temple guardian is inside the temple itself." He pointed at the cavern, it's edges painted with runic symbols.

Connor glanced at the deadly snake's dead body. "So...is the temple guardian stronger than that thing?" He asked, slightly worried.

"Who knows? I certainly don't." Mars cryptically replied, but could see Connor wasn't satisfied with that. "If I had to guess, I'd say...it'll be stronger...probably..."

Connor gulped when he heard that. He had almost just died to the snake and the next opponent would potentially be more powerful. He couldn't help but be nervous.

"Man up, you pussy." Kane harshly told him.

"Shut up." Came the reply.

They soon started investigating the runes on the entrance to the cave. Mars recognised them as remnants of old glyphs, possibly once used as traps. "They're still active." Kane commented.

"They're active." Mars repeated, as if he had read Connor's mind. He shot a quick look at Connor, looking right into his eyes, then turned and walked into the entrance to the cave. "Well, whatever it is, I'll deal with it. Come along."

Connor hurried after his mentor, keeping an eye out for any signs of booby traps on the walls, floor and ceiling. Mars probably had good enough reflexes to avoid them, but Connor was still just a child, merely eleven years old. He'd be skewered in an instant. Much to his surprise however, nothing happened. No pitfalls leading to spikes, no arrows shooting out to pierce them to a wall. He was beginning to think all of the things he had heard about temple exploring were utter nonsense.

Eventually, they came to a large square room that was fabulously decorated with patterned stone flooring, walls and a ceiling. In the centre of the room was a large circle of runes connected by a curving line of chalk. In the centre of that circle, sat a box on a pedestal. "That must be it!" Connor said with excitement, recklessly running forward and ignoring Mars' cries.

"Back." Was the only word Kane said, but that was warning enough. Connor jumped back as far as he could, then noticed the runes around the box were beginning to glow. The shine got more intense until a shape started to rise out of the floor. A massive knight in shining metal armour, holding a two handed stone sword, appeared next to the box, slamming the tip of his weapon down into the ground and taking a defensive stance.

"A white knight. They used to be summoned to guard places like this, so it isn't so surprised we'd find one here." Mars commented as he walked up beside Connor and admired it. "It did seem like someone had been here before us, else the runes out front would have triggered faster. Someone altered them to try to have time to grab the box before this big guy came along to stop them." He spent another second in awe of the creation, then crossed his arms and stepped back, nodding at Connor. "Well, he's all yours."

"What? You said you'd deal with any traps!" Connor recalled, feeling hesitant to fight such an impressive looking for.

"Yes, but this isn't a trap; it's a challenge. Take it." Mars responded, gesturing towards the knight. Connor realised he wasn't being given a choice, Mars wanted to test him. As reluctant as he was, he started sprinting back towards the box.

Kane gave him a boost when he drew near, exuding a few dark clouds from his feet to let him jump higher, right on to the top of the pedestal. He put his hand on the box to try to quickly nab it, but had to jump up as the knight's came slashing horizontally towards him. He swiftly swapped his arm blades into shotgun mode, aiming it at the knight's helmet and pulling the trigger. As he should have expected, the bullets bounced off the metal without leaving even a dent. In retaliation, the knight's free hand came in from the right, Kane pumping power into Connor's hand so that he could hold it back with dark clouds. The sword came in again from above however, Connor having to use all of his agility to flip up on top of the other arm. Once there, he leapt towards it's face and slammed a dark cloud covered fist into it, but again nothing happened. "Not good enough. It's armour's too thick!" Mars advised from below, but didn't any ideas of how to actually damage it. Before Connor could launch himself off of the knight's helmet, he found himself grabbed by it's free hand. As much as he struggled, he was unable to escape, it holding him up ceremoniously, as if it had just won a prize. "Come on, you can do better than that. Wriggle out!" Mars commented again, hands in his pockets as he watched the fight.

Spurred on, Connor let Kane take over for a split second, escaping from his captors grasp with a burst of dark clouds. A second later however, the sword came up again and slammed into him, pinning him to the ceiling and knocking the wind out of him. "Kane..." He begged, feeling a rib break, but it was all Kane could do to dull the pain. Connor's aura couldn't flow properly in that position.

"Well, looks like you're in a spot of bother." Mars said, seeing his apprentice wouldn't be getting out of that one. "I guess I'll have to help out after all." With that, he started running towards the knight, which lowered it's sword to pay attention to the new attacker. Connor started falling to the ground, but Mars pointed a hand that way and constructed a platform of green, translucent energy for him to land on. He then turned his attention to the knight, it's massive sword being swung his way. With great agility, he ducked under it and concentrated some aura in his hand, slashing past the knight with a quickly constructed green sword. The knight went stiff for a moment, then shook as if possessed. A second later, green light began pouring out of the cracks in the armour, the shaking intensifying until it began to fall apart. In just a few seconds, the armour lay unmoving on the floor in many pieces.

As Mars dispelled his sword, Connor looked down in amazement. His own attacks had barely grazed the knight, but Mars had annihilated it with one strike. What's more, it felt like only a small portion of his power. Connor carefully lowered himself off of the platform, holding his side as he and Mars walked back over to the box. "Now then, let's see if it's really here." Mars muttered, opening the lid.

Inside of the box sat a brilliant purple gem, barely bigger than a grape in size. Connor stared at it in awe, amazed to finally see the crystal in the flesh, but Mars was less impressed. He took the crystal out and promptly crushed it in his fist, it turning to dust and seeping through his fingers. "What the hell did you do that for?! We finally found it and you do that?!" Connor exclaimed.

"That was a fake. The real thing wouldn't have been crushed so easily." Mars replied, seeing Connor's shoulders sag in disappointment. "Someone must have been here before he, taken the real thing and replaced it with this. I'd bet they disabled the traps while they were in here and didn't have to fight big boy knight over there."

Connor looked down at the floor, almost biting through his tongue out of frustration. They'd come all that way just for a fake. "So, what now? The trail's gone cold." He asked, downtrodden.

"Worry not, Connor. All we need do is find whoever took the genuine article." Mars reassuringly answered, Connor looking up to see a confident grin on his face. "I know it may be hard, but we'll track them down. We made a promise didn't we? That we'd find the Kalos Crystal and use it's power to painlessly separate you and Kane. I intend to keep that promise. You still with me?"

Connor had to wipe away a tear, ignoring Kane telling him to man up. "Yeah, I'm still with you." He replied, feeling his heart swell. "Let's find it. Let's find the Kalos Crystal."

END OF CHAPTER 9

So I now have all of the missing chapters rewritten, so I should be able to go back to uploading two or three chapters of this a day. I'm also going to be uploading chapters for my Kuroko's Basketball fanfic, Through The Hoop, so I'd appreciate people going and checking that out as I really enjoy writing it. I'm also going to be continuing from where I left off working on Volume 5 of O and O. Until next time!