Disclaimer- NOTE: This is the only time I shall say this, as everyone who actually bothers to read the story should see this notice on top. I do NOT own RWBY, or the other licensed material will find in this work. Wish I did, but I don't. The concept of this story is mine, along with certain plot elements, and ripping me off without permission will bring my wrath upon you. That is not, I repeat NOT, something you want looming over your head. Thank you for reading this disclaimer, and please enjoy the story.
WARNING
This story will contain obscene language, mass & articulately detailed violence, philosophical undertones, and more than likely sexual content. If you can't stomach such content , and have the gall to flame me after reading this clearly labeled text of forewarning, you can go die in a pit & hope that I do not feel enraged enough to hunt you down so as to devour your waste of a soul.
From the Ascending Shadows
Canto IV- Cirque de Sanctuaire
Leaves rustled & crunched along the dirt path, a small trio of individuals the source of their disturbance. One was a hooded, white-haired boy, though said pale hair was only visible due to the messy bangs that fell from his bowed face, shrouded by the boy's cowl as it was.
The hood belonged to a ragged monk's black habit. It was riddled with holes & tears, the most prominent being the tear where most of the lower habit had been removed for more mobility. On top of the habit the boy wore a white torsoplate, one of the few surviving pieces of armor belonging to the late Lord Protector of Domrémy, the boy's grandfather. On the front of the torsoplate was an etched Fangs-of-the-Cockatrice, the symbol of the House of Oum, which had forged & bestowed the armor upon said Lord Protector. Under his chestpiece the boy wore a whalebone shard, its engraved rune colored by his own blood. On his left hand he wore a white gauntlet, another surviving piece of Justinian's armor. Said gauntlet bore the sigil of an eldritch entity, the Outsider, etched upon its reverse-palm. Closely strapped to said armored appendage was the boy's folding blade, ready to be swiftly drawn, well hidden by the lengthy sleeve of the habit.
The boy's other arm was not as pristine in its condition as its counterpart. The habit's sleeve torn on this limb, said appendage was rapped from its shoulder to its fingertips (of which there were four) in an assortment of rags. This was so as to protect the limb from exposure, mangled as it was. Upon said arm's wrist was a manacle-bracelet, containing the boy's shield. Despite said arm being his sword arm, the white-haired youth found himself unable to even hold his blade what with its mangled disposition, and as such was forced to relegate the limb guard-duty. The aforementioned sword, Crocea Mors, was strapped to his back.
Over said sword was knapsack, carrying all manner of supplies, including currency & ammunition. The sack also contained an assortment of strange whalebone pieces, engraved with the runes of an entity known as the Outsider. They had been looted from the shrine belonging to the boy's grandfather. At the boy's hip was a holstered pistol, a revolver styled like a flintlock. Strapped to his belt was a collection of grenades, looted from the cadavers of his foes. The other side of his belt holstered a skyhook, its handle bloody from being used by the boy's mangled hand.
But perhaps the most striking feature of this boy, Jaune Arc, was the apparel that he wore on his face. Upon the lower half of his visage a mouthless buccal-mask was worn, once part of the aforementioned armor of the Lord Protector. Though his right eye was as pale a blue as it once was before (admittedly lacking its usual joyful vibrancy), the left was rapped in a black bandage. It had been so damaged during the battle of Domrémy that the boy could only wrap it and hope that it didn't get infected due to exposure.
Behind the young Arc traversed the blonde rabbit-faunus Alice Liddell. She still wore the apparel she had originally acquired at the Kaldwin abode, battle armor, petticoat, and all. However, rapped around her hip she kept a pink & strangely avianesque whip, which she had looted from the Black-Talon Flamingo that Jaune had slain. At her side was a scabbard, holding a strange blade resembling a butcher's shearing knife. This was the Vorpal Sword, clan blade of the Liddell family.
Strapped to the Liddell faunus's back was a small bundle of cloth, containing the third member of the party. Emily Kaldwin, daughter of Jaune Arc & Jessamine Kaldwin, snuggled deep into her nannys back. Her little panther-ears were shrouded by a cowl formed by the cloth. She was good baby, a smart baby, taking advantage of the somber disposition of the duo with her so as to take a nap.
And somber the pair of teens were, given the situation. It was only the trio's third day out from Domrémy, and they had already waited two days prior to leaving the town for the fighting between the Zookeepers & Black Talons to cease. Jaune & Alice waited one more day so that Jaune could afford Jessamine a proper funeral within the House of Oum's moratorium. Thankfully, by that time the two combatting armies had abandoned the village, any looters with them. Even more luckily, the Grimm had yet to set themselves upon the remains of the township, despite the overwhelming tide of emotional negativity that it generated.
Now the trio traversed the path from the town to the great road that bridged the kingdom of Vale to its counterparts, in addition to any subsidiary outposts & settlements. Domrémy, as an independent township, was not afforded any directly paved connections to the Highway, nor was it afforded any Railroad access, as the town could not afford to pay Schnee Industries to install a rail-line. There wasn't even an airstrip at the township, such as that found at Mountain Glenn. So waiting for the Hunters to arrive at the destroyed settlement in timely fashion was not a viable option. This instilled a sense of urgency between Jaune & Alice, as the path they traversed could very well be swarmed by Grimm soon enough. They had to get to the main road.
Focused on the task at hand, there was little dialogue between the faunus, or her late friend's lover. Not that they had much that they could say to one another. Alice was immensely grateful for the young Arc's consoling her after her rape, as well as his disposal of the perpetrator. But that was about the only empathy she could afford to the young man. The only social bond that had tied the two teens together was their closeness to Jessamine. And now she was dead. Alice was a faunus. Jaune was a human. Alice was born in menagerie, and had experienced the bigotry of humans. Jaune, while raised in Domrémy after his parent's & sibling's death, was still an outsider, and such few people from the township, faunus OR human, trusted him to be different from those humans from the Kingdoms.
And quite honestly, Alice was unsure as to whether or not she could trust Jaune with Emily, for whom she had nannied since birth. The little panther faunus was precisely that, a faunus, and Jaune Arc was a human. She didn't care if the young Arc was the panther kit's father, the boy was still human. How could he possibly relate to Emily? Even then, he was only fifteen. Alice herself was eighteen, and while not formally enrolled as a Huntress, had been trained by her (now deceased) elder brother, who had graduated from the academy in Mistral & been certified as a Hunter. She was far better suited to protect the babe than this lanky, crippled human that had failed to even be accepted Signal.
Despite not voicing such thoughts, the rabbit faunus lacked any need to truly do so, for Jaune Arc shared similar thoughts. So traumatized by the events that he had been forced to experience, the young Arc couldn't help but find despair in the idea of ever being a suitable guardian for Emily. Especially when one considered that Jessamine's blood was now on his hands, in addition to all of the people that he had killed the day of the invasion.
It also didn't help that, now that Jaune had unlocked his ability to use & sense aura, he could feel Alice's doubt & mistrust in regards to his abilities. Jaune could also hear a little voice inside his head, divulging the thoughts and emotions around him. Every time the young Arc heard that voice he felt a twinge of pain in his chest. Not only from the grisly operation performed upon him by the Outsider, but from how similar the voice was to that of his former lover.
However, the young Arc was soon distracted from pondering such details as the sound of battle reached his ears. A rocket soon exploded overhead, further down the path. Jaune & lice shared a glance, and both immediately rushed to the side of the path. Jaune motioned for her stay behind while he scouted head. Alice initially narrowed her eyes at this, thinking that he was underestimating her, but feeling young Emily push her face into her back reminded her of the infant that she was safeguarding, and so she nodded her head in ascent. Taking the skyhook into his mangled hand and his folding blade into the other, Jaune quickly ascended a nearby tree, wincing as his injured appendage bore his straining weight.
After having reached peak of the arborous structure, Jaune swiftly made his way over to the scene of the battle, leaping from tree to tree, branch by branch. What he witnessed both made his blood boil, yet at the same curl his brow in confusion.
Before him he witnessed a large assembly of Black Talon revolutionaries, evidently harassing some travelers on the road. However, these travelers were having none of this villainy. Instead, they were rather keen on making there displeasure known to these alleged highwaymen, and appeared to be holding their own while doing so. This was not what made the young Arc's brow curl. It was sensible that the Travelers might resist harassment from the Talons; especially considering the party appeared to outmatch the Talons in number, who were about thirty-five according to Jaune's headcount.
No, the source of Jaune Arc's confusion wasn't the resistance, but rather who was causing the Black Talons such strife. Evidently, they appeared to be assembly of circus performers and carnival freaks. Nevertheless, it appeared that they were able to give the Talons quite a bit of trouble, as evidenced by the masked faunus cadavers littering the ground. The circus troupe, which had evidently been travelling by way of a train of hover-wagons, had disrupted the Talon's no doubt tightly coordinated ambush into total pandemonium.
At one end of the wagon-train a female, platinum-haired and ebony-skinned monkey faunus held off six attackers with a bō-staff, gracefully vaulting over their heads so as to slam one of their skulls with her polearm. As her feet hit the ground, another Talon attempted to stab from behind with a machete. Having sensed this she swiftly swung her staff backward over her shoulder, slamming her assailant across his face. As two more attempted to double-team her, she placed the staff over her shoulders, and spun around as she knelt to the ground. As she did this, two blades popped out from the ends of the staff, and swiftly carved through the Talon duo. Another soon rushed towards her with a mace, intent on bashing her skull in. However, this was not to be, as she broke the staff into two smaller haves, held together by a chain. She swung this nunchaku over her head as she leaned on her knees to the side, capturing the mace's arm in the chain. She then swung both of the bladed halves of the nunchaku towards her Talon attacker, slashing his throat while at the same time slicing open his abdomen.
The final Talon, having witnessed her comrades so brutally dispatched, attempted to flee in the opposite direction. However, this was not to be, as razor-edged card embedded itself in her face, so sharp that it simply cut through her mask without shattering it. As she fell backwards to the ground prostrate, Jaune turned his attention to her killer, a blond man with goatee that wore a black, hooded robe. The man served another card to a second Talon that was rushing him, slicing into his faunus assailant's ankle. As the Talon man fell forward in agony, the death-dealer drew another card from his sleeve and swiftly slashed open the Talon's throat.
Witnessing another one of his comrade's at risk of having a hatchet introduced to their skull, the blond man drew a pair of dice from his sleeve, launching them at the Talon's face. The assailant screamed in agony as the die punctured his eyes, thick needled having retracted from the dots of the dice. The comrade formerly at risk, a stout midget with a purple mohawk and a braided beard, turned his attention to his would-be murderer, as well as the attention of his pair of shining-gold crossbows. The Talon faunus, having dropped his hatchet in favor of clutching the die embedded in his eyes, was soon bombastically dispatched, a duo of bolts piercing his armor's chestplate and then conflagrating as if hellfire had burst from their shards. Without turning his head the short man fired a crossbow behind him, said bolt slamming into a female Talon grunt's forehead and then exploding in a similar fashion.
As another Talon grunt rushed at the midget, a club suddenly batted them into the air. This club belonged to a monstrous blue hand, which in turn belonged to a titanic, equally monstrous, and blue body. The body in question was male, and was covered with appeared to be patch-marks of cloth all over the body's skin. Over the blue-skinned titans face was another patchwork, the eye in its middle white & dead. The titan's other arm was most notable, as it was entirely mechanical, and appeared to be made of makeshift machinery. As two more grunts made their way to confront the blue giant, he swung his club at them as well, their bodies slamming into a hover-wagon with a sickening crack.
However, this was enough of a diversion for another grunt to jump on the titans back, and he began to bash the giant's mechanical shoulder with a combat-mallet. This was not to last, however, as dagger soon introduced it to the Talon grunt's spine mid-swing. In utter agony the faunus assailant fell to the ground, convulsing with violent death-throws. This dagger had been thrown by what appeared to be some sort of clown, maybe a pierrot. The clowns auburn hair flourished as swiftly spun on one foot, grabbing a female Talon by the face with skeletal-prosthetic hand. The tear tattooed to his face was deceptive, as he soon smiled viciously as he drove a dagger between her ribs. As another Talon sought to ambush him from behind, the grunt in question was lifted & summarily crushed by a massive bear-hug, gifted upon him by all things a massive, hovering crimson robot.
The automaton in turn appeared to be manipulated by young woman, who wore goggles over forehead & a pair of crimson pigtails at the top. She cackled maniacally as she manipulated the robot with her own cyborg appendage, while with her other hand she anarchically sprayed bullets with an SMG. As two more Talon grunts made their way to her through the hail of gunfire they were suddenly stabbed through their chests by a pair of swords, then lifted into the air & dropped. Their killer, another ebony-skinned faunus with gold eyes & purple feathers for hair, winked at the other girl as she flew by with a pair of mechanical aviators-wings on her back.
Nearby, a pair of girls, one a tan faunus with finned ears & turquoise hair and the other a pale human with dark aquatic blue hair held off three other Talon troopers. They evidently had been fighting for a long time, if the cadavers surrounding them were anything to go by. However, these Talon members were no grunts, as evident by the ornate buzzsaws, skyhooks & chainswords they wielded, and their unique masks. Their eyes furrowed with frustration as another Talon officer rushed over to assist his fellows. The faunus girl readied a staff, the human clutched her swordlike shorthanded weapon with both of her hands.
Fortunately, they had nothing to worry about, as the "Talon officer" suddenly launched a roundhouse-kick in the direction of one of his "compatriots". The assailed Talon in question clutched his throat what appeared to be a blade at the bottom of his killer's shoe slashed open his windpipe. The killer then did a mock bow as his form changed to a garish clown with a pink frilly coat, a pair of swan-styled epaulets at his shoulders. As he did so he also pulled a string near under his coat, the epaulets opening up to reveal gun barrels, which quickly dispatched the remaining two Talon officers to the tune of a thundering blunderbuss. As the man straightened himself & proceeded to glomp the two girls, Jaune could see that the clown had styled his makeup after that of an okama.
Jaune shook his head at the chaos surrounding the wagon caravan, as it appeared as if though his intercession wouldn't be required. However, he was soon proven wrong as a man wearing a tall tophat on his head & curly moustache over his face, appeared to be in severe danger. The ringleader (as evidenced by his tophat), who was surrounded nine assailants, he was making a strong effort to hold them off, but they appeared to be on the verge of dispatching him. Kneeling on the ground, he stabbed on in the knee & the stomach with pair of blades hidden under his sleeve, and then slashed open the abdomen of another, only to be clocked across the side of his face by a sledgehammer. As the Talon bandit made his move to execute the troupe's leader, Jaune decided to intervene.
Launching himself from the tree branch that he had been perched upon, the young Arc cushioned his fall by sinking his skyhook into the head of one Talon and stabbing another between the shoulder blades, placing his feet at the small of their backs so as to force them to fall forward. Swiftly withdrawing the folding blade from its victim, he threw it into the neck of the would-be executioner. Freeing his skyhook from the faunus skull that it had invaded, he at the same time drew his pistol, firing it at another Talon's facemask. As that Talon fell to the ground & clutched at his forehead, instinctively trying to prevent brain matter from pouring out of the hole in his forehead, Jaune focused his attention on the remaining faunus assailants.
They were trembling, but one soon mustered up the courage to attempt to slay this mysterious new foe. His bravado was for naught, as Jaune grabbed his wrist as the Talon attempted to end the skirmish with a and overhead slash of his machete, and then drove his spinning skyhook into the man's stomach, forcing it so deep that it got caught on the faunus's spinal-cord. Releasing the skyhook from his grasp as it was too deeply embedded in the fresh cadaver to be released in a timely fashion, Jaune instead withdrew Crocea Mors with both hands, handle held within both hands.
Both of the remaining Talons attempted to rush at the same time, but this soon proved to be pure folly. As one, like his recently deceased compatriot, attempted an overhead hacking with his axe, Jaune simply swung his blade, cleaving clean through the axe's handle and then through the Talon's neck as well, a faunus head soon falling to the earthen floor. His blade still in motion, Jaune arced his blade overhead & proceeded to vivisect his remaining foe, who had frozen in shock after witnessing her remaining comrade so brutally dispatched.
Jaune wiped the blood off his blade on the grass near the path, retrieved his weapons, and then proceeded to make his way over to the fallen ringmaster. He was in no hurry, as he could hear nearby the sounds of battle fading. Kneeling down, he threw the lanky man's arm over his shoulder and began to move him towards one of the wagons. As he did so, the ringmaster regained consciousness. He turned his head towards his obvious savior, and began to address him.
"My thanks, young man. Had you been a second later my beautiful brains would be decorating the path with a nice pink-grey sheen. That being said, might I ask who you are, and where did you come from? You're certainly not a member of my troupe. I do believe that I would remember and intimidating character like yourself." At this inquiry, Jaune hesitated for a moment, contemplating whether or not answer the question, but he ultimately decided to provide the man with a truthful reply.
"My name is Jaune Arc, from Domrémy, a township a day or so down the path, my party has been waiting in the woods to hear word from me, after I scouted ahead to assess the situation here at this caravan.…" at this the young Arc fell silent.
"Domrémy, REALLY? WHAT A COICIDENCE! MY TROUPE AND I WERE MAKING HOUR WAY TO THAT VERY SAME TOWN TO PERFORM AT THE FESTIVAL WHEN WE WERE ACCOSTED BY THESE DEGENERATES! MIGHT YOU PROVIDE US SOME DIRECTIONS TOWARDS THE TOWNSHIP?!" clearly the man was ecstatic at this little tidbit of information. Jaune grew more quiet at this, not even his breath audible to any audience's ears.
"…I wouldn't bother. The towns gone. Nearly everyone is dead. There's no point in making a journey there anymore… Even if one wanted to repopulate the area, most of the buildings are gone. Hell, there's probably a swarm of Grimm already nesting up at the corpse of the town center…" At this the ringmaster gasped.
"WHAT?WHAT HAPPENED?! Domrémy was one most well-defended independent settlements! Not even a swarm of Grimm would have been able to destroy that town!" Jaune bowed his head at this.
"…There were no grim. The town got caught in the crossfire during a battle between two invading armies. The first were the Zookeepers, the others… These assholes here, the Black Talons. These guys must have been some off the stragglers left behind after the bastards pulled out…" At this the ringmaster's brow dropped in somber depression.
"I'm so sorry, my boy… I know what it's like, to lose your home to war that you wanted no part of… My name is Geo Dampierre, and this is my performing troupe, Cirque de Sanctuaire… you and your party are welcome to travel with my caravan, it's the very least that I can do for you, considering that you have not only saved my life, but prevented my compatriots from potentially walking into a fresh den of Grimm. Besides, there is a reason for why my troupe's epithet is "de Sanctuaire", all outcasts, all refugees, all lost souls are welcome here… Leave me here at this wagon, and gather you're travelling companions; I shall inform the rest of the troupe of this situation."
At these words, Jaune's "heart" twinged, and the voice of Jessamine Kaldwin filled his ears…
#Although he may not always ascribe to the noblest intentions, this man speaks no deception, and his sympathy is genuine…#
*Trust the heart, young Nephelim…*
Having been reassured by this spectral commentary, the young Arc nodded his head in assent to the ringmaster, and made his way back to Alice & Emily, so as to introduce them to their new acquaintances…
Sorry about the wait. Midterm-exams were kicking my ass down one street and up the other, and then ran over my brain with a steamroller. I may not be able to put out another chapter before the end of the month like I promised, but I'll try.
This was originally going to be a lot longer, but I decided to add the other part of this chapter to my next one so that I could at least partially fulfil my promise, and give the other chapter more substance. As consolation, this chapter has lots of blood, gore, and death, and I introduce alot of new characters.
Shoutout goes to 'Anything170' for guessing the meaning of the titles for at least two Chapters- Canto 1 (Umbragenesis)= Shadow Origin/Creation, in Vulgar Britannic Latin, and Canto 3 (Sepolcro dei Sogni)= Tomb of Dreams, in Italian. No one has learnt the meaning of Canto 2's tile (Luminăsugaci). It "(Sun)Light Child" in Romanian, which is a reference to Jaune's initial innocence at the start of the story, as well as playing on the Shadow theme from the prior chapter, as shadows are born from light.
Second shoutout to 'thelonewander117' & 'Makurayami' as well, 'cause I forgot to thank them for their kindly reviews last chapter. They're awesome, and I hope the story is fulfilling their expectations.
And thanks to these people for faving. makes my heart all warm & tingly- Anything170, Jcjonesacp, Kaito-sama, Kiri0952, Legionnaire Kael, Raptor010, ThatInternetGuy, The Communist Banana, cloudedend
In addition, no one has quite yet guessed the inspiration for my version of Alice Liddell quite yet, so I left a couple more clues for you guys, gals, and/or gysels. If you don't guess by next chapter I'm spoiling it for you, and no one gets a shoutout. That said, try and guess the translation for the title to this chapter as well. It should be easy.
In addition, if anyone guesses the ringmaster's inspiration, as well as the names/inspiration for the troupe-members that I've described in this chapter, they gets a shoutout too.
Also, I've received PM's asking me about when Jaune shall be introduced to the main cast and plotline, and I'll say here not for good while. Probably not until the beginning of Season 3, or at the very least the end of Season 2 of RWBY. I want to make sure that I don't distort the world of RWBY too much before we learn more about it, so much so that it looks nothing like it is on the show. That's why I'm focusing on the world outside of the four main Kingdoms & Menagerie right now. It's also an excuse to throw in more crossover elements from other series, develop Jaune more as a character, and incorporate more Dishonored & Bioshock material.
If you have any suggestions for potential characters & other stuff to add, let me no. I am always open to suggestions from my readers.
Finally, don't worry about Jaune's Outsider/Bioshock powers… those will be coming soon… REAL SOON…BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (YNN needs crazy meds since forever)
Again, don't be afraid to add input, be it praise, or (constructive) criticism. Also, don't be afraid to ask questions. I make it a general policy to try answer any inquiries that I receive now, so long as I don't mistake the questions as being rhetorical. I'll do my best to avoid spoilers. That said…
Flames will be stomped out & their ashes snorted while I dance hard techno, if they are not constructive criticism. Then I shall piss those ashes out upon the graves of the flamers, which shall be covered in a fresh, fertilizing mound of manure.
