Hello everyone, just a quick little thing here. As of me writing this, my story has had 90 follows and 65 favorites! This is a huuuuuuuge milestone for me. I honestly didn't expect for this story to be this popular, all the support has been a great deal of help for my motivation. Thank you all for being awesome and helpful.
Chapter 5: Thoughts
The elevator doors slid open as it reached the top of the emerald tower. I stepped out and walked up to Ozpin's desk. He was staring out towards the city, mug present in his hand. I cleared my throat causing him to turn and walked to his desk.
"You must be wondering what I meant when I messaged you hm?" He slowly sat down and sipped from his mug. I nodded in response and glanced down to his scroll which had a picture of a man dressed in a black vest with a mask covering his face. Ozpin reached for the scroll and leaned back after grabbing it.
He tapped an icon as the large screen from before came down. The same image from his scroll appeared on the screen. More of the image could be seen, behind him boxes were destroyed along with a building. Fire blanketed the ground around him. His mask had one eye hole on the right. The rest of the mask looked like it spiraled into the hole. His hair was black and spiky that faded into blonde at the tips.
"Jaune do you know who this is?" I starred at the picture a little longer then shook my head. Ozpin turned in his chair and looked at the screen. "This man works for the white fang and he is very good at what he does." I sat down in one of the chairs and folded my arms. "And what exactly does he do?" Ozpin turned back to me and frowned. "His name is Hayden price, or better known as the phantom. He hunts down huntsman and white fang traitors." A new image popped up showing Hayden standing next to Adam. Adam's sword was sticking out of a man who was lying dead at his feet.
I frowned slightly at the image as Ozpin spoke again. "Unfortunately Hayden has killed many good men. Most of them were former white fang who joined us to help bring them down. He is ruthless and will not hesitate to kill you on site." I sighed and lazily looked to Ozpin. "What does this have to do with me?" Again Ozpin frowned, most likely from my lack of interest in the topic. "He is the man who killed your mentor."
My eyes went as wide as dinner plates. I was stuck in a state of anger and shock. I was honestly expecting him to say it was Adam by the way he showed the picture, but it seems that isn't the case. "W-he killed Isaac?" I whispered still in state of shock, I was still loud enough for Ozpin to hear me. "Yes, you see Isaac was a messenger for us. He promised that he would help keep us informed on the fang on one condition. That we keep the fang off him so he could take care of a lost child."
For a second time my eyes went wide as I starred at him. I had no idea he was involved with the hunters let alone Ozpin. "He never spoke of working with you." Ozpin took a sip from his mug and placed it on his desk. "It was probably to protect you. He might have thought that is you knew he was working with us, you might try to do something." My shock soon turned to anger as my eyes focused on the picture of Hayden again. I memorized every little crack and scratch in his mask and implanted it into my brain.
Soon after I stood and pounded my fist of the desk. "I'm going to kill that bastard with my own two hands." I growled at Ozpin causing him to fold his hands in front of his face. "I won't allow you to go alone." I was about to yell at him but stopped and thought on his words. "wait, you're going to let me go after him?" I furrowed my brow not in anger but in curiosity. "Well in a manner of speaking. I have a mission that will be based around a area the fang is currently occupying." I was taken back by his answer. I was honestly expecting him to say no.
"As I said before, you will not be alone. This mission requires multiple people to complete. I will message you tomorrow when a team accepts the mission but for now you must promise me you will focus on the mission first before anything with the white fang." I slouched my shoulders and calmed down then nodded. Ozpin smiled slightly and turned towards the city. "I will send you any information I have on Hayden, but I'm not the one who sent it to you." I nodded and understood what he meant.
I turned and headed towards the elevator. "Oh and Jaune." I stopped and turned to look at him. A frown was now present on his features. "Please be careful, we have lost enough strong huntsman, do not join them." I nodded and stepped into the elevator. I watched as Ozpin turned back towards the city as the doors closed.
Beacon Library: 5 minutes later
I slid out one of the chairs and sat down. Luckily no one was in the library at midnight, which means I have even more privacy to dwell on my books. I had grabbed any books I could find on pre-Vale events or on the older families. Before I dove into the books, I reached for my scroll and opened up the file Ozpin had sent. I scrolled through the text that had no details until I stumbled upon survivor reports. Surprisingly there was only three. Either this guy was barely encountered or he was just that good at killing people.
One report stated that he could "pass right through attacks unharmed" then attack a moment later. They said he used chains and daggers as his main weapons and was extremely skilled with them. Another report said he was seen controlling other soldiers against their will. I leaned against the chair and rubbed my face. If this guy was as tough as they said, it might be a challenge.
I opened up one of the history books and started to read. I started off with how the sentinels stopped the Grimm from destroying anything they built. At one time, the families worked together and combined their separate powers. As I kept reading the book kept mentioning Joshua Arc, the same one from my meditation session.
It said that when the first city was finished, he would go out into the wilderness with his troops and kill any Grimm that threatened the city. After a few years of this he eventually started to get darker and talk less. He became harsh and angry after every death of a comrade. it got to the point where he stopped talking to anyone, instead he would stay in his armor and stalk the Grimm.
Reports showed that loud roars would echo from the forests at night followed by large flames erupting from the trees. Eventually he stopped showing up completely. The last known sighting was when he ventured off into a cavern that housed a very strong Grimm that rarely ever came out into the light. Many soldiers were killed by the beast, some being friends of Joshua's.
I thought back to what he said about controlling your emotions when using Instinct. About how they can control you and change you. 'Maybe he was talking out of self experience' I thought as I closed the large book. As I placed the large book back into its place the doors swung open to the library. I looked over and saw Blake walking towards the back of the building. Before she disappeared around the corner she glanced over to me. I held her gaze for a second before walking towards the door.
I looked to the clock on the wall and saw it was almost six in the morning. 'I can't believe I was in their for that long...' I thought as I headed towards the cafeteria. After staying up all night, I had worked up quite the apatite.
After sitting down with my food I noticed that there wasn't that many other students in the hall. I pulled out my scroll to see it was six thirty. 'Oh right, these people aren't used to waking up at five on the dot everyday.' I thought as I started on my bowl of oatmeal. It had been two years of constant moving. Same process everyday, wake up and walk for a few hours then stop to eat. Walk until night fell then sleep and then repeat the process until the next town.
I felt the table shift slightly as someone sat down. I slowly looked up to see Pyrrha sitting across from me with a smile on her face. I rose my eyebrow in a questioning manner as I continued to eat. "I hope you don't mind if I sit here, its just that I don't know anyone else in here besides you." She slouched slightly under my gaze. I shrugged and swallowed. "I don't mind, the silence was getting to me anyway." She perked up and started to eat her food.
After a few minuted she spoke up again. "Has Ozpin decided on a team for you yet?" I shook my head in response. "No, I never worked with a team since I never went to a combat school. He just decided that it would be better for me if I stayed alone." She tilted her head slightly and furrowed her brow. "You didn't go to a combat school? Wow, I don't think I've seen someone so skilled without being trained at a school." I finished my food and placed my spoon down and folded my arms. "Did you train yourself?" I shook my head. "No I had help from someone very special."
"Was it someone in your family or a hunter?" I looked away from her and frowned slightly. "I'd, rather not talk about it." From the corner of my eye I could see her bite her lip. "I'm sorry if I seem like I'm prying into your past." I shook my head, knocking away any bad thoughts and focused on her. "Anyways, where did you go to school? I haven't heard anything about you yet." she slouched slightly and started to play with her food. "I came from Mistral and was top of my class." I leaned back nodded. "Mistral huh? I heard everyone there is a hard ass."
She laughed slightly and looked back to me. "Not everyone is like that, they are that way just so we can be strong." Before she could continue the same guy from earlier sat down next to her and smiled while nudging her shoulder. "Yeah, I mean you don't win four tournaments by being nice." I raised an eyebrow. "Four tournaments huh? I would say that's impressive but I haven't seen you fight yet. Those opponents could have been weak for all I know." Her partner furrowed his brow at me and clenched his fists. "Hey did you just say my partner was weak?" I laughed on the inside and continued.
"Not exactly, I just said that her opponents could have been weak. I don't judge someone off of what they did in the past, only the present. But hey if you want to say I called her weak, then by all means go ahead." He stood up from his chair and pointed a finger at me. Before he said anything Pyrrha grabbed his arm and shook her head. "Reagan stop." Reagan turned to look at her and dropped his glare. He then sat down and mumbled something under his breath. Pyrrha looked back at me and held a serious look. "Sorry about him, he can be a little over protective."
I just shrugged and smiled slightly. "Nah its fine, I was edging him on anyway." I shifted in my chair and pulled out my scroll to look at the time. "Ya know Pyrrha, after hearing about your accomplishments, I was thinking we should have a battle sometime. See if you can uphold your titles." I watched as she looked unsure for a moment then smiled. "I would love to have a friendly battle with you." I reached out my hand for her too shake. When she did I could see Reagan give me a dirty look then glance away when I looked to him.
"You don't have a problem with me borrowing your partner for a while do you Reagan?" He turned and opened his mouth to say something but stopped after he say Pyrrha giving him and "Say yes" look. "Yeah its cool." He didn't sound too sure about his answer which caused me to smile slightly.
Reagan's scroll rang silencing everyone at our table. He pulled it out and read the message then looked to Pyrrha. "Ozpin wants us in his office, could you message Ren and Nora and tell them?" I watched as Pyrrha nodded and stood up grabbing her tray. Before walking away she turned to me and smiled. "Don't forget about our match." I smiled and nodded as she walked away.
30 minutes later, beacon tower
As the elevator doors closed I pulled out my scroll and opened up Ozpin's message. A few simple words appeared as it opened, "The team is chosen". I lulled over the message for a moment thinking about which team it might be. I was hoping it wasn't some shitty team like Cardin's. A chill went down my spine when I thought about having to work with them. I'd have to be watching my back the entire time. But then again, I don't think Ozpin would even think of them worthy.
A feeling of dread and relief washed over me as the doors opened to Ozpin's office. Relief because I don't have to work with Cardin, dread because a new enemy was on the team. All heads in the room turned to me as I stepped out into the room. Pyrrha smiled at me which I returned, Reagan scowled at me then rolled his eyes. I expected as much from him. One of the other teammates grinned and waved at me energetically while the male standing next to her just nodded and turned back to Ozpin.
"Ah Jaune, glad to see you here. Now I can brief you all on the full mission." Reagan crossed his arms and frowned at Ozpin. "You didn't say HE was the extra coming along." Ozpin tilted his head and gave a confused look. "You've already made a enemy Jaune?" I walked up next to Reagan and shrugged. "Whoops." Ozpin chuckled lightly and turned towards the screen behind him. I saw Reagan out of the corner of my eye give me a dirty look then look forward.
"This mission will last at most four days, two of those four days will be getting to your destination. You will be dropped off at the edge of the emerald forest and continue on through the dark wood path." A image of a large ravine appeared. Said cavern was pitch black and was shielded by trees on the rim. "This is where we expect a high level Grimm to be hiding. Your mission is to scout out the ravine and gain any information of its whereabouts."
The screen shifted to a new picture of a white fang base barely visible through the canopy of trees. "About a mile from the ravine is a white fang base, if possible you are to scout this base and get any pictures of its defense for Atlus. This is not as important as the Grimm though, that must be done first. This base is also housing one of Adam's most highly regarded lieutenants. " Hayden's image appeared on screen. I slightly scowled at the picture of his mask staring at the camera. " Remember, this is only a side mission." A image of a large clearing showed up next. "This is the extraction point. After your scouting is done, this where you will meet to be taken back here for debriefing, understood?" We all nodded simultaneously as Ozpin tapped on his scroll. "I have sent you all the information included with a map of your route."
Pyrrha stepped forward and folded her arms behind her back. "When do we leave?" Ozpin smiled and sat down at his desk. "When ever you are ready, but please do try to leave before ten, it takes a few hours to get there. You don't want to lose out on precious daylight. Supplies for the trip are already prepped. All you need is your weapons and what ever you want to carry. You are dismissed." Pyrrha turned to us and nodded. "I saw we meet there in thirty minutes or so, is that enough time for everyone?" I nodded as well as her team. Reagan smiled and tilted his head towards me. "Let's hope Jaune isn't late though. For all we know he could hold us back." Before anyone could say anything Ozpin spoke up with a unpleasant tone.
"Mr. Quill please show respect for Jaune here, you will need him to trek through some parts of the forest." Reagan turned to Ozpin and frowned. "Why do I need him? we have Pyrrha and Ren who are both excellent at reading maps." I stepped forward and folded my arms. "But I doubt they have ever lived there." He turned to me and rose and eyebrow. I just held a cold gaze as he tried to get anything else. eventually he let out a sigh and walked to the elevator.
As I turned to leave Ozpin tapped his cane getting my attention. "Jaune can you stay for a moment?" I nodded to Pyrrha and walked to his desk. He had a focused look in his eyes as they locked with mine. As soon as the elevator doors closed he spoke. "Jaune I saw the look in your eyes when Hayden's picture came up. I know you aren't stupid enough to get your team hurt, but you must fight your urges to go after him, alright?" I bit my lip and nodded. He let loose a sigh and leaned back in his chair. "You must listen to me, I've seen what he can do. Please be careful for their sake." I turned to the elevator and stopped at the door. "I wont let them down professor, this is too important." And with that I entered the elevator and hit the button.
30 minutes later
I placed my backpack down next to me as I sat down on the seat. I watched as the rest of my "team" entered and took their places. I made sure to sit off by myself so I could get some peace and quiet. Pyrrha made and attempt to come sit by me but it was stopped when Reagan called her over. I was both happy and sad. While I wanted to be alone I couldn't help but feel attracted to her. It felt as if she actually cared about me and wanted to help, but then the small voice would always come back and say she was just faking it.
After about an hour or so of trying to fall asleep I finally gave up and stared out the window. Most of the things I could see was just trees and birds flying by which didn't help my stomach. I groaned and leaned my head back against the seat and tried to fight down the feeling of nausea. Luckily I was able to push it down and my body some what relaxed. I even felt my self slipping off into sleep eventually, which was weird considering I was on a bullhead.
Chapter end
Hello everyone. Sorry for the short chapter, it was mostly all filler and was pretty challenging to write. When there isn't anything happening and its mostly dialog, it gets just as boring to write as it is to read. But fear not, next chapter will be much longer and be more exciting (I hope). New story arc ho!
Yukas out.