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Chapter 7: Exploration
As I walked down the broken path memories invaded my mind. Memories of a time where everything was perfect and peaceful, a time where I wasn't on my own. I felt Instinct activate involuntarily as I stared at the towns smashed gate. Pieces of wood lay across the dirt path, untouched for years. I looked to my right and saw a small dust shop. Soon after looking at the shop I watched as it repaired its self back to the way it was back during that day. A short lady walked out of the door and smiled while looking up at the bright blue sky.
I stopped walking and stared at her face, the features still fresh in my mind. She turned around and flipped a sign then walked into her shop disappearing as the shop returned to its broken state. My eyes and head slowly fell towards the ground as I fought back tears. A hand found its way onto my shoulder, I immediately knew it was Pyrrha by the way she squeezed slightly. I walked forward while keeping my head to the ground not wanting to see anything else appear.
I knew that was inevitable as I approached the center of town. Broken marble and stone lay littered across the road. Faded blood covered the marble steps as I slowly walked to the top. A terrible sight came into view as I peaked the last step. The faded blood soon gained its original color as the dying form of Scar appeared. His cracked mask lay atop his face as blood pooled around his body.
Soon after a younger me ran over and knelled next to him. It felt as if I was re-living the day, each emotion was felt as I stared at the sight. I was helpless as Scar died in my arms, too weak to help. His hand slowly found its way to my face as he unlocked my aura. I closed my eyes as the memory faded, a tear soon slid down my cheek as I bit my lip.
"Hey we got Grimm!" I turned my head to see Beowolves spill out of the alley ways and run towards us. A scowl found its way across my face as I walked towards the beasts. Someone called my name but it was soon lost in the howling of the wolves. I pulled Ember from its sheathe and extended the blade to its full length. The first beast charged with a roar and swung at me with its paw. Everything moved in slow motion as I moved my head to the side to dodge the slow moving claw.
With a flick of my wrist I embedded Ember into its head killing it instantly. The next wolf made its move by trying to bite me, I simply stabbed my blade through its mouth and into its brain. Next I switched into a offhand grip and slashed through another duo of wolves. An Ursa crashed through a wall and roared at me making its presence known. As it charged I brought my shield up and deflected it claw away from my body. My eyes flicked up towards its head as its monstrous jaws came towards me.
I leaned back cut off its lower jaw with Ember. Before it could recover I slid Ember into its throat silencing it. I spun grabbing Ember mid spin and threw it into the chest of another wolf. I quickly pulled my pistol from its holster and fired rounds towards the other beasts around my. I turned just in time to see Pyrrha shoot a wolf next to me. Off in the distance I could see the rest of our group fighting off the other Grimm. A large pink explosion erupted from a nearby building causing it to crumble and crash to the ground. Pyrrha slashed through a Ursa and made her way over to me.
I started to get a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach and soon after the ground started to shake and crack apart. Before I could move a huge stinger came flying from the earth below me sending rubble and dirt flying in all directions. I heard the sound of a whip cracking before I was suddenly hurled through the air and into a large stone pillar cracking it on impact. I brought my shield up just in time to block the second strike, but the force still pushed me through the pillar shattering it into pieces. I tried to recover as I was hurled through the air, but to my dismay I impacted the ground hard on my back before I could.
As my senses came back to me I watched as the rest of the beast emerged from the ground, as it crawled to the surface it sent more cracks along the ground causing pits to form. With a loud roar it fully emerged from the hole giving us a full view of its body. From first glance it seemed like a huge deathstalker, but upon closer inspection you could see that extra armor covered its joints and underbelly. More red markings covered its shell forming spirals and symbols I didn't recognize. Some of its armor was even black with bits of yellow covering it.
With another roar it charged towards me at a frightening speed that shouldn't be possible for a beast that size. Luckily it was intercepted as pink grenades impacted its eyes, giving me the time needed to move out of its path. As I ran I could feel the ground shake from its steps when ever it turned to face one of our group. I slid under another strike from its stinger only to be met with a pincer to my chest, once again sending me into the air. I heard gunfire as it turned to me and roared, completely ignoring the bullets. Again I heard the crack of a whip as the tail came barreling towards me. My instincts kicked into over drive as I spun as best as I could mid air to avoid getting hit by the tail.
Luckily I was able to dodge the brunt of the attack, but I was still cut along my side by the sharp point of the stinger. With a twist of my arm I stabbed Ember into the shell giving me something to hold onto momentarily. This seemed to only annoy the deathstalker as another loud screech erupted from its jaws. I planted my feet on its tail and pushed with all my strength, pulling Ember free while simultaneously giving momentum to get away from the damned thing. I landed on my feet and immediately started to sprint away from the ensuing battle. I turned back to see Ren and Nora taking turns striking at its tail, unfortunately their attacks had little effect on its hard shell.
As I ran I noticed unarmored pieces of skin around its claws and legs. While they were small, it was still a chance. I slid around a corner and let out a breath. Pyrrha and Reagan ran around the same corner and stopped next to me mirroring my actions. I peeked around the corner to see the deathstalker rush down another street and disappear from sight. "How are we gonna beat that thing when its armor is that strong?" I turned to Reagan and Pyrrha and thought for a moment. After a moment I thought of a plan. "Okay, I've got something that could work, but we only got a few chances at it." They both nodded and straightened up. "Okay, I'll be bait so we can get it into a tight space. After I do that, Reagan will need to work on cutting off the pincers. With that huge sword of yours it should be no problem."
I watched as his face turned to a look of confusion. "How? That armor is way too strong!" I let out a sigh and fixed my shield placement. "There is a small patch of unarmored skin right behind the pincer, if you can hit it your sword should slice through it like butter." He blinked a few times then nodded. Pyrrha took a step forward and looked at me. "What can I do?" I thought for a moment and bit my lip. "First you need to tell Ren and Nora that I'm going to lead it into one of the tight streets. After I get it there, you will be with me in front of it making sure Reagan has time to trike at the pincers." She nodded then rushed out the alley.
I followed after her and sprinted to the Grimm off in the distance. As I approached I could see burn marks along its armor where Nora had struck it with her grenades. Fortunately it didn't take long for the beast to notice me because as soon as I got close it was on to me like I was a beacon. At first I slowly started to back up to make sure it was following, but after it started to charge at me full speed I decided running was better.
After ducking through different stores and buildings I finally got it to the road I wanted it to be at. It seemed to notice that the road was smaller too because now it was moving at a much more manageable pace. As It took a step I took one backwards. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Reagan getting ready with his over sized sword. Soon after Pyrrha appeared by my side shield in hand.
We both took turns deflecting the stinger away as the beast slowly crawled its way towards us. After what seemed like forever it finally got into a spot where it could be struck. I watched as the stinger came barreling towards me, soon after I spun to the side letting it crash into the ground sending dirt flying in every direction. Before it could retract its limb I lunged forward and slashed at the edge of the stinger eliciting a screech from the beast as its stinger hung loosely from the rest of the tail. Blood squirted from the wound, dripping off the tail and onto its shell. With a roar Reagan ran from the alley and slashed at the pincer. I watched as the claw fell from the beast and crashed with the floor. I turned to Pyrrha and pointed at the stinger. "Hit the stinger and it will fall on its head!"
She nodded in response and switched her sword into its rifle mode and took aim. After a moment she fired and hit the stinger directly. Soon after it fell from the til and smashed into its own back. I pointed to the stinger and looked to Nora. "You need to hit it with your hammer and finish it off!" She giggled and started to run at me. "Give me a boost!" I crouched down and held my shield up in front of me. I felt her feet impact my shield then boost off as I jumped up to give her max height. She spun mid air and pointed her hammer straight towards the beast. Each eye of the deathstalkers eyes looked up to see her come crashing down on its back.
A loud boom sounded throughout the town as her hammer made contact with the stinger. The legs of the deathstalker gave way letting the rest of the beast crash to the ground with a loud crash. I let out a sigh of relief and sheathed my sword and tried to deactivated Instinct. when I tried my head felt like it was going to explode with pain. I brought my hand up and cupped it over my face. Soon after the small voice grew in my mind until it was the only thing I could focus on. "Yes... You are getting closer..." I grit my teeth as my head started to throb with pain.
Slowly the pain started to die down as I brought my hand away from my face. The voice had disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. I slowly opened my eyes to see pyrrha walking towards me with a concerned look on her face. I stood up and blinked a few times before resting my gaze on her. "Jaune are you okay? You seem a little shaken up." I grinned and shook my hand. "Nah I'm fine, just a small headache." I could see the doubt in her eyes, I didn't sound to honest anyways. Maybe she was rubbing off on me.
"I know a place where we can stay for tonight that's close to the ravine. Its not too far from here." She nodded and called to the rest of our group who were watching the corpse of the deathstalker decompose. As I started to walk towards the old tree house I felt a dark presence invade my thoughts. It felt like it was trying to plague my thoughts with darkness. A hand found its way to my shoulder, pulling the darkness away from my mind. I turned to see Pyrrha squinting at me. "Jaune, you seem distracted." I shook my head and looked away. "No I'm just thinking about tomorrow, lets go." I watched as she stared at me for a moment longer then started to walk away. I let out a sigh and followed.
A few hours later
As we approached the tree house I couldn't help but feel a bit of nostalgia. It was weird being back after so long, but it felt good none the less. I pointed to the make-shift ladder at the bottom of the tree house and looked to the group. "That's the entrance to the house, hopefully we wont need a fire tonight since there are candles in the cabinets, that's if it hasn't been looted. I'm going to check the perimeter so make yourselves comfortable." I pulled my shield off my back and started to walk out into the surrounding thicket. As I walked I could feel a set of piercing green eyes watching me closely.
As I walked I saw marks and scratches along the trees from a time long since past. A smile slowly crept along my face as I thought of the memories. I knelt down and ran my fingers across a slash in a nearby tree. I closed my eyes and smiled thinking of a better time. As I opened my eyes a glint of red caught my eyes. At first I thought it was Grimm but as I moved from the tree the light faded. I placed my hand on Ember as I approached the vines. I sucked in a breath before quickly pushing the vines to the side. My eyes went wide as I saw the familiar handle of Isaac's blade.
I slowly walked up to the grave and smiled at seeing the dog tags still hanging from the handle of his sword. I bent down and placed my hand on the hilt and let out the breath I was holding. Again a smile crept across my face as I pulled the tags from their place on the hilt. "I take it you know who this is?" I nearly jumped at the new voice behind me. I turned to see Pyrrha standing by the vines smiling, her bright green eyes glowing in the fading sunlight. I turned back to the blade and nodded. "Yes, he was someone very special to me." She slowly walked next to me and crouched down. "Your mentor?" Again I nodded at the question.
I bit my lip thinking about my next move, knowing how much of a risk it could be. I turned the dog tags over in my hands and wiped some dirt of the name. "Have you ever heard of the white fang member that went by Scar?" I watched as she brought a hand up to he chin thinking. "Yes I remember hearing about him. He deserted the fang and disappeared and was never seen again." I handed her the tags and watched as her eyes went wide with realization. At first I thought she would lash out and try to attack me, but instead she looked to me and squinted slightly.
"I had heard rumors he was still alive after he left the fang, I take it was true then?" I took the tags back and slid the around my neck. "Yep, he was my mentor for a few years after I was dropped from my family. He wasn't a terrible man, he was like the father I always wanted. Caring and respectful. Protected me with his life like I was his son." I bit my lip after I finished and closed my eyes. I felt her hand wrap around my shoulder in a comforting manner. "Most people think that just because he was in the fang he was bad correct?" I nodded and opened my eyes.
She squeezed my shoulder and smiled. "I understand why you want to keep this secret, so I will too." I smiled and stood up while looking down at the sword. "I'm sorry if I seem distant, its just hard to get used to having people who care about you after everything you ever loved was stolen from you twice." She stepped froward and nodded. "I understand Jaune, I know what its like to be judged by your past actions..." I watched as she drew a circle in the dirt with her foot. "You see, I am quite famous for my winnings. Since I'm so famous, I have been put on a pedestal above everyone else so to speak. After a while it gets hard to have people see you on the same level." She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes.
"I may not have the same loneliness as you, but I know how it is to not have anyone close." She slowly started to frown as I stared at her saddened face. A smile made its way across my lips as I placed my hand on hers. "Thank you for trusting me with this Pyrrha, and if you think its gonna change how I think of you its not. I still see you as the girl who cares for her team and is strong to protect them, not to impress them." I lifted her head up with my finger so I could see into her eyes. A sigh escaped my lips as I was going to throw another risk into the wind. "I can trust you to keep this a secret too right?" She nodded a few times as a worried look came across her face.
"I'm... The son of John Arc, the great hunter. The one who is leader of the mission against the white fang base." Her eyes widened slightly as her brows furrowed. "But, he said his son died for unknown reasons." I chuckled and shook my head. "Nope, he disowned from the Arc family because I wasn't meeting his qualifications. You see, before Scar found me, I was being trained by him to be a huntsman. After a few months he said I could never be strong enough and said to give up. So I ran to prove him wrong, to show him that I can be strong enough to be a huntsman... And here I am." She blinked a few times before smiling and chuckling. "He was the one who gave up. Look how far you have come."
I released her hands and smiled. "Thank you Pyrrha, if you could keep this quiet as long as possible it would be a huge help." She nodded and mimicked my smile. "Of course Jaune, my lips are sealed." I nodded towards the tree house and sighed. "We should get back, they are probably wondering where we are." She nodded and started to walk towards the house with me. "We still need a plan for tomorrow if we want to finish this mission with little trouble." I shrugged and smiled. "Lets just hope it will be quick and easy."
As we walked I noticed black splotches covering the bark of trees. At first they looked liked shadows but on closer inspection it started to look like tar. From where I was standing I could smell how foul it was. It smelled like rotting corpses left out in the sun. I wanted to investigate further but the sun was already setting and it was I was slowly loosing light. Eventually I came to the conclusion that it was just something natural out in the world. Or it could be a product of Grimm living nearby, maybe a residue they leave behind.
As I climbed the ladder to the house I noticed more of the black splotches appear on the floor of the forest, most of it was covered by the leaves. It almost looked alive by the way it slowly started to appear on the floor. I decided to leave it alone until tomorrow, if it was still there then I would task myself with asking Ozpin.
I closed the hatch and slid the lock across the handle. What ever that stuff is I don't want it trying to suffocate me in my sleep. I turned and walked towards my bag whist looking around the old house. Most of it looked untouched and close to what it looked like before, besides a few layers of dust. I bent down and opened my pack, after looking through it for a second my hand rested upon something familiar.
Slowly I pulled Isaac's mask up from the bottom of the pack. As it surfaced I felt happy to know it hadn't taken damage during the trip. I ran my thumb over one of the scratches and frowned. "I'll have to get that fixed..." I mumbled to no one. I placed it back into the bag and walked towards the rest of the group. Pyrrha had already sat down and opened up the map on her scroll. As I approached she looked up to me smiled while handing me the scroll.
"So what's the plan boss man?" I looked over to see Nora staring at me with a huge smile on her face. I looked to Ren to see him shrug and shake his head. With a shrug back I looked down to the scroll and started to explain. "First we will have to find a safe way down to avoid any injuries, after that we will scout around to see if we can find anything related to the Grimm, if possible we should stay up high to avoid being cornered by any Grimm." I looked around to see if everyone agreed. After no one asked anything I continued.
"We actually got here faster than expected, our deadline is four days, tomorrow is the third day. So we can take our time on this. The rest we can just decide as we go." I set down the scroll and walked back to my pack. "We should leave early so we have as much light as possible tomorrow. We shouldn't need watch tonight so everyone get their rest." I was answered by a series of nods and 'okay's. I walked over and pressed on my old bed. The thing nearly broke as I pressed down on it. That and it was covered in dust. The other bed didn't look to stable either.
I walked back to my pack and pulled out my rations. After eating my fill I laid down and slowly drifted off to sleep.
Chapter end
Hey everyone, sorry for getting this out a little later than usual. I had internet problems yesterday and Monday so I wasn't able to get anything done. Anyways here it is, I hope you all enjoyed. I was going to make this chapter longer by continuing on to the next day but I felt it would be better to just get this out now. That being said, I'm still debating how long I want the next part in the story to go. I could kinda skip over some things and get to the thing I've had planned for a while, or split up the next part and put more detail into it which means more chapters.
I guess you will all found out next week! If anyone wants to know more about it then review or DM me and give your opinion cuz it would help out a lot.
Yukas, signing off