Speech Patterns:"normal speech"
normal thought/sound effect/emphasis
"thought-speak/past statements"
emphasis
"reaper form speech"
"SHOUTING"
~o0o~
Communication is tantamount to any form of unity. It has the power to forge friendships with others and strengthen those that already exist. With it, one can bond with anyone... even if such a bond shouldn't exist...
~o~0~o~
Dusty had come to understand a lot in the past two hours. First he recognized the blond human's wish to help him with his broken wing. Later, he had seen the logic in his savior wanting silence so as not to attract any dangerous predators. He even knew enough to stop him before he ran into a tree.
And so it was that Dusty felt horrified when he saw boney spikes burst from the boy's chest as he was hurled from the his grasp. He hit the dirt and lay there, stunned. Groggily, he manage to make out the heavily blurred image of his companion get chomped, then a blast of purple light before the world went black.
~o~0~o~
Uuugh... where am I...?
"You are lying at the edge of a lake, young one. Unfortunately, you do not have much more time for respite, I'm afraid."
"Wuh... w-whose there..."
If Dusty was being honest, he didn't really want to move. His body was sore and his wings felt like lead, the broken one throbbing with pain.
Wait... what's lead?
"...Oh, holy spirits above-- WAKE UP!"
Dusty's eyes flew open in fright. He shot upright with a squawk before the pain made him stagger, frantically looking around him for speaker. His gaze landed instead on two forms sprawled on the shoreline. It was the boy and the monster that had attacked them. Both lay unmoving in the dirt.
As if a switch was flipped, information suddenly surged into his mind. A level of understanding not his own entered his mental being, forcing it to evolve. A list of observations were immediately compiled.
He was a bird.
His given name was Dusty, bestowed on him by his savior and friend.
He had a human friend.
He had broken his wing colliding with a tree branch.
His human friend had saved him.
His friend's name was Jaune... how did he know that?
Jaune had protected him from a monster.
And lastly, the scene before him suggested Jaune was most likely dead.
"..And he's dead because he tried to help me...! If I hadn't called for help things wouldn't have ended up this way--!"
"Oh, would you quit your moaning already? The boy's not dead, not yet."
Dusty turned toward the lake and was met with... with... okay, he didn't know exactly what he expected, but it wasn't this.
Before him, standing in midair above the shallows of the lake, was was a short humanoid figure with gaunt features and deathly pale skin. Lightly clasped in front of of him were two pale, thin, boney hands, the wrists of which sported metal shackles several sizes too wide and etched with glowing blue runes. Chains were attached to the large rings, looping around to the back of his form. Two more chains looped up in front, connecting to another, smaller ring hanging from a another chain off his neck like a pendant. A large book, clasped with a golden spine and a flat emerald gem on the cover, hung on his left side, and a ball flask hung from his right. A large lantern was slung behind his back. The figure's black robe was frayed at the bottom, with a red sash off to the side. A dull yellow scarf was draped over his shoulders, the tails hanging in front of him. Underneath the scarf, the figure wore a thick collar that seemed to be entirely made of feathers.
... Dusty was a little creeped out by that last one.
"Well? Are you going to ask the question so obviously on your mind? Or just stand there like you've seen a ghost?"
The figure spoke in soft, gravelly, and slightly raspy voice which only added even more to his mystical profile.
Not knowing what else to do, Dusty asked his question.
"...Who are you, what are you, how can you hear what I'm saying, what's happening, what just happened, how is Jaune not dead, what are you doing here, am I dead, is this a dream?"
The robed figure let out a low chuckle.
"Patience, young one. I will answer all your questions when the Successor awakens. If, however, you wish to know how your partner is alive, simply observe what's happening to your wing."
Mentally raising a brow, Dusty looked down at his limp, broken wing, which was further mangled from his unplanned crash-landing on the shoreline. He tried to lift it, only to drop it back down as pain lanced through the appendage. He leveled a glare of indignation at the ghostly figure.
"Well aside from being completely wrecked, I don't see anything different about the wing, sorry. Remind me why this means my friend-- sorry, partner, you called him partner, whatever that means. What does my broken wing have to do with his survival? Far as I know, most people don't just walk that.. off..."
Dusty trailed of as pins and needles began to work their way along his wing. He looked down to find a faint film of pale green energy coating his feathers. Looking at his other wing, he found the same thing. He craned his neck over his shoulder, mystified, to be treated to the sight of the light coating his back and tail.
crick!
Dusty's wing let out a quiet, but sharp, cracking sound. He snapped his head to look back it.
crick! crick! crack!
Several more cracks sounded in quick succession. The sounds stopped and the pins and needles quickly faded. Dusty raised it experimentally and found he could move it as if it was never broken. Suddenly filled with jubilation, Dusty spread his wings and soared into the air, spinning and somersaulting in celebration. He tucked his wings and dived, pulling up and landing next to Jaune's body. He looked back at floating figure.
"... And you said the same thing is happening to Jaune?"
The figure nodded.
"Quite so, though the severity of his injuries added more time to the process."
wovoosh!
The same misty purple energy that Dusty had seen in the explosion began to curl off of Jaune's prone form.
"Alas, he requires more time. Time he does not possess."
"...What do you mean?"
HOOOOOWWWWL!
Oh no.
Oh that did not sound good.
~o~0~o~
Dusty turned toward the treeline and was met with the sight of another wolf creature. Thankfully, this one didn't seem to have extra teeth or serrated claws, but it didn't look any less deadly. As if answering the howl, several more emerged from the undergrowth.
Dusty didn't know what to do. He could fly away and escape, but that left Jaune to deal with them, and he was pretty sure that coma patients couldn't exactly defend themselves.
The figure over the water made his decision for him.
"I sense your inner strife, but the decision is not as difficult as you might think. It seems you now face your first trial as Guardian. It is up to you to defend the Successor."
Dusty stared open-beaked at the strange being incredulously.
"Wait, wait, wait, you're saying you want me to fight those things?! l'm a bird. I could sit in their mouths with room to spare!"
"It may seem impossible to you, but I assure you that you possess the power to defeat them." Simply commit yourself to attacking with the intent to kill."
Dusty looked back at the monsters uncertaintly. Honestly, the fact that he was even considering engaging in combat against these things should have told him he was insane. On the other hand, if the wierd ghost out on the lake was to be believed, he was the only thing standing between Jaune and a gruesome death.
His decision was apparently made for him, when one of the creatures let out a sudden growl and broke from the treeline, galloping forward.
"...So just commit to the attack, right?"
"Yes."
"...Welp, here goes everything..."
Dusty pushed off the ground, flapped into the air, and dived at the beast, aiming his beak at itseft eye. He mentally planned to dig his beak into the organ, then find purchase with his talons to rip it out. At the most it would provide a distraction and buy Jaune a little more time to recover. He made himself as aerodynamic as possible and tried to commit as much focus on his chosen target as he could.
Instead of lodging his beak in the eye as he planned, the faint halo of energy coating his body suddenly flared until his feathers looked pale green instead of black, and he shot onwards as if from a cannon, trailing green light.
Unprepared for the sudden speed boost, Dusty had no time to find purchase. He impacted beak-first into the monster's head...
...and kept on going, plowing right through the creature's skull to hit the ground behind it.
Shocked and confused, Dusty struggled to his feet and gawked at the sight before him. The impact had pushed the beast onto its hind legs, the front paws dangling limp at either side, and half of its head was torn away. The monster staggered two more steps before slumping forward to the dirt with a heavy thump, dead.
... I did that.
Dusty's shock gave way to bewilderment.
... wait, how did I do that?
He lost the luxury of wondering when another monster came up behind him and pinned him beneath one large paw. As the beast leaned down to bite off his head, Dusty shut his eyes tight and imagined being anywhere else. The image of Jaune's prone form flashed across his mind.
Just as the lupine jaws snapped closed over his head, Dusty disappeared in a puff of green smoke and ethereal green feathers, reappearing in the same manner draped over Jaune's back in the exact same moment.
Dusty slowly stood up and stared uncomprehendingly at the back of Jaune's head, then numbly looked over his shoulder to the wolf creature, who looked around in confusion before refocusing on him.
"Do you understand now? You no doubt have many questions, but rest assured all will be revealed once the Successor awakens. For now, however, you must fight."
Dusty just stared blankly at the floating stranger.
"...You have a ton of explaining to do after this, old man."
With that, Dusty soared into the air as the rest of the pack finally lost patience and charged. He took aim at the nearest monster, spun into a dive, and got to work. the lakeside was soon alive with streaks of green light, howling, and falling bodies.
When it was over, Dusty was standing on the final wolf's corpse, taking ragged breaths. All around him, the shoreline was littered with more dead bodies, either missing parts of their faces or sporting gaping holes in their chests.
"Well done, young one. You have proven youself to be very impressive indeed. Ah, and it seems your patience has been rewarded. He awakens."
Dusty looked back at Jaune, who was still exuding that purple smoke. More smoke began to pour from the Arc's body, nearly obscuring him from view. Then, another explosion of smoke spread from his prone form, forcing Dusty to tuck his head behind his wing in defense.
wovoosh!
When Dusty looked back, Jaune was gone. Lying in his place was... something completely different. Concerned, Dusty flapped over to inspect the new "arrival"
"What's going on, what happened to him?!
The stranger smiled.
"Do not fear, young one. I assure you that you are indeed gazing upon your partner. Alas, it seems that you must use your mental link to call him to the waking world."
Not knowing what else to do in this situation, Dusty hesitantly did as he was told.
"Jaune?"
No response. He tried again.
"Jaune..."
~o~0~o~
"Jaune..."
"Jaune..."
"JAUNE!"
Jaune jolted awake at the sound of the voice. He raised his head, just managing to make out the murky form of Dusty standing next to him, then began looking around for the speaker.
"Jaune, I'm right here."
Jaune looked in direction he heard the voice and immediately did a double-take.
His avian friend had just spoken to him.
...Though after everything he had been through that night, he was too emotionally burned out to care all that much. Then he looked across the lake and felt his jaw drop at the sight of an old man wearing a collar of feathers floating above the water. The elder man offered a friendly smile. The elder's voice
"Ah, you have awakened. Greetings, Successor."
"Wuh... what's going on...?"
Maybe it was because he was still feeling lightheaded, but his voice sounded different. It was much lower and sounded a slight bit wispy. Weird...
Then he looked up at the shattered moon in the sky and the events of that evening surged back into memory like water from a bursting dam. The sheer amount of feedback made his already blurred vision swim with dizziness. Gradually, his mind stopped spinning and his head stopped throbbing just enough for him to see the edge of the water.
Maybe some cold water would help...
He rose unsteadily, wobbling a little before righting himself. It honestly felt like his legs were missing and he was floating. Weird.
He managed to make his way across the beach to the edge of the lake, scooped up a handful of water, and splashed it across his face. The ice-cold liquid worked like a charm, burning away the fog around his mind.
Deciding to check the wound he had acquired a few hours ago, according to the presence of the moon, he looked back at the water. If he was alive and he felt fine, maybe the wound wasn't all that bad--
...okay, what was that?!
Jaune stared dumbly at the reflection of the... creature that looked back at him.
The figure wore a tattered purple shawl that draped over his shoulders, strips of cloth hanging over his back down to the waist. The garment opened at the front to expose a bare, skeletal ribcage. A hood shrouded his face in shadows, as if darkness had wrapped around his head to hide it from view. The hood was narrow in profile, each side stiffly framing the space where his face would be. The space continued downwards, framing his chest as well.
The figure's arms were skeletal as well, long, large boney limbs with pointed, boney fingers hanging to either side of the body. The left forearm was wrapped with several loops of purple cloth spaced evenly along the appendage, the last one just before the elbow. Around the wrist was a light bronze shackle, with a short broken chain hanging parallel to his pinkie. The hand was wrapped in purple cloth that ended at the knuckles, leaving the fingers and thumb bare.
The right hand was larger than the left, wrapped in a sleeve of cloth that ended halfway up the arm before transitioning to more loops of cloth, again ending before the elbow. A panel of dark, elaborately etched metal lined with light bronze sat on the outside of the arm, starting at the wrist and ending before the elbow. Another broken chain hung next to the pinkie.
The navel of the strange reflection was covered by an oval of dark metal carved in the likeness of a sorrowful face, lined with light bronze. Dark bronze lined with light bronze guarded his sides and back.
Hanging by chains from his sides were two large, identical books, which were chained shut. Two more items hung by chains on his front, one from each of the face's cheeks. The left-hand item looked like a squared off cylinder capsule full of green energy. the other item was a stilted hourglass full of the same green energy.
a circular curtain of purple cloth draped down, completely obscuring the would-be legs, and completed the body.
On the left shoulder sat a pauldron with three long spikes jutting out of the metal. Skewered on the middle spike were two human skulls, with a larger third one on the last spike from the front.
...Jaune decided he didn't want to know who the original owners were.
Attached to his back were two massive skeletal wings. Between the segments was uneven webbing of black ooze.
Jaune looked down and found the final nail in the coffin. His feet didn't feel like they were missing. They were missing. He was actually floating a few inches off the ground.
"Alright, old man. You said that you would explain everything when Jaune woke up. Well, he's awake now, so start talking!"
Jaune was jolted from his stupor when Dusty finally lost patience and spoke up. He looked back at the floating elder.
"Well?"
"Calm yourself, young one. As promised, all will be revealed now."
Another being suddenly materialized next to the feathered elder. The new arrival was barechested and pale as a corpse, with a sunken stomach and skin that seemed to be stretched thin across his body.
The man wore a plate of dull blue armor lined with dull gray on each side of his waist. Underneath he wore tight-fitting pants, with two metal panels belted on the outside of his thighs. He wore greaves that were wrapped in tan cloth that draped over his shoes, held down by criss-crossing belts. Metal panels guarded his knees. Underneath the cloth, the man wore a pair of heeled riding boots.
On his arms, the man wore fingerless gloves made of beige wrapping that covered most of the forearm. On his left forearm was a loose, cuffed sleeve with a metal panel stitched on it for extra defense. An odd symbol seemed to be carved into the man's left shoulder.
Smooth, jet-black hair cascaded down to the man's shoulders. A bone mask sat on top of his face, the lower part simply a flat slab and the upper part carved with the visage of a scowl. Ominous pools of orange stared through the eye openings.
At this point, Jaune just accepted the srange situation. It was too much to take in at once. He'd sort it all out later.
"So who are you?" he asked the masked individual.
When the pale man spoke, his voice was low and groaning.
"I am the byproduct of an ancient battle between two godly forces and the precursor to the Arc bloodline. I am Ryder Arc."
Jaune's invisible jaw dropped.
"Wait, so you're like, the first Arc? The very first Arc?"
"You... could say that."
The feathered old man cut in.
"Ryder, I believe we have given the boy enough surprises for one night. It is time to pass on the Legacy of the Four."
Dusty chimed in.
"Legacy? what legacy? You still haven't explained how or why this is happening to me and Jaune."
"Uh... yeah, what he said..."
Ryder turned to the feathered elder.
"Yes, I believe we have stretched their patience far enough, Crowfather."
The now named Crowfather nodded, then turned to address the still mentally ragged pair.
Indeed. Listen well, young ones. The tale I am about to tell you is one of the most important Secrets I have ever known to exist on this world. To understand your task, you must first understand what it means... to carry the Legacy of the Four...
~o~0~o~
There can be no Life without Balance. Chaos and Serenity in a constant struggle that shapes the very fabric of all that is considered alive. Such was the decree of Oum, the Creator, when he shaped the world you know as Remnant. But Oum could not continue to monitor this world alone. He had to move on, create new worlds. So he used his powers of Creation to conceive one who could watch over the world of Remnant in his stead. She came be known as Nature.
In order to ensure all Life on Remnant remained in proper Balance, Nature created a system called the Circle of Life. Dead souls and formless magic would pass through the Circle, either to be reborn anew or be dispersed, becoming inanimate natural resources for the living to consume for sustenance.
Under the Circle of Life, Life thrived and expanded, eventually evolving to create a people quite similar to humans of today. Their connection to Nature's magic was so strong, it caused them to retain traits from other wild beings. They are now known... as the Faunus.
But Existence requires Balance to continue, and so for every force, there is another to oppose it. Life... is no exception. And so, when Life took root on Remnant, another force rose to oppose it. one bent on banishing all Life into Nothingness. Even I do not know who first bestowed the title, but nonetheless, the evil force came to be known...
...as Corruption.
For countless eons, Corruption tried all it could to extinguish Life from existence, starting with the Faunus. But the Faunus people's connection to Life was too stong to be tampered with, and thus very few ever fell to Darkness. Those that did were either freed from Corruption's control... or ended, to be cleansed by the Circle of Life.
But Corruption was persistent, relentless. After eons, it finally found a solution. It would end Life on Remnant with the very system that governed it.
So it was that Corruption stole a sliver of power from the Circle of Life, and with that power created a new people, born Corrupted. They were known... as the First Humanity.
The First Humanity were monsters, evil beings who lived only for destruction. They put the Faunus people to the sword, and burned their memory to ash. Once the grevious deed was done, the First Humanity began to lay waste to all Life on Remnant. With the Faunus gone, it seemed Corruption would succeed.
But four amongst them were able to cast away the shackles of Corruption, and embrace their true nature, as beings of Life. They grew weary of the senseless slaughter, and realized their conquest would imperil the Balance.
And so they convened with Nature, pledging themselves to her service. As a token of her immense gratitude, she bestowed upon them incredible power, And charged them with safeguarding the Four Woes of Life: Famine, Strife, War, and Death. These four concepts governed the chaos of Life, opposing Serenity and maintaining Balance. They became the Four Harbingers.
The Four wanted to demonstrate their conviction, and so they decided that their first task...
...would be to purge their own brethren from Creation. To annihilate Humanity... and reclaim their souls...
The last battle was waged on the island now known as Vytal. The first of Humanity, Absalom, fought Ryder Arc in a battle for Existence itself. Finally, Ryder emerged victorious.
But as Absalom lay dying, he reached out his hand. Ryder clasped it in sorrow, hoping the gesture would provide him peace. in that moment, Ryder's anguish fed the weakened Corruption the strength it desperately needed. Enough to retrieve Absalom, and unleash the instruments of its final attack.
The Deadly Sins. Monsters born from madness, roaming the land rending Serenity asunder.
The Chosen. Creatures born of the fires of devastation, laying waste to all they came across, and ruling over the ashes.
The Horde. Twisted imitations of the wildlife that roamed the world, swarming and smothering all in their path with single-minded ferocity.
These three forces came to be known...
as the Grimm.
Absalom him self became the first Avatar of Chaos, the direct conduit through which Corruption professed its will. Absalom then placed the final nail in the coffin...
... he Corrupted me, Nature's Keeper of Secrets.
Under the influence of Corruption, I fled with the souls of Humanity. Ryder was forced to hunt and kill me in order to retrieve the souls, and vowed revenge.
Thus the Four set forth, to cull the Grimm and end Absalom. Ryder tracked the Avatar to Vytal, and again engaged him in battle. Again he emerged victorious.
But this time, Ryder did not show mercy. When Absalom reached out once more, he gave no quarter, and struck the final blow.
But Serenity had been damaged too thoroughly be rekindled by Absalom's death. It required a much bigger spark. It needed the Faunus.
So Ryder sacrificed the souls of Humanity to the task, using his own soul as a catalyst. Serenity was rekindled, the seeds of the Faunus people resown. And so ended the Reaper.
But Humanity was not erased.
The Four had shown Nature the virtues that Humanity could offer to Life. As a token of her gratitude for their sacrifice, she revived the human people as newborn, free of Corruption.
Yet they still could not connect to the force of Life, to protect them from Corruption. To rectify this, Nature pooled her power to create a mineral composed of energy directly channeled from the Circle of Life, begetting the mineral known now as Dust. And so Faunus and the renewed Humanity have coexisted to this day.
But Nature also saw the virtues of having the Harbingers stand ready in the event another Avatar was chosen. To accomplish this, she dispersed the souls of the original Four into four bloodlines, to be called upon when the time was right.
~o~0~o~
Crowfather fell silent, leaving Jaune and Dusty to stare at him in astonishment.
"Whoa..."
"That's heavy..."
A simple walk in the woods had gone from a peaceful pastime to the strangest amd most terrifying night of Jaune's life, and now he was a giant ghost, floating next to a talking bird, in front of two more ghosts who had apparently just told him the origin of all life.
Was it so wrong to have just a few questions?
"So... I still don't know what all this has to do with me. You guys won, right? What's the point in telling me this if it doesn't mean anything now?"
"Yeah, I still need to know where I fit into all this, too."
Dusty was still trying to grasp the fact that he could teleport and had super-strength. Crowfather adopted a grave expression.
"Unfortunately, it does concern you. As I said, Corruption is tireless. For centuries, it has dripped venom into Humanity's ears, attempting to Corrupt them again. This effort culminated in the conflict you know as the Great War. The unrest caused by the conflict has given Corruption the power it desperately needed... to claim a new Avatar."
"...Oh. Yeah, I can see where that might be a problem."
Honestly, Jaune knew he should be wetting his non-existent pants at the prospect of having to fight a demigod in the future. Now, to be fair, he was still more than a little terrified, but he was also a little excited. All his life he had been told he didn't have what it took to be a legend. Now the chance to save the world had just been handed to him by the very first of the whole Arc bloodline.
"Hellooo, still haven't answered my question! Where. Do. I. Fit. In. Here?"
Ryder looked down at the annoyed avian.
"That's actually a good question. Technically, you're not supposed to be part of this."
"... I don't follow."
"Indeed." Crowfather answered. "Your mental link with the young Arc appears to have given you access to the Reaper's power, as well as the boy's own powerful intellect. However, the fact you possess such access is simply a matter of inexplicable circumstance."
Dusty straightened incredulously.
"Wait, you mean I got the power to fight a whole pack of Grimm and freaking teleport... by accident?"
"An accurate summary, yes."
Talk about anticlimactic...
Wait, 'fight Grimm'?
Jaune turned around and finally laid eyes on the carnage that had occurred while he was out, the bodies already halfway dissolved. He spun back to the spirits and pointed at Dusty.
"He did that?"
"Not all of them. You killed that one."
Jaune turned back and focused on the largest carcass, which he recognized as the one that had attacked him.
"Huh. Looks like I've got a death toll."
"Mine's bigger. Yours was a fluke anyway."
The two were interrupted before their banter could continue when Crowfather spoke again.
"Young Harbinger, we have one more task to ask of you. As powerful as you will grow to be, you cannot hope to stand against Corruption alone. The Four must return to Remnant in order to drive back the Grimm. You must find the other Harbingers."
Three more spirits appeared above the water around Crowfather and Ryder, two male amd one female. The spirit cloaked in red with a gigantic metal gauntlet stepped onto the shore in front of Jaune's floating form and unsheathed a massive from his back. Despite being almost as tall as its wielder, the handle was short, as if designed with one-handed combat in mind. All long the flat of the blade were etched visages of agony and sorrow. He presented the blade to Jaune and spoke in a low, groaning, and ominous voice.
"I am the Harbinger of War. This is Chaoseater, the blade that slayed the Destroyer. I ask you, Reaper, to deliver this blade to my Successor, that she may rise to aid you. My descendent wields the wrath of the sky."
"Uh...yeah, I'll try my best..."
As he took the blade from War and cradled it in his mismatched hands, the sword evaporated into orange energy. The red warrior stepped back and another spirit clad head to toe in thin metal armor and a purple scarf walked up to Jaune.
He held up two large pistols, each longer than his forearm. One was a bulky, four-barreled blaster with a cylinder rotary chamber. The other looked more like a traditional revolver, with etchings along the barrel. The spirit spoke with a voice of sarcastic wit.
"I am the Harbinger of Strife, and these here are the guns that killed the Horde Queen, Mercy and Redemption. I'd deliver these myself, but I'm currently suffering from a bad case of death at the moment, so you'll have to play errand boy. Just don't bet them in any sort of gamble, or you'll surely lose."
Strife winked at Jaune behind his mask.
"Uh... okay..."
Jaune hesitantly took the guns by the barrels, and they dissipated in to twin wisps of silver energy.
"On a more serious note, my bloodline is a little more complicated than the rest. Corruption managed to split the magic in two, so now I technically have two Successors running around. One already uses the power of Strife against the Horde, though she does not know it. The other struggles to retain his peace while running from his past."
Before Jaune could ask him to elaborate, Strife hopped back over the lake, and the woman took his place. She wore a light cuiress with light metal armor along her arms and legs. She pulled what looked like a small sword handle.
"I am the Harbinger of Famine, and this is the Chain of Starvation, the weapon that felled the Seven Lords of Sin. I ask that you pass this tool on to my Successor. She is reserved, starved of her very identity all her life."
...Well that didn't sound like a very stable state of mind, even for a demigod. Especially for a demigod. Nonetheless Jaune took the Chain, and it dissipated into wisps of solid red energy. Famine spoke up again.
Unfortunately, awakening my Successor may be more complicated than the rest. Corruption has manged to find her, and seal her connection to the power of Famine by way of the next candidate for the title of Destroyer . If you are to revive the Four and defeat Corruption, she must sever her connection to this Corrupted individual."
"Oookay, that's... pretty ominous. Not sure how I'm gonna make it work, but hey, I like to think I'm good at improvising. I'll see what I can do." he said resolutely.
Famine smiled in thanks and stepped back to stand among the other Harbingers. Crowfather spoke this time.
"It appears our time grows short. We must leave the defense and reclamation of the Balance in your hands."
As Famine, War, and Strife evaporated into pale green mist, Jaune suddenly noticed another mildly important detail.
"Wait, I still know so little about all of this. Who am I gonna go to for info, training? I mean, am l going to be stuck like this for the rest of my life?"
He gestured to his ghostly skeletal form.
"Fear not, young Reaper. I will remain here, as will Ryder, should you have need of us on your quest."
... Huh. Well that was simple.
"And to answer your last question, no, the Reaper form is not your permanent form." Ryder told him. Jaune sighed in relief.
"Good, I've been away from the village a long time now and I don't think Mom and Dad would recognize an 8-foot-tall ghost as their son..."
"In fact, as young and inexperienced as you are, I'm surprised you've been able to hold the Reaper form for so long..."
"What?"
At that moment, Jaune's luck decided to give him one last, tiny middle finger. As soon as he finished speaking, the Reaper dissipated in a swirling burst of purple smoke, revealing Jaune in his normal, human body...
...and promptly dropped him unceremoniously on his face from the point in space that had once been occupied by the ghost's chest.
"...Ow."
Jaune heard Dusty laughing through the mental link.
"Impossible... Abyssal Armor? How did you acquire it so soon?!"
Abyssal Armor? what's he talking about? I don't remember wearing any armor when I left the hou...
His train of thought trailed off when he saw his reflection in the water. Shocked, he quickly began to examine himself.
When he left the house on his walk, he had just thrown on a plain white shirt and gray cargo pants. It still didn't look like armor, but what he was wearing now was not what he walked out the door with.
He was wearing a double-zipper hooded leather jacket, with a raised collar, that ended just below his waistline. Underneath he wore a gray tight-fitting t-shirt with black decal patterns that appeared to mimic padding around his armpits, chest, abs, and sides.
His forearms were covered in black sleeves that ended before his elbow. The sleeves extended past his wrists to cover his hands halfway with a hole stitched in for his thumb, leaving the knuckles and fingers bare, . Jaune's hands underneath the sleeves were completely and securely wrapped with black cloth. his fingertips appeared to be replaced with pointed caps of metal that made him look like he had claws.
His waist was wrapped in a wide sash of purple cloth. Around the sash was a wide belt, or more of a loop of material. A circular clasp that had the face of a horse with a ring of eldritch runes around it etched into the metal, sat off-center on his left hip. Hanging from the clasp were several low-hanging belts looped around his abdomen.
He was wearing a pair of dark gray cargo pants underneath the sash and belts. He wore greaves similar to Ryder, only his lacked knee guards, and the cloth covers were black. The criss-crossing belts were purple instead of gray, and instead of heeled riding boots, he wore treaded gray running shoes.
Jaune looked back at his reflection and gasped. The hood of his jacket was raised, shadowing his face and bringing focus to his glowing eyes.
Instead of ocean blue, however, his irises now possessed a purple hue.
Jaune looked back at Ryder.
"You called this Abyssal Armor. What do you mean? Do you know what this is?"
Ryder nodded. "The Abyssal Armor is a Sort of secondary Harbinger transformation, besides their True Form. While the Armor doesn't provide as much of boost as your Reaper form, it will provide a substantial augmentation of all your combat-related attributes. It can also be Summoned or Banished in the same manner as the Reaper or your Harbinger weapon."
Suddenly green mist began to waft from the two ancient spirits. Crowfather sighed.
"It seems we have run out of time for now. We will have to continue this at a later date."
As the ancient beings began to disappear, Jaune panicked.
"Wait a minute! You can't just cut off like that! At least tell me how to Banish the Armor! I can't just go back home wearing clothes that I..."
Too late, the two ancients had already evaporated, leaving him alone with the bird.
"... Don't... own..."
Jaune's shoulders slumped. He briefly considered just stripping off his new outfit, but then his younger sisters wouldn't ever let him hear the end of it if he came back in his underwear. He remembered Ryder saying he could Banish the Armor, but he had no idea how. Deciding to try anyway, Jaune closed his eyes and imagined the Armor disappearing.
Purple smoke suddenly began to waft from the sleeves of the jacket. More mist began to flow from everywhere on his body. In just a couple seconds, the Armor had evaporated, leaving him in his cargo pants and t-shirt, which was now caked with blood where he got gnawed. He turned to Dusty.
"Say something."
"What?"
"Say something else. Anything to let me know that any of that was real."
"Feels pretty real to me."
Well, that settled it. Everything that just happened had actually happened. The only question left was...
... what was he going to do about it?
Both bird and boy tensed when the rustle of undergrowth broke the silence. Dusty turned and crouched, ready to attack. But when the new arrival stepped out into the open, it was no monster. It was a man.
The man wore a buttoned-up collared shirt and black slacks over heeled dress shoes. If the massive blade balanced on his shoulder was any indication, he was a Huntsman.
The Huntsman pulled out a metal flask, uncapped it, and took a big gulp.
"Damn, that Ursa was a real pain in the ass... seriously, who knew severing an arm would only make it angrier..."
Then he looked at Jaune, and his eyes narrowed.
"What are you doing out here at this hour, kid? Don't you know it's not safe after dark?"
The Huntsman's eyes widened when he saw the bloodstain on Jaune's shirt. He ran up to him and knelt, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, you're hurt! Whoa, that's a lot of blood, happened to ya, kid?"
"What do you mean, I feel--"
Exhaustion suddenly lanced through his body, driving him to his knees.
"Fine? Yeah, didn't think so. C'mon, let's get you somewhere safe."
Jaune only half-heard him, his mind getting foggier. He could just make out Dusty's squawk of alarm before the world once again went black.
~o~0~o~
Qrow Branwen wasn't really sure what to make of the boy. He was scrawny and unassuming, not necessarily an obvious fighter. He even looked a little like his niece, complete with blonde hair to match. Yet something seemed... different.
Now, Qrow wasn't a master of Aura Sense by any means, but even he could tell that something about the boy in his arms felt... off. Whatever it was, it felt ancient, powerful... primal.
Who is this kid?
~o0o~
(A/N:) Whew, that took longer than I expected! Thanks to you guys who suggested longer chapters (you know who you are). It was a really bad time to get writer's block, that's for sure.
On the subject of chapter length. To preserve the rhythm of the story, I'm not sure if future chapters will be exactly as long as this one. That said, the minimum word count is now 4k-5k.
Next Time...
Five years have passed since Jaune and Dusty were given Legacy, a task to save the world from Corruption once again. Now, however, they face a new problem: they still have absolutely no idea where to start.
So when a cryptic clue to the whereabouts of the other potential Harbingers suddenly arrives, Jaune must leave his home in Mistral, and head to Vale to follow this mysterious lead.
And so the Reaper takes the first step towards his destiny...