A king's return
Chapter 5 future plans
Arthur pushed the tip of his sword into the throat of the man before him as he glared him down.
"Who are you!?"
The former king growled out as he looked over the old crone as he looked from the strange weapon the man had on his back to his more than filthy looking clothes. The man was less than impressive with his boozy stench and dirty appearance but Arthur knew never to judge a book by its cover. He was going to have to keep a close eye on this man. Seeing as he had some type of weapon a judging from that bang he heard it must have been a gun but with the sword handle left him wondering.
He looked back up onto the man's eyes after giving him another once over to make sure he didn't have anything else on him he could see.
"Easy now, my name is Qrow Branwen."
The man said as he gave his name as he stepped back from the former king's blade as to relieve the pressure that it had on his throat. Arthur chose not to push again as he thought over what to do with this Qrow fellow.
"Why are you here?"
He asked as he began to plan out what to do if this man was a threat. The old crone took a second before answering as he pointed back into the woods to his left.
"I came to this village looking for the culprit behind a spree of murders as well what might be causing a new breed of Grimm to spread."
The old crone said causing the former king to pause as he lowered his sword as he thought about the man's words. 'Wait so the assassin wasn't just killing people in this village but across several others.' The former king thought as that brought the realization of what was going on. He bit back a curse as he turned to give one last look to the house and throwing his senses out as far as he could to try and find the person who had shot him with lightning.
He turned back to the old crone when he felt nothing to see the old crone was giving him a slightly concerned glance.
"Come with me we need to find the person who shot at me with that lightning."
The former king said as he turned to move back into the woods only to stop when Qrow spoke up.
"I doubt we will be able to find him now."
Arthur turned to regard the old crone as he raised a brow skeptically at the man's words.
"What makes you say that?"
The former king asked as he thought about what the man might be doing. 'Is he in league with the master the assassin had been referring to? If so he is trying to stall to let the attacker retreat.' The former king wondered as he tightened his grip on his sword.
"Look that shot came in fast and seeing as neither of use heard the sound of gun fire or the sounds of a glyph being formed that meant who ever shot at you was a ways off." The old crone paused as he saw the former king's still unimpressed stare. "The man who shot you was most definitely a marksman with that accuracy he showed, and if that means anything it means after he fired the first shot and didn't finish the job he would retreat to a safe place so he didn't have to risk being killed by his target."
That got a reaction out of the former king who took on a thoughtful look as he raised a hand cupping his chin.
"If that is true than we lost him the moment I killed the assassin."
Arthur whispered to himself as he let out a tired sigh as he looked back to Qrow who just gave him a slightly sorry stare that made him slightly annoyed but hid it as he looked back to the house.
"Fine than if the marksman as you call him is no longer here what do we do?"
Arthur was fine going off on his own but this man was probably a good source of information of the world outside of this village seeing as he had already told him there had been more murders outside of the village he hadn't know of. 'I will have to see what this man knows.' The former king thought as he watched the old crone just let out a tired sigh as he reached into his coat and pulled out a flask and took a deep swig from it.
"First we see what we can find on that masked fellow you just killed while I ask you a few questions."
Qrow said causing Arthur to raise a brow at his words.
"Why do you have to question me?"
The former king asked as he tried to understand what the old crone was thinking. 'Is he just trying to probe for information?' the former king wondered as he waved the old crone on to enter the woods while he waited to be questioned. The crone did so as he pocketed his flask and began to make his way back through the woods to where the former king and assassin had fought.
"I am questioning you because you just killed a man, yes a very freaky looking man that tried to kill you but still." The old crone paused as he waited for Arthur to respond when he didn't he continued. "Alright that freaky masked guy who was he and what did he want with you?"
The old crone asked as he figured it would be better to start with a simple question that at least should be easy to have answered. 'From what I heard it sounded like this kid was being recruited but for what the gods only know.' The old crone thought as he walked beside the former king at least hopping he was going to answer.
"I must assume that you had heard some of my conversation with the assassin so you must know that I was being recruited." The former king paused as he gave the old crown a sideward glance. "And no I don't know what he wanted me for, that and as you put it that freaky masked guy as you referred to him was the one who has been murdering people."
As soon as Arthur said this Qrow gave him his full attention.
"So you're telling me you killed my culprit?" the old crone looked at the former king who gave him a small nod as his answer. Qrow just groaned as he reached up and rubbed his temples. 'Well shit that complicates things.' The old crone thought as he pulled out his flask and took a swig of it again.
"Well that means we have a problem."
The old crone said causing Arthur to raise a brow at him questionably as he waved him to continue.
"Listen normally I wouldn't care if some random criminal bights the dust out in some boarder village like this but the man you killed was the culprit of several murders that had brought the attention of both the Vale police force and the man most see as the head of the Huntsman. Which means you interfered with our investigation and that is a crime."
The crone watched as the former king just raised a hand cupping his chin thinking over what the old crone just told him. 'That this things, if what he said is true than that means that thanks to my actions I am considered a criminal.' The former king thought as he began to try and figure out what to do. Back when he was king it wasn't surprising for one of his citizens to kill one another but in those cases it was either a duel or they were defending themselves from an attacker. Yes there had been murders and yes crime was more than prominent it just wasn't the most pressing matter at the time.
Murders where always investigated alongside rapes and other such crime, but if a man killed another in self-defense alongside the fact that the man who they killed was a criminal they wouldn't be seen as criminals themselves, but as heroes. Arthur was pulled from his thoughts when Qrow decided to speak up again.
"Now I am willing to overlook your interference if you are willing to do two things for me."
The old crone said causing the former king to raise a brow at him as he regarded his offer. 'So he's willing to overlook my actions for a price, is he crooked?' The former king thought as he looked back to the old crone who seemed to notice his look of thought.
"Now before you start jumping to any conclusions, know that I am only trying to help you here."
The old crone said making the former king raise a brow at him. Raising a brow has begun to be a common reaction Arthur has been using around this strange man. He was interested in what the man meant in his regard of trying to help.
"What do you mean how do you plan to help me?"
Arthur asked wondering what the man would say.
"Look kid I can see that you are skilled, and skill like that shouldn't go to waste so I am willing to overlook your actions, because you deserve the chance to put those skills to use and seeing as you are pretty young you deserve the chance of making something out of yourself other than being stuck behind bars."
The old crone paused to see if the former king was going to react in anyway before continuing. "Now I don't really care what you are going to do with your future I just don't want to be the one to put a kid in prison so I hope you are willing to hear me out?"
The old crone asked as he looked back to the former king who took a second to think his answer over. 'So he is judging me by my appearance seeing me as a child.' The former king thought before speaking up.
"I will listen but if I find you are trying to trick me know I will not hesitate in ending your life."
He threatened to which the old crone just chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head turning away from him. 'Damn this kid is blunt.' The old crone thought as he let out a tired sigh and looked back at the former king.
"Alright but first I would like to know your name."
The old crone said as he looked ahead of him to see the clearing that the former king had been in earlier before they ran to the arc house.
"It is only right seeing as you have already given me your name." Arthur said only to pause as he thought about what to do now seeing as he wasn't really looking to tell anyone who he really was but he felt he would need to tell the man sooner or later so there was little he could do.
"My name is…" he paused again as he let out a sigh as the old crone stopped walking to watch him. "My name is Arthur Pendragon… but my name is also Jaune Arc."
As soon as the former king said this he got the old crone's attention as he stared at him skeptically lost on what he just said. Arthur took a moment to think over his own words himself. 'I shouldn't have said that.' He thought as he let out a tired sigh. He knew he was going to have to tell someone who he really was sooner or later but he still felt like he was making a mistake in sharing this information with this man. He barely knew him and he had no reason to tell him, he didn't even trust him yet but here he was telling him the truth.
Still he knew sooner or later the man would start to question who he was and he couldn't just hide it seeing as if the man had the resources and information Arthur needed he could lose those resources if he lied to him. Though not the most sound plan but what was he left to do really if he lied and the man saw through the lie he would end up putting him in prison or worse execute him. Although he wasn't sure about the last one he couldn't risk the possibility of being killed before he had the chance to return Jaune back to his body.
His actions he reasoning where for that sole purpose he had to live. He had to return Jaune and if he was killed than he would be doing more than just giving up but he would be taking away Jaune Arcs chance to like again. While he wasn't sure he could even bring back Jaune he wasn't going to let that stop him from trying. He would return Jaune arc back to his family.
He had to even now he was only acting in accord with that thought as he even with his fight against the assassin he was acting in a hopes to make his path in getting Jaune back easier. He knew he wouldn't be able to stay in Eden forever so he was going to have to leave and what better way than to do it while protecting everyone in the Arc family. He had thought about away to leave without the family knowing but then all he thought was that he would only hurt the others.
He had planned for many different out comes but nun seemed to work out in the way he wanted as he always tried to think of some way he could leave without hurting Lily and the others but up until now he didn't have a plan. He now had reason to leave Eden because if he didn't he would end up bringing harm to Lily and the others.
Now all he had to do was tell them he was going to leave. But where he wasn't so sure yet seeing as he would need to figure out. Still he would have to give Lily a reason for his leaving so all he would say is he would be going to that Beacon place. Yes a lie but what else could he say if anything he would have to lie, something he wasn't very fond of doing but with the way things where what choice did he have.
With that thought he turned to look at Qrow who was just staring at him like her was insane. 'Well I can't say I blame him for not believing me. It is pretty hard to understand when I haven't explained myself to him.' Arthur thought as he ran a hand through his hair waiting for the old crone to speak up.
"I-I'm sorry did you just say your name was Jaune Arc and Arthur Pendragon?"
The old crone asked getting a nod from the former king.
"Like Jeremiah Arc?"
As soon as Arthur heard this he took pause as he raised his hand stopping the old crone from speaking as he was about to start.
"Wait you know Jeremiah?"
"Yeah I know Jeremiah, but that's not the point right now. What you just said why did you give yourself two different names?"
Arthur was about to continue his own questioning but stopped himself as he decided it would be better to answer the man's question first.
"Fine I will answer your question than you answer mine. To explain will be difficult but listen to me and keep an open mind." The former king said as he then began to explain in the simplest of terms as he started to tell the old crone of what or at least what he thought he knew of his circumstance. He was not the at explaining things that revolved around the subject of magecraft but in most regards he had at least the right set of knowledge to actually give the smallest amount of explanation he could.
While he went with the best explanation he could of the whole ordeal he could tell that the old crone had difficulty understanding him with what he was saying. 'So he is having trouble with this. Not very surprising.' The former king thought as he rubbed the back of his head hoping the old crone would at least start asking questions so the awkward silence would stop.
"I'm sorry but you sound insane."
The old crone said to which all Arthur could really do was shrug as he tilt his head to the side. 'Well at least I tried.' He thought as he began to think of something else to say only to be pulled from his thoughts when the old crone spoke up again.
"But insane or not, I can't say I don't believe you." Qrow paused as he saw the look of shock on Arthurs face before he spoke up again. "You and I are going to have one hell of a talk before this night is over."
The old crone said as he turned to look into the clearing where the assassin and Arthur had once been fighting. 'I am going to need more alcohol to get through this night.' The old crone thought as he took out his flask and downed the whole of it in one go. 'Yeah definitely going to need more.' He thought as he looked back to Arthur or Jaune or whatever he wanted to go by and let out a heavy sigh.
End
An/ yeah not as long as the first chapters but I lost the original after my computer crashed so I had to go back and rewrite this chapter. Sorry for the wait with this one but with the computer crashing I had to take some wore time to get the chapter right or at least better. Please do leave a review I want to know what you guys think. Also fav and follow if you wish.