See? Did you guys actually think I would abandon this?
(Sorry, I meant to post this chapter earlier this week, but the internet's been bugging out on me lately.)
STORYTIME KIDDOS!
Silence enveloped the dorm room as the girls of the newly formed team JNPR, and the R, W, and Y of RWBY stared at the cat faunus. Blake looked pretty sure of herself, and the other girls tried to process the information that had just been dumped onto them. Weiss and Ruby's mouths open and closed to perform the greatest 'gasping fish' imitation ever seen in the history of Beacon.
Nora looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding her head in agreement. "Yeah, I can kind of see it now that I think about it..." Blake nodded in approval. 'That's one down, now four more to go.' Weiss shook her head out of her stupor and faced her partner's sister's partner in all seriousness. "If he's a so-called 'God' like you say he is, then why hasn't he come out with it then? Huh?" Her other teammates plus Pyrhha slowly and quietly murmured their agreement with the Heiress's question. Rae (I'll be calling her Lae Rae in this story from here on out.) maintained a neutral expression while Nora looked genuinely curious.
Blake shrugged for what felt like the hundredth time that day. "The stories always portray Him as entering a new environment as an unknown person. He prefers a more mortal guise. It's the most efficient way for Him to complete His goals if everyone thought of Him as another mortal like themselves." That explanation was nothing more than a theory she had devised some time ago. But it was the most logical explanation she could come up with. The others appeared to buy it.
"If that's the case, and what you say about him is true, then what should we do?" Asked Rae asked. Blake looked to her Lord's teammate before answering. "Whatever you want, I suppose. But be sure to keep quiet about what I've said. We don't want to blow His cover. And personally, I'd rather not disappoint Him... I am next in line to become His next Grand Priestess, after all, it wouldn't look good for me in Sovngarde if I did that..."
"Saw-vanguard?" Yang asked, confusedly. Blake deadpanned at her partner. "Sovngarde. The Afterlife orginally meant for brave and honorable Nords. It now extends to anybody worthy enough who wishes to go there." The catgirl explained. "Oh." Was Yang's intelligent response. "Wait, what do you mean you're next in line to become his 'next High Priestess'?" The blonde brawler asked.
"Because I am. About two and a half thousand years ago an ancestor of mine had a vision of The Lord Dovahkiin's arrival. This ancestor had become His first High Priest. From parent to child, this line has remained unbroken. I'm next in line. AND, since He is now here among us, I'm likely to be the last one. Depending on how things go down..."
"And what do you mean by that? Exactly?" Pyrrha asked, now worried for her own safety by the sound of things. "Simple. Either He's happy with all my hard work and grants me immortality so that I may continue to be at His side for all eterntiy as one of His Handmaidens/Mistresses/Brides, OR He is very displeased with my performance and either casts me out. Or, in an extreme case, destroy me. Thankfully, He's a pretty forgiving God, so that last alternative is extremely unlikely. I'd have to do something really twisted like child sacrifices to make him that upset." Blake explained to the champion.
"Okay then... Everybody, let's keep quiet about everything Blake has said about Jaune! We don't wanna go making him mad... Right?" Ruby announced to her team and new friends. They all nodded. "Right, it would be best if this conversation never left this room. In fact, I'm only telling you all this simply because we have all witnessed a sliver of His true Power..." Everyone nodded. Even Nora took this silent vow. And everyone knew by now how hyperactive she gets. Blake was the first to reach the door and had placed her hand on the knob. "By the way, Blake... Before we all go to bed... The way you talk about him makes it almost sound like you're nearly in love with Jaune. Just how far are you willing to go for him?" Pyrrha asked her partner's number one fangirl.
Blake's amber eyes gazed into Pyrhha's emerald ones. And, as she did so, Pyrrha could see that the light in the Faunus's eyes had dulled and looked as if they were staring into her very soul... Blake began to speak once more for the final time that night. Her voice slowly becoming a rather creepy whisper. Nearly as eery as that look in her eyes and smile on her face.
"Why isn't that obvious? I'd do anything for him... Anything..."
TIME SKIP BROUGHT TO YOU BY AN OFFICIALY CREEPED OUT/SCARED TO DEATH CHIBI RUBY, YANG, WEISS, RAE, NORA, AND PYRRHA.
Jaune listened to Professor Port's story in class in earnest. Taking a moment, Jaune took note of his classmates. He was not impressed. It appeared the majority of them found Port's lesson boring. They did not see what was really going on with his storytelling... Nora had nodded off, Rae was struggling to maintain her wakefulness as was Pyrrha. Yang was letting her eyes and mind wander. When her eyes met Jaune's she gave him a flirtatious wink. He rolled his eyes playfully and continued his survey. Jaune saw Blake staring at him intently. He did NOT want to know what was going on in THAT girl's head. Much less try to figure out what it was. Day Three and she STILL gave him the creeps...
Ruby was drawing something, so that might be okay. Drawing/doodling does help as a form of note ta-nevermind... She had just revealed to him and Weiss her 'master piece'. Professor Poop? Really? None the less, it did bring a light smile to his face... The man could stand to tone it down on the embellishments a little. Weiss had been the only one in the room to actually pay attention to Port as she was the only one the Dragonborn saw taking notes. This earned a respectful and approving nod from the young man. It did not go unnoticed however, as the heiress now sported a faint coloring on her cheeks as she continued her notes. Jaune returned to his professor's tale.
"...in conclusion, a Huntsman must be brave, strong, quick, wary, and honorable. Who here believes they have these traits?" Port was asking for a demonstration? Very well, Jaune silently raised his hand at the same time as Weiss's shot up as she blurted: "I do!" Port raised his bushy eyebrows. "I see we have two volunteers! Very well, go retrieve your gear..." Weiss promptly left the room to do so. Jaune calmly walked down from his seat to stand by Port's desk.
"Mr. Arc, did you not hear me when I said to go retrieve your equipment?" The professor asked. Jaune calmly regarded the old man. "I did." He answered. "Then what are you doing here?" Port was honestly confused as to why the young blonde was choosing to not follow his instructions. "Because, Professor, I don't need my armor or my weapons to perform this task." Jaune said cryptically.
Weiss returned with her equipment. She quizically looked at Jaune and noted his lack of equipment and calm, confident demeanor. A moment later, she shrugged it off. 'When you're powerful enough to rip the head off a Nevermore on a dragon's back with just your voice, you don't have much to be worried about, I suppose.' The Ice themed girl thought to herself as she got into position.
"So who shall go first?" Port asked the pair. Jaune nodded silently towards his classmate. The white-themed girl stood at attention as she placed her hand upon her weapon. "I'm curious to see how the warriors of these lands handle themselves in battle against these beasts." He said, sharing his reason as to why he wanted Weiss to go first. "That, and it's only good manners after all. Ladies do go first." He added.
"Very well," the large man nodded. He walked over to one of the two cages. As he did so, Weiss's team began showing their support. "Kick its butt!" Yang called out. Blake was waving a tiny flag that had 'RWBY' on it. Where did she get that? Nevermind... Jaune didn't want to know... Ruby was the most boisterous. "COME ON WEISS! SHOW 'EM THE POWER OF TEAM RWBY!" She cheered.
"RUBY! I'm trying to concentrate!" The Heiress snapped at her leader. This earned a disapproving frown from Jaune that went unnoticed by Weiss. 'She's only trying to be supportive...' The adventurer thought to himself. Port stood at the ready by the cage. Swinging his axe over the lock of a cage, a Grimm stepped out. It reminded Jaune of a boar. Just paint it black, give it glowing red eyes of doom, and bone-like armor. As soon as the creature saw Weiss, it began to do something Jaune did not expect. It was spinning on itself and the launched forwards at its intended target.
Weiss was quick to move out of its way as she and the creature began to seek each other's demise. Ruby attempted to give her teammate some advice on how best to dispatch the boar-like Grimm, but recieved a harsh admonishment from the fighting heiress. Jaune then realized the cause of Weiss's spiteful behaviour. She was jealous of Ruby. But for what? He'll get to the bottom of this after class.
Weiss's attention was removed long enough from the fight that the Grimm was able to disarm her. 'A foolish decision, to allow herself to become so easily distracted in the heat of battle.' Jaune thought to himself. Weiss recovered from her mistake quickly enough, Jaune supposed. But still, even if she didn't want to hear her leader's sound advice, Weiss would have been better off at least ignoring the poor girl. To make matters even more unsightly, in Jaune's eyes, Weiss ended up following her leader's advice anyways and targeted the creature's underbelly.
Port congratulated Weiss on her victory as he prepared to release the other Grimm from its cage. JNPR decided to follow its sister team's example and cheer on their leader. Rae gave Jaune a thumbs up and a light smile, which the young hero returned. "Good luck, Jaune!" Pyrrha called down to him. "BREAK ITS LEGS! OH FEARLESS LEADER!" Nora shouted with enthusiasm. This earned a light chuckle from the dragonslayer. "Well, that's not terribly far off from what I had in mind..." Jaune murmured as he turned to face the cage that housed his soon-to-be victim.
Cleaving the lock with a mighty blow, Prof. Port released an even larger version of the same grimm Weiss had previously. Jaune wasted no time once the creature had stepped out of the cage. "Iiz... SLEN NUS!" He Shouted. Encasing the monster in ice. Slowy, the beast would freeze to death. If what Jaune was told about the Grimm was true, this monster deserved no less. However, class time was short... Jaune would have to end its suffering early.
Walking up towards the mockery of nature, Jaune conjured a Bound Warhammer. Twirling the weightless weapon in hand, the Arch-Mage looked down upon his victim with a snarl and made eye contact with the Grimm. He never caught the name of this species. Probably something related to the large tusks protruding from its snout. It glared up at him. Challenging its captor to release it and give it a chance to gore the human with its large tusks. Jaune allowed himself to smirk at it. He wouldn't give it the luxury of that. Not that it could back up that promise if Jaune did release it.
Hoisting the ghostly weapon in both hands over his head, Jaune brought the hammer crashing down with a mighty shout. Shattering the ice-encased demon into countless shards. "Woops. Looks like I hit too hard..." Jaune muttered as he, and everyone else in class, stared at the new crater that was now in the floor. He dispelled the warhammer and brought his hands together in a green and gold glow. "Here, lemme fix that..." He sheepishly apologized as he used a variation of Stoneflesh plus Heal Other together upon the floor. Before anyone could say anything, the floor was as good as new when the bell rang.
TIME SKIP BROUGHT TO YOU BY A SPEECHLESS CHIBI PORT WATCHING HIS CLASS LEAVE THE ROOM
Classes were out and the rest of the day belonged to the students. History proved to be the Dovahkiin's favorite by far, on the account he did not get to participate in Combat Class. Lady Goodwitch refused to call on him as he volunteered to go into the ring. But that was in the past. At this time, Jaune was on the hunt for a certain heiress. Instead, he found Ruby outside the courtyard. Perhaps he could glean some information off of her before speaking with the 'Ice Queen'. The poor faunus looked like something was troubling her. "Ruby," Jaune spoke softly. The girl's lupine ears perked up at the sound of her fellow leader's voice.
"Oh hey, Jaune." She greeted with same softness that Jaune used. Her face had lit up with what appeared to be relief. "Something's bothering you." The Dovahkiin didn't waste his breath beating around the bush. Ruby's ears dooped slightly. "Is it that obvious?" She asked, slightly embarrassed. The male blonde nodded. "Yes, it is. I'm guessing it's about Lady Schnee?" He ventured as he gestured towards a nearby bench.
The two sat down as Ruby nodded. "Yeah." She grumbled. "Why?" Jaune asked. Ruby then began to explain what had happened between herself and her partner after Port's class. Followed by her conversation with Professor Ozpin. Jaune listened carefully, silently digested this information, and looked thoughtful before speaking again.
"I can see why Weiss is upset." He said at last. Ruby looked shocked and a little sad that Jaune was apparently taking the other side. "However," he continued, "she is quite plainly in the wrong here. I am of the same mind as our Headmaster. There has been no mistakes made as of yet. Except, for Weiss's judgement. She appears to feel slighted by the fact that she was passed over the leadersip position in favor of a younger and more inexperienced student. One that has happened to earn her way here a full two years early on her own merit. That, and it's only the official first day of the entire school year. Therefore, I'd say it's a bit too early for her to pass judgement on your ability to lead. Wouldn't you agree?"
It was Ruby's turn to be thoughtful as she took in Jaune's two lien. And, as she thought about it, Jaune's argument did start to make sense. She beamed at the young man. "Thanks Jaune, I needed that." Jaune nodded gently. "Anytime, my friend. And, if I might add, I think Weiss is hearing something she needed to as well." He said, while nodding his head up towards a balcony. Ruby looked up to see Weiss speaking with Prof. Port.
Jaune stood up, "Well, I wish you luck with Snow Angel," He said as he walked away. "I've got some business of my own I need to take care of..."
MEANWHILE, IN THE COLLEGE OF WINTERHOLD
Recorder groaned as she rolled over the edge of her bed and spilled the remaining contents of whatever was left in her stomache into a bucket. "Uuuugggghhhh... That is the last time I challenge M'rissi to a sweetroll eating contest... What happened?" She asked no-one in particular. "You put yourself into a sugarcoma about a week and a half ago." A voice from the other end of the room said.
Recorder turned her head to see a woman in the doorway. Colette. The College of Winterhold's top mage in Restoration. After Jaune. The aging woman had a jug in one hand and a cup in the other. She poured the contents of the jug into the cup and gave it to the still waking girl. "Some water. You really shouldn't have eaten all of those sweetrolls. It's not healthy. Now, if you'll excuse me, I really must move on to different patient. J'zargo got himself seriously banged up picking a fight with an elder dragon the other day. I swear, that cat is going to be the death of me with all this obsession of his to keep up with the Arch-Mage's power..." The Healer's voice became quieter and quieter until it disappeared from Recorder's hearing. Signifying she was gone.
Recorder allowed herself to smile at the thought of Jaune. That was when the weight of Colette's words hit her like a giant's club. "A WEEK AND A HALF!?" She shot out of the bed and dashed down the halls. Her mind racing faster than her legs. 'This is bad. This is really bad! I missed a week and a half of recording Jaune's adventures. The people at the Academy are going to kill me!' She needed to find the Dragonborn. ASAP.
Bursting through the doors that led outside into the College's courtyard, Recorder made a beeline for the Hall of Elements. With any luck, he cru-er, "charge", should be inside hopefully either overseeing some new apprentices' class, or even doing some teaching of his own. She burst into the room and first saw Urag gro-Shub, the Librarian, giving a lecture about his latest theory on how the Companions' Skyforge came to be and the source of its power. Ever since Jaune discovered the Forge's magical properties, it has become the latest subject of interest for the mages here... Much to the annoyance of Jaune's fellow Companions...
Frantically, she scanned the chamber for the young Dragonslaying Demigod. "Has anyone seen Jaune!?" She blurted. All eyes were angrily glaring at the young woman. She sheepishly shrunk back under their intense gaze. "Hey, Recorder, glad to see you're up! Did you need something?" Recorder snapped to full attention at Jaune's voice as she turned to see him. Everyone had gone back to Urag's lecture. "Oh! There you are! Er, yeah. I just woke up and learned I had been out for about a week and a half and I wanted to check in on... What are you wearing?" She looked the young man up and down to see him wearing what appeared to be a school uniform. A very familiar one at that... Now where had she seen it before...
Jaune looked down at himself. "Oh? This? Yeah, it's a school uniform at this new world I discovered called 'Remnant'. Very fascinating place, I've enrolled into a school there dedicated towards fighting the monsters that plague it. I was just dropping by to let Tolfdir know I survived and plan on going back." Recorder's eyes bulged as she processed this new information. 'He's discovered REMNANT!?' It all clicked, but she had to make sure. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, but you wouldn't have happened to have enrolled in the academy known as 'Beacon'? Right?" Jaune looked surprised.
"Yes, actually. I did enroll there! I've already made a few friends. We're divided into teams of four. JNPR and RWBY. JNPR is made up of me, as team leader, a girl called Pyrrha Nikos as my partner, and two girls called Nora Valkyrie and Lae Rae. RWBY is made up of a wolf-girl called Ruby Rose, her sister Yang Xiao Long, Weiss Schnee, and a creepy stalkerish girl called Blake Belladonna." Recorder nodded to herself in self-assurance. 'Whew,' she thought, 'that holds several similarities to the originals, but some things are off... Ruby's a Faunus, Ren is actually a girl, and Blake turned out to be another one of Jaune's stalkers... Good to know that he didn't stumble into a different universe... That would have been problematic... If there wasn't another Jaune over there, then it must mean he's supposed to have gone there.'
Recorder sighed in relief as Jaune stared at her in confusion. Then shrugged it off. Must be more of that 'TOP SECRET ACADEMY STUFF' she's not allowed to tell him about. "So, since you're up and about, I'm guessing you want to go back with me. Right?" Jaune deduced. His voice bringing Recorder out of her thoughts. The thought of travelling the world of Remnant with him excited her. She'd get a chance to meet up with and begin recording another Hero. Or, heroine, in this case. Ruby Rose and Jaune Arc. Two Heroes for the price of one! This was fantastic!
The young woman beamed at Jaune. "Yes! I would love to go! I'll go pack my things!" She turned away to do just that before Jaune caught her shoulder. "Sorry, Recorder, I can't take you with me just yet. First I have to set up a few arraingements with Headmaster Ozpin. I was originally just dropping in to let Tolfdir know that the experiment worked and so I could tweak the magical calibrations of the circle to link up with the one I put up in Beacon..." He said sheepishly.
"Oh... Okay..." Recorder sadly accepted this. 'If this universe's Glynda is anything like the Original's. She'll at least want to know ahead of time before more sudden changes were to accur...' She rationalized. "However," Jaune continued, "I do have a favor to ask of you."
"What kind of favor?" Recorder asked Jaune suspiciously. "A simple one. Since you already somehow know about Remnant and Beacon, it would be safe to assume you know about the Vytal Festival and Tournement? Yes?"
.
.
AND THAT'S A WRAP!
Sorry for the unintentional hiatus folks. I've been really busy recovering from a hospital visit and working on bills to pay. Thanks for being so patient with me everybody!
And yes, that's right, Jaune's gonna be entering a team or two from Skyrim! One team I have already developed, the other, I'll let you guys decide who the members are!
Team A) Serana, Inigo, M'rissi, and Recorder. Together, they make up Team SIMR (Simmer)!
Team B will be decided by you guys in a poll. Characters included in this poll are:
J'zargo
Jenassa
Jordis the Sword-Maiden
Illia
Erik the Slayer
Brelyna Maryon
Agmaer
Aela the Huntress
Vilkas
Farkas
Onmund
Mjoll the Lioness
And of course... LYDIA!
You can pick four of these characters. Top four in the poll gets to be a team. I'll figure out a name for it.
Sofia is not a potential follower due to certain circumstances that will be expanded upon in a later chapter.
Any Dark Brotherhood-related followers are not really available either. Why? Because, it's pretty hard to recruit someone after you've slaughtered them.
See ya!
