Dreaming of a better future
AN/Hello, reader people. Ok read the bottom people I have more information at the bottom.
Chapter 17
Jaune sat leaning against his beds head board looking up at the ceiling in thought. He had an odd feeling for the last few minutes after he started talking with Helen and Pyrrha. It was odd they were all just talking like normal and everything was fine he was just having some trouble following Pyrrha and Helen as they talked about weapons, and then bam he felt like something had been stabbed into his spine. He wasn't all sure what had caused the feeling but when it happened he could talk.
So he just went to his bed and sat down. His partner and daughter were too focused on their conversation to notice but he didn't mind. He still had the strange feeling but it wasn't as bad as it had been so he didn't mind. With a sigh he looked forward out his dorms window as he stared out at the emerald forest. He didn't know why but he just felt whatever the feeling he had felt it was coming from the forest. 'Let's hope it's not a Nightmare.'
He thought as he lifted his sword up resting it on his shoulder as he stared out to the forest. As he did down in the forest two men stood facing one another. One was a black knight in black and green armor with a Grimm like mask on with bright red hair, holding a pitch black great sword. The person the black knight was staring down was a Nightmare named Alastair who had slicked back black hair, bright red eyes shining from behind a Grimm mask. The man was dressed in very formal attire with a black tail coat, a red dress shirt underneath with a black tie, black slacks, and black leather dress shoes.
Over all of that the man had Grimm bone armor that covered him. Around his chest was rib like bones that created a chest piece, while on his forearms he had long flat bones creating a bracer for him. Wrapped around his calf were more flats bones that created shin guards. Over the man's hands were now bone claws on each hand. While on the man's left arm were bright Grimm marks spiraling up to his shoulder. The Nightmares mask was like a Nevermore Mask only with a long sharp point that reached down to his chin, letting the corners of his mouth peek out from the side.
In his left hand he held a bone sword with Grimm markings along it. The bone sword was like that of a rapier being long and thin with a sharp needle point, the blade was longer than a normal rapier as its length was a little under four feet.
"I must say again, I would rather not fight you, now, if you would be so kind and postpone your assault I would greatly appreciate it."
Alastair said with a slight bow as the black knight growled behind his mask as he shot forward to the Nightmare ready to take his head off, swinging his sword wide ready to split Alastair in two. His sword came in only to be paired by Alastair as he lifted his sword and ducking as he let the black knight's blade grind along his own as it flew over head and he stepped stabbing at the black knight aiming for his inner thigh. The black knight quickly deflected the strike with the grip of his sword as he pulled his left leg back, sliding it behind him and to his right as he slides to the Nightmares left, shifting his grip on his sword and brought his swords pommel up aiming to smash it into the Nightmares face.
Alastair thought just blocked the strike with his left bone bracer as he let go of his sword switching it to his right hand as he then slashed up words only for the black knight to jump back dodging the strike. Alastair didn't move to follow the black knight as he simply brought his sword up before his face in the traditional fencing stance as he smiled at the black knight.
"I must say, you are certainly a skilled one, no wonder I was warned about you."
The Nightmare said, giving a slight bow of his head as he gave a quick slash to the side with his sword before aiming it at the black Knight.
"Shall we continue."
The nightmare said as the black knight just tightened the grip on his sword as he shifted his grip as he slowly inched towards Alastair. As the black knight inched forward the Nightmare vanished from view in a flash as he then appeared before him thrusting out with his sword in a flurry of strikes that the knight dodged and deflected. The black knight deflected and dodged every strike by a hair as he stood his ground against Alastair. The nightmare just smiled behind his mask, the corner of his lips turning up as he did as he watched the black knight slowly inch his way closer to him.
The Nightmare didn't give up though increasing the speed of each strike as he continued to thrust forward as he finally watched as strikes spark off the black knight's armor as he got closer. Alastair began to try and stab for the black knight's eyes, throat and legs only for the strikes to be blocked while others just bounced off his armor harmlessly. When the black knight felt he was in range to attack he shifted his sword using the flat of it like a shield as Alastair gave one powerful thrust that crashed dead center with the great sword only to bounce off.
Just as the strike bounced away the black knight shifted his sword again turning the edge towards Alastair and brought the blade down with all his might. In a normal battle such a close range attack would be difficult to dodge and even more to block unless a person had a defensive or speed semblance, even still the person would lose a good chunk of aura to the attack. But against a Nightmare a strike like this was no different than a toddler swinging a stick as Alastair smiled and stepped to the side. Sliding over the ground as he ended up behind the black knight bringing his own sword down now ready to slash across his unprotected back.
Only as Alastair's sword came down it was stopped by the black knight as he had spun around reaching out with his left hand catching the bone rapier, surprising the Nightmare as he hadn't finished with his slash as he had shifted its direction and was now sweeping it towards Alastair. The Nightmare could only smile at the sight of the black knights quick maneuvering as he let go of his sword again and reached out grabbing hold of the black knights left wrist using it as a brace to throw himself over him as he jumped holding onto the knights wrist as his attacked flew under him.
The black knight just let out a small laugh as Alastair felt pain shoot through his hand as he saw the black knight's metal bracer had shifted extending spikes out through his hand. Alastair's smile grew at this as he ripped his hand from the black knight's wrist as black blood began to flow out of the holes in his hand as he flipped over the black knight landing behind him. The black knight quickly shifted his great sword as it looked to melt then shift into a spear extending out towards Alastair as he jumped back dodging the backwards stab from the spear as well as ducking under the wide sweeping slash as he continued to back pedal as he extended a new bone rapier from his left hand.
When he was out of range of the black knight who stood now with a 7-foot-long black spear ready to charge. Alastair could only smile at the versatility of the black knight.
"Well, that is certainly a useful semblance you have, I must say to be able to shift your weapon so quickly and easily is certainly a special skill." Alastair said as he brought his right hand up to his face while he slowly lifted his Grimm mask and began to lick his bloody hand. "While I do enjoy this bout of ours may I request a postponement of it, as I said before I have no desire to fight you know, no matter how much fun it may be."
The Nightmare said getting an amused laugh from the black knight as he shifted his grip on his spear as he took two one foot metal plates from under his coat and changed their shape as he turned them into small throwing knives, each plate making twelve knives as he glared at the Nightmare.
"Sorry but I would much rather take your head."
The black knight said as the 24 knives he made began floating around him as he then shot forward as Alastair just sighed as he flicked his hand to the side getting the last of the blood off it.
"So be it."
The black knight charged in, quickly thrusting out with his spear only for his strikes to be blocked by Alastair. The black knight then began sending his floating knives flying at the Nightmare who again deflected them with his sword only for the knives to fly off to the sides and then return after righting themselves. With the flurry of strikes from the spear as well as the knives flying around Alastair was beginning to have trouble keeping up with the attacks while the knives he couldn't deflect shot out cutting into his legs, arms and back. Alastair's patience's was running thin with the knives stinging at him like annoying bugs and the endless assault from the spear.
With a sharp growl Alastair deflected the black knight's spear throwing it to the side causing the black knight to get thrown off balance for but a second as the knives he had made slowed ever so slightly as Alastair stepped in only for the black knight to bring his spear in as all the knives he made flew towards it shifting into a scythe as he slashed out sweeping along the Nightmares path. Alastair didn't falter with his charge though as he came in using his bone rapier to hold the Scythe back from hitting him.
He quickly threw a heavy punch out slamming into the black knight's masked face as his head bounced back with a snapped as he was sent flying back 10 feet. Alastair had to duck under the scythe blade that had come from behind him seeing as adding in the force of his punch and the black knight's slash had made him break his guard so he had to dodge. Luckily he did as he stood back up to see the black knight lift himself off the ground with a growl.
"Please boy, enough of this, if you continue on I will kill you." Alastair said in a board voice as he watched the black knight stand back up ready to charge again. "Need, I say it again; I do not wish to fight. If you cannot understand then simply die!"
Alastair snapped at the black knight as a the Nightmare let his void flow as the think black glow covered him as its dark copper ting pulsed out around him feeling up the clearing as the black knight and any tree with in the pulse crashed to the ground being crushed by a unseen force. The black knight had crashed into the ground so hard his scythe's shaft broke while his armor seemed to start to cave in on him. The trees that had been crushed were turned into splinters as the leaves and wood all hit the ground as it cratered.
The black knight tried to lift himself from the ground but couldn't as he looked up to see Alastair walking towards him calmly as he spun his sword in his hand as he did.
"To think I would use my distortion so early into my trip, you see I am able to manipulate the gravity of my surroundings at my will so there is little you can do. I must say though, you are certainly a force to be reckoned with. But sadly you were too stupid to know when to quit so now you will have to face the consequences of your action."
Alastair said as he lifted his bone rapier up and held it over the black knights head ready to pierce his skull and kill him. Only just as he was about to lift the sword to bring down he heard a laugh come from the black knight.
"Haha, thanks for finally showing me your distortion, I thank you for falling for such a simple trick. To think your distortion would be so beneficial to me."
The black knight said as Alastair just stared before his eyes widened as he saw that along the blade of the black knights scythe were several missing pieces as he spun around only for two long metal spikes to shoot through his chest at great speeds thanks to the black knights control over them and the added gravity of his distortion. As Alastair began to fall the gravity turned back to normal as the black knight used his semblance to lift himself up as the metal bracer on his right arm extended into a blade and he stabbed into the back of the Nightmare as it fell.
Only his strike didn't get to go all the way through as gravity increased again and the black knight was forced back to the ground as Alastair stopped his fall by using his sword as a brace behind him and he pushed himself back to his feet clutching his chest as blood spilled out of him.
"I-I did, haaaa, n-not se-see tha-at coming."
Alastair said as he moved away from the black knight. Only as he did he felt more pain in his chest as he could hear the black knight laughing. As he did he realized what had happened as he looked around for the spike that had hit him only he couldn't find them. Alastair quickly stabbed into his chest with his claws cutting it open as he controlled the gravity inside him as he pulled out the now liquid metal that had began to wrap around his ribs.
Alastair felt to the ground panting as the metal hit the ground with a heavy thud as he looked to the black knight who had stood again as was about to charge only to force him back to the ground with his distortion.
"N-never one t-to miss a g-golden opportunity are we?"
The Nightmare asked as he could hear the black knight chuckle.
"Of course, if I am given the chance to kill I will take it."
The black knight answered as Alastair laughed some before coughing up blood as he smiled.
"Well then, I must take my leave, I cannot wait for our next meeting; I truly hope it will be just as entertaining as this."
Alastair said as from his back sprouted Nevermore wings as he slowly flew up into the air.
"Till next we meet."
The Nightmare said as he flew off away from the black knight who laid across the ground for a few more seconds before Gravity returned to normal. The black knight slowly lifted himself back to his feet as he fixed the bends and breaks in his armor while he removed his mask and looked up to the sky in the direction Alastair had flown.
"Next time we meet, I will kill you."
The black knight whispered to himself as he glared at the sky. The knight turned to retrieve his weapon as he walked back towards it the breaking of a twig to his left drew his attention as he turned to Lilith walk into the clearing looking around worriedly before turning to him.
"Are you alright Marcus?"
The girl asked as she ran up to him as he called his weapons back to him.
"I am fine Lilith, just had a little trouble."
Marcus said as he dusted off his armor and coat.
"A little trouble? The way this clearing looks I would say you had more than a little trouble."
The multi colored girl said as the black knight just sighed as he let his weapons reform into their plate forms as he put the metal plate he used to make his spear and great sword on his back while putting the two smaller plates in his coat. As he did he pulled his scroll from his coat to see his aura level. He read the meter and he had one quarter of his aura left.
"I could have continued the fight."
He said as he put the scroll away only to get a worried look from Lilith.
"You would have died, you aren't invincible, you shouldn't be fighting each and every Nightmare alone."
She said as she walked up to him placing her hand on his shoulder only for him to shrug it off as he turned and began walking away.
"I know I'm not invincible that's way I have to get stronger, if I get strong enough I can kill every Nightmare that comes my way. I won't lose anything; I refuse to lose anything to them again."
He said coldly as he continued walk out of the clearing. Lilith just stood staring at his back as he walked away. 'He can't keep this up.' She thought sadly as she began to follow him. As she did she turned looking at the clearing again and then back to Marcus.
"So what type of Nightmare was it?"
Lilith asked as she came up beside the black knight.
"It as a Nevermore class, and an old one at that, if a little delusional it was different from the first four Nightmares that were sent back."
The black knight said as he went on to tell Lilith about the battle and the Nightmares distortion. Lilith was just glad he was ok while as Marcus continued to retail the battle she worried if he had any injuries. Still if the Nightmare was different from the first four that made this complicated.
"So it was stronger than the first four as well as older, that is definitely problematic, add in the first four didn't have distortions to use, like the one papa killed."
Lilith said getting a small laugh from Marcus.
"The one dad killed was a recently evolved Nightmare probably no more than 4 months into its human form, and he got lucky, if it wasn't for that shadow Faunus who was with him he wouldn't have been able to kill it, you saw how bad he was beaten against the goliath Nightmare that had showed up yesterday."
The black knight said caused the multi colored girl to flinch as she remembers how badly her father had been beaten when they found him. Had he been around to fight with the other two Nightmares Marcus had killed she was certain he would have been beaten just as bad. In all honesty her father was lucky he only fought two of them.
"Either way, for now we have to worry about this new Nightmare or any others that show up. But first, were where you?"
Marcus asked as he turned back to Lilith who just flinched as she turned away from him hands behind her back.
"I went to see papa."
She said causing the black knight to sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Why am I not surprised." Marcus said as he rubbed the back of his head. "So what did you say to him?"
The black knight asked as Lilith just looked down to the ground.
"I didn't say anything; I just went to see him."
She said as she kicked some dirt. The black knight looked at her over his shoulder but didn't say anything as he just kept walking.
"Next time you should talk with him, you would feel better if you did."
Marcus said surprising Lilith as she smiled as she looked up to his back as he kept walking away. She didn't say anything as she just smiled walking behind him.
"I am glad you are so kind."
She said under her breath as the two walked off towards Vale.
End.
Omaku 2 idea from acw28
Night terrors.
Jaune lay in his bed, sleeping peacefully as he dreamt about playing with his sisters and daughters as he lay in bed wrapped tightly in his blankets. As he slept thought something was off as his dream slowly began to shake while all his daughters in his dream said papa over and over. He slowly began to fall into a nightmare as his dream shifted with his daughters turning into monsters till he woke up with his head coming up only to crash into something hard. The knight was about to scream in pain only for several small hands to clap over his mouth catching him off guard as he looked up, his eyes slowly adjusting to the dark.
He saw Summer sitting on top of him holding her head with Helen, Angela, Bell, Sara, Grace, Jasmine and even Lilith all around him on his bed. Grace had her scroll out using it on low brightness to create a dim light. He just raised a brow at them all as he slowly saw that they all had a scared look. He reached up slowly moving their hands away from his mouth.
"What's wrong?"
He whispered as the girl all shared a look before turning back to him and said one thing in sync.
"I had a nightmare."
That is all they said as the knight just slowly sighed as he sat up in bed.
"So you all came to me because?"
He asked confused seeing as they all were with their mothers, well all but Lilith so he was fine with her being there same for Helen, but the rest were with their mothers.
"Because you always would hold me when I had a nightmare so I thought you would hold me now."
Grace said as she looked down, a blush on her face while all the others said the same thing. 'Well looks like they are all daddies' girls.' The knight thought with a sigh.
"So you just want me to hold you and then you will go back to sleep. Sorry but as you can see my bed isn't big enough for all of you."
The knight said getting pouts from all the girls as he turned away not falling for that.
"Please papa, I won't be able to sleep if you don't."
Bell said as she tugged on his sleeve as he just kept from looking at the girls. He could feel their pouts as they just all got closer and closer to him and he did his best to resist the temptation to just hold them. 'No, I am stronger than this.' He thought in determination. He just sat staring up at the ceiling refusing to look the girls and fall to the power of their pouts. Even if he grew up with seven sisters he couldn't handle this many pouts all at once.
5 minutes later.
Jaune was found sitting on his knees, legs tucked under him surrounded by each of his daughter's mothers all glaring at him as they all held their daughters who were crying about him not helping them sleep after a nightmare. All the girls were crying into their mother's shoulders even Lilith who somehow got her mother to show up. While Yang looked ready for the kill when she saw her she didn't do anything as she just took to holding her daughter. Jaune just sat as they all glared at him.
"Why didn't you help them?"
Glynda asked sternly as the knight flinched.
"Well you see I don't have a big enough bed to let them all spend the night with me so I couldn't help them, I didn't know what to do."
The knight said terrified by the scorn he would get if he lied to the girls. As he said this though Glynda flicked her wrist with her riding crop as she used her semblance to pull all the beds in his room together save for Ren's as she used the beds to make a single giant bed.
"Is that better."
Glynda said sharply as the knight just nodded dumbly as he was then lifted up and sat on the bed while all the girls put their daughters down so they could lie next to him with a quick flick of the light Glynda and all the mothers were gone as she shut the light of the room off as he just lay with each of his daughters on him. Summer and Helen on his left using his arm as a pillow, while on his right was Grace and Angela doing the same, while Sara, Bell and Lilith had all lain atop his chest. Only reason for their room being the biggest was that they were the smallest of his daughters all just snuggled up on him. The knight just lay staring at the ceiling confused beyond belief.
He just sighed as he slowly felt blood flow to his arms get cut off as he lay with the girls.
AN/ OK so I only got 16 people to vote on the Salem as a mother thing, and well while I would want to keep going with the votes but I can see many people didn't vote meaning a lot of you just don't give two shits, which I am fine with seeing that is you telling me I won't tell you how to write, which I love you people for that even if it did go against the voting thing was doing but, it seems Salem will be a mother thanks to winning by one vote. And I know many of you who didn't vote might not won't her as a mother and those of you who did vote saying no I apologize but she won. she will be a mother.
Ok I hoped you people liked the chapter, and please leave a review saying what you liked about the chapter. Really leave a review I need them they let me know what you think.
Ok fav and follow if you wish. But definitely leave a review.