Jäger Chapter Ten: Planning Part Two
MorgothII: Hello and welcome back to another (and longer than last time) chapter, and I just wanted to say that we have now hit over 7,000 views as of February 21st. I just wanted to thank you guys and gals so much for taking the time to read my story. Means a lot to me, so you all rock!
'Why do the gods torment me?'
This single thought bounces around Jake Torchwick's, AKA the Jäger, mindrepeatedly as he semi-reluctantly follows his new-found friend Ruby Rose and the rest of her team towards their dorm rooms. This thought had been a constant presence for a number of days now, in fact. Of course, it hasn't gotten better since it first entered the back of his mind earlier this week. And a certain busty blonde brawler hadn't made it any easier on the rifle-wielding teen boy.
Several days had gone by since the incident at the docks of Vale with the monster he has as a father and the once-peaceful White Fang. Today was actually the last day of classes for two weeks. Two weeks being in close proximity with the four girls of Team RWBY. And already he is starting to form more detailed thoughts on them. At first Jake had thought that the heiress Weiss Schnee would be the most irritating of the four.
Sadly, he had been wrong. So very much so.
Yang Xiao Long would be the death of him. Between her not-so-funny puns and her teasing, the older half-sister of his friend was driving him crazy. He had tried to ignore it, and it did work, but only to a certain, miniscule degree. And that was only during a school day.
'Oh, such sweet joy! I get to deal with this fucking shit for two whole weeks non-stop!'
The three seventeen and single fifteen-year old girl had decided to take the option of spending the entire break at Beacon instead of going to their own homes. Jake was willing to put up with the young scythe-wielder who had befriended him, and the ninja cat Faunus, but the other two might be a tad bit too much. Jake stops his thinking for a brief second, having opted to inhale deeply through his nose. He hold his breath for three seconds before slowly and softly exhaling through his mouth, making sure that he did so silently. Then he resumes listening in to the latest series of debates as they pauses just outside the doors to their dorm rooms. The subject being discussed is over what the four girls should do with the former assassin they have been assigned to watch by Ozpin.
"…and so I was thinking maybe we could do a sleep-over?"
"Ruby, we are all girls. Jake is a boy. I think there might be a slight problem there," Weiss reminds her young team leader, who rubs her head sheepishly, slightly embarrassed. Then Yang cuts in, a mischievous smirk on her face. For Jake, the sight of that look on her face, combined with the (which Jake found to be rather debatable) playfully glint in the blonde's lilac eyes, does not bode well for him. Sadly, this gut feeling is quickly confirmed in the next second
"Of course, Mister Jäger over here probably wouldn't mind 'accidently' getting to see at least some of us changing clothes if we did have one," Yang teases. Weiss's blue eyes widen to almost comical levels, while Blake rests her forehead on her right palm, shaking her head slightly in disappointment towards this latest antic committed by her party-loving partner. Ruby's cheeks flush with red, the color almost identical to the red metal used in her beloved weapon, Crescent Rose.
Jake, however, has an even more visible reaction towards the insinuation Yang's joke contains. His hands ball up into fists, squeezing them so hard his knuckles turn white. An even brighter shade of red appears on his face, a second sign of his anger at this verbal jab. Instead of responding gruffly, Jake merely brushes by the now-silent Team RWBY, yanking open his door. He quickly grabs some papers, his armor blueprints that he had just recently finished, before slamming the door closed. Still refusing to utter a single word, the cloak-wearer storms off in the direction of the school's forge room.
Ruby quickly recovers, a frown of disapproval plainly evident on her youthful face as she whirls around to face her older and taller half-sister. "Yang Xiao Long, that was totally uncalled for and so not cool!" She says in a slightly louder voice, as opposed to her normal tone. Nor is any of her typical positive energy present. A very rare sight. Before her now-startled sibling can respond, the scythe-wielder spins around and begins to jog towards the forge room as well, leaving her partner and Blake to glare at the now-uncomfortable Yang.
"So, um…shit," she mutters as she awaits the following tongue-lashing the Faunus and SDC heiress are about to rain down upon her.
Which she absolutely deserved.
One hour later…
"I'm sorry about Yang," Ruby comments to the Jäger. The girl with black and red hair stands opposite of Jake, watching the brown-haired teen as he begins to hammer a piece of red-hot steel, flattening the metal out as he finally begins to create his set of armor. His new friend had helped him sort through the various ore and steel samples that the Hunter school had at its disposal, as well as starting the furnace for his project. The reluctant Beacon student had already finished the helmet and the accompanying face mask/throat guard attachment last night. Jake doesn't respond for a few minutes as he finishes up with the metal strip and begins to make a new one, slightly shorter than before. As he continues to pound the metal, the Jäger finally replies.
"Ah, it's fine. Sisters can be like that. I should know," He chuckles drily, not realizing the slip-up until he hears his younger friend gasp slightly. "Shit." He delivers the last blow to the metal before turning his head towards the silver-eyed Huntress-in-training. A single eyebrow is arched, the usually-socially awkward girl not missing the tell-tale sign that indicates the possibility of the enigma before her is, or at least was at one point, a brother.
Jake sighs as he puts down the hammer in the center of the anvil. "You're not going to drop this, are you?" He says wearily. Ruby shakes her head slightly before replying.
"Nope," She says, popping the 'p' in the word. Jake folds his arms across his chest as he stares at the wall behind the girl for a few minutes, not saying a word. To her credit, Ruby neither flinches nor back down, instead opting to mimic the Jäger in crossing her arms across her chest. Instead of being stern, however, the action makes the shorter girl look adorable, causing a thin smile to grace Jake's lips.
"I do have a sister. A twin, in fact. Though, if you saw the two of us standing next to each other, you wouldn't be able to know," He says, chuckling slightly. Then a mournful expression darkens his face. "I haven't seen her since the day our mom was murdered. I do know that she is forced to work for my 'father', as an assassin," He finishes, his lip curled slightly in scorn not at the thought of his twin, but their father.
"What's her name?" Ruby asks, slightly cautious. Once again Jake doesn't answer immediately, instead beginning on yet another metal strip for his armor. The tension that fills the room seems to dampen even the mighty blows of the hammer as it stretches and flattens the glowing piece of steel.
"Most call her Neopolitan. I call her Neo. And I swear on my mother's grave that I will find and rescue her. And damned if I fail," He finishes with a quiet snarl and a final, loud bang as the final strip of armor for his chest plate is completed.
"Well Jake, like I said that night when we were in the graveyard, you won't be doing this alone."
Jake offers her a half-smile as he gathers the various metal strips that he required to make his armor. Ruby grabs the blueprints he had made, carefully rolling up the paper. Her older companion stops by the door, turning to look at her. He clears his throat before speaking.
"Thanks, Ruby. Come on, let's get started on building that chest plate. All we got to do is put the steel strips together, so that should be relatively easy. But we should hurry. We don't want it to get too late. Otherwise Yang might start cracking jokes about us when we re-group with the others," He finishes dryly. Ruby shoots him a smile as she laughs slightly. Jake raises an eyebrow in curiosity, looking down at his unofficial partner.
"Oh, I wouldn't worry that much," She says coyly, her smile increasing slightly.
"Oh? How so?"
"You'll see later tonight. In the meantime, let's build that armor! I think I have an idea about what we could do, if Ozpin and the rest of the staff agree," She replies. Then she activates her speed semblance and takes off for Jake's dorm room. Jake shakes his head slightly as a rose petal lands on his left shoe.
"This will be interesting," He muses aloud as he begins to follow her, though at a slower pace, leaving the forge room empty once more.
Four hours later…
"Alright, this is the last piece, Jake," Ruby says as she hands him the final strip of metal. The construction of the armor had been a long and grueling process, due to having the chest plates lacquered in wood that had been painted in a bright blue by Jake days earlier. The rest of the armor had been completed, with the metal having been also lacquered in either a thin layer of wood of the same color or, in the case of sections needing flexibility, dyed yellow leather.
The combination of these materials had resulted in a durable yet also flexible armor, providing the Jäger with a greater amount of protection than his shirt, jeans, and tattered cloak, with only a small decrease in stealth (which would be easily balanced with his semblance) and agility. Of course, it wouldn't be invulnerable against a large Grimm or a large amount of gunfire, but it would be useful in close-quarters combat.
To his (rather pleasant) surprise, the neighboring dorm room that contains RWBY has been unusually silent. When Jake had inquired his friend about the lack of noise, she had given a vague response of the three older girls going for some sort of walk for awhile. After that, Ruby refused to say a single word on the subject, so Jake left the subject alone.
Jake sticks his tongue out slightly as he carefully inserts the final metal strip, thus completing the suit of armor. The unlikely duo of friends both takes a step back. A minute goes by as they proudly gaze upon their combined work. Then Ruby gently pushes Jake forward, her body shaking slightly in excitement. "Come on, try it on! I wanna see how it looks!" She says excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
Despite his tendencies to reveal very little emotions to the vast majority of other people, Jake lets out a laugh as he picks up the now-completed chest plate. "Well, you're going to have to wait outside," He reminds her. Ruby's eyes widen and she quickly exits the room, allowing the older teen to have some privacy as he begins to put the armor on for the first time, tying together the lace cords used to keep the sections in place. He keeps the coat and his two wrist bandolier belts along with the main belt and saber. However, the sheathe for the sword bayonet for his beloved rifle has been moved to the side opposite of the larger sheathe on his belt.
Once all the armor has been placed on, Jake looks at the final two pieces of armor. The first is the facemask and accompanying throat-guard. The mask covers his face from the eyes down, with a gap over his mouth so he can speak. The inside of the mask is lacquered red and its contours match the ones on its owner's face. After he quickly ties the strings behind his head to secure the facial armor, Jake turns to the last, and honestly most exotic part of his gear, his helmet.
The helmet is a vibrant shade of blue, though it is the ornament on top that is the real of thing horns stick out on either side of a gold-colored dragon that appears to be about to take flight, its forelegs sticking out and its wings lowered. Jake had included this as a way to intimidate anyone foolish enough to cross blades with him, as well as being useful if he has to participate in any sort of fighting competition over the next four years.
Jake quickly fixes the thick cords that will keep the helmet securely on his head before he heads towards the door. He steps out into the hallway when a flash of light goes off before his eyes.
"GAH!" He cries, startled. The Jäger blinks his eyes rapidly several times, clearing away the spots before his eyes. "A little warning next time would be much appreciated," He says to Ruby, who was holding her Scroll. The flash of light had been the result of the fifteen-year old girl taking a picture of her newest friend in his new armor on the electronic device. She offers a weak smile as she puts her Scroll.
"Sorry about that. Oh, I do have good news! I asked Professor Ozpin if we could try out your new armor by hunting Grimm in the Emerald Forest for a few hours and he said sure, but only tomorrow morning. So, you better get some sleep!" She says in a rush, pushing a yet-again startled Jäger back into his room. "Good night!" She says before closing the door, her footsteps quickly receding as she enters her own room.
Jake shakes his head as he switches his new armor for his simple sleepwear. "Well, at least I won't have to deal with Yang a whole lot tomorrow. And I get to kill something. A win-win for me," Jake mutters to himself as he slips underneath his covers, soon falling asleep.
And done! Next chapter will be about Jake and Ruby trying out his new armor against various Grimm. And what did Weiss and Blake do to Yang? You'll have to wait for the next chapter. Also, Jake's armor is the same as the armor used in the Shogun 2 Total War cinematic trailer, only in blue. A picture of the helmet is the new cover art for the story. Also-a side story about Neo and Jake's relationship has been published last Friday under the name of 'The Silent Twin', so maybe check it out. Anyways, once again thank you for taking the time to check out my story, and I'll see you guys and girls very soon! Next chapter: A-Hunting We Go