Hey everyone! I hope that you like this one I tried to make it rather mysterious with many answers in the next chapter, I hope you guys enjoy and have a wonderful day.
Beacon Academy, Six months after the Fall of Dolemir, Jaune Arc...
My eyes fixed on the massive tower that made Beacon what it was, the monolith to all of the combined efforts of the world to fight against the Grimm. The last months were difficult, I had suffered and was almost entirely different, but the world was different now too. I had discovered so much, much more than any simple huntsman should know.
Today I would take the running initiation for all of the mid-year students and transfers, I sighed and moved to the auditorium. The stage that was set for the testing was illuminated and I sat in the stands, watching the fights. All of them seemed almost amateur to me, like their focus was on looking good, rather than ending the fight.
Then all too early, I heard my name.
"Jaune Arc, Cinder Fall, come to the stage." I heard the voice of Goodwitch call out and I stood, marching to the stage then I stepped up.
"It's good to see you again, Mr. Arc. I was starting to worry that you would not return." I looked at her and a faint smile met my lips.
"Its good to see you too, Goodwitch. But please refrain from my family name, I am no longer an Arc, I just have yet to address the record that Vale has for me." I said and she nodded and my foe came to the stage. When she saw me, her smiled widened.
"Cinder? I thought it was a coincidence!" I said and held my arms out. Her eyes sharpened, and she spoke through her smile.
"Well, I hope you're ready for our rematch, hero. Because this time I will win." She said and I smiled, my eyes meeting hers.
"Fine, but if I win, you owe me that drink." I said and she smiled again and then the bell rang, our fight had started.
I drew the generic longsword I had brought to Beacon and she drew her dust infused dual short swords. Our blades met and I smiled and slammed the pommel of my sword into her nose, then she returned with a few short slashes. My aura took the hit and sent me reeling back and I pointed my sword, the tip grinding against her aura. In a moment I had started jabbing the point of the blade against her protected abdomen.
Her blades came down overhead quickly, my left hand fell from the hilt of the blade and I gripped the edge of the blade and blocked the attack with both arms. The ground beneath me cracked and I could feel my arms shake. I forced her back with a shove and then gripped the edge of the blade tighter and some of the emotion I had held back leaked out as I slammed her with a murder strike from the cross guard of the sword.
"Y'know, I'm still pretty hurt, Cinder. After everything we went through for two months, surviving in the Barrens, fighting that Witch's monsters. I'm hurt that you left." I said harshly letting the venom on my tongue leak through. Her brows furrowed as I said that and she dashed at me.
"Don't speak on what you have no understanding of! I did what I had to, I saved you whether you wanted me to or not." I grabbed her as she yelled at me, then I slammed her into the ground harshly and I yelled.
"Fuck, Cinder! I didn't want to be saved! I wanted you, dammit you can't see that? I fought for you! I crossed that valley so that I could get you out of there! We survived because we both trusted each other! Where did that go?" I yelled at her tears threatening to break free as I drew back my fist and slammed it into her jaw. Then with a kick I was sent flying.
"I can't trust you, hero! I can't because at the end you'll always run headlong into danger and death! How can I trust anyone like that, when I can't trust that you'll come back?" She said and I looked up at her as I rose from the ground, I could see the tears welling up in her eyes, but despite that I saw one prevailing emotion. Fear.
I looked down and she then aimed her blade and a fireball launched out, the heat seared my chest and scorched my clothes. The breastplate that I wore was burned until it was dyed black and I was sent flying.
"Cinder, I promised you. All roads will take me back to you, you know what that means." I said and she looked at me, her amber eyes burned and I remember what we did together. How I aided her in The Valley, everything that we did together. All of the fighting, days of surviving harsh environments and harsher beasts.
"That damned promise of yours will get you killed, Jaune. Because, next we meet, I will have no choice but to kill you." She said the tears on her face were apparent and I bit my cheek.
"Okay, Cin. But I will not run from you, not again, you don't get to ask that of me." I said and raised my sword and slammed it down.
"I concede the battle." I said and kneeled as Cinder walked away quickly, up on the stands Mercury and Emerald stared at the interaction in confusion. Their eyes met mine as I stood and sheathed the sword. I looked down and walked steadily down the stairs of the stage, Goodwitch's eyes gazed at me as if trying to decipher a puzzle that had yet to be made.
I ignored the sounds of the auditorium as I walked out, but behind I found a young woman trailing me, a dark crimson cloak on her person and then two grey eyes looked up at me as I turned back.
"Hello, Ruby. It has been quite a long time." I smiled at the young reaper, but in a second a hand came up to meet my face. I didn't dodge, I took the hit and still wore a smile.
"I'm sorry I took so long to get back." I spoke softly as she hugged me, her little arms wrapped around my torso and I hugged her back. She cried softly as I held her and then I spoke.
"My absence has not been kind to you, has it?" My now calloused and worn hands held her close and I made sure to be as gentle as possible. As a reflects I ran my hand down her hair and did my best to soothe her. The tears that streamed down her cheeks were not kind, nor gentle. And the soft sobs she had were not a testament to the simplicity of life in the wake of my departure.
"I understand that things almost certainly have been hard, Ruby. And I hope that you can forgive my leaving, but I have returned. I'm stronger, and most importantly, I stand a little wiser." I said softly and I could hear her stop crying and she slowly let go of me.
"Jaune, I'm glad you're back, I've missed my best friend, and a trusted leader that I could lean on." She said and I nodded, I hugged her and spoke.
"I'm glad to be back, but I fear I will not be a leader, I am no longer fit for the position. I told Ozpin as much, but he may be insistent." My voice had changed quite a lot, it was rough and harsh now, as if I was always fighting for every word.
"We need to talk to the others! They'll love to see you!" Ruby said and I shook my head, my hand letting itself free of hers.
"No. I fear that I'm not quite ready for that, I'm not the man I was when I left and I need to prepare to see them." I said and Ruby turned to me and for the first time, she saw my eyes clearly. The once perfect blue, now had slight streaks of amber in them, my brows were scarred with various cuts and tears that had occurred since I left Beacon. My eyes had bags under them like I hadn't slept since I left, I looked older and worn out for lack of any better terms. But the most noticeable feature was a scar that went from my collarbone and disappeared beneath my old hoodie.
"I've changed more than I'm willing to admit, but all of it brought me here." I said and she nodded and turned, her cheery voice ringing loudly.
"We'll be waiting for you, when you're ready, Jaune." A smile found its way to my lips as I looked at the little reaper, and I slowly started walking away from her. My thoughts quelled and I worked my way to my locker and opened it, finding a duffle bag, inside were all of my old gear. And my grimoire.
I carried the bag to my room and drew out the items that I had put away, those of which were:
The Kingslayer, my custom made axe that could use my aura to sharpen it. Inside the handle was a short sword that could separate and be used in dual wielding. The head of the axe had a long beard, the edge was engraved with various runes and ancient sigils. The handle was made of a dark oak wood and a mixture of metals. Multiple coins and pendants from various old nations were embedded to the head of the weapon and each one signified an honorable opponent felled.
Next, I had The Will, its an old war shotgun that had been heavily modified to be able to fire just about anything that I could fit in the chamber. I had it equipped with 12 gauge shells and even low grade cannon rounds. As long as I don't fire too many in a short timespan, the gun could handle it. The shotgun had old silver engraving in it that seemed to shine in the light. The first thing one would spot on the shotgun would be the stock, on it was an image of a crown and an axe that the crown was hung on.
The last piece of gear was my old revolver, the weapon was simply named, Pride. The weapon externally was very plain, it had blued anodized steel construction with a brass frame and trigger guard, the cylinder was made of a tough blackened steel. Upon closer inspection one may see the inside was lined with dozens of dust infused runes that were powered off aura, the weapon was a veritable hand cannon. The cylinders had to be loaded manually, as it was an old gun.
I pulled out two spare cylinders and dropped the ramrod lever on the bottom of the barrel of the gun half way, then I pulled the hammer to half cock and pulled the cylinder pin. The heavy steel fell from the gun and I examined it and made sure it was loaded correctly. Then in just a second I had the cylinder replaced and I opened the desk drawer of my desk in my room and slid the gun and replacement cylinders in.
My thoughts went back to Cinder, memories of our time in The Valley seemed to always resurface in quiet moments like these.
Four months ago, The Barren Wastes, The first encounter with The Valley...
I examined the landscape ahead of me, my eyes seemed to fix on a small framed person trudging toward the storm that threatened to swallow the Wastes. I could feel the dust and dirt dry my skin and tear at the flesh. My body ached from over two months of constant abuse, like a dozen Grimm had tried to kill me. My feet carried me to the woman who I now finally saw, her eyes were sunken and her body was withered. She had been injured and starving, a single word left her lips as I caught her as she collapsed into me.
"Valley..." She said as consciousness left her and then the storm we had been on the precipice of swallowed us, and the world seemed to change drastically.
"Hold on! I've got you!" I yelled and held the woman as the storm swallowed us, and then all my senses seemed to fail me as I found myself on cold grass, with the bright sun overhead. My eyes flicked across the land and I saw mountains higher than any other, and above the peaks of each one was a moon high in the sky. Unbeknownst to myself at the time, I had entered the Valley of Scorn, the lorded lands of the Dark Brother God.
"What the hell was that?" I asked out loud as I carried the woman and gently set her at the base of the tree. Before us was a massive valley that almost seemed to defy reality. Like something out of a fairy tale. It seemed to appear pleasant, but The Valley of Scorn had no pleasantries, only death.
One thing had been clear immediately though, this woman, whoever she was, needed my help.
"Lady?" I said and looked down at the frail woman in my arms, her eyes fluttered as she wavered between conscious and unconscious. She looked like the image of famine, with pale ghostly skin and dark sunken eyes, she was paper thin and her bones protruded quite a bit. She looked dead for lack of any better adjective.
"I'll get you safe and sound don't worry." I said and carried her to a crook of trees where it looked like three trees had woven themselves together as they grew and the top looked like a crown and then the frail woman spoke, so softly it was tough to hear but I heard it.
"Welcome to the Valley Of Scorn, Lost Boy." Her weak voice said and then she leaned against me as we sat down and I pulled a protein bar from my pack and a bottle of water.
"Please drink, I promise it'll be okay." I said and slowly lifted the bottle to her mouth and helped her to drink.
"I'm Jaune, just Jaune. And I have no idea what's going on but I won't go anywhere." I said and my arms held this woman and I leaned back against the tree. The world seemed to fall apart around me and then I snapped back to consciousness as I heard the woods come alive.
I laid her against the tree and drew the woodcutter's axe that I carried and the revolver that I had kept, and soon I knew monsters would approach. But, regardless of struggle, I had to protect this woman, I would not fall.