Alright, I haven't written a story in a while. I was originally going to make this a completely different story altogether that was based upon An Aura's Amalgamation. However after the 9th volume of RWBY with the Ever After, this thought came into my mind and I decided to roll with it. That being said, I am still writing, but no matter what I seem to do, my Writer's Block remains strong. So I decided to do something a bit about it so the stories I wrote aren't, once again, left unfinished. But less about that now, I DO NOT own either RWBY or Pokémon and I hope you all enjoy the chapter.
The soft and cool wind that blew throughout the world was a comforting feeling as the night sky was illuminated by the many stars that seemed to shine above, contrasting the veil of darkness with vivid design of dim dots from above. Below them in a small clearing, came a much brighter light, a nearby camp that was surrounded by the marvelous greenwoods with the cackling flames of a campfire placed in the middle that offered a similar comfort to those that rested within it.
One of them was a man lost in his work, blue eyes focused on his scribbles and writing, pen in hand that met the paper within a small notebook of sorts as he documented his current excursion within an unexplored acre of the mysterious and strange world of a literal fairy tale. As he wrote, the man would occasionally look up, inspecting and focusing on his surroundings, often stopping to a creature that rested across from him.
It was a large creature; brown and white fur covered the slumbering animal as it rested beside a tree. Much like the bark of said tree, its head was adorned with a crown of bones, antlers sprouting from the head with it's rabbit-like ears draped down but not meeting the dirt. A giant jackalope-like creature that had saved the man's life and had sense continued to accompany him. A small smile worked it's way to the man's face once more before he turned to his work.
As the minutes passed, the man nodded to himself, approving his work and notes before placing the pen down and closing the notebook with a silent move of his fingers. Allowing the notebook to join it's companion on the ground, the man closed his eyes, a hand covered in dirt reaching his way to a slightly cleaner beard of blond hair. As he entangled his fingers into them, he lamented to himself the failure of this current exploration. It would seem that this was just another dead end to his overall end goals.
The man gave a tired sigh, his hand falling from playing with his unkept beard and falling onto his lap, the man in question looked to be around his thirties, long hair tied in a ponytail, or sorts that was kept with the remains of a red sash, now a mere hair tie. His once more colorful clothes, worn down to a darkened hue and his once clean, white and gold armor, decayed and eaten away by time as a painting of rust coated all of it.
Reaching beside him, his hand instinctually grabbed his weapon, one that was in a similar condition to his appearance. Standing beside it's master, an aged, broken and rusted sword was pulled from the ground, it's dulled edge and shattered end easily being maneuvered and finding it's way into a similar conditioned sheath the armored man owned. Returning it to it's rightful place, the man let out a tired sigh.
He, a weary and broken man, looked up to the night skies of this strange and mysterious world he fell into so long ago. How long had it been now since he had fallen? How long would it be until they joined him? Such questioned filled his mind before he buried them. The former no longer mattered, he had, or would eventually fall with them, and find that cursed clock-like fruit. Or was it a fruit-like clock. He couldn't truly recall, having only remembered his fears of being sent back into the history of this world, destined to play a part in it's stories.
A story that he and many others believed to be but fantasy. And in such a cruel way about it, it was. Written by a girl, who was more than just a little bratty, but a monster perhaps as spoiled and ambitious as one of Cinder Fall herself. He blamed himself for what happened, to him, to her, to Lewis. The man felt his chest tighten slightly, recalling the kids he found and fell before he and his own friends had.
And from that came the story, the fairy tale of the Girl who Fell, the story of how she adventured through this strange world of the Ever After, how she escaped and made her way home. And he himself played such a role, in both that story and in the events that had inspired it.
He, the fabled and heroic Rusted Knight.
A man who was said to be handsome and kind, brave and strong, who gave his life to protect her as she made her way back to Remnant while he waited for his friends. Such a heroic tale that was nothing of what truly happened.
'Heh, and so the Rusted Knight drank the poison' he thought to himself bitterly, recalling that line. How in the story the knight had completed a task for her. Saving her from ingesting poison on her behalf, but how she had helped him, blaming herself for his poisoning. His eyes turned to the true heroine of that tale, the jackalope sleeping peacefully.
Alyx had written that story, or rather that is what the penname was. The author wasn't too-well known, they were lost to history, but people claimed that it was a young woman that matched her appearance who went by that name. She was heartbroken, saddened, nothing like Alyx was from the book. Had she regret her actions, he wasn't sure.
All he knew was that after she poisoned him, he never saw any of them again, and while only Alyx escaped, there was no Lewis to be mentioned even associated to that fairy tale. Only Alyx made it back.
And that truly made him question the truth about this world.
He tried to think of a reason, only to come up with more and more answers. He had done all he could to keep the story on track, he had done all he could to look after them both, yet in the end, he had failed to save either of them. Another failure to his long list he supposed.
Memories of his past life flared to life, past mistakes, past failures, past scars that he could never truly recover from. Looking to the flames, still alive in the cool night, his own eyes dimmed. He was never truly fond of flames, and yet he could forgive himself for that. Flames brought back memories well left buried.
Memories of a madwoman, a woman who killed a girl he loved, who confessed mere moments before her death, departing him in a rather unexpected way. A kiss and a confession, before shoving him into a rocket-powered locker and sending him to safety. And all he had left was her broken weapon he had forged into his own, and a memory of the times they shared together.
He felt himself growing tired, more so than he already was. Blue eyes closed as he called back to his old team. Memories filled his mind. Memories of a group of four, a red-haired woman, so humble yet skilled. Placed upon her pedestal she desperately sought to escape from. Another girl with short orange hair, a bubbly personality filled with excitement and desire to seek every day as an adventure. A boy with raven hair and a magenta strip that matched his eyes, calm and composed, often the voice of reason in their group.
And him, a failure, a fraud, a fool who thought he could be a hero, who thought he had to live up to his family legacy, only to be proven wrong as time went on. An optimistic fool with a kind-enough heart but deluded into thinking he was something he wasn't. Jaune Arc, son of Nicholas Arc and Isabelle Arc, gave a bitter chuckle.
Blue eyes opened to see the night sky once more. Jaune stared up at the skies, recalling memories, recalling moments of his past, the people he met, the places he saw. The good times, the rough times. In the stars the man saw his sisters, his parents, his friends and to a less favorable feeling, his enemies.
And now here he was, nearly alone with only Juniper currently by his side, a failure of a hero, Jaune Arc. The Rusted Knight himself, waited and searched for a way back to Remnant. That way, they could get out, find a way back to Remnant. Reunite with his friends and family.
With that final though, Jaune allowed the darkness to take him. Falling asleep where he was with the last thing, he saw was the dwindling flames of his campfire.
Morning must've either came faster than he thought, or the fire suddenly burned twice as bright, the sudden sensation of something nudging him frantically as well as the bright rays of light was enough for him to groan and respawn to the world around him. Groaning in annoyance, he felt something nudge him again, a hand reaching up to push it back, feeling fur as he flinched from the light from the fire. Seconds later, he moved his hand away from the furry thing and tried to focus, his vision returning slightly as he saw the familiar silhouette of Juniper.
The creature looked fearful, afraid, no doubt having woke him up for some reason. The light died down slightly, and Jaune frowned as he got up. Looking around, he instantly knew something was wrong as his gaze quickly turned to the "Fire" in question.
No, morning had not come, but the light could've tricked another at first. The fire was extinguished, charred ashes and wood left in the pit as a golden light illuminated from the center of the camp. Juniper was spooked, and Jaune nodded, reaching for Crocea Mors with a cautious expression, his body getting up and deploying a shield that was once his sheath.
He had learned several times to be wary of anything in the Ever After, and seeing how startled Juniper was only reinforced that feeling. Hesitantly, he made his way towards the strange light. Step by step, the light seemed to dim, until he was right over the fire, shield deployed, sword held tightly and Juniper right beside him. Looking into the hole, the light was fully out, but in it's place was something that confused him.
A small object rested in the middle of the pit, covered in bits of ash but visible enough to see. Looking at Juniper, he saw the jackalope confused, more so than he was. Looking back to it, he could sense, something about it, as if his aura was reacting to it, calling out to it.
The sensation made him shiver; he felt the anxiety of it all beginning to form. And yet, despite not knowing why himself, he found himself calming down enough to put his weapon away. Juniper was still confused, looking at her master as he seemed to be in a trance. Slowly, he returned the blade to his sheath, his shield having folded back to allow his broken blade to rest. And slowly, Jaune reached down for the mysterious object.
Claiming it from the ashes, Jaune instantly felt the anxiety leave him, his eyes suddenly sparking back with life as he suddenly snapped out of the trance he was in. Dropping the item to the ground and stumbling back a little. Looking at the object in question, he could see it much better now.
It seemed to be made of gold, a small ring that looked something more like a cross of some sort. It was clearly in an X shape-design, with four thorn-like spikes around it, and two similar golden arcs that stood against each other, their turned insides facing not only the other but the middle of the ring itself. Small gems that looked like green crystals decorating it. And for minutes, Jaune and Juniper looked at the ring in question.
Time past, but nothing happened, and again, Jaune hesitantly reached for it. Picking it up, he looked at it, a confused expression once more returned as Juniper joined him to inspect the strange ring. It was much lighter than it seemed, surprisingly almost weightless. After picking it up, holding it by the pointed ends between his thumb and index finger, Jaune looked through it.
"...Never seen this before" he muttered aloud, unsure what it was. Still, that just made it all the more suspicious, and reasonable to leave it be. Who knew what it was, where it came from and what it could do. Anything was possible in this strange world, and he wasn't going to take any unnecessary risks. Well, more than he already did.
His first instinct was to throw it away, or back into the firepit and leave, but before he could, the ring suddenly pulsed with a strange energy. Jaune froze on the spot, as did Juniper as a sensation of some sort of power filled the area. Jaune dropped the ring, landing near his feet before it began to glow brilliantly, the simple gold design shining in the sudden light. Jaune recognized this sensation, or at least felt a familiar sensation to this. 'No...' he thought desperately before he and Juniper were overtaken by the light. "No, no, No!" he screamed in fearful panic and brief defiance. The light exploded and illuminated the area and the greenwoods surrounding them, gathering several eyes, one of which being a cat that was most curious.
Making it's way to the light, it raced it's way though the trees before the light suddenly vanished. Still, the creature continued, wondering what was happening. As it entered the clearing, it stopped in it's tracks, looking confused itself at what it was seeing. "What in the world?" it pondered aloud, seeing the campsite now deserted. "What is all of this?" he asked himself before looking into the pit, nothing but ashes remaining. His head however turned to something on the ground, a frown forming on it's face as it made it's way to the nearby notebook.
Reaching for the book with it's paw, the Curious Cat placed it's paw on it, flipping the cover open and seeing the words on it. 'A notebook?' it thought to itself as it read a little of it's contents before realizing whose it belonged to. 'Jaune's notebook, it seems... So he did survive Afterall. And here I thought that poison Alyx snuck into his drink would've been the end of him' it though, somewhat amused. It also mean something else. Yes, if dear little Alyx couldn't help him escape the Ever After and into Remnant, then perhaps Jaune could take it instead. He should still be weakened, perhaps it could use that weakness to it's advantage. Always wanting to play the hero, and all.
But that lead to the question. If this was Jaune's notebook then where was Jaune, and what was that light.
Questions began to fill the feline's mind, all while theories began to turn. Did Jaune perhaps, ascend? Was that light something important. Blue eyes narrowed, 'Did he... could he have returned to Remnant?!' the cat thought in sudden fear turned to anger as it's claws extended and pierced the cover of the notebook. No, that couldn't of been it, could it? Whatever that light was, he was sure it was something to do with the tree, or perhaps, something to do with it's creators.
It was making him curious, so very curious. And nothing more now seemed to annoy the cat than its own curse of curiosity.
And there we go, it's a small prologue, I really had no idea how to start this to be honest other than chess piece bullet points of sorts. So I apologize if it's rather short. I'm trying to get out of my slump. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the prologue. For context this takes place in the Ever After some time after Juniper saved Jaune and he met the Paper Pleasers while Jaune explored the Ever After. He doesn't know about the Curious Cat, or it's role but is aware something happened to Lewis, even if he doesn't have proof. I am kind of leaning away from the Volume 9 script in a few areas.
That being said however, I hope you enjoyed, and I'll try to get the actual first chapter out when I can.