It had been three days, and Em had gathered the necessary manpower for their expedition to the coast. Jaune and Aldric could be found walking towards the gates, fully geared up with their weapons at hand.
They maintained a comfortable silence as they walked through the settlement before they arrived in front of a group of unfamiliar people. Until Em squeezed through the middle of the group and approached them, a couple of people following behind her.
"I hope you guys are rested up, 'cause you're gonna need the energy!" She exclaimed before gesturing towards the group following her, "These are some of the other leaders in our group." She pointed to a duo of huge bear faunus, both with brown hair, hazel eyes, and bear ears on top of their heads.
"That's Bernard and Alexander; they're in charge of the construction crew. The rest of these guys will be helping you fend off the Grimm," she waved her hand over to four admittedly more unique individuals, "Introduce yourselves, guys."
A skinny man with red hair, blue eyes, and a large rat tail protruding from his lower back stepped forward, "I'm Skete, an orphan."
Jaune tilted his head, waiting for more, but the guy stepped back with a scowl, offering no more words.
Em coughed awkwardly and a more friendly-looking guy stepped forward.
The man smiled, "I'm Ajax, it's nice to meet you all."
The man was a behemoth, possibly even bigger than Aldric, with brown hair, tanned skin, and blue eyes. Jaune's gaze traveled to the brown scales that covered his forearms and upper arms. A lizard faunus, then.
The last person made herself known.
"Hi! I'm Calla! It's nice to meet you guys as well!" A rather bubbly voice said.
Jaune, while tall for a thirteen-year-old, didn't usually look down on people. But this girl was very short, with white hair and brown eyes. While short, it was still very obvious that she was an adult from the sharp lines of her face and lack of baby fat.
Once the three fighters introduced themselves, his mentor nodded.
"I'm Aldric and this is my apprentice, Jaune."
At that, Jaune gave an awkward wave that brought smiles from everyone who wasn't Skete, who just scoffed.
Em cleared her throat, "Alright, now that we're all friends, it's time to head out." She signaled one of the guards who began the process of opening the gates. She turned to face them and the rest of the group, who Jaune could only assume were more people to help with construction.
"It's about a day's journey to the coast from here, so prepare yourself; we're not going to stop until we get there. Skete, Calla, and Ajax will protect our rear. Aldric, you and Jaune will be upfront with me."
They all nodded and moved into position.
"Let's get moving!"
/**/**/**/
It was a grueling day of travel, where they constantly had to fend off not just Beowolves, but also these giant rat-like Grimm called Capivara. Jaune had already slain enough of those slippery bastards for a lifetime. When complaining to Aldric, he just said, "You get used to it."
Finally, though, they broke out of the forest and onto a beautiful beach. Jaune sighed in relief as Em finally stopped moving, letting the rest of the group catch up. He wasn't able to admire the water very much, considering that it was already late at night and it was pitch black over the ocean.
Em gathered everyone onto the beach as the faunus started to unpack their tents, "Good work, all of you. We'll be resting on the beach for tonight before starting on the docks. Aldric and I will take the first watch. The rest of you can figure out an order together."
Jaune nodded before going over to help set up tents. It was the least he could do since the builders had carried their luggage for them while they fought the Grimm. Soon enough, all the tents were up, and Jaune and Ajax had the next watch, while Calla and Skete would take last.
He walked over to one of the empty tents and settled down, intent on getting some sleep before it was his turn to keep watch.
/**/**/
Jaune was up bright and early the next day and was currently with Em, Aldric, and the rest of the fighters.
"We chose this beach because of its proximity to the forest and the length of the shallow waters," Em said, "Most of the construction group will be chopping down trees for the first few days to clear space and gather materials. I need three of you to hold a perimeter around them. I'll have you switch with each other every four hours. Got it?"
Jaune raised his hand, much to the amusement of the others. Em sighed, "Kid, this isn't a classroom."
Jaune blushed and lowered his hand while Aldric snickered in the background. He composed himself quickly though and began to speak.
"What do we do when we're not holding the perimeter?" He asked.
Em shrugged, "It doesn't really matter. Eat, rest, train, or help chop down trees. It's up to you."
"We'll keep up your training, Jaune," His mentor added, causing Jaune to groan.
"Well, if that's all, I'll need two of you to help me hold the border," Em said when no one else had a question.
"I'll go!"
"I suppose I could help first."
Em nodded to Ajax and Calla and they walked off towards the rest of the group. Skete immediately left without a word, not wanting to spend any more time near Jaune. The blonde in question sighed.
"What did I even do to him? He's been rude since the moment I saw him."
Aldric shrugged, "Some people are just naturally stubborn," he said as he started walking down the shore, "C'mon, let's get some sparring in."
Jaune took one last glance at the retreating rat faunus before shaking his head and following Aldric. It wasn't worth worrying about.
/**/**/
The days passed slowly as more trees got cut down and the occasional Grimm to exterminate. It was interesting for Jaune to watch the faunus at work start building a variety of things, such as boats, houses, docks, and even the beginnings of a wall.
The blonde spent most of his time training with Aldric or talking to his fellows. He learned that Ajax was originally from Mistral before settling down in Menagerie because of discrimination. He also talked with Calla a bit. The bubbly girl was a bit of a chatterbox, though, which tested the pitiful extent of Jaune's social skills.
The only person he didn't spend time with was Skete, who still hated his guts for some reason. Jaune wasn't going to judge, even if it was getting rather tiresome. He assumed that the man had a bad experience with humans since he himself didn't do anything.
The only thing that wasn't alright was how close the desert was to their location. It was well known on Menagerie that the desert was chock-full of Capivaras and other, more dangerous Grimm the deeper you went.
Em had Skete scouting the area at least twice a day to make sure they wouldn't get overrun by a horde of them.
With a routine of training and border patrol, the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months. Soon enough, it had been two and a half months with no incidents and Jaune turned 14 years old.
It was also when things went sideways.
It happened when Jaune was off patrol duty and was training on the beach, keeping a loose eye on the docks just in case any oceanic Grimm got too close. Em and Aldric were talking about the proceedings of the expedition and how much longer it would take when Skete burst out of the forest and onto the beach.
It was the first time Jaune had seen him show any emotion besides irritation.
"Em! It's bad!" The red-haired man said in between panicked breaths, "There's— It's— Too many—"
"Slow down!" Em shouted, now standing up and alert, "Take a deep breath and tell me what's going on clearly."
He did as he was told, and took a couple of seconds to compose himself.
"We need to leave as soon as possible. There's a horde on its way. There were hundreds of them…" He paused and shuddered, "We need to evacuate now."
Em had paled considerably during Skete's explanation and turned to Aldric, who nodded in understanding.
"I'll warn the others." He said before taking off towards the forest.
As he left, Em addressed the rat faunus again, "When will they get here?"
"They didn't notice me, so they probably won't be here for a couple of hours."
Em was grilling him for information when people started emerging from the forest and packing up the bare essentials for the journey back.
Jaune, who had been quiet so far, spoke up, "Are we giving up on building a settlement here?"
Em shook her head, "No, we aren't. We'll wait for the horde to move on before starting again. For now, get ready to leave."
Jaune nodded and turned to pack up his tent when he stopped suddenly.
"What is it?" Em asked.
"Do you feel it?" Jaune said, people rushing around the camp and taking down tents. Jaune put his hand to the ground when Em and Skete felt it as well.
The ground was vibrating.
Em paled.
"Shit! Shit, shit, shit!" She spun around and yelled toward the campsite, "Everyone, get to the boats!"
Panic spread as the ground was shaking enough that even the non-combatants noticed. Thankfully, they had enough boats for everyone, as escaping to the ocean was something that had been planned as a last resort.
The problem was that not all the boats were in the water as the docks hadn't been finished yet. Aldric, Ajax, and Calla, burst out of the treeline as Em started directing people in an orderly manner.
The vibrations were worse now and the sounds of feet pounding and Grimm screeching filled the air.
Aldric's face was grim.
"We're gonna have to hold them off," he said, glancing towards their comrades.
They all wore similar expressions as the atmosphere intensified.
"We'll do what we have to," Calla said, for once not cheerfully.
Jaune nodded in agreement and unsheathed his sword, the blade glinting in the midday sun.
It was a large beach, about 50 meters away from the woods. It would give them enough room to form a border around the frantic faunus, who were now starting to haul the boats toward the ocean.
It was a few seconds later, that the first Grimm broke through the trees, its beady red eyes locking on to them. Jaune grimaced.
'All the negativity is attracting them faster.'
The Capivara wailed and rushed forward with reckless abandon, straight onto Jaune's ready sword. Purple blood splattered the ground as another rat arrived on the beach. And then another. And another.
The treeline exploded into chattering teach and black fur as the full force of the horde arrived at their doorstep. Jaune started to glow with a golden light.
"GET READY!" Aldric shouted over the noise.
And then the wave was upon them.
Jaune hacked and slashed as seemingly endless rats threw themselves at their perimeter. But the group held strong, with Skete rapidly slashing at the rats with his two knives. Ajax swung his quarterstaff in wide arcs, crushing them by the dozen. Calla's sword had elongated into a sharp, flexible whip as she slashed through the horde.
Aldric, though, was simply a force of nature as he tore through their ranks with a brutality Jaune hadn't seen before. His muscles bulged and his hammer roared through the air, taking multiple Grimm down with each swing.
They maintained this for a few minutes before the tables started to turn. Skete was slowing down and starting to accumulate bruises and scratches. Calla's sword had reverted to its normal form as she tried to fight at close range. Ajax's swings started to lose power.
Jaune's lungs were burning as the glow around him intensified. They were being pushed back. He turned briefly and saw that the boats were starting to leave the beach as people piled on. They were still too close to the shore, though.
The group backpedaled as they were squeezed closer together. The others were tiring quickly since they weren't as trained as him or his mentor. Jaune moved to the front of the group with Aldric when they heard Em shout.
"Retreat! Retreat!"
But it wasn't that easy as they started to get flanked, the Capivaras pouring out of the treeline endlessly and covering the beach. They were backing up, but not fast enough. They needed an opportunity. A distraction.
Jaune's blue eyes steeled as he prepared to push his limits. Aldric noticed and yelled something to him, but Jaune couldn't quite hear as more adrenaline began rushing through his system.
"Get ready! We won't die here… I won't allow it!" Jaune yelled as he channeled aura through his body faster than he ever had before.
And his mind opened.
He could feel as his golden aura filled the gaps between his skin and muscles and even further as he felt the individual molecules in his body being connected. Gold markings lit up across his skin as he raised Crocea Mors high, the blade burning with gold fire.
And then he brought it down in a dazzling arc. The force of the blow immediately bisected the five Grimm in front of him. That wasn't all, though. The force generated by his swing sent heavy gales that blasted through the enemy lines, turning them into chunks of meat.
His comrades looked on in shock as his attack created a clearing of 15 meters in length and 10 meters in width.
Then Jaune collapsed, his aura shattering.
Aldric rushed over and threw Jaune over his shoulder before running to the water, the rest of the group quickly composing themselves and doing the same.
The Capivaras tore through the sand to get at them, but it was too late as they had already jumped in the water and started to swim. A few of the Grimm followed for a ways while the water was still shallow, but were soon forced to stop.
Aldric tossed Jaune onto the nearest boat before hauling himself over as well, laying flat on his back.
He turned his head and looked at the shore. It was completely covered in Grimm to the point that you couldn't even see the sand underneath. Red eyes glared hatefully after them as they sailed deeper into the ocean.
They had made it.
/**/**/
It took them a day and a half to reach Kuo Kuana, which was good since they would have run out of water soon. They were received by worried faunus fishermen near the docks. Telling the residents about how they survived a Grimm tide raised more than a couple of eyebrows.
It was only a couple of hours later that Em, Aldric, and Jaune were seated in Ghira's house, giving the chieftain a debrief of what happened.
"I see," Ghira said, scratching his chin, "I'm glad you all made it back with no casualties. A miracle, if the number of Grimm you reported is anywhere close to the truth."
Em smiled a bit and nudged Jaune's shoulder from where she was sitting.
"Jaune here ended up saving my fighters with some flashy golden attack. If it weren't for him and Aldric being there, they probably would've bit the dust."
Aldric nodded along, "Everyone fought admirably, but it was my apprentice here who allowed us to escape with our lives."
Jaune blushed at the praise, squirming a bit in his seat.
Ghira chuckled heartily before standing up, "Feel free to stay here for a couple of days. My wife would appreciate the company."
They all shook their heads.
"Thank you for the offer," Em started, "But we want to get back to work as soon as possible."
Ghira sighed like he already knew what their answer would be, "Well, I won't hold you up, then."
With the dismissal, the trio exited the Chief's house and started the trek back to the outpost, where the others had gotten a headstart. It was, thankfully, an uneventful trip back. When they arrived, it was to the cheers and well wishes of everyone, who heard about their slim escape from the Grimm.
Jaune was also surprised as it seemed many of the more weary faunus had changed their opinion of him, welcoming him with open arms. Aldric smiled as he watched Jaune get uncomfortable under all the attention.
They headed up to the office in the center building and started to talk business. They talked for a while about planning and a rough timeline for when they could head back and start working on the village. They would be heading back in about two weeks' time if the horde had dispersed by then.
Aldric and Jaune left the office, somewhat tired from the last couple of days. Aldric went straight to bed, stating that their training would resume tomorrow evening. Jaune decided to take a walk around the outpost, where he got many congratulations from any faunus he came across.
There weren't a lot of people in the outpost, so the news spread pretty quickly. The blonde quickly ended his walk, though, since he got stressed by being at the center of attention. He arrived back at the bunks where Aldric was already sleeping.
Jaune followed his example shortly, unaware of his story spreading further through Menagerie faster than he would have thought possible.
And so was the birth of the "Golden Knight."
/**/**/
Hello all. Here's a new chapter now that I finally have more free time. Please leave a review!