Chapter 4: Death of Innocence
"There is no place for innocence in this world." - Anthony Neilson
Robbeeyy: Very true. As for the other Acts are going to cover, here it is: 1. The Branwen Act deals with the loss of innocence. - 2. The Pine Act deals with the fact that killing is a part of the world and that when you live the life of a Huntsmen killing is a part of it and death is a fact. - 3. The Spider act deals with the pain of loss, and how revenge and hatred can blacken one's soul and turn them into a monster if they let it so. - 4. The Atlas Act deals with the fight between Following order VS Doing what is right. - 5. The Patch Act deals with human connection, being stuck in the past, the betterment it one's self, and how one can choose how they "end". - 6. The Shade Act deals with the cruelty of man and the concept of destiny.
Guest: You'll just have to see about it in the 2nd Half.
CriticaofRandomness: Actually, after this, we have one more Chapter in the Branwen Act.
Guest 2: Thank you, and I didn't want to write a graphic scene because I just felt that would be too far.
simm36: Thank you and they'll be supporting each other a lot since they are gonna go through a lot and I mean a ton of shit.
Rakkis3059: I agree, While I was hesitant on giving her such a backstory, I did want to make her past tragic to show that what people saw as the "Evil bandit girl" was actually just a damaged, angry, and scared girl.
Update 2:
Here are the updated chapters for the Acts:
Branwen Act (Chapter 5)
Pine Act (Chapters 6-11)
Spider Act (Chapters 12-15)
Argus Act (Chapters 16-17)
Atlas Act (Chapters 18-25)
Patch Act (Chapters 26-?)
Shade Act (Chapters ?)
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A whole month had passed since his and Vernal's night in Kūsho, and Jaune was starting to improve in his combat, as well as his aura manipulation. It was amazing how fast he had progressed in a month's time.
Not only that but he and Vernal got a little closer. Vernal had actually talked a few times about her past, she had only spoken about it maybe two or three times since they left Kūsho, it was mostly about her abuse at the orphanage, and nothing about what happened to her with that man... but Jaune wasn't going to force her to get to that, he was just gonna let her work her way up to that, give her time to build up the courage, but it was better than nothing.
Regardless, while his combat skills and agility were improving, he was not where a specific individual desired him to be.
Raven observed as another spar between Jaune and Vernal took place. The fight was indeed extensively longer than previous spars. Vernal still only had one pistol, but she thankfully invested in a secondary weapon, not Mech-Shift yet but an improvement, she had a scramasax dagger. The blade was about 5 inches and made of steel, and the grip was also made of steel but dressed in dark red leather.
The Dagger allowed her to actually block and deflect Jaune's sword rather than having her dodge and fire her gun, but now, she could block and fire faster.
Raven would acknowledge that Jaune's spars between Vernal and her giving him pointers on how to focus his aura and how to properly wield his sword without his shield improved his skill immensely. But she was still annoyed, annoyed that no matter how much she pushed him or how many packs of Grimm she sent Jaune and Vernal on, he hasn't unlocked his Semblance yet.
Her tolerance was beginning to wear thin.
The spar was over, Vernal had won again but the match was close, Jaune was very close to winning. Raven took herself out of her thoughts and congratulated them both and gave them a few pointers on what they could still improve and also informed them what they did well and then told the two to go and eat and they thanked her and left.
As they left though, Raven turned and saw Jaune and Vernal talking and actually laughing and joking with one another, something that she was a bit surprised to see, but the more that she thought about it, ever since they came back from Kūsho, there wasn't as much as hostility between the two.
Something must have happened that caused the two to begin to bond.
And that's when an idea came to her head, an idea that would possibly get Jaune to finally unlock his semblance and allow her to see what it was that made Jaune so special, or that might end in his death.
But it was a risk she was willing to take. After all, it was the results that mattered. Nothing else.
A little while later, Jaune and Vernal were at their tent, eating dinner that the tribe cooks had made that evening.
Jaune took a quick drink of his ale, which the tribe seemingly only drank, and then looked to Vernal, "You're getting better with that dagger," Jaune said with a smile as he set his ale to the side, "When the time comes and you have the money, maybe you should invest in a pistol/Dagger combo,"
Vernal looked back at him and smiled, "Really?" She asked, "How would that work?"
"Well... you can have your pistols shift into daggers similar to yours or have your daggers shift into pistols, either work," Jaune said "You could be like a rouge from B&B!"
Vernal looked at him with a raised brow and a smile, "Really Arc? B&B?"
"What?" Jaune asked with a smile and a confused expression, "I use to play it with my younger sisters!"
Vernal rolled her eyes and just chuckled and returned to eating her food.
"Hey! Don't knock it till you try it!" Jaune said, pointing at her with a smile.
"Whatever you say Arc~," Vernal said in a mocking tone.
Jaune just smiled and took another drink of Ale before eating as well.
However, before they could finish their meals, the tent flap opened, and standing at the entrance was Shay. Vernal, as well as Jaune, could see that outside behind him was the rest of his group.
Vernal's expression turned sour just seeing his face, "What do you want Shay," she asked
Shay looked at her and gave her a smile, "Hey, no need for the dirty looks! Raven said that there's a pack of Ursa and Beowulfs spotted not too far from here, and she wants us to come with this time around," He told her.
"Ugh!" Vernal said "It's bad enough I have to deal with Grimm but now I gotta work for you," She said
Shay just shrugged and smiled, "Yeah well, I don't like it either but Raven's Orders," Shay said.
Vernal groaned once more but set her food to the side and got up, Jaune quickly did the same they followed Shay and his group outside of the camp and left in the supposed direction of where the Grimm pack was.
As they made their way through the forest, Jaune felt an uneasy feeling creep into his mind. He kept looking behind him a few times only to see that Shay was smiling and that just made it worse. Shay only smiled when he felt cocky or wanted to show off.
So why was he smiling this whole time on their walk?
Eventually, after walking for a while, they arrived at the spot the Grimm pack was spotted, but when Jaune looked at the spot, it was bare, he saw no Grimm or even prints of Grimm were in sight, which set alarms off in Jaune's head.
'S-Something doesn't feel right...' Jaune thought to himself 'Something is really not right about this.
Jaune was trying to figure out what was going on and trying to calm ins mind down. he wondered why Shay had brought them to a spot that clearly showed no signs of Grimm, why he felt like danger was in coming.
And he was right. The danger was indeed close by, the danger was in the form of three men grabbing him and holding him tightly, and pulling him away from Vernal. One guy grabbed his right arm, another grabbed his left, and the third wrapped his arm around Jaune's neck but didn't squeeze to choke him, just to hold him back.
Vernal saw this and was also shocked, as she quickly turned around to Shay with a confused but angry glare, "What the hell are they doing!?" she asked him
Shay smugly smiled at her, "Just making sure he doesn't get in the way for the next part,"
Vernal still looked confused and angry, "What the fuck are you-!?"
A shot rang out.
Jaune's eyes widened with horror.
Vernal fell forward.
"VERNAL!" Jaune cried as he struggled to break free from the three men.
Vernal winced in pain as she slowly got up only to look down to her right side to see blood pooling out of a bullet wound. She seethed with anger as she looked up to Shay, but it wasn't him who shot her, and she turned around only to see one of his other buddies had gotten behind her. Jaune looked over to Vernal and saw her slowly turn onto her back and looked at Shay, glaring at him with the most furious look Jaune had ever seen.
"What the Fuck do you think you're doing Shay!?" Vernal cried
Shay raised a brow, "What do you mean, what am I doing?" Shay asked "I'm just simply following orders!" he said smugly
Jaune looked a little confused, but was also angry, "What the hell are you talking about!?" Jaune cried out
Shay turned to him still with that smug expression on his face. "Don't you get it? Raven's the one who ordered me to do this," He said "Said it'll get you to unlock that semblance of yours or whatever," he said
"Bullshit!" Vernal cried out before wincing as the pain in her right side slightly worsened.
Shay shook his head, "No, No, No Vernal! No Bullshit!" He said with a chuckle, "She told me to do this and I agreed to fast like you wouldn't believe! I have really been waiting for something like this!" he said with a smile
Jaune shook his head furiously, "No! No way! Why would Raven let someone like you do this to Vernal!? Raven needs her!" Jaune cried, still trying to break free, but to no avail.
Shay chuckled again and shook his head, "Tsk, tsk, tsk, that's where ya wrong blondie!" Shay said, "Raven wants you! She's hoping your semblance is something because she's willing to let Vernal die just so you can be her new right hand!"
Vernal looked angry and a little sad as she shook her head, denying what Shay told her, "Y-You're a liar!" She cried, "You're a goddamn fucking liar!"
"Am I?" Shay asked, he bent down and looked at her, he saw the blood continuing to slowly ooze out, and he smiled, "If you and blondie make it out of here alive, ask her yourself," he told her.
He got up and kicked her in her right side, causing her to cry out in terrible pain, and seeing this, Jaune kept trying to free himself but the men kept holding him back.
"You bastard!" Jaune cried "Get away from her!"
Vernal was still in immense pain, but she pushed through it and seethed in anger, and tried to go for her gun but the one man that shot her stopped her and threw her gun to the side. He then moved over to Jaune and took Crocea Mors off his person and threw it to the side as well.
Jaunewas then pushed down to the ground and the men put their weight on him and they began tying his hands behind him. Jaune tried to free himself and make it hard for them, but they overpowered him, much to his anger.
Shay walked over to him and then bent down to look at him, Jaune looked back at him with a glare, however, tears were beginning to form.
"Hey come on, don't look at me like that, this is just how things work in this world," Shay told him.
Jaune grunted and groaned as he tried to free himself, his anger building up as well as his sadness as tears finally fell from his eyes.
"Aw, are you crying blondie?" Shay asked with a mocking tone,
Something feral rose up in Jaune, it was anger, but it was more... feral. He first tried to bite Shay but he backed away with a smile as he saw Jaune become like a wild animal. Anger and sadness swirled in Jaune's mind and heart and he tried to free himself like a caged wild animal.
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" Jaune cried in anger as tears rolled down his face. "I'LL KILL YOU SHAY! I SWEAR I WILL! I PROMISE! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Jaune cried with so much fury he sounds a little different.
Shay busted out laughing, as did the rest of his group which only made Jaune angry, but he remembered why he was angry, and he looked over to Vernal and saw that she looked weak and the blood was beginning to puddle on the ground and she looked pale. and he tried to wiggle out of his bonds, but it was no use.
Shay then grabbed Jaune by the hair and picked up his head and looked at him, still with that smug smile on his face, as if he had just won the lottery. "Sure you will, Blondie," Shay said, "Be honest with yourself, you don't have the stomach to kill me, you don't even have what it takes to live this life, so do me a favor, fail this little test that Raven gave ya, and die, let the Grimm eat ya, that way, I'll really be the strongest in the tribe," Shay said with a laugh.
He let go of Jaune's head and Jaune was still on his stomach grunting and fuming with anger. Shay got back up and kicked Jaune in the side multiple times and the other men around him got off of him and did the same. With each hit, Jaune felt it, his rage growing, every hit just fueled his rage, but couldn't do anything. Not yet.
They stopped and Shay looked down to see Jaune was still boiling in fury gets angry and then just left him on the ground. The others followed him and left the two of them there in the dirt, one beaten and the other bloody.
Jaune still tried to free himself, his fingers wiggling around trying to untie the ropes that bound him, but he failed, so he tried to shake his hands free from the bonds, but they were too tight.
Vernal turned her head to look at Jaune. "A-Arc...? Are you there?" she asked weakly.
"I'm here Vernal! I'm here!" Jaune cried as he still tried to free himself.
Vernal was breathing deeply, trying to savor every breath she took, "I'm feeling really weak right now... I-I think I'm losing too much blood..."
Jaune's tears continued to fall from his eyes as he tried to free himself to help Vernal. "Just hold On! I-I'll be there in a second! Just hang in there Vernal! Please!" Jaune begged,
"I-I don't want to die..." Vernal croaked out, her voice sounding more broken.
Jaune's anger slowly began to dissipate, he feared he was gonna be to late. Jaune was starting to become frantic, he wasn't going to give up, he need to help Vernal. She wasn't going to die! He wasn't going to let that happen! So he quickly shifted on his back and tried to slither his legs through the space between his arms, but that's when he heard the snapping of a branch. Hearing that, both teens turned their heads in the direction of the noise and saw the bushes rustling, and stepping out, was a Beowulf.
Both of their eyes widened in horror and Jaune quickly tried to move his hands to his front, and Vernal tried to turn around and crawl away, but the moment she turned her waist, pain shot through her body, and she cried out and returned to her previous state.
The Beowulf slowly approached Vernal and as he got closer to her, he smelled the air, no doubt smelling Vernal's fear and blood, and it began to circle her. Vernal began to cry, tears falling out of her eyes.
Jaune managed to get his hands now back to his front and get up only for him to see that the Beowulf's back was right in front of him, and suddenly, that anger from before returned, and not even thinking about getting his sword, he rushed at the Beowulf and quickly put his still tied hands over the Beowulf's head and quickly began leaning backward, his tied hands choking the Grimm.
The Beowulf howled in pain and backed away from Vernal. The Grimm tried to claw at its back to wound Jaune or grab him and throw him off, but Jaune didn't let go, he not pulled his hands back, choking the Beowulf harder, he could feel the throat of the Beowulf and heard it suffocating.
All Jaune was thinking about was everything that just happened, reminding him of the anger he felt. Never had he felt such anger before. It was feral.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Jaune cried as he pulled tighter
He remembered Shay's friend shooting Vernal. He remembered how useless he was to stop it because he was held back and then forced to the ground
"I'LL KILL THEM!"
Jaune pulled tighter
He also remembered Shay kicking Vernal in the side, causing her more pain and he remembered her scream.
"Hey come on, don't look at me like that, this is just how things work in this world," Shay told him
"I'LL KILL SHAY!"
"Raven wants you! She's hoping your semblance is something because she's willing to let Vernal die just so you can be her new right hand!"
"I'LL KILL RAVEN!"
He pulled tighter and yelled furiously in anger, and he could finally hear the Beowulf gasping for air.
He was going to kill this Beowulf before it could kill Vernal.
He was going to kill Shay and his friends for what they did to them.
He was going to kill Raven for setting the whole thing up.
That was the only thought on his mind. At the moment, that was all he could think about. Killing them all. It was like a voice inside his head, not his own, was telling him to think about and nothing else.
'KILL THEM ALL! KILL THEM ALL! KILL THEM ALL! KILL THEM ALL! KILLTHEMALLKILLTHEMALLKILLTHEMALLKILLTHEMALLKILLTHEMALL!' The voice chanted
Anger kept pouring into him, it was like a cup that was constantly being filled with water. Every muscle, every bone, every fiber of his soul was burned with a firey rage.
'WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO!?' The voice asked
"I'LL FUCKING KILL THEM ALL!"
The Beowulf spun around, waving its arms around frantically, still trying to get Jaune off, but it was too much for the Grimm as it fell forward and thankfully nowhere near Vernal. The Grimm was tired and tried to regain its breathing. But Jaune quickly got off of it and went for Crocea Mors and unsheathed it and quickly went over to the Beowulf and then stabbed it in the head before it could move.
However, he didn't feel like stopping. The Anger he was feeling would not let him go, so he kept stabbing the Grimm in the head over and over again, relentlessly. His rage was blinding him to the fact that the body was fading, and soon enough when it was gone, he still didn't stop, now just stabbing the ground with a blind fury.
"I'LL FUCKING KILL THEM ALL!" Jaune cried, "I SWEAR TO GODS THAT I'LL FUCKING KILL THEM ALL!"
Vernal managed to raise herself up with her arms, only to see Jaune grunting in anger and stabbing the ground, as if he was in some sort of daze, and seeing the crazed state he was in... it frightened her more than even the Grimm.
Suddenly, she felt light-headed, and her vision began to fade and blur, he held out her hand for him as she called out for him.
"A... A-Arc..." Vernal called out before she fell backward and saw nothing but black...
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Back at Camp, Raven was in her tent, drinking a cup of tea and waiting for any sign of Jaune and maybe even Vernal's return. She saw that the daylight was growing dim, and wondered what might have gone wrong, and if Shay just up and killed them both she was going to kill him in return, thinking he could use their deaths to become the "strongest" in the tribe.
What a fool, she'd kill him if he did mess up because he might have just caused the tribe a powerful member.
Raven sighed and set her teacup down, 'I better see if he's back and see ask-'
She never finished that thought as two gunshots rang out and she quickly got up, grabbed Omen, and ran outside her tent. She heard screams and yelling as she ran to where most of the tribe was gathering, and when she pushed past them and made it to the front, she saw a tribe member down on the ground and holding a gunshot wound, and Raven turned to see that the shooter was none other then Jaune, still pointing a gun at the tribesmen as Shay and the rest of his group backing away.
"H-Hey man! T-Take it eas-"
Jaune didn't hear the rest due to him firing the gun, silencing and killing the man before he could speak more. Jaune kept shooting until the gun was empty.
"What the fuck!?" Shay cried
Jaune said nothing as he only looked at Shay and his group with a glare. One of Shay's group glared back at Jaune and pulled out a knife and charged at Jaune, Jaune quickly dropped the gun and activated Crocea Mors, and side-stepped the guy before quickly stabbing him in the back.
"You son of a bitch!"
Jaune turned around to see the last two of Shay's friends charge at Jaune, but he quickly bashed one in the face before slicing the other one across the stomach, causing his guts to spill out. Jaune then turned back around and stabbed the second man in the side of the neck, causing him to spit out blood onto Jaune's face, and Jaune pulled his blade out and watched as the man fell dead to the ground.
However, Crocea Mors was shot out of Jaune's hand and he turned to see Shay aiming his gun at him. Shay quickly fired again at Jaune, but the blonde knight quickly dodged the bullets as he made his way to Shay, Shay kept shooting but Jaune kept dodging before he was finally close enough to Shay that he swung his shield and bashed the gun out of his hand, and he dropped his shield before tackling Shay to the ground.
Jaune got onto his knees and punched Shay in the face, and then did it again, and then once more, and then a fourth time.
Shay was dazed and Jaune then grabbed his shield and looked down at Shay, but Shay quickly regained his senses as he saw Jaune grab his shield, and his eyes widened with terror.
"W-Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!" Shay cried out, as he waved his arms in desperation "C-Come on man! Bl- Jaune! I-It doesn't have to go down like this! P-Please don't fucking kill me!"
Jaune looked down at him, his face still full of anger, "This is just how things work in this world, right Shay?" Jaune said
Shay's eyes widened with terror.
"Besides..." Jaune began as he raised his shield over Shay's head, "I already made you a promise!"
"N-!"
But Jaune didn't hear his cry as he brought down the end of his shield into Shay's face, caving in his face. the bottom end of the shield was now covered in blood, and blood spattered all over it and Jaune's face. But Jaune didn't stop.
Just like with the Beowulf, Jaune didn't stop with the overkill, he kept slamming the shield down to Shay's head, huffing and grunting like a feral beast. With each impact, Shay's head no longer looked like a head, it just looked like bashed and destroyed meat.
A small smile crept onto Raven's face as she saw the scene before her, it reminded her of the day that Nicholas first killed. It made her proud that Jaune was now just like his father, her, the rest of the tribe, and Vernal.
No longer was he innocent.
He was now a killer. A murderer. Blood was now on his hands.
His soul was now Blackened.
She was happy but at the same time... she was a little frightened. Jaune was unhinged at the moment, and there was no telling what he could do.
Jaune stopped after a minute and he got up and looked around only to see Raven, he quickly went to the ground and grabbed Shay's gun and aimed it at her, causing her to go wide-eyed with surprise, and she quickly gripped Omen and prepared to cut a bullet if he fired one.
"Is it true!?" Jaune asked
Raven looked at him, "I don't-"
"IS IT TRUE RAVEN!?" Jaune asked once more
Raven looked at him with a stern look and looked at Jaune's eyes. She could see the fire in them, but also the sadness. After a few seconds, her grip on Omen loosened and she relaxed, before nodding. "It is," She said
'KILL HER! KILL HER! KILLHERKILLHERKILLHERKILLHERKILLHER!' The voice cried out to him, 'DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! DOITDOITDOITDOIT!' The voice taunted.
Jaune wanted to, he really wanted to, and he could do it as he kept the gun pointed at her for a minute... before dropping it and turning around grabbing his sword, and walking over to her, but Raven knew he wasn't going to attack her.
As Jaune walked over to her, he stopped real close to her and looked her in the eye, still glaring at her. "Well it worked," Jaune said before walking past him, many of the tribe members parted to let him through.
Raven turned around and watch him head back to Vernal's tent, making her wonder if Vernal was still alive or if she was dead. Whatever her fate was, it didn't matter. Jaune had unlocked his semblance, and she just hoped that it was useful.
Tomorrow she would see what it was, and see if he was going to be truly useful to her and the tribe or if she was going to have to get rid of him.
Back with Jaune, he entered the tent, set aside his shield and sword, and looked to see Vernal. Unconscious and laying in her cot, he looked to her right side only to see that her wound was completely closed, and dried blood stained her clothes and her skin.
Jaune bent down and put his head to her chest and heard her heartbeat, and hearing her heartbeat, knowing she wasn't dead, knowing that he had actually succeeded in saving her life, made him feel a tremendous amount of relief and he backed away and sat down.
He touched his face and saw the blood on his fingers, but then he looked at his hand and saw the blood that covered them as well. His head looked down to his armor and saw the blots of blood and then he turned to his still open shield and sword and saw the blood that covered them too.
Everything he had done... hit him like a train. His feelings, his actions, his words. They all came back to him.
Jaune began to cry.
Wondering what he had just become...
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Jaune has now spilled blood for the first time, how will he deal with this? What will he do next? What will happen to Vernal? All I can say is that the hardships are just beginning...
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and are eagerly waiting for the next one!
Truth be told, this story has been planned ahead more than most of my stories, which is weird but great because I have put what I want, what I have planned, what I want the characters to feel, and what I want certain parts (or acts as I'm calling them in this story) of the story to focus on.