A/N: Hey, it's a bit late, but here my first one-shot for the RWBY the RPG universe. Hope you enjoy the genesis of JAune's and Ruby's romance for RPG. I was going to upload this at the same time as I introduce Jaune, but that didn't work out. Still, probably for the best, seeing as I hadn't really implied any romance between the two yet.
So, enjoy.
RWBY is own by Roosterteeth and the late Monty Oum
White Knight, Red Wolf
Five years, six months before the events of RWBY the RPG…
"I think that real Heroes are simply good people doing the right thing because they can. Not for reward or recognition or even because it makes them feel good, but because it's the right thing to do."
That's what one Ruby Rose thought at any rate. It was the reason why she was now traveling across the continent of Anima, barring a brief scuffle with a young urchin as she got off at the City of Argus. Or, at least the reason she gave her mother, Summer Rose, when she had asked her why she was leaving Patch Island and go on an Adventure across the Kingdoms, hoping to find new prospective buyers for her weapons.
It wasn't a lie, per say. That was why she had Crescent Rose and her newest weapon, a carbine that she had termed the Rosewerk Special.
Course, they were also there in case she needed to defend herself for any reason. And, she was sure that she would.
For one, she wasn't just out here for fun. No, she was on a mission. A mission to find her missing sister.
She didn't know much her. Only that she was a half sister and had been taken by her own mother when she was born. And, her name. It was Yang. Yang Xaio Long.
But that was all she knew.
She did know more about her sister's mother, though. Raven Branwen was a Rogue Knight of the Sacred Order of Light and a Leader among the barbarian tribes in the East of the Kingdom of Mistral. The raven-haired warrior was garbed a suit of red armor of said Kingdom and often led raids against the Kingdom's borders for reasons unknown as well as various other, lesser tribes including those of orcs and goblins.
That should have made it simple to find her, and her sister. Just head East and along the way ask if any had seen Raven.
Only, Raven, and her personal Tribe, had vanished into the Wilderness several years ago, and yet to return. That could've meant that she and her tribe, and Yang, were dead. But, rumors kept cropping up of a black-haired, red-eyed warrior in red Yoroi armor plating who wielded a great odachi as she led a tribe of misfit bandits and warriors in raids across the whole of Anima.
Again, for reasons unknown.
Currently, they had last been seen not in the East, but the West. In fact, they had last been seen near the Anima coast closest to Sanus, to Vale. So her going to Argus had been a waste.
Oh well, it should only take her, like, a week to get down there, right?
/ /
A week later, Ruby found out just how wrong she was. More over, no one had ever informed her just how gosh dang cold Northern Anima was! Like, wasn't Solitas supposed to be the cold continent?
Ugh, she hated the cold. She wrapped her custom red cloak and hood tightly around her as she stalked through the knee deep snow.
Just a little longer and then she be at the next village. She hoped. She lost her map a while ago.
Ugh, she hated the cold.
/ /
Three weeks later and Ruby finally had to transform to survive. She would've said revert, but that would've been a misconception.
True she was a werewolf, but a naturally born one.
That meant she didn't exactly have a "True Form". whatever form she took was her. So if she wanted to run around a massive red-black-furred dire wolf she could, though that meant that she couldn't wear or carry her clothes and equipment. If she wanted to remain as a cute young woman with silver eyes, unkempt red-black hair and full, pouty lips-according to her mom. Anyway, in a more bizarre moment than usual. She tried to forget that as much as possible.
She shook her head as she remembered that conversation. It was the same one where her mom asked if she had an idea for the kind of man, or woman, she didn't judge, she wanted in her life.
She shuddered. That had been so gross, and embarrassing. Here she was, the owner and creator of one of the most successful privately owned weapon manufacturers in Vale and she was embarrasses by her mom asking what she wanted in life.
Ugh, Mom! Now, I got that stuck in my head again! She thought as she ran through the snow and ice in her hybrid form, her red cloak whipping behind her like a paladin's cape.
She shook her head again as she cut through the snow. She was finally making good time. Good. Maybe she'd make it down South before they left the area.
/ /
Ruby was infuriated. She was incensed. But she refused to show it. Her mother had taught her that much when it came to the proper way a young lady should behave.
She appreciated that this day.
If the scummy-looking, greasy man leering at her knew how little she cared for him, he wouldn't be giving her such a good deal. Not that it really matter all that much as she had plenty of funds still. Though, if she let him know what she really thought of him and his lecherous ways he probably wouldn't help her out in the first place, unless he was as narcissistic as he was filthy, and that was saying a lot.
Still, she found it disgusting how the man, old enough to be her father, if not her grandfather, acted around her and the few other women on the barge he owned. Actively trying to stroke her thigh as they discussed the price when she made to thrust it out at him as she talked with him. The fact that her smile became practically wooden at that didn't seem to worry him much as he finalized the terms of their deal.
Her smile brightened just a bit, for half a second once it was finished, only to dim as he brushed a dirt-covered finger down her cheek and said in a raspy, smoker's voice, "An' I'll be 'spectin' th' other end of th' deal once wer' across, ya kin?"
She shuddered at his touch before nodding. He grinned a gape-toothed grin full of black, moldy teeth and rancid breath at that. The other women looked at her in sympathy, but made no attempt to switch places with her, nor did any of the men on the barge try and stand up for her either.
What she wouldn't give for just one knight in shining armor to come to her aid. But, her mom had long ago dissuaded her from that fantasy. The only thing that any knights in shining armor would do to her was something unspeakable.
And, she knew exactly what that unspeakable thing was. She had seen the burning crosses across the bay from Patch Island during the Last Purge of Vale. That had been five years ago.
After the events of Duskborn, and the mages that had been behind it, the Valean monarchy alongside the knights of the various heraldic orders under their authority had initiated a purge of all magic from those born with it in their blood to those merely used it as part of their livelihood to those magical creatures, cursed or not. The purge had last three years and involved hundreds, their bodies staked, burned and crucified throughout the Kingdom.
It finally ended when the King's chief advisors stepped down for ones with more level heads, forcibly, if the rumors suggested. By then, it was too late, and the Kingdom of Vale was currently considered the only Kingdom without magic of any kind in its territory, barring a few remaining, surviving wizard Circles or witch Covens.
That's where such munition manufacturers like her company came in. The Kingdom of Vale may not have magic on its side anymore but it did have technology. Enough so, that it could rival that of the cruel nations of Mantle and Atlas to the North on the ancient and frozen lands of Solitas.
An hour later found Ruby shrugging her personal red cloak back on her shoulders as she walked away from the broken body of the barge-master, his blank white eyes staring after her over the shattered remains of his jaw, his dirty pants having fallen around his knees in his apparent haste to get to her.
As if she'd ever let someone like that touch her for real.
She sniffed and looked around before walking off into the forest beyond the town. She left the man alive, whether or not he survived the trip back to town wasn't her problem. If he died, he died. It just meant there was one less predator out there.
/ /
Jaune Arc swallowed as he guided his brown mare behind the Captain while he sat slumped in the saddle. He was on his first mission, his first patrol, with the Order, and he was nervous beyond belief.
He so wanted things to go well for his first mission. After all, he was only here due to his father's recommendation, and he didn't want to ruin that chance.
"Calm now, Master Arc," the captain said from in front of him, without looking back at him. "Remember the Order's tenets, and be at peace."
"Aye, sir!" Jaune responded loudly as he sat back up straight. His horse neighed at that a bit before shaking its head, and almost making him fall off. He squeezed his thighs and froze up on the beast's back; he wasn't very good at riding horses.
The other knights laughed at his antics then, the captain among them. He gave a nervous smile out from under his helmet.
"Relax, Initiate."His captain said after a moment had passed. He clasped him on the shoulder he slowed down to ride by his side as he chuckled and said, "Remember, if we fall, we fall together."
Jaune nodded once more and smiled as he said, "Aye sir."
The captain clapped him on the shoulder once before he nodded and said, "Very good."
Then he rode off to the head of the patrol. Jaune followed behind, his armor gleaming silver in the dawn's light.
Eventually, they found themselves on a low rise. Beneath them lay the Frontier Town of Inazuma, the tops of the town's dwellings seemingly rising from the morning mists.
After a moment of looking down on the idyllic vision the patrol moved down towards the town's entrance.
/ /
As they began searching the town for the witch who supposedly lived there Jaune found himself alone. He swallowed as he glanced around, wandering aimlessly, unsure as what to do now. None of the others had said what he should look for, who he should look for.
He did see signs of sickness, disease. Many of the townsmen were sickly with sullen, skinny bodies and yellowed or redden eyes, though they still had smiles on their faces as they chatted with each other over shriveled fruits and vegetables. Of those who were not sickly, they had a dark sense about them and he noted the strange stick figures or talismans around their necks.
He narrowed his eyes at that. A cult, perhaps? He didn't know. There was no information on a cult of any kind here. Only a young witch, one with thin, straw-colored hair and pale green eyes, pock-marked and willowy. Or, at least, that's what the reports said.
Reports that were weeks old at this point.
He thought on that, still walking aimlessly, eventually finding himself in a dirt-covered, shrouded alley. Had something changed in that time? It was possible.
"Oof!"
Jaune was knocked out of his thoughts, literally, as he ran into something. Something that squeaked out cutely as it bounced off his armored front.
He blinked at that and looked down to find a small form in a red cloak and hood lying on the ground shaking its head. He flushed at that, embarrassed, and leaned down, hand outstretched as he said rapidly, "Oh, I am so sorry. Here, let me help you."
The figure looked up as it took his hand, and he gasped audibly at what he saw. It was a young woman with full lips, pale creamy skin and the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. Well, eye, as he only saw one. A beautiful silver orb.
He swallowed at that as he said, "I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"
"I, y-yes. Yes, thank you," the woman replied, stutteringly. Fearful, he realized, at who she had bumped into. But, why?
/ /
Ruby swallowed as she realized just how in trouble she had found herself in, and cursed herself for being distracted. If only she had been lost in thought. Angry, at once more being too late.
She swore she had been chasing ghosts and rumors since she arrived at Argus City, five months ago!
And, now, here she was, literally hand-in-hand with one of them. A knight of the Sacred Order of Light.
Oh, shit she whispered in her mind as she stared and stared up at him. Then she frowned faintly as she then thought absently, Darn it, why does everybody have to be so tall?!
She coughed before saying as she patted down the front and back of her rich, black and red skirt nervously, "Oh, no, no. I'm quite alright. Hahah! Just clumsy, that's me!"
"Oh, well… Okay?" The knight replied, confused. Then he turned and looked around before turning back to her as he asked, "And, why are you here, Miss…?"
"I'd… rather not say, sir knight." Ruby returned quickly and glanced away as she pulled her hood back up. She might've failed to remain inconspicuous, in regards to the Order, but as long as she didn't give her name or reveal what she was, she should be alright. She hoped so, anyway.
The knight looked at her in silence for a moment before she saw him grin through the gape in the T-shape opening of his helmet. "I understand," he said then. "You've been raised to fear the Order I'm a part of, yes?"
Ruby paused for a moment then nodded, not seeing a reason to lie. The knight chuckled good-naturedly at that and repeated, "I understand." Then he tilted his head to the side as he continued, "But,the Order is not all xenophobia and anti-magic, you know? We are also about helping the downtrodden, aiding those who are recovering form sicknesses or magical maladies, and safeguarding the frontiers from the nightmares that reside out there, away from the Kingdoms."
Ruby found herself frowning at that. Did this knight, this man, really believe that hogwash? It seemed like it.
That made her mad. How dare he try and brainwash her like that
"Oh, yeah," she spat. "Is that what your masters told you to say? To new recruits? To those foolish and idiotic enough to believe those lies?! I've seen first hand what you do to those in the frontier, in the small towns out there! Your Order always acts so high and mighty to those they supposedly help, always demanding things from those who have nothing. Always belittling those beneath and forcing them to do things they'd rather not! I-"
"Lass!" The knight boomed forth as he interrupted her with an upraised hand and a shake of his head. "Where is this coming from? This vitriol. I've done nothing to you." He paused for a moment before saying,somewhat embarrassed, "Well, except for bumping into you. Again, my apologies."
Ruby paused at that, caught off-guard by the self-deprecating tone of the knight before her. She took a breath in before blowing it back out as she calmed down. The knight was right. He didn't deserve her misplace anger and frustration.
"You're right," she said. She inhaled again as she closed her eyes, fighting back the memories she had, before blowing the breath back out again. Then she explained, "I'm sorry. I was wrong to hold that over you. It's just, I was there, in Vale. During the Purge."
The knight stiffened at that. He then looked off into the distance as he said, "Ah, yes. Well, that would explain it." Then he shook his head as he said with arms outstretched, "But, that's just the thing! The Order is different now!"
He looked at her then as he said enthusiastically while clenching his fists, "My father, and those like him in the Order, they're actively trying to change how the Order is seen, how it works."
She looked at him and blinked, but said nothing otherwise, only looking at him. The knight coughed and looked away again, embarrassed. She took that as an opportunity to give the man a thorough once over.
His armor was of a simple design. A simple set of plate replete with greaves, gauntlets, faulds, and a modest barbute with a T-visor opening. Simple, like that of an Initiate.
So, that's why he's so… naive she thought to herself. So, innocent.
"I get it." He then said, snapping her from her thoughts. "I've… heard the rumors myself. Of how certain knights in the Order, certain sects of the Order, act around civilians, innocents."
"But, I'm not like that! I'm different!" He then blurted out, hand to armored chest. "And, I promise, I'll never be like that."
Ruby opened her mouth to do… something, deny that, rebuke him. Then she paused and thought about it for a moment, looking at him. He really did seem… earnest. Genuine. So, she said instead, "Prove it."
He looked taken aback by that. He paused himself before he would say something and thought about it. Then he made to take off his helmet, only to pause once more and look at her with a pained smile, the blue eyes she could see through his visor almost glowing as he thought of something, "I cannot removed my helmet as per the Order's tenets, and you will not give me your name due to a measure of fear of some kind or another. So, can we come to a compromise? Young Miss?"
Ruby thought about it for a second then nodded. The knight smiled again at that before bowing to her, sweeping his arm out in an almost comically exaggerated manner, as he said, "Hello, my name's Jaune Arc. Lovely to meet you."
Then he remained in the bow for a second or two before stumbling to stand back up. Ruby snorted and laughed at that, giving her famous, at least to her mom, giggling snorts.
Jaune looked up at that and smiled again, his blue eyes twinkling behind his helmet before chuckling himself at his victory. Ruby thought it was cute. He was cute.
She paused, froze in place as she realized that. She blinked as she looked up at him. There he was, her fantasy knight in shining armor.
She sighed then. Pity he was of the Order.
"Well," she cleared her throat and said, "I, I got to go. It, it was nice to meet you, Mr. Jaune Arc."
He smiled and said with a nod of farewell, "You as well, Young Miss."
Ruby smiled at him before walking as quickly as she could back down the alleyway while acting as if she wasn't trying to get away from the knight as fast as possible.
He watched her go in silence.
/ /
"Initiate Arc! Where are you!"
Jaune shook his head and turned from where he was watching the girl as she fled from him. That hurt, he wouldn't lie. But he understood why, just as he had said.
He knew about the rumors, had heard all about it from his sisters, who had, in fact, refused to join the Order because of it. They had even wanted him to do the same, but instead he had followed in his father's footsteps.
And, now he was feeling the effects of that.
He shook his head and turned to return to the marketplace where the patrol had separated.
As he did, he thought about what he and the girl had discussed, if you could call it that. What she said, what his sisters had heard, he had yet to experience that.
True, he had mostly stayed at the local Enclave while the Sergeant trained him in combat maneuvers, but still, he hadn't seen or heard anything like that in his time here in Southern Anima. Surely, even if it was true, and he had no evidence of it being so, the Captain wouldn't allow such a thing to happen among his own men.
After all, such an attitude was against the very tenets and codes of the Order. And, the Captain, Captain Winchester, was anything but such an arrogant, cruel man. He was a honorable man to a fail.
Surely, he wouldn't allow such behavior to persist in his company, right?
/ /
As Jaune walked up to the meeting point in the marketplace he found himself in the midst of something unpleasant.
The local shopkeepers were being harassed by his fellow knights while the two sergeants looked on impassively. He watched as an elderly woman was nearly sent flying by one of the other knights as she pushed her against the small cart of withered vegetables and fruits she had been haggling.
With the dialogue he had just had with the young woman in red still in the forefront of his mind, Jaune found himself storming towards the knight that had just pushed the old woman. As soon as he reached her he slugged her full-on in the face. The lady knight staggered backwards under the blow before recovering quickly and turned to retaliate against her attacker, only to pause what she saw.
"What are you doing, Initiate!" The knight screeched, blood dripping down her ruined face.
"What am I doing? What are you all doing? Does the Captain know about this?" Jaune returned ferociously, his hands balled into fists at his sides. He glared at the knight across from him as the rest of the patrol began to surround them, many with their weapons drawn.
The civilians took that as their opportunity to flee, and did so.
"He does, indeed, Initiate Arc." Came a voice from behind him. Jaune turned to find the Captain there, standing smugly with his helmet off.
A clear violation of the Order's tenets.
A knight was to be nameless, featureless, one among countless others, only giving their names and showing their faces to those they counted among a Trusted few. A knight was to be honorable, courteous, chivalrous to all they met from the most wretched of slaves to the more holy of priests to all their ranks of the nobility all the way up to the aristocracy.
Jaune looked around at the others before turning to the Captain and stated, "This is not the Way."
"Oh?" The captain said with a grin as he drew his longsword and raised it towards Jaune. "If you have a problem with the way I do things, Initiate, then perhaps you should attempt to change my mind."
Jaune paused at that before looking around at the others standing there before inhaling as he drew his own longsword. "If that is the only way, then so be it, Captain," he intoned as he raised his blade toward Winchester.
They held that position for a moment before they both charged forth and swung the swords. The blades clashed together in an explosion of sparks. They clinched before separating with Jaune ducking under the Captain's next swing to slash at his back.
He swirled and swung twice more. The knight captain dodged back from the one and parried the only before swinging himself. Both blows missed.
He then snarled in frustration, not expecting the Initiate to be so tough.
He recoiled, jolting backwards as Jaune then slammed the pommel of his blade in his face. He shook his head, clearing the fog from his mind and spitting out blood, before growling anew and charged into the Initiate, knocking him into a rack of fruit, attempting to knock him off balance.
Jaune didn't let him. He slammed the pommel into the man's skull once more, knocking him off of him at the same time before shoving him backwards. The captain was slammed into another stand of produce knocking it over and falling onto his back.
Winchester shook his head, clearing the dizziness away once more and struggled to get back to his feet. Once more, Jaune was just right there.
He blocked the first strike, getting back to his knees, and parried the second once more before returning his to his feet and swinging in turn.
Jaune blocked it, knocking his sword away, before forcing his way in close and held his blade to the Captain's throat as he shoved him up against a pole. "Yield," he barked as he jammed his blade up under the Captain's jaw.
Winchester spat out some blood and grinned at the youth as the rest of his men moved in, drawing their blades as they did so. "Kill me, and you'll die, too, Initiate," he replied smugly, knowing the man had lost.
Jaune glanced around before turning back to the Captain and shoved his blade up against the man's throat again as he said, "If we fall, we fall together."
Winchester grimaced at that before waving his hand at the rest of the patrol. They hesitated before sheathing their blades and stepping backwards with the wounded knight Jaune had struck taking the longest to do so.
Jaune watched them all for a moment before stepping away from the knight captain and lowered his sword, panting for breath. The captain popped his jaw and loosened his neck as he stood back up. He spat some blood out before wiping his mouth and said, "Alright then. Be that way." He looked over the rest of the patrol as he boomed forth, ignoring Jaune's blade, "Since the Initiate doesn't like the way we do things, he can solve this mystery by himself."
The rest of the patrol hesitated at that before moving away from the two, leaving only Jaune, Captain Winchester, and the injured lady knight behind. The captain picked up his sword from where it had fallen and sheathed it before brushing a hand through his ginger locks as he sighed and shook his head at the Initiate. "A pity," he said as he looked at Jaune. "I was hoping to use you against your father, but you're just too much like him, are you? Too damned noble for your own good."
He shrugged as the lady knight finally stalked away. "Oh, well. In the end, it doesn't really matter all that much to me. I'll recreate the Order in my image before long."
He walked away, saying over his shoulder as he did so, "Your kind cannot stop me."
Jaune watched them go, sword in hand.
/ /
One day later,
The village of Inazuma,
Less than a day later and Ruby once more found herself the target of a knight's attention, only this time she was the one who bumped into him.
She was still trying to find evidence of Raven's passage here in the village yet was starting to get more worried about what she was seeing here instead. There was clearly something going on here, something wrong. Her instincts were screaming it at her.
The sickness everywhere. The shriveled and withered produce. The unease of the villagers save those that wore strange talismans around their necks.
Just what was going on here she thought to herself before promptly bumping into something large and solid.
"Oof," She gasped as she rebounded off of it and fell to the ground.
"Young Miss? We have got to stop meeting like this." An amused voice said from above her. She shook her head and looked up to find the same knight as before looking down at her in affection before reaching down with one hand as he said, "Come on. Let's get you up."
She gave a small smile at that as she took his hand and let him pull her up. She brushed at her skirt, embarrassed, as she said, "Sorry about that. I was, lost in thought." Then she looked around as she realized something and asked, "Wait, I thought you knights had left? What are you still doing here?"
The knight, Jaune, she remembered, frowned before saying somewhat bitterly, "We, had a disagreement. What you said yesterday, they were doing that. I couldn't let that stand." He shrugged. "And, now, I am all alone attempting to solve the mystery of this village."
She blinked at that, surprised that he had taken what she had said to heart so readily. Usually, people ignored her and what she said, only attempting to get on her good side once they realized who she was. He still didn't even who she was, let alone what.
She smiled to herself at that, under her hood. It was, really quite nice, to have someone do that. Knight-in-shining-armor indeed she thought then.
"Well, I'm sorry to hear about that, but I'm sure the people here appreciate your due diligence." she said with a smile.
The knight shrugged before saying, "Maybe. But, I'm not so sure." He rubbed at his chin while he looked off into the distance. "I'm still trying to uncover what happened here. Supposedly there was a witch living out here, helping people, but she has since vanished. And, now, the village appears to be cursed in some way."
Ruby listened as he rambled on in silence. So, she was right. There was something wrong here, and this knight was the only one willing to do something about it.
"Hey," she finally asked him as he came to a stopping point. "Why did you want to become a knight?"
He paused, still lost in thought, before looking up at the evening sky as he said, "Well, partly because my family has knights for generations. People like my father, my grandfather, and his father before were all knights, all heroes. My sisters are even knights themselves, though not part of the Order, for obvious reasons."
He shrugged as he said, "I guess, I just wanted to be one, too. A hero."
Ruby listened to him in silence, nodding her head along with him before saying, "Do you know what I think? I think that real Heroes are simply good people doing the right thing because they can. Not for reward or recognition or even because it makes them feel good, but because it's the right thing to do."
She placed a hand on his arm in comfort as she smiled and said, "I think that you're already a hero. You just don't know it yet."
He looked at her in silence then, after a moment, he nodded and smiled back. He let out a shaky breath as he said, "Thank you, Miss. I was worried that what I was doing here was merely a Fool's stubbornness. That, I was doing nothing but making things worse, for myself and for others."
He sighed and nodded to himself after patting her hand a couple of times. "Now, to get back to it. I think that I've almost cracked the mystery of what went down here." He muttered as he looked over the notes he had compiled over the previous day.
Ruby slipped away as he continued to mutter to himself.
After a moment, she stopped in the middle of another alleyway as the realization of what she had just done finally connected with her. She had touched a man, without permission. Her face exploded with embarrassment. So unladylike.
"Aaahh!" she cried out with embarrassment. Oh, if her mother ever found out about this she'd, she'd. Well, she'd probably begin prepping the house for a marriage suite or something equally ridiculous. She sighed and slumped in place at that thought.
Her mom was so weird.
She rubbed at her face and inhaled deeply through her nose as she tried regain her composure. She could not fall for an knight. Especially not one of the Order.
Even, if he was kind of cute.
She closed her eyes and inhaled again. Even more deeply.
A touch of iron in the air…
Ruby opened her eyes at that. That was strange. She sniffed the air again, using her supernatural abilities to process what she had just smelled.
A touch of iron, yes. But, also… more. Different.
She inhaled deeply with her eyes closed. And focused on it all.
Iron, no. Blood. Old Blood. And… plants. No, not plants. Herbs. And, spices.
It was like, like…
She opened her eyes as she whispered, "A witch."
Without a second's thought she turned and followed the scent out of the town. Along the way she adjust her hood to hide her face and transformed into her hybrid form. Then she drew Crescent Rose from the hidden sheath on her back and picked up the pace.
It was time to Hunt.
/ /
Jaune came to a conclusion himself after going over his notes once more.
The witch, was clearly still here somewhere. But, he doubted that she was still a witch. Not anymore.
A decade ago, a terrible plague befell the village, killing many over the course of a month. And, the witch, try though she might, couldn't save anyone.
There were those in the village who cruelly took that out on her. Then, after the plague had finally past, many of those same individuals vanished into the neighboring woods and swamp, never to be seen again.
Afterwards, the village began to change. Crops withered, people sickened, and those who attempted to flee, disappeared.
He looked over the notes once more. And, his eyes widened. The Swamp. There.
He grabbed his longsword and strapped it to his back. Then, after a moment's hesitation, he took up the bundle he had taken from his mare before the rest of the patrol took her away and unwrapped it, revealing his family's ancestral sword and sheath: The Legendary Crocea Mors.
He glared at that weapon, remembering his father advice on taking it, then sighed and drew it forth revealing the gleaming blue-grey steel within. He then took the sheath in his other hand and mentally whispered the command his father had taught him. It snapped open into that of a steel kite shield, revealing the Arc Crest on its face.
He looked between the two and nodded to himself before sliding the blade back in the sheath and retracting the shield mode. He placed the blade-shield combo on his hip before gathering up a few more supplies.
Then he stalked out of the village, his eyes narrowed in focus.
The Hunt was on.
/ /
It took a bit of time, but, as night descended, and a storm erupted overhead, Jaune found what he was looking for. A hut in the middle of the swamp. One with a light lit within.
He drew the longsword on his back and crept closer. His cautiousness was rewarded as he moved closer.
There, outside the hut and standing around a fire were several villagers. Ones wearing that talisman he had seen beforehand.
He narrowed his eyes at that. So he thought minions. But are they willing followers, or not? He didn't know, but there was one way to find out.
He stood and stalked into the firelight, stating, "Gentlemen. Find night for a fire, isn't it?"
The five villagers reacted immediately, and, predictably. They drew, or took up, the rusty knives, short swords and hatchets they had and began to charge towards him with their leader hollering, "Oi! Don' let 'im near the 'ut! Go!"
Jaune didn't hesitate, knowing full well, that trying to hold back would only leave him vulnerable. So, instead, he charged into the fray himself, relying on his armor to protect him.
As the first two villager closed with him, one with a hatchet and the other with a rusted sword, he swung his blade. The longsword cleaved through both in one move, their leather armor doing nothing to protect their heads and necks.
One was beheaded outright and the other fell to the ground, rolling into a heap, a gushing, gaping wound where his neck would be.
The third villager flung his hatchet at him then only to watch as it bounced off his cuirass. He drew the dagger he had in an arm sheath and prepared to charge after the last two villagers, both wielding swords.
They clashed with Jaune.
He dodged one, two, ducked under another, and parried the last one before pulling back to spear the villager on the left before attempting to bash the one on the right, the leader, in the head with his pommel. He failed.
He deflected the knife that the last villager tried to stab him with before once more parrying the leader's sword. Jaune then slashed the leader across the torso before bashing the last villager in the head.
He then dodged both of their attacks before killing the villager by stabbing him in the guts. The leader tried to attack him once more. He parried it before thrusting his sword through the man's chest. He died with a gurgling grunt, spitting up blood on Jaune's armor.
Jaune wiped the blood from his armor with a sigh, wishing it hadn't come to this. Then he stalked toward the hut and knocked on the door with the pommel of his blade, attempting to stay out of reach of whatever was inside.
And, there had to be something, or some one, inside.
As he attempted to knock on the wooden door, it shattered under the impact of a massive, grey hand flying outwards. The hand grasped Jaune about the torso and dragged him inside. He blinked at the sudden flickering light inside dazzled and shook his head to clear it away before looking around. His eyes widened as he saw what was holding him, a massive Annis Hag. And it was grinning back at him.
"'ello, mah lovelie, so gud ta see ya, dearie." It, she, screed at him in a coy tone with its grating, steel on steel voice before going to bite him. He screamed in pain as her rusted, jagged teeth tore into the meat of his shoulder.
He attempted to slash at her with his blade, only for it to bounce off of her armored hide. The hag cackled at that, unnerving him for a moment, as she continued to gnaw through the muscles of his shoulder.
He groaned in pain as he felt something warm run down his chest and arm at that. He gritted his teeth and took a chance.
He headbutted the hag.
It worked.
The hag gaped, toothlessly, as he smacked his armored head into her temple, dislodging her mouth from his shoulder. He shook the dizziness from his head and slashed her across the arm.
She shrieked with pain and flung him away.
He crashed against the wall of the hut before falling heavily to the floor within. He looked up as the hag shrieked at him then and licked her jagged, clawed fingers and stalked towards him.
He made to grab his sword as he got up and prepared for his last stand, thinking of his father.
The first claw missed as he parried it. The second barely cut him but succeeded in shattering his blade. He gaped at that, horrified.
Then he shook his head, clearing away the fear and threw the broken blade at the hag's head. She deflected it with a claw as she hissed at him, watching him as he took the blade sheathed at his side and drew it.
She hissed again at the beauty of the blade, only for her eyes to widen as the sheath deployed into a shield then. She shrieked at Jaune as he roared back in defiance.
That's when the wall next to them imploded as a large figure in red charged into the hut and slammed into the hag. She cried out in surprise as she was knocked off her feet and flung across the interior of the hut.
Jaune blinked as he saw who his savior was. Or, should that have been what? For, it was a werewolf in a dark colored cape, wielding a massive red and black scythe.
The hag snarled at that even as the werewolf did the same. Then it dashed towards the hag and swung its scythe twice faster than Jaune could see. He blinked as twin lines of black blood sprayed from the hag's slender frame.
It shrieked before retaliating itself. The werewolf blocked the first slash before yelping in pain as the hag dug one clawed hand into its side, under the leather armor it was wearing. The clawed hand that it had licked Jaune realized as the werewolf suddenly staggered to the side.
Even from here he could smell the foulness of that wound.
He rushed in even though his legs were unsteady and swung at the hag's side. She hissed as Crocea Mors rent through her side, spraying him with her blood.
The hag stumbled backwards then, clutching at her side. She looked between the two and realized just how in danger she was. She made to flee out of the front of the hut only for both Jaune and the werewolf to get a hit on her.
She shrieked in pain but lived and continued to flee with a surprising turn of speed.
Jaune then blinked in surprised as the werewolf howled in a deep, yet feminine voice, "You shall not escape!" And took off after the hag.
He stared after them for a moment before groaning as he took off himself in a limping manner.
/ /
Ruby continued to chase after the hag long after she should've stopped. There was a burning pain in her side and she tasted blood in her mouth. Her vision was fuzzy, unclear. She needed to stop, but the moon. The moon!
The moon was full and it made her wilder than she usually was. Made her want to hunt, to kill. And this hag was the perfect prey for her.
Pity she wouldn't get it.
As she charged mindlessly through a series of bushes she tripped over a hidden root and came crashing through the final shrubby to land flat on her face. She laid there, wheezing as she cleared her mind of the effects of the moon and looked up in time to find the hag about to slash at her.
She flinched at that, closing her eyes only to hear a grunt from above her. She opened her eyes to find the hag riddled with arrows. She stood there, swaying for a moment before collapsing next to her, dead.
She blinked at that and looked up to see half a dozen villagers there, bows in their hands. She grunted, groaned, as she tried to rise to her feet only fall back to the ground, too weak to do anything.
She watched as the villagers made their way towards her, now clutching a motley bunch of blades in their hands. She closed her eyes then, not wanting to see which one would kill her. A tear fell from her eye as she thought of her mom, and her unknown half-sister.
"Enough!" a familiar voice suddenly boomed then.
She opened her eyes to find the knight, Jaune, standing there in front of her, his weapons raised against the villagers.
"What are you doing?" An elderly man hollered at him from the group. "It's just another monster! Kill it!"
"Mayhaps," Jaune returned, still standing between them. "But, she saved my life. And, I'll not let such a thing slide just so you can fulfil your need for vengeance."
"Fool!" One of the villagers shouted then. "Idiot!" Another yelled. "Just kill it!" A third screamed.
"No," Jaune stated. "And, if you try to, you'll have to go through me first."
The group paused at that. They looked between each other, hesitating before , finally, they began to drift away in the rain as the dawn rose.
Ruby watched it all, stunned. Shocked. No one had ever done something like that for her. Not after she had revealed what she was to them.
She made to say something only for Jaune to growl at her harshly, "Don't, move!" She froze at that and looked at him, seeing him standing there, panting, as he held his stance. She heard him grit out, "Please, don't move. They're still out there, waiting for you. If you move, they'll attack, and I don't have the strength to block it."
He glanced over his shoulder in her general vicinity as he said, "So, please, don't move."
She nodded and laid back down, waiting for him to give the all clear. They stayed like that for some time. She didn't know how long. But, eventually, the sun rose fully into the sky. Once it did, Jaune finally lowered his blade with a sigh.
He turned and stumbled over to her, blood still dripping down his side from the wound in his neck, and placed his hand on her snout. He closed his eyes as he focused, and she felt a warmth flow through her then as her wounds healed and the poison the annis hag had pumped into her dissipated.
She breathed a sigh of relief at that before climbing back to her feet. She noticed as she did so that Jaune refused to look at her. "Knight?" she asked, unsure.
"If I see your face, if you give me your name, it'll make it easier for me to track you down." Jaune said in answer. He turned his head to look at her chest and the rose emblem upon her leather breastplate. "And, I will track you down."
"So," he banged a fist on her chest gently, "Don't make it easy for me, Miss Rose."
Ruby flinched at that, at him saying her last name, then nodded before stepping around him and started away. She stopped and said over her shoulder, "Thank you. You're a good man."
Then she turned and left, fading into the forest beyond. Thanks to her hearing she heard his final response. It was, "Huh, someone else said that to me, too. I guess it's true."
She smiled at that as she disappeared.
/ /
Over the following years, Jaune would hold true to his word, tracking down and hunting the unknown werewolf with the Rose emblem, always remembering the words he had with a beautiful, mysterious woman and her silver eyes.
Ruby would always flee those confrontations, remembering the earnest young knight who unknowingly followed her advice and saved her life.
One always led the chase without ever wanting to catch his prey. The other fled without ever really wanting to run.
Eventually, both would come under the influence of the Watcher and his group, using his contacts to save lives and putting down threats to peace everywhere they wandered.
A/N: Welp, hope you guys enjoyed that. I tried to make it at least longer than the last chapter. Alright, Happy Thanksgiving. I'm going to go read the latest story from Selene Sokal, one of my favorite writers on Fanfiction. If you haven't read their stuff, do so. They are super awesome, and I love them.
Alright, Essiter out. Goodnight, and bye bye!