Gamer4 in. While nobody said anything in particular about which they'd prefer, more Xenoblade 2 or a start to X, the general gist I got is that people were happy to see 2 back in action, so that's where we'll go next. Besides, it's a continuation a lot of you have been waiting for for years, unless I'm mistaken. I hope you enjoy this long-awaited episode, and the first with new content for this story.
Disclaimer: I didn't say it last episode, so I ought to say it here- the Xeno series belongs, depending on installment, to Bandai Namco (boo,) Square Enix (boooooooooo,) or Nintendo (applause!) and is developed by Monolith Software (WILD APPLAUSE!) RWBY was created by Monty Oum (MORE WILD APPLAUSE!) and is currently owned by Rooster Teeth. (BOOOO!)
Episode II
The Road to Shambhala
Menagerie
"So, that's as far as we got before, right?" Ruby asked.
"That's what it says here," Vanessa nodded, glancing at the message Nia had brought her. "In this world, at least. I'd imagine you'd like to see a little farther?"
"Er..." Ruby wavered a bit, but Nora butted in.
"Yeah, keep going with this one for now!" she called. "I wanna make sure Jaune-Jaune and Pyrrha are safe!"
"And Blake as well!" Weiss put in.
"...I'd like to learn more about this world," Blake confessed quietly.
"Alright, more of this world it is," Vanessa decided.
The camera opened up back in Chairman Corman's office, where the chairman himself was growling at another nopon at the opposite end of some sort of monitor. "And so," the other nopon was saying, "Dearie wisely run for her life!"
"Ugh, do we have to start with this bozo?" Yang groaned.
"Well, I, for one, would like to know just how much he knew about what he was getting Jaune into," Pyrrha commented, her eyes narrowed. "Because if he really sent Jaune on a suicide mission..."
The flexing of her fingers left the others under no illusions about what Pyrrha would do, if not barred from him by multiversal barriers.
"Who Dearie claiming is wise?" Corman growled. "Surely, Corman not hearing this useless idot claim she wise when she cannot even die properly! At this rate, they ask Corman to repay money!"
"Dust-damn, this guy's a douche," Nora gaped.
"I certainly worry for anyone under his employ," Ren agreed over his steepled fingers. "Hopefully, Jaune himself no longer falls under that category."
"D-d-die?" Dearie stammered. "Surely, Chairman would not-"
"Silence!" Corman hissed. "Tell me- what become of Jaune and blade?"
"Er... Jaune, friends and titan also run away..." Dearie reported, a note of nerves entering her tone. "Go south, towards Cyclus Sea- beyond that, Dearie can report no more! Storm was too thick to-"
"Corman not interested in Dearie's excuses!" Corman roared, slamming a wing curled up into a fist on the table, making the monitor quake. "Dearie run away like sniveling coward! Even insurance Corman take out on Maelstrom wasted!" At last, his tirade ended, and he leaned back, steepling his wings much as Ren tended to steeple his fingers. "Dearie will return to Argentum... she has great deal of work to do."
Dearie gulped, but cut the communications as instructed.
"It was a suicide mission!" Pyrrha hissed in anger. "He even took out insurance on the ship! He meant it to sink!"
"Indeed..." Ren agreed. "But he wasn't working with Adam and Cardin."
"How d'ya work that out?" Yang asked.
"He was worried about having to give them money back," Blake realized. "They were paying him for this job- he was planning on screwing them over, too."
"I almost wish I could say I was suprised," Weiss sniffed.
"Not that it's much better to think that there are two groups of bad guys after Pyrrha and me," Jaune noted ominously.
Corman turned away from the monitor and towards a map of the Cloud Sea of Remnant behind him, depicting all of the various titans as they circled, planet-like, around Yggdrasil at the center. "South... towards Cyclus Sea, is it? That put them right in direction of... ah, Menagerie!"
Everyone looked to Blake, who had immediately perked up. "M-Menagerie?"
Corman turned back to his monitor and twiddled several dials and threw a couple switches. A second later, a new iamge appeared- a tall man in a bowler hat complete with feather.
"Oh, goodie," Yang rolled her eyes. "Only a matter of time before Mr. Personality showed up."
"Ah, Chairman Corman, of Argentum," Roman Torchwick greeted. "To what do I owe the... er... pleasure?" He forced this last word out with a wrinkle of his nose, giving the audience the impression he didn't like Corman much more than they did.
"Torchwick need not waste time with empty pleasantries," Corman waved away impatiently. "Be silent, and listen to what Corman have to say..."
The scene faded to black.
"Brr," Ruby muttered. "Keep those guys off the screen..."
"You mean you don't want to know what the enemy's planning?" Pyrrha pointed out.
"I mean..."
The camera faded back in, taking a first-person perspective as an eye blinked slowly open, bringing into view a young woman with long red hair, smiling gently down at them, seemingly positioned in her lap.
Ruby realized what was about to happen a split second before it did. "You're right, Pyrrha, we need to know more about what Corman and Torchwick are-"
Too late. The camera pulled back to reveal that they had, indeed, been looking through Jaune's eyes as he slowly returned to consciousness, his head in Pyrrha's lap.
Yang let loose with a whoop of laughter. "Nice and bold, are we, P-Money?!"
Pyrrha turned violently red and hid her face behind her hands. "Oh- oh my!"
"It's how we sleep sometimes, Renny!" Nora exclaimed excitedly.
"Yes, Nora, yes it is," Ren agreed, unable to hide a smirk of his own.
"My... on her..." Jaune stammered futilely.
"Already worth it!" Yang continued to chortle. "Already worth it!"
"P-Pyrrha?" Jaune mumbled groggily.
"Oh, thank goodness, you're awake!" Pyrrha beamed. "Are you hurt?"
"I... no, I think I'm fine..." His eyes flicked around. "Where... are we?"
They seemed to be on the edge of a vast forest, not too far away from the edge of a cliff over which he suspected was naught but the Cloud Sea.
"I'm not certain," Pyrrha admitted. "We were fortunate enough to be picked up by a titan, but I'm not certain which."
"On a... titan..."
All at once, everything came rushing back to him. The expedition- the battle on the forsaken ship- the flight of the Maelstrom-
He gasped and leapt to his feet. "Where are the others? Blake? Sun? Gramps?"
Pyrrha sadly shook her head.
"They wouldn't kill any of them off this early, would they?" Ruby fretted.
"I mean... this is another real world," Blake reminded her. "But... no, I don't think we'll be dead yet," she added swiftly at a glare from Yang.
Jaune didn't seem to react much better than Ruby, taking a horrified step backwards, scanning around, looking for... what, even he didn't know. All he found in his preliminary scan, however, was his salvager helmet, laying on the grass near the cliffside. He picked it up, and it seemed to restore his focus. "We have to find them!" he declared urgently. "If we landed here, they can't be far away!"
"Right!" Pyrrha nodded as he turned and led them into the forest.
"Really?" Weiss scoffed, crossing her arms. "Rushing into the forest with no plan?"
"Well, reasonably, what other options do they have? Go over the cliff?" Yang pointed out.
It didn't take long for them to hear the distant sound of enormous lungs at work, breathing heavily and- Jaune's heart sank- very raggedly. From there, it wasn't much further until they found a clearing that didn't look as though it had been there before. Rather, the trees had all been flattened by the enormous, dragon-like titan that had crashed there, burns and wounds up and down his body, his head resting on the ground, just barely conscious enough to turn his gaze upon his new visitors. Despite all this, it was with a note of satisfaction in his voice that Ozpin greeted them. "I'm... glad to see you unhurt... Jaune."
"Ohhhh, he doesn't look good!" Ruby fretted. "Adam was right, he took some shots!"
"Oh, dear!" Pyrrha placed her clasped hands over her mouth. "I know that it's traditional for the hero's mentor to pass away, but... I didn't expect it to happen so soon!"
Pyrrha's other didn't look much happier- rather, she looked horrified as she reached out and hovered a hand over a particularly nasty injury. "How awful..."
Jaune reached into his pack. "Hold on- I think I have some herbs that can-"
"Ever kind, Jaune," Ozpin seemed to smile, "but I'm afraid I'm beyond the reach of human medicine now."
"B-b-but..." Jaune stammered.
"Shed no tears, my child," Ozpin struggled to shake his head an inch from side to side. "This is simply my fate."
"D-don't do that!" Jaune struggled against a lump in his throat. "Don't ask me not to cry!"
"No parting is forever," Ozpin whispered. "As the old song goes, 'We'll meet again... don't know where... don't know when...' it's all up to the flow of ether now..."
As he spoke, he began to dissolve into particles of light. "No- Gramps!" Jaune panicked, dashing and attempting to catch them, as if by doing so he could reverse what was happening. "Gramps!"
Pyrrha raised her hands over her mouth, tears leaking from her eyes.
"No! Ozpiiiiiiin!" Ruby cried.
"The days I spent with you... were the happiest of my long life," Ozpin whispered as first his wings, then his tail, then his broad, island-like body began to fade. "Until... we meet... again..."
And then he was gone. Several lances longer than Jaune's entire body collapsed to the ground, no longer pierced into anything.
Jaune collapsed to his knees. "Gramps... GRAAAAAAAAMPS!"
There was not a dry eye in the audience- Weiss was dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. "What a price to pay..."
"It's all my fault!" Jaune cried into Pyrrha's shoulder. "If I hadn't gone off with them like an idiot-"
"Now, now, didn't I tell you not to cry, Jaune?"
The audience froze. "Wait, what?" Yang blinked.
Jaune seemed not to hear the voice, continuing to sob onto the ground.
"...Jaune?" the voice repeated.
"Graaaaaamps!"
"Jaaaaaauuuuune!" the voice mimicked back at him.
Finally, Jaune opened his eyes, and was stunned into silence by the sight before him- a small creature standing on the ground, roughly the size and shape of a young cat, but with feather-shaped ears and similarly feathery wings, a small horn, and a larger tail. Also, there was the fact that it was standing on its hind legs, its short arms clearly not fit for running on all fours.
Both Jaune and Pyrrha stopped crying, and, for nearly ten full seconds, stared at this strange creature that spoke with Ozpin's voice. Jaune raised a hand and rubbed his eyes vigorously to make sure he wasn't seeing things, but all that happened was that he saw the creature even more clearly.
It blinked and tilted its head.
"WHAAAAAAT?!" he and Pyrrha both cried at once.
"Sooo... Ozpin's not dead?" Ruby was too confused to cry now.
"He just... regenerated?" Weiss agreed.
"BOOOOOO!" Nora cried. "Gimme back my tears, old man!"
"G-Gramps?" Jaune stammered. "You're- how- what the-"
"It- it can't be!" Pyrrha was clearly just as taken aback as her new driver.
"It can't?" Ozpin tilted his head. "Search your feelings, my boy- surely, you know it to be true."
"Had to get that one in there!" Yang snorted.
"How... how did this happen?" Jaune asked, befuddled.
"I put all my energy into maximizing cellular regeneration. I wasn't entirely sure what would happen next, but I seem to have reverted to a larval stage."
"Oh, that's it, huh?" Jaune's sorrow and confusion was slowly being replaced by aggravation. "Well, must be nice to be a titan."
"Oh, Jaune-Jaune, is that a blush I see?" Nora grinned.
"Well... he could have told me!" Jaune was, indeed, flushing as he sought to defend his other.
"Oh, I assure you this isn't something any old titan could do," Ozpin retorted slyly. "It took years of advanced practice to be able to master my body to such an extent." He paused, looking closer. "Oh, my- I hope you're not angry."
"Not angry," Jaune scratched at his head, clearly flustered. "It's just... couldn't you have told me, instead of giving that big dying speech?"
"I cry your pardon," Ozpin apologized. "I knew the regeneration would take place, but not how quickly, or if there would be any side effects. I didn't want to offer false hope." He glanced around at himself. "Well, side effects there clearly were, but I don't think I could have returned faster if I'd tried."
"I see..." Jaune nodded slowly.
"Amazing what you can learn when you stop to hear him out instead of just punching him across the room like a maniac," Vanessa commented dryly.
"Huh?" Jaune blinked. "I mean, I- er, he- was upset, but I don't think he came close to doing that."
"Let's see..." Vanessa re-evaluated the note Crazy had sent her again. "Oh- yeah, it hasn't happened yet. Never mind me."
"So, how long do you think it'll be before you're back to normal?" Jaune asked tentatively.
"Ah, that's the million-lien question, isn't it?" Ozpin mused. "Let's see... based on previous experience, I'd say about three hundred years."
"Oh, good, so nothing he can't recover from then," Blake rolled her eyes.
"Three hundred-" Jaune choked. "I'm gonna be dead three times over by then!"
"Hmm, I suppose you will, at that," Ozpin mused. "Nothing to be done about it, though, I'm afraid."
"Then... where am I supposed to live?" Jaune asked. "I can't exactly live on your back anymore!"
"Indeed," Ozpin agreed. "Perhaps this is your chance to... fly the coop, I believe the saying goes?"
"So, I'm gonna... have to pay rent?" Jaune sighed.
"Oh, dear," Weiss rolled her eyes. "That's the worst possible outcome of this scenario."
"Have you ever paid rent?" Ren asked slyly.
"I- well, that is to say..."
Blake remained notably silent.
"You're surprisingly stingy!" Pyrrha blinked, but with a small smile.
"Well, it's a massive extra expense!" Jaune countered. He paused, and took another deep breath, and smiled. "Still, I'm glad you made it, Gramps."
Ozpin smiled and flashed a thumbs-up.
"He has thumbs?" Pyrrha blinked.
"So it would seem," Ren agreed with a bemused brink of his own.
Abruptly, Jaune's smile disappeared. "Wait, what are we doing here?! Blake and Sun are still out there- they need our help!"
"Crap, I forgot!" Ruby yelped. "Blake is out there!"
"She'd better be alright," Yang growled.
"Ah, Blake must be the other driver from the Maelstrom, yes?" Ozpin recalled.
"She turned on the others to save our lives!" Jaune explained quickly. "Do you rem-"
He paused, caught off guard when he spied Ozpin hovering in the air before them, held up by his tiny wings.
"Yes?" Ozpin asked, tilting his head.
"There is no logical way those wings should be able to support that body," Weiss stated simply.
"But he's gonna keep flying anyways, 'cause titans don't care what humans think!" Nora beamed.
Jaune blinked, then continued talking as though he hadn't gone off track. "Do you remember anything that will help us find them?"
"I'm afraid all I recall is plowing through countless trees before arriving in this clearing."
"Sounds like our best option is to follow the trees, then," Pyrrha suggested.
"Yeah," Jaune agreed. "It's not much to go on, but it's the best we've got."
He reached out and scooped Ozpin out of the air, placing him gently in the helmet hanging upside down behind his head.
"Oh-ho!" Ozpin chuckled. "Well, this is a nice change!"
"He's actually kinda cute like this!" Ruby giggled. "Not as cute as Zwei, of course-"
"Mew!"
She looked down to see Crazy's cat, Nia, looking plaintively up at her.
"Oooohhhh, you're cute, too!" She reached down to scratch the cat's ears. Nia reached up and wrapped her claws around Ruby's hand, digging claws and teeth alike into her fingers.
"AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH! SHE'S GOT ME! SHE'S GOT ME!"
Yang leapt up and attempted to pull the cat away, but like brambles, the claws only seemed to go deeper the more they struggled to remove them.
"Here, here, here, here!" Vanessa rose to her feet and began rubbing Nia's cheek- she started purring and retracted her claws, burrowing into Vanessa's shoulder.
"Why do all these cats hate meeeee?" Ruby cried rivers of tears.
"Oh, no, that's her way of saying she likes you," Vanessa corrected. "She's digging her claws into my back as we speak, I'm just dead inside."
Everyone stared as they all returned to their seats. "Heheh... continue?" Ruby suggested sheepishly.
As they turned and began following the path of broken trees, Ozpin piped up again. "Unless I'm much mistaken, it seems you have a core crystal on your chest now?"
"It's a long story..."
As they continued, he proceeded to explain everything that had happened since they separated in Argentum.
He had just reached the part where he had touched Pyrrha's sword when they heard a shout from nearby, followed by a sharp cry.
"Blake!" he yelped, immediately drawing his sword and taking off- Pyrrha hot on his heels, already forming that golden thread that seemed to bind drivers and blades.
They hadn't gone much further before spilling out into a clearing in the center of which was a large pond- Blake and Sun were at the edge, currently struggling against a giant frog at least twice the size of driver and blade combined.
"Frog! Giant frog!" Ruby pointed.
"They call 'em brogs," Vanessa explained flippantly.
"Wow, they really blew their wad naming the animals in this world, huh?" Yang chuckled.
"Meanwhile, you've got... beowolves?" Vanessa shot back. "Let's not go throwing stones in glass houses, is what I'm saying."
"C'mon, Blake, I can hold this guy off- just run!" Sun ordered.
"And leave you behind?" Blake scoffed. "Sorry, but I refuse!"
The argument faded when a blaze of fire struck the brog, knocking it to its side. "Wha-" Blake gasped. She turned to see Jaune and Pyrrha dashing across the clearing towards them. "Jaune- what are you doing here?"
"We're here to help, of course!"
"Well- I don't-"
"I don't see any reason to argue!" Sun interrupted, grinning. "C'mon, this is our chance!"
Blake looked for a moment as though she wanted to argue, but the brog had pulled itself to its feet, and she gave in. "Alright, then, have it your way!"
"You really need to stop trying to do everything alone," Weiss muttered.
"I'm working on it," Blake sighed.
She turned and dodged out of the way just as the brog took a swing at her, landing deftly on her feet as Jaune leapt in and swung at its leg- he missed as it hopped away.
"I like our odds, but let's tip 'em a little more!" Sun grinned- he thrust his hands together, and several clones made out of light leapt out and surrounded the brog, forcing it to spin around and around as it struggled to determine which he ought to be going after first.
"So semblances still exist in this world?" Pyrrha noted immediately.
"Only for blades," Vanessa clarified after another flick through Crazy's notes.
The brog's confusion gave Blake a good chance at a running kick, knocking it to its side once again, offering Jaune the perfect opportunity to get in and open its stomach with Pyrrha's sword. The brog let out a wail, but moved no more.
"Brr... can you wash me off quick, Jaune?" Pyrrha pleaded.
Jaune glanced down at the brog guts coating the sword, and nodded. "Right- it won't hurt you, will it? I mean, the fire?"
"No, that's not how it works," Pyrrha assured him as he dipped it into the pond, which quickly darkened around it.
"I guess killing grimm is more convenient," Ren pondered. "All its remains vanish pretty quickly- god forbid I have to spend all day wiping of Magnhild after every battle."
"No cleaning up grimm brains for you!" Nora beamed.
"Charming," Blake scoffed as she approached. "Very charming."
"Glad to see you, too, Blake!" Jaune smiled as he straightened up. "Alive and unhurt!"
Blake glanced around. "I guess... it's nice to see you unhurt, too," she admitted. "I don't see that titan that saved us, though... is he...?"
She spoke delicately, as though certain the titan must have died, and was clearly taken aback when Jaune smirked, and turned around, Ozpin poking his head out of the helmet. "Very gracious to ask after me as well."
Blake's eyes widened in shock. "Wha- how did- huh?"
"I said the same," Jaune admitted freely. "Looks like we slept through most of the day- let's find somewhere we can camp, and we can exchange stories."
"...Sounds like a plan," Blake finally conceded.
"We oughtta at least get far enough away that we don't start smelling that overnight," Sun suggested, glancing back at the brog.
"Fair enough," Jaune laughed.
"Urgh... dead frog..." Yang wrinkled her nose.
"I don't want to know why you know what that smells like," Weiss sighed, pinching her nose.
They didn't have to go far to find a decent clearing, where Sun and Jaune gathered wood for Pyrrha to start a fire, which she did with great ease. From there, Jaune and Blake worked together to finish retelling the events on the Maelstrom to Ozpin, before each group told each other what had happened after they awoke in this forest. Once they'd finished, a long silence fell, eventually broken by Blake.
"So... you're really going to do it, then? Try and climb Yggdrasil? Find Shambhala?"
Pyrrha nodded. "That's the plan."
Blake bit her tongue, clearly fighting not to show the same derision she had before.
"She really does not believe in Shambhala, does she?" Ruby noted.
"I never was a fan of fairy tales," Blake sighed heavily.
"But what if this one is real?" Ruby pressed. "I mean, it's another world- anything can happen, right?"
Blake bit her tongue.
Finally, she instead said, "You know... I never thanked you properly for saving us back there." She was looking at Ozpin. "I think I passed out early, but Sun says you're the one who carried us here."
"You were one cool titan!" Sun beamed, aiming some finger guns at Ozpin, who had curled up next to the fire.
"You saved Jaune first," Ozpin pointed out. "Let's just call it even."
Blake bit her tongue again- this time, a look of what seemed to be shame momentarily crossed her face. "Don't... don't mention it," she finally said.
"She still feels guilty," Jaune observed.
"Guilty? Blake?" Ruby tilted her head. "But she saved him!"
"Not before she let Adam stab him in the first place," Blake pointed out grimly.
"She had no idea that was going to happen," Yang stated firmly. "And you had even less control over the situation, so don't you go feeling guilty either."
"Y'know, I never heard of a titan who could regenerate like that," Sun pondered. "Any tips for us, in case we get hurt that bad?"
Ozpin chuckled. "I'm afraid it took several hundred years of advanced practice to master this art- not just any titan could-"
"That's gonna get old fast," Jaune interrupted.
Ozpin flashed his equivalent of a glare in Jaune's direction. "That's quite the attitude to show the titan who saved your life- especially after you put it at such risk in the first place, rushing off on this job and leaving me behind like an invalid old fool."
"Yeah, yeah, I gotcha," Jaune rolled his eyes. "Horrible disappointment, most likely to get himself killed, I hear ya loud and clear."
Nora giggled. "It sounds like they've had talks like this before!"
"I do get that feeling," Ren agreed with a small smile.
Ozpin's lids lowered halfway. "You truly cannot summon a shred of sincere regret, can you?"
"'Fraid not," Jaune shook his head. "Because if I hadn't taken that job, they'd have gotten their hands on Pyrrha!" He smiled at Pyrrha, who had jumped upon the mention of her name, her cheeks suddenly dusted with red. "Yeah, everything went to hell, but as long as they don't have her, I'm alright. I'm not gonna let them have her- not now, not ever!"
"Jaaaauuuune..." Pyrrha smiled dopily.
"Jaune!" Ruby crossed her arms and pouted.
Later that night, three of them had fallen asleep- Sun was lying spread-eagled on the ground, as Blake used his abs as a pillow. Jaune was sleeping on his own, while Pyrrha had moved to another pond- smaller and cleaner than the brog-infested one they'd left, perfectly mirroring the night sky above. After a moment, she heard the soft beating of wings and glanced to her side to see Ozpin approaching. "Unable to sleep, I suppose?" he began.
"I just woke up after five hundred years," Pyrrha pointed out with a wan smile. "I've had enough sleep to last for now." She slowly turned to look at him. "It's good to see you again, Ozpin."
"Wait, they know each other?" Nora gasped. "Crap- Pyrrha's part of the Ozluminati! Quick, we have to put a steak into her chest!"
"Nora, we've been over this before- we do not-" Ren started, before Nora came rushing in from the kitchen with a large ribeye steak that she threw into Pyrrha's chest ("OOF!") before leaping onto her and beginning to pound on it.
"BEGONE, DEMON FROM THE NETHERWORLD!"
"Nora, no!" Ren barked- she jumped, then sheepishly slid off and took the steak with her.
"...Sorry..."
"First off, even if that Pyrrha is part of the... Ozluminati, that doesn't have any bearing on this one," Ren chided.
"And just them knowing each other doesn't really prove anything," Blake chipped in. "It just shows us they met five hundred years ago- we knew titans lived long lives."
"I guess you're right..."
"Here, let me cook that up," Vanessa offered, taking the steak and heading into the kitchen. "Or rather, let me call Jack and he'll cook it."
"It's wonderful to see you again as well, my dear," Ozpin smiled. "Though I must say, you've changed a great deal since the old days."
"Y'know, Cardin said the same thing," Jaune recalled. "What was Pyrrha like back then that makes her so different now?"
"Maybe she was a real blood knight?" Yang shrugged. "Or maybe she actually enjoyed puns? Oh- maybe she actually liked Pumpkin Pete's- maybe she was real fat before she went to sleep, and her figure now is just what happened after she didn't eat for five hundred years?"
"I... don't hate... puns..." Pyrrha attempted to placate her.
"But everyone hates your puns," Weiss stated flatly. "Unless she was you back then, I doubt anything's changed since."
"I suppose I have," Pyrrha admitted. "Then again, it has been five hundred years."
"Indeed," Ozpin agreed. "Thank you very much for saving Jaune's life. I must ask you- what you told him, about reaching Shambhala- that's the full truth?"
Pyrrha slowly nodded. "Returning home to Shambhala is my true desire."
"If you say so," Ozpin decided, "let it be so."
"But, I do have one other goal," Pyrrha added.
"Adam and Cardin." It wasn't a question.
"Yes- I can't let them continue on this path they've chosen."
"So, what, she knows Cardin and Adam, too?" Nora asked. "Are you suuuuuure-"
"Forget the Ozluminati," Ren ordered.
"Okay."
"I don't see how she could," Weiss shook her head. "Not unless they were five hundred years old, too, and I just don't see how that's possible- none of them are titans."
"Fate... is like gravity," Ozpin mused. "And the fate of one such as a Grail... well..."
Pyrrha remained silent.
"That's what everyone was calling Pyrrha!" Ruby recalled again. "Grail... Grail... what's a Grail?"
"Traditionally, a sacred cup," Blake answered. "Though... somehow, I doubt that's what it means here, if that's what they're calling Pyrrha."
"I'm sure Pyrrha has a couple sacred cups tucked away, if you know what I mean," Yang waggled her eyebrows- right before Nora slammed her with the Hat of Discipline (a large hat topped with a hammer.) "Ooooowwwwww..."
"From what I can tell, it's basically a really powerful blade... right, Vanessa?" Jaune ran his theory by their host as she returned.
"Yeah... that's about it," Vanessa agreed, somewhat evasively.
"So... you're going to get Jaune mixed up in all this?" Ozpin spoke at barely above a whisper.
Pyrrha winced slightly, but did not answer.
"I'm not attempting to assign blame," Ozpin assured her. "You heard the boy, he'd force himself in even if you demanded that he stay behind.
Pyrrha slowly raised her hand over the crystal on her chest- the former cross, that had now been X'd out. Ozpin glanced between her crystal and the X on Jaune's chest. "You granted half your life to him... half your crystal... that alone shows the burden you're willing to carry."
Pyrrha finally spoke. "Ozpin... I..."
Ozpin gazed at her understandingly. "Promise me you'll take care of Jaune- defend him as much as he'll doubtlessly work to defend you."
Pyrrha's smile finally felt sincere. "I promise."
"Then I'll offer no objection," Ozpin promised back, before fluttering back towards the fire, leaving Pyrrha to gaze into the water, her thoughts buzzing relentlessly around her head.
"See, Nora?" Ren smiled gently. "She's not going to hurt Jaune- and neither is Ozpin."
"I'll trust 'em... for now."
The first thing Jaune did upon waking up in the morning was to stretch widely before brushing some dirt of his clothes. Blake and Sun were already awake, Sun cooking some eggs that he'd plucked from some nearby trees. It didn't take long for Ozpin and Pyrrha to awaken as well and dig in.
"So, once we get moving, where do we head?" Jaune asked aloud. "I figure we should try to find the nearest town. I don't suppose any of you recognize the titan we're on?"
"Judging by the trees," Blake spoke up, "I'd hazard a guess we landed on Menagerie- home to the faunus and colony of the Atlesian Empire."
"WHAAAAAAAAT?" everyone gasped.
"Colony-" Weiss stared.
"-of the Atlesian Empire?!" Blake hissed.
"When did that happen?" Pyrrha asked.
"Oh- yeah, you wouldn't know," Blake shook her head. "About fifty years ago. Atlas has been pushing for expansion for a while now- I think Mistral might be the only reason they don't own the entire Cloud Sea yet. Menagerie's not exactly an economic powerhouse, and we have a lot of trouble with monsters, so Atlas offered to send soldiers and drivers for extra protection, under the condition they were permitted to annex the titan."
"'We?'" Jaune repeated, blinking, before his eyes at last fell on the cat ears protruding from Blake's head. "Oooooooh... you're a faunus, aren't you?"
Blake stared at him for several long seconds. "...Really?"
"Thaaaaaaat's Jauney!" Nora grinned.
"I think it's lovely that you weren't looking to judge her by her race," Pyrrha smiled.
"Ain't he lucky," Vanessa rolled her eyes.
"You seriously didn't notice at all, though?" Blake sounded exasperated, but there was a note of laughter beneath it as well. "I mean, my other isn't even wearing a bow- they've been out in the open the whole time!"
"I... er..." Jaune scratched nervously at the back of his head.
Weiss said nothing- she was simply glad Blake had dropped the topic of Menagerie apparently being a colony of Atlas in this world.
Blake shook aside her exasperation. "Well, whatever. Yes, I'm sure this is Menagerie- if I'm not wrong, we landed somwhere around the belly. Our first move should be to go uphill- that'll take us out of the forest and onto the titan's upper level. We should be able to see Kuo Kuana- the main town."
"Sounds like a plan!" Jaune nodded, and he and Pyrrha fell in behind Blake and Sun. At first, they seemed uncertain, but after some time, they both seemed to figure out where they were, and from then on, knew exactly where they were going- as promised, regardless of the twists and turns they took through the trees, they were always going uphill, until the path narrowed along the edge of a cliff- they seemed to be going through a narrow canyon, until the path opened up, and... Jaune's jaw dropped.
They had emerged at the edge of a great plain, grass spreading out as far as he could see. Various animals were foraging their way across the plains, into valleys through which little rivers flowed, climbing the trees at the edge... birds and beasts alike. In the far, far distance, he saw the humongous neck and head of the titan stretching up as it continued its pacing around Yggdrasil.
"Welcome," Blake said with the barest trace of pride, "to Menagerie."
"It's beautiful..." Ruby grinned, starry-eyed.
"Damn, I wouldn't mind paying a visit to Blakey's hometown if it's this pretty!" Yang mused.
"I... I mean, Menagerie's beautiful..." Blake agreed, her own eyes wide as saucers, "but nothing like this!"
Blake pointed towards the opposite end of the plains, where Jaune could barely make out man-made structures. "That's the town of Kuo Kuana."
"It's grown so much!" Pyrrha smiled. "Last time I visited, Kuo Kuana was just a few houses and a large trading post."
"It's done pretty well for itself since then," Blake couldn't fight the smile. "As much as I hate to admit it, Atlas's occupation does seem to have helped... they definitely kept their promise of keeping monsters away."
"Which doesn't mean they aren't hurting the faunus in some other way," Blake hissed.
"Can we keep the hostility down until we see whether there's actually anything to be hostile over?" Ren suggested calmly. Blake shot him a nasty look, which was immediately overriden by the nasty look Nora shot back.
"I'll take you to the city. After that, you're on your own."
"On- on our own?" Jaune asked, taken aback.
"Think about it," Blake crossed her arms. "Do you really want to be seen with me?"
"You mean... a member of the same team as Adam and Cardin?" Jaune asked.
"Correct," Blake nodded. "Admittedly, I only joined a couple months ago, but they're still my team."
Yang opened her mouth to protest, but the other Jaune was already making her argument for her.
"A team... that tried to kill you."
"I... I know what they did," Blake admitted uncomfortably. "But still... they're the closest thing I have to family."
"A family consisting of Cardin, Adam, and god knows who else?" Yang muttered. "Great freakin' family."
Blake said nothing.
Pyrrha looked momentarily put out, but then brightened. "Oh- I just thought of a song that Monty- he's my old driver, I don't know if you know-"
"Everyone knows Monty Oum, he's a legend!" Jaune smiled at her.
"He... certainly earned that," Pyrrha smiled. "But, I just thought of a song he wrote while we were here- I don't know if you know it?"
Blake sighed. "Please tell me-"
Sun interrupted, smirking. "Oh, I think I know it, alright. Is it the one that goes...
"I hear the drums echoing tonight,
But she hears only whispers of some quiet
Conversation..."
"Oh, oh, I know this song!" Ruby squealed. "Everyone stay quiet, don't interrupt it!"
But Blake interrupted it anyways. "Sun, I swear to the Architect-"
Pyrrha didn't seem to notice- she had taken the lead across the plains as she took up the melody.
"She's coming in on a midday flight,
Her moonlit wings reflect the stars
That guide me towards Salvation..."
Disregarding the glares Blake was sending at all of them, Jaune fell in line and sang,
"I stopped an old man along the way,
Hoping to find some long-forgotten words
Or ancient melodies...
He turned to me as if to say,
'Hurry, boy, she's waiting there for you!'"
Perhaps emboldened by the majestic waterfall they were passing, they all broke into the chorus:
"It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you!
That's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do!
I bless the rains in Menagerie!
Gonna take some time to do the things we never haaaaaave!"
They all turned eagerly towards Blake, who, seeing she was outnumbered, sighed and took the next verse- though she waited until they'd hidden behind a large tree from an enormous ape-like creature she identified as the 'Territorial Rotbart.'
"The wild dogs cry out in the night,
As they grow restless longing for some solitary
Company...
I know that I must do what's right,
Sure as Melknath rises like Yggdrasil above the
Clo-oud Sea..."
Perhaps it was Jaune's imagination, but he thought there was something stirring behind her eyes when she sang,
"I seek to cure what's deep inside,
Frightened of this thing that I've become!"
Grinning, Jaune, Pyrrha and Sun all joined in again for the chorus:
"It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you!
That's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do!
I bless the rains in Menagerie-
Gonna take the time to do the things we never have!"
"Ah, that was fun," Pyrrha grinned as they trailed off, approaching the entrance to Kuo Kuana. "You seemed to enjoy it at the end, Blake!"
"It's... not a horrible song," Blake admitted grudgingly. "Just... a very tourist-y one."
"I love that song," Ruby sighed.
"I get my other," Blake grumbled. "It's overplayed."
"Hmm... I wonder what would happen if we went down and sang it in Menagerie for real?" Pyrrha pondered.
Jaune looked around as they stepped through an archway. Kuo Kuana, as far as he could tell, was the quintessential little town, with numerous houses made of wood, surrounded by a large wall to keep beasts out. All along a street of dirt, wood, and cobblestone were shops around which various faunus with countless different features were milling.
"Take it in all you like," Blake instructed. "I'll show you to an inn, then set off."
Jaune nodded, but was quickly distracted by yelling he judged as coming from the town's square- he hurried in its direction. Blake made to follow, but was distracted by a nearby billboard. She quickly backtracked and frowned as she took it all in. It was a set of Wanted posters for the team she'd just been discussing returning to- on the left was Cardin, then Adam, and finally, an image of a bizarre creature with her hair and ears but the face of a wild tiger.
Yang burst into laughter.
"That... is not... funny!" Blake hissed, flattening her ears.
"Mui kaka," Yang chortled, raising her fingers an inch apart- her way of saying 'a little funny.' Apparently, she'd seen it in a movie once.
Her other didn't take it much better. "What... the hell?" she growled. "Is this supposed to be me?"
Sun looked, and his lips immediately curled into a smirk that he struggled to hide behind his hand. "Pfft... a stunning... likeness... pfft..."
"You have something to say, Sun?" Blake turned her flaming eyes on her blade.
"Something to say?" Sun raised his other hand in a failing effort to conceal his grin. "Why would I have something to say? Is something funny happening?"
Blake's ears flattened and she broke into a string of hisses as she dug her claws- er, nails- into the billboard, shredding her wanted poster and throwing the pieces into the air. She threw one last growl at the board before turning and hurrying to catch up to Jaune.
Blake glared at the rest of the audience. "Don't... say... a word."
Their smirks were already more than enough.
Jaune, it turned out, had happened upon a presenter of sorts, a woman in full armor and helmet standing beneath an awning with two others at his side. In front of them was a desk with a single item upon it- a large, diamond-shaped crystal.
"Come one, come all!" the woman was calling. "Which one of you has the courage to heed Atlas's call? Your strong heart today will guide us all into a stronger Atlas and Menagerie alike for tomorrow! A fine salary, and, of course, pensions and benefits are included! Particularly fine drivers may even find themselves among the nobility! For the glory of the Atlesian Empire, and his majesty Whitley Schnee!"
Weiss coughed. "Ex-cuse me? Emperor who?!"
"Let me look through my notes here..." Vanessa raised a hand. "Let's see... Jacques was the old emperor... very crappy... ousted... replaced with his son. Something like that, I can barely read the Hand's chicken scratches."
"But surely my brother could hardly..." Weiss trailed off, recalling something the Hand had once said about Whitley not having had the same chances she had. "Alright... I'll give him the benefit of the doubt... for now."
"So they're recruiting soldiers?" Pyrrha asked, tilting her head.
"Drivers," Ren pointed out. "Which, I suppose, makes that a core crystal."
"Ooohhhh, we're about to see how awakening a blade actually works?" Ruby asked excitedly.
"Come one, come all, and become the hero this world needs!"
"Recruiting drivers from random citizens?" Jaune wondered.
"Oh, yes, they'll take drivers anywhere they can get them," Blake nodded.
"Not everyone has what it takes to bond with a blade," Sun put in. "If they're recruiting on the streets, it tells me they don't have any more soldiers with the potential."
"The... potential?" Jaune asked, hoping he didn't sound too stupid- he'd followed news of drivers, but had never really learned how the process worked.
"Watch," Blake instructed- a large man was approaching the desk; a bear faunus, by the looks of him, with rippling muscles.
"Hand that crystal over here," he demanded. The woman in armor bowed and handed the crystal over, only touching it with her fingertips. The man clutched it in the palm of his hand and held it to his chest. Slowly, it began to glow.
"It's working!" Jaune said excitedly, but Blake was shaking her head.
"No... it's not."
Sure enough, the man opened his mouth with a scream, before the crystal seemed to explode, sending the man flying onto his back- but rather than being in pieces, the crystal fell to the ground- intact, glowing, but otherwise innocent enough in appearance to fool any newcomer into believing that it had not just nearly killed a man the size of a bear.
"Med team!" the woman in armor demanded- quickly, two men in matching armor rushed in with a sheet, hoisted the man into it, and rushed him away.
"Oh, my!" Pyrrha placed her hands over her mouth.
"So there is a risk to it," Blake surmised.
"Ruby, you're not allowed near any of those," Weiss said quickly.
"Aw, but Weiss, a living weapon would be so-"
"Not. Allowed."
"A real shame!" the woman declared as she picked the crystal up from the ground- again, only with her fingertips- and placed it back on the desk. "He would have been a fine addition to the Atlesian military- but it's not all about brute strength! Would anyone else care to have a go?"
After the previous display, the rest didn't seem as keen- until another large, barrel-chested man with a beard rose up. "I'll take it."
Immediately, two small children got in front of him- a boy with a lion-like mane, and a girl with no visible traits. "No, Uncle Tukson, don't!" they pleaded. "We don't want to lose you, too!"
"You're not going to lose me," 'Tukson' assured them, finally shaking them off and stepping into the circle. One last time, the woman picked up the crystal with the tips of her fingers and handed it over. Like the man before him, Tukson held it tight in his palm and raised it to his chest, where it began to glow.
"Now, there's someone with potential," Blake commented.
And sure enough, while Tukson was letting out a yell as the glow bathed him, the crystal was not exploding. The light coalesced in two places- in Tukson's hand, where it formed into a long lance, and behind him, where another large, barrel-chested man appeared, a crystal embedded into his chest- he looked something like a robot, or as though he was dressed in a full suit of armor, though it flexed as though it were normal skin.
"Not all blades look entirely human," Sun answered in response to Jaune's unasked question. "Actually, Pyr and I are kinda oddities, in that sense." He swished his monkey tail, but did not comment on it.
The person who had appeared sunk into a bow. "You must be my new driver- I'm very pleased to meet you.
Tukson looked momentarily taken aback, but then broke into a grin. "I did it!"
Quickly, the children dashed to him and hugged his legs- they could reach no higher- grinning at him and staring up at the blade. "It worked! It worked! I don't believe it!"
"The crystal turned into a weapon?" Jaune tilted his head.
"And thus, a new blade is born," Ozpin nodded. "That blade seems to be a new one, taking on as many traits of that Tukson fellow as it did. A blade's first diver informs a great deal of their appearance and personality going forward- the exact whys and hows aren't entirely understood."
"The Hand wanted me to interrupt when he said that and tell you to keep that detail in mind- it will be very important later," Vanessa commented.
"I think we can absorb this story on our own, thanks," Weiss retorted scathingly. Vanessa shrugged.
"That's not... how it worked when I touched Pyrrha's-"
"Well, she's the Grail," Blake shrugged. "I'm still not entirely clear what that means, but it definitely means she's a special case. It seems the usual rules don't apply with her. I doubt there are many other blades that could split their lifeforce with you, either." She glanced pointedly at the X-shaped crystal now embedded into Jaune's own chest.
"Grail... that's what Cardin and Adam called her, too..." he glanced questioningly at Blake.
"Like I said, I don't really understand myself," Blake repeated. "All I know is, she's a very unique blade. You want more details, I'd just ask her." She turned. "Well, you saw the exciting part- from here on, it's all paperwork and boring ceremony. C'mon, I'll show you to the inn."
Jaune gently reached out and touched Pyrrha on the shoulder, getting her attention before setting off after Blake.
As the world faded away again, Ruby pouted. "Aww, I wanted to see some more of this world with living weapons!"
"Well, we don't always get what we want, do we, Rubes?"
Ruby jumped and squealed when she realized she was suddenly sitting next to a boy she'd never seen before- a somewhat short boy with a large moustache and a red cap on his head, and an M-shaped scar on his forehead.
"Who're you?" Yang growled, immediately smashing her fists together.
"Nobody important," the boy grunted, rising from the couch. "Just wanted to make a dramatic entrance."
"If you're looking for the Hand," Vanessa interrupted, "he's visiting his sister right now."
"Hiding at his sister's, more like it," the boy grunted. "Thanks for the tip- I owe him five years' worth of beatdowns."
"Who the hell was that?!" Yang demanded.
"Mario Mario, he's from another world the Hand watches over- and that he's been neglecting for quiet a while," Vanessa explained. "Forget about him. I get that you want to see more of this world, Ruby, and you will... but first, I think we need to start reacquainting you with some of the other corners of this world. Why don't we start with...
XXXX
Pay no mind to cameos, I'm trying to lock myself into continuing the Mario Mario series, after five years of shameful neglect. Also, I ran the song idea past Georgie, and his reaction was, "That's going to annoy the crap out of your readers... do it." So, if you're angry, it's his fault.
All that aside, I wanted to return to Xenoblade 2 with all the celebration it deserves, especially after the long wait so many have been forced to endure- not as long as Mario Mario, but still. As Vanessa says, I'd like to reintroduce another one of the games next- which one? We're gonna do what I always do with YAM and run a poll- if you read YAM, you know the deal. Vote on my profile between Xenogears, Xenosaga, or Xenoblades 1, 3, or X. Well-thought out responses in the reviews or private messages will be considered for an extra vote, and... hmm... I've been considering, should I respond to reviews in-story? I know everyone else does, but I never really have... sorry, I'm rambling again. Anyways, poll in the profile, be sure to drop a review, and until next time, don't you dare go hollow! Gamer4 out.