Rusted Gold
Chapter 5
A year and a bit ago
It has been about a few weeks since Jaune has met the twins. And in those few weeks he realized something very important when interacting with them.
He was very out of touch.
He blamed his isolation nature for that. In his time here in the ever after, his social skills were non-existent and any he did had was lackluster. His time with the Afterians only reinforced that assessment. It was not their fault, in their very nature they were anything but coherent. He guesses some of their nature he picked up. Being in a place for so long means he knows what to expect, even if some of the things make no sense. Like the storms that happen rarely and the people that are living in the acres.
Which left him in a lot of situations where he guided them out of trouble and talked their way out of some of the more nasty residents. Some were reasonable, some were not, like the red king.
Another thing he also realized was who he was traveling with. Or at least one of them.
Alyx. the girl who fell though the world. He could hardly believe it and the ramifications that followed of her being here. He knew the story, but he thought that happened a long time ago before he was even born! Much less being part of it. And he also realized what his role was. The Rusted Knight.
He was both amazed at this revelation but also he should have foreseen it as well. In all of his time here he never recalled an afterian who was knight-like and if he had, he would have likely met them in his travels around the ever after. Unless they were not a part of this world in the first place.
As for her being here well…the ramifications of her existing now was both terrifying and concerning. What does it mean for him? For his friends? And the events that are to come? This has brought up a very personal topic for him as he thought about it. Destiny.
That damnable phrase has come up once again in his life. But this time it came in the most unexpected way possible.
Destiny, such a simple word that has so much hurt surrounding it. He knew what his final goal was, to get home and finish what they have started. But with Alyx and Lewis he was supposed to be the Rusted Knight of the story. Who was he meant to be?
Jaune Arc who was waiting for his friends so they can go home and drive back the darkness but at the cost of the Rusted Knight?
Or the Rusted Knight who was supposed to guide Alyx (and his brother) home but at the cost of himself near the end of the story. And that's what was concerning him the most. He knew how it ended. But he can't see himself drinking poison willingly.
It was starting to not make sense anymore. None of this was supposed to happen and for the first time in a long time he was not sure what to do. It was becoming increasingly clear he was going to have to make a decision soon. Oh Pyrrha you were right, Destiny was something that should be feared.
"Oh dear knight, are you feeling well? I know I shouldn't intrude when you're thinking but I'm going to have a look around the area, you don't mind do you?"
Oh right, he was here also.
The cat.
To be honest, he has almost no opinion of the cat since his long stay here. When he first arrived, he was the greatest curiosity the cat has ever seen but as the months and years flew by, his chats with him grew less and less until it completely stopped since he had his task to do and other things to ponder. This was actually Jaune's first time seeing the cat this year. But then again he mostly trained and helped with the gems.
"No I don't mind, do as you please" and with that the cat jumped into the thicket of the forest. Leaving him and the twins.
"Mr. Knight sir." Lewis asked as he stared into the fire. Jaune looked at him and gave him a hum for him to continue. " What exactly are you doing here? I know you come from Remnant since you're a huntsmen and all but…why are you still here?" he said as he looked towards the knight.
Jaune was not too sure how to exactly put it into words, but it did not hurt to tell him why he was staying at least. There was no need to tell him what was waiting for him back home. "Well, what I can tell you right now is that I'm waiting for my friends to arrive. You see, I arrived earlier than any of my friends did, so I have to wait for them."
"I see, are any of them human?"
"Yes they are. And one of them is a faunus. They are all lovely people." Jaune said with a smile.
"Well that's good to hear" he said as he thought up another question. "Can you tell us about them? They must be interesting if you're waiting for them to show."
Jaune smiled at this. This was what he missed the most, simple dialogue with people. But before he started to recount his friends he looked at Alyx who was mostly quiet.
"Alyx? Are you ok?"
"I'm FINE, I'm just thinking of the 'people' we met earlier today. Man was that king RUDE. It's not like it matters anyway, so… tell us about your friends of yours."
Jaune just shrugs at that and begins to tell him about his friends and teammates.
Authors notes
This chapter was a bit shorter than what I would have liked but we are getting there.
So I got good news and bad news, first the good. I actually finished 1 ½ chapters ahead of time and it's looking pretty good if I have to say so myself. As for the bad, I won't be able to use them for maybe 2 to 3 chapters. I don't really know. I know it's very sad but I think it's worth.
So maybe same deal as last week, I'll try to write another chapter for the weekend so we can get even closer to what I want for this story to be at.
I also wanted to point out that this story was actually almost not made at all because I had no document format to actually write this on my computer and post. Almost bought word, but google docs came in clutch at the very end. Hope you guys like it, anyways see you folks later.