*Jaune PoV*
He once again found himself in the house within his dreams. So similar to the real one and yet oddly different. Maybe it was just the eerie silence, considering in real life he would almost always have some background noise from his family. There was something different this time though.
Maybe it was the exhaustion from his fight seeping into even his dreams. Or maybe it was his nerves and worries making him think there was something different. It could also be the massive armored knight lazing on the couch.
Jaune stared.
The knight as if feeling his piercing gaze looked towards him and somewhat of a staring contest began. Obviously Jaune lost considering he couldn't even see the eyes of the figure as it was shadowed by his helmet.
He made his way towards him noticing that his helmeted head followed his movements.
As Jaune reached the couch the knight moved his arm and patted the couch cushion next to him.
"Take a seat we have a lot to talk about"
Despite being asleep, Jaune could tell, this was going to be a long night.
*Yamamoto PoV*
Yamamoto awoke bright and early, but he did not get up from bed. He spread his awareness throughout the house and the surroundings checking for anything out of place as he did everyday. Although a few things were strange the oddest one was the fluctuations within the young Arcs room. He had an idea as to what it was so he wasn't too worried. He'd still check on him in a bit though. He got up and prepared himself for the day.
After that he walked out and began to head down stairs, but not before opening the door to Jaunes room and checking on him a bit. As he spread his awareness while closing to the boy, his suspicions were confirmed. The lad was very likely communing within his own soul.
After closing the door to Jaune's room having seen that he was sleeping while his spiritual pressure was fluctuating he made his way downstairs and into the dining room where quite a few people were gathered. Some looked curious, others looked worried, five specific people in uniform and still tied down looked at him with a mixture of wariness and exhaustion, and one in particular was glaring at him as the man sat on their chair with a blanket around himself completely shivering.
The entire Arc family, minus Jaune, was gathered here along with the failed kidnappers. Some would think it irresponsible for Yamamoto to leave them alone with his family, but they weren't Yamamoto. If he had sensed even an ounce of killing intent he would have moved and decapitated them. It's part of the reason they were still alive actually. Through the whole night and through their whole attempt they hadn't ever attempted to kill.
He was broken out of his musings.
"You shitty old man! You left-" Started the voice of Marrow before being quickly interrupted by Violet. "Language!"
Marrow looked annoyed at that, but was cowed by the stare of the Arc matriarch.
He cleared his throat a bit and continued, "I just wanted to know why you decided that leaving me out in the cold was a good idea, or did you forget about me?" he said with a strained smile as he had very likely held back a sea of curses.
Yamamoto would never admit to having forgotten about him, so he did the next best thing, "Of course I didn't forget, I instead used that as a small test of sorts."
"Test?" Marrow repeated looking a mixture of frustrated and constipated, it didn't look very good on his face.
"Yes. It was to see your determination and if you're worthy of learning from me." He bullshitted.
"Why? Like what would I even-" Marrow was about to continue but was rudely interrupted.
The face Marrow was making was indescribable, But could be seen as a mixture of 'what the fuck' and 'is this guy serious'.
Yamamoto ignored him and spoke to Violet before Marrow could speak up again.
"I'm sure you have questions. Feel free to ask."
"Thank you." She said before pausing as if she was unsure of what to ask first.
Taking a deep breath as though she finished organizing her thoughts she spoke up, "Who are those people." She said pointing over at the incapacitated five. The five in question either looked away or stared intensely at the ground.
"They seem to be some sort of soldiers from the Kingdom of Atlas" He answered.
"Why were they after you?"
"They weren't after me at least not in the way you think."
"What do you mean by that?"
"They were after all of you."
Violet's expression went through a variety of emotions ranging from confusion to the most prominent being shock and worry,
"Us?! Why? What do they want with us?!" She asked quickly.
"They wanted to hold you captive to use you as leverage against me."
Violet was stunned and took a few seconds to even ask the next question.
"... are- are we in danger? Do we need to move?"
"You all will never be in danger as I'm alive, but to go further the threat they represent and more specifically the person who ordered this has been dealt with."
That seemed to calm Violet down, but it only made someone else agitated.
"What do you mean dealt with?!" Asked Clover almost shouting.
Yamamoto decided to once again deign him with an answer. "I mean he will never bother this family again or he will lose his life."
That seemed to calm Clover down and after a bit Clover spoke, "... thank you for not killing him. I still owe him a lot."
"Hmm" gave Yamamoto as a response not letting Clove know anything about how he felt.
After a bit of a pause in the conversation, Violet asked him another question.
"What are you going to do with them?"
"Well I have two options, I can either kill them or put them to work."
The Arc family gasped and the team hearing his answer quickly grew pale.
Marrow quickly stood up and exclaimed. "What the heck old man?!"
Yamamoto raised an eyebrow at him and answered, "Well it's rather simple. If we were to turn you over to the police, as a special operatives team you'd probably be out and about within a week at most. Letting you go has the same consequences leaving me with little choice."
Marrow looked troubled, he knew that was exactly how things would go.
Violet spoke up, "Then let's go with the other option, putting them to work?"
"Yeah, we'll have the team work for you!" Marrow agreed quickly.
Yamamoto smiled.
The entire team shivered and began to wonder if death might've been the better option.
With the serious conversation over they began to eat breakfast.
The operatives couldn't do much as bound as they were, and were subjected to Luna spoon feeding them breakfast or starving.
Violet would've said something, but she wasn't feeling much in the way of pity for her would be kidnappers.
Jaune PoV*
"Wait so like you're me basically? But I'm me! Are you a split personality??"
"No you dolt, I said I'm an aspect of you"
"Yeah that's what I said."
"..."
"..."
"...is that a no?"
"Brothers preserve me." He said as he rubbed his... well not temples, he still had the armor on so it was like where his temples would be on the armor. Jaune didn't quite know what to call that part, just the helm maybe?
Either way it looked like he was going to be here a while.
*Yamamoto PoV*
"Where is Jaune by the way?" Violet asked
"He's doing some special training right now, don't worry." Answered Yamamoto.
"... in his room?"
"Yes."
"Completely quietly?"
"Mhmm"
"While sleeping"
"... I'm not sure what you're not getting."
Violet threw her hands up in a sign of defeat and simply said, "Nevermind, must be some special training technique I've never heard of."
"That's correct" He answered and simply kept eating.
"I train every morning too, but then you interrupt my training." quickly jumped Luna into the conversation.
Violet wasn't having any of it.
"Luna you're not sleeping for an extra 3 hours while we wait for you and that's final."
Luna puffed her cheeks and pouted.
She unfortunately also took out her anger and the poor operatives who were tied up as she violently scooped breakfast into their mouths.
They would complain, but the one time Harriet was about to she saw the old man glare and realized that would be equivalent to forfeiting their life. All they could do was endure.
After breakfast was over they sat down on the table again and began to discuss what would be done with them.
Marrow started off with a question.
"Alright old man, what's your plan for them?"
"I'm going to put you all to work." He answered simply
Marrows face scrunched up a bit, he probably didn't like being included in what was probably a punishment, but he still needed more information.
"Obviously, but I mean how? You don't exactly have a farm around here, you don't exactly own a factory, and having a team of specialists go do minimum wage jobs seems kind of a waste. What's the work?"
"Body guard duty." Yamamoto responded.
"...well you don't need any type of protection, so I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say it's for the others." He pointed at the few Arcs that hadn't gotten bored of their presence sitting with them at the table.
"Yes." He responded.
"Well okay." answered Marrow as he didn't really have much of a choice anyways.
"Wait" Interrupted Violet, "I'm not exactly comfortable with them being anywhere near us."
That was fair, they would've been her and her families kidnappers, but Yamamoto had a plan.
"Don't worry, it won't be immediate. I'll give them some training first, beat a few habits out of them, and then they'll be the perfect guards."
"... I don't know..." Answered Violet still hesitant.
"Trust me on this. I will keep the family safe."
Violet relented. "Fine, but if they try anything I want them gone. Completely gone."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure they don't try anything." Yamamoto responded.
With that the discussion was over and Yamamoto took the team to the back yard.
They all knew what was in store for them and honestly it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Someone more cruel could've crippled or maimed them for their attempt and they could've just been killed off.
Yet for some odd reason.
They all felt as if they were marching towards their execution.
*Ozpin PoV*
Ozpin was sat at his desk with many papers scattered about , he sighed as he thought about what to do. He had many many things on his list, almost all each as pressing as the last. He needed to find the cause of the pillar of fire, he needed to talk to the right members of the council to sway them to give an increase of funding to his academy, he needed to have Ironwood babysat 24/7 once the man arrived here, he needed to update the inner circle of his closest comrades on what had transpired, and he needed information about this Yamamoto fellow. He need oh so much.
Yamamoto...
How could someone so disgustingly strong go under the radar for so long. The man looked positively ancient, maybe not as ancient as himself, but he was cheating by reincarnating.
The man was stronger during his youth, that's just how time goes, so he's sure he would have made some waves or heard of him in a previous reincarnation, that much strength does simply not go unnoticed. Yet he was.
It was unsettling to think he existed and wasn't under his control. Even right now he himself wasn't out of the mans reach. He needed information badly and he was so very tempted to send Qrow, but knowing so little and having an entire specialist team missing by the hands of one man, could he risk his best operative?
No he couldn't, but he would have to.
If a variable like that man fell under Salem's control,under her machinations, he shuddered to think of the consequences of an enemy that could reach across entire continents to attack.
With his mind resolute using his scroll he dialed.
He would have to be very specific and make Qrow promise to only observe. To never interfere, and at the first sign of any kind of attention from the man to flee immediately.
If the man seemed reasonable it was possible they could work together, and hopefully before Salem got wind of him and sent endless grimm after him or his family.
Ozpin sighed again as his scroll kept dialing Qrow.
*Jacques Schnee PoV*
Oh what a good day to be alive!
As the richest men on Remnant any day was a good day, but today was positively special.
Ironwood was gone!
It was such good news that it almost made him want to start skipping.
Finally that filthy thorn at his side was gone and with him missing two seats on the council opened up.
Two seats that were all but his for the taking.
The years of power plays between the two of them, the political moves, the dirt on each other all gone with him.
He unfortunately still had power over the military, but with his standing so massively reduced Jacques could now reach hands into a few places here and there that he couldn't before.
The best part was that although Ironwood had a few times himself used faunus to further his own agenda he still had strongly opposed further stripping them of their rights.
No longer was he here to stop him, Jacques was overjoyed that within a few months he would basically have a free labor force and it would have to be backed up by the Atlesian military as he would make it completely over the books.
Nothing but profit was heading his way, and nothing but misery was heading towards the faunus.
He smiled to himself to himself once again in the privacy of his office as he wrote many letters and looked over the many bills he would begin to pass.
What a good day to be Jacque Schnee.
*Cinder PoV*
Cinder was on one knee with her head bowed down in the direction of a throne with a figure sitting up on it.
"There are no leads pointing to anything or anyone, apart from Qrow who seemed to be in the area for a while, but I do not know if he found anything, I had to make sure I wasn't spotted."
Generally Cinder hated any form of submission and wouldn't bow.
The shadows writhed.
Things in the distance screamed.
Oily black ink on the ground swarmed around her and looked as if it wanted to consume her.
This all stopped just as suddenly as it started.
In the tense silence the figure upon the throne spoke. "That's... disappointing Cinder."
Cinder hated any form of submission, but lately since the incident with the pillar of fire, the Grimm queen had been agitated.
Agitated and twitchy, like a junkie with a loaded gun. Cinder wouldn't care, but right now she was in the line of fire.
Before she could even react many sets of inky black claws and hands stretched from the ground and rapidly dragged her towards the queen. They grabbed at her face and forced her to stare at her directly.
"Why do I still keep you around when you're so useless?!" She said a harsh voice.
Cinder was blanking out, "The- the plan! The plan to take down Oz and his circle. To kill the maidens!"
Her heart hammered in her ears after her response and she was hoping that answer was enough.
...
...
...
...
She was unceremoniously dropped to the ground by most of the claws and was dragged back to where she had been kneeling by a singular inky claw before it also disappeared.
"That's right, that's right. You still have use..."
Cinder shakily got into a kneeling position was again, her heart still hammering in her ears, and her blood thrumming with adrenaline.
As she waited for an order from the queen she wondered where it all went so wrong.
Salem had seemed so composed, so elegant despite her monstrous appearance, so much like a mastermind in the shadows.
Now she was a loose cannon ever since the day of the pillar, she had been on edge, or scared, or happy? Cinder couldn't tell and definitely couldn't ask as she still appreciated being alive.
The grim queen let out a sigh making Cinder tense.
"You will continue with the plan. On the off chance that you encounter anything, and I mean ANYTHING related to the pillar you will chase it down with priority above all else."
"Yes my queen. Should I pursue Qrow for information?" Cinder asked.
"No, he's currently to strong for you, plus I've already decided to send Tyrian after him. You may go."
Knowing a dismissal when she heard one Cinder stood up and exited the room.
Letting out a sigh of relief as she moved through the hallways of the Grimm queens castle she couldn't only think of one thing.
Fuck.
She cursed at her past self for deciding to follow Salem.
She cursed at the stupid pillar of fire for existing.
She cursed at the world for turning itself on it's head.
(Hello still alive, so I got super bored with the story since I already saw the ending in my head. I still said I was gonna finish it so I am, but the pacing might speed up a bit, I really want you guys to see the interactions between Jaune and Phyrrha, and then have Yamamoto do a few more legendary things before he world hops, and then have a really good epilogue with how the world/story changed.)
(I think the mark of a decent writer is to be able to do at least 3k words per chapter, 5k words to be a good writer, 7k to be a great writer. I tried to do 5k, but it feels like a chore at times, so I might give you more chapters but they'll be 3k-ish long[I admit it, I'm a shit writer lmaooo])
(I'm also going to post some other stories ideas and hopefully they get adopted or just inspire someone to write something similar so that I don't have to do it myself lmao)
(leave some revie- actually no, recommend some stories in the reviews or straight up write some stories and post them then tell me about them lol, happy with your feedback I'm out.)
(Ps, if inspiration hits I'ma just write and post, I'm sorry about the spelling mistakes but I'm passing go, collecting my 200, not looking back, those are happy little accidents now, ciao)