3 months. I'm not gonna lie and say this took 3 months. It took me a week at most. Got stuck in how I wanted to proceed to story and just put this on the backburner. But now with more ideas on the table and a slightly less vague outline for the story, I hope it takes me less than 3 months for the next chapter. No promises though.
As Jaune walked through the large corridor, he couldn't help but marvel at the grandness of the cave. Unlike much of the tunnel network back in the crystal cave he came from, this corridor was very spacious, allowing him and the bear to comfortably walk side by side. He also took note of the fine stone walls of the cave, looking so smooth and purposeful as if they were inside some ancient temple or ruin. The same walls also sported several carved drawings of both nature and people wielding swords. The pillars themselves also had statues carved into their structure, each different face sporting the same dull green eyes.
'Who are these people?' Jaune wondered mentally as he continued further into the corridor.
Jaune and the bear were quite a distance away already from the entrance when suddenly, the cave began trembling. Jaune first instinct was drop down and cover his head, fearing falling debris, but as he noted the dimming light from behind him, he realized that it was actually a sign that the doors were closing.
Jaune frantically swung his head back towards the entrance where he barely caught the last bit of sunlight get snuffed out by the fully closed doors. Fear began to well in the stomach of Jaune as he stood in darkness again, but he fought it off, thinking back to the crystal cave.
'E-everything is fine. I'm fine. I'm safe. I'm safe.' Jaune tried to calm himself as he began to reach towards his bear companion.
Jaune's patience was rewarded with a gradual illumination of the corridor, the soft, emerald light coming from the now shining eyes of the statues. Jaune released a sigh of relief at the return of light and looked around again to get a bearing of his surroundings.
'It looks so different.' Jaune noted in his mind as he saw the drawings of nature from before but now bathed in the emerald glow of the eyes. They looked so simple, yet, Jaune felt as if the glow gave them a vibrancy that made them more vivid.
"Admiring the murals, I see."
Jaune gave a startled gasp and involuntarily jumped away from the sudden voice, causing him to trip and fall down to the smooth, cave floor. Jaune slightly winced at the pain of falling but forced through it to keep an eye on the person that snuck up on him.
Standing totally unfazed beside his docile bear companion was a middle-aged man. He had short, black hair that seemed to grey at the sides and expressionless dark brown eyes. Jaune noted that he wore a simple, black, robe-like outfit with matching dark pants that would have certainly made him hard to notice with little light. Jaune also saw what seemed to be the handle of a sword peeking out of back of the man, making Jaune tense on the ground.
"Do forgive me for sneaking up on you. It is not often I receive guests here at the Penultimatum." The strange man spoke with a steady elegance, not betraying any emotion in his words, all the while giving relaxed pets on the head of a content bear.
"W-Who are you?" Jaune dared to ask with a shaky voice as he tried to prime his body to bolt from the ground and past the man. If the stranger was harmless, asking a few simple questions would help diffuse the situation. But if he wasn't, Jaune was buying himself time to prepare for the worst.
"Of course." The man readily agreed, pausing his petting of the bear.
"I am Matsu. I am the caretaker of the Jade Sword Sect here on the island and its final member." The man, now named Matsu, answered in the same steady elegance as he gave a short bow of his head.
"And you?"
"J-Jaune. Jaune Arc." Jaune offered, his heart and voice slowly settling as he concluded that Matsu wouldn't immediately attack him.
"Jaune Arc." Matsu spoke his name as if testing out how it felt to say. Jaune noted that Matsu gave a slight hum of consideration before the man offered him a hand. Jaune only hesitated for a moment before slowly taking the hand to pull himself back on his feet.
"So, Jaune Arc." Jaune heard Matsu start as Jaune found his footing.
"I presume you were brought here by Hei Bai?" The older man asked, though Jaune did not know what exactly he was asking.
"Hei Bai?" Jaune returned the unfamiliar words to Matsu, his tone unsure and questioning. In response, Matsu simply gestured towards the black and white bear beside him which promptly sat up straight and gave a practiced bow of its head towards Jaune.
"Is that its name?" Jaune asked, wanting to clarify that he was understanding the man and the bear correctly.
"Her name." Matsu corrected. "But yes. Hei Bai is what the Paragon called her and so Hei Bai is what we call her in the sect." Hei Bai gave a short grunt at that, as if to confirm what Matsu said.
Jaune felt he should think that the bear's –
'Hei Bai.' He mentally corrected.
– Hei Bai's seeming understanding of human speech was much more peculiar. Then again, he did just see her walk through the air with him on her back, so anything felt like fair game at that point.
"How did Hei Bai find you exactly?" Matsu inquired as he placed both his hands behind him.
"W-well," Jaune started, trying to recall earlier that morning. "I was sleeping in a cave inside a waterfall and when I woke up, I saw her just in front of me."
Jaune gave a quick, awkward chuckle when he remembered how terrified he was of being mauled. He checked if Matsu had any reaction to that, but only saw focused attention in an otherwise blank expression.
"I ran out cause I thought she was going to eat me or something." Jaune continued before he got interrupted by an indignant growl from Hei Bai.
"Hey, I was scared back then. I didn't know you were friendly yet." Jaune justified, which Hei Bai seemed to accept after a few moments of consideration.
"She found me again while I was bathing so I really couldn't run away again. Good thing she's a nice bear." Jaune shared as he directed a smile to Hei Bai who flicked her ears in response.
"After that, I just followed her until she brought me here." Jaune finished.
Matsu seemed to contemplate on what Jaune said as Jaune and Hei Bai gazed at him in expectation of his response.
"And how did you come to the island?" Matsu finally spoke once more, asking another question.
"I, I was kidnapped." Jaune admitted, dropping his gaze to the ground as the heaviness of those words became clear to him again. He was so far away from his family and home. He felt alone.
"That is… unfortunate, Jaune Arc." Matsu commented with his still neutral tone. "I would offer you assistance in leaving, however, my duties limit me within the Penultimatum."
"Is there really nothing you can do?" Jaune asked, a tinge of desperation suddenly coloring his tone as he focused on returning to his family. Matsu simply shook his head from side to side.
"I apologize. I am bound to the Penultimatum and so cannot escort you to the mainland. And I would not advise an attempt to cross alone. Without skill or adequate transport, the Lancer Grimm in the lake will make short work of you. I can only offer to accommodate you here in the Penultimatum for as long as you need." Matsu answered without a change in his voice.
"But I need to get back to my family!" Jaune stated frantically, feeling helpless by his situation.
"Isn't there a boat here or something?" Jaune asked desperately as he gripped the robes of Matsu.
"Apologies. The boats of the sect have long since been neglected and are most likely beyond repair. The sect is also without any aerial transport whatsoever. The only viable transport on this island would be whatever your kidnappers used, if it was still here." Matsu explained patiently to the distraught Jaune.
Jaune loosened his grip on Matsu's robes as his legs slowly gave away, making him slide down to ground until he was kneeling. He closed his eyes which were trembling, fighting back the urge to break into tears as he lamented his hopeless situation.
Jaune was about finally breakdown to cry at Matsu's feet when he felt a soft nudge at his side. When he checked to see what it was, he saw Hei Bai's face staring back at him. She gazed at him with strangely soulful eyes, as if she was empathizing with his fear and despair. Before he even knew what he was doing, Jaune launched himself at Hei Bai, embracing the large, warm bear for comfort as he released silent sobs into Hei Bai's fur. It was while crying softly into Hei Bai that he noticed her slowly rubbing her paw on his back.
After what felt like forever for Jaune, he finally was able to compose himself and extracted himself from Hei Bai's embrace.
"I-I'm sorry I broke down like that." Jaune apologized to Matsu as he wiped away the traces of tears on his face.
"It is completely understandable, Jaune Arc." Matsu merely replied, still emotionless.
"Perhaps it is best if you retire for the day and think about everything tomorrow. I always have a room prepared for guests. I suspect the sun is near setting now and you have clearly had a long day. Some deep rest would do you good." Matsu suggested to Jaune.
It was a tempting offer. A really tempting offer. The day had been exhausting; a mix of exciting encounters, demanding exploration, and a full realization of his situation. Jaune felt he could really use a long rest so he could get his bearings fully and hopefully get on top of his situation.
"Sure." Jaune accepted with a tired smile before following Matsu deeper into the mountain compound.
Jaune followed closely behind Matsu as they walked through the unfamiliar hallways of the compound, careful not to lose Matsu and get lost. At one point, Hei Bai, who had been following them thus far, separated at a turn. Jaune made to ask Matsu about her deviation, but his unchanged pace kept Jaune quiet.
As they moved, Jaune noted more etched artworks and statues, as well as tapestries though he didn't take the time to check them more closely. He also noted that other than those items, the hallways looked bare. After a few more minutes, they finally arrived at a sturdy, wooden door.
"You may occupy this room for as long as you need." Matsu stated, knocking on the door to focus his attention.
"It was formerly used as a shared dormitory room for those taking the Penultimate Trials so it may be larger for a single occupant." Matsu explained as he opened the door to allow Jaune to see inside.
'I guess it's larger than my room." Jaune thought generously as he checked the room.
Like the rest of the compound, it was fairly bare, with one long table with four chairs and two bunk beds placed against opposite walls. Being inside a mountain, there were no windows, so the only illumination was from a single crystal jutting down from the ceiling that glowed similarly to the ones in the statues' eyes. If nothing else, Jaune could appreciate that the room was clean and that the floors and walls were smooth to the touch.
"Thank you." Jaune offered to Matsu with a small bow of his head.
"I will fetch you in the morning when I have prepared breakfast." Matsu informed before leaving the room, not acknowledging Jaune's thanks at all.
Jaune brushed off the lack of acknowledgement as another peculiarity of his monotonous host and instead moved to lie down on one of the bottom bunks.
'I hope tomorrow is better.' Jaune prayed in his mind before closing his eyes to enter his long-awaited slumber.
'I miss my bed.' 'I miss mom.' 'I miss the noise.'
'I miss home.'
Jaune opened his eyes, finding it hard to sleep while his brain continued to barrage him with bittersweet memories. He dwelled on the what ifs of the past few days, on what he took for granted, and on what he wished to tell his family, all the while staring blankly at the underside of the unoccupied top bunk.
'This isn't helping. I need to move.' Jaune decided, slipping out of bed and going back out into the hallway.
Jaune simply wandered aimlessly through the compound, his mind still a mess with his thoughts, fears, and frustrations. He didn't take note of where he was going until he finally noticed some faint sounds come from a nearby room.
Curious and wanting to distract himself, Jaune carefully walked to the entrance and opened the door slightly to peer inside.
Inside, Jaune saw Matsu with the blade previously on his back held in his right hand. He was in the middle of doing deliberate moves with his blade, slicing through the air in simple motions as if to check the movement of the blade. Then, seemingly satisfied, Matsu transitioned from those motions into an elegant dance with his sword.
Jaune was mesmerized. This was unlike any sword handling he had seen before. He'd seen the straightforward fighting style of his father that mirrored the knights of Sanus and even the more elegant sword style of Eastern Mistral. But what he was watching was beyond comparison.
Matsu swung his blade with such control and speed that it seemed like an extension of himself than a tool. He would swing it downwards and his whole body followed perfectly, yet the momentum he would gain from movement, he would utilize to effortlessly enter into another sword display. And even as the blade would near his body, close enough to cut himself if he wasn't careful, there was no pause in his dangerous dance. Despite the danger and the immense skill for his display, Matsu was the picture of total calm. It seemed like he wasn't even breathing.
As Jaune watched the sword dance of Matsu, he noticed green energy steadily glowing brighter from Matsu's blade until it fully coated it in its bright green hue. At the exact moment that happened, Matsu was in the process of moving the blade into a cross shape in the air. To Jaune's surprise, green energy remained in the wake of the blade, showing the cross Matsu sliced in the air. After the cross was formed, Matsu slightly pulled back before thrusting his sword into the center of the cross, prompting the green energy to launch forward and strike the wall. After the slight debris and dust cleared away, Jaune saw the newly cut cross into the stone wall.
'That… that was amazing!' Jaune excitedly thought, caught up in the sheer wonder of what he just saw.
'Matsu must be really strong. Just like my dad.' Jaune noted, becoming slightly downcast as his dark thoughts returned to him.
'I wish I could-' Jaune began to think before another realization came to mind.
"Jaune Arc, you are still awake."
Jaune got startled out of his thoughts as he jumped up from his peeping into the room. When the door swung fully open, he saw Matsu standing in front of him, sword sheathed once more on his back.
"Did you need something?" Matsu asked monotonously.
Jaune silently stared at Matsu for a few seconds, gathering his courage and steeling his resolve before speaking.
"Teach me."