Chapter 6: Family, Jaundice part 2
Earth, 14 years ago
Strife was an easy-going guy. Whenever he did something, he always started it with a quip. Taunting his enemies, playing with them a little, and then ending their misery once and for all with his guns. Of course, being one of the horsemen, he was very-very ok when his sibling, Death, took the liberty of becoming a leader among the four.
Well, except that, he and his brother didn't see eye to eye. You see, Death is the serious type of one of the four, of course, he has this 'sassy-ness' but sometimes he has always been the one who took a mission in the most top serious. Like this one time when the four of them went to collect an artifact in some world that he forgot.
It was just a simple thing that he took, a gold shiny knife that he saw beside the artifact. But when he soon tried to take it, Death swooped in and halted his advance with his ghostly-purple limb.
Truly a bummer
And that is why he hated his brother, but still, brothers are still brothers, whenever they get into a quarrel, they would eventually find a way to forgive themselves. Well, of course, if you count his sister Fury, who was very angry at Death because he was deemed the leader and War at that one time, he went rough and stabbed Death in the chest. But being Death, he somehow survived and is still alive, but War? He was given a piece of advice with a sword getting sliced at his arm.
Right now, however, is an interesting one. It was just yesterday when he was just shooting some random demons at Hell, enjoying his free time when suddenly his brother came to him.
"Strife… I need to ask you to come with me to Earth, tomorrow," he only said. He was about to ask why, but Death only said with his eyes looking at him seriously which indicates that there is no room for questions.
And so, here they were, using their steed, traversing the post-apocalyptic world, the so-called Eden or Earth. A place where mankind once lived, a place where this two-legged species once exist, a place where they were oblivious about all the creepy things in this universe that has to offer, where they looked at demons and angels as beings from their holy book of stories. But then, well… became chaos because said beings started to fall from the sky and fucked all life on this very planet.
Poor humankind.
"Oi, where are we going?" Strife asked if his patience is wearing thin, he doesn't like being kept secrets and doesn't like being disturbed while he has free time.
"Strife, what I am about to tell you is important and you must promise me if you ever try to reveal this to anyone, I mean ANYONE, I will take you in an instant," he said In front of him.
"What secret is this anyway?" he asked, then Death stopped and mount off from his stead. Strife followed the gesture. Strife took a moment to look around. They stopped in front of a building that leads them underground. He looked at the sign on top of the entrance which reads 'Subway Tunnel'.
'What's that?' he thought. They then entered the underground tunnel and descended inside using stairs. As they descended, Death went to explain what secret he needs to keep away from anyone.
"When I was sent to do a mission on this wasteland, I found a human," he said. Strife widened his eyes.
"What? But I thought they were all extinct," he said.
"I thought so too, curiosity gets to me and I followed the human. When I managed to stop him, he was scared, scared of what I am,"
"Then you killed him?" he jokingly said. It was a bad idea when suddenly Death pinned him to the wall next to him.
"Listen… Brother, it is not the time to make fun of my tale, if you try to make this a fun matter then I will take your life right now," Death said to him as a warning. Strife with a mighty push of his hand freed himself from Death's grip.
"Jeez, fine sorry, then what happened," he asked caressing his neck.
"A demon lord suddenly appeared out of thin air, Belial his name. He was the demon that has unfinished business with the human. I took care of him in front of the human so that I could establish trust between the two of us," he said continuing to walk down the old staircase which he followed.
"The human was surprised that I killed a demon. From there, we had a conversation, about how his kind survived, how the human population every day was slowly being reduced, and how his remaining friends were living beneath the ground to avoid being eaten or enslaved by the demons,"
Strife listened to every word of his brother's tale. It was kind an interesting to say for himself and quite sad for them. The Sacred Councils once told them that mankind was unlike other beings in this universe. They were powerless and clueless about the world, only a fracture of knowledge they knew of the universe that they possibly could not understand with their minds. But still, he can't understand why his brother brought him here anyways.
"So, how's that have to do with any of this?" he asked him.
"Yes… there is… there has something to do with this. Because Strife, when you found someone that you deemed trustable and made you felt… alive…" he said, then he stopped in front of a door, he then knocked it three times. A few moments later the door was unlocked and then Death opens it. Inside there was a woman wearing a black cloak, she has dark-haired, and has red eyes. Beside her, there was a 4-year-old boy who was playing with a wooden toy made by his mother.
"… you would finally find what is called peace…" he finally said. The woman who was enjoying looking at his son turned to the two Nephilims.
"Hello, beloved," the wife said and embraced his brother lovingly, which Death returned.
"Hello, Mary," he said.
Strife was in shock, if his mouth wasn't covered by his mask armor, his mouth would probably be hanging down right now. As soon as they ended their embrace, Death went his attention to his brother.
"Strife, meet my wife, Mary Hopkins," he was about to call his son, but his son was already pulling his father's pants on the ground, "And my son, Shaun Hopkins," he said as he hoisted his son up with one hand and the other was on his wife's back.
Strife took a step back because he was so stunned at the scene.
"Wh-what, De-Death what the?" he asked still collecting himself.
"You are probably shocked about this," he turned towards his brother, Strife's eyes were wide and he was speechless towards the scene he is seeing right now.
"Shock?! Brother this is… this is… I don't know," he said, his hands on his head pondering about what he just saw.
"You must be… Strife, right? Look I know that you must have questions, but before that, do you want to meet my son?" the human female asked him. He was surprised since a human was not afraid or careful around him. Death then motioned him to approach his son. Strife hesitated, but reluctantly he approached his nephew.
The boy widened his eyes at his yellow eye's uncle, and then instantly he smiled.
"Hello, Uncle Strife, father told me about you coming here to see me," he said. Strife was surprised at the child's level of speech.
"How old is he?"
"He is only four," Mary said.
"Well, aren't you smart, Shaun," he chuckled. He then ruffled Shaun's hair and little Shaun laughs.
"Huh, he likes you," Death commented as he let down his son to go continue to play with his toys.
"Well, of course, he likes me, I am the most lovable Nephilim in the whole universe," Strife proclaimed. Mary stifled a laugh at Strife's self-proclaimed title.
"Alright-alright that is enough," Death said ending the laughter.
"So, is this the secret that you mentioned," Strife said looking at his nephew who was playing with his wooden toys on the ground.
"Yes, no one should know that my son exists, because it would be a problem for that corrupted council," he said in rage, balling his fist.
"Why? Why is he a threat to them?" he asked his brother.
"Maybe because our son is half-human and half-Nephilim…" Mary said sadly.
"Well, they once said that we horsemen can't have children with anyone…" Strife said scratching his head in thought. This was new information. First, Death has a wife and a son, second, he is now an uncle, and third, the council is corrupted.
Well, the last one… can't be good.
"Death, this is… too much," Strife said truthfully.
"I know, that is why I trusted you to keep them safe. There will be times that I will not be there to protect them from danger, I knew that I need someone else to tell this secret and that is why I chose you because, besides Fury and War, you are the only one who I trust the most, Strife," Death said. Strife was again surprised by his brother's declaration. To that degree that his brother thought of him that highly… it was touching, to say the least.
"Well, thank you, brother," he said. He then looked again at his nephew that was now looking at them. His red eyes looked at him and he smiled at his uncle. Strife's response was only waved at his new family.
"Sure Death, I keep your wife and son safe, because I already like the little guy," he only said.
Present Day
Strife was awoken from his slumber by the sound of the birds chirping.
'God, that dream… it was like just yesterday since the first time I saw my nephew…' he reminiscences. The last time he saw his nephew was three years ago. It was their last patrol together before he was summoned by the councils to do a mission on another planet.
Strife sighs as he looked out the window. He was currently in an Inn, which was located in a small town called Woodville. The name kind of sucks, but the place was good, and they have a decent place for collecting information.
Yeah, lucky him.
Getting up from his bed and turning himself back into his human form, he went to go outside to check out his room for he was going to travel to Beacon Academy. He heard from the locals that the so-called 'Grim Reaper' Huntsmen was attending the academy this time as a student. He knew when he heard the name that Shaun must be in that academy.
'But, really Shaun? Grim Reaper? What will your father going to say about taking a low profile,' he chuckled at the thought as he descends from the second floor. The first floor of the Inn was very lively, with humans here and there drinking alcohol and such, and a guy who was playing an instrument at the center. This atmosphere… it was kinda weird and surprising to see humans doing their daily lives without worrying about anything, of course, there are the so-called dark creatures known as the Grimm, but they aren't always in constant fear of losing their lives. Maybe it is because these so-called Huntsman and Huntresses that were protecting them. Damn, these humans are cooler than the humans back in their universe!
'And maybe, Shaun thought the same thing too when he first arrive here,' he thought as he bought a drink with this world currency. Oh, thanks to that job he did before coming here. The job was very easy to do, just need to clear out the dark-werewolf-like creatures that were occupying his mine.
The owner of the mine was very thankful of course and surprised that he even finished the job in one piece.
'Guess that none of these Huntsmen could take the job, huh?' he thought as he went outside of the Inn after he paid the room for one night. Now, he would be going on a two weeks ride to Vale judging by the map that he stole from one of the towns he stumbled upon.
As he walked through the streets of the village, he crossed upon a despicable sight. There was a fight happening at the center of the street. He knew it was not his business, but curiosity bested him. He decided to approach the seeming fight.
Upon looking closer, it was a fight between three men and one man, and the latter had a pair of horns on his head. Strife widened his eyes at the pair of horns.
'How is that human have horns on its head?' he thought to himself. It seems he still needs to know about the species this world inhabits. Continuing to the fight, the man with the horns seems to be disadvantaged. He looked like he was beaten to a pulp and judging by the attackers it seems that they have this grudge towards the man with two horns.
"Please…no more," the man with horns said, begging the two men. The two men laughed at the bloodied man.
"Hah! Not a chance, you dirtied animals don't deserve to be here in this village anyways," one of the two said.
"But-but I've paid my rent!"
"Huh?! What rent? Do you mean yesterday? Sorry, but the payment was not enough and because you are a Faunus, the boss made the payment higher than usual,"
Dread and despair on at the Faunus person, which he heard from the two attackers. Now, by this, Strife would probably have left the scene to continue his journey, but one thing that his nephew has ever taught him,
Yeah, save the innocents.
"Hey guys, I think this guy had enough wouldn't you agree?" he suddenly said from the crowd. The two attackers began to avert their attention toward him.
Slowly Strife approached the two of them with the crowd opening a path for him. Strife or Jones casually walks to them while in front of the bloodied man.
"Who are you?" one of them asked.
"Oh, me? Well, I am just a random traveler who just happened to stumble over a despicable sight,"
"Tch, despicable? This animal deserves it anyways," one of them retorts with a smirk on his face.
"Oh-oh no-no buddy, he doesn't, you see while you were just doing your job, I think it is about time that this fellow here go away to find a new home, heh?" he suggested, but in return, the two attackers just laughed at him.
"Are you kidding me? Just letting this animal go? Not a chance, because he didn't pay his rent, the boss wanted to make him a slave," one of them commented.
"Oh, slavery? Well guys, sadly… I am going to be against that idea," he said as his hands prepared to grab his two guns.
"Huh, I thought you are going to say that eventually," one of them said.
There was no sound or movements, the crowd began to disperse itself as they knew that a fight would start. When a sudden sound was heard, one of the attackers pulled up a gun from his belt and shot at the gun-slinger. The Nephilim reacted by stepping sideways as the bullet flew past him. Then the other one began to charge him with his makeshift dust mace. The other guys swung the mace downward towards the Nephilim, but he easily evaded, then the attacker swung the mace again this time at his chest, but Strife easily ducked from the attack. He then swiped the attacker's feet letting the attacker down. Strife heard gunshots from behind, and with his one of his guns, Mercy, let out his own bullets. Each bullet was stopped on its own.
'Time to end this,' he thought. He then used his guns, Mercy and Redemption, to shot bullets upon bullets toward the two attackers. The two thugs were down as the remaining aura that protected their well-being disappeared. He discovered that aura was a way for these humans to fight the grimm, so he didn't really that worry when he shot with his guns.
Although, he only used minuscule of his powers.
Once he was done with the two thugs, he went to bloodied Faunus who was in bewilderment and shocked at his action.
"Are you alright?" he asked. He offered him his hand to him.
"I-I'm fine, thank you for saving me," he said as he took the hand as was helped to stand by the Nephilim.
"No worries, hey you should probably get out of here, I got a feeling that these guys would probably wake up soon," he said as he looked upon the two unconscious thugs.
"Y-Yeah, you're probably right," he said. He was again in another shock as the stranger gave him some lien to him.
"Here, I think this should be enough for you to go somewhere far from here," he said as he turned around to leave this village.
"W-wait, why did you help me? I am grateful, but why?" Strife stopped his departure for a moment.
"Because if I did leave you there, it would only make me feel guilty and besides, you are innocent," he only said as he began to walk away leaving the Faunus alone.
'If me in the past saw what happened, he would probably leave the guy in a bloodied mess,' he thought to himself as he walked out of the village. Once the coast was clear, he summoned his stead and transformed back into himself. He then rode towards his destination it would take him 2 weeks to get to his destination and he was content to meet his nephew once again.
And warned the dangers that he would be facing in the future.
Beacon Academy
After the incident with Cardin and his team, Shaun's popularity began to skyrocket. He began to be well-respected by the other teams and fangirls began to develop feelings varied from humans and Faunus alike, well mostly Faunus. For the half-Nephilim… It was kind and annoying since he can't find any peace and quiet. Yang being Yang often teased him about it and well he sometimes got annoyed by the constant teasing. He swears to himself she would be getting his payback some other time. But that's not all, the resident Faunus in disguise sometimes put a scowl on her face whenever a girl tries to ask him out to go with her on a date, he politely refused of course and afterward, Blake let out a sigh after that.
As if she was glad that he refused the offer.
'I wish Uncle Strife was here right now, he might know how effectively deal with this type of problem,' he sighed as he observed the usual class of Professor Glynda Goodwitch. Currently, right now, Shaun was observing a spar between Pyrrha Nikos against one of the CRDL team members.
'Russel was it? Can't seem to remember,' he thought as he rubbed his head. Beside him was Blake Belladonna, who silently reads her book as she doesn't want the professor to notice her not observing the spar.
"Go Pyrrha!" Nora loudly shouts to his right.
"Yeah, Pyrrha, show him who's the boss!" Ruby shouted. Shaun was amazed by the skills that the red-haired woman was displaying, the way she moved her spear with grace and concentration showed how much the red-haired woman have trained. He knew that the woman in the ring was a fighter that can't be taken lightly and now he knows why the girl earned the title of the champion of Mistral.
He observed Russel using his dual daggers to deliver a slash at her front, but Pyrrha then deflect the attack with her shield. Pyrrha then retaliates by delivering a thrust with her spear toward Russel. The spiky-haired teen with a reflex leap through the air and while doing so he simultaneously summersault and deliver a downward slash with his daggers. But as Russel was delivering his attack, he noticed something strange, his hands began to feel heavier than usual. While he was distracted, Pyrrha quickly slashed toward Russel's head. The result was Russel crashing at the end of the ring and his aura went red.
"Russel Thrush aura's is in the red, therefore the winner of this duel is Pyrrha Nikos," Ms. Goodwitch stated. The audience gave the red-haired woman a round of applause.
"Yeah, Pyrrha!" Nora, Ruby, and Jaune cheered.
"And this marks the 10th time she won the duel," Yang said.
"Indeed, no one can ever match the champion of Mistral and defeat her that easily," Weiss stated with a smirk.
"Indeed, she is a strong fighter of course. She even beat Nora when we decided to practice together as a team," Ren commented and the group felt astonished. While everyone was talking about Pyrrha, Shaun noticed something from the fight earlier.
'That green glow… is that her semblance? And what can she do with her semblance? Some type of telekinetic manipulation?' he thought to himself.
"Now, for the next duel, I want someone to volunteer and they can choose their opponent freely," Ms. Goodwitch announced. Not long after that, a hand was spotted amongst the crowd.
"May I, professor," he said. It was none other than Cardin.
"Very well, who would you like to pick as your opponent?"
"I choose, Hopkins," he said. Immediately everyone turned towards the half Nephilim. Shaun expected this to happen, it seemed that this guy still holds a grudge against him about what happened in the cafeteria days ago.
"Sheesh, Cardin fighting you? he loses for sure," Yang commented.
"You'll going to win, I am sure of it," Blake said while looking at him with a small smile. He delivered a smirk to his friends.
"Go, Shaun!" Ruby said towards him. The half Nephilim then leaped from the spectator's stand and landed in the ring. As he stood up, Shaun avoided a swing from Cardin's mace. Cardin didn't stop there, he then followed up his swing again and then he used his mace dust power to emit fire dust towards him. The arena was obscured by the smoke from the fire dust explosion.
"Cardin Winchester! Refrain from trying to attack first the opponent before my permission!" Ms. Goodwitch sternly stated towards the man.
"Don't worry, Professor, I'm fine," Shaun said as he already created a wall of shadows to shield him.
"Let's just start from here," he said. He then used his gun to fire bullets toward his opponent which the bully deflected using his mace.
"You're paying for what you did to me and my team, Hopkins!" he yelled as he rushed towards the half Nephilim. Shaun knew that he could end the fight right now, but he decides to 'entertain' the audience a bit.
"Bring it, Cardin," as he dawned on his bony mask. Shaun faced the attack head-on with his twin scythes. His scythe and his mace created sparks upon contact with each other, then he delivered a kick which Cardin grunt upon receiving the blow. The bully then recovers from the blow and gave Shaun multiple swings of his mace. Shaun lazily dodged them with ease. Back on Earth, there was this demon lord that used a mace like the teen in front of him. It was fast and strong, he needed his uncle's help to defeat the thing, but compare to what he is facing now?
It was more like fighting an undead.
"Arrrgh, stop moving you, bastard!" Cardin frustrated swung his mace, but Shaun with ease avoided his swings.
"If I stop moving then it wouldn't be dodging," he casually stated. He then felt bored with dodging his opponent's swings. So, using his sorcery, Shaun prepared his right arm, as he filled right arm with black and red energy. Once he saw the opportunity, he then delivered a heavy punch toward Cardin's gut. Cardin could feel his breakfast go out of his mouth because of the force of half Nephilim's punch and he felt his body hit the wall at the edge of the arena.
Shaun then walked casually with his hands inside his pockets. Cardin was angry upon looking at the half Nephilim's laziness form approaching him.
"You! You think you're stronger than me?!" he stated as he tried to get up, but his body was heavily bruised even if his aura protected him.
"Yes, I am stronger than you," Shaun retorted. The comment made Cardin's blood boil, the bastard thought that he could show his superiority to him in Goodwitch's class. Shaun decided to end it here, but then suddenly Cardin threw a white dust crystal towards him. The crystal then explodes in a burst of light. While Shaun was disoriented by the light, Cardin took this opportunity to pick up his mace in front of him and attacked the half Nephilim. When the bully tried to swing his mace towards the half Nephilim, a shadow tentacle suddenly wrapped around the bully's midsection. He then suddenly was lifted and turned upside down.
"I really hate when someone threw me a white dust crystal at me… it made eyes hurt, you know? Shaun said as he looked at the now terrified Cardin. Cardin was scared at the narrowed red eyes that looked at him, he remembered that look from the cafeteria, it felt like death was staring at him.
"Please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry that I hurt people! I'm sorry that I bullied those ani-", he regretted saying animal when suddenly he felt the grip on his midsection become stronger.
"I-I mean I'm sorry that I hurt the girl! Please! Forgive me!" he pleaded to him. He got to admit this was kind a fun but looking at the stern face of Ms. Goodwitch and the screen that displayed their aura (with his still in the green and Cardin almost of in the red) he decided to deliver Cardin a regular punch. The bar that was gauging Cardin's aura went red.
"Cardin Winchester has lost, the winner of this match is Shaun Hopkins," Ms. Goodwitch announced. The spectators began to cheer out loud, mostly the girls.
"Man… what a fight, Cardin didn't even land a single hit on Shaun," Yang commented amazed at her friend's skills.
"Oh! Did you see when he summoned that big wall made of shadows? Oh-oh, and how he easily avoided all of Cardin's attacks!" Ruby said as she has stars in her eyes.
"Indeed, his skills with those scythes of his were very good," Weiss commented as he looked towards Shaun's retreating form from the arena.
"But did you see how terrified Cardin was? When he dangled him in the air, Cardin even begged him to drop him off," Nora said cheerily which made the group chuckle at what Shaun did.
"Agreed, right Jaune?" Pyrrha asked his team leader. She soon founds out that her leader was sad for some reason and his eyes were looking at the arena.
"Jaune?" She then shook him a bit which made the blonde knight snap out of his mind.
"Ye-yeah?"
"Are you alright? You seemed preoccupied," Pyrrha worryingly said.
"I'm alright Pyrrha," He told her. Pyrrha didn't seem to be convinced, but she let him slide for now.
"Hi guys," Shaun called out to them. His friends turned towards him and they began to congratulate him for his win. Jaune upon looking towards Shaun felt amazed at him. Inside the leader of JNPR's head. When he first met the guy, he thought that he was just an edgy person and not interested in anyone. Hell, he even thought that the guy was just like him, albeit not the one who flirts with girls like him.
But oh boy, he was wrong. Weeks being here, he began to see why people (especially the girls) began to respect him. He was strong and kind-hearted and did not hesitate to help others regardless of their race. Before coming here, his family the Arcs were known to be heroes in the war. His dad often tells him stories about his grandfather's heroic deeds. It inspired him to be a hero in his own way.
Sadly, his family didn't support him. That is why he didn't join any Huntsmen school. Still, it didn't stop him to get into Beacon. Since the academy needed a transcript for admission, he forged his fake transcript from shady buyers. He thought that he didn't get in, but by some miracle, his transcript was accepted and he now he was in Beacon Academy.
"Jaune!" Someone shouted at him. He turned towards the source and it was revealed to him it was his partner. Apparently, he was walking aimlessly while in his thoughts. He looked around him and he was now in the academy's halls and the one only present was only his partner.
"Ye-yeah?"
"I asked if you wanted to go have dinner with team RWBY after all the teams decided to go to the cafeteria, but you just started walking aimlessly leaving me, Nora, and Ren," she explained.
"Oh… so-sorry, didn't hear you say that he-he," he replied, Pyrrha then suddenly drags him somewhere. He was shocked at the act and he questioned his partner where she was taking him, but the red-haired warrior didn't answer.
A couple of minutes later, they arrived at a rooftop of the academy. At this time, Pyrrha decided to let go of him.
"Uhh Pyrrha, I know that I'm depressed, but I am not that depressed," Jaune commented as he looked below.
"What! No! No, Jaune, that is not why I brought you up here!" she said as she pushed him a bit.
"I brought you here because I know you are having a difficult time in Beacon and you are still not the strongest of fighters in class, so… I want to help you change that,"
Jaune blinked as he processed what his partner just told him.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"We can train up here after class, improving your swordsmanship and how you fight,"
"… you think I need help?" he said as he began to grow sad further.
"No, what I mean—"
"You just said it,"
"What I mean is Jaune, people sometimes need a little push from time to time, it doesn't make you different from the rest of us, you made it to Beacon and that speaks volumes for what you are capable of," Pyrrha said trying to make him feel better, but Jaune knew what his partner didn't, he sighed as he was about to tell his partner about his secret.
"You don't understand… I don't belong here,"
"No, that is nonsense, of course, you do,"
"No! I don't!" Jaune angrily said. Pyrrha gasps at the sudden tone and Jaune regretted doing that.
"Sorry… you see, I wasn't really accepted into Beacon,"
"What do you mean?" Pyrrha was confused at her partner's declaration.
"I mean I didn't get into combat school, I didn't pass any test, and I didn't earn my spot in this academy. I lied… I got into Beacon by faking my transcripts," he said to his partner.
Pyrrha was surprised.
"But why?"
"Because this is what I wanted to be, my father, my grandfather, and my great-great-grandfather, they were all warriors, heroes and I wanted to be a hero too!"
"Then let me help you,"
"No! I don't want your help, I don't want to be the damsel of distress, I wanted to be the hero," Jaune kept ranting, he didn't even let Pyrrha speak up.
"I am tired of being the lovable idiot, stuck in a tree while my friends fight for their lives. Do you understand? If I can't do this alone, what good am I?" he said at the end clearly frustrated and sad.
"Jaune, I—" Pyrrha was about to approach him and told him that he was worth something, but Jaune kept his distance from her.
"Please just… please leave me alone," he said. Pyrrha sighed at what her partner just said to her.
"Alright… is that what you think is best…" Pyrrha said, clearly sad at what just Jaune said to her. The red-haired warrior left him alone on the roof. Unknown to them there were two people who heard their conversations and one of them was the half Nephilim.
The half Nephilim noticed the two teens went missing from the group and so he decided to find them with his trusty navigation partner, Dust. He bid farewell to the four females and JNPR's other two teammates after they finished their dinner. When he reached the door leading outside the rooftop, he heard the two were in a conversation. He then went to another door leading to another roof and from there he listened to the conversation up until Pyrrha left Jaune alone.
Shaun was disappointed at what the blonde knight just said to his friend. The way he viewed himself as a hero and didn't need help from others was idiotic. He thought that he needed to be stronger without help from his partner and even decided to refuse her help. And that's not all…
'So, you have been lying this whole time, huh? Oh, Jaune, you know that just makes you an easy target for others, right?' he thought as he looked at the retreating form of the red-haired champion. Right after she left, the half Nephilim was surprised that Cardin was listening to the conversation just like him.
"Oh, Jaune,"
"Cardin!" he said startled at the arrival of the bully.
"Snuck into Beacon, huh?"
"How did you—"
"Can't help it to lean into your conversation, since it was happening above my dorm room," he smirked as he now had a material to use as blackmail.
"Please, Cardin doesn't tell anyone," he pleaded to the bully. Then in a surprising act, Cardin approached him, then he draped his arm over the blonde's neck, and said that he wouldn't do that to him because he was his friend.
"A friend?" The bully then tightened the hold on the blonde's neck, which let out a short pain coming from Jaune.
"Of course, we are Jaune boy, since you are my friend, I can ask for your help whenever I need to. Speaking of help, there is an assignment that we just received for today, think you can take care of that for me," he said, then he let go of Jaune. The bully then went towards the stairs leading to his dorm room, leaving Jaune on the roof still recovering from the neck hold.
"Oh, and don't worry, Jaune, your secret is safe with me," he finally said as he descends to his dorm room. After that, Jaune left the rooftop feeling sad and lost. Now the rooftop was left with only the half Nephilim. Shaun pitied the blonde and at the same time disappointed in him. Now, the leader of JNPR was now in a tight situation and was at the mercy of that asshole Cardin Winchester.
Shaun sighed at the events he just witnessed, he could threaten the bully because of the information that he just received, but it would only make it more worst than now or he could just leave Jaune with his problems and face the consequences because faking his way into this academy. But, the look on his face and the determination he wanted to become a hero made him discard the last idea.
As much as Jaune was in the wrong of this, Shaun still cared about his friend and he didn't want the blonde's dreams to get kicked out like that from Beacon. But still… all actions must have consequences and Jaune would need to pay for it, but it will not be involving his friend getting kicked out of Beacon.
The Next Day
Jaune was bummed out, after what happened last night, he went into his dorm room quietly without alerting his other teammates then the next morning he then in a rush went out again without saying a 'good morning' to his team. Now, he just finished one of Professor Oobleck's assignments that Cardin forcefully made him do. He sighed at what has happened to him, if he asked his team for help, Cardin would tell Professor Ozpin about his fake transcript and he would be kicked out of Beacon. His fate is sealed in the hands of the Cardin Winchester.
While he was in his thoughts, he heard the sounds of metal against metal. He was unconsciously passed by a training room. Curious, he went inside the big spacious room. He looked around various training equipment, there was an area for training firearms, combat, and dust. The sounds that he heard came from the combat area. There was a lone figure with identical scythes each in his hands and they were at the ready to attack the android in front of him.
The android delivered a downward swing with its dust-powered sword at the half-Nephilim. The half Nephilim then sidestepped the attack, then he teleported leaving a black-red aura on his path. Then with ease, he cleaved the android in half. Shaun let out a breath and then turned towards the blonde teenager. The blonde teen was amazed at the skills he just observed, this person that Remnant has known as the 'Grim Reaper Huntsmen', was powerful. He really wished he can be like his friend.
"Hey Jaune, you can close your mouth now, or a fly will go straight inside your mouth," Shaun said startling Jaune. Shaun took of his mask and went to take a sip of his water bottle.
"Uh, yeah, thanks for reminding me," Jaune rubbed his head.
"You seemed lost, what's wrong?" Shaun asked although he knew what the blonde teen was thinking inside his mind right now.
"Something… happened to say the least," he said. Shaun replied with a 'hmm'.
"Hei Jaune, I have a story to tell you, and I think it would be good if you just hear me out," Shaun suddenly said. Shaun then moved over to the side to let his friend sit beside him.
"Ok, there was a 9-year-old boy, whose life was in constant danger. He always went from village to village to be safe since everywhere he goes danger still lurked him. He dreamt of a peaceful and happy life. He didn't have friends since he always travel around and didn't have time to make one. His only friend was only his mother, who cared for and loved him," Shaun told him, reminiscing about the time when he and his mother went to travel around the ruined city of New York.
"But despite the situation, he was still happy since his mother always made him feel at ease. Unfortunately, one day… that life was ruined," his face was darkened and Jaune could feel that the story would take a dark turn.
"When they were searching for food, they encountered a grimm, it was… an elder one. His mother has a decent experience with combat, but it wasn't enough. The boy only could watch as his mother was slain by the grimm. That day… the boy was scared, can't do anything and as he waited for his end, his father, who is a Huntsmen, suddenly appeared that day to save him," he said smiling at the memory.
"After that incident, the boy went through training his body and mind with the help of his father and uncle. It was a tough one, but the boy endured it and his only goal is never in his life that he let that event befall others," he finally said. Jaune was stunned and astonished by the tale, the boy that his friend just described was fairly a strong person in the end… just like he wanted to be.
"Now, Jaune, what is the moral of the story?" he then turned towards his blonde friend.
"Uhh, get stronger," Shaun sighed at the answer.
"You see, having someone help doesn't mean that you are weak, it means that they care for you Jaune. The boy in the story wouldn't be able to be strong without the help from his father and uncle," he said. Jaune then remembered last night when his partner offered to help. He then grimaced about when he declined that offer.
"Huh… I messed up," he muttered. Shaun gave him a small smile, it seemed he realized the error of his actions.
"Messed up about last night?" he then asked him, Jaune's gasped at what he just heard.
"How did you…"
"I followed you two, heard everything from the beginning," he said. He then stood up and then went to the door to leave.
"Look Jaune… be grateful for your team, you are their leader, are you not?" he finally said, leaving the blonde knight alone.
After Shaun left the training room, his scroll chimed indicating he has a message. He looked at the one who sent the message and it was Ozpin. The headmaster requested we meet at his office after his next class.
'What could possibly Ozpin want with me now?' he asked himself as he walked the halls of the academy.
Forever Fall Forest
Shaun looked around the red-beautiful forest of Forever Fall. The reason why he, Team RWBY, Team JNPR, and team CRDL were here was to collect red sap from the trees deep within the forest.
"Yes students, the Forever Fall forest is a magnificent sight, but don't forget the objective of why we are here," the professor reminded them all. She then turned around to looked them all making them stop their sightseeing.
"Professor Peach has instructed you, students, to collect the red sap from the trees deep inside the forest, and I and Mr. Hopkins here are to make sure that you will not die while doing so," she explained. While the professor was explaining, Shaun noticed that Jaune was lifting a bunch of empty jars in his hands.
He didn't need to ask himself since the jars he was carrying was Cardin's. Unknown to them, Pyrrha was worriedly looking at her leader and the said leader didn't do anything about it.
"Now, all of you will gather one full jar of red sap. However, because the forest is infested with grimm, make sure each of you is sticking together with your teammates. Have fun," Ms. Goodwitch finished. Immediately, the half Nephilim looked at the blonde knight being dragged away by the bully. Shaun decided to help him, but then he felt someone poke his shoulder.
He looked at his side to see Ruby… with her jar…
"Uh, Ruby?"
"Hi Shaun, I was wondering if you want to help us gather the red sap?" she asked him. Shaun pondered for a moment, but he then shrugged it off.
'Maybe Jaune could handle himself,' he thought, as he nodded to the little red. He then followed team RWBY to gather the red sap.
10 minutes later…
The teams were almost done gathering the sap from the trees. Shaun looked around him, he could see everyone was almost done, excluding Ren who was still gathering his batch of sap.
Although he suspected that Nora has something to do with it, judging by her mouth stain which then was caught by Ren.
He chuckled at the scene. He then went to team RWBY, Ruby was like Nora tried the sap albeit from the source, Yang was chilling out, Weiss was adamantly counting the jars that has been filled, and Blake was reading her book as always. Shaun decided to approach his friend since he was curious about what she was reading.
Blake was enjoying her reading when she felt someone sit beside her. She looked to her right to see her savior. Now for anybody, especially boys, she would get annoyed just by interrupting her reading, but for Shaun, she didn't mind. She enjoyed his presence.
"Hey Blake, what are you reading?" he asked. He then peered a bit and it was the same book when he and Blake accidentally saw each other on the roof.
"Hey Shaun, the usual," she smiled, and he smiled back.
"You know, I searched it up about what that book you were reading," he smirked, which Blake blushed. She then gave Shaun a smack on his back, which made the half-Nephilim let out a chuckle.
"Why did you need to search that?!" she said, Shaun continued to chuckle then he laughed heartily. It was a long time since he laughed like this, the last time it was with his mother or his uncle.
He really enjoyed this.
Meanwhile with Jaune, after gathering all the sap for team CRDL plus one jar, Cardin then dragged him to a nearby hill that overlooked the team. Then Cardin pointed to his friend Shaun who was currently in a conversation with Blake.
"Cardin, what are we doing?" Jaune asked.
"Payback, Hopkins thinks that humiliating me and my team in front of the student body was a great idea and even made every student that witnessed in the Cafeteria hate us. Huh, I show him that messing with me will do to him," he replied, then he pulled out a cardboard box with a letter W on the front.
"Thanks to Jaune boy here who graciously gathered these rapier wasps, we can now go to our next plan. Now, according to the essay that you wrote for me, these things loved sweets," he said, immediately Jaune put the pieces together, Carding wants to throw one of the six jars towards his friend! And then let out the wasps so that Shaun would be surrounded by the wasps.
"Now, let's teach that 'animal-lover' a lesson, and you Jaune are going to do it. Either throw this to Hopkins or I will have a little chat with Professor Ozpin, and you will be in straight in an airship," Cardin threatened, he then shoved the jar full of sap to the blonde knight.
Jaune looked at the jar in his hands. Should he listen to the bully in front of him? If he didn't, he would be in an airship home and shaming his family for faking his way towards Beacon, but if he did, then he would only betray his friend. Shaun to Jaune was a cool friend, he helped from the start, hell he even helped numerous people! He was his inspiration to be better.
So, with that, Jaune made his decision.
"No…" he whispered.
"What was that?" Cardin asked.
"I said… No!" he then threw the jar toward the bully. The result was the sap was all over the bully's chest plate.
Cardin looked at the now stained armor, he then let out a chuckle.
"Ho-ho, you've done it now, Jaune-boy," he then lifted up Jaune, holding him with both of his arms. Then he delivered a hook at his face. Jaune was downed holding his now bruised cheek.
"You know that wasn't a smart choice Jaune. I will make sure you will get sent to mommy in little pieces," he looked at the down Jaune, which the latter looked back with determination.
"I don't care what you'll do to me, but I will not let you hurt my friend," he said. Jaune then was lifted again. The bully then gave punched the blonde, but then there was a burst of light. Cardin cried out in pain as his arm felt as if he just punched a steel. Jaune looked upon himself, his body was glowing with a white aura and his cheek it seemed was healed too.
Cardin was surprised at what happened. Just as he and his team were about to give Jaune another beating when suddenly an ursa appeared behind them. The ursa was big and it seems it was an alpha type!
"That's a big ursa!" one of Cardin's teammates said. Cardin didn't waver, he straight-on deal with this grimm, he thought. But it seemed it was too strong as the grimm just swiped with its paw hand at the bully. The bully's teammates however left their leader behind.
Back with Shaun, while still enjoying his time conversing with Blake, his death senses warned him about the distressed souls coming from the forest and at the same time he heard a 'roar' from it.
"What's going on?" Blake asked as she stood up with him, the other teams also on high alert. Then from inside the woods, Cardin's teammates emerge. They looked scared and terrified as they ran toward them. One of them crashed into Yang, and the blonde woman lifted the man.
"There's an ursa! An ursa?" he said.
"Where?" Yang asked.
"There! It got Cardin," Shaun began to focus his senses. He detected Cardin's soul that was distressed, but that is not all…
"Jaune!" Pyrrha shouts dropping her jar. Immediately the situation began to rise up into a dangerous one.
"Yang, Blake, you go get Professor Goodwitch!" Ruby command them and they nodded. Pyrrha also told her teammates to watch the area because there was a chance there are more grimm in the area.
"The rest of us will go help Jaune," the remaining students then went to where the ursa was. Shaun uses his death sense to pinpoint where their friend was. Immediately after escaping the forest, they saw the ursa who was attacking the weaponless Cardin. Just as Shaun was attempting to help, in a surprising feat, Jaune using his shield blocked the clawed attack toward Cardin.
Shaun could see that Jaune was struggling to hold the grimm off. Weiss could see it too and was about to help when Pyrrha said 'wait' to her. Shaun was surprised from behind his mask, Jaune was successful to stagger the grimm and then counterattack with a slash from his sword. It managed to cut its skin, but it wasn't enough to kill it. Then the monster roared at the blonde knight, it then delivered another attack with its claws, but thankfully Jaune rolled away.
Shaun was very impressed with his friend.
'It seemed you are not the weak idiot after all,' he thought as he put off his mask. Jaune the battle was continuing. Jaune would often deliver an attack and rolled out of the way the grimm deliver its own attack, but he did get hit by the attack from the ursa which let him crash into a tree. Jaune then leaped from an incoming swipe and rolled to evade a double swipe from the ursa. He remembered to check his aura gauge. He was surprised that his aura was in the red.
He then decided to quickly end this fight. He let out a battle cry as he began closing in towards the bear grimm. He went to deliver a slash of his sword, but the bear delivered a swipe with its claws. The good thing was Jaune saw the oncoming danger as he used his shield to try to defend himself, but Shaun realizes that the shield wasn't properly facing the attack head-on, leaving the blonde knight's head open.
Shaun was about to help, but the shield magically corrected itself. Shaun was surprised at the outcome. The half Nephilim smirks at his friend who just decapacitates the ursa.
"Uhh, what just happened?" Ruby asked them. Weiss was also confused at what just happened.
"Well, Ruby has her speed, Weiss has her glyphs and Shaun has his shadows, with me, I have polarity,"
"Woah… so that means she can control poles…" Ruby said.
"No, you dunce, she means that she had control with magnetism," Weiss corrected her partner's misunderstanding.
"It's what you used when you fought with that Russel guy was it?" Shaun asked the red-haired woman and she nods. Then Pyrrha went to leave which startled the two girls.
"Hey, where are you going?" Weiss asked Pyrrha.
"Yeah, we need to tell them what happened," Ruby said.
"Perhaps, but how about we just keep this as our little secret?" Pyrrha told them as she looked at her leader, who was helping Cardin. The three girls then went back towards their group Shaun decides to stay there to wait for his friend. Shaun was able to hear his friend's conversation with the bully and he smiled at it. He then called his friend and the two went back to their group of friends.
Beacon Rooftop
At the top of the roof, there was the half Nephilim and he was not alone as there was also the Mistral champion, Pyrrha Nikos. Apparently, after the incident of Forever Fall, Pyrrha asked him to help Jaune to train him with her which he didn't mind. Well because of this the half Nephilim needed to message Blake that he has other plans for tonight rather than their usual meet-up on the roof.
"Thank you, Shaun, for helping me with this," Pyrrha said at the half-Nephilim.
"Yeah, no problem, Jaune needs this to get in close to our current level," he replied.
"You didn't have any plans do you for tonight?"
"Well, there was my usual meet-up with Blake," Shaun said as he rubbed his neck for some reason he was embarrassed to tell this. The red-haired woman let out a teasing smile.
"I see…" Pyrrha said to him. Because of Shaun's innocence with this kind of subject, he didn't understand why Pyrrha gave a teasing look at him.
"Yeah, well she was ok... I think. But I don't I just felt bad canceling our daily meet-up,"
"How daily is it,"
"Every day," Shaun widened his eyes when Pyrrha let out a chuckle.
"What,"
"Oh nothing," This was a lie since Pyrrha has an idea of what was going on with Shaun and Blake. Then as a cue, the door leading to the roof opened and there came out Jaune, who was surprised to see the half Nephilim.
"Shaun? What are you doing here?"
"Well, Shaun here will be joining us with helping your training," she said, which made Jaune surprised.
"Wow… really? You willing to do that for me?" Jaune asked the half Nephilim.
"Sure, that's what we are friends for, right?" he chuckled, and Pyrrha giggled.
"Thank you… I really mean it," Jaune felt very grateful for his friend.
"No problem, as long as you take this training seriously," he said smirking.
"Now then Jaune… shall we begin?" Pyrrha asked him, and the leader of team JNPR nodded.
Somewhere in Remnant
"Hmm, these so-called grimm… they are very… peculiar in a sense," the demon queen Lilith said as she marveled at her captured beowolf. Deep inside an abandoned dust mine, there lies Lilith who looks like she was analyzing the creature's biology. She was quite amazed by these creatures, made from pure darkness and they have no souls which contradict any being since every living being will always have a soul in them.
Lilith looked at the now captured grimm, whoever created them must be this planet's source of evil. The demon queen was astonished by the person who created them… but being the demon queen, she needed to take this power for herself…
"But for now, let's see if I can apply your unique body to one of my demons," she said as she began to work on her specimen. Howls of pain came from the cave that she in it. Around the cave were the demons that Lilith just created, they were now eating the human remains that they captured when some humans ventured into this place. Her plans to find her grandson's whereabouts would be put on a hold.
For now.
AN:
Hey guys, I am deeply sorry for the long hiatus, there are reasons why it took me so long to upload. The first one was college assignments and the second, I have been hit with writer's block and still trying to get an idea for the next plot.
But don't worry, I am not abandoning this story. For all of you that have followed this story, I thank you for your patients and for still believing in me.
Well, that's it from me and I hope you enjoy this chapter.