Well, here we are again! Another new chapter! I'm really proud of this chapter in comparison to building myself back to form and I really enjoyed writing this one! Alright, so let's get on with things and get right on to the review responses.
zykwuanmartin: I can understand why you might feel this way and I'm trying to improve on this but I've always been one to embellish on smaller details, so it's a process and if it happens from time to time, I can only apologize. If it is a deal breaker to your enjoyment of the fic, I can only apologize deeply. Thank you for your Review.
Maverick: I took a long time debating that fight and the way it ended, I rewrote it about six times with several different endings and that is ultimately the one I stuck with. It wasn't easy for me to hand Jaune the 'L' but the amount of time between his training beginning and the second match isn't quite as long as most people are thinking. I know the MC losing in a fic like this hardly ever goes well, but I'm glad to see that you agree with me. Part of my idea for this fic's progression is making it feel like Jaune earns the ability to wield Crocea Mors' true power and not just getting it by figuring out the trick to activating it. The pacing has enough issues without that too. Thank you for your review.
: As with my previous review response, I took a long time deciding the best way to end this fight and in the end, Jaune taking the loss made more sense to me. What you need to remember is that Jaunedice didn't take place in this verse and I took the route of beefing everyone's power up a little bit so it didn't feel like Jaune was miles ahead simply because he's been chosen for a bigger destiny. I want him to earn it rather than be handed it and while he's been training with his team for a little bit now, it's not really been all that long and it felt too soon to hand Jaune a victory. Yes it was dirty to pull out the trick that I had for Cardin to win, but I promise it wasn't done lightly. I hope that answered your question and if it didn't, I apologize. Thank you for your review.
Gh0stSpartan: You'll get the answer to how Jaune reacts this chapter. As mentioned above, I had difficulty handing him the L myself but it made too much sense for me to do anything but what I did. Thank you for your Review.
merendinoemiliano: Thank you for your Review.
And with that, it's finally time to start on the next chapter. Ladies and Gentlemen, I hope you all enjoy the chapter!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN RWBY OR ANYTHING ASSOCIATED, I JUST LIKE SANDBOXES
ACT I: THE PIECES
CHAPTER XIV: ON THE PRECIPICE OF DESTRUCTION
Smoke billowed out from the doors as they shot open and a silent figure emerged from the darkness within. He was a towering man, with dark hair and a long flowing trench-coat separated in the middle, revealing his bare torso beneath it. The Gauntlets on the man's hands and arms caught the light, revealing his identity.
"We must be getting close," he told the other, a man with dark blue hair, who was leaning against the side of the airship with his arms folded.
"These are the coordinates we were given," the second responded disinteredly, "I'd bet we wouldn't be here otherwise. The Doctor isn't one for failure."
"You could at least act like you have any interest in being on this job," the first said fiercely.
"And that would insinuate I actually want to be here, let's just get this over with so I can go back to my nap."
Malach rolled his eyes in the direction of his companion, his brow arching as he saw the other man's eyes closing again. He sighed, but chose not to comment. He reached out to shake him awake, but the subtle movement of the man's hand in the direction of the sword strapped to waist, Malach's eyes widened slightly and he retreated from the other slowly. Malach felt movement in his arms and shot his eyes downward. The huge golden Gauntlets on his arms were trembling slightly, as if the very core of them was alive.
"Not now," he muttered.
He decided that it would be for the best to leave his traveling companion alone for the time being and ascended the steps into the next compartment of the airship, moving toward the door that would take him to the bridge. Inside, he found the crew situated at their stations and a large man dressed entirely in black standing at the center of the room barking out orders across at those gathered.
"Is the little wolf asleep again, already?" the man in black questioned, without looking back to see who it was that had entered the room.
"Predictably so," Malach admitted, "He's useless for anything except fighting and sleeping."
"Van's always been like that, would be foolish of us to expect to change just because we're working under someone else now."
"It surprises me he's willing to work with anyone else, let alone someone who wants to take charge of the operation. Seems weird to me, that Merlot guy feels like he would only be interested in his experiments."
"Doesn't strike you as a man with ambition beyond his little science projects?"
"You guessed it, which makes me wonder what his interest is in reuniting the pieces. Arc, I can understand. His family is right up the history of that shit but what does Merlot gain by reuniting the pieces of Excalibur?"
"The council turning a blind eye to his experiments," the dark-outfitted man divulged, "And likely the funding to continue his work for the rest of his life without question as payment for the weapon. Still, it strikes me as strange that he's expecting the people he sends to just hand over the pieces they collect to him."
Malach shrugged his shoulders, and looked out the window slowly, his eyes fixated on the skyline beyond the glass, "Lien is its own motivator."
"Fair enough, so what about you? What made you join an alliance such as this."
Malach's posture stiffened and his arms moved to cross over his chest, "I have my reasons, Vester."
The final sort of tone Malach used did its job of ceasing Vester's questions and the two's focus was drawn elsewhere, Malach into silence and Vester into directing the crew towards their destination. It wasn't too long and Vester turned his head, "We're approaching the drop zone, you might want to prepare sleeping beauty for arrival."
"Right, thanks Ves."
Malach pushed his way out of the bridge area and returned to the cabin where his companion was snoozing away happily. Not too fond of the idea of being too close when the other awoke, the white-coated man hung back from him and called out instead, "It's time, we're approaching the drop zone, Zure."
For a moment there was only silence, and then a low sigh followed it.
"I hate this job sometimes," the man complained, but he got to his feet regardless and pulled his hood up over his head, and the half-cowl over the lower part of his face. He turned his head to Malach, "How far from the drop zone is the rumored site?"
"Not far, I'd say four leagues at most."
"Four leagues!? And we're dropping now? What a pain in the ass."
"Suck it up and deal with it, you slacker."
—-
The glowing boy impacted with the other and sent him flying transversely across the floor, he slid back over the platform and fell over the edge, dropping down to the floor below.
"And the winner of this match is Mr. Winchester."
Jaune could still hear the words ringing in his head, the words that indicated that he had taken another loss to Cardin. He had so desperately wanted to prove him wrong, prove everyone who doubted him wrong and show that he belonged here but it hadn't amounted to anything and now here he was, no better off than he had been. Maybe he did need the sw- No. He didn't need to go down that road. The reality of the situation was Jaune had only been working with his friends for a little while and Cardin was someone who'd spent their entire life preparing for this life, Jaune hadn't.
It was unrealistic to expect a win out of him so soon and not to mention, he'd forced Cardin to exert himself to needing the use of his semblance, which served as a huge win as Jaune's book! Things would be different next time, he would topple his rival and claim his first victory in combat class. He would work twice as hard to ensure that his next outing was a successf- Jaune felt a tremble at his waist and his gaze was drawn down to the sword sitting on his hip. Crocea Mors was- vibrating?
That was weird, it only ever reacted like that if it was about to use on of its powers. But why now? What need did it have? They weren't in any danger right this moment were they? Shaking off the rush of worry Crocea Mors instilled in him, Jaune turned back from his vigil on the rooftop and made his way back inside.
He looked far more relaxed than he had the last time he'd been in a match with Cardin, he didn't have the frustrated glare on his face and the look in Jaune's eyes was far less intense than it had been back then too. He entered the dorm room and looked over to the empty beds of his team-mates. He really had them to thank for all of his progress since he'd arrived at Beacon. He was officially the Leader of Team ABYN but most of the time it felt like he was following the leads of Yang, Pyrrha and Blake far more than he was directing them.
The door opened slowly on the hall side of the dorms and Jaune was greeted by his three team-mates and all three were looking at him with shocked expressions on their faces. Jaune's brow quirked upward, but he was met with three smiles.
"Looks like we didn't need to worry about you taking this loss badly after all," Pyrrha said, relief clear in his voice, "I'm glad."
"I am glad for the most part," Yang corrected, thumping Jaune on the shoulder playfully, "I was looking forward to comforting you so you didn't go into one of your brooding episodes but here you are comforting yourself without my help, that won't do ladykiller."
"Leave him alone Yang," Blake interrupted her, "The fact that Jaune was able to do this speaks volumes on his progress since he and Cardin last fought. We all must learn to rely on ourselves as well as leaning on others. It's not a one or the other situation."
"This isn't about relying on myself. That's a bonus."
"Oh?" Pyrrha asked him.
"Just means I'm looking forward to kicking his head in that much more."
"I, for one support this new, slightly more confident attitude, ladykiller!"
Pyrrha's fist clenched, "He better hope he doesn't try to rub it in, however, or he might just find himself unable to compete in the next matchup between the two of you."
Jaune, Blake and Yang all could've sworn they saw a dark red aura erupt around Pyrrha with all the killer intent washing off of her and the trio wisely decided to take a step back. Jaune's head tilted, was Pyrrha really that worried? He'd be fine and Cardin's gloating wasn't all that good anyway. Weird that she'd be protective over such a small thing, but he decided to worry about that later, for now break was over.
"We'd better look at getting a move on, lunch is nearly over and I'd rather not be late for my best class," he informed the girls.
"Oh right, Desmond's class is next," Blake vocalized, "Let's get moving then."
Jaune's face brightened a little bit more and he led the way out of the dorms and into the hallway side of the building, his team fell into step beside and together, the four members of ABYN walked down to the exit and turned toward the route that would take them to their Survival Class. The walk, for the most part, was a silent one, but that didn't stop Jaune looking to Pyrrha from time to time to make sure that her killing intent from earlier wasn't still there. She wasn't displaying any outward signs of it, but he wasn't entirely convinced that concealed meant it wasn't there at all.
"Welcome back," Desmond said, stepping up to the front of the class, "Today, I think it's a good time to start out with knife skills. It's one of the thoroughly covered aspects of the curriculum so the sooner we get it out of the way the better. To that end, I've had some daggers prepared for you and since I'm feeling generous today, these are yours to keep, but bear in mind they will be necessary for our trip later in the semester and if you lose either of the knives I'm giving you today you won't be getting another, meaning that should you come with us on the trip you'll have to survive without them unless you pay for your own set. Is that understood? Yes, good."
Desmond assigned a couple of people to start handing the tools out then he returned to the front of the class, a little smirk on his face, not one of overconfidence or that might betray attitude, Jaune privately thought it might have been just the man's version of a smile.
"Survival is the top of the list when it comes to priority out in the field. Sure, everyone wants to be the person who downs a huge Grimm or rescues an entire village from a horde of the bastards, but in reality it is more important to make sure that you're able to go and fight again rather than throwing your life away needlessly. It may come a time that you're faced with a difficult choice, but you should always prioritize living to fight another day. Remember, buildings can be replaced. You can't be."
Noting that all the knives had been passed around, Desmond took his own off the desk. He lifted the tiny weapon up to his eyeline, then continued the lesson, "This little guy right here is often the difference between making it through a night in the wild and not. I am sure that most of you have a basic grasp on the uses of a knife, both from your time at the combat schools and our first lesson, but we are going to expand on that knowledge and help you to develop skills beyond when you find yourself in a tight spot combat-wise."
"So, first we're going to look at using the knife to cauterize wounds. As Aura users we don't need to worry about this too much, but if you're faced with someone who doesn't possess aura, this procedure will be enough to help with wounds until such a time as a proper medical can be carried out. The first part of this is to identify the severity of a wound and the location. Both of these factors are critical in determining whether carrying out the process is a, possible and b, logical. If there is no point in doing so, as difficult as it will no doubt be, you must prioritize logical decision making in the field at all times. Like I said, there are no questions about it. Mistakes are often fatal when the Grimm are involved. So you need to make sure you don't make them."
Jaune, who had many years of camping knowledge, was able to grasp the concepts that Desmond proceeded to detail with relative ease and happily found comfort in his ability to do so. While he wasn't the most proficient in other areas as his peers were, having this niche and working to improve his other skills gave him just enough confidence to feel like he was starting to belong at Beacon.
Once the lesson had come to an end, Jaune and his team-mates began to gather their things.
"And with that, I think we're done for today!" Yang said excitedly, stretching her arms out, a big grin curving up on her face, "I am definitely beat. Rest and relaxation is demanded."
"We really should be-"
"Resting," Blake told Jaune firmly, "There's no use throwing yourself right back into the heat of things again because you lost, changing the schedule for one set back isn't going to do you any favors."
"Blake is correct," Pyrrha added, a stern look in her emerald eyes that Jaune assumed had little to do with him overexerting himself and more to do with the fact that, thanks to the way she was eyeing her scroll, Pyrrha wanting a chance to take it easy so that she could go back to playing her game.
"Fine, Fine," Jaune conceded, "We'll take the afternoon off, but we're right back into training again tomorrow, alright? Regardless of what happened today, we can't afford to slack off or the progress we've made will-"
Jaune found himself unable to talk, something was blocking his - was that a finger? He looked to shoot a glare at the person responsible, but finding nothing but a playfully grinning Pyrrha, Jaune was forced to give a resigned sigh and accept his fate that he would not even be talking about the training regime this afternoon.
So absorbed by his own reaction, the Knight didn't spot Yang's little smirk at the reaction Pyrrha got to what she'd done. Yang opted to walk forward and thump Jaune playfully on the arm on her way out of the classroom, "You heard us, Ladykiller, let's go already, class is over and we're hanging around still."
The walk back to ABYN's dorm room was filled with a lot of talking between Pyrrha and Yang, Blake and Jaune walking along with their friends, happy to fill the role of primarily listening and chiming in with their own thoughts and observations where they felt the need.
Jaune found soon enough that his team mates had been correct in the idea of using this afternoon to rest. Perhaps it was his own fault for the path he'd taken but Jaune didn't really feel like he'd taken any time to slow down like this since term began. He took the chance to look up from the comic book he was reading and looked around the room, as expected, Yang was curled up in bed with her eyes closed and, Jaune assumed, taking a nap, Blake was sitting cross-legged in her bed, reading a rather thick novel that Jaune noted she'd taken extra care in concealing the cover of. He was curious, but decided to push it from his mind since it wasn't really his business what she was reading and it was likely just something like the man with two souls anyway.
His lips quirked upward at the sight of his final team-mate, a smirk the only appropriate reaction to what he saw, Pyrrha was tapping away at her scroll's screen wildly and the loud tapping of her fingers hitting the screen gave away what she was playing immediately. Taking note of the intense focus on her face, Jaune decided it was a good time to go back to his comic, if she caught sight of him watching her there was no doubt in his mind that he'd be lured into a face-off and he highly doubted Yang would be pleased if either of them elected to wake her.
Jaune must've been more tired than he was expecting, his eyelids were getting heavier each time he turned the page and he slipped off to sleep not too long after, his comic laying abandoned on his chest. The sound of his book falling caught Pyrrha and Blake's attention, who both smiled at the now sleeping young man and then at each other. The message in their silent expression is clear and simple.
Mission Accomplished.
—-
"I can't believe I'm getting dragged into this," Zure grumbled, "You're the one with the piece of Excalibur, and I'm no navigator when it comes to these pieces."
Malach rolled his eyes, and spoke without feeling the need to look back at his companion, "Put it this way, Zure. The sooner we're done here, the sooner you can be a lazy piece of shit somewhere else."
Zure grunted noncommittally, his head turning but his hands remained rested on the back of it, he rolled his eyes, biting back another yawn long enough to ask, "And do you have a way to make this anything less than a wild goose chase? Because if we're going to be here forever and a day to comb every grain of sand for this thing, I'm not going to be impressed."
"You're not paid to be impressed, you Assassins are lax on morals outside of Lien, so I would remind you that yo8r performance on this mission dictates whether you get paid or not."
This brought a laugh out of the shorter man's lips, but still his posture remained relaxed and his only verbal response was, "I hardly think you're the person that should be lecturing anyone on having lax morals."
Malach didn't comment, but privately he had to concede Zure's point. Though the two of them were here working with this group for very different reasons, they were still here at the end of the day and that made them of similar stock. He reached onto his belt and unclipped a small metallic device from it, then tossed it out into the air.
"If this is a goose chase, that's our net-gun."
"That might just be the stupidest analogy I've ever heard. But as long as it helps us find the piece of Excalibur so we can leave, I don't care much what it's called. I'm guessing it has the ability to pinpoint the energy the pieces uniquely give off or something like that?"
Malach only nodded.
Zure started walking in the direction the small object was gliding in, his hands still on the back of his head, "Then, let's get moving. Standing around like brainless fools is doing neither of us any favors."
—-
"Caliburn," the man breathed, reaching out and gingerly tracing his fingers over the weapon's hilt, "Where did you find this?"
"It is a very long-winded tale that I'm not certain you have the time to hear, councilman and there is an important caveat to this. This is not the legendary weapon Caliburn that Llacheu Arc created to stand against Acheron and Excalibur. Not all of it anyway."
"Are you meaning to tell me that-"
"Yes, like Excalibur, Caliburn lies in pieces. However, unlike Excalibur we have no clue where the pieces are, nor do we even have a starting point on the clues. What we do know is that it was split by a similar method to the pieces of Excalibur which means-"
Ray sighed, "They were likely split into pieces by the same person."
The other did not answer verbally this time, but chose only to nod instead. The Councilman was not pleased by the news that this was the case. Another wild chase for the pieces of a greater whole. This was incredibly frustrating. Could they not just have one powerful weapon that didn't fill the role of a giant jigsaw puzzle that no one had the time or the effort to solve?
"May I?"
"Go ahead, Councilman."
The large man outstretched his hand and his fingertips slowly encircled the handle of the blade, by the look of satisfaction in his eyes when he lifted the weapon from its casing, it must've felt quite comfortable in Ray's hand, "Speak to me, Caliburn."
The voice was cold, but calm and a streak of crimson spread throughout the weapon's blade, it shone brighter and brighter until a burst of color took it, making the blade grow several times its original size and now it held no blade but only the glowing red of the enchanted one instead.
He slashed the blade through the air and before the other had a chance to even scream, he fell to the ground, dead before his body hit the floor. "I must apologize," Ray said, "But this is for the best. The less people that know about this the better."
The weapon lost its luster and returned to the powered-down form, Ray returned it to the velvet of the casing and quickly closed it back up. His gaze shot around the room in rapid succession, wanting to ensure that there were no cameras in the vicinity or any devices that might compromise the secrecy of the move he'd just made. After a quick look around, the councilman was satisfied that nothing had been left behind and could take the case now in his hand from the building without another word.
END CHAPTER
And there you have it folks, Malach and Zure head toward their objective and seek out the next piece of Excalibur and another piece moves out onto the field regarding the ancient history and the lives of those long since gone from this world.
I would like to bring a couple of things to your attention, the first is that I made a typo in the previous chapter where Ozpin refers to Malach's gauntlets as Destruction when Destruction is the piece that is being searched for, Draco Bracchius is actually Excalibur Nightmare, I just goofed so I apologize for that.
Secondly, revealing Caliburn this early may come as an unpopular decision but I don't want to do what so many other stories do when it comes to villains and just have them show up with a super powerful weapon in tow and I feel like introducing the concept this early will give me the time to build up Jaune's father as someone who is strong enough to wield Caliburn to its full potential.
Does that mean he will be the one to unite the pieces of the Demonic Sword and become the one to stand opposite he who shall bring together the pieces of the Holy Sword? Not necessarily, Ray will no doubt be an impressive hurdle to overcome but something about making him the wielder of a fully realized Caliburn feels wrong to me. Would love to hear some feedback on this though and what you guys might want to see in regards to bringing the pieces together.
Thank you all for reading, please review! As always constructive criticism is welcomed, but flames will be ignored and if these flames are left by a guest account they will be deleted. Until next time!