The start of the main storyline for AHD is here!
Not to say that the first 12 chapters weren't important or anything either. Everything's been building up the foundation for this epic tale circumnavigating the world of Remnant.
Been waiting a while for this moment, and I'm sure you guys have too!
Though, make sure to stick around for an extra fluffy SS at the end. So without further ado...
Enjoy the chapter.
Cover art by: Notgustiarp
Chapter 13
"Thief!"
He'd admit that leaving Summer and Tai's home came a little out of nowhere. A spur of the moment decision, even.
Enough so that he didn't possess a plan nor any supplies to survive off till he figured one out. All he had were the clothes on his back consisting of his blue jeans, a plain white tee, and his Pumpkin Pete sweatshirt.
Course, he was swaddled by his red cloak and had dad's sword strapped to his waist—but no food, water, or money to speak of.
Seems he wasn't the only one with these issues, though.
Jumping from the park bench he'd been sharing with this nice homeless man, his head was on a swivel. Turning, he spotted a figure rush out of an alleyway, no doubt a blur to other passerby's as they expertly weaved through the crowds. Soon after, a much slower and more rotund man wearing a chef's outfit followed.
"Somebody stop that thief!"
His body moved on its own, launching itself—
Why lie to myself anymore?
He crossed the street with a barely noticeable stumble, letting his thoughts get the better of him. On the sidewalk, he had to push and almost shove his way through the crowd in order to keep up with the strangely short criminal.
"S-Stop right there!" He yelled after the guy more to alert the people ahead to stop bumping into him!
They passed shop after shop, cars whizzing by as the crowds kept getting busier and busier the longer the chase continued. As mom and pop shops turned to commercial buildings and giant corporate towers, the masses grew that much denser.
Skyscrapers toward above and businessmen wadded down below, all working together to create an even flow of pedestrians.
All to get in his dang way.
Thankfully before he had to start running people over, the thief chose to turn into a nearby alleyway—it no doubt being less crowded.
But not any less dangerous.
Why was he even chasing this guy? Didn't he have more important things to worry about than chasing petty thugs into dark alleyways?
Or was he just looking for a convenient distraction?
The time for musing was over as he came up on the same entrance, and while he might have hesitated, his body decided on its own to-
He whipped his head around violently, stopping that thought as that same question popped up in his head.
"Didn't I promise not to lie to myself anymore…" He mumbled, glancing down at the dark abyss the narrow passageway held. "If I'm going, it has to be because I want to—not because of anything else, let alone me lying to myself that I'm some sort of natural born hero..."
No, he wanted to stop this guy to prove that he wasn't in over his head and that he had a real chance of finding these girls and wasn't just wasting everyone's time by endangering himself.
He wasn't that same kid as before. He'd admit to himself that he was terrified. Because that meant that when he did do something worthwhile...
"It's cause I choose to."
Taking off into the dark narrow passage, he wasn't as afraid anymore. Cause at least now he could say it was truly what he wanted—not what he lied to himself into believing had to be done.
It was alright to be scared, and thus it was okay to hesitate. He'd need to make up for that pause though, wouldn't he?
His Semblance took hold, causing amplified Aura to flood his muscles and envelope his form with a light that cast aside the shadows.
Turning him into a literal beacon with white light bursting out, easing the fear within, and as the launch off destroyed the concrete underneath him, it did the same to the doubts within.
He wasn't the same dazzling comet as when he fought Hazel—having emptied his entire reserves when he expended all of his stored Aura with it only recently returning even if duller than before.
The light show was still pretty cool, though. More importantly, it was just as noticeable.
He dashed through the narrow passage, his feet slapping into filthy puddles and over trash cans and alley cats until finally he caught up with the would be thief.
Seems the guy noticed that too.
Too late!
Another controlled burst of Aura had him dashing faster than before, ready to tackle—sailing through the air, he narrowly missed his target.
"Wah?" He mumbled bewilderedly, catching the tail end of a trail of rippling yellow light.
The guy continued to surprise him, having leaped head and shoulders above him in an instant. The tale tell colorful shimmer, revealing exactly how he did it.
"Aura?!" He rasped out, watching as what should've been a run of the mill crook—who he only now truly started taking seriously bounced wall to wall, gaining insane ground.
"Or air, I guess." He remarked off handily.
Not wanting to lose the guy, he flashed that much brighter, leaping after them. The extra Aura helped slow his perception, finally giving him a better look at the guy.
Huh?
Mimicking his opponent, he kicked off the sides in pursuit, gaining similar air. The old brickwork shattered as they both raced to reach higher ground.
Curiously, only his leaps seemed to damage the weathered walls while the thief's harmlessly rebounded off.
"Does he really have a…"
The thief flipped over the roof's edge, vanishing from view as he bounded right behind them. Gripping the same ledge, he let momentum carry him over while spying for his-
"Wait, he went back down?!" Just as he reached the top, he caught a glimpse of white and yellow flee back down into the maze like alleyways. "But why give up the high ground?"
Racing over, he watched the criminal land a perfect tuck and roll, then dash about deeper into the labyrinth. Fighting the instinct to leap after them, he instead chooses to continue his pursuit rooftop by rooftop.
Redoubling his pace, he all but hugged the ledge, keeping a constant watch on the crook's back, only seeing fleeting traces before they ducked into a different path.
Yet even with the evasive movements and brisk pace, his elevation always let him barely keep the guy in his peripherals.
"He has to know I can't lose him from here." He mumbled, jumping over another gap in the winding path he was being led down. "So why jump down?"
He doubted the guy knew just how good of a decision it was as he'd actually been holding back a ton of speed as the tight passageways and constant junk in the way prevented him from going all out. Yet had they stayed on the relatively open rooftops, this whole thing would've lasted less than a second.
"Speaking of things getting in the way…."
All this time, he hadn't actually been paying much attention to exactly where their little chase was headed—too busy trying not to trip over himself. So it was a bit of a shock when the distant sounds of people caught his ear.
So that's your plan!
He hadn't realized, but they'd been running around in one big circle. Or more like he'd stupidly let himself be led into one. Having wrapped around the block, they couldn't have been far from where this entire thing started.
Worse, as he got closer, the sounds of disorganized crowds clued him in to the real problem ahead.
"He's gonna try to blend into the crowds!"
No wonder he jumped down. If someone leaped from a rooftop onto the middle of the street, it'd create way too much panic. Better to slip into the flow of the masses, disappearing entirely.
But he wouldn't let them get away that easy.
Pushing his Semblance, he got ready to blast—
Suddenly the thief became a gold streak, jettisoning themselves deeper into the labyrinth.
His enhanced perception caught their golden Aura sink into their muscles, bolstering them, similar to his Semblance but to a lesser extent. This guy was gunning it with what he'd been told was just a basic application of Aura.
Catching only brief glimpses of yellow light dancing through the veritable maze had him double time to keep up. Their Aura shimmer—just like everyone else's wasn't nearly as bright as his Semblance making it only a light shine barely above the skin.
Meaning, in the unexpected dash, he'd managed to lose sight of them. So instead, he refocused on the upcoming rooftops. Trying to predict which exit they were going to head them off.
Even being caught off guard didn't make up for his path being much clearer than theirs, letting him go near top speed. Thankfully his Semblance topped their Aura technique, letting him quickly outpace them.
Wind kicked up violently behind him as his body sliced the air apart with the sudden enhanced dash. His Semblance amplified his Aura, automatically enhancing his muscles and multiplying his speed.
Too bad it didn't help him find the perp. The dozens of pathways were just too much to keep track of with just his eyes—enhanced or otherwise.
Thankfully he didn't need to rely on just his vision.
Though faint from the distance, stretching his emotion sensing ability had it cover the entire block. However, it was considerably weaker than when he fought that monster—much like the rest of his Semblance. But thankfully, the sensing range had expanded slightly over the year. Just enough to catch the briefest trace of adrenaline fueled excitement hum in the air.
"Screw it. It's not stable enough to get a good lock on up here. Gotta go lower!"
Leaping down might have been a mistake, but he couldn't lose their tracks after all this effort.
If only he knew why he felt this desperate need to catch this guy, but he just couldn't let this determination go!
Feet striking the deck, he took off much slower than before but much more deliberately as that connection was more stable.
It wasn't all bad, as right before he jumped, he got a good look at where this guy was possibly headed.
Blurring, he bobbed and weaved over trash, hobos, trash, alley cats, trash—why was there so much trash?!
It was the wilds of the frontier all over again with all the stains his clothes—his only pair of clothes, he might add, kept getting.
"This better be worth it—there you are!"
Rounding a corner, the thief made their first mistake and turned into what Jaune knew was a dead end, sealing his fate. Finally catching up, he rounded the same corner, launching himself—
He briefly felt the emotions shift from heart pumping excitement to intense anticipation.
Right as a fist swung for his face.
Huh, guess I didn't imagine that part.
All his brain could think of was the now much better view he got of the guy confirming what he saw earlier.
Guess it really was a monkey tail I saw.
Falling into a slide, he felt the knuckles graze his hair as he dodged under the attack. Whipping around, he threw an enhanced haymaker right back at the now confirmed blond Faunus.
Neat.
Author's Notes:
Hope you enjoyed this—albeit a short step into this adventure. My goal is to whet your appetite and give you the rundown of the tempo that'll be maintained throughout the next few chapters.
If you feel that the pacing is way too fast or that not enough ground is being covered (as has been pointed out in the earlier chapters), then feel free to let me know.
Besides that, I'll keep pumping out more chapters as I work on other Fics on the side. Looking at you 'An Eye for Regicide' and maybe even more in the future...
Now time for the Short Story—wait.
The hell is this...
Pain was but a fleeting memory for him.
In the distance, a cacophony of howls melded into a vicious melody—only audible in the pitch silence of the world around him.
For decades nary a thought was sparred for trivial things like pain. In that way, he grew numb to his own and that which he inflicted on others. Yet, as his consciousness waxed and waned, a dull ache bellowed deep within.
The screeches of rock and boulders slashed apart by hardened claws reverberated as those howls turned to wails of ravenous beasts.
An ache? He hadn't felt something like that since…
…Gretchen.
In his darkness, buried under a mountain of stone yet truly trapped in a tomb of malice and self loathing—a single serene light struck his crusted eyelids.
Tearing open, the first thing that filled these hollowed, bloodshot eyes was a ray of pale light. The shattered moon hung ominously over this once battleground bathing it in a melancholic stench.
As the seconds passed, that single light was joined by the feeling of relief as the weight of a mountain was dug off him. Those claws designed to disembowel and maim instead were used to shovel him out of his coffin of stone.
Feeling was still distant, yet the sensation of peace spread throughout his body as the once grating sounds of beasts all but halted—their work complete.
Still, attempting to move was a foregone conclusion with not a finger responding to his command. As he was, his body was immobile—stagnant even.
Silver hair and cold green eyes haunted him so.
Stagnation.
A shared betrayal was felt amongst them. They clashed as trust and loyalty were scorned and trounced under the horrified eyes of a black raven.
Begets.
The truth revealed he was lost and confused, wandering for so long in that haze of doubt and despair until he came across pale skin and red eyes filled with such honest compassion. A path made clear, and a light shone on the actual state of the world. How endless war would lead to naught but—
"…ruin." His blood soaked mouth rasped out.
He lay trapped in his body and mind, absorbing the peace as his body was always so tense that a moment of respite was never truly allowed.
It didn't last long.
That pale light he was so drawn towards was suddenly parted horrifically as a demon descended as if from the heavenly body itself—ironic as its true form was wholly demonic in origin.
"My champion."
The seer Grimm basked in that light drawing his eyes to the monstrous form reflected within. His eyes, once transfixed to the broken moon, were now blearily captivated with a sight so dreadful.
His queen.
Instinctually he thought to kneel—to hide his shame once again at having failed. But even though the Grimm around him had all but removed the layers of rock burying him, he still felt trapped within his own body.
He dared to break sight with his mistress needing to see what was ailing his weakened body—Ah.
His guts were spilling out.
A diagonal gash split open his torso, exposing the organs within. Without the statue's weight compressing and applying pressure to slow his bleeding, blood began truly gushing from the opening created.
Was this my destiny?
Infection had already begun to set as the skin surrounding the wound visibly rotted away, festering into an unhealthy yellowish green. But even if the maggots that were at that moment eating away at the decaying flesh weren't there...
Aura alone wouldn't mend this wound.
My fate for all I have rot?
Would he forsake all that he'd work towards by dying here?
"Oh, how low they have felled you."
His eyes once more were drawn to his queens. His only path to salvation, once again.
"It is as I said." Her smile was all devilish fangs. "They truly believe they struck a mortal blow…."
He watched as the seer's blood red tentacles began moving his entrails back into his body.
"Oh, how right they were."
Living black ichor spread from the limbs crawling within him to begin pulling and stitching his organs back into place. It stabbed into his flesh to ruthlessly yank the opening closed, allowing his dwindling Aura to mend merely part of the once mortal wound.
"For you will soon no longer be a mere mortal man—you will be so much more."
The abomination crawled within his body, manipulating bone and sinew into place, simply pinning them together for his Aura—bolstered by his undying will, to fuse back together.
"You will be the blade with which I will dispense justice. To right the wrongs of petty gods."
All the while, his mind wandered to that dazzling light that seared his eyes with unyielding judgment. To the boy whose previous life he stole yet the literal life, he failed to snuff out—through naught but his own weakness.
"Let us peel back those decrepit walls and show the festering rot allowed to spread unchecked. Just as doubt once spread through the cracks in your resolve."
In the end, he'd buried those doubts, did he not? He remembered so vividly killing that which dragged his resolve low and made him forget his purpose.
"For their stagnation will be their ruin, and you shall deliver it."
To destroy that which created this horrific world where children will be made weapons to perish in an eternal war—where a zealous kingdom like Menagerie is allowed to push the world to the brink of armageddon against an equally bloodthirsty Atlas.
His flesh finished fusing, leaving an ugly scar reddened and still raw, but the only thing he felt was righteous indignation at the state that Ozpin allowed this world—the one his sister, and he loved so dearly to fall to.
The hidden past shown to him and the future he can thus foretell was as horrific as they were tragic. As the only path to salvation now was aligned with the embodiment of evil itself—a woman blessed with infinite power but cursed with eternal life.
But she'd clawed her way out of that despair, and now they were on the precipice of a true solution to this world's darkness. He'd save this world that he and his sister so deeply cherished.
Even if he had to fall, so it may rise.
"To forge a world eternal."
He will do so. The old world will fight and no doubt struggle at every turn against them, but Remnant's future has only two paths.
Stagnating peace or bloody evolution.
Author's Notes:
Okay, no one expected Hazel to be actually dead, right?
More so, I was guessing people were just curious when I'd reveal his return. Well, I wanted to start this admittedly short chapter by introducing a fan favorite character in a certain monkey Faunus and the return of a dreaded big bad.
Next chapter, well get these two young boys interacting—plus a little more action since it's been a while since I gave you guys any.
And Hazel?
Well, trust me when I say their next encounter will be...
Bloody.
Look forward to it, and please be patient with me as I've really felt like my writing has been devolving a little with these long, arduous waits. But I can't wait for all these ideas to come to life and for you all to read them!
See ya next chapter.
Date Published: 2022/07/17
