(Early Authors Note: Ahh, finally, chapter 3 is out. I do apologize for the long wait. I doubt this chapter can make up for it, but I hope you all like it enough to wish for more! I feel rather upbeat this time around so if you'll allow me, I'd like to talk a bit about Warhammer stuff. For starters... what would you all say if somehow, in some way, for some wonderful reason, CA allowed for a Warhammer (Fantasy) manga to be made, which might then become an anime? Maybe I'm speaking for myself, but I would LOVE to see that! And I don't mean manga series about the TWW 1, 2 and 3 campaigns, I mean about the stories of iconic characters.
We could see Alith Anar waging his guerrilla war against the Dark Elves on Nagarythe while reclaiming the Shrine of Khaine, or Luthor Harkon trying to fix his broken mind and claim Amanar, or even something silly like The Comradeship going on a LOTR-parody quest. And I know people would want to see Gotrek and Felix or Thanquol and Boneripper (I know I would).
Of course, considering the path CA is going down (and has been going down), I doubt they would ever agree to that. And if they did... I just can't see it working out. But enough bumming us all out and giving us false hope, time to answer reviews!
To Merendinoemiliano: If by too "fush" you mean fast, then yeah. It was a just a spur-of-the-moment thing I added for a personal chuckle. But thanks for the praise on Nora. If you don't mind me asking, how did you see Nora portrayed exactly? I simply made her comedic because I always saw her as such.
To Guest: Hold on now, guy. I'm doing my best with what leisure time I have. I have a life outside of fanfiction, you know.
To DemonicOrder: I'm glad you noticed it! Pokemon (specifically Diamond and Pearl and Sun and Moon) was a favorite old-timey anime of mine. And yeah, no screaming and threats. Not yet. Don't worry about where the High and Dark Elves stand back in their world, I made sure to deal with that right away for future purposes. So, Weiss to meet Franz and continue magic? Sure, I actually had that planned from the start. The way I see it, each side story has 4 Warhammer factions. Two major, one minor that has beef with both, and the fourth which is... just there, honestly.
As for everyone else, like DO, I wanna hear from you guys on thoughts and ideas for/about this story. Get good conversation going, y'know?
But with that, I can gladly say to begin the chapter!)
"The High Elves…" Gillie muttered as he stared blankly at the large Elven flag flapping atop the base built into a massive rock. As he looked along the coast, seeing shiny docks of stone jutting out from the town, he failed to notice the utterly lost looks on his comrades' faces. Eventually Jaune slowly raised his hand and asked "Uhhh… who are the High Elves?" Gillie snapped out of his stupor and turned to his team, saying "Ah, right… you haven't met them, so… yeah. Hmm… to put it simply: High Elves are immortal beings with pointy ears and long, flowing hair that'd make you think (in your world's view) they were "supermodels". They are also incredible in the use of magic." Gillie's face then changed to one of chagrin as he added "They are also incredibly snooty and terribly upstandish."
"You there! Baseborn mortals! Stop your amalgamation of a ship at once!"
"See? What'd I just say?" said Gillie as a large ship of white and turquoise sailed towards them. The masthead was the face of a Sea Dragon, and standing on it was a tall High Elf with billowing blond hair and clear blue eyes. And boy, did he have the most sour face you could imagine. His ship stopped right in front of the longship, causing it to stop short before it crashed. The Elf jumped aboard, flanked by 4 guards, and walked disdainfully around the ship before stopping in front of Torki and saying "Hmph. How dare you foul these waters without authorization! Mortal! Ape! Savage! Northerner! Explain yourself and turn over your cargo to the jurisdiction of I, Nelsyrwe of Cothique!" before striking an elaborate pose (that everyone minus the Elves thought was really dumb). Ignoring the insults, but spitting at the Elf's feet, Torki nodded to Team GRRNJ and said "They're my cargo. Got a problem with them wantin' to visit, you talk to them." Nelsyrwe huffed and walked over to the team and said "Which of you is in charge? I demand words with him!" Gillie stepped forward and (putting on his best fake smile) said "Greetings, Lord Nelsyrwe. We are merely passing through Argus on our way to Mistral and Haven Academy. If you would kindly let us pass, we'd be most grateful."
Nelsyrwe and his guards only laughed before the Elf said "Oh, please! The only thing I will 'kindly' do is take you in for questioning then deport you back to Atlas! Argus has taken in enough of you mongrels since those disgusting Greenskins began attacking the lands outside the walls. Now, enough talk. Prepare your ship to follow mine, and–"
"Nelson? What are you doing? Leave those poor people alone!"
Everyone looked back to Nelsyrwe's ship and saw another High Elf, this one dressed in blue robes and wielding a golden staff and wearing a tall helm, appear. "Terribly sorry about him, friends! Nelson's… very protective of our people's holdings. Come, come, allow us to guide you to the docks. Then we can regain both our land legs and a decent place to hold conversation."
With that, a grumbling "Nelson" climbed back aboard his ship and guided the longship to a comfortable place to dock. "Ooh, a mooring post and a built-in gangway! Nice!" Torki said with approval as he sailed his ship in. Once everyone was off the ship, they met up with the blue-clad Elf who said "Here we are! Again, I must apologize for Nelsyrwe's behavior. Ah, but here I am talking about manners when I haven't properly shown them by introducing myself?"
The High Elf then straightened himself, gave a small bow, and said "I am Teclis. Loremaster of Hoeth."
"I am Gillie Outstrom. Warrior Priest of Sigmar. And these are my companions, together making up Team GRRNJ: Ruby Rose, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, and Jaune Arc. We are journeying to Mistral in the hopes of tracking down a band of fiends who played a part in the Fall of Vale."
Teclis nodded and grimly said "Indeed. My brother and I were there, actually. However, Tyrion seemed to want to press the advantage against the Druchii back in Naggaroth, so now he's gone with much of our people. I, however, find this world of Remnant so fascinating! Aura, Semblance, Grimm… a whole world of new, unexplained things! As a matter of fact, I had returned from Mistral some months ago and planned to set course for Atlas… but then I was put in command of the Asur garrison here. Mind you, I could just leave if I wished… but I've been having rather informative talks with a person very knowledgeable about Atlas. So now, I know what the customs are when I visit the kingdom. But I wish I knew Mistral's… I had a feeling getting robbed was not the proper greeting to expect." Gillie's eyes bulged as he said "Wh-what?! You got robbed?!" Teclis quickly waved his hand, saying "No, no! I stopped them before they did anything… by, erhm, tossing them through a rift? I was surprised, is all! Self-defense, as they say! …Ahem, n-now let me give you a small tour of Argus." Teclis then went off at a brisk pace and began to motion to all the 'attractions' as he calls them.
"Here's the residential area, where most houses are."
"Over here we have the barracks and training ground for our Asur soldiers."
"Ah! This is the Argus bakery. It has these delightful little pastries I simply can't get enough of!"
"And here…" said Teclis as he walked down a cobblestone lane flanked by flowers. "is Argus Park. A nice, quiet place, don't you think? I've come here many times to think or simply be by myself. It's nice to know Remnant–Hmm? Jaune, where are you going?" Jaune split off from the group and went towards the center of the park. There, he saw Pyrrha, standing tall and proud. Or at least her statue, anyways. "Pyrrha…" Jaune said quietly to himself as memories came flowing back to him. When the others reached him and looked at the statue with sadness, Teclis said "Pyrrha Nikos. The people of Argus truly loved her. From what I've been told, she was a paragon of virtue and selflessness. And that she met her end in Beacon…" There was silence for a time, then Teclis spoke again, saying "Jaune Arc, though we have only just met some hours ago, I encourage you to push on. Your teammate would wish for you to become the Huntsman you've been training to be, and to not let anything, no matter how devastating, keep you down indefinitely! So stand tall and proud like this statue, Team JNPR, and seize the day!"
Team JNPR shed a few tears at his words, and Teclis then gave a small bow and said "Well, I believe I've avoided my duties long enough. If ever you wish to chat over some tea, please, find me at the… well, the giant rock with a base built into it. Farewell." With that, Teclis took his leave and the two teams lingered around Pyrrha's statue until Jaune said (and Nora loudly sneezed before then) "Well, we can't just stand around in the cold. Come on, I know a place where we'll be welcome. Hehe… ugh…" as he nervously made his way out of the park with a confused party following. As the sky darkened they made it before a house, a rather normal house, and Jaune knocked on the door once.
Nothing.
He knocked twice.
Still nothing.
With a great sigh of defeat, Jaune said "Knock-knock…"
"Who's there?" asked a giddy voice beyond the door.
Jaune hesitated, looking back at his companions for a moment before saying "J-Jauney-boy…"
"Jauney-boy who?" asked the voice as the others snickered.
"Jauney-boy blue-eyes." answered Jaune tiredly. The door unlocked and opened to reveal a girl with long blond hair and blue eyes. Ruby took one look at the two and gasped, saying "She's your sister?!"
"One of them, yes. Everyone, meet Saphron." Sapphire waved and ushered everyone inside, greeting them as they went. As Gillie tried to squeeze himself through, Saphron couldn't help but giggle, saying "You're a big boy, aren't you?" to which Gillie mumbled "I-it's just my armor…" Soon everyone was inside and sat around the living-room as Ren asked "So, Saphron, you're the only Arc living here?" to which she nodded and said "Yep. Moved here as soon as I could. Having seven siblings can make things pretty crowded pretty quick. Besides…" she then turned to Jaune and pinched his cheeks. "I had to let my baby bird of a brother leave the nest!" Jaune blushed and tried to swat her hands away, saying "Stop it! Hey, hey, stop! I am not a baby! Anymore!" Everyone laughed at his expense, but then Saphron stopped and began to frown. They all looked at her, and she noticed and said "Sorry if my mood's a little down. After hearing about Vale and Beacon, things just didn't seem to get better around Argus. Greenskins or Norscans occasionally raid, Grimm attack as usual (but not as fiercely as before), and sometimes… at night… people go missing and are never heard from again. It's scary, really. I just can't help but feel terrified every night, worried I might get taken to. Heck, most of the disappearances are women!" Gillie remained silent, keeping his thoughts to himself at the moment, but Jaune said "Don't worry, Saph, we'll get to the bottom of this while we're here. Right, guys?"
"Of course!" everyone agreed. Then with a loud yawn from Nora (who then fell asleep on Ren, who tried his best to hide a tint of red), Ruby said "Maybe we'll pick this up tomorrow. It's been a long day for all of us." As everyone readied for bed, Gillie said "I will patrol the house for a few hours, if that's alright with you lot. I… just need to clear my head about these happenings in Argus."
"Sure, if you really need to. Just be safe, okay?" Ruby replied before going off to bed. Gillie nodded and stood outside the door for a few minutes before walking up and down the sidewalk. There were still a few people out, night-owls and people just coming back from somewhere, but Gillie kept his eyes peeled for anyone suspicious.
As Gillie did his rounds, Ruby tossed and turned in her sleep; her head churning as she dreamed. In it, she was in a burning Vale, running and running. Battles waged all around her, a great armored warrior battling a short man with snow-white hair and beard, another armored warrior fighting a massive Greenskin (who kicked him in the balls), and a giant toad on a floating chair turn a whole army of Daemons to dust. But Ruby (for reasons unknown to her) kept running. Further towards Beacon. As she ran down an empty road, a shadow leaped from above and tackled her to the ground. She saw a white-fured rat and frantically tried to toss him off of her. But she was overpowered as the ratman raised a glowing green dagger in his tail and began to plunge it down. Then Ruby woke up. "Wh… What was… that?" she asked herself. Why have memories of that time? She then laid back down and uneasily drifted to sleep again.
Later that night...
Gillie meanwhile was still patrolling well into the night when he bumped into a woman. "Oh, so sorry–Hey, you were that Warrior Priest at the Vytal Festival! Nice to meet you."
It was Saphron.
"Saphron? What are you…? But you were just inside with Jaune and the others!"
Saphron held some groceries and tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Huh? My little brother's here? Well, I had the door locked… Hey! Why the rush?!" But Gillie paid no heed, instead he ran with all speed back towards the house. If this was the real Saphron, then who was that inside the house?! "No, please no! Let me make it there in time!" Gillie inwardly cried. When he reached the door he burst it down with his hammer, and yelled "EVERYONE! GET UP NOW!"
But even as he cried, it was too late. A slithering figure in robes of blue flew away with an amused chuckle. It may have missed its chance this time, but there are other opportunities. Oh, how much fun it'll have! As it flitted through the trees outside Argus, it came across an interesting bunch. Ice Goblins, and a band of humans and Greenskins.
"Owww… How could we be flying for that long? That hurt!" cried Militia. Neo nodded and held up a sign depicting a hurt and angry face. "Dunno." Gorlasg bluntly answered. Then he turned to Freezy and Frozer and said "Oi, you two sure Wurrzag gave the alright wit dis plan?" to which Freezy replied "Acourse wez sure! See? Dere he is now!" They all looked and saw Wurrzag standing there. "There you lot are!" he said. "Ya walk too slow! Now listen 'ere… Them gits youze chasin' be in Argus, an' dey tryin' ta make it to Haven Acadumy. Now, I ain't found da Relic in Beacon, but Iz know Haven has one! And I know I don't want no stinkin' humies tryna take it before I can. So youze gonna bait 'em. Bring 'em to one o' your fancy ice forts–"
"Snow fortresses." Frozer interrupted.
"Ice forts…" Wurrzag went on, "and then melt it with them inside! Then, freeze it all up. Wit that, you lot can attack da town while I'll go an' get dat Relic! Ya hear?"
"Right!" everyone said at once. Wurrzag nodded in approval and wandered off into the woods. "Huh… thought he 'ad dat Amber gurl with 'im…" mumbled Gazbag as the crew returned to their headquarters for the night.
As for 'Wurrzag', he retreated behind a large rock and emerged as the same cloaked figure. He laughed, saying "What is the worth of a mortal life without a little Chaos?"
(Ending Authors Note: Is that who you think it is?! Yes, the answer is yes. If I've said it before, I'll say it again: I'm a sucker for Tzeentch stuff. Anyways, I hope this chapter appeals to you all and has you wanting more! Please don't forget to review, follow, favorite and share with others (they all really help me out). Farewell!)