Let's go brand new chapter!
On the outskirts of the camp a figure wearing dark brown and black watched the three sickly children slink off into one tent after eating their dinner. He watched and waited for any signs that they would come back out, but as three minutes turned to seven he decided now would be the best time to inform the tribe. The man in brown raced off through the trees until he reached a large boulder in the middle of a clearing a mile away from the kids camp. With that brown haired girl always leaving camp to hunt in the woods, they needed a spot to meet up that wouldn't be discovered by accident.
Hiding in the trees and waiting for his arrival were the remainder of the clan that called themselves the Ox clan. The leader of the clan was an Ox faunus named Zane Wilferd, but most people called him just Ox because of his large upper body build and the two horns growing out of the sides of his temples. Ox dropped out of a nearby tree and landed on the ground with a loud thud before rising up to his full height. "Did they eat the mushrooms I told you to plant" The large faunus asked.
The man in brown took a knee before answering "yes sir they did".
A large smile grew on the Ox faunus's face as he looked to the nearby trees "then I guess todays the day we bag our prizes". With those words five more bandits dropped out of the nearby tree's to join them. One of them was a tall lanky man who laughed hysterically as he rose to his feet "Boss, you are going to let me have my fun with the girls aren't you"? Ox frowned at the twisted question but shrugged his shoulders nonetheless "you can play with one but make sure she comes back in stable conditions so we can get paid. I don't need to lose out on some lien because you over did it and ruined the merchandise".
The lanky man took hold of his chin in a thinking manner before nodding to himself "I can do that...I think".
Ox shook his head in disgust "guess we'll sell for half price". The man in brown coughed loudly to catch his bosses attention once more so he could finish his report "there was something odd about one of the kids sir". Ox raised a brow "well spill it already jacks, we ain't got all day". The man in brown now known as jacks reported on how the blonde boy within the group of three seemed to be wary of the food after witnessing his two companions reaction to it.
"Did he still eat the food" Ox asked. Jacks recalled that the blonde did eat the food like the rest and had suffered from it just like the others so he nodded to the clan leader. Ox grinned at the confirmation "then there's nothing to worry about. With all of them suffering from the effects of those poisonous mushrooms we can take them down easily enough". The Ox faunus turned to his tribe and hoisted his battle axe high "remember the plan boys, go in quietly and strike quickly". The rest of the men hoisted their weapons like their boss in agreement before following him through the forest to where the three unsuspecting children slept.
On the way to the camp, jacks couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that something was terribly wrong but for the life of him he could figure out why.
The camp came into view and Ox held up his hand to halt the clan before slowly lowering it so they would know to move carefully. Ox noticed that unlike all the other time before the kids didn't leave a sentry this time, but then again that was probably because all three of them were sick from the food they ate. What he noticed next was that the swords the kids used weren't around, which most likely meant that they had them in the tent with them. That was fine of course since they would still be sick and unable to use them correctly in their condition.
The seven bandits encircled the main tent that jacks informed them that held the three children in. Ox looked to his men and nodded before swinging his axe and slicing open the top of the tent. What he expected to see was three kids waking up to see several bandits jump on them before they could react, but what he got were three children down on one knee to avoid his attack but were armed and ready for their arrival.
The surprise was reversed and the three children rushed in different directions to engage the bandits before they could recover from their shock. Cinder was too quick for the two bandits in her way as she knocked two arrows made from black glass and fired them directly into their necks before they could mount a defense. Vernal tossed some dirt in one of the bandits eyes before taking the chance to drive her sword into his chest when he was blinded. When she pulled her sword free from the dead man, she turned to the other bandit nearby and swung at him with the intent to finish him off quickly but the lanky man blocked her strike before jumping back to put distance between them.
The lanky man wore a sadistic grin that gave vernal nothing but the creeps. "Well well, this is unexpected but dare I say not unpleasant" the lanky man said as he held his twin blade guns loosely in his hands. Vernal huffed but held her sword at the ready "yeah yeah it's such a pleasure, now how about you stand still and I'll try to make this as painless as possible". The lanky man broke into laughter before wiping a tiny tear from his face "oh I like you" he said as he lowered himself into a fighting stance "so I'm going to take great pleasure in making you cry". Vernal frowned at the lanky man's word "we'll see about that creep" with those last words the two charged at each other.
/
With his two companions handling the bandits behind him, jaune could focus his full attention on the three in front of him without worry...or so he thought. The first one he attacked was a short man with dirty brown hair who looked more like hobo then a bandit. The man was caught by surprise just as he planned and went down after he slit the mans throat in one go. The other two on the other hand were more skilled then he anticipated.
The man in brown was quick and managed to dodge jaunes slash before the large faunus stepped in and swung his axe in an attempt to sever the blondes head from his shoulders. Jaunes blade came up to defend him but the strength behind the axe lifted the blonde off his feet and launched him backwards. Jaune righted himself mid flight by back flipping once before he landed on his feet. "Tch, it seems the kids been trained" the Ox faunus said angrily. The man in brown looked to his boss but made sure to keep jaune in his sights "what now chief"?
The faunus's eyes narrowed on the blonde child before him "isn't it obvious" he said as he held his battle axe at the ready "we get even".
Ox charged forward and swung his axe to cleave jaune in halve but the blonde jumped over the attack and was ready to strike back when the man in brown appeared in the air before him. Jaune raised his guard up but instead of attacking the man in brown flipped over him and reached out to take hold of his clothes before tossing the blonde like a rocket straight into the ground. Jaune bounce off the floor but wasn't given any more time then that when a large hand grabbed his ankle and pulled him upwards before slamming him into the ground once more. The torment wasn't over because Ox tossed the boy upwards once more before delivering a slash with his axe before the blonde could hit the floor.
Jaune saw the moonlight shine off the steel axe and brought up his sword up once more to defend him before being launched once again through the air. This time he couldn't right himself and slammed into the trunk of a nearby tree before dropping to the floor. His aura held strong but he decided to use his semblance on himself cause the two he was fighting were no joke and he recognized that. The man in brown rushed forward first and jaune was ready to intercept him when three black arrows cut the man in brown off.
The three combatants looked over to see cinder smiling back at them before she snapped her fingers causing the arrows to explode. Ox defended himself well but the man in brown - who had been the closest - was caught in the explosion and now had both burn marks over his body but also glass shards that had shot out from the blast.
"Thanks for the assist cinder" jaune cheered happily. Cinder changed her bow into two duel swords and readied herself "you can pay me back by making some food later that isn't poisoned by these people". That brought a smile to his face and if that was all she was asking from him for saving his bacon then he'd prepare a dinner fit for a queen when he got the chance. Cinder charge in first but to the blondes surprise she attack the Ox faunus instead of the man in brown. Even the man in brown seemed shocked at first but eventually he turned towards the blonde and decided he didn't need to help his boss with just one girl.
Jaune wasted no time in rushing his injured enemy because now he was certain these bandits had no aura or they'd be mopping the floor with them otherwise. The man in brown dodged the downward slash the blonde gave him and went to strike from the left side when he froze for barley a second because of the pain from the glass shards that were stabbing into his leg and left arm. That moment of hesitation gave jaune a chance to ready another attack for the man in brown.
Seeing that his enemy was ready for him the man in brown tried to back step but found his movements continued to be hindered by the glass shards stuck in his body. Jaune capitalized on the mans weakened state and found it easier to keep up with the him now that his movements were slower. Again he'd have to thank cinder for that he thought as he chased the man in brown around the field while exchanging blows. The fight had become even now that jaune could keep up with the man in brown but all it took was that one moment of carelessness to give him a chance to one up the man and that came when the Ox faunus let out a pained cry.
The man in browns eye's shifted for just a moment to see what had happened and then the pain from the glass shards caused him to flinch so he couldn't guard well enough to stop the attack the blonde laid on him. Instead of going high and landing a killing blow that might have missed, jaune struck low and sliced the man in browns thigh to hinder his movements more. The man in brown fell backwards on the grown but tried to crawl away only for jaunes blade to stab into the other leg, keeping the man pinned in place.
The man cried out in pain before turning to the blonde with fearfully eyes and proceeded to beg for his life. It was sad to see a grown man reduced to a pathetic mess like the man before him was but then again jaune didn't like to see people suffer.
"PLEASE DON'T! I DIDN'T MEAN IT! PLEASE, I WAS JUST FOLLOWING OR-UGH!
The cut had been clean but because of the man in browns thrashing around some of his blood splashed on jaunes face. In one word it was "disgusting". As soon as Jaune wiped the blood from his face he turn to see how cinder was doing only to see her skid across the ground until she came to a stop at his feet. Her aura crackled before breaking and it looked like she had lost consciousness.
The sound of footsteps brought jaunes attention back to the enemy that cinder had faced on her own. He looked far more worse for wear then before since one of his eye had an arrow head stuck in it and he sported a large burn mark around his neck in the shape of a hand. "I had thought we could sell you all for some good money but your all more trouble then your worth" the Ox said angrily. Jaune took a breath and used his semblance to restore his aura before moving in front of cinders body to protect her just in case the large man got any ideas.
Ox didn't seem to care for a moment as his eye looked over to the man in brown who was dead on the ground. "Forgive me my friend, I should have listened better to your concerns" he said before looking back to the boy in front of him "know that you will not head to the next world alone". Jaune rushed in first to keep some distance between cinder and the faunus. Ox swung his axe trying to take jaunes head but the blonde slid in between his legs before turning around and slashing the faunus's calf muscle of his right leg. Although the attack had the desired effect, the large faunus ignored the pain and reached out before jaune could get away and grabbed him by his face.
In one motion jaune found himself launched upward before the large faunus swung his axe upward towards the blonde in the hope he would slice him in half. Jaune block the strike with his sword but the force behind the axe cracked his blade and knocked him airborne once more. When jaune came back down once more he knew he was in trouble cause the Ox faunus took hold of his battle axe with both hand and swung like he was a pro baseball player.
The cracked sword in jaunes hands wasn't enough to protect him entirely and shattered from the blow. If jaune hadn't decided in the moment he was falling to reinforce his aura with his semblance he was sure he'd have been killed when he took the axe to the chest. His body flew helplessly through the air until he hit the ground hard.
Ox limped over to the boy so he could finish the job but came to a stop when a brunette cut off his path. "Sorry big man but I can't let you kill him until I've paid back my debt" vernal said tiredly. The large faunus looked over the camp and saw the lanky man sitting against a tree with a broken sword deep in his chest. "So I'm all that's left then" he whispered before looking down at the brunette to see her holding the lanky mans weapons in her hands. Vernal smiled when she saw him take notice "where that guys going he won't need these anymore".
"And neither will you" it was the only warning vernal got as the faunus charged forward. She held the guns up and fired off a few rounds before Ox brought down his axe on her. Vernals eyes widened on seeing the axe come down before she was tackled out of the way by jaune himself. He was tired and sweating like crazy but he wasn't going to watch one of his friends get killed. Vernal looked up to see jaune leaning over her but her eyes looked passed him a second before she grabbed his sleeve with her left hand and forcibly rolled them both to the left to dodge another downward axe swing.
Jaunes hand took hold of one of vernals and he pulled the gun blade out of her hand as she rolled to the left and he to the right when the Ox faunus tried a third time for a downward strike. Vernal was the first to her knees and fired a shot at the Ox, only for it to be deflected by his axe. Another shot rang out and the large faunus's eye went wide as a bullet pierced the side of his head from the opposite side of where vernal was. Jaune was breathing heavily as he watched the large faunus drop to the ground. "Finally" he said before falling backwards onto his back "we won".
He had thought it was over but when a howl in the distance was heard the blonde knew the night was going to be a long one. Jaune pushed himself up and looked over to vernal "come on, we got to get out of here before the grimm get here".
"Can we just leave cinder"?
Jaune raised a brow but said nothing.
Vernal let out a sigh and gave up quickly enough.
Next thing they knew they were carrying one unconscious girl between them as they scampered off into the forest.
I could have made this into several chapters but I thought it best to just make it one big one. Now I can start working on the main stories chapter.