5
"Raaaargh!" Vernal yelled as she charged in to attack Jaune, her chakram guns raised in anger. She was frustrated at how little she could do against the man in combat, she'd been the strongest in the tribe behind Raven for years now and this random stranger showed up and took the chieftain's favor.
The blond parried her swings and took the blast from her weapon on his shield, not even budging. The white shield shifted back into sheath form and he used the sudden imbalance it caused in her to sweep her legs, expanding his shield once again, and pinning her to the ground with it, his weight settling down atop her with his blade held to her throat.
Another win in his favor, it was the fifteenth in the last five days and she had yet to be able to properly hit him. It was like sparring against Raven, the man pulled no punches and deconstructed her with ruthless efficiency. She couldn't say he was powerful, at least not in the traditional sense. His strength was there, he was definitely a professional, but he fought like he knew what you were thinking. Every fight that they had had together, Vernal had gotten sucked into his flow and he controlled the fight from start to finish.
"How the hell are you so strong?!" She yelled in frustration, she wasn't used to being bested so easily, Raven the only one who could do so.
"If I could remember I'd tell you." That was another thing that pissed her off. He couldn't remember some things but his skill with a sword was definitely not one he'd forgotten. She didn't know how amnesia worked but she hoped it went away soon, it was one ting to lose to someone strong but to someone with amnesia? She'd be a laughing stock if everyone in the tribe didn't already know she could beat them black and blue with one hand. In the end the tribe members gave their resident amnesiac a wide berth.
In the end she just settled for an impotent glare from her place on the ground, she'd have gotten up if she could trust her legs, not caring about the dirt on her already filthy clothes. Looking over, a pair of black boots obscured her vision but she knew who they belonged to and after following it up she met the red eyes of her chieftain smirking down at her.
"Are you comfortable down there Vernal?" The woman in question could only scowl even harder as their leader chuckled and turned to address Jaune, "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"
The threat was evident in her voice and had the blonde arching one eyebrow, "You realize you're also shorter than me, right?"
"Oh don't worry Jaune." Raven purred as she drew her blade, squeezing an inordinate amount of time out of the act as she did so very slowly, "My blade more than makes up for the difference."
Finding a second wind Vernal quickly scrambled out of the makeshift sparring ring drawn in the dirt, the edges marked with stones. Seeing her blade drawn brought out murmuring among the tribe and quickly they started attracting a larger audience. It wasn't every day that Raven dueled somebody, after all.
"Do we have to do this?" Jaune had the gall to whine.
"Are you kidding me?!" Vernal raged, "Raven is choosing to duel you and you refuse? Are you a coward?!"
Both ignored her.
"I've been waiting for you to fully recover, you know. I didn't save you out of the kindness of my heart."
Jaune sighed, "And here I was going to thank you, too."
The bandit gave him a catty look, "Oh you can still thank me. Be sure to give me a good fight. Watching you knock Vernal around has me excited."
"Kinky." Jaune shot back with a smirk of his own, "Don't expect me to make it easy for you."
Jaune readied his shield and sword, placing the shield out in front of him with the blade perpendicular and pointed at his opponent, "I wouldn't dream of it."
Raven's sword drifted through the air lazily until she mirrored his blade, both hands on the hilt and pointed straight towards him. Without warning it was the bandit leader who made the first move, shooting forward like a bullet and appearing in front of him with speed that made Vernal envious. Jaune, however, seemed to have anticipated this and instead of blocking the lunging thrust he stepped into it, letting the blade slide across his shoulder. His shield arm clamped down on her overextended arms while his other brought the raised sword down on her head, pommel first, and delivered a devastating blow to her temple.
Raven wasn't about to let him have another hit and planted her booted foot into his stomach and pushed him away while tugging at her weapon. Succeeding in drawing it out of his grasp she made sure to cut along his body, taking as much aura with it as she could. Looking up, she brought her blood red blade up to deflect the flying object hurtling towards her face, the shield bouncing off with a clang as Jaune jumped into the air to catch it and bring his sword down like a meteorite.
Reacting quickly, Raven dodged to the side as Crocea Mors carved a deep furrow into the dirt. Not giving him a chance to draw out his weapon she rushed in to skewer him. Jaune let go of his weapon and transformed his shield into a sheath, using it to deflect her blade and taking the opportunity to draw his blade back out, slashing at her face. Blade met blade mere inches from her face as Crocea Mors sparked off of Raven's sword. Neither gave ground as they kept slashing and parrying each other in rapid succession.
Jaune finally saw his chance, ducking under a horizontal sweep he spun while sheathing Crocea Mors and swing the blade within the sheath. Ah the same time he twisted the handle, triggering the mechanism within to begin the transformation of his weapon. The mechashift took the bandit leader by surprise and she failed to step back far enough, the tip of the now much larger sword catching her in the ribs, chunking out a portion of her aura.
Jumping back to create distance between them, she rubbed her side where she was struck but still smiled at him. It was a fierce predatory smile, one that spoke of satisfaction and of finally finding a worthy opponent. Jaune was strong, that much was clear, and it was only just dawning on the rest of the tribe just how strong. Those who could claim to be able to trade with Raven were few and far between.
This time they both dived towards each other at the same time, Jaune's face drawn into tight lipped frown of concentration. He had been forcing Raven on the defensive the whole time, drawing her into his pace and letting him dictate the flow. She'd created distance to try and gain control of it once again. The blond most likely knew that letting her be aggressive was a bad idea for him.
Crocea Mors was raised into an overhead strike but at the last moment he stopped short and dropped into a spin that brought the blade into a vicious circle the would have cut Raven down at the knees if she hadn't anticipated it. Just as he dropped down the bandit leaped into the air and planted one booted foot on his face, stabbing down at him at the same time. The was a grunt of pain as the tip of her blade found his neck, leaving an angry red mark where she had now free had grasped for her ankle but she kicked off of him with the other foot before his fingers could close around it.
Despite his weapon now being more unwieldy, he swung it with a deftness that belied it's size. As soon as her feet touched dirt he was on her again however she was ready and waiting, letting his blade slide off of hers as she deflected his thrust. Their breathing became ragged as they traded blow after blow with each other, only scoring a glancing hit every once in a while.
Vernal watched on in silence and just barely noted that the rest of the tribe was dead silent watching as well. The only person they had ever seen go this much against her was her brother, Qrow Branwen. Jaune's strike came in sweeping, spinning arcs that flowed one move to another in one fluid motion, his body constantly in motion. Every attack turned into another, barely giving Raven time to strike back but strike back she did. Her long blade lanced out at every opportunity and traced lines across his face, hands, feet, anything she could reach, slowly whittling away at his auta while every blow he got on her looked to have taken large chunks of hers.
At once they both disengaged, their auras shimmering as they failed, Jaune's white fading just a few seconds after Raven's red. Both stood taking ragged breaths, eyes focused solely on one another. It was a tense moment and Vernal wasn't sure they would stop, she'd seen that look on Raven's face before. The fierce smile that wanted nothing more than to test herself against someone as strong as she was and now that she'd found someone that maybe she would take it too far.
As the seconds stretched on with only the sounds of them gasping for air, laughter bubbled up to the surface coming from the red and black clad leader. She threw her head back and started laughing in earnest.
"A tie!" Raven laughed, "I can't believe it. You are strong. And here I was worried you wouldn't be able to perform."
Jaune shook his head, returning his blade to his hip, "Well it's a good thing I wasn't found wanting."
"Now that you've healed we can finally move on to what's next. We'll discuss the plan in my tent." With a flourish she sheathed her weapon and spun around, expecting him to follow. Vernal frowned at that, unsure what to make of it.
One thing she did know as she looked back at the ring, furrows carved into the ground where the blades had torn through rock and dirt, was that if he joined the tribe they might just be untouchable.
"Do you want to know why I don't particularly trust the faunus?" Weiss glared at Blake. They'd returned to their dorm after the two had spent way too long arguing in the middle of the street in Vale, they'd even drawn a crowd. Yang looked worriedly between the two, hoping the two wouldn't escalate. She couldn't say she approved of the way Weiss was acting but if felt like Blake was by far too sensitive to the issue. Her sister looked like she wanted to hide and Yang had the thought that maybe she should have called up Carmine to intervene. If there was anyone who could convince the black and white pair it would be their future leader, right?
Instead she shook her head, this was a team issue and as much as Carmine was a part of their team, technically, they needed to be able to solve things by themselves.
"Do you want to know why I despise the White Fang?!" Yang turned her attention back to the pair in front of her, "It's because their a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"
Blake opened her mouth to yell something back but something stopped her, she stood there speechless for a moment before looking down at her hands, a hint of apprehension on her face. When she did finally speak, it was in a low whisper.
"I have something I need to tell you all." Slowly and shakily her hands moved up to the top of her head and drew apart the bow. As it dropped done it revealed a pair of black, velvety feline ears. Everyone's eyes went wide and they heard Weiss audibly gasp, "I'm a faunus. I'm sorry I've been lying to you this whole time but I promise I have my reasons."
Weiss was catatonic and unresponsive so Yang took it upon herself to ask the question, "And what reasons are those?"
With her bow in hand she wrung her hands nervously, "I haven't had the best experiences among humanity. Vale is pretty good about racism but the prejudice still exists."
"So you chose to hide the fact you were a faunus." Yang finished for her and she nodded, "Well that's fine. It's not like you were a part of the White Fang." Yang noticed her silence, "You aren't White Fang, right?"
"Not… anymore." Blake answered with a wince and glance at Weiss, "Weiss I promise I left the White Fang. I don't condone their actions at all." She reached out to touch the heiress' shoulders.
"Don't touch me!" Weiss shouted as she flinched away from Blake, "Don't you dare touch me!"
The look on Blake's face was heartbreaking as she slowly withdrew her hand and glanced at the door. Yang almost made it in the way before the black blur ran past her and out into the hallway with two of her teammates shouting after her. Weiss stood in the middle of the dorm with her arms held to herself, visibly shaking.
"Weiss?" Ruby tentatively asked.
"She could have killed me in my sleep!" It looked like the reveal really rattled her, "I can't believe it. A White Fang, so close." She closed her eyes at the thought.
"Weiss, you heard Blake. She said she wasn't one of them anymore." Yang said.
"Do you really think we can trust anything she says?!"
Yang felt her eyes shifting red as a blur moved between them, "Stop! No fighting! Not anymore. Weiss," Ruby addressed her partner, "I think we should find Blake and find out the whole story."
"But-"
"No buts, Weiss! Blake is our teammate and I will hear her out." Ruby stuck her finger out at the heiress.
Weiss glared at the finger until the team leader lowered it, "You can listen to her, Ruby. But I have nothing to say to someone like her."
"Just give her a chance to explain Weiss. Please?" Ruby brought out the big guns, the pouting puppy dog eyes.
"One chance." Weiss finally relented after a minute of contemplation, "But if I don't like what she says, I'm going to the headmaster."
With not much else to say Ruby led the still upset Weiss out the door to go look for Blake, using the power of pure optimism to try and hope that their team was going to be okay.
Yang wasn't so sure. She wanted her partner back, that much was true, but would Weiss and Blake even be able to reconcile? She pulled her scroll out and looked at the screen for a moment. Carmine probably knew the answer, she probably had been through the same unless Blake had managed to hide her faunus heritage for a decade, but she doubted it.
Typing out a quick message she sent it with a tap of her finger and was puzzled when she got a message back instantly. It was an automated reply, a scroll function someone could set up if they were going to be out of tower range.
I'm out on a mission right now and will be back by the start of class on Monday, if you have questions regarding the class please speak with Professor Goodwitch.
-Prof. C. Rose
What? A mission? Then she remembered what the professor had said a few days ago during their last lesson with the woman. Well there went that idea. With a sigh she put the scroll back into her pocket and followed after her sister. At the very least she could give Blake the benefit of the doubt and make sure Weiss did too.
The bullhead shuddered as it landed on the island that resided on the western side of Lake Matsu. Uncle Qrow had been grumpy the entire flight, for the first four hours at least until he drank himself to sleep. At least Carmine's dad had been able to convince him to come, though it looked like he had decided to complain the whole way. Taiyang looked ready to knock him unconscious if he started again but thankfully had remained silent since he'd woken back up as the bullhead made it's approach.
The island they were on was name, uniquely, Matsu Island and was a fairly large body of land inside the massive body of water. Roughly ten miles in diameter and covered in thick woods. It was an unpopulated expanse due to the floating islands around the surface of the lake housing quite a few nasty aerial Grimm. The bullhead pulled away to return to the coastal village nearby, it wouldn't do to have their ride in danger with what they planned to do next.
The mere thought of seeing Jormungandr again had Carmine's knees feel weak. Idly, in the back of her mind, she wondered how her dad and uncle were going to react. She remembered the pure terror she'd felt when she saw it, him.
The late was placid and the air was still, the floating islands creating a complex natural barrier against wind. Off on the horizon she could see the shoreline of the lake peninsula that extended out into Lake Matsu.
"You sure about this?" Qrow spoke up beside her on the shoreline. He still looked angry but thankfully not at her.
"We have to do this Uncle. The Primordials are too big to leave alone, if Salem gets them on her side, it wont matter anymore."
Qrow grunted, "Think it'll work?"
"Honestly? I have no clue."
They both sank into silence and it wasn't long before Taiyang returned, "No Grimm in the area. So how are we gonna do this? Got some kind of alarm clock or something?"
"Or something." Carmine smirked and closed her eye, hoping that it worked. The familiar feeling was there. Over the years the power of the silver eyes had become easier to use until she could unleash it at a moment's notice. The power thundered behind her eye, pounding in her skull. It felt like a pressure waiting to pour past the damn.
So she let it.
White light exploded out of her like a bomb going off but strangely it was gentle as well, like a cleansing wind blinding the two huntsmen with her. As the light faded they stood stock still, waiting for something to happen. After a minute nothing happened and Carmine felt some disappointment and relief.
"So, that's what the silver eyes are like." Taiyang commented.
"Mom never used hers?" Carmine asked, intrigued. This wasn't something her dad had ever talked about before.
"No she-" There was a rumbling that interrupted him, the ground beneath their feet shuddering as the lake started churning.
Jormungandr was awake.
A small amount of fear clenched her stomach as she watched the water churn even more violently, something beneath the water. The surface ballooned upward and a titanic shape emerged from the water. Her memory certainly didn't do the serpent justice. It's angular head blotted out the sun, casting them in shadow, as it's glaring red eyes bore down on the trio. Jormungandr's head was easily bigger than an Atlesian battleship, it's gaping mouth lined with countless, needle-like teeth. It's scales were jet black with the stark white bone plating running from his forehead down his back into the water.
"By the Gods." Taiyang mumbled, his eyes wide. Qrow stood on her other side, unable to speak. Jormungandr was breathtaking to behold and certainly bigger than any Grimm in history, remembered history at least. A sibilant rumbled from his throat, vibrating in their chests with the sheer words shook her mind, echoing in the back of her head the 'voice' having a deep, guttural sound to it.
Child of Light, know that you have awoken Jormungandr of the firstborn. It was brave of you to call me out. Or perhaps a mistake. No matter. You will die all the same.
A/N: So yeah I'm back and REALLY sorry about being absent. I hit a huge mental block and just couldn't write to save my life. Might have been me adjusting to my new work, I've been exhausted too which hasn't helped. The meeting with Jorm is something I have been looking forward to for a long time and I'm glad I finally get to write it out.
Also, yup not much has changed with Blake, even if Carmine's mere presence has changed a few things she hasn't had that much of an impact on team RWBY yet. Enough to make Blake take a risk but not for her to stop running from her problems when that backfires, though I can't really blame her for thinking Weiss would rat her out or something, they were literally both born on opposite sides of a conflict and essentially conditioned to hate each other.