I'm back!
Sorry for taking so long, Uni and life took quite a bit of my time, I'm sure you've heard the spiel countless other times in other fics.
As such, this chapter might seem a bit… condensed, I think would be the right word. But still, I hope you enjoy!
As always, thanks for the support, in all kinds! Review responses have been moved to the end of the chapter.
On with the story!
A Few Days Later, In front of Leonardo's Office…
The trio stood before the Headmaster's office, just waiting for the signal to come in. They all brought their weapons, ready for the mission Leonardo was about to give them.
Jaune was wearing a white two-button suit, paired with white pants and a blue dress shirt, his right arm shining with a new prosthetic arm. HF Murasama was sheathed to back his left hip, ready to be drawn.
Raiden, on the other hand, was wearing a single-breasted, two-button black business suit, a yellow tie, and black pants, the suit buttoned up unlike Jaune. HF Crocea was sheathed neatly behind him. All in all, identical to the suit he wore during his last mission with N'mani. Apparently, "Mariachi wasn't appropriate enough", in Jaune's words, and instead gave him this one instead.
Pft, what a load of bull. If he had to wear this suit, then Jaune had to throw away those jeans. That was the compromise.
Taiyang, of course, wore his usual outfit. Brown cargo shorts with a dark brown belt, black shoes, a red bandana on his left arm and a brown leather vest over a tan dress shirt with the right sleeve cut off, revealing plain muscled skin. On his hands, LimitBreak was in its vambrace form.
Two days ago, Leonardo had contacted Taiyang and told him that the licenses were ready. Not only that, as a sign of good faith, the Headmaster had also prepared missions for the three of them to get Raiden and Jaune started. All they needed to do was show up in two days with their equipment and they'll be sent off immediately.
After hearing the news, Raiden decided to pay Jade a visit. In short, while Raiden was repaired in a matter of hours, Jaune's suit and prosthetic arm had to be left behind. The reason for this was, in Jade's words, "to adjust it with the nanomachines I'm about to make from scratch. This is way too much work, and I don't know how long it'll take." In return, Jaune was supplied with a shiny new standard-Remnant-issue substitute arm.
And that was where they were now.
"Getting used to it?" Raiden asked, glancing at Jaune. The samurai kept moving his new prosthetic around, testing it with various motions. He opened and closed his fingers, rotating his hand's joints.
"I'll make do." Jaune smiled slightly. "What about you? Think you'll be up to this?"
Raiden shrugged. "Only one way to find out. Besides, I've already packed the Dust with me. Shouldn't run out power for a while."
"Even if you do," Taiyang interrupted, "I'm sure there'll be accomodations."
"That too." Raiden nodded at Taiyang's direction. Then, he turned back to Jaune. The ninja tapped the side of his head, now covered with his restored AR visors, ready to cover his eye once he needed them. "I'll be fine."
They were interrupted by a voice. "Come in!" Leonardo's voice shouted from the other side.
"That's our cue." Taiyang turned to the others and smiled. "Behave, okay?"
Raiden shrugged and Jaune rolled his eyes.
Taiyang sighed. "That's the best I'm gonna get, huh?" He shook his head. Without another word, he opened the door, and the trio stepped inside.
Leoanrdo sat behind his desk, three files sitting upon his desk. They were neatly put to the side of each other, each labelled with one of the trio's names. Bright morning light shone from his windows, casting shadows of trees that slightly blocked the sun. The Headmaster motioned to the trio, then to three chairs he had already prepared in front of his deks. "Come, sit!"
The trio did as they were told, Raiden on the left, Jaune in the middle, and Taiyang on the right.
"I'd like to begin that this is quite the occasion." Leonardo began, tone delighted. "It's not every day that we get new Hunters, after all, even if they're only temporary. With this, I'm sure you'll be able to do good for all of Remnant. And with that-"
"Get to the point." Raiden cut off.
"I was getting to that." Leonardo smiled kindly. "Within these three files are the details for your, or in Jaune and Raiden's case, first ever, missions. For you two," Leonardo pushed Jaune and Raiden's files to the samurai-ninja duo, "I've put your licenses in here. Please, the three of you, take a look."
They did as they were told, opening their files and skimming over them.
"I trust none of you have any complaints with the missions?"
Raiden narrowed his eye at his file. He looked up and stared at Leonardo, regarding the Headmaster with scepticism. "This seems kind of big for a one-man mission. Were you planning on giving it to a lone Hunter?"
"W-well, you see, Mistral has been lacking in Hunters as of late." Leonardo responded, "We… don't really have much of a choice."
Raiden narrowed his eye further. He could just barely make out Leonardo squirming. 'There's something else there, isn't it?' A mission this big, even in the U.C, would require some serious consideration from governing bodies. '…But what happens to the clients if this wasn't some kind of trick, that they really needed our help?' After all, he's seen how the world here is, where safety was barely more than a concept for those outside the kingdoms.
But then, the ninja noticed a new shadow move across the trees' shadows from the edge of his vision. It moved and landed on a tree, clearly visible from a window behind Leonardo. Raiden flitted his eye to look at Leonardo's window and the view behind it.
A red-eyed raven perched on a tree stared back.
Raiden internally raised an eyebrow. Now what's a carnivore doing here...?
"Um, Mr. Raiden?"
"Wha- Oh, right." Raiden shook his head and focused back on Leonardo. "Fine, I'll take the job. I'll get it done in a few days."
"Right then!" Leonardo nodded eagerly. "Anything else?"
"None from me." Taiyang responded.
"Nada." Jaune confirmed.
"Very well then! You can head to the Mistral Hunter's Station for your Bullhead deployments." Leonardo smiled and leaned forwards, content and relaxed. "The kingdom of Mistral eagerly awaits your results."
A Few Moments Later, At Mistral's Hunter's Station…
"So what's your mission about, anyways?" Jaune asked Raiden. The trio were waiting for their Bullheads to arrive, Jaune leaning against a wall inside the building, Raiden standing with his back straight, all the while Taiyang was busy reading over his mission details again and again.
Raiden waved his file in Jaune's direction. "Liberating a village to the west of Mistral. Pretty straightforward, if I'm being honest."
"Oh? And one man only?" Jaune chuckled, "Well, that might be straightforward, bit it is something that's easier said than done. But, well, I mean," Jaune shrugged. "It's not like you couldn't handle it, right?"
"Opposition forces' are a group of anarchists and the local Grimm." Raiden shrugged. "Shouldn't be a problem."
"Agreed." Jaune smiled and turned to Taiyang. "Hey, Tai! What about you? Worried much?"
"Unlike you two, I think it pays to be ready." Taiyang answered, nose still buried deep in his file. "And before you ask, I got tasked with reconnaissance. There's a village on the east that's been taken down by a Grimm attack just a few days ago. Apparently they managed to raze it down in just a matter of hours, and the distress signal only came yesterday."
"Huh… that is pretty weird."
"My job's to scout ahead and look for any survivors, as well as lay ground work for future searches and evacs." Taiyang lifted his head and looked at Jaune, asking him in turn. "What about you?"
"Nothing too exiting really. Just some ground clearance." Jaune answered with a careless tone. "There's an abandoned village that Mistral wants to revitalise. It's been in ruins for around… hmm…" Jaune opened his file again to re-check. "Yeah, around 14 years, give or take. Apparently the Grimm that took it down back then's still nestled around there somewhere. My job's to take it out."
"And you're sure you can take it on?" Taiyang asked, genuine concern laced in his voice. "With the new arm and all, and without the suit…"
"Eh, I'll manage." Jaune smirked. "I've fought against worse with less."
"Well, if you say so…" Taiyang still didn't believe one-hundred percent, but he was just going to let it slide. "Just remember that those Grimms are usually pretty smart. There's probably a very reason it hasn't died yet."
Jaune smiled. "I'll keep that in mind. You don't have to worry about me, Tai."
"Of course." Taiyang smiled back. "Don't die like last time."
"Heh. Sure thing."
A voice blared over the building's sound system, "To Mr. Raiden, Mr. Jaune, and Mr. Xiao-Long, your Bullheads have arrived. I repeat, Mr. Raiden, Mr. Jaune, and Mr. Xiao-Long, your Bullheads have arrived. Please proceed to the take-off zone immediately."
"Well, guess that's our queue." Raiden spoke, "We should get going. Meet back at the villa in a few days?"
"Sure." Taiyang nodded
"You got it!" Jaune flashed a thumbs up.
"Alright." Raiden smiled, genuine. "Take care, everyone."
"Right back at you."
"You too, Jack."
The three separated ways, each going to their own Bullheads and commencing their own missions. The Bullheads lifted off the ground in sync, and in seconds, zoomed towards their own destinations.
Inside his Bullhead, Jaune tried to get some more shuteye. A little rest wouldn't hurt anyone, would it?
And besides, Kuroyuri's still 3 hours away.
Jaune strolled along the ruins of Kuroyuri. Moss and grass had reclaimed the stone path, vines and trees going out of the roofs of broken homes. Bright sunlight shone on him, making it all the more sad to see.
If anyone other than him was here, that is.
Jaune sighed. Look, he wasn't really a Hunter. He was a fighter, a warrior. He can fight Grimm sure, but that doesn't mean he knows how to track one-!
He stopped it his tracks when he saw the hoof mark of his Grimm.
Son of a bitch.
"Where are you…" Jaune muttered, looking at the mark's trails and seeing more of it up ahead, leading to somewhere else. Jaune put his hand on the hilt of HF Murasama and readied his guard as he followed the trail.
It led him deeper into the village, eventually reaching the centre point of said village: a large, withered down cherry blossom tree.
Jaune hummed. It seemed the trail stopped here. Either the Grimm was dead (unlikely) or it was smart enough to eventually start covering its tracks. And considering its age, it was probably the latter.
The samurai resolved to start doing some more trail-searching. He circled the cherry blossom tree, certain that it held some kind of clue.
Jaune smirked as he reached the back of the tree. "There it is." He went in closer to the tree and found what he was looking for. An arrow embedded firmly into its trunk.
Jaune rubbed his chin as he took a closer look. There weren't any ooze leaking out of the tree, or even any traces of frozen ooze around the arrow. The trunk had also firmly grown around the arrow. Jaune grabbed the shaft of the arrow and gave it a little pull. Yep, firmly planted.
Jaune stepped back and hummed. He pointed his left finger at the arrow. Then, he traced a straight line in a direction opposite of the arrow head probably pointed; wanting to find out where the arrow must've flown from.
His finger came to a stop, pointing at another ruined house. It was medium-sized, with two floors and stood out with a particularly oriental design.
"Interesting… must've been an important place." Jaune approached the ruined house. A stack of rubble collected in front of the house's stairs. Jaune glanced up, looking straight above the rubble. A hole was blown in the second floor's wall. The Grimm's initial attack, maybe?
Jaune regained his focus and looked back down at the rubble. Before he entered this house, he should clear this first. His hand began shifting the rubble around, sending sparkles of dust in the air. Jaune paid them no mind and kept clearing.
As he dug through the rubble, suddenly, he felt his left hand hit something metal. 'Oh?' Jaune felt around the item and grabbed it firmly. He tried to pull it out.
"Grk! Stuck for a while, huh…" He grit his teeth and pulled hard. The item burst free and Jaune held it high above him, squinting as the sunlight reflected from the metal.
It was a beautiful bow, even as bits of dust and rubble was still falling down from it. It was mostly painted green, and the metal Jaune felt seemed to be bronze or gold, accenting the bow around its edges and joints. Lastly, its lower and upper limbs were coloured brown, connecting the two a cut black string.
Jaune raised an eyebrow. Now where did he know this design from…?
SCRREEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!
"Gah!" Jaune dropped the bow and covered his ears. He looked around frantically. What was happening-!
He felt something push him away hard, sending him tumbling away from where he was. He came to a stop beneath the cherry blossom tree, the impact shaking it and causing petals to fall down.
"Urgh…" Jaune rubbed his head, letting go of his ears. The screech had stopped, yet in its place was the sound of hooves walking the ground.
Jaune looked up, seeing a massive Grimm standing in front of the building. Its shape was a weird fusion of humanoid and horse, like a freak of nature from those western movies. The humanoid part had long limbs, with a horned bone mask covering its (one of?) its face. Red eyes burst through that mask, the same with the mask covering the horse head.
Ah, so this was a Nuckleavee.
"Heh. Got me good there." Jaune got up, brushing himself off of dirt and grime. "But it won't work next time."
The horse head neighed. The Grimm charged at Jaune, the humanoid part raising its right limb high. Jaune smirked and bent his knees, right hand resting at HF Murasama. The Grimm got closer and closer, its limb going higher and higher.
'And… there!'
In one motion, Jaune ducked low and slid forwards, the Grimm's limb brushing against his hair. Jaune spun mid-slide, unsheathing HF Murasama as he did so. His sword made a glancing cut at the Grimm's back right leg. It screeched in pain as Jaune came to a stop behind it.
Jaune got up from his kneeling position and rested HF Murasama against his shoulder, red electricity cackling along its blade. "Come on, that's the best you've got?"
The humanoid part roared and swung its right limb behind him. Jaune jumped over it neatly. The Nuckleavee then sent its left limb lunging at Jaune, stretching it towards the blonde. Jaune spun in the air. The lunge missed, the left limb's claw planted firmly on a tower. Jaune landed on the limb's arm, sword at the ready.
"Yeah!" Jaune yelled as he ran along the arm, closing in on the Grimm's humanoid head. He got closer and closer, and now-!
SCRREEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!
"Gragh!" Jaune's step faltered. That was all the Grimm needed. It swung its right limb at Jaune again. Jaune grit his teeth and managed to swing HF Murasama at his side. The blade met Grimm flesh, cutting it clean apart. The screech stopped, replaced by a roar of pain. Jaune fell down from the stretched limb and landed on the ground. Before he could regain himself, he was kicked by one of the Nucklavee's legs. He rolled, before suddenly being grabbed by the Grimm and held high in the air.
The Nuckleavee squeezed Jaune and threw him away. Jaune yelled in surprise as he crashed at the house from before, right next to the hole from the before and landing in a heap inside the house.
Jaune shook his head and cleared himself. Well, looks like the thing wasn't that bad after all. But damn, he can still try harder than this.
With that thought, Jaune got up to a crouch. His eyes wandered the room absentmindedly. It was dark, save for the light from the hole. The light shone on a quiver, laid right in front of Jaune. It helding the same arrows Jaune saw before.
'Wait…' The style was recognisable. No, he knew that style!
Jaune hurriedly skid to the side. He looked to the next of him. An old, old corpse lay to his side, seeming to have been thrown here through that hole a long time ago. It laid against a wall, a large symbol just barely visible. But even then, the familiarity sent a chill down Jaune's spine.
Slowly, Jaune approached the corpse. He pushed it aside, falling uselessly to the floor. The mark of dried blood stained the wall. Jaune gripped HF Murasama and brought it in front of the wall, using its red light to illuminate the wall.
A gold lotus emblem stared back at Jaune.
Jaune fell back. "Ren…" he whispered. He looked back at the corpse. Long dead, and yet he could still see traces of familiarity on it with his old teammate.
Jaune's eyes hardened. That bastard…
He ran out of the building, jumping through the hole he came in from.
"RAAAAARGH!"
The Nuckleavee looked up. It roared as it saw Jaune descend, sword high in the air. It brought its right limb back up, lunging at Jaune. Jaune tilted his body to the side and brought HF Murasama in front of the limb the sword cut it clean in two by the middle, Jaune pushing forwards as the limb continued to part. He landed on the ground, the Nuckleavee's right limb laying useless behind him.
Jaune turned around. The Nuckleavee realised Jaune was about to attack and screeched. Jaune forced through it, sheathing HF Murasama and jumping, rushing straight at the humanoid part. The Nuckleavee realised this and spun its remaining limb around it, preventing any ground assault.
The limb spun around like a helicopter blade as Jaune continued to rush in, pupils dilated in anger. Jaune got close, the limb got close, Jaune got closer, the limb got closer, and then-!
The limb hit air.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
A flash from above and Jaune descended, fast. The Nuckleavee barely had time to look up. Jaune squeezed the trigger, HF Murasama flying out. He slashed right at the Grimm, black blood splattering his face. The samurai landed on the ground, back facing the sky-gazing Nuckleavee.
The Nucklavee's humanoid head slowly slid aside from its throat. Then, it fell uselessly to the left. The rest of the body crumpled to the right.
Jaune's breath was cold, his pupils small from anger.
That bastard…
… He knew.
"Mr. Xiao Long. We'll be arriving at the drop-off point shortly."
That voice shook Taiyang out of his thoughts. He had been thinking about the mission, over and over again. In his opinion, while this mission wasn't that bad for a lone Hunter, the fact remains that he was going to be wandering alone. And in wild territories like this, the only friend you had was yourself.
And not only that, but what Raiden had said about Leonardo… something wasn't adding up. If it's that bad, and they're alreadu short on Hunters, then what hope was there?
It seems like Mistral was gearing up to fall. But why now? Nothing's changed, not like in Vale!
The Hunter sighed. Best keep it in his chest for now. No use worrying when something else was more important right now.
Taiyang took a look out of the Bullhead's window. The ruined village was slowly coming into view as they slowly decreased their speed. The cloud parted ways, revealing the sad fate of the people that once lived below.
The village was surrounded by rocky formations, with a single rock-free path leading to a hill that led away from the village. The village itself was ruins, buildings collapsed and automated defenses broken down. Strangely enough, there were no traces of dead people, no corpses nor strewn body parts. And even more, there weren't any Grimm around, not even the stray Beowolf or Ursa.
The pilot's voice sounded again, breaking Tai out of his thoughts. "We'll be dropping you off without landing! Make sure you've got a landing strategy, and stay sharp for hostiles down below!"
"Don't worry. No Grimm in sight." Taiyang sat up from his seat and prepped himself, making sure all of his equipment was properly packed. He made his way to the exit door of the plane. "I'm ready!"
Not a second later, the door of the Bullhead opened. Wind blew sharply against the plane's frame, and Taiyang was forced to put his arms up against it.
"Stabilising!" The Bullhead entered a steady hovering position, still miles above the air. They were right in top of the village's entrance. "Ready for drop-off!"
Taiyang nodded and braced himself. He took a deep breath, making sure once again that everything was ready, and then...
He jumped.
Wind blew against his face, pushing his hair back and forcing his arms back too. He fought against it and deployed LimitBreak. Pointing it downwards, he curled his hand into a fist as he came closer and closer to the ground.
He fired LimitBreak just before he hit the ground, the explosion bouncing him back up and flipping him mid-air. Taiyang righted himself to point to the ground and landed firmly on his feet.
Taiyang let out a breath and relaxed himself just a bit. He could hear the Bullhead flying away, back to its base at Haven. He could hear one last voice from the Bullhead from his Scroll before they left.
"Be careful down there Tai!"
Right, time to get to work.
Up above the rocky formations, a single humanoid creature laid prone, watching over the Hunter as he stepped through the village's entrance. It was cleverly positioned in a way that would minimise detection, and it seemed that that had worked; the Hunter didn't notice him, even from a Bullhead. The creature watched him with a keen eye, the Hunter's bright blonde hair a clear contrast to the drab, destroyed buildings.
It kept its eyes on him using its lone as he moved; its red pupil and black sclera zooming in as the Hunter went deeper and deeper into the village. It could feel a small tint of fear, a small trace of uncertainty and doubt leak off of the Hunter. With it, it could track whatever he did, wherever he went.
It made note of the weapons the Hunter had. Gauntlets, unsuited for long range , it examined the Hunter's build. Strong, trained for hand-to-hand combat. Not that it couldn't handle that by itself, but it always played to its advantages, back then and right now.
The creature nodded to itself, already gathering all the Intel it needed. It checked it' equipment. A silenced rifle on its hip paired with a long range sniper rifle on its back. A silenced pistol was strapped on its belt, right next to its personal cassette player.
The creature steadied its breathing and got up, going into a crouch. Its pale white skin contrasted sharply with the rocks, but its camouflaged clothes helped hide the rest of its body. A fringe of its white hair fell down, its ponytail swishing back and forth as it moved from prone to crouch. Idly, it pushed its fringe back up, its pitch-black Grimm left hand brushing the last remnants of its past life.
Pieces of shrapnel embedded permanently in its forehead, like a horn coming out of a wild animal. Black veins ran sharply from it, down to its neck and to the rest of its body. A mark of its injuries in the life before, and it meant that it was a thing that persevered. Nothing more.
The creature began walking forwards. Then, it went down the rocks, climbing down quickly to get into position as soon as possible.
His loyalty was what brought him to his last breath, and also to his next.
The Queen calls it forth, and it answers. No greater good. No just cause.
It has come to.
I took a bit of creative liberties with Ren's old house. I already wrote it up by the time I revisited V4, and by that time I was just… ehhhhh
And where are the rouge hunters? Well, you've already got a glimpse of one, the other's around somewhere…
What about Jade? That's for Raiden's chapter.
And about the Nuckleavee fight, I hope the timing was right. I couldn't fit in any more than that, since Jaune wouldn't realistically struggled, even without his suit. Not with HF Murasama.
Responses!
To The Disquieting One, agreed.
To Skeletalrepublic, thanks! And Jaune's already got an inkling…
To PSYCONIG, good idea…
To Greer123, agreed!
ToTheJSmooth, thanks!
To Anon, thanks, and sorry for the wait!
To FaightanGaims, and Jaune's noticed here.
To Zairaaquino, :)
To ThatSpcaeMann2, nice!
To Zakuzilla, thank you!
To Goldstar77, sure! Along with others, of course, but they're more or less the main trio here. I may add one or two more characters down the line, but they'll probably vary in importance.
To Victorious 435, thanks, really, for the compliment! Thank you!
To SolSparda369, glad you thought it was funny! And agreed, the world is a harsh place. One way or the other, blood will be spilled, either by your hands or others.
To Emperor Matthew, glad you liked it, and that you're excited!
To Bahh, no problem!
To SuperSaiyajin4Vegeta, it is quite the gag.
To Dhestrya, thanks!
To Salamandra134, Bladewolf is in the next arc, sorry :(
To Shimuza, no problem!
To Kabuto S. Inferno, you're right about the Tai comment. And honestly, you're giving me so many ideas. If any of those pop up, you'll know it's from you!
To Gonsmoss, he found out. And I took your comment well. Probably gonna switch between those two.
To READER1O1O, glad you love it! I do hope to make them a team.
To Zairaquiino, yes, I'm still working on it. Sorry, really.
To Dat-boi-waddup, I'll try to keep that in mind.
To VirtualExodus, I'm doing well, thank you! And you're welcome, it's no biggie!
To Big E, better yet, a storm that's approaching…
To Lonely Boy, glad you loved it! Probably test+train, but not in secret, That's my mind, at least.
To Reader, yes, they will in time.
To Nameless, yeahh!
To Sunnyboi221, Oh they'll be furious!
To Reader(2), They're taking their time. As one world moves, so does the other. And about the other thing, probably not…
To Adeinprc, I know right?!
To Guest, thanks!
To Non-nonhuman, that's something I'm hyped up about as well!
To Nabil, more like 'this guy…'
To thewolfgod99, :))))
To Victorious 435, funny thing about that, I actually had a few ""MGS"" x RWBY crossovers in mind other than this one. And by ""MGS"" I mean transferring its plot with RWBY characters, most prominently MGS3 with twists in worldbuilding. Plot thread's basically Jaune (Agent Snow), was trained by Winter Schnee (The Cold) when he enters Atlas' military after being expelled from Beacon (cliché'd, I know). Things happen kindaaa like MGS3, (First mission, betrayal, Operation Dust Eater) etc. with "Revolver" Roman Torchwick, General Ironwood/Major Zero, Commander Adam Taurus/Volgin, bunch of OC's (The Chill-The Warmth-The Dread-The Fire-etc.) Some Paladin-type tech as Shagohod's substitute, etc. In the end, it all comes down to this: "Your heart is strong, colder than the breezes of Winter. I hereby award you the title of Blinding Blizzard. – Council of Atlas." Promptly continued with MGS1-2-4, maybe 5 somewhere around there. Will that be a story I'll write? Ehhhh, I dunno.
To Reader, I dunno about Whitley, I'm not too familiar with the character. About Ruby, though, yeah it'll probably be something like that.]
To Reader, that's a good point to bring up. What happens to Hunters when there are no more Grimm? Nothing good, like you said.
To Ruberforumfree, Kinda, I guess… You're not really wrong.