King: These take so long to come out these days... I'd apologize, but I can't really deny I need the time sometimes.
Knox: Yeah... So, about that thing?
King: At the end. For now, I just hope you guys enjoy the chapter. Anyway, this was an idea that I'd like to see in official form. It just seemed like an interesting idea.
Inspiration: Legend of Zelda
/\
As everyone settled, the screen glowed to life again. It was ready to play something new, something different.
The scene opened with a flash of light before a shadow formed over it. As the camera moved backward, the shadow was revealed to be a symbol. It showed three triangles arranged into a larger triangle with an upside down triangle of empty space in the middle of them. Around it from below was an eagle-like design to tie it all together. The camera rolled around it before turning to the area immediately underneath it. Kneeling down with hands brought together, a woman in a regal blue dress with hair white as fresh snow.
This caused the Schnee siblings to turn amongst themselves, not sure which of the sisters it was. Both sisters, though, were aware that it could be a gender swap of the third.
As the woman rose up again, the doors of the hall behind her swung open, "Your highness!" A guard ran inside and fell to a knee in reverence. "My apologies for interrupting, Princess, but I fear our scouts bring dire news."
The Princess turned and revealed the face of Weiss, without a scar. "What happened?"
The scene changed to show a man standing atop a platform held up atop a massive creature's back. The camera moved around to show a massive hoard of monsters stretching out over the entire horizon. From small Moblins to giant Talus walkers. Octorocks and Arocudas. Monster after monster. Terror after terror. Every one of them, under the command of the man. He removed the hood of his cloak and revealed his ashen pale skin, with sections falling off like actual ash for good measure. His eyes were solid black, more like polished obsidian, looked over the world before him as he laughed to himself.
All the while, the soldier spoke in the background, "The monster hoard is led by a single figure, Ashar Veina. He has complete control over the monsters and march toward the kingdom." The scene faded to show the soldier bowing again, "He will likely reach our borders within a week and the castle within ten days."
"That's… horrifying." Ironwood remarked. An army that large with the diversity of monsters similar to a Grimm Hoard didn't help anything.
Weiss closed her eyes a moment before sighing. "I see. We have little choice. Inform the Sages present I will be away. And tell my bodyguard to gather in the main courtyard."
"Are you sure you want him there, Princess?" A new voice rang out from the ceiling. A figure dropped and landed onto their knee, kneeling before the royal. The figure was revealed to be, of all people, Roman Torchwick dressed in a dark purple garb similar to a ninja. Roman was from the Sheikah Clan, a clan of shinobi in the service of the Kingdom of Hyrule. Roman was also the Sage of Shadow, one of eight magically gifted figures meant to help fight against the forces of darkness.
Roman leaned back into his chair with a smirk, "It's nice to be appreciated."
Neo rolled her eyes, but kept a grin on her face.
"What do you mean?" Weiss asked.
"I'm assuming you're going after our missing sage." Roman stood back up into a more familiar stance of a scoundrel. "And said sage would have to be a Gerudo. And, last I heard, men aren't allowed in Gerudo Town. No exceptions."
"Wait, what?" Nora asked, confused, "If there's no guys, how do they… How is there a town?" She corrected herself, but left the implication.
King chose to explain this, "Gerudo are humanoid and exclusively women. They go out into the world and find someone to fall in love with. The resulting child is always a Gerudo. And when the child reaches a certain age, they must leave and return to the Gerudo home city."
Yang picked something up in there, however, "What about the guy?"
"Left behind. As he said, men aren't allowed in the city, mostly as a protection measure. As such, the mother takes the child to the town and the father is rarely seen again. Once they're old enough, they can leave to explore the world, but any reunions aren't very likely."
Yang practically seethed in her chair.
But Raven nodded. "It's a simple tradition, but not an unexpected one."
This caused the blonde daughter to whip her head around to glare at her mother. "And what about the guy they leave behind huh? Just… running off and taking his child?"
Raven shrugged, "I know I considered doing the same with you, but that would break tradition."
"Do you just not care at all?!" Yang was on her feet, the fight draining from her body, but still upright, "All you talk about is how strong you are or other crap! Did you never think about what you did and what that did to people?!"
Raven just slowly turned to Yang before speaking, "If they aren't strong enough to handle it, then they aren't worth the effort."
Yang heard enough and wanted to finally knock Raven on her ass, but only ended up on her own thanks to the theater. Blake and Ruby caught her before she hit the ground and Weiss helped her back into the chair properly. Despite them, Yang's eyes were red and were staying that way.
Weiss, for her credit, seemed to take that in and think to herself. This put a wrench into things. Her bodyguard and the Kingdom's champion was very much male. What's more, per the orders of her father the King, she wasn't supposed to leave the castle without his protection. Weiss could have a rebellious moment and ignore that, but with a monster army at the Kingdom's doorstep? Even she couldn't justify that. She let out an annoyed growl as she started to pace back and forth, "There has to be something I can do then. Maybe if he waited outside the town? Gerudo are strong and can handle a monster attack. But what if he gets attacked by Gerudo for being suspicious?"
Roman wasn't helping, "A genuine fear."
"Maybe we can hide him somehow, like in a barrel or something."
"They'll probably check your stuff."
"Then what do you have in mind?!" Weiss spun around and pointed accusingly toward Roman.
This got Roman to smirk before the screen cut to black.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Weiss felt that concern bubble up from within. What is he up to?
The screen returned to a trio of horses and riders crossing the desert sands. The Gerudo live in the desert region and it's helped protect them. As the camera got closer, it showed Weiss in a brown hooded cloak for crossing the sands. The two beside her were more interesting with what little they could see. They both had cloaks as well, but the one to her left was more tattered. The camera hung around long enough to recognize Nora being one of the escorts. The other had a veil covering their face and making them impossible to see properly.
"Oh!" Nora called out seeing herself on the screen, "Am I one of the bodyguards?"
"Must be." Weiss offered.
"But who's the other one?" Nora tilted her head before a realization hit her. If she was right, there were a few people this person could be.
The camera tracked them along until they reached a large village built with stone walls in the sands. It was simple on the outside, but the gate within showed quite the colorful world within. But the trio was halted at the door by a pair of women. They had darker skin tones and were dressed in baggy pants, simple tops over their chests, and veils. This was common for Gerudo, warriors in particular. Their spears moved lower, still raised but ready to attack at a moment's notice. One of them held up a hand toward them, "Hold it right there!" As they slowed the first guard spoke up again, "Who goes there?!"
Weiss pulled down her hood to address them both, "I am Princess Weiss of the Kingdom of Hyrule. I need to speak with your leader."
Both women seemed to recognize her and turned to each other. Then they addressed the other two. "And they are?"
"My guard. A monster army is at our borders and we could not afford a potential assassin to appear."
They both considered it and moved to address them. The second guard pointed to them, "They will need to remove their hoods."
Weiss turned to each and nodded. Nora's hood came down pretty quickly, and revealed a blue bolt-shaped tattoo over the right side of her face.
Nora gasped with star-filled eyes, "I should get a tattoo! But what to get?" She thought to herself about what she could do. So many ideas, usually lightning themed, buzzing through her head.
The other rider was slower, but soon removed the hood, revealing someone with tan skin and longer dark hair that reached to their shoulders. The veil covering the lower half of their face was a deep green and completely hid everything below their eye line. They looked at the Gerudo women but turned away slightly, seemingly embarrassed.
At the raise of the guard's eyebrow, Weiss stepped in, "My apologies, but she cannot speak. Her skill with a blade is near peerless, but this point embarasses her. She's worn veils since she discovered them as a way to hide somewhat."
The guards nodded, knowing their particular fashion was quite popular outside the Gerudo. "Fine. Go on in. Leave the horses in the stables and head for the building at the end of the main street."
After dismounting, the sheer difference in size was finally made apparent. Both guards towered over the others. The tan woman was (barely) the tallest of Weiss' entourage, but even they were dwarfed by the guards at maybe seven and a half feet tall.
"Holy shit!" Qrow nearly fell out of his chair.
"Damn they're tall!" Tai shouted.
Once they were shuffled inside, the tan woman finally spoke up, "I can't believe that worked." And 'she' was revealed to be Oscar in disguise, whispering to avoid being discovered.
Nora chuckled, "Just be thankful you still have that boyish figure. You can easily pass as a tomboy."
Both Oscars couldn't help but groan with a light glare toward the Nora on screen. And the Nora in the seats just giggled.
Weiss whisper-warned the two, "Focus." She took a breath and tried to calm herself down. There was something about this that put her on edge.
This got the two to clam up and continue walking in silence. The camera hung lower as they approached the large building at the back of the town. They had to rise up a set of stairs and looked in to find a sight none of them ever expected to see. Sitting at a large throne at the back of the room was not an elder or a great woman to legend. Dressed in white baggy pants of the desert and a pair of golden shoes. And while that was it, the chest on show was certainly not womanly. Sitting in the chair was a unit, a man of Power and regal force. His skin was lighter than most in the village, but still a shade darker than Oscar. His golden hair was accented by a trimmed beard and mustache. He smirked seeing the group as they approached.
"Wait, I thought men weren't allowed in the city!" Nora cracked.
"Wait for it." Knox grinned.
The man's presence caught the visitors off guard. This caused him to laugh. "Let me guess, you're surprised to see me?"
"THAT'S JAUNE?!" Coco cried out in utter shock. It wasn't the first time they saw him in a different look, but this one was kind of surprising.
Weiss was the first to recover, "Y-yes. I apologize, but I thought men weren't allowed in the city… And that Gerudo were exclusively female."
Jaune laughed, "Indeed. With one exception every one hundred years. And I would be that exception. As is tradition, I was made Chieftain of the Geruda. And from this position, I can wave the disregard for our laws by bringing in your little Champion. Oscar was it?"
They saw a chill run up Oscar's spine.
"He knew, but let him in anyway?" Penny tilted her head slightly.
Jaune smirked down toward them. "Did you believe you could hide from me Champion?" He laughed, "That takes Courage to think you should try."
Weiss' eyes narrowed hearing that. What is he…?
Jaune let out a little laugh before looking down to them again, "Don't tell me you can't feel it, Princess." The camera hung low, making Jaune look like he sat higher above them. Oscar stood to the right and Weiss was set to the left of the scene. Everything else faded to black before golden triangles formed behind each of them and became the symbol from the beginning, the Triforce.
"Is that important?" Nora asked.
"Very." Knox didn't hesitate to help explain it. "The triforce represents three great truths: Power, Courage, and Wisdom. Gifted to the mortal realm by the goddesses of this world."
The scene faded back to the normal setting in time for Jaune to continue, "I doubt you wouldn't notice it, Princess. Your attunement for magic is unmatched."
It's true that Weiss was considered a genius of magic, but she never expected anything like this was what her bad feeling was. She'd heard the stories and studied the histories of Hyrule. She knew it was inevitable to meet him, the holder of the Triforce of Power and the reincarnation of the Demon King Arkaos.
"Wait, does that mean he's a bad guy in this one?" Saffron asked, concerned.
"Wouldn't be the first time." Coco remarked.
Weiss dragged her foot back a bit, her hand clenching into a fist, preparing herself for the worst.
Oscar, meanwhile, took a rather courageous step forward, between the two, "Whatever you're talking about won't matter if the monsters flood over Hyrule. You'll just be next!"
Jaune raised an eyebrow before his eyes narrowed, "What's your name, Hylian?"
"Oscar." He showed real courage, not even hesitating to answer.
Yang chuckled, "Got some balls on him. That Jaune is like… what? Twice his size? Three? And he just squares up, ready for a fight."
"He must be a skilled fighter, especially considering he's a royal champion." Pyrrha reasoned.
The scene was tense, growing more so with each passing second. Weiss felt sweat fall from her brow. She looked to Nora, silently telling the guard to prepare for a fight. Nora had her own sweatdrop, but nodded. They both looked back to the scene, ready for a fight. Only for Jaune to start to laugh. It was a good natured guffaw of a man having a good day.
Once his laughter died down, Jaune relaxed into his chair and smirked to the three, "I appreciate your gall, Champion."
Oscar perked up a bit, "Then… will you aid us against the monster hoard?"
Jaune closed his eyes with his grin, "Unfortunately, that will have to wait. Though my physical power is unmatched, my power as chieftain may yet be at risk."
"What?" All three Hylians were confused.
Jaune continued, "You see, though it is my birthright as the only male Garudo to be our tribe's king, not all are so welcoming to traditions when they arrive. Especially one who once ruled before me."
"So it's a power struggle?" Clover tapped his chair in thought. "Though, being made a king by being the only male does seem odd."
"Hey," Roman challenged, "it's not that crazy. A once in a lifetime event and it's the only one of its type? That's valuable. Now consider it's one guy in a species of nothing but women. Just makes sense to me."
"So you want our help to defeat your rival." Weiss surmised.
"If you want my help, this will need to be handled." Jaune clapped his hands once, letting out a loud, thunderous clap. At the sound, two figures walked in from the door and addressed their king by kneeling. They were still very tall, as is normal for Garudo. Both were dressed in similar forms to the rest of the women in the tribe, but they carried spears. One, with slightly lighter skin, wore red while the other, with darker skin, wore green.
"What need have you for us, my king?" The first to talk, the one in green, was revealed to be Emerald.
"We are ready whenever you need us?" The red one, however, was revealed to be an older Ruby.
"Oh my gosh!" Ruby shouted, "I get to be the tall one!" She jumped up and laughed, similarly to a cartoon villain. She was having way too much fun with that fact.
Of course, Ruby didn't get to enjoy it too long before Yang grabbed her and put her sister into a headlock, reminding her of the truth.
"That depends on our visitors." Jaune turned back to the Princess and her guards, "So, will you aid me in this task? Or will you leave without your aid."
Weiss' eyes narrowed. It was a power move in a way, but it's not like it wouldn't help her either. "What would you need us to do?"
"That part is simple. My predecessor, Saral, was less than happy to step down on my ascension to power. Of course, she did so to adhere to tradition, but she still plans to remove me, if her attempts to call my destiny into question are anything to believe. She claims that I am destined to become the next Demon King and that it will bring us to ruin. She's hardly subtle. Your appearance will likely draw her attention. All you need to do is be ready for when she makes a move."
A third figure ran into the room and kneeled between Ruby and Emerald, no one in the seats recognized her, "My lord! Saral is making her move!"
"That didn't take long." Maria snarked.
Jaune stood from his throne, "What's going on?!"
"She's stolen the Sandstone Flute!"
"So she's hoping to use the Molduga off in the desert?"
"What's that?" Ruby asked.
Knox answered, "A big monster."
"Odd." Jaune looked down to the new figure, "Especially when it's called the Sandstorm Flute."
The new face hitched from her kneeling stance. Ruby and Emerald had already stood up and pointed their spears at the woman. After a moment of silence, the figure lept away and back, her disguise falling away. She was replaced with a Gerudo bandit holding a knife. "I'm surprised I missed that. I could've sworn it was called Sandstone."
"That's because you and your like were banished long before it was renamed." Jaune snapped his fingers and his two guards were ready to strike, but composed. "But to think a bandit would be so bold." He thought to himself a moment before smirking, "I believe this would be the perfect chance to show what you offer to our proposed alliance. Champion, go forth and defeat this interloper."
The bandit looked to the group and her eyes fell on Nora, expecting her to be the Champion. However, when Oscar stepped forward, she scoffed, "What? This? This is their champion? He's half the height of a Gerudo and scrawny as a child!"
Oscar grumbled, but it was hard to argue considering the sheer differences in height and build.
Jaune just grinned, "You'd be surprised."
Oscar dug his foot into the ground before jumping up to reach the bandit's eye level. She was surprised long enough for him to punch her in the nose.
Yang slammed her fist into her other hand, "Yeah! Knock that bitch down!"
The bandit stumbled back, but remained standing. She looked back at Oscar and pulled her knife to a ready stance only for Oscar to charge in, grab her wrist, and push her away at just the right angle to force the weapon from her hand. As she stumbled back and fell onto her rear, Oscar tossed the knife between her open legs, sending a message of what he could have done. She looked back up toward the Champion, standing over her, in what little way he could given the height difference.
The sound of clapping pulled everyone's attention except Oscar, who kept his eyes on the opponent. Jaune smirked as he brought his hands behind his back again, "Impressive. Truly. You never even had to draw your sword. Truly an alliance may just be advantageous."
"Then you'll help our kingdom?" Weiss asked.
"Once Saral is defeated, I shall entertain the thought."
"He's not gonna help them." Mercury scoffed.
"And what would you know?" Emerald glared toward her former partner. She never liked him before and she didn't like him now, being more than willing to call him out.
"He basically said he'll think about it. There's no promise. He's gonna weasel out of it, just you watch."
Jaune turned to his two guards, "Ruby! Emerald!"
"Yes sir?!" They both asked in unison.
"Prepare my chariot. I doubt Saral sent this traitor to us without acting exactly as she said. The Molduga to the northwest is likely her target, being the closest. As for you three," he turned to the Hylians, "you're with me. Your horses should carry you to the pit just fine." He started to walk toward the exit before pausing next to the captured bandit. "And someone take out this trash."
Ruby and Emerald looked toward each other and did a quick game of rock-paper-scissors, with Ruby winning on scissors. Emerald sighed and grabbed the intruder, hauling her off from sight as Ruby ran to the sables ahead of them.
"Time for a good old fashioned monster hunt!" Yang slammed her fist into her other palm with a grin on her face.
"Should be interesting." Blake added. "I'm also curious what this Molduga is."
The scene changed to show the desert as sand kicked up. After a moment, a thunderous cloud kicked up in the distance. The camera moved close to show the Hylians on horseback followed by a massive chariot pulled by twin, black coated horses. Jaune held the reins of his chariot and snapped them to keep his horses moving. They were strong desert breeds while the horses of the elves were better suited to their more temperate climate. They were losing a bit of ground, but were keeping pace as long as Jaune didn't go too far ahead. Jaune let his horses slow a bit to return to the trio, pointing to the distance, "There's a cliffside off in that direction! That's where the Molduga nest is. If Saral does have the Sandstorm Flute, she'll be there to draw it closer to the village."
"Why would she do that?" Weiss asked over the wind rushing past them. "If she wants to be in charge, why risk the city?"
"That part concerns me, but she's always been rather vindictive."
As they approached the cliff, they saw a figure in the distance waving them down. As they got closer, they saw a shorter Gerudo woman in slightly more ornate clothing. The camera approached the figure with the travelers and revealed her in full. And while she looked a bit different due to being a Gerudo, but her voice gave her away pretty quickly, "It's great to see you again!" It was Ilia.
Ilia perked up pretty quickly, a bit confused why she was there.
As the horses stopped, Jaune leapt from his chariot, "Ilia, care to explain what you're doing out here?"
"Helping you guys!" She grinned, a sense of energetic earnestness in her voice.
Now Ilia was even more confused. She was never a Nihilist or anything, but she didn't have a personality like that. Then again, that happens to pretty much everyone in these other world from time to time.
Jaune sighed and looked out over the land in the shallow pit before them. There was a large rock formation in the center that jutted up from the ground. "She'll likely be there. But the fact that the Molduga is unseen concerns me."
Ilia walked up next to her king, "She's testing the flute."
"How can you tell?" Weiss dismounts and walks up to meet the others.
"I can hear it on the wind."
Jaune then explained, knowing Weiss wouldn't understand, "She's the Sage of the Winds. She can hear and feel things on the winds that we can't. But we discuss such things later." He turned to Ilia, "She's on the rock formation, I take it?"
"It's the safest spot while she practices using the flute." Ilia bowed her head as she spoke, as if she finally remembered she was speaking to her king.
"So just go over and beat her up." Nora offered.
Oscar, hearing this, was ready to begin a charge. However, he was blocked by Jaune reaching his hand over the smaller man's chest. After a moment, a loud tone rang out over the area as a giant monster jumped out of the sand like a whale breaching the surface of water. It was a massive fish-like creature with sand based colors and armored scales. As it fell back down, it began to dig itself into the sands again and moving around with giant waves made in the sand.
This caused the group to blink in surprise. Most of them then went into a bit of shock. The more experienced figures, however, saw it as more of a non-Grimm creature of Grimm. There were Grimm like that, but it being a normal monster did get them to pause.
Weiss moved back to her horse and grabbed a hand-held telescope from her saddlebag. She held it up to her eye, drawing the attention of Ilia. "What's that?"
Weiss turned to her a moment, but returned to her long range search, "A telescope. It helps me see farther away." The scene moved to her point of view to show her looking over the rock. Once she found an older Gerudo woman with a flute, she spoke up, "I think I see her. At the very least, she has a sand-colored flute."
"That doesn't help us." Jaune remarked. "She's too far away to do anything."
"I disagree." Weiss collapsed her telescope and turned to Oscar. She pointed to the rock, "She's on the front section from here and on the lower section. Based on her surroundings, she's about six-and-a-half feet tall with the flute held to her lips."
Oscar raised his thumb up and measured the rock in comparison to it. "Alright." He grabbed a bow from his back and pulled an arrow from his quiver.
"You think you can hit that?" Ilia asked.
But Jaune warned the young elf, "We don't need a martyr. We need her alive."
"Easy enough." Oscar pulled his arrow back but jerked up slightly as a gust of wind got his attention and blew him to the left a bit. He was lucky he didn't let go of the arrow yet. "That's annoying."
Ilia raised her hand into the air and felt the air around them. She could feel the winds growing as more gusts moved in. "There's a sandstorm coming."
Sun let out a reflexive groan. "Hate those things."
"Is it that bad?" Neptune asked, having never been in a desert before.
"Excruciating. It's not like in movies. Sand gets everywhere."
Kali felt a shiver go up her spine. Menagerie had desert areas outside the developed areas and while not on the same level of Vacuo, there were sandstorms now and then.
Oscar moved his bow up and arrow ready. "Any more gusts in the next few seconds?"
After a moment, Ilia responded, "No."
"Good." Oscar let his arrow fly into the air with a sudden shot from his bow. The arrow flew through the winds and over the sand like a bullet for a few seconds. As it descended, it picked up speed again and fell toward the traitorous Gerudo. With a sudden crack and a jerk of force in her hands, the flute was broken in half and the arrow slammed into the rock.
"Holy shit!" Nora jumped in her seat, "That shot was insane!"
"Indeed." Port nodded, "That was quite impressive, especially for such a small frame and build on the boy."
"What do you mean?" Oscar didn't get it.
But he was about to. Ruby spoke up, "Bows are actually reliant on strength. It actually takes muscle strength to pull the string back, especially for a shot like that."
The Molduga lost its general controlled idea and moved closer to the surface, acting on instinct to feed. It was easier to track this way, but also quicker to attack.
After the shot, Jaune turned to Oscar, "Impressive shot."
"Sorry about the flute."
"Flutes can be remade. Besides, I hated those things anyway. Now then, she's trapped there until we deal with the creature. Think you can handle that?"
Oscar, looked over the creature's path, a slight sweatdrop forming. "I can. But it might take a while."
Weiss joined the two at the cliff's edge, "No need. You two work on bringing it down together and you should be able to handle it. Nora, Ilia, and I can use that to go after Saral so she can't escape while the Molduga is occupied."
Oobleck tapped his chair in thought and nodded, "A sound idea and certainly a good strategy. But the question remains, will they be able to handle it?"
"Sure they can!" Nora shouted, getting more excited. "They're magic-destiny people! They can handle anything!"
Jaune thought for a second before laughing lightly. "Your plan is sound. Alright! You heard her! Let's move!"
The duo split off from the others and ran toward the wave of sand. As they approached, it noticed them and moved toward them, drawn by the vibration of their steps. Jaune shouted to the champion at his side, "If we hit it hard, it will be stunned long enough to get in some damage."
"If only I brought my bombs." Oscar grinned, but actually did kick himself for not having them.
"I can handle that part. Just be ready to lay into it!"
The creature began to break surface and jumped, mouth open, and ready to bite down on the oncoming attackers. Jaune slammed his foot down and ducked under the lower jaw before swinging his fist up hard into it. A purple energy exploded out from the impact and knocked the creature upward and into the air.
"Boom!" Nora jumped upward and started to punch the air in excitement.
"An impressive feat of strength." Vine watched, a bit impressed.
Elm huffed, "I could do that…"
"I know you can." Vine placed a hand on her shoulder to ease her a bit.
Oscar ran up and jumped onto the creature. As he landed, he ran along very quickly, a skill he'd learned over time in his adventures. After a moment, he reached the creature's face and slashed at its eye. It reared back in pain as it thrashed in the sand.
"Why is it always the eyes?" Maria spoke, incredulously.
The creature rolled slightly to escape, but Jaune grabbed its back tail and reared back with a roar. He was able to throw the massive monster into the air, with Oscar on top of it. The sudden change in force launched Oscar higher into the air. He held his sword downward and aimed his incoming strike on the creature's head. Jaune, meanwhile, reared back and punched upward on its jaw. When the two struck the monster from either side, purple and gold blasted out in either direction. The Molduga couldn't even let out a roar of pain before its head was torn apart. Oscar fell further and landed on top of Jaune's fist.
"That was AWESOME!" Nora was enjoying herself. "We need to do something like that!"
"That seems… a bit difficult." Ren offered.
Off in the distance, Weiss, Nora, and Ilia were running after Saral. Nora pulled a small hand ax from her belt and tried to throw it after her, only for the older woman to be looking back at that moment. She noticed the ax and swung her body around and grabbed the blade out of the air and swung it back at her pursuers. Nora jumped the ax, but they remained at square one.
"That was kind of impressive though." Coco said.
Nora grumbled, but ultimately agreed it was kind of cool.
Ilia used the wind to run faster and almost reached Saral, only for the older woman to clock her in the face. "Next time," the older woman said, "use quieter wind!"
As Saral ran, Weiss noticed she was approaching a massive windstorm in the distance. "She's hoping to lose us in the sandstorm…" She had a moment of realization and spun around, creating a triangle with her hands and holding it out toward the two who just finished defeating the monster. A glowing triforce formed in the air and spun slightly, glowing brighter.
Back with the guys, Oscar looked up to notice the triforce in the air. "Can you get me over to that?" He pointed toward the spinning symbol.
Jaune looked toward it a moment before smirking. He tossed Oscar up a bit to reposition, letting Oscar move himself to better fly forward. After a moment, Jaune threw Oscar hard enough to create a shockwave around him. Oscar flew into the symbol with ease, time slowing as he prepared and the symbol spun faster. After a moment, it snapped into proper form and Oscar shot forward like a bullet. With this speed, he tackled Saral shoulder first and knocked her clean off her feet. Oscar struck his sword into the sand by her head and made it clear she wasn't going anywhere.
"Damn." Mercury said, actually impressed.
"A fine show of teamwork." Oobleck offered as well. "I must admit, I wouldn't have known they only just met."
Team RWBY, meanwhile, couldn't feel too impressed as they had done something similar in initiation.
The screen was covered by the sand kicking up, transitioning to the city again. The sand kicking up forced everyone under the main floors to escape the sand due to the open layout of the stone buildings. The camera tracked under the main throne room to a backup underground. Jaune made his way to his seat of power and sat down with a thud, "Just in time! I thank you all for your work. Now, then," he turned his attention to the Hylians, "about this alliance you proposed."
Mercury smirked, ready to be proven right.
Jaune grinned and clapped his hands together, "I'll accept."
Mercury nearly fell out of his chair while Emerald let out a loud "HA!" at his failure to read the situation.
"However, I must still confer with my advisors before I can commit anything in particular."
"No need to call for us." Two figures walked into the room. Very short, very elderly women walked into the room. Maria and Cordovin, the twin elders of the Gerudo.
Maria sighed with a groan, "Why did I have to be related to that old hag?"
Maria walked to the left, "We already know what's going on."
Cordovin nodded as she walked over to the right, "It's hardly surprising."
"Such is the nature of our world."
"Such is the nature of our kingdom."
Then, they both came to a stop and spoke in unison, "And we've nothing to deny this course."
Jaune grinned and turned back to the others, "Well, you heard them." The scene transitioned again to show Jaune, Weiss, and Oscar standing at the top of a cliff as a monster army marched below them. Jaune's voice continued, "We'll handle this together."
The screen cut out there, ending this viewing.
"That was crazy!" Nora cheered. "Like POW!" She jumped up and punched her fist upward.
"Totally." Yang grinned, "That was pretty nuts. Just punching out a big… sand fish? Whatever that thing was."
"Wonder what the next one will be like."
/\
King: Okay! Here's the bit. Three things to go over.
1) I'm thinking about opening commissions in the future. For now, I'm not doing anything different, but maybe in the near future once I decide how I'd want to do so.
2) It's official! With a unanimous vote upon ending voting, Winter is now the biological daughter of Qrow. Of course, they won't know that for a bit.
3) It's time for another August prompt set. I want this to be a yearly thing if I can help it. The theme is "Arcadian Summer of Love." I'll try to write 10 short prompts around this theme. The rules are as follows.
- Your prompts will be based around another character being shipped with Jaune for a short story. You'll have a character and a set up.
- One prompt per character! I want to avoid all of the prompts to be around Ruby or Weiss. I'll pick only one prompt per character if I receive too many of them.
- This will be M rated. If you want your prompt to be Clean, Fluffy goodness, you need to say so. If you want a Lemon-flavored relief, you need to add that in your prompt.