Lawgiver of a New Age [RWBY/Exalted]
- Thread starter kenmadragon
- Start date
- Location
- In my Lair, on my Hoard
Excellent hypotheses. Probably the guesses Roland, Aude and Kareena would have had that night.
But they fail to account for where the demon was when it died.
Chapter 9: Meeting of the Laws
- Location
- In my Lair, on my Hoard
He was a tall man, no one could deny that. He stood head and shoulders over most men, and it was a trait that served him well. Despite how uncivilized it sounded, there were many times when it simply paid to be able to lean over someone, look them right in the eye, and let your physical presence simply awe them.
Some of his rivals would claim he growled like an animal as he did so. But the man - for he was a man, no matter how much those racists wished to deny them that right - knew he was perfectly self-controlled. It was not in his nature to crush a person's skull because they spilled something on his lap and were rude enough to demand an apology from him for their own mistakes.
This was why everyone believed he would be an excellent Chieftain of the Isle - he could make anyone but the mightiest of warriors or the most witless of fools quail before his sheer presence. It was an ability that was almost required in order to keep the former tribes in check. Comparatively, he wasn't a fool, and competency in politics and leadership were vital traits for chiefs; not just strength.
Despite this, he found himself rather well suited to the duties of a politician. Contrary to his efforts to remain just another member of the civil rights group his forefathers had helped found with the other leaders of their people, he was genuinely skilled in the art of debate and had absolutely no tolerance for bullshit. The fact that his Faunus features weren't so obvious were of immense benefit, as they allowed him to better ease himself in the debate arena. His physical presence, on the other hand, was something not so easily overlooked, and had on occasion forced him to make assurance that no, he would not throw someone out the third-story window if he was angered during negotiations.
He had suffered as a teenager when he left home to study abroad. Institutions welcomed him with open arms, touting their acceptance of Faunus and their pleasure to have someone of such noble standing among the Faunus attend their schools. He found that things weren't so in practice, and that regulations to ensure equality were either minimal or simply ignored in many parts of the world.
So he ended up becoming a civil rights activist, and met the woman who would always stand by him. An acquaintance took a chance on him and pushed him to try his hand at being more than another activist but help lead. He found he was very good at it, and found himself fighting to make a difference. And people actually followed him.
His career in politics and civil rights might have filled a few books in their details. He wasn't a very boastful man, but he did his best, and despite his size and physique, made himself known for leading peaceful protests and rallies around the world.
A sit-down protest in Hispaniola to challenge local businesses who ousted Faunus from their doors, and restaurants that refused to serve them alongside their human customers. Rallies in Gauteng to overturn laws that separated Faunus and human neighborhoods and had segregated facilities for different species. Argued in courts for the implementation of better legislature to raise the standard of education for all communities regardless of communities' coffers. Equal employment opportunities in Vale to aid unemployed Faunus. Speeches to convince the masses that Faunus deserved equal pay for equal work in the Rhineland regions of Solitas. Strikes against Dust companies that exploited their underpaid and maltreated Faunus employees and all mine workers. Boycotts of racist organizations and businesses around the world. Messages of unity between Humanity and Faunus.
It was an ongoing process, but he was helping to make the dreams of his forefathers a reality. He was strong and firm, and his attempt to cause long-term change may have been laughed at by his contemporaries, but he felt it worth it in the end.
For his daughter to live in a world of equality regardless of species. Where their kin weren't persecuted for the differences in their genetics and physiology.
Sure, he could have done this by crushing skulls and transforming the Faunus into legions of discontent rebels, but that wasn't his way. By the Moon, he knew his kind were angry enough and could be riled to arms as they had in the past. But that wasn't his way.
His weapons were words, and his armor was justice.
His name was Ghira Belladonna, the current High Leader of the White Fang, and as next in line to become Chieftain of Menagerie, he was proud to be a Faunus. He was devout and honorable. He believed himself a good husband, and a kind father.
And his friends knew him as -
"Baggy!"
Ghira turned on the stool at the tavern bar. It was a Faunus-owned establishment in the small town of Luchou; a town that had a sizable Faunus community with which he had met to discuss politics, policy and various other topics of note. It was simply another stop on his way to Vale where he hoped to spread the message of equality and fair treatment of Faunus in the wake of the Vytal Festival festivities.
Part of Ghira wished that the message hadn't been such, but that was what was needed of the White Fang, as the world continued to mistreat Faunus despite their efforts to forward unity and camaraderie between species in the wake of the Revolution.
Still, with his brothers and sisters of the White Fang, the campaign retinue he was forced to travel with, it seemed strange that someone would call him that when he was in a town like Luchou.
So he turned to find a man who was being accosted by some of his lieutenants attempting to approach. The man was blond and well built, and the sword at his hip was visible for all to see. Ghira supposed the two young lads meant well in trying to keep someone so openly armed from meeting a Faunus so crucial of a figure to their platform. Or perhaps it was because he was human, and there were precious few humans actually within the White Fang - most were content to simply be 'sympathizers'. But sadly Ghira actually knew the man.
"I hate that nickname," he said curtly.
The blond only grinned. "But it's so catchy!"
There was a momentary staring contest between the two - a test of machismo some would say - as they attempted to turn one another into mush with gimlet glares.
Then Ghira grinned and laughed. "What brings you to this neck of the woods, Huntsman?"
"Heard you were around, and had to have a chat," the blond returned the laugh and tried to shoulder past the two Faunus.
"But sir! He's - "
"An old friend, of sorts. His wife is a close friend of my sister," Ghira cut off their protests and stood as the blond huntsman approached. He took a measure of satisfaction that for all the huntsman's prowess, Ghira was still the burlier and taller, so the human had to look up to meet his eyes. That smirk was infuriating, on the other hand, and he could see how Kareena had fallen for it.
He didn't think highly of some of the Vyaghra's familial customs, but he knew that particular clan of Tigers had many holdings and were some of the best warriors the Faunus had, and their actions in the Revolution had been the foundation for many victories. That this man had somehow enraptured the heart of one of the Tiger's Daughters was… impressive to say the least.
Especially because he was human.
To be honest, the whole affair had been a massive source of gossip about two decades ago, and caused a massive uproar in the Faunus community. There was a great deal of drama that Ghira was sad to say he had somehow gotten involved with on account of his career.
There might have been a book or two based on the story, only edited to ramp up the tension and histrionics, while making sure all names were changed to prevent anyone from putting together the real identities of the principle cast (not that this stopped dedicated fans from piecing together clues) and might have been made the inspiration of a popular television drama. Strike that, an exceedingly popular television drama, especially considering the star cast used to play the characters. To be honest, Ghira was glad his own love life hadn't been so… hectic. On the other hand, he worried what would happen if it was made known that the man before him was the source of inspiration for the entire tale. Most of his female staff were avid fans of the show.
"Baggy."
"Row."
The two glared at each other for another moment of before they raised their arms as one and embraced each other as brothers. They laughed as they separated and moved to a quiet corner where Ghira waved off his hanger-ons for some privacy.
"How are you, brother?" Ghira inquired.
"Well as one could hope. I'm blessed with good health, as is my family," was Roland's answer.
Ghira nodded. "Thank the Gods for that."
"Hear hear."
"I hear your daughter will be competing in the Vytal Festival Tournament."
"Yes, the both of them," Roland nodded, a small smile on his face.
Ghira tilted his head teasingly. "Ah, yes, the romantic drama of Orlando the Brave and his star crossed lovers, battling demons and villains, torn between his duty and his heart. Fifty-two episodes of soap opera drama and shenanigans detailing the misadventures of a romantic warrior in times of strife."
The grin vanished from Roland's face, much to Ghira's amusement.
"You know my wife loves that drama - I believe it's still getting reruns on television in Menagerie, and other parts of Remnant. They're thinking of making a re-boot to the series, too, last I heard."
"Oi, keep that down, will you! Lord of Light, my daughters found out about that last spring, and have been teasing me about it since. Tiger Lily and Alda just join in in mocking me about the things they got wrong and how they made me out to be a reckless fool."
"But you were a reckless fool."
Roland opened his mouth to protest, but paused and then closed his mouth saying nothing. Ghira just laughed.
"Oh, don't judge. I hear you're writing a book now. Who knows, mister High Leader, maybe in another decade or so, they'll be making television shows about your life too, and twisting all the facts to appeal to housewives in the Kingdoms and Isles or something," retorted the huntsman.
Ghira rolled his eyes. "So, your daughters then. You must be proud."
"As a lion," Roland smiled. "Can't pick favorites, of course, but I believe they'll make it to the finals."
"Confident, Row? Or are you biased?" Ghira smirked at the potential word-trap.
"They've worked hard, and they're my daughters. I watched them grow as children, saw them embark on their paths, then sent them off to blossom at the Academies. I've taught them what I can, but…" Roland looked out the window for a moment. "I can only be sure they'll do what they can to make me and their mothers proud. To make our ancestors proud."
Ghira thumped the table. "Well said."
"Speaking of daughters, how is your own.... Blake, was it?" asked Roland.
Ghira nodded. "Nine years old, and far too bright a child, she's got a caring heart like Kali's. Just as fierce too, but don't let anyone know I said that."
Roland grinned conspiratorially. "Your secret is safe with me."
The two laughed, feeling the comfortable camaraderie of proud fathers. There was a moment of silence as Ghira pondered what exactly Roland wanted to really speak about, and was debating asking about it directly when the man beat him to it.
The smiles had vanished, and this sad air came to the man before Ghira, as if a sudden weight on his shoulders reappeared to remind him of something. What it was that the huntsman had come here to actually say.
"So, I must confess I have some… awkward news." The look on the huntsman's face didn't suit him in Ghira's opinion. It was awkward, conflicted and a little ashamed.
Ghira was naturally put on edge by this sudden shift.
"How so?" he probed.
"I'm sad to say that the I... might have, well, unintentionally misled your family and the Vyaghra clan some years ago. Led you, and them, to believe something that isn't, well, wholly true."
The Faunus' back straightened at that confession.
"And that would be…?" Ghira trailed off, suddenly worried about the tone in Roland's voice.
"That I have a son."
The Faunus leader frowned. So the man had a son. This wasn't entirely news to him. He'd heard from his sister that Kareena had had a boy after so many girls. But, last he'd been informed, the boy had health issues that prevented him from being of any real consequence. The tigers were all rather hush-hush about the affair, and Ghira had only found out because it related to…
Oh dear.
"And he's somehow become strong enough to be in a position to inherit, well…"
Ghira sucked in a gasp through grit teeth, eyes going wide. A multitude of emotions ran through him. His hands tightened into fists at the rage of being lied to. His mind whirled at the repercussions that meant for the Tigers and their practices, as well as their relation to the Belladonna's. Fear as he realized what that meant for the families.
For his family.
"By the Mother!" He almost rose from his seat in fury.
"Baggy, now please calm down - " Roland half-rose to meet him, hands over Ghira's fists.
"Calm down!? I've been lied to about… about that!" The Faunus might have been spitting fury if not for the angry growl in his tone. He wasn't prone to violence, but oh did he feel like testing himself now. "How can you ask me to calm down?"
"Because, it didn't use to be a lie! My son wasn't in a position to inherit, but now… by the grace of the gods, he's recovered, and I'm happy he has, but it's made liars of our family, and that's… something I can't just ignore anymore."
"How long?"
"A few months since Kareena and I were sure… I'm sorry, but please, calm down, you're making a scene."
That snapped Ghira out of his anger quickly. Eyes darting, he noticed the tension that had rapidly escalated in the common space, the staring in the two men's' directions. The careful set of his staff and the way the security personnel he had in place had tonfa drawn and ready to approach in case he called for them. There were a few civilians unaffiliated with the White Fang who were murmuring amongst themselves, the whispers already beginning to spread.
Damn it.
Ghira drew in a deep breath through his nostrils, held it, and let it out slowly past his teeth. Flexing his fingers he took a seat once more and composed himself. Roland drew away from Ghira's hands and leaned back in his own seat. The Faunus' eyes were closed, regulating his breathing to calm down. He hadn't lost his temper in a long time, and it wouldn't do to break that habit.
Once he was relatively settled, Ghira turned a gimlet glare on Roland, attempting to set the man on fire with his eyes or bore a hole through the huntsman's skull with a glare. Sadly, Roland was infuriatingly immune to his intimidation - or simply didn't notice.
"So… I'll have to tell Kali the… news," he puzzled over the word he wished to use. News was good. News was neutral.
"I hope you weren't angry because of our forebearers' decisions and wishes."
Ghira tilted his head back to stare at the grains in the ceiling. He sighed, "No, not at them. I just… wish I hadn't been put in such a position. And I'm happy, at least, that you're still the good man I knew those years ago, just… angry with myself."
Roland frowned, tilting his head to ask for an explanation.
"I reacted poorly, I apologize. Truly, this should be happy news, glad to be heard, but the mood was ruined when you started by apologizing, and my immediate thought was colored thus."
"I am deeply sorry. The deception wasn't intentional."
Ghira waved the apology away. "Water under the bridge… I supposed we'll need drinks to celebrate what should be joyous tidings."
Roland gave the other man a small smile. "Indeed."
Ghira paused for a moment, considering something he hadn't thought to ask before. "The boy… is he a tiger, or…"
"He's human," was Roland's answer. "I think."
Ghira raised an eyebrow at that. "You think?"
Roland blinked, before realizing what he had said. His lips hardened in a firm line, angry with himself at the slip-up. "To be honest, I'm not sure whose he is. Neither of them remember, complications during the delivery, and I wasn't exactly there in time to witness everything, so…"
Ghira's other eyebrow rose to join its brother as the Faunus blinked. "But he seems human?"
"Yes. I doubt he really cares about the difference - he loves his sisters equally, and I've never known him to feel prejudice." There was a wistful smile on Roland's face.
"Hmn," Ghira hummed thoughtfully. Well, it was a mess politically, no matter what the boy was, but he might be able to twist this to the Fang's platform if he played his cards right. But still, they were more important things to be done. Like catching up with an old friend. "So how about drinks then."
"Sounds splendid."
At Ghira's request, a pair of drinks were served by a wide-eyed waitress with fox ears. She quickly hurried away from the solemn mood, which threatened to overtake her in the weight of the human and Faunus' combined presences.
Roland raised his glass to Ghira. "To Family, and our Children."
"Hear, hear."
The glasses clinked before the two burly men threw back their heads and drained the mugs. With a pair thumps the slammed them back on the table and grinned at each other.
"Now, let's say we get some more drinks and talk like we used to when we younger, eh?" Roland had a rougish grin somewhere on his face.
Ghira laughed at the playful jab. "Speak for yourself, I'm still younger than you. How about you, old man?"
"Old? Now you've done it. This calls for more drinks so I can wheedle you for stories to tell my wives."
"Then I suppose I'll have to loosen your tongue for more about that son you've got."
The two shared a grin, and Ghira felt younger and more foolish again. Good thing his flight wasn't till tomorrow afternoon - there wasn't anything pressing that required his attention for the evening.
Kali would understand, surely. She would probably be thrilled.
He hoped.
For all that he could reduce men to quivering puddles of fear, no one struck such terror in the High Leader of the White Fang's heart than his loving wife.
Roland was much the same.
-------------------------Meeting of the Laws-------------------------
Jaune woke up half-expecting to be surrounded by snakes attending to him, or something equally ridiculous. Instead he was pleasantly surprised that his slumber had been relatively undisturbed. The fire had died down to embers and ash in the night, leaving Jaune with the onerous task of cleaning it all up so it didn't cause trouble later.
Quickly, Jaune busied himself with morning prayers and the few exercises he believed most useful to him that day, like the Sun salutations and other stretches. It was always good to be nice and limber!
He sadly didn't have the time for breakfast if he wanted to get to where he'd seen smoke anytime soon. It wasn't there anymore, which meant that whatever had caused it wasn't a settlement. But it hopefully meant he might be able to find tracks of whoever had set up camp there and follow their trail.
But first, he had to cross that river.
Jaune glanced down at himself. Getting his clothes wet was… not really an option. He didn't have anything else to change into, and he didn't want to be walking around naked while his garments dried.
That and the papers could get wet.
"Now that I think about it," Jaune murmured as he pulled out the sheets of paper he'd received from his father. In particular the letter.
"If I do run into people, I shouldn't have this on me. It has my name on it, and Dad said no one should know it… unless they already know me, but then what's the point?" He glanced between the river and the smothered remains of his fire. "I probably should have burned it last night."
Jaune frowned at that, then looked at the paper again. Making up his mind, he tore the letter into short strips and kept them with the others - the remains would be added to the kindling of the next fire he made.
First he walked up and down the bank of the river, trying to gauge the distance. Once he was certain he found the narrowest stretch of the river within a stone's throw distance of his camp from the prior night (even if it was only narrowed by a meter or so), Jaune began to untie the sash-belt and strip.
Fully naked, Jaune shivered once before bundling all his clothes together so they protected the papers and berries he'd collected, along with the bamboo tube, and made sure it was secure in the over-robe he'd been wearing. Then he tested the knots to make sure nothing slipped out and hefted it in his hands. It wasn't particularly heavy, but it was large for Jaune's hands and somewhat lumpy.
It would have to do.
"And a one, and a two, and away we go!" Jaune sang playfully as he spun the bundle around and around, muscle tensing and building with energy as he let his Aura help, before releasing it into the air.
The bundle soared high in a long arc, but Jaune had forgotten to account for the bundle's lack of aerodynamics, as it threatened to fall short.
Thinking quickly, Jaune seized Stick in hand, and muttered an apology for being so rough as he hefted it over his shoulder. With a skip forward, Jaune quickly focused his Aura into his legs and arm, letting it add to his meager strength and give him that edge he needed. It flowed through Stick, and he could feel it harmonizing with his will, as his father had described things reinforced with Aura would do.
A shout left his lips as he loosed Stick, the makeshift staff shooting forward like a bolt from a ballistae, flying straight and true as it struck the bundle. A cry of triumph came from Jaune as Stick actually hit his target and managed to push the bundle off it's ill-planned course towards the water and land on the dry riverbank beyond. Stick seemed to be caught in a bush.
Quickly, Jaune dipped his toe into the water and was surprised to find that the cold wasn't as bad as he thought. Diving in, he fought with the river's current to stay on track, having to struggle against the flow of the water to keep from being drifted off course.
Not too long afterwards, Jaune used the outer robe to dry his body before getting changed again, glad that he wasn't going to get sick for being soaked to the bone while in the woods.
Then he made sure the papers and berries were safely tucked away as he picked a few fruit on a nearby tree. The fruit had a thick violet skin covered in spines, but Jaune found their innards to be rather succulent. Once that was done, Jaune filled the bamboo tube with water and tied it to his waist - he didn't know if he'd find water that easily later.
Once that was settled, Jaune set off again to figure where exactly he was.
Two hours later, he was beset by Grimm.
-------------------------Meeting of the Laws-------------------------
Honestly, he'd been a little preoccupied with talking to Stick when it attacked. Jaune had been ranting to Stick about how he still didn't understand why Chloe always insulted him yet was angry whenever he refused to hang out with her. Indigo said it was a girl thing, but Jaune just didn't get it. His sisters only did weird things like that occasionally, but not as consistently as Chloe.
Stick was of the mind that gender was a weird concept. This was understandable since Stick was… well, a stick. Stick wasn't a he, nor a she, but an it.
Thus, Stick's advice was to acquire a ten-foot pole (that wasn't Stick, thank you), and use it to keep Chloe at bay.
Now that was an excellent idea, but he didn't think the teachers at school would let him walk around with a ten-foot pole to keep a girl in his class away from him.
Maybe he could get a restraining order, whatever that was. Violet had joked about that once.
Stick, likewise, didn't know what a restraining order was, but was all for figuring it out by trying to get one anyways.
It was about this time that a rustling above him in the canopy alerted him to movement as a shadow dropped over his head, plummeting straight to him.
Also, it was whooping and hollering, and Jaune just reacted on instinct to slap Stick into both hands and whirl around with a mighty swing.
With a shout, Stick smashed into the shadow and knocked it off it's crash course with Jaune's head as the boy stumbled back from the sheer weight he'd flung aside. Eyes wide and sense alive, Jaune felt his body thrum with energy as he reacted to the monster that had just attacked him.
And monster it was, for the black skin and fur, glowing red eyes, small white plates across it's body like armor, swinging tail tipped with a white claw and white bone mask over the top of it's face and the glistening fangs spitting fury as it screeched with a wide maw could belong to nothing else.
It was a Grimm. And it kind of looked like a demonic monkey, if Jaune was being totally honest, what with the way it's legs and arms moved, as well as the swinging tail and big round ears on the side of its mask. It was a little shorter than Jaune himself, but that was with it crouched over as it was on the ground, it's shoulders hunched as it coiled to pounce. The armor and presence of sharp teeth and a whipping tail-blade were obviously a natural advantage.
Jaune took a step back and away from the Grimm, unsure of what it's proper classification was, but knowing that his father had been very clear about what to do if he ran into Grimm.
Run Away.
The Grimm monkey didn't give him that chance.
It was fast, Jaune gave it that. But he'd seen it tense and screech as it pounced, and reacted as he'd been trained. A quick step to the side off the assault-line while the Grimm was in the air as Stick shot forward like a spear, whirling to catch it in the neck or the side.
Surprisingly, it worked, until Jaune noticed that Stick had only hit a plate of it's armor and skidded off, but not before the Grimm attempted to grab onto the offending weapon. Jaune surged with strength, blood pumping, and twisted, jerking Stick around in a circle on the end as the Grimm lost it's grip and lunged forward.
Jaune relied on superior footwork, memories surging through him as he knew the best way to recover defensive advantage. He ducked under the Grimm's swipes, dancing away and finding the optimal distance, Stick twirling around his back. A motion out of the corner of his eye had Jaune bring Stick up in a heavy block as the Grimm's tail had darted over it's shoulder to attack with the claws on it's end. The claws raked against Stick, but with Jaune's aura coursing through his body and the pole, Stick didn't seem to be troubled in the slightest.
Of course, the force of the blow made Jaune's feet slide back as it surged forward, but his guard did not break. His stance held firm.
"Roots," Jaune grinned.
Stick spun, disengaging from the tail before dropping to dart between the Grimm's legs as Jaune destroyed it's stance and toppled it to the ground. He narrowly dodged the swipe of it's heavy paw as it went down while Jaune planted his foot into the Grimm's mask and kicked it down and away while he dodged it's attempts at dragging Jaune down with it..
Howling with fury, the Grimm scrambled to all fours as it bounded towards Jaune who had already turned to flee, but darted at the last second to leap onto the trunk of a nearby tree, bolting up to the canopy.
Jaune paled as he ran through the densely forested wilderness, ignoring the screeching of the birds above as they made to escape the Grimm's vicinity, the critters scampering underfoot for their own boltholes and burrows. His eyes scanned the trees around him as he ran, heart thumping and body coursing with power as he tried to escape pursuit.
But the monkey Grimm was faster and incredibly agile as it brachiated through the canopy. If it were a normal monkey, Jaune might have been impressed enough to watch and gather pointers from its movements, but this was a monster, and Jaune had no inclination to ask it for lessons.
Especially not when it kept hooting and hollering and it's claw-tail attempted to take his head off as it swung through the air. Jaune ducked and tried hitting it with Stick, but it ducked behind a tree trunk and out of the way.
Jaune didn't bother giving chase as he used the extra time to gain some ground.
But the uneven ground and twisting nature of the forest made it difficult to navigate quickly, forcing Jaune to take to the trees himself.
Jaune was glad his father had taught him basic Lightfoot. Surprisingly, it was a lot like what he'd apparently done to get away from Shine-Eye all those months ago. Energy surged through his body as it focused around his legs and arms, lightening his body while at the same time allowing him absurd leaping power that would allow him to leap through the trees with ease.
Jaune leaped from trunk to trunk before he got into the canopy and started running across the branches in an attempt to out-pace the Grimm. No such luck, as they danced through the trees, the Grimm spinning around branches and tumbling through the air as it's long arms allowed it to brachiate while Jaune attempted to swat it out of the air with Stick. Stick was sadly blocked by it's legs and Jaune was forced to deflect the darting claw-tail when the Grimm managed to get close enough to let the natural weapon whip about. Every time he pulled back a springy branch to whip back and knock into the Grimm, making the environment his weapon, the monster would either roll with the blow and spin around another tree trunk or simply tumble around the whipping limb.
It was too fast! Too agile!
The whirling flurry of paws and claw-tail were met with Stick's firm defense and counters, punishing force throwing the Grimm back and away with his strikes, sweeps, and deflections. Keenly aware of the dangers Jaune noted that the tail was really, really stretchy on account of it somehow managing to shoot multiple times its actual length in an attempt to latch onto Jaune and lacerate him.
With that in mind, Jaune realized he'd been fighting for far too long, and that the only way to get away from this Grimm was with the monster somehow broken or disabled. Preferably dead.
Now there's an idea...
Steeling himself, Jaune allowed himself to speed up, their cat-and-mouse game in the trees ramping up in intensity as the monkey Grimm put forth more effort into trying to kill the young boy that eluded him. It was after ducking past a particularly large tree's trunk that Jaune's plan sprung into motion.
The Grimm's claw-tail came flying just as he gave it an opening to do so, which Jaune promptly blocked rather than deflected. The claw attempted to latch on and steal Stick away, but Jaune let it and moved with the motion, circling Stick to wrap the pole in the tail. Now it couldn't let go of Stick to easily. Then Jaune jumped around the trunk and swung down as the Grimm attempted to pull either Jaune closer or at least disarm him of Stick.
Instead, the Grimm found itself being pulled towards the tree trunk, slamming into it with a bodily thump. Quickly, Jaune pulled up on Stick, feet planting on the trunk as he threaded through the branches to stretch out the Grimm and pin it to the tree. The Grimm howled with rage, black spittle flying from its toothy maw.
Having had enough of it's noise, Jaune darted forward past it's swiping paws and smashed Stick onto the crown of it's skull. and wrapped the Grimm's tail around it's own neck.
With the tail still wrapped around Stick like a knot, Jaune leaped off the tree and let gravity pull him and the tail down.
The tail acted like a noose, and the Grimm howled as it choked. It's paws scratched at the tail on it's throat attempting to get loose before scrabbling for any manner of purchase, but it was trapped. Jaune managed to get his feet on the tree, Aura surging through it as he ran down the tree and pulled with stick as he used it's own resilient and stretchy tail to strangle the monster.
There was a resounding crack through the air as Jaune roared with effort when the Grimm's neck finally snapped from tightening of the noose, the Grimm's howls and screams dying with it.
For a moment, Jaune hung there, still suspended by the tree from Stick which was tied up with the tail, before Jaune let it unwind and dropped to the ground below. He landed with a soft whiff of air as he used his Aura to cushion his steps, before he started running again, heart still thumping as he tried to get away from where the Grimm died. It was far too unnerving for the young boy to be around the fading corpse of the monster he had just killed.
He kept running in the direction he knew would take him to where there had been smoke. At the pace he was running at, it didn't take long for Jaune to find where the fire had been.
Apparently it was the side of an existing trail, and the people had made camp in a clearing along the edge of a small pool. Jaune knew because they hadn't cleaned up the fire pit… and the fact that he could still smell the smoky scent of their campfire.
That wasn't the only thing he could smell.
Jaune's face turned green as his eyes widened in horror. He turned away in order to empty his stomach into a nearby bush. The stomach acid burned on the way up as he retched and heaved.
Scavengers and carrion eaters had already taken everything that remained, but Jaune could still see the dried blood that had soaked the ground, and the gear strewn across the clearing and floating in the pool.
There wasn't going to be anyone here to help him.
-------------------------Meeting of the Laws-------------------------
A/N: And we meet another canon RWBY character, who will help set the stage for future plot developments. I personally believe that Remnant probably uses real people as the basis for a lot of their soap-operas, and thought it'd be hilarious if someone basically did research on Roland's misadventures and friend/relationships, tweaked the details and names, and dialed up the drama to make a popular series of novels and television drama. This is most certainly becoming a plot detail later during the Beacon Story Arcs.
Still, plot is being forwarded, and things happen that will drive Jaune forward and get him wrapped up in trouble. A bit of an unfortunate note to end on, but one that seemed like the best stopping point for the time being. Hope everyone enjoyed Jaune fighting the Monkey Grimm (whose proper name I haven't come up with yet, so if anyone wants to chime in and pitch me suggestions, feel free to speak up), though he's liable to get into far crazier fights later. Part of the territory that comes with being a huntsman/Exalt.
Arafell
Verified Cephalon
- Location
- Oregon
Chapter 10: Tracking a Horse
- Location
- In my Lair, on my Hoard
Jaune was no stranger to horror. He'd seen a fair few of those from the unfortunate souls his father had dragged out of the Forest of Carnutes. Some of them were innocents who got lost and found themselves trapped in the illusions. Others were criminals, skeptical of the stories and seeking a hiding place from the world. None were Huntsmen, capable of mustering a defense against the Forest's magics and perversions, and had perished.
But at least there were still bodies to be recovered. Jaune saw none here.
He dumped fresh soil into their fire-pit, making sure the fire was smothered for good. Just in case. It was difficult sticking around as there was blood splattered across the ground, and scraps of the victims' belongings strewn about the clearing. But he had to check if there was anything left.
Anything for Jaune to bury and learn who had died today.
Anything for Jaune to use to survive.
He ended up needing to take a sip of the water from the pool. Thankfully, it wasn't tainted, but some of the supplies were still floating on the surface. Jaune washed the bile from his throat and reeled from the experience. Then he leaned out with Stick and pulled the supplies in. No food, but there was a canteen, a torn bag, and the remains of a scroll inside. It was broken, and just wrappers remained that had been torn into by the beasts. Some biscuits remained, but were hard as rocks, and just as appetizing.
Looking about the clearing afford Jaune better luck. The remains of what might have been a tent lay between the woods and the fire pit, torn to shreds and unusable to Jaune. He pulled out the stakes and found that they were bent - but still usable. He found a satchel he could sling across his chest, and a pair of wool socks, as well as a set of towels. That was good, as was the sole bedroll he found. The other two were torn up, so Jaune knew how many had been here. There was a knife hilt and broken fragments of metal by the base of a tree. He also found a torn of stirrup by the trail. A horse?
There was still some undamaged ammunition scattered on the ground, but no firearm to use them - useless to Jaune as a weapon, but perhaps the Burn Dust would help with setting fires later.
The one true victory might have been finding the chipped sword in a bush and a battered wallet. Sadly, the latter didn't have any form of identification in it: merely a good deal of lien, a flat multi-tool, and some strangely familiar plastic square wrappers with… Jaune blushed and shoved the wallet in his appropriated satchel. One thing was for certain - whoever that wallet had belonged to was an adult, and most likely a man.
He busied himself with testing the sword he'd found. It was a short-sword to be honest, but in Jaune's smaller hands, it was only an awkwardly shaped blade. The chips were barely noticeable, though it was clear that any care it had experienced wasn't nearly enough by his family's standards. Jaune improvised a baldric out of the remains of the tent.
Once that was done, Jaune checked whether there was anything else that could be done, and sighed as he realized that he might as well pay his respects.
Taking out the knife, he carved out a slice of wood from a tree and etched a sigil of rest and pleading their souls move on from the world. He stuck the prayer into the ground by the pool, and kneeled to mutter his prayers, hoping they moved on quickly and departed for the eternal realms of Heaven.
Then he started searching for tracks. Grimm were in the area, so Jaune would have to be careful. But there had been that stirrup, so Jaune had to wonder about that horse. There weren't any maps to be found in the remains of the campsite, nor sign of directions to the nearest settlement. Jaune could only suspect the horse might have had it. Had the horse gotten away, or had the Grimm slain it?
He hoped the latter. It was possible that one of these travellers had gotten away on it, or at least that the horse had escaped with some of the supplies in it's saddle-bags - those were missing from the area, but he could now spot the torn up clods of dirt from the horse's hooves.
He scanned the trail and grinned when he realized that the horse had clearly bolted at a gallop when the Grimm neared. The tracks were clear - hoofbeats spaced out but there was the sign of claws and heavy footfalls signifying the Grimm had given chase.
Jaune tracked the horse and the Grimm for several, uncounted leagues. After seeing the state of the camp, he was constantly keeping himself aware of any Grimm in the area. A league or two into his trek he noticed the claw marks of Beowolves in the trees. His senses were keen, and he realized they were rather fresh - there were Beowolves not too far off. It was short work to find them, as they seemed to be heading in his direction, along the trails as if searching for potential prey.
In an instant, he had gotten up into the trees; still and silent like a statue. His father had told him that the creatures of Grimm could sense your fear. Smell it from a hundred meters. So Jaune wasn't scared. He had killed that monkey Grimm. Maybe the Beowolves were the same?
There were a lot of them though…
Jaune held still in the trees until they had moved off, and heaved a sigh of relief before moving on as well.
Eventually the horse appeared to have outrun the Grimm. Or they just got sick of the chase and let it go. Jaune couldn't say for sure, the tracks for the monsters just seemed to grow less prevalent as the horse continued, until it was just the horse.
"What kind of horse is this, it's ridiculous," Jaune had muttered after hours of tracking, noting how much the horse must have done to avoid the creatures of Grimm. This pace was absurd! The stamina to evade the Grimm for so long was impressive.
After another half a league, the horse went off the trail to the north. The bushes on the other side of the trail had been disturbed, so likely something big had spooked it. A quick examination of the scratches on nearby trees and the points on the soft paw-print led Jaune to believe it was one of those armor-cats he had run into the other day. Had it attacked the horse?
Jaune hoped not.
Darting into the wilderness once more, Jaune cut his way through the underbrush.
"What do you think, Stick? The horse get away?"
"..."
"Yeah, me too."
"..."
"Well, who knows. I need to find the horse first, then I can wonder about whether someone survived that mess."
"..."
"Can't give up hope, Stick."
Pushing his way past long hanging branches and navigating the rough terrain, Jaune marveled at the fact that he hadn't run into the horse yet. Surely it would have twisted an ankle or hurt it's leg on such terrain! Unless it had someone slowed to a careful trot? Jaune wasn't sure, but it seemed odd.
The whole day seemed odd, now that he thought about it. Oh, what Jaune wouldn't give to be in Vale right now with his sisters. At least they'd be pleasant company.
No, wait, they'd probably start teasing him for something and drag him along for shopping.
At least Nino would be pleasant company. Yes, that was it, Jaune nodded to himself.
"Not that you're not pleasant company, Stick, but it'd be nice if you could actually walk by yourself, you know?"
"..."
"No, no! I'm not insulting you. Just… making a note or a, what's the word, observation."
Jaune laughed it off as he walked with Stick. The terrain was sloping downwards as he walked, and Jaune found it increasingly worrisome that the horse was still not found. He couldn't claim to be an expert horseman, but what he knew of equestrians told him that the horse had most certainly been crippled if it tried to navigate this dense forest and uneven, rocky ground at anything more than a careful trot.
Rocks skittered under his feet, eyes widening as he caught himself with Stick and a free hand flying to grab a nearby branch. The ground was loose here. Pushing aside a bough, he saw why - a ravine.
Carefully stepping where the ground was stable, Jaune peered into the ravine. It was a long ways down, a trench through the wilderness with wild bushes and trees growing out of it's sides, dangling branches and roots off the rock-wall. The soil was loose at the top and easy to slip, but a small, quick moving river snaked through the bottom of the ravine, carrying away the excess silt.
A glint of metal hung from the side of the ravine on the other end. Breathing deeply, Jaune called upon the power of his Aura, letting it flow through his body. His senses heightened, sharpening to an impossible degree. The pattern of Aura flowed with his breathing, and the world slowed as Jaune took it all in, senses unparalleled in acuity.
His touch was like a spider's on the web, feeling every vibration. The air brushed against his skin and he knew it's paths, and all that breathed. He could hear ever sway of the trees, each rustle of the bushes, the cries of the birds and the scampering of beasts, the rush of the water and the song of the sky. He could see the beating of flies wings and the dried blood on the other side of the ravine, the horse's tack torn off and caught on a heavy bough of a bush growing out of the ravine's slope.
Well, that answered that.
Jaune sighed, but something niggled at his thoughts. He could see the tack, so the horse must have galloped at speed off the trail after it was spooked. It broke through the underbrush and woods, the trail he had followed. But that low-hanging bough had obscured it's vision, and since it was already injuring itself in it's flight, it slipped on the loose soil, and leaped into the ravine.
From there, the horse would have fallen and hit the other side of the ravine. Slipping without a proper foothold, the horse fell through the bushes, the tack finally breaking off until it fell into the water. It would have struggled, but against the rush of the water, might have been carried away. Else, it died of it's wounds, and the carcass floated downstream.
No matter. Jaune wouldn't find it now, and he didn't have any reason to. The tack was still there…
But what about saddlebags?
"Something must have taken them," he reasoned. "If they existed at all."
Jaune checked his thoughts. So long as he traveled in any direction, he would either end up on a coast, or near some recognizable landmark. Anima was well settled, and he would have to end up somewhere if he spun around in a circle then went straight without pausing for obstacles. Well, within a week at least.
Jaune didn't have a week, and following the ravine probably wouldn't help. Perhaps there was something on the other side?
He drew back, and found a clear path. Measuring the distance, Jaune nodded before breathing. Aura circled within him, drawn forth as power which he directed through his body, flooding his meridians with power. He was light as a feather, with the power of a tiger ready to pounce. Legs pumping, Jaune sprinted towards the edge.
And leaped.
His feet kicked the open air as Jaune soared. Gravity had no hold on him as he flew through the air before crashing into the other side of the ravine. A quick snatch at a tree root and Jaune dragged himself up over the edge and hopped from tree to tree until he was on solid ground.
Onwards Jaune walked, braving the wilderness. He negotiated a compromise with a pair of badgers whose hunt and foraging he had inadvertently interrupted with a gift of berries in exchange for directions to the nearest town, and was sad to hear that they knew of none. This wasn't unexpected - animals rarely left their own territories, and he was told that there were a few dangerous animals in the area, but they were smart enough to be wary of a fire in the dark.
Instead, they gave Jaune directions to a nearby river where he could find a spot to make camp. Jaune was rather shocked by this. Another river? The badgers couldn't rightly explain that, they just knew the two that bordered their stomping grounds. One was at the bottom of the ravine, and the other was to the north. Well, Jaune reasoned, at least he was heading in the right direction. Still, there were an awful lot of rivers in this area.
Jaune thanked the badgers for their help and set off, finding that the birds he later asked knew that people were sometimes in the area, though their presence was rare, and that no, they couldn't remember where or whence they came. Birds didn't have the best of memories for details like that, and they didn't really care.
Soon he'd come upon a river, and like the night before, make camp. Maybe he'd have better luck catching fish!
-------------------------Tracking a Horse-------------------------
"Sir, we've picked up the trail again," voiced the scruffy rogue in leathers.
Ferocious Chun stalked over to his underling and crouched as well, peering at the tracks. He noted the depressions in the trail, and nodded.
"Good. Those Grimm cost us time. Bloody pack of Beowolves. Damn them," Ferocious Chun spat on the ground as he stalked back to his horse, the bay's reins held by a younger lad in the band.
Chun held out his saber, the blade drenched in Grimm-filth that was still fading. The boy quickly brought out a cloth bolt and slid it over the slashing edge, cleaning it of the disintegrating remains. He looked the boy over. Dressed in cloths and leathers, strips of metal sewn into place as makeshift armor, it was not the perfect fit, but appropriated from a corpse three months prior. The boy had done good in the fight, but had faltered in the beginning. It was a weakness Ferocious Chun reminded himself to beat out of the boy later.
For now, they had to recover from their losses to the monsters - a few good men and women, scoundrels and thugs the lot of 'em - and pick up the trail to find the treasure. Ferocious Chun had it on good authority that they'd come this way, and it was just a matter of time before Chun was able to catch up to them and take the prize from them himself. A fortune that would make Ferocious Chun a wealthy man, and give him the easy life in a backwater town. Or give him the finances to try and claim a larger stake of territory from the clans. Either way, it was worth a lot, and Chun wanted it.
The Grimm had slowed them down, but now that they'd picked up the trail, Ferocious Chun and his band of thugs and miscreants were back on the hunt. These trails were well-known for those willing to take the risk, and Chun was among them. It was just a matter of knowing which ones were taken, and how to navigate the treacherous wilds.
Ferocious Chun slid the saber back into the sheath at his hip, absently stroking his beaded beard as he grinned in thought of the money he could make off of it. And all he needed to do was get to those three idiots first, and take it. Foot in the stirrup, Ferocious Chun hauled himself onto his horse, the boy ducking out of the way as the others who had come with horses mounted as well. The rest would have to jog and try to keep up. Ferocious Chun didn't really care - they were spare bodies to throw at the Grimm if necessary. Their exhaustion wasn't important.
"Mount and ride, boys. Follow the trail and let's get us that beautiful money-maker." he roared, to the shouts of the others in the band.
The horses set off as the minions jogged to keep up. They rode for hours, changing trails and making twists and turns as they followed the days-old tracks. Chun's trackers were skilled in following such trails, having come from foresters and trappers of nearby villages and towns. But it was slow-going as every stop brought with it the peril of assault from the beasts that prowled this sparse jungle.
Some of the boys would whine or complain about the pace and the exhaustion of having to keep up with horses as they marched. Ferocious Chun just snarled and slid the saber out of it's sheathe ten centimeters.
They shut up rather quickly at that.
In the meanwhile, he busied himself of plans of what to do with the treasure, and how he might end up using it. These were happy thoughts as they involved lots of pain and suffering for people who weren't Ferocious Chun, and a great deal of satisfaction for himself afterwards if he could get away with it. And he likely would - so long as none of his band decided to be idiots and do something to jeopardize this wonderful opportunity.
It wouldn't be until nightfall that Ferocious Chun found the camp.
He simply took one look at the scattered supplies and tatters that remained of the campsite before snarling, "Find their bodies."
The band of thugs searched for hours into the night, before coming up with nothing but some tatters of clothing and the grisly remains of a man's hand.
It wasn't what he what Ferocious Chun was looking for.
"Grimm, sir." was the explanation from one of his trackers. They noted the markings in the trees and the way everything had been torn to shreds.
"And no sign of our treasure?"
"No sir. But… we did find something odd."
Chun raised an eyebrow and stared at the man, fingers the hilt of his saber. The man quailed.
"Odd." It wasn't a question, but a statement.
"Yes sir, the camp-site appears to have fallen to Grimm and the three who had taken the prize fell to them. No sign that the Grimm got the prize, though, nor the horse."
Chun hummed. "So the prize might have escaped with the horse?"
"Yes sir, though that was not what we found most odd."
"Oh?"
"Wild animals took most of the supplies that were left after those brigands died and their bodies, but someone appears to have looted this site before we reached here."
"What?!" Ferocious Chun roared, drawing his saber in fury before leveling it at the tracker. The tracker's eyes went cross as it stared at the sharp, chopping edge hovering over his nose. "Say that again, it sounded like you just said someone was tracking the prize faster than me…"
The entire band went still as the tracker being threatened paled. "O-of c-course not, s-sir," he stammered out, shaking in his boots. "Just that someone found the campsite by accident… and decided to loot what was left of their supplies and ammunition."
Ferocious Chun frowned, squinting at the tracker before glancing about the camp site. He knew there were signs of battle all around, that was obvious, but it was true, the clearing was surprisingly clear for a former camp site. It just felt slightly off, but it hadn't been in a way that was obvious. Chun supposed it could be because it had indeed been looted and things were out of place because of that.
"Tell me, tracker Lei-sho, who might have come here before us?"
"Possibly some other brigands on these trails? We've found some footprints on the trail following the horse as it seems to have bolted during the attack. They might not know of the prize on the horse…"
Snarling, Ferocious Chun turned his attention on the entirety of his band. "And they will not. Because that prize is ours! We started before dawn and follow the horse's trail, and we shall claim the treasure. And if any of these others stand in the way of that… well, to hell with them!"
A cheer went up as Ferocious Chun waved the saber in the air.
"Riches are ours, boys, for when we have that beauty in our grasp, we'll have the power to bend a nation to our will! And people to pay us for the privilege!"
They roared as Chun smiled his wicked grin. Then he set them to building camp on the remains of this old one.
The next day, Ferocious Chun ordered his men to set out and track the horse. The ones forced to walk complained under breath, but never loud enough for Ferocious Chun or his senior enforcers to hear. But their greed drove them forward.
A few hours into their trek, the second group of Beowolves arrived and assaulted them from both sides of the trail, dropping from rocky outcroppings the trail wrapped around and darting from out of the dense underbrush.
Ferocious Chun swore as he drew his sword and rallied the other thugs. Accursed monsters… they better not have taken his Prize! He'd slay every Grimm in this forest if they made him waste his time!
-------------------------Tracking a Horse-------------------------
There were times when constructing a fire was difficult. Not only did one need to find an appropriate location for the fire away from anything that would accidentally catch alight, but also on soil that had been cleared of grasses. Constructing a rudimentary fire-pit helped take care of that last one, and ringing it with stones ought to help keep the tinder inside.
Then it was just a matter of finding dry hardwood for the fuel, and some softer wood for the kindling to set the pile ablaze. Leaves and twigs could work well for kindling, but one had to be careful of smoke - Jaune remembered Shani mentioning that when she showed him how to make a fire pit on a camping trip some time ago.
Smoke wasn't always good, and Jaune didn't want to draw too much attention to his fire - most animals would steer clear of it, but who knew whether there were more Grimm in the area.
Jaune cheated by sprinkling just the tiniest amount of Burn Dust onto the kindling, then struck it with a flint he'd picked up while tracking along the trails. The Dust ignited and Jaune had a flame going much quicker than before.
He glanced towards the sky and noted that daylight was quickly fleeing past the horizon. No time to hunt or fish then. Jaune rationed what remained of his berries and figs, hoping he would have better luck foraging on the morrow.
Once he'd eaten, he did his exercises, practicing the basic forms he had been drilled in, before sitting down to pray. As the light died away, Jaune finished his prayers and set about meditating to ease his mind and cycle Aura through his body, part of a daily ritual to cultivate inner and outer strength.
In that trance, he fell asleep, to wake just before dawn.
Praying to the rising sun, Jaune then set about his morning exercises before turning to the fire. It was dying out, but after adding some more kindling to fuel the flame, poking it to ensure the wood set ablaze, the fire quickly regained its strength.
Sighing, satisfied, Jaune turned to the river and used the dagger to construct another fishing spear.
Tromping back to the river, Jaune glanced at his own reflection with dismay. He hadn't noticed before, but his clothes were really dirty and his face was covered in grime. Jaune hadn't thought to mind his appearance since there was no one around, but it occurred to him that if he did run into someone, he should look somewhat clean.
"Time for a bath before I catch breakfast."
"..."
"Yes, Stick, I'll wash you too."
Thankfully, the water was shallow and slow on this side of the river. Stripping out of his clothes, Jaune set them aside and waded into the water. Lacking soap, Jaune simply scrubbed his body vigorously to remove the dirt and grime that had built up the last few days. It took a while before he was satisfied, though his thoughts were distracted by the fish that kept rushing past him. Plenty more than there had been in the last river.
After washing Stick, Jaune seized the fishing-spear and set about catching his meal. A big breakfast would mean he could go a bit longer without having to eat all his berries and foraged food. They would last just that bit longer.
This time, the fishing came much easier to Jaune. The benefits of practice, Jaune supposed. After five were caught, Jaune set about cleaning and sticking them on thin sticks he stuck into the ground over the fire. While waiting for them to cook, Jaune went back to the river where he'd left his clothes, and set about washing them, clad in his under-shorts. He would let them dry by the fire till perhaps around noon before setting off again.
Idly Jaune went about his washing, playing with the water a little as he teased the fish who sought to ignore him as they swam along the currens. By the time he was done, his clothes were relatively dirt-free, though thoroughly wet.
Jaune pulled some stones together to set them upon and let them dry. Once that was taken care of, he turned to his fish, licking his lips.
There were only two fish there.
Jaune blinked, and stared at the two fish still cooking over the fire. There was something wrong with math here.
He could have sworn he'd caught five fish and set them to cook. Now there were two. Obviously, somewhere along the line, a subtraction had taken place, and Jaune was sure he hadn't done it.
He'd only been gone a half hour or so. An hour at most. Had some animal taken it?
Jaune narrowed his eyes as he stared at the holes in the ground where the sticks had been placed. Birds wouldn't have gotten so dangerously close to a fire. They'd have made some manner of commotion if they had. Jaune let Aura heighten his senses once more, and felt around the ground. No animals had been through here recently, the depressions in the earth were old and the new ones were made by Jaune himself. The feet of a human.
Jaune blinked. Could it be he wasn't alone here?
He looked around. His sharpened senses picked up nothing. Whoever it was was being very quiet and still. It was somewhat impressive, because Jaune had no idea if anyone really was in the area. Perhaps he should train that sensory-trick more often, it might get better.
Jaune waited. A minute passed and still there was nothing. Part of him wondered if it had just been a trick of the mind, but the math was obvious.
He had caught five fish and set the to cook over the fire. When he came back, there were two fish. Whoever they were, they couldn't have gotten far if they were trying to sneak around…
Jaune grinned as he had an idea.
Still in his under-shorts, Jaune seized Stick and planted the butt of the staff in the ground, the other hand cocked at his hip. He stood proudly and smirked, eyes closed as he focused on his ears, straining to hear everything.
"I know you're there!" he shouted loudly.
There was a sharp intake of breath to his left and above, up in the canopy.
"Got you," Jaune grinned as he leaped towards the sound.
"Eep!"
A shadow fell from the canopy in surprise as Jaune leapt, Stick at the ready. The fish-thief hit the ground with a thump as Jaune barreled through the bush and leveled Stick at the shadow.
The shadow groaned, on his knees as he lifted himself off the ground, rubbing his posterior before looking up and blinking in shock at the staff being pointed in it's face.
Jaune blinked in surprise as his clear blue eyes met her pretty amber orbs, framed by short dark hair. Black tufts twitched above her head and Jaune noticed something rather important.
He was actually a she.
And she was a young faunus girl.
A moment of silence passed between the two.
"Uh, hello?" Jaune tried, unsure of what to say.
The girl just shot him a withering glare, looking from Stick to Jaune.
Well, this was awkward.
-------------------------Tracking a Horse-------------------------
A/N: This one took a long time to write. The muses were not kind, and this chapter was a struggle to put into words. Mostly because I had more solid plans for what happens from next chapter onwards, and this chapter was just a means of getting to that. Ergo, the struggle of having to write this because it's necessary, but not knowing the best way to do so. This works as is, but next chapter should hopefully be better because there will actually be conversation and interaction between Jaune and the fish-thief, which is much more interesting for me.
Last edited:
- Location
- Ireland
I wish that I could comment more, but this fic is just so damned competent that all of my thoughts and comments just feel redundant.
(I don't mean to insult by just calling the story competent, but I can't in good conscience call a story great until it's gotten into the real meat of it's plot.)
(I don't mean to insult by just calling the story competent, but I can't in good conscience call a story great until it's gotten into the real meat of it's plot.)
Chapter 11: A Feline Fish Thief
- Location
- In my Lair, on my Hoard
"Uh, hello?" Jaune tried, unsure of what to say.
The girl just shot him a withering glare, looking from Stick to Jaune.
Well, this was awkward.
Jaune glanced away from the girl, taking in their surroundings. It didn't seem like there was anyone else here. And look, there were the sticks from the fish she'd taken.
The girl looked to where he was staring, and saw the small sticks. Her head whipped back at him, slowly reddening. She also seemed to be looking around for an opening to escape.
"Um, I'm not going to hurt you?"
"Is that a question?"
Jaune blinked at the sudden words. Yup, she was a girl alright. And seemed to be trying to stare at Stick and not him. He couldn't help but wonder why.
"I mean, I'm not going to hurt you," Jaune corrected to the faunus girl's satisfaction. "Unless you give me reason to?"
And there was the glare again.
"And what reason would that be?"
"I dunno, are you going to drag me shopping and ask me whether you look nice in a bunch of different outfits, then get mad when I can't give an opinion with enough details while at the same time trying not to mention when a dress looks bad without saying it does without dancing around the whole thing? And then tell me that guys have to compliment girls when they ask them how they look in a certain outfit, and talk about a bunch of details that we don't actually notice, and never say that it actually makes their butt look big, especially if it honestly does."
The girl blinked and frowned. "What?"
"Because I've already had to deal with that, and really don't want that from someone who isn't my sister," Jaune continued to explain honestly.
"What does that have to do with anything?" The girl was very confused now.
"I dunno, you're the one who asked."
"I didn't ask for that!" she said hotly, ears twitching as she hit the ground with her fists.
"Well, it was the first thing that came to mind!" Jaune retorted, Stick completely forgotten.
A moment passed between the two as they seemed to take each other's measure. The girl had given him a once over, but halfway through her head shot up to glare at Jaune, eyes staying above his torc.
Jaune just took another look at the faunus girl. Her short hair was black and hung just to her shoulders, perhaps having a lustrous sheen in the past but was now mussed from physical exertion and grime had plastered to her skin from sweat. The ears atop her head were clearly feline, dark as the rest of her hair, so some manner of cat faunus. Her clothes were ruffled and slightly torn in places, colored in greys and some shade of lavender that seemed finer than most would be able to afford, though were still functional despite the wear and tear. Oh, and there seemed to be strange marks on her arms.
Jaune frowned. Those looked like rope-burns. Jaune remembered seeing those marks whenever Violet messed up while training her dagger-tail techniques with practice ropes when they were younger. Only these didn't seem like practice-injuries.
"Who are you?" Jaune asked.
The girl frowned. "I could ask you that."
Jaune returned the frown. "Well, I'm…"
Crouching tigers and hidden dragons, son.
"... Charles Goldenrod," he blurted the first fake name that came mind, before absentmindedly adding, "McLovin."
The girl deadpanned. "Charles. Charles Goldenrod McLovin… really?"
"Um, yeah?" Jaune grinned awkwardly, already regretting this decision. "That's my name."
"Are you sure?" Her eyebrow was raised, disbelieving.
"Hey, why wouldn't I know my own name?" Jaune pouted.
"Because it sounds like you just made that up." She nodded as if that settled everything.
Jaune huffed indignantly. "Oh yeah, and you could do better?"
She shrugged. "I'm sure I know more about making up names then you."
"Really? How?"
"I'm literate. So I've read a lot of names."
Jaune was aghast. "That proves nothing!"
The girl pouted, turning away with her nose turned up imperiously. For a moment, Jaune was shocked by the comparison to Chloe before the girl peered at him from the corner of her eyes.
"Fine. Then I'll come up with a better name for you," she stated. Jaune spread his arms, inviting her challenge.
She frowned and hummed, standing as she leaned over to get a better look at him. Feeling oddly on display, Jaune suddenly remembered he wasn't exactly dressed in front of this girl, and tried to shy away.
Luckily, it seemed like she didn't take long before nodding to herself and leveling a finger at Jaune.
"I've decided. Your name is... Adrien!" she declared, smiling.
Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Adrien?"
The girl nodded, arms crossed as if it was all decided. "Yes, like from the story."
"What story?" Jaune inquired.
The girl paused, panicked then covered her reactions, waving the question away.
"Not important," she deflected. Jaune paused, but decided to let it go. It was a good name, though he wanted to know what story it came from.
"So should I give you a name then?" he asked. The girl stared at him.
"What?"
"Well it's only fair," explained Jaune. "You gave me a fake name, so now I've got to give you a fake name, too."
Her demeanor was conflicted, caught between the horror of being subjected to a name as horrid as Jaune's earlier attempt with 'Charles Goldenrod McLovin', and the fair-play of having picked his fake name for him. "I… guess so." she conceded after much deliberation. The faunus girl struggled to keep her face from twisting in revulsion at the idea.
"Great. Then I shall call you… Fish-Thief!" he grinned.
Fish-Thief was outraged. "F-Fish-Thief?!"
Jaune nodded. "Very appropriate. Very fitting," he said solemnly.
"No it's not! Fish-Thief is a ridiculous name, and I won't have it! My name is Bl…" she started to rant before catching herself, eyeing Jaune warily. "...Blaire."
Jaune cocked his head. "Blaire," he said, rolling the word around his tongue. "Blaire, Blaire, Blaire." He nodded after a moment, satisfied. "Yup, that's good too."
"Glad you think so," Blaire huffed, arms crossed irritably. She raised an eyebrow when Jaune extended a hand.
"Well, hi there Blaire. I'm Adrien," Jaune grinned. "You alone out here?"
She eyed the hand warily before slowly answering, "... Why should I tell you?"
"Because I have no idea where I am, and directions would be nice. And you don't look like you have a map." Honesty, Jaune decided, was probably a very good policy given he had to find a way to Wind Path, and couldn't do that without knowing where he was.
Blaire frowned. "I don't have a map. And I don't know where we are exactly. Just that we're in the wilderness of the Hundred Rivers…" She hung her head before whispering, "...and I'm lost too."
Jaune felt sympathetic, clapping a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "There, there, at least you know what region of Anima we're in. That's a good thing! Now come on!"
He began to lead her towards his camp site. Blaire followed by furrowed her brow as she puzzled something out. The cat ears atop her head flicked when she realized it. "Wait, you didn't know you were in in Hundred Rivers?"
Jaune shrugged. "It's a long story." Well, at least he knew why there were so many rivers so close together - Hundred Rivers was a very appropriate name for the area, even if most of it was wilderness and frontier villages and towns.
Blaire nodded, eying Jaune suspiciously. She was mildly surprised when he looked at her and plainly asked, "So, why'd you steal my fish?"
Blinking in surprise, Blaire gave him a long hard stare. Jaune didn't seem to be understanding what she meant by that, as he just looked at her dumbly. She raised an eyebrow, gesturing that it was obvious.
Jaune was clueless.
She sighed. "I was hungry…" Blaire and the fish looked really good…" Her voice trailed off. Blaire's tongue darted to lick the edges of her lips, as if to savor the memory of the taste.
"Oh…" Jaune blinked. "Yeah, that makes sense."
They walked around a bush to come upon Jaune's campsite where two of the fish still cooked and his clothes dried. The sword was resting on the ground, and the appropriated satchel propped up for the clothes to dry on.
"Well, next time, you could try asking."
"What?"
"For the fish. I mean, I had five of them - I could have shared. Or caught more…"
Blaire froze and stared at Jaune as he checked on the fish and the state of his clothes. He frowned slightly as the clothes were still a little damp, but the fish were more than done. Pulling them out of the ground, Jaune offered Blaire one of the cooked fish-on-sticks.
"Here, you still hungry?"
The fish was gone before Jaune could even blink, as Blaire plopped down on a rock he'd pulled up by the camp-site. Her teeth tore into the fish with avaricious abandon.
"I'll take that as a yes," Jaune muttered as he ate his own slowly.
Blaire ignored him as they ate, savoring the fish before noticing that Jaune wasn't done. She sat there awkwardly, a little unsure of what to say. Jaune simply finished his fish, then sighed, rubbing his hands together. Getting up, he nodded and headed to the river.
"Ah, where are you going?" Blaire called after him.
"To catch more fish. I only had one, and I need protein!"
Blaire pouted, but Jaune paid her little mind as he fished. When he returned with some more for them to eat, he was surprised to see her still there, awkwardly looking into the fire.
"Huh, you're still here," Jaune wondered aloud. Blaire shot him a dirty look.
"Where else would I be?"
"I dunno, didn't think you'd actually stick around after that," Jaune shrugged. "Not that I mind, it's nice to have company."
Blaire looked into the fire. Jaune waited for her to answer, but found the girl was prone to bouts of silence. She seemed to be pondering something but as he dressed the fish and skewered them to cook, he noticed her gaze was laser-focused on the skewered meat.
'Ah, so that's it,' Jaune grinned to himself.
They sat in silence as the fish cooked. Jaune tried to piece together Blaire's story from her appearance, while she attempted the same. While tending to the fish, Jaune checked on the state of his clothes. When they were sufficiently dry, he excused himself to change.
He had to clean his feet of the dirt he'd gotten on them while walking around barefoot, but once Jaune was fully clothed, from head to toe, Blaire seemed to give him an appraising look.
"You're not from Anima, are you?" she wagered after some time of silence. Jaune looked up at her.
"What gave it away? The accent?"
"You don't tie your sashes like people here do."
Jaune glanced down at the copious sashes that made up the robe-shirt belt. He shrugged.
"I haven't worn these kinds of clothes in a few years. I'm just working off how my Dad tied them last."
Blaire hummed in thought as she glanced at the fish again.
Jaune smirked, "You're drooling."
Immediately Blaire sat straight, ears standing tall as her hand darted to wipe along her chin and found nothing. She shot Jaune a reproachful glare as he chuckled.
"That's not funny."
Jaune held up his hands in apology, but that didn't stop his smile. Blaire pouted. Silence descended to be punctuated with the sharp crackle of the fire as the two glanced about each other awkwardly. Eventually, Jaune decided to break it again.
"So, where are you from?"
Blaire took a moment to respond. "Mom said I shouldn't tell strangers where I live."
"But we're not strangers," Jaune frowned.
Blake gave him a puzzled look. "We literally don't know each other's names. For all I know, you could be a serial killer."
"Well, I'm not a serial killer," Jaune stated.
"That's exactly what a serial killer would say."
"Hey!"
It took Jaune a moment to realize she was joking. Mostly because her lips quirked ever so slightly upwards that if he hadn't attempted to quench the blush that surged through his face at the teasing, Jaune might not have noticed it.
"Well, my Mom says 'Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet'. And we've met, and given each other names. So we can't be strangers, we gave each other names!"
"You mean, I gave you a name, and came up with one myself."
"Same difference!"
Blaire gave him a strange look. "You're weird, for a human boy."
"I know," shrugged Jaune.
Another moment of awkward silence passed before Jaune motioned for her to take the fish - they were pretty much done at that point. Now chewing much slowly (Jaune supposed she wasn't as hungry anymore after the first four, but still devoured the additional fish with relish), Blaire asked him, "So what are you doing out here anyways?"
Jaune paused to chew and swallow before answering, "I'm traveling to Wind Path to find my Uncle Olivier. I need to deliver a message."
"A message?"
"Yeah, a secret message."
"Really?" Blaire perked up, though still a little skeptical.
"Uh-huh. I have a bunch of papers, and one of them is the message. It's very important that he gets the message. But I have to get to Wind Path quick, or he might leave town."
Blaire frowned. "Wind Path's a long way north of here. That could take days, maybe weeks if you went by foot."
Jaune frowned. "Yeah, I thought I was closer, but now that you mention it… I need to find a village, and get a map. Maybe a horse." His frown deepened. That meant money he didn't have.
"Do you… mind if I come with you?"
Jaune perked at her voice. It was quiet and if not for his exceptionally trained hearing, he might not have caught it. So meek and shy, it didn't seem like the headstrong girl he'd threatened with Stick then offered to catch fish for.
"Why?" he blurted without thinking.
Her ears drooped as she looked away. "That's my business. And you've been nice so far, so…"
Jaune frowned. Was it because of those marks on her arms? She didn't seem to look too much older or younger than him. About his age, he had guessed, give or take a year. So why was she… what horrible thing happened to her?
Jaune huffed, shaking the worry away when she looked at him hopefully. He had to put on a smile. "Sure, you can! But if you think you can just eat all my fish, Fish-Thief, then you have another thing coming!"
"Hey!"
"What[? It's true!" Jaune retorted to her indignant cry.
"Huh, just another example of the human majority insulting the faunus." huffed Blaire. Jaune rolled his eyes
"But I'm not insulting faunus, I'm teasing you." he explained. "And you just happen to be a faunus."
"No one just happens to be faunus!"
"Well of course they do. People are born all the time, and it so happens that some of them are born faunus, and others happen to be born human. This brings us to you: you're just a girl who so happens to be a faunus." Jaune nodded solemnly. His arms were crossed and eyes closed, and Jaune was sure he'd done it like great-uncle Tiberius had. It seemed like the pose for the very wise when they were dispensing wisdom like this.
The faunus' mouth just hung agape in disbelief. "You really are weird."
"Nope, I'm Adrien!" Jaune replied happily. Blaire suppressed a snort of laughter.
"So weird."
-------------------------A Feline Fish Thief-------------------------
They'd set off together after Blaire cleaned up at the river. Unlike most house cats, it didn't seem like Blaire minded the water. Jaune was thus led to believe that her Faunus heritage wasn't modeled after a domestic feline, but then again, he had no idea if all faunus acted like the animals whose traits they had. Violet was a tiger faunus, and she acted rather like a predator at times, but Jaune wasn't sure if that was a stereotype, or just Violet being Violet, like the twins were the twins.
It was confusing, and Jaune decided to ignore it. Blaire seemed a tad touchy about faunus-things while they talked. He could respect that.
After much deliberation, the two set off to the North-East. The river they had eaten by in the morning twisted downstream that way, and by their collective estimate, they were south of the inner sea, and since Wind Path was east of Mistral and by the coast, northeast was a good direction to go. If they encountered a village along the way, they'd find a way to get transportation there quicker.
Apparently Blaire had a bad experience with riding a horse some time ago. Jaune had to reassure her that he'd been riding since he was big enough to fit on a colt's saddle and had ridden with his parents since he was even younger than that. If not a horse, he conceded, then perhaps they could catch a ride with a traveling merchant or trader, and find a way to get to a port where they could quickly make their way to Wind Path.
Of course, this would all take a great deal of time, but Jaune was in a hurry, and with Blaire wanting nothing more than to get out of Hundred Rivers, they made good pace.
Well, as good a pace as Blaire could set, since Jaune's endurance made things like weariness and sore legs a laughing matter. When she had trouble walking, he had to trick her into letting him carry her on his back. Tricking Blaire to let Jaune carry her appeared to entail getting her to think it was her idea (or at least, that she was getting the better deal), and letting her tease him for as long as he carried her.
After some time, this would make Blaire irritable, and Jaune would laugh as she marched ahead of him, declaring she would definitely outpace him. After an hour or two, she'd get tired and demand they rest for a moment, to conserve strength, when Jaune would tease her again, rile her up and get her to ride on his back again.
So they went until late in the evening as they followed the river northeast. Blaire walked alongside Jaune, who was busy listening to the birds and the chatterings of squirrels.
Noting that Jaune seemed distracted, Blaire asked, "What are you looking at?"
"Hmn?" Jaune turned to her.
"What are you looking at?" she repeated.
"I'm not. I'm listening to the birds talking," Jaune explained.
Blair smirked and rolled her eyes. "Sure you are."
"They say there are Grimm a league south of us, moving west. We should be fine for the night once we find a spot to camp."
Blaire was skeptical about this information, but seemed to almost salivate at the thought of more fish. They eventually found a shady spot where they wouldn't be disturbed along the river, and set up. Jaune fashioned a second fishing-spear for the faunus girl as the two waded into the river.
Feet squirming in the muck under the water, Blaire held in her disgust as she peered at the rushing creatures under the water's surface, darting around their ankles and past their toes before slipping away. She didn't know how to hunt fish with the pronged spears, but she was willing to learn.
Naturally, this entailed Jaune needing to catch her before she fell in whenever she slipped in her frustration as the fish twisted past her and around her spear.
"It's all about flow, Blaire," the young warrior explained. "The fish swim along the current. They can move through it, but ultimately they mostly move with the flow. But when they do so, they're fast. So when you thrust the spear into the water, they'll see it, hear it, feel it coming, and they'll slip away."
"Then how?" she pouted.
"Don't strike where they are. Aiming for the fish means you'll go hungry. You have to feel out the flow, see how the fish moves," Jaune lectured, peering into the water as he demonstrated. "Anticipate where it is going to go, then strike where it will be. Strike then and there, and the fish will had swum right into your piercing spear."
His spear dropped into the water and came out with a splash, a silvery fish caught on the spear's prongs.
"Like so."
Blaire set herself in a determined pose, peering hungrily into the water, this time waiting and watching. It took her several tries, but after so many failures, she managed to catch one.
Jaune grinned with her as she laughed and taunted the fish by rubbing her belly. It certainly wasn't very lady-like, as he had assumed from her delicate hands and careful disposition, but it was heartening to see nonetheless.
He didn't hold in his laugh when Blaire pouted at the sight of his seven to her two. Eagerly, he forked four over to her, which seemed to satisfy her some.
The two set up some stones to lay against and Blaire helped gather wood at Jaune's instruction while he dug a small fire-pit. Setting up the fuel and kindling, Jaune brought out another of the ammunition cartridges and broke it open, sprinkling a tiny pinch of the Burn Dust onto the wood like he had done before. As he set it alight, he noticed Blaire's eyes seemed to have hardened at the sight of the fire dust as she leaned over to watch him work. She then quickly glanced at the ammunition, the satchel, the chipped sword Jaune had, and paled, piecing things together..
Jaune frowned. "What's wrong?"
"Where'd you get those bullets. That Dust…?" Blaire questioned, tensing as if to bolt.
"I found them," he answered honestly, concerned. Why as Blaire acting this way? Could it be she recognized the gear? Was… Lords in Heaven forbid, had he been wrong about there not being a survivor?
"I found a campsite yesterday, attacked by Grimm. Couldn't find anyone around that was, well… alive. So I took what I could still use, prayed for their souls, then moved on. Why?"
Blaire was silent, staring into Jaune's eyes, looking for something. Jaune shuffled anxiously over the fire, unnerved by the glare. Eventually, she let out a breath, and looked away.
"Sorry," she whispered. Jaune heard it anyway.
"For what?"
"I… never mind."
Blaire turned to sit as they set up the fish. Night was quickly descending upon them and she huddled by the fire for warmth.
"Were you… there?"
Her eyes shot daggers at Jaune, fury brimming in their depths. The boy jolted at the sense of anger as she snarled, feline ears flat against her head, "I don't want to talk about it."
Hands held up in surrender, Jaune murmured, "Okay, okay. Sorry, I didn't know."
They looked at anywhere but each other, as they waited for the fish to cook. The mood was awkward now as Blaire couldn't stand to look in Jaune's direction, and he kept stealing glances at her to wonder what had actually happened.
Her ears twitched as Jaune clapped his hands together as he finished eating and the boy stood.
"I'm going to the riverside to pray and practice... " he excused himself before grabbing Stick and the chipped sword, and heading to the water. Blaire looked after him curiously as she quietly finished eating her fish.
Stick twirling in hand, Jaune sat at the river bank, watching fish dart through the water as the currents rush and the river lapped at the earth. It carved its way inexorably through, and Jaune marveled at the power of the water. Jaune sat there by the river banks, knowing that the sound of the water would help him calm and center himself to meditate. His legs were crossed, and Jaune began to focus on his breath, circulating internal energy through his body and enter the meditative state.
He felt the solidity of the earth's might beneath him, water's coursing movements and fluid nature, the thrum of the fire in his belly as it burned like an ember ready to set a bonfire ablaze, the wind whistling through his air as the cool touch of air caressed his skin, the sensation of the world fading away as he visualized the tree of life carrying him away from the material, up and through the spiritual realms to the gates of light and shadow, spinning duality professing wisdom and insight into the mysteries as he ascended into the meditative realm of the infinite.
There, Jaune remembered the words of the gods, the prayers exulting their greatness and all-encompassing presence as he recited the songs in the tongue of forgotten peoples, a language whose words and letters helped build the foundation of Heaven. He let them slip from his lips like a whisper, his mind thrumming with the energy found in their holy patterns and sounds, the might of their creation and effect to speak the world into existence, write its laws and order it as thus.
-------------------------A Feline Fish Thief-------------------------
Blaire watched silently, eyes gleaming with interest. She hid behind a tree for her observations, curious as to what the strange human boy could possibly be praying about. Sitting with one's legs crossed and palms open on their lap wasn't the position of prayer for an Oumist. She couldn't help but wonder what it was then that the boy prayed to. Surely it wasn't some demon, for the boy hadn't been unkind to her, and she hoped he wasn't deluded by such foul trickery like in some of the stories she had read or had been recounted to her.
Silver Lady in the skies above, she knew plenty about being persecuted for being different, so perhaps this was something she and her new 'traveling companion' shared. He was surprisingly pleasant for a human boy, and while their kind was still responsible for the oppression of her people in many ways, his kind gesture of forgiving her, err, appreciation of the fish he caught and his sharing of the rest, the walk they shared as they traveled, the chats they had along the way where she was astonished to find he wasn't an illiterate buffoon, and the lesson he had given her in catching fish… She couldn't say for certain, but he was an acquaintance that she felt like she could trust. Like there was just something about him that told her that winning his loyalty would offer her a friend for a lifetime.
Instead, all she could feel now was the uncomfortable feeling of presence, an unexplainable sense of something that just radiated off of Adrien's body. It was as if his body was far more real than the world around him, and at the same time, like he was detached from it. The shattered moon overhead that seemingly illuminated the boy made everything seem even stranger.
The words that she heard him whisper carried an immeasurable weight to them, yet she could not understand their meaning. All she knew was that merely hearing them brought to mind images of rushing brooks and animals frolicking through meadows. Birds soared overhead, and the beat of drums resounded through the air. The world danced and sang to the music of unseen instruments, men and women, human and faunus, young and old, hand in hand as they exulted in the sensations of creation. It was a scene of peace and love for all her people, as the sun and moon danced in the skies above.
She couldn't understand why those strange words she didn't know brought these sensations to mind. It was like a memory of something she had never witnessed, never experienced, yet knew in her heart to be true.
It was dizzying, but altogether entirely forgettable as they washed away like a dream, fading as Adrien's murmured prayers did. She struggled to keep the image in mind, to remember it so she might understand it, yet found them slipping from her grasp.
The prayer's sound drifting with incomparable weight and scattered by the winds, Adrien's hand reached for the chipped sword laid beside him.
He mimed an unsheathing, tossing the imaginary cover away, as Adrien leaped to his feet. The steel seemed to quiver in anticipation in Adrien's hand as he brought the sword up to his eyes. They opened, and she could swear for a moment that they had glowed like a jaguar's eyes in the moonlit night: mirrors that pierced the veil to look upon one's soul.
Then the steel blurred.
Adrien was moving to and fro, the sword flashing in and out, practicing slashes and thrusts, cuts and jabs and even a good deal of unarmed strikes and clinches as the boy seemed to dance. It was enchanting, that the young human could seem like he was dancing to the beat of a song she could not hear no matter how much she strained her ears. Yet she could divine its tune and rhythm solely from the motions of his dance. The sword in his hand seemed less like a weapon and more like a flashy, steel extension of his body, the two melding in harmony as they danced.
He treated the sword tenderly, like a cherished friend, yet used it to create destruction. His swings cut the air and split the wind. The sways of his legs and hips almost felt like the rush of the river, their motions as if the shifting of the ocean, formless and unknowable, yet resolute like a mountain standing fast against a storm. Flashing steel melded with thunderous fists, palms and joints that carried immense force as they thrust and spun, kicks thrown swift as shadows.
The chipped sword was at times rigid and sliced with tremendous force as if it were ten times as heavy, yet also demonstrated unforeseen flexibility as the boy's hand waved the sword, and the faint presence of light lined the edge that coiled and darted like a snake, flashing left and right, almost as if it were a rope that was whipped about. The sword darted forward, and she couldn't possibly understand how it was that Adrien made it seem like the steel's reach was so vast that it felt almost like the sweeping of a spear. But then it swept inwards, flashing in arcs so quick that it seemed almost like he were wielding several swords at once.
She couldn't contain her amazement as Adrien danced, movements flowing from one to the other without rest, producing countless variations and combinations as he practiced. She gasped as he twisted and turned, sword flashing high as Adrien seemed dance on the air, untethered from the earth.
At that sharp intake of breath, Adrien had whirled, leaping through the air as the sword darted forth and -
Adrien's eyes opened and they widened with shock.
- it stopped inches from her chest.
"Oh Lord of Light, I'm so sorry!" Adrien gasped as Blaire tried to get over the fact that her life had flashed before her eyes.
"I-I, you, that…" she sputtered, trying to find her words, but only failing in the face of the question, 'Who is this kid?!'
"I humbly apologize," he seemed to be bowing now, the blade in his off hand as he did. Then he would straighten just enough to look at her with a terrified expression before bowing again and again. "I completely forgot you were around and when I heard you I just reacted and, well, I uh, sort of reacted and thought you might have been a Grimm or something and, uh, I'm so sorry, did I say I was sorry? Because I really do deeply apologize and -"
Adrien's mouth kept on rambling various apologies as the faunus girl tried to arrange her thoughts.
Eventually, she settled on a question. "What was that?" she gasped.
The boy shrugged. Shrugged! Like it wasn't a big deal. "Prayer and sword-practice… I got a little too into it."
Blaire stared at him, the martial-fighting-genius boy at least feeling the presence to be uncomfortable and ashamed for scaring her half-to-death with a sword lunging towards her, oh by the Pale Moon!
She ended up punching him in the shoulder to stop herself from freaking out. "Don't… scare me like that," the faunus girl hissed through grit teeth bared like fangs, ears flat against her head. He didn't even flinch.
"I said I was sorry. Promise, won't happen again."
"You swear?"
"Pinky swear I won't intentionally scare you again." Adrien held up his pinky and offered it to her. She stared at it.
"Pinky swear?"
"Yeah, back home it's like a really special promise. You just link your pinky-fingers and, uh, shake I suppose. Pinky-swear."
She looked between the finger and the boy's eager face and sighed. "I notice you didn't swear not to scare me, period."
"I don't know if I'll do it by accident…"
The faunus girl pouted, ears flicking outwards as she considered it. Adrien fidgeted in place, much to her amusement, as he was kept waiting. Her father had taught her that trick, though he did it by being really big and tough. She was a girl, and still small, so she had to do it a little differently.
"Alright," she finally conceded, linking her pinky-finger with Adrien's. "Guess that's the best I can hope for." The boy smiled as they shook the intertwined fingers.
"Great! Now let's get out the bed-roll and sleep. I only have the one so we'll have to share…" Adrien was enthusiastic, though his voice trailed off as he started to consider just what he was saying.
Blaire flushed furiously and shoved the boy, regardless of the fact there was a sword in his off-hand. "You - you fiend! Was this your plan all along?"
"What? No!" sputtered Adrien, trying to stop her from stomping away. "I mean it's cold at night and you could get cold if you don't, and, uh, well, we're both like about the same age by my guess, so it should fit the both of us if we don't move around a lot, and it'll keep us warm and stuff…"
Apparently, the boy had a habit of just putting his foot in his mouth when he was embarrassed or caught off guard. She smirked as she realized it made his frightening display of martial prowess earlier a little less terrifying.
"Then I suppose I'll be taking the bed roll, and you can just sleep by the fire," she said as imperiously as possible, putting on the airs of royalty.
Adrien pouted. "That's not fair."
"Well, I'm a lady, and you can't just ask a lady to sleep in the same bedroll as a boy."
This caused Adrien to pause, looking like he'd been struck by lightning. "Oh, Lords, I completely forgot about that… Mom'll kill me if she hears about that…"
Blaire nodded primly as they came back to the fire and Jaune pulled out the bedroll for her before plopping down by the fire to stoke the kindling.
She glared at the bed-roll and her stomach roiled as she recognized it and remembered its last owners' unfortunate fate.
"I washed it. Really, really thoroughly," Adrien seemed to have read her mind. "Cleaned it with a bar of soap I got from that camp, back when I found it. I've got a lot of experience doing laundry, so trust me, it's clean."
The faunus girl frowned at the bedroll. That didn't make her feel better. Not one bit.
A breeze brushed past the camp, rustling through the woods. She shivered as it tickled her relatively bare arms, and her keen eyes and ears reminded her of the dangers inherent to the woods at night. Having Adrien around was a step up from those three thugs who she'd gotten away from when the Grimm attacked.
Sure, he was just about her age (by her guess), and thus not as smart as her because she'd been praised for being very smart for her age. Not to mention she was sure she was brighter than any boy, human or faunus. Plus, that sword-technique was… if it was actually effective and the boy could use it in a fight, then at least she wouldn't have to worry too much about monsters or predators. He'd managed to help her avoid a wild boar back while they were trekking along the river, hadn't he?
"I suppose," she sighed. Blaire crouched and crawled into the bedroll, unable to suppress the flinch and expression of revulsion that came to her face. Adrien seemed to notice, but other than the concerned frown he had, he didn't press for details. That was good. She… she didn't think she was ready to talk about that mess anytime soon.
Shuffling inside until she was comfortable, Blaire yawned and closed her eyes, curling up to sleep. Might as well make the best of a - well, it wasn't really bad per say, but it was odd - odd situation.
"Good night Adrien," she mumbled as she yawned.
"Good night Fish-Thief."
She could hear the smirk. It sounded insufferable. Her arm darted out of the bedroll and snagged a small stone which she chucked in his direction.
There was a slight scuffle as he either was hit by the rock or dodged out of the way, but she was trying to ignore everything and go to bed.
It was a good thing she was a cat faunus, so she heard his correction clearly.
"Good night Blaire."
-------------------------A Feline Fish Thief-------------------------
A/N: This chapter was soooo much easier to write than the last one. I actually had a semi-decent plan in mind before I started, so that was nice. Plus, having another character with which to bounce off of helps out alot, and actually lets me write dialogue, which is a sight more fun than generic montaging and listing out events/actions. And as I'm drawing heavily on the Wuxia genre, actual character interaction is important, though some cliches and tropes are thus a given. But I'd like to think I've got quite a few twists and turns to put on those to make them more 'interesting'.
Also, no you don't get brownie-points for guessing Blaire's real name. It's too easy. You do get an internet cookie if you can spot other references, as well as the ability to name a minor character because I share Jaune's inability to come up with good names. No one has actually done that option yet, though; I'm rather surprised. Most of them are quite obvious.
I guess Goldenrod could be a Star Wars shout out to C-3PO.
- Location
- In my Lair, on my Hoard
*snerk* You know, I'm sorely tempted to take back that internet cookie, because I wasn't actually referencing Superbad - I haven't seen it. But then I looked up a clip, and realized that the fic I actually was trying to reference... had been referencing Superbad.
So kudos to you, @beleester , you caught the reference made by the story I was referencing. Honestly didn't expect that! Dear lord, I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. :lol
Hit me up if you've got an NPC you wanna name.
That gave me enough clues to figure out what you had intended to reference, if anyone's curious: Jaune McLovin.*snerk* You know, I'm sorely tempted to take back that internet cookie, because I wasn't actually referencing Superbad - I haven't seen it. But then I looked up a clip, and realized that the fic I actually was trying to reference... had been referencing Superbad.
Chapter 12: Tarzan and the River
- Location
- In my Lair, on my Hoard
Jaune huddled by the fire to keep watch. The campsite was well located - a fallen tree and the wild growths shielded the site on multiple sides, while the opening led towards the river, allowing him a clear view of anything that might approach from that direction.
He thought about the day he had just had, and the new acquaintance he had made. Hopefully she would be Jaune's friend in the days to come, but for now, she was just a female acquaintance. That was all Jaune would allow himself to assume - he didn't make friends that easily, but he would consider her one until she felt the same. Jaune smiled. She was definitely at the campsite he had found. Good then, that she was still unharmed. Small mercies.
But the chipped sword - or rather, Thirty-Sixth Steel Coward, as he had learned it was nicknamed - had shown him glimpses of its history as he attempted to resonate with the sword. The sword had bent to his will rather quickly, and Jaune was surprised to learn the remarkably plain sword was quite old, and its past users weren't honorable men or women. Truly the nickname "Steel Coward" was apt for an unusual blade whose last user had died a coward and a thief.
It led Jaune to wonder about Blaire, for the sword had belonged to a criminal - that was all it knew - and Blaire had been at the same campsite as such individuals. Not to mention those marks on her arms… had she been a captive?
This led Jaune to some disquiet - he had prayed for their souls to find rest back when he first found that camp. With the revelation that they might have been criminals of a horrendous sort, Jaune wished he could have withdrawn such prayers, and instead prayed that they be judged, such that they might have all their sins laid bear before the heavens and their souls measured for their worth.
Jaune placed some more kindling and tinder on the campfire to keep it going as he settled himself. Since he wasn't going to be lying in the warmth of the bedroll, he might as well make the most of the fact that he would be sitting upright for most of the night. It would simply be more efficient to cultivate his inner energy - trivial things like the cold winds and the darkness were of little consequence to Jaune when he did so.
Surprisingly, cultivation was a lot like personal prayer in many respects. It involved certain breathing patterns ingrained so deeply that Jaune could (and sometimes did) use them in his sleep. The phrases and methods of manipulating energy were like the rote memorization of prayers, carved in the granite walls of the mind so they were never forgotten once fully understood. The motions of the body - particularly the hands to form the mudras - were like those of prayers, though adapted for different circumstances. But rather than moving to tap into the divine, Jaune brought it all in and let it cycle through his form.
His father - his Sifu - had always impressed on Jaune the importance of not being greedy when it came to taking in the energy of the world. Unlike most (or: pretty much all) of his family, Jaune had no affinities. He couldn't draw in focused power to cultivate. So he had to draw everything in. This was supposed to be rather inefficient as only some of it could actually be used, but Jaune made do. Others would only need to cultivate a little near sources of their appropriate elemental affinity for great returns - Jaune was stuck with a lack of talent.
Sure, he had been angry at first to learn that his path to the strength would be longer and more arduous than others who walked similar paths. Strike that, Jaune had been furious, and rightly so. But after some days and the meditation his father had forced him to do, Jaune was led to the conclusion that perhaps this was okay. The gods would certainly smile on him one day, should Jaune work hard and make do with his few meager talents. His father had constantly reminded Jaune of that. His talent wasn't good, and his potential was mediocre. The path would not be easy, unless he fell to depravity and a baneful existence with forbidden or corrupt methods - the sort that typically invited in the demons.
Jaune had no desire to fall to such sinful depravity, nor become an Anathema. If he allowed a demon to slay him and take his skin, how could he face his ancestors?
Thus Jaune utilized the 'painfully slow' Heaven-Earth methods. It worked surprisingly well for him, but it always felt like his methods were lacking.
The young hero felt the world around him fade away. His body and mind ascended through the tree of life, and paused before truly entering the realm of thought. Idly Jaune turned to glance upon the cultivation of his power, and noted with some measure of pride that his foundation was continuing to build, stronger and stronger. It had no shape, formless in nature, but malleable enough that he could later draw upon it into any shape he desired. His efforts were starting to bear fruit, though not to the level that it could not be further developed.
Jaune noted that the energy flowing through was being filtered through his meditations and breathe, drawn deep into the soul and sent through the meridians to vitalize his body. His soul's foundation and the energy he had gathered were continuing to build to levels that would amaze anyone other than Jaune, and his body was strengthened and promised to grow as Jaune aged into maturity. The chakras were thrumming with energy, and the lotus gates each hummed their own unique note that resonated with the cosmic.
Good. All was as it should be.
Jaune paused, his physical body frowning as he noticed something intriguing about the energy being filtered in to bolster his foundation.
Or not. What was that?
Jaune extended his senses, peering out to follow the flow back to it's source, and understand what was happening. Some of the energy was attempting to rebel, as if it did not wish to be drawn in and converted to feed Jaune. This wasn't too concerning, but it certainly was odd because that usually only happened with beings of living will.
And this energy that attempted to rebel came from the river nearby.
Jaune reached out to prod the energy flowing from the river, expecting it to submit and play nice like every other source of energy did when he drew from them to cultivate. But instead Jaune metaphysically leaned back when the river jolted at his touch.
Jaune paused and looked at the energy again. It was rather powerful - as expected of a river so mighty - but he was curious as to what would happen if he did again. So he extended his own energy and prodded it again. Another jolt. After several minutes of staring at it to see if it would happen once more, Jaune prodded it a third time. This caused an immediate reaction as the energy began to draw back and away from Jaune's cultivation, much to the boy's surprise. The flowing energy began to stagnate and shift, swirling counter to what Jaune expected as he was unsure of how to react as the water's energy appeared to come alive before him.
It formed a figure that could vaguely be called humanoid. It seemed to be masculine to a certain point, but it was hard to ascribe details meant for humans when the being appeared to have fish scales in place of skin in places, and other times was clothed in flowing fabric that shifted like a stream. Smooth, wet stones adorned what was likely its hips as a belt that was held together with fish-bones, together holding a cudgel that appeared to be made of flowing water and river-silt. Its hair was plastered against it's head, soaking wet, and it didn't have a nose. A fishbone comb seemed to be trying and failing to keep its hair in an orderly fashion. Water dripped from its mouth as it yawned and smacked it's lipless lips. From the scaled ridge of its brows came long tendrils that hung to frame its face and hair, with four eyes that were solid orbs that swirled with the colors of the water. Its arms had fins along their lengths, and webs between bulbous fingers like a frog's. Underneath it's waist and belt of river-stones coiled an enormous serpentine tail adorned with pale scales and several ridged fins every now and then, capped with a tail-fin that trailed tendrils.
Jaune gaped at the sight, and was a little off guard when the entity seemed to blink before stretching a little as if waking from a deep slumber. Then it winced with a gurgle of water escaping its lips.
"Yaogin's teats, this hangover is awful," it groaned, rubbing its head as water bubbled and fell from its mouth as it spoke. It didn't seem to have noticed Jaune yet, just grumbling to itself about something prodding it awake.
"Um, sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you," Jaune apologized, unsure of what it was he was apologizing to in the first place. Was this… was this an elemental? He didn't think they actually talked like people. The stories spoke of elementals being called by sorcerers to do their bidding, but the practice had been… well, not very well used of late. Mostly because it was difficult to call one up and they were only as smart as the person who called them up.
And they certainly never had hangovers.
The 'elemental' seemed to glance at Jaune, and blinked. This was a motion that was a little unnerving for Jaune as it essentially entailed the 'elemental's eye-orbs flowing out of its sockets like normal water just as new ones reformed from apparent nothingness. This was likely due to the elemental not having eye-lids.
"Aw, yup, hallucinating, I am. Which of those blokes spiked my drink?" the 'elemental' moaned ponderously, shaking its head such that the water sprayed. It held its head in its hands as it tried massaging its temples to relieve a headache. "Unless it's actually real… are you real?"
"Well, I think I'm real."
"Of course you do." The 'elemental' seemed to sigh, water gushing from its mouth as it looked Jaune over.
"I'm sorry if I disturbed you, I was only trying to cultivate nearby, and noticed something odd when I was cultivating from the river energy. I might have woken you by accident when I was investigating why…" Jaune explained shyly.
The 'elemental' seemed to have its water-orb-eyes swirl like whirlpools before their settled back to their normal flowing. Jaune assumed this was its way of rolling its eyes.
"Figures, you're one of those…" it grumbled irritably, tail flopping. "What a pain. Well, next time you cultivate what doesn't want to be cultivated, leave 'em be, you here? Might have a hangover that makes 'em want to eat your head."
"You want to eat my head?" Jaune was horrified, and readying to flee.
"Well, no…" it admitted, before groaning again. "I want to eat my own head, this hangover is terrible... "
"Oh, well, I'll let you get back to your sleep then," Jaune started to draw back before remembering something. "But first, do you happen to know the nearest town from this river?"
It lolled it's head back. "Follow the current to the north-east, and there'll be a waterfall. Go down and there should be a monastery somewhere there," the 'elemental' answered and flopped its tail again as it seemed to roll with a shrug.
"Thank you," Jaune half-bowed, right fist in an open left palm. It wasn't a very detailed answer, but it gave Jaune some measure of hope to be out of this wilderness and on their way. "I'll be on my way, and try not to disturb you further."
The 'elemental' just waved its hand dismissively, reminding Jaune that it didn't actually have real bones before dissolving back into the river's water energy. Jaune pulled back and returned to his cultivation, this time making sure not to disturb the river with his cultivation.
Well, this was a story no one would ever believe. He'd accidentally woken up and talked to a water elemental with a hangover!
Jaune noted that the energy flowing through was being filtered through his meditations and breathe, drawn deep into the soul and sent through the meridians to vitalize his body. His soul's foundation and the energy he had gathered were continuing to build to levels that would amaze anyone other than Jaune, and his body was strengthened and promised to grow as Jaune aged into maturity. The chakras were thrumming with energy, and the lotus gates each hummed their own unique note that resonated with the cosmic.
Good. All was as it should be.
Jaune paused, his physical body frowning as he noticed something intriguing about the energy being filtered in to bolster his foundation.
Or not. What was that?
Jaune extended his senses, peering out to follow the flow back to it's source, and understand what was happening. Some of the energy was attempting to rebel, as if it did not wish to be drawn in and converted to feed Jaune. This wasn't too concerning, but it certainly was odd because that usually only happened with beings of living will.
And this energy that attempted to rebel came from the river nearby.
Jaune reached out to prod the energy flowing from the river, expecting it to submit and play nice like every other source of energy did when he drew from them to cultivate. But instead Jaune metaphysically leaned back when the river jolted at his touch.
Jaune paused and looked at the energy again. It was rather powerful - as expected of a river so mighty - but he was curious as to what would happen if he did again. So he extended his own energy and prodded it again. Another jolt. After several minutes of staring at it to see if it would happen once more, Jaune prodded it a third time. This caused an immediate reaction as the energy began to draw back and away from Jaune's cultivation, much to the boy's surprise. The flowing energy began to stagnate and shift, swirling counter to what Jaune expected as he was unsure of how to react as the water's energy appeared to come alive before him.
It formed a figure that could vaguely be called humanoid. It seemed to be masculine to a certain point, but it was hard to ascribe details meant for humans when the being appeared to have fish scales in place of skin in places, and other times was clothed in flowing fabric that shifted like a stream. Smooth, wet stones adorned what was likely its hips as a belt that was held together with fish-bones, together holding a cudgel that appeared to be made of flowing water and river-silt. Its hair was plastered against it's head, soaking wet, and it didn't have a nose. A fishbone comb seemed to be trying and failing to keep its hair in an orderly fashion. Water dripped from its mouth as it yawned and smacked it's lipless lips. From the scaled ridge of its brows came long tendrils that hung to frame its face and hair, with four eyes that were solid orbs that swirled with the colors of the water. Its arms had fins along their lengths, and webs between bulbous fingers like a frog's. Underneath it's waist and belt of river-stones coiled an enormous serpentine tail adorned with pale scales and several ridged fins every now and then, capped with a tail-fin that trailed tendrils.
Jaune gaped at the sight, and was a little off guard when the entity seemed to blink before stretching a little as if waking from a deep slumber. Then it winced with a gurgle of water escaping its lips.
"Yaogin's teats, this hangover is awful," it groaned, rubbing its head as water bubbled and fell from its mouth as it spoke. It didn't seem to have noticed Jaune yet, just grumbling to itself about something prodding it awake.
"Um, sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you," Jaune apologized, unsure of what it was he was apologizing to in the first place. Was this… was this an elemental? He didn't think they actually talked like people. The stories spoke of elementals being called by sorcerers to do their bidding, but the practice had been… well, not very well used of late. Mostly because it was difficult to call one up and they were only as smart as the person who called them up.
And they certainly never had hangovers.
The 'elemental' seemed to glance at Jaune, and blinked. This was a motion that was a little unnerving for Jaune as it essentially entailed the 'elemental's eye-orbs flowing out of its sockets like normal water just as new ones reformed from apparent nothingness. This was likely due to the elemental not having eye-lids.
"Aw, yup, hallucinating, I am. Which of those blokes spiked my drink?" the 'elemental' moaned ponderously, shaking its head such that the water sprayed. It held its head in its hands as it tried massaging its temples to relieve a headache. "Unless it's actually real… are you real?"
"Well, I think I'm real."
"Of course you do." The 'elemental' seemed to sigh, water gushing from its mouth as it looked Jaune over.
"I'm sorry if I disturbed you, I was only trying to cultivate nearby, and noticed something odd when I was cultivating from the river energy. I might have woken you by accident when I was investigating why…" Jaune explained shyly.
The 'elemental' seemed to have its water-orb-eyes swirl like whirlpools before their settled back to their normal flowing. Jaune assumed this was its way of rolling its eyes.
"Figures, you're one of those…" it grumbled irritably, tail flopping. "What a pain. Well, next time you cultivate what doesn't want to be cultivated, leave 'em be, you here? Might have a hangover that makes 'em want to eat your head."
"You want to eat my head?" Jaune was horrified, and readying to flee.
"Well, no…" it admitted, before groaning again. "I want to eat my own head, this hangover is terrible... "
"Oh, well, I'll let you get back to your sleep then," Jaune started to draw back before remembering something. "But first, do you happen to know the nearest town from this river?"
It lolled it's head back. "Follow the current to the north-east, and there'll be a waterfall. Go down and there should be a monastery somewhere there," the 'elemental' answered and flopped its tail again as it seemed to roll with a shrug.
"Thank you," Jaune half-bowed, right fist in an open left palm. It wasn't a very detailed answer, but it gave Jaune some measure of hope to be out of this wilderness and on their way. "I'll be on my way, and try not to disturb you further."
The 'elemental' just waved its hand dismissively, reminding Jaune that it didn't actually have real bones before dissolving back into the river's water energy. Jaune pulled back and returned to his cultivation, this time making sure not to disturb the river with his cultivation.
Well, this was a story no one would ever believe. He'd accidentally woken up and talked to a water elemental with a hangover!
-------------------------Tarzan and the River-------------------------
When Blaire blearily opened her eyes, she awoke to the scent of fish cooking over the fire. It didn't take her long to fully wake up and scramble out of the bedroll.
"How long?"
"Hmn?" Adrien looked up at her, as if finally noticing she was awake. Blaire glanced at the boy, noticing he hadn't just been tending to them, but also preparing some greens and browns in a makeshift bowl filled with water.
"Until the fish are ready."
"Ah," he nodded. "Not too long. I also dug up some tubers and roots, make something so we're not eating fish all the time. It's not healthy."
Blaire glared at the boy. There was nothing wrong with having fish often. In fact, she'd prefer that. It wasn't realistic, but a girl could have dreams, couldn't she?
Though it wouldn't hurt to have seasoning too… maybe some noodles…
Oh darn, the boy was right, having fish constantly would drive her insane.
But was that such a bad thing?
Blaire sat by the boy on the ground by the fire. He was seated with crossed legs, hers were drawn up to her chest. She looked him over, a little curious as to how he had fared over the night.
Strangely enough, he seemed rather well. She was sure he had fallen asleep after her, simply because she could hear the crackle of the campfire and his breathing as it lulled her to sleep. And he was clearly up early enough to have searched for food and caught fish, but the sun didn't seem to have been up for very long. And yet the boy didn't even seem that tired, not even after all the exertion of the day before.
It was impossible not to marvel at the scenario, and Blaire watched the boy as he worked. No circles 'round his eyes, no sluggishness or fatigue in his motions. His countenance was calm, and unperturbed by camping in the woods. Not to mention that the bowl seemed to have been carved from wood - an item she was sure the boy hadn't had the day before.
Did the boy even sleep?
She told herself he did - everyone needed to sleep. She must have just overslept and the boy was a light sleeper or the like.
A stray thought made her wonder whether Adrien had done anything strange while she slept. Immediately she had to fight the blush at the path that line of thought would lead, shaking her head lightly to dislodge the idea from her head.
"Are you okay?"
The flush returned in full force as she noticed Adrien was looking at her, apparently concerned. She shook her head. "No, just… it's nothing."
Adrien nodded, slightly frowning but letting it slide.
"Here." The bowl was proffered to her, and she took it in both hands, staring into the cooked plants floating in the water of the makeshift soup.
"I don't have salt for the taste, but that should give you some strength for today. We've got to keep moving," Adrien went back to putting kindling on the fire, making sure it wasn't bright enough to draw attention, nor causing too much smoke. It was a dusky scent, leading Blaire to crinkle her nose.
"Thanks," she sipped at the soup before making a face. It didn't taste very good, but she drank it anyways. Adrien had gone to the trouble of making her food - it would be remiss of her to turn down such a generous offer. Especially since it was a boy around her own age. The boy seemed to give her a sad smile whenever he saw her grimace, knowing fully well it tasted poorly.
"How old are you anyways?" Blaire inquired. She didn't think she had asked that before.
"Nine," Adrien seemed to grin proudly, "and-a-half."
Blaire hummed as she ate. She was nine as well. Fortuitous, but she couldn't help but pout when he tacked on the "and-a-half". Boys liked being older than others. She couldn't really explain why - they just did.
"How about you?"
Blaire glared balefully at Adrien. The boy's eyes widened and he turned away.
"Right, forgot. Should have thought better than that," he said quickly.
She relented her irritation in agreement, going back to her food. Once done, she passed the bowl over to the boy who just set it aside.
"Now?"
"Yeah, might as well."
They ate fish. Like always, it was delicious.
"How long?"
"Hmn?" Adrien looked up at her, as if finally noticing she was awake. Blaire glanced at the boy, noticing he hadn't just been tending to them, but also preparing some greens and browns in a makeshift bowl filled with water.
"Until the fish are ready."
"Ah," he nodded. "Not too long. I also dug up some tubers and roots, make something so we're not eating fish all the time. It's not healthy."
Blaire glared at the boy. There was nothing wrong with having fish often. In fact, she'd prefer that. It wasn't realistic, but a girl could have dreams, couldn't she?
Though it wouldn't hurt to have seasoning too… maybe some noodles…
Oh darn, the boy was right, having fish constantly would drive her insane.
But was that such a bad thing?
Blaire sat by the boy on the ground by the fire. He was seated with crossed legs, hers were drawn up to her chest. She looked him over, a little curious as to how he had fared over the night.
Strangely enough, he seemed rather well. She was sure he had fallen asleep after her, simply because she could hear the crackle of the campfire and his breathing as it lulled her to sleep. And he was clearly up early enough to have searched for food and caught fish, but the sun didn't seem to have been up for very long. And yet the boy didn't even seem that tired, not even after all the exertion of the day before.
It was impossible not to marvel at the scenario, and Blaire watched the boy as he worked. No circles 'round his eyes, no sluggishness or fatigue in his motions. His countenance was calm, and unperturbed by camping in the woods. Not to mention that the bowl seemed to have been carved from wood - an item she was sure the boy hadn't had the day before.
Did the boy even sleep?
She told herself he did - everyone needed to sleep. She must have just overslept and the boy was a light sleeper or the like.
A stray thought made her wonder whether Adrien had done anything strange while she slept. Immediately she had to fight the blush at the path that line of thought would lead, shaking her head lightly to dislodge the idea from her head.
"Are you okay?"
The flush returned in full force as she noticed Adrien was looking at her, apparently concerned. She shook her head. "No, just… it's nothing."
Adrien nodded, slightly frowning but letting it slide.
"Here." The bowl was proffered to her, and she took it in both hands, staring into the cooked plants floating in the water of the makeshift soup.
"I don't have salt for the taste, but that should give you some strength for today. We've got to keep moving," Adrien went back to putting kindling on the fire, making sure it wasn't bright enough to draw attention, nor causing too much smoke. It was a dusky scent, leading Blaire to crinkle her nose.
"Thanks," she sipped at the soup before making a face. It didn't taste very good, but she drank it anyways. Adrien had gone to the trouble of making her food - it would be remiss of her to turn down such a generous offer. Especially since it was a boy around her own age. The boy seemed to give her a sad smile whenever he saw her grimace, knowing fully well it tasted poorly.
"How old are you anyways?" Blaire inquired. She didn't think she had asked that before.
"Nine," Adrien seemed to grin proudly, "and-a-half."
Blaire hummed as she ate. She was nine as well. Fortuitous, but she couldn't help but pout when he tacked on the "and-a-half". Boys liked being older than others. She couldn't really explain why - they just did.
"How about you?"
Blaire glared balefully at Adrien. The boy's eyes widened and he turned away.
"Right, forgot. Should have thought better than that," he said quickly.
She relented her irritation in agreement, going back to her food. Once done, she passed the bowl over to the boy who just set it aside.
"Now?"
"Yeah, might as well."
They ate fish. Like always, it was delicious.
-------------------------Tarzan and the River-------------------------
"Hey, Adrien," Blaire broke the companionable silence as they walked alongside the ever-more turbulent waterfall. The boy had been foraging as they walked, unhindered by the distraction. Blaire used the staff, Stick (she couldn't really understand Adrien's naming sense), as a walking-stick to help her as they hiked, having argued with Adrien to carry at least some of their supplies. The sword, apparently named Thirty-Sixth Steel Coward (again, with the weird names), stayed with Adrien who appeared to actually know how to use the weapon. "It sounds like there's a waterfall ahead."
Adrien turned to her and nodded. "I know. The river's surface is rater unstable and is flowing quickly. We should see the falls soon."
Blaire looked at the water thoughtfully, before following Adrien. They had stuck to following the water's edge, but given a lack of beach and the steepness of the earth just before the water, the pair had kept a few meters of gap. This meant Adrien was able to poke around through the flora and find things for them to eat as they walked, while she used Stick to navigate the rough terrain.
She huffed at how Adrien seemed to make this all look so easy. Navigating this rocky landscape was no easy task, yet he appeared as if he were simply taking a stroll! How enviable.
"Well, if there's a waterfall, what can we do then? I don't think we can follow this river then, even if it is heading in the right direction."
Adrien paused, looking thoughtful. "I suppose we'll only know when we get there," he shrugged after a moment, taking a sip from the bamboo tube of water he had with him.
Blaire sighed as they continued walking.
Much as Adrien had guessed, the waterfall came within sight within the hour. The river went right up to the edge of a cliff before cascading over the edge, spilling thousands of liters a second as it emptied into open air. She and Adrien clambered over the outcroppings to get a better look at the falls, noting how the edge seemed to curve ever so slightly as the water rushed.
The waterfall itself appeared to be falling from a small trench jutting lightly over the cliff face that had formed from erosion over the course of countless years. The falls themselves appeared to be roughly eighty meters in height and crashed thunderously into a large pool below them, from which a few boulders stuck out. The cliff itself was overgrown with vines and creepers, as well as other plants that thrived on the edges of such walls. The cliff face rock around the fall was bedecked in green mosses, and trees appeared to grow from the sides of the rockwall flanking the waterfall. A lone boulder appeared to jut from the side of the falls at the very top, from which a massive tree grew, as if to top the entire falls with its majesty. The tree appeared to be a cherry in full bloom: a strange sight in the autumn season.
Blaire peered along the cliff's edge, noticing it swept wide and that any way of getting down would require perhaps a day more of hiking, just to sweep around the cliff's edge till where it began to trail off into more wilderness.
Pouting at this, she glanced at Adrien, but he seemed to be captivated by something in the woods past the waterfall's pool. Frowning, she followed his gaze into the dense trees. When Blaire noticed exactly what had caught his attention, she gasped.
Most of the trees by the pool were normal, but shortly past that was a sea of pink. Thousands upon thousands of cherry trees in full bloom, their beautiful pink blossoms on display. It was as if a painter had decided to craft a forest, and only had the dark grey for the branches, and buckets of pink paint and decided that the entire forest would be clad in the bright color. Not even that, it appeared as they moved, the pink tones shifting ever so slightly to an unseen wind from this height.
And sprouting from the sea of pink blossoms appeared to be the roofs of some manner of building. In the style of the old inhabitants of Anima, with upturned roofs whose shingles were a bright and cheery red, that sprouted as pagodas from the tops of the cherry trees, with walls of white and long pillars and ornamentation in dark cherry wood.
A building!
Civilization!
People!
""We need to get down there,"' the two said in unison. They glanced at each other, before nodding.
Blaire frowned as she looked at the waterfall, the pool, and the sea of pink beyond. "But how? We can't climb down, and hiking along the cliff would take forever. And we wouldn't survive that jump."
She gave Adrien a look when he barked a laugh at her last remark. What was so funny about that? Surely he didn't think they could survive such a fall. It was maybe eighty meters, and unlike the movies, jumping into water doesn't mean one will survive a fall. She knew better than that - the water could be as hard as rock if you fell into it wrong, and the higher one fell from, the harder you would it it.
"Well… do you know how to rock climb?" Adrien asked.
Blaire frowned and shook her head. Despite living so close to a jungle and some small mountains, her family hadn't allowed her out in the wilds too much - hiking was all she had ever done before, and even that had been on pre-made trails for recreation. That too while under the careful supervision of adults like her parents, relatives, or friends of her parents. Free-climbing a cliff, especially a descent, without proper tools? That was impossible for her.
Adrien hummed in response. He seemed to be peering over the edge, before glancing back at the falls and the line of the cliff as well. She could almost hear the wheels turning in his head, gears clicking into place and turning to come up with an idea.
She wasn't sure she liked the look in Adrien's eyes when he said, "I think I have an idea."
"What idea?" she asked, ears flattened suspiciously.
"You're not going to like it."
"I think I'll be the judge of that," she hedged.
"I'm going to tie you to me, and then I'll get us down."
Blaire face faulted. "That's a terrible idea!"
"You don't know how to rock-climb, and hiking down there will take too long," explained Adrien. "But I do know how to rock-climb and how to get down there without breaking our legs."
"With no tools? No climbing gear?" Blaire tried to get Adrien to see reason.
"I've done it before," deadpanned Adrien, completely nonplussed about the situation.
Blaire gaped. "You've done it before. You've descended from a cliff by a waterfall while tied to another person, without any climbing gear or dedicated equipment, while we're carrying everything we've been carrying."
Adrien frowned. "Well, not a person…"
Blaire momentarily brightened, cat ears perked.
"... but you look a lot lighter than a 4-cylinder engine block, so the only other difference is that you can fidget and talk."
Her palm met her face with alacrity.
After a moment of praying to the heavens, she squared herself resolutely and state, "No, that is a stupid idea. I am not going to just tie myself to you, and nothing you say can change my mind."
Adrien turned to her and nodded. "I know. The river's surface is rater unstable and is flowing quickly. We should see the falls soon."
Blaire looked at the water thoughtfully, before following Adrien. They had stuck to following the water's edge, but given a lack of beach and the steepness of the earth just before the water, the pair had kept a few meters of gap. This meant Adrien was able to poke around through the flora and find things for them to eat as they walked, while she used Stick to navigate the rough terrain.
She huffed at how Adrien seemed to make this all look so easy. Navigating this rocky landscape was no easy task, yet he appeared as if he were simply taking a stroll! How enviable.
"Well, if there's a waterfall, what can we do then? I don't think we can follow this river then, even if it is heading in the right direction."
Adrien paused, looking thoughtful. "I suppose we'll only know when we get there," he shrugged after a moment, taking a sip from the bamboo tube of water he had with him.
Blaire sighed as they continued walking.
Much as Adrien had guessed, the waterfall came within sight within the hour. The river went right up to the edge of a cliff before cascading over the edge, spilling thousands of liters a second as it emptied into open air. She and Adrien clambered over the outcroppings to get a better look at the falls, noting how the edge seemed to curve ever so slightly as the water rushed.
The waterfall itself appeared to be falling from a small trench jutting lightly over the cliff face that had formed from erosion over the course of countless years. The falls themselves appeared to be roughly eighty meters in height and crashed thunderously into a large pool below them, from which a few boulders stuck out. The cliff itself was overgrown with vines and creepers, as well as other plants that thrived on the edges of such walls. The cliff face rock around the fall was bedecked in green mosses, and trees appeared to grow from the sides of the rockwall flanking the waterfall. A lone boulder appeared to jut from the side of the falls at the very top, from which a massive tree grew, as if to top the entire falls with its majesty. The tree appeared to be a cherry in full bloom: a strange sight in the autumn season.
Blaire peered along the cliff's edge, noticing it swept wide and that any way of getting down would require perhaps a day more of hiking, just to sweep around the cliff's edge till where it began to trail off into more wilderness.
Pouting at this, she glanced at Adrien, but he seemed to be captivated by something in the woods past the waterfall's pool. Frowning, she followed his gaze into the dense trees. When Blaire noticed exactly what had caught his attention, she gasped.
Most of the trees by the pool were normal, but shortly past that was a sea of pink. Thousands upon thousands of cherry trees in full bloom, their beautiful pink blossoms on display. It was as if a painter had decided to craft a forest, and only had the dark grey for the branches, and buckets of pink paint and decided that the entire forest would be clad in the bright color. Not even that, it appeared as they moved, the pink tones shifting ever so slightly to an unseen wind from this height.
And sprouting from the sea of pink blossoms appeared to be the roofs of some manner of building. In the style of the old inhabitants of Anima, with upturned roofs whose shingles were a bright and cheery red, that sprouted as pagodas from the tops of the cherry trees, with walls of white and long pillars and ornamentation in dark cherry wood.
A building!
Civilization!
People!
""We need to get down there,"' the two said in unison. They glanced at each other, before nodding.
Blaire frowned as she looked at the waterfall, the pool, and the sea of pink beyond. "But how? We can't climb down, and hiking along the cliff would take forever. And we wouldn't survive that jump."
She gave Adrien a look when he barked a laugh at her last remark. What was so funny about that? Surely he didn't think they could survive such a fall. It was maybe eighty meters, and unlike the movies, jumping into water doesn't mean one will survive a fall. She knew better than that - the water could be as hard as rock if you fell into it wrong, and the higher one fell from, the harder you would it it.
"Well… do you know how to rock climb?" Adrien asked.
Blaire frowned and shook her head. Despite living so close to a jungle and some small mountains, her family hadn't allowed her out in the wilds too much - hiking was all she had ever done before, and even that had been on pre-made trails for recreation. That too while under the careful supervision of adults like her parents, relatives, or friends of her parents. Free-climbing a cliff, especially a descent, without proper tools? That was impossible for her.
Adrien hummed in response. He seemed to be peering over the edge, before glancing back at the falls and the line of the cliff as well. She could almost hear the wheels turning in his head, gears clicking into place and turning to come up with an idea.
She wasn't sure she liked the look in Adrien's eyes when he said, "I think I have an idea."
"What idea?" she asked, ears flattened suspiciously.
"You're not going to like it."
"I think I'll be the judge of that," she hedged.
"I'm going to tie you to me, and then I'll get us down."
Blaire face faulted. "That's a terrible idea!"
"You don't know how to rock-climb, and hiking down there will take too long," explained Adrien. "But I do know how to rock-climb and how to get down there without breaking our legs."
"With no tools? No climbing gear?" Blaire tried to get Adrien to see reason.
"I've done it before," deadpanned Adrien, completely nonplussed about the situation.
Blaire gaped. "You've done it before. You've descended from a cliff by a waterfall while tied to another person, without any climbing gear or dedicated equipment, while we're carrying everything we've been carrying."
Adrien frowned. "Well, not a person…"
Blaire momentarily brightened, cat ears perked.
"... but you look a lot lighter than a 4-cylinder engine block, so the only other difference is that you can fidget and talk."
Her palm met her face with alacrity.
After a moment of praying to the heavens, she squared herself resolutely and state, "No, that is a stupid idea. I am not going to just tie myself to you, and nothing you say can change my mind."
-------------------------Tarzan and the River-------------------------
"How did I let you talk me into this?" Blaire moaned as Jaune continued with his knots. She had climbed onto his back, arms around his chest, her legs wrapped about his hips. The faunus girl was securely lashed to his body with four strands of rope and Jaune made sure the knots wouldn't slip, yet would easily release once they were down the cliff. She was very uncomfortable with the idea of being tied up and bound to Jaune, but had eventually relented to its necessity - she didn't want to slip off him while they descended. Blaire wore the traveling satchel and Stick had been tied up with the bedroll to her, while Jaune had Thirty-Sixth Steel Coward at his hip, and the dagger tied to his opposite thigh, just in case.
"I dunno," he had to avoid shrugging too much in case it disturbed Blaire too much. "I just talked, you talked, at this point, we're going down and should be at those buildings before nightfall."
At current, he was busying himself with the creepers and vines he had drawn from reaching out over the cliff-face in order to fashion more secure ropes. He fastened them to an old maple that somewhat jutted over the cliff's edge, preparing for their descent. Jaune also had a few stones tucked away that he had quickly chiseled into edges sharp enough to cut the ropes, which he assured Blaire were just a precaution.
In truth, he had only made enough rope for roughly 40 meters - half the height of the cliff face. He didn't let this onto Blaire because she would never have let him use his ridiculous circular logic to convince her that this was a good idea. Especially because he hadn't told her his actual plan.
Which was to swing off the cliff and then jump.
It was remarkably simple, and Blaire would have never gone for it.
"Ugh, just get this over with," she mumbled into his shoulder, burying her face into his back and neck. Her breath kind of tickled as it brushed past the skin of his neck and caressed his ear..
"Aye aye, miss," he mock-saluted which earned him a half-hearted swat - Blaire's hands were rather restrained so she didn't move around too much. And so she didn't start flailing about when she cottoned to his actual plan.
Jaune wrapped the vines about his wrist for a more secure grip as he tested its strength. Seemed good enough. He smiled as he walked with ease, despite the weight, to the edge of the cliff and moved along it, gauging the distance by sight alone.
"Oh heavens," Blaire seemed to be mumbling from behind him. Jaune suspected she had clamped her eyes tight, just so she didn't have to see the dizzying heights. His heart went out to her - once upon a time, he too had thought such heights were fearsome.
Funny, what his father's training had conditioned him for.
"One for the money, two for the show," Jaune sang as he rocked on his heels, readying to leap off. Blaire tensed behind him. He grinned.
"Three to make ready," he sang as he raced back into the forest once more, much to Blaire's confusion, before spinning on his heel and sprinting for the edge.
"And away we go!"
The ground might have cracked as Jaune leaped from the cliff, shooting into the air to the cacophony of the boy's booming laughter and the girl's shrieks.
Caught weightless on the wind from his leaps, Jaune waited for the vine-rope to tense before twisting in midair, as the screaming pair swung in an arc towards the cliff face. Jaune relished in the rush of air through his air as he spun along an axis and allowed the motion to direct energy and Aura into his legs. With a shout, Jaune thrusted his foot in a mighty breaking-kick, explosive power impacting empty air to change the direction of their swing to move along the cliff face rather than at it.
With a laughing holler, Jaune glanced behind him to see Blaire's eyes wide and shrieking… and was that the faint hint of a smile on those wailing lips? Well, what do you know? Jaune roared with laughter as they shot into the air before falling along the arc again.
As they fell, Jaune waited for the right moment before jerking down on the vine-rope. The sharpened stones had just been a distraction for making sure the cliff-edge where the rope would be rubbing against was sharper than normal - a ruse to mislead Blaire. So when Jaune pulled and twisted, the vine-rope snapped under the stress of his mighty jerk, sending them into free fall.
The pair screamed - partly in terror, partly in exhilaration - as they fell, the water below speeding towards them and promising a painful splash. But once they were roughly 30 meters up, Jaune spun in midair while they fell, whipping the vine rope out into the green trees that crowded the pool. With a subtle twist of his wrists (something he'd observed from Violet's training in the past), he caught the vine rope on the top of a particularly tall tree a few meters past the water line.
Feeling confident it was secured, he pulled hard on the vine-rope, sending them flying towards the tree-top. Once again it was difficult to tell whether their shrieks came from terror or thrill, but shriek they did while sailing towards the green trunk of the tree.
Jaune had already put his feet up and in the way, tensing as his feet impacted the bark and the arboreal landing-pad groaned and bent under the force of their flight. His legs bent and tensed under them as Jaune felt the tree bend and curve before it's supple trunk decided enough was enough and tried to straighten itself out again.
Exhaling sharply, Jaune used the spring-back of the tree to launch off the tree tops, chest to the sky above. His arms spread wide like he was a bird flying upside down, much to Blaire's amusement/dismay.
As they fell over the pool, Jaune continued the motion into a backflip, focusing his energy into keeping his balance and aim while preparing his legs for the landing. He aimed for a particularly prominent boulder near the center of the large pool at the waterfall's base that protruded from the water's surface. Completing the flip, Jaune landed on both feet in a low crouch, Aura partly cushioning the landing as he cycled the energy through, air rushing from underneath him as the two landed with but the whisper of a fallen feather alighting upon the ground. His arms were wide and swept out like the spread wings of a bird.
"And he sticks the landing," Jaune joked before straightening.
He looked back at Blaire, whose form seemed to be shaking on his back. She seemed to be mumbling incomprehensibly in some archaic language words that might have been prayers.
Preparing himself for the worst, Jaune informed her, "I'm going to undo the ropes know, so you can get off me."
She seemed to nod at that, which had the boy quickly untying the knots that kept his faunus traveling companion fastened safely to his back. As the weight dropped and he heard her feet land a little unsteadily on the rock behind him, Jaune quickly turned and helped to steady her.
Ears standing tar and back ramrod straight, Blaire blinked at Jaune, before it morphed into a glare.
"A-are you okay?" Jaune stammered under that baleful look.
Blaire punched him in the shoulder. Jaune shifted under the blow, but was honestly un-phased. She punched him again. And again. He attempted to humor her.
"Jerk!" she declared with a shove that failed to push him into the water.
"Sorry."
"Liar!" Another shove.
"Sorry."
"Idiot!" Yet another.
"Again, sorry."
"We could have been killed!" Blaire pounded on Jaune's chest with futile fists.
"But we're okay, right?" Jaune looked her over, finding no apparent injuries, though there was a strange watery look in Blaire's eyes as she shook in place. Her face seemed flush, and was quickly pinkening.
Then all of a sudden she crashed into his chest and tried to crush him in a hug.
"Um…" Jaune attempted to formulate words but found none.
"Just… shut up." Blaire growled into his chest between what seemed like shallow breaths to hold back tears.
"Oooookay," Jaune mumbled as he awkwardly patted Blaire's back and tried to avoid the urge to pet the back of her head. His resolve failed as her ears quivered by his nose.
She tensed at first at the touch before the soothing motion began to calm her down as Jaune attempted to catch his own breath as well.
Once she had recovered her cool, Blaire pulled away and looked around them at the pool.
"Next time… tell me your real plan," she demanded. "So I can tell you you're an idiot. A really talented and amazing idiot."
Jaune just gave her a mischievous smile. That made Blaire pout and cross her arms.
"Alright, alright" he relented before teasing, "but thanks for helping me out."
"What?" Blaire was confused by that, though couldn't help the slight smile that came from the quirk of her lips.
"Cats always land on their feet. Guess with you there, so did we."
Blaire flushed furiously before trying to shove Jaune again, but this time both of them were laughing.
"Ugh, at least we didn't get wet," she wiped at her eyes when the laughter died down.
Jaune shrugged, gesturing to the water that surrounded them. "Well, we're still stuck on this rock in the middle of the pool."
Blaire sighed. "Well, at least it couldn't be worse."
Just as the words escaped her lips, there was a growl from past the water's edge, deep in the trees. Jaune was instantly aware of the silence in the woods - no birds, no beasts, just the deafening crash of the waterfall behind them, the gurgling of the water pooling and flowing into the streams that lead from the pool and the rustling of the bushes and branches of trees as the two stared in horror at the shadow, no, shadows emerging from the trees.
They were tall and clambered like awkward bipeds with long arms for quadruped movement. Black as shadows and clad in bone white spikes that jutted from their backs and along the curves of their limbs. Their paws and feet were tipped with razor sharp claws, and their fangs glistened as they growled in unison. Their heads were clad in stark white masks that resembled the skulls of canines, specifically long-snouted wolves. Their inset eyes had pupils of a sickly yellow that resembled the center of burning orbs of blood red that glowed menacingly from their horrible visages.
"Beowolves," Jaune muttered under his breath as the word were a curse.
Blaire paled, as she whispered.
"Grimm."
"I dunno," he had to avoid shrugging too much in case it disturbed Blaire too much. "I just talked, you talked, at this point, we're going down and should be at those buildings before nightfall."
At current, he was busying himself with the creepers and vines he had drawn from reaching out over the cliff-face in order to fashion more secure ropes. He fastened them to an old maple that somewhat jutted over the cliff's edge, preparing for their descent. Jaune also had a few stones tucked away that he had quickly chiseled into edges sharp enough to cut the ropes, which he assured Blaire were just a precaution.
In truth, he had only made enough rope for roughly 40 meters - half the height of the cliff face. He didn't let this onto Blaire because she would never have let him use his ridiculous circular logic to convince her that this was a good idea. Especially because he hadn't told her his actual plan.
Which was to swing off the cliff and then jump.
It was remarkably simple, and Blaire would have never gone for it.
"Ugh, just get this over with," she mumbled into his shoulder, burying her face into his back and neck. Her breath kind of tickled as it brushed past the skin of his neck and caressed his ear..
"Aye aye, miss," he mock-saluted which earned him a half-hearted swat - Blaire's hands were rather restrained so she didn't move around too much. And so she didn't start flailing about when she cottoned to his actual plan.
Jaune wrapped the vines about his wrist for a more secure grip as he tested its strength. Seemed good enough. He smiled as he walked with ease, despite the weight, to the edge of the cliff and moved along it, gauging the distance by sight alone.
"Oh heavens," Blaire seemed to be mumbling from behind him. Jaune suspected she had clamped her eyes tight, just so she didn't have to see the dizzying heights. His heart went out to her - once upon a time, he too had thought such heights were fearsome.
Funny, what his father's training had conditioned him for.
"One for the money, two for the show," Jaune sang as he rocked on his heels, readying to leap off. Blaire tensed behind him. He grinned.
"Three to make ready," he sang as he raced back into the forest once more, much to Blaire's confusion, before spinning on his heel and sprinting for the edge.
"And away we go!"
The ground might have cracked as Jaune leaped from the cliff, shooting into the air to the cacophony of the boy's booming laughter and the girl's shrieks.
Caught weightless on the wind from his leaps, Jaune waited for the vine-rope to tense before twisting in midair, as the screaming pair swung in an arc towards the cliff face. Jaune relished in the rush of air through his air as he spun along an axis and allowed the motion to direct energy and Aura into his legs. With a shout, Jaune thrusted his foot in a mighty breaking-kick, explosive power impacting empty air to change the direction of their swing to move along the cliff face rather than at it.
With a laughing holler, Jaune glanced behind him to see Blaire's eyes wide and shrieking… and was that the faint hint of a smile on those wailing lips? Well, what do you know? Jaune roared with laughter as they shot into the air before falling along the arc again.
As they fell, Jaune waited for the right moment before jerking down on the vine-rope. The sharpened stones had just been a distraction for making sure the cliff-edge where the rope would be rubbing against was sharper than normal - a ruse to mislead Blaire. So when Jaune pulled and twisted, the vine-rope snapped under the stress of his mighty jerk, sending them into free fall.
The pair screamed - partly in terror, partly in exhilaration - as they fell, the water below speeding towards them and promising a painful splash. But once they were roughly 30 meters up, Jaune spun in midair while they fell, whipping the vine rope out into the green trees that crowded the pool. With a subtle twist of his wrists (something he'd observed from Violet's training in the past), he caught the vine rope on the top of a particularly tall tree a few meters past the water line.
Feeling confident it was secured, he pulled hard on the vine-rope, sending them flying towards the tree-top. Once again it was difficult to tell whether their shrieks came from terror or thrill, but shriek they did while sailing towards the green trunk of the tree.
Jaune had already put his feet up and in the way, tensing as his feet impacted the bark and the arboreal landing-pad groaned and bent under the force of their flight. His legs bent and tensed under them as Jaune felt the tree bend and curve before it's supple trunk decided enough was enough and tried to straighten itself out again.
Exhaling sharply, Jaune used the spring-back of the tree to launch off the tree tops, chest to the sky above. His arms spread wide like he was a bird flying upside down, much to Blaire's amusement/dismay.
As they fell over the pool, Jaune continued the motion into a backflip, focusing his energy into keeping his balance and aim while preparing his legs for the landing. He aimed for a particularly prominent boulder near the center of the large pool at the waterfall's base that protruded from the water's surface. Completing the flip, Jaune landed on both feet in a low crouch, Aura partly cushioning the landing as he cycled the energy through, air rushing from underneath him as the two landed with but the whisper of a fallen feather alighting upon the ground. His arms were wide and swept out like the spread wings of a bird.
"And he sticks the landing," Jaune joked before straightening.
He looked back at Blaire, whose form seemed to be shaking on his back. She seemed to be mumbling incomprehensibly in some archaic language words that might have been prayers.
Preparing himself for the worst, Jaune informed her, "I'm going to undo the ropes know, so you can get off me."
She seemed to nod at that, which had the boy quickly untying the knots that kept his faunus traveling companion fastened safely to his back. As the weight dropped and he heard her feet land a little unsteadily on the rock behind him, Jaune quickly turned and helped to steady her.
Ears standing tar and back ramrod straight, Blaire blinked at Jaune, before it morphed into a glare.
"A-are you okay?" Jaune stammered under that baleful look.
Blaire punched him in the shoulder. Jaune shifted under the blow, but was honestly un-phased. She punched him again. And again. He attempted to humor her.
"Jerk!" she declared with a shove that failed to push him into the water.
"Sorry."
"Liar!" Another shove.
"Sorry."
"Idiot!" Yet another.
"Again, sorry."
"We could have been killed!" Blaire pounded on Jaune's chest with futile fists.
"But we're okay, right?" Jaune looked her over, finding no apparent injuries, though there was a strange watery look in Blaire's eyes as she shook in place. Her face seemed flush, and was quickly pinkening.
Then all of a sudden she crashed into his chest and tried to crush him in a hug.
"Um…" Jaune attempted to formulate words but found none.
"Just… shut up." Blaire growled into his chest between what seemed like shallow breaths to hold back tears.
"Oooookay," Jaune mumbled as he awkwardly patted Blaire's back and tried to avoid the urge to pet the back of her head. His resolve failed as her ears quivered by his nose.
She tensed at first at the touch before the soothing motion began to calm her down as Jaune attempted to catch his own breath as well.
Once she had recovered her cool, Blaire pulled away and looked around them at the pool.
"Next time… tell me your real plan," she demanded. "So I can tell you you're an idiot. A really talented and amazing idiot."
Jaune just gave her a mischievous smile. That made Blaire pout and cross her arms.
"Alright, alright" he relented before teasing, "but thanks for helping me out."
"What?" Blaire was confused by that, though couldn't help the slight smile that came from the quirk of her lips.
"Cats always land on their feet. Guess with you there, so did we."
Blaire flushed furiously before trying to shove Jaune again, but this time both of them were laughing.
"Ugh, at least we didn't get wet," she wiped at her eyes when the laughter died down.
Jaune shrugged, gesturing to the water that surrounded them. "Well, we're still stuck on this rock in the middle of the pool."
Blaire sighed. "Well, at least it couldn't be worse."
Just as the words escaped her lips, there was a growl from past the water's edge, deep in the trees. Jaune was instantly aware of the silence in the woods - no birds, no beasts, just the deafening crash of the waterfall behind them, the gurgling of the water pooling and flowing into the streams that lead from the pool and the rustling of the bushes and branches of trees as the two stared in horror at the shadow, no, shadows emerging from the trees.
They were tall and clambered like awkward bipeds with long arms for quadruped movement. Black as shadows and clad in bone white spikes that jutted from their backs and along the curves of their limbs. Their paws and feet were tipped with razor sharp claws, and their fangs glistened as they growled in unison. Their heads were clad in stark white masks that resembled the skulls of canines, specifically long-snouted wolves. Their inset eyes had pupils of a sickly yellow that resembled the center of burning orbs of blood red that glowed menacingly from their horrible visages.
"Beowolves," Jaune muttered under his breath as the word were a curse.
Blaire paled, as she whispered.
"Grimm."
-------------------------Tarzan and the River-------------------------
A/N: I had fun with this chapter. Took longer than it ought to have what with RL concerns constantly interrupting and distracting the muses. But I had fun with it, and hope you all did too. Next chapter will involve quite a bit more action. A sword shall be drawn, blood will be spilt, and magic will be in the air as Jaune and Blaire face the Beowolf pack and make their way to the monastery hidden in the cherry blossoms.
- Location
- Down Under
The chapter is adorable.
Though the cliff after the in story cliff is evil.
Though the cliff after the in story cliff is evil.
- Location
- In my Lair, on my Hoard
Apologies for the lack of update in two weeks but life got hectic and I was really busy studying for the Graduate Record Exam. So chapter 13 isn't done yet. Far from it, sadly.
Working on it now though, so this is just a heads up to expect it by next week. Should be fun!
In other news, I'm debating on whether to start my own quest because those seem like fun. Not sure what kind yet. So that's a thing...
Working on it now though, so this is just a heads up to expect it by next week. Should be fun!
In other news, I'm debating on whether to start my own quest because those seem like fun. Not sure what kind yet. So that's a thing...
- Location
- In my Lair, on my Hoard
Chapter 13 is written, and just needs to be proof-read and edited. Expect an upload tomorrow or the day after. Clocking in at 6.2k at the moment, but edits will probably add to that. Also need to come up with a cool chapter title.
Just going to take this moment to address some earlier posts that I didn't get around to before.
It's more that Jaune had no real idea of what he was actually doing, and started skimming off the energy a drunk river god was accidentally letting slip (ergo, why Jaune could fish so well so quickly before). When he got curious for why it was harder to cultivate than the normal, he started poking it until the river god woke up and started talking to him while Jaune was in his trance, mostly to tell him to knock it off.
Just going to take this moment to address some earlier posts that I didn't get around to before.
Thanks. I tend to do that often, I find. Mostly when writing (because it's just easier to end on a cliff), but it's also useful when running games - if you're already going late, ending on a cliff leaves your players with enough tension that things start off really quickly when you start up again, jumping right back into the action as your players are already pumped to find out what happens next.
Not really?
It's more that Jaune had no real idea of what he was actually doing, and started skimming off the energy a drunk river god was accidentally letting slip (ergo, why Jaune could fish so well so quickly before). When he got curious for why it was harder to cultivate than the normal, he started poking it until the river god woke up and started talking to him while Jaune was in his trance, mostly to tell him to knock it off.
Chloe Sullivan
Subdefective
- Location
- 1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale CA
Riverdale, really? B and V indeed.
Chapter 13: Wolves And Steel
- Location
- In my Lair, on my Hoard
The Creatures of Grimm.
Demons and monsters clad in black flesh and white bone that brought death and destruction to all that humanity and faunus-kind sought to build.
Blaire knew them by many names, but The Grimm was the only one that really mattered. Because they were monsters and bloodthirsty killers that cared not for who she was nor who her parents were nor even what hopes and dreams she had for the future that had yet to be achieved.
She almost collapsed in sheer terror. Her legs shook and her breath caught in the back of her throat as she could see the flickering glow of their hateful eyes. The way they followed her every twitch and shiver, tongues lolling and slathering over their fangs as if they could taste her fear in the air.
Who knew, maybe they really could smell her absolute terror, and its scent was what drew more of them to the water's edge. Blaire paled and whimpered, ears flat against her head.
There was a rasp of steel beside her and she was cast back to several nights before, and the screams and shouts of men as they tried to fight back. But were surrounded and outnumbered. Just like she was about to be.
Again.
And there was no horse to be tied up and slung over. No horse that would bolt the moment it's reins snapped, carrying her to safety.
No, just water that reminded her of what an awful swimmer she was, and the roaring crash of a waterfall behind her, with the current flowing away from the cliff face and straight towards the pack of murderous monsters.
Blaire had considered herself lucky to have survived the last time. Fortunate to have had the Madonna smile upon her from her seat in the night skies. She had prayed those days as a captive. Prayed and prayed and prayed, yet despaired when those prayers had fell upon seemingly deaf ears.
Then a few days ago, those Grimm had attacked. Monsters springing from the shadows, swarming with fangs and claws and unearthly growls that curdled the blood. She had been tied up and helpless. Left on a horse as punishment for trying to fight back against her captors. Bound but not gagged, because those villains found it funny to hear her snarl whenever they came near. Because she was an animal to them. Less than human.
Then they were killed.
Monsters garbed in the bodies of men, slain by demons clad in truly monstrous flesh.
Blaire had believed that was the end. Her whimpers and prayers had surely been unanswered, she had thought. But instead, the rope snapped. The horse sprang free and bolted.
It ran and ran and ran.
The Grimm had given chase, but it continued to run.
If there was one thing those villains had done right, it was pick a good horse, and this one had saved her life. She thanked the goddess for her mercy as the Grimm gave up the chase for the horse had superior stamina and speed.
But the argent divinity is a fickle goddess, Blaire learned back then, for the horse continued to run. And poor Blaire had been bouncing on it's back, unable to stop it. She'd tried to scramble around and scream for it to stop, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. The horse still ran, and Blaire tried to free herself despite the constant motion. It didn't really work.
Then something yowled from the wilderness and leaped towards the horse, who suddenly drew up and reared to kick the attacker. The creature had leaped away from those dangerous hooves but the horse was already galloping away, off the path and into the wilderness, and Blaire had screeched futilely as the branching arms of the trees whipped at the horse and her body.
Then they were falling, and she thought that surely Fate was cruel for her to die so soon after being rescued from those demons.
But instead she had struggled and they crashed into the side of a ravine. The horse broke its legs, whinnied and screamed in pain and terror as Blaire used what little strength there was in her body to cling to a large bush growing out of the rock and hang on for dear life. The ropes snapped, and the horse fell free, crashing into the moving water. Its screams would haunt her, but she was alive, and that was what mattered.
Over the course of the night, Blaire had chewed through her restraints and climbed up the ravine. And then she ran as she found the sounds of the night unbearable. She hid in a tree and prayed that she would be rescued.
That someone would find her.
Anyone, even a bad guy was preferable to being alone and helpless in these wilds.
And then… she smelled cooked fish.
She heard the crackle of a fire and had approached cautiously to see what it was.
That was how she met Adrien…
Adrien!
Blaire turned to see him looking at her. His eyes were blue, bright and clear and unfathomably deep. She'd watched him these last two days, and wondered about him. How a boy who seemed just about her age could do such incredible things. Accomplish such feats of skill.
But she was terrified, and searched for that same fear in his eyes. Blaire had guessed he was trained to fight. It seemed like very boyish thing, that thrill for battle. Her mother had always thought so, teaching Blaire that fighting was for silly boys that hadn't learned that it only got them in trouble. That cowardice wasn't always a bad thing, and that there was nothing more important than keeping yourself alive to come home safe and sound.
Blaire missed her mother. She regretted at least that much.
But she knew that the Grimm's presence and numbers meant only that she would die. And Adrian would die with her.
The strange, sweet boy who had fed her, kept her warm, and led her through the wilderness, pointing out the beautiful sights and naming the colorful birds that flew through the skies, describing the antics of wilderness creatures as they walked. The boy who prayed so fervently that Blaire could feel it and whose sword-practice had dazzled and awed her. She had been enthralled by his swordsmanship, yet he was only a boy - maybe he could keep her safe from a lone Grimm or the creatures of the wild, but the fool would die if he challenged so many of the monsters.
He was saying something, asking her something, but Blaire's ears refused to listen to anything but the terror in her heart and the sounds of the monsters drawing closer, growing in number.
She looked to see the fear in his eyes, and found none.
Only conviction. Conviction and concern.
Concern for her.
Her breath hitched as she struggled for words, gaping as she struggled to answer. Her heart was racing, leaping into her chest and she felt helpless again. She wanted to run. She had to run. To get away because she could hear the growls picking up, the howls and barks as the waterfall's crashing sound morphed in her thoughts to only bolster the cacophony of the demon's noise.
They were going to die, and this idiot was looking at her like that…
Was this punishment for what she had done? For clinging to life instead of dying with those horrible men that had kept her captive? For trying to live the way she wished?
Oh, if only she could have begged for the world to forgive her, to show she was foolish and wrong, if only she could be let to live!
Because the only thing that waited for her now was dea-
"Focus!"
Her eyes snapped to Adrien. He'd been trying to talk to her. She blinked and was about to mutter an apology, because this was likely all her fault somehow, but found that somehow his hand had found her shoulder. He was so close. When did that happen?
Adrien's hand was warm and reassuring, and Blaire felt so much better as she stared at his face. The resolution and calm that told her that everything was going to be all right.
Was it? Was it really going to be all right?
She wished she could believe that, but…
"Breathe," he whispered softly. And she did, following his deep breaths with her own. And she did feel calmer now. Because Adrien was here. The boy who prayed so fervently and whose blade danced under the moonlit. Who knew the wilderness even if he'd never walked it before, and whose lessons taught her to spear fish on her own.
"I'm going to give you something. It'll protect you. Okay?"
She didn't know why she was nodding, but there was nothing else to do. This was Adrien… she could trust him. She had to trust him. Blaire couldn't cheat death again, but maybe…
Maybe Adrien could cheat death for her.
"Okay," she whispered as he let go of her shoulder. Already she missed that reassuring touch as his hand went to his neck. There was a slight glow as he reached back and pulled something away.
She stared as he held that ring of metal that used to adorn his neck. It was bronze and seemed almost like a collar, but the hoop was incomplete and open on one side. She'd wondered what it was, but hadn't the courage to ask, for it wasn't like any collar she had ever seen before. There were etchings in the bronze and they glowed when Adrien's fingers did. The bronze collar seemed to widen, and then he had slipped it around her neck before she could shy away.
The glow faded, but she could feel the cool touch of the metal on her skin. She glanced at it, wondering what manner of protection it was, and looked at the boy.
"It's a torc. A talisman. Might help…" Adrien said with a small smile before looking between her and the growing numbers of Grimm. She didn't know why, but they seemed to pause at the water's edge, as if watching and waiting. "Now, just trust me, and we'll get through this, okay? We're going to be alright, Blaire. Everything will be fine, we just need to get to that monastery…"
Blaire gave Adrien an incredulous look. "Adrien… there must be dozens of monsters between us and those building. And if there are Grimm this close to them, then that monastery is likely…"
She couldn't bring herself to finish that thought. Adrien's mouth hardened into a line, telling her that he understood too. That there was a chance that no one would be there.
"Never give up hope," was his answer. "For things always seem to be darkest just before the dawn."
Blaire held back a whimper as she looked to the Grimm. "But right now, the sun's about to set, and night will fall soon after."
Adrien looked to the sky and muttered something in a language she didn't recognize. It sounded like the language of his prayer.
"We'll make it. I'm sure of it."
Something inside her stirred, and it carried through her. A song in her heart that she remembered from the night before. That feeling of joy and rightness. As if somehow, she knew he was speaking the truth. That yes, they would make it. Everything would be alright.
Adrien held out his hand.
"Do you trust me?" he asked, and Blaire looked into his eyes once more.
She was scared. Terrified, and not sure whether she would survive against the Grimm again. She didn't know how to fight. Just how to run away. Did she have the courage to at least try? To leap into the jaws of danger again, in the hopes that they'd make it out alright?
She peered into those endless depths and felt those worries wash away, caught in the blue river of those orbs and their absolute surety and faith.
"I do," she murmured and her hand fell into his. Adrien smiled and Blaire knew that she was in good hands.
Maybe her prayers had been answered back then, and the goddess had sent her this boy to save her. Blaire hadn't been much for religion, not like her mother, but perhaps this was just the way that gods worked.
"Then, do as I say, okay?" Adrien instructed, and she nodded. She'd listen. She had to put her trust in him and, no matter how scary it was, Blaire had to believe that he was right. That they'd get through this.
"Good," he turned slightly, and glared at the Grimm. They snarled in challenge, and there was a slight uptick to the corner of his lips. "Then no matter what happens, promise me that once we're on the shore, you'll run as fast as you can. You've got Stick just in case, but you run, alright? Just run for the pink sakura trees in bloom, and run straight and run and run until you're at the monastery and can't run anymore."
"Okay…"
"Good. Now, try not to scream when we jump."
"Oka-wait, what?" Blaire yelped as his hand tightened on hers and he flourished that stolen short sword. Then there was a tug on her arm as Adrien leaped out over the water, a rush of air from where he'd leaped as her feet left the water-slick rock they'd landed on.
She let out a shout as they seemed to fly through the air, straight at the horde of monsters on the shore. Even with the way they'd descended down the cliff face, she'd never before seen a boy as young as Adrien leap like a huntsman. This was like something out of a television screen or straight from the pages of a book.
And true to her word, she didn't scream until blood splattered on the ground and they landed in a crash. A dying Beowolf whimpered beneath them, legs and claws spasming as Adrien had crashed right into it, blade impaled right through its skull. The Beowolf had died instantaneously, and its body hadn't quite realized that yet.
She didn't have the time to gape as Adrien let go of her hand and Blaire rolled away before hastily pushed her head off the ground, coming to her knees. The Grimm had already let out a group howl and were closing in fast.
Blaire looked to Adrien as he was still crouched, blade sunk into the dying, disintegrating monster. His head whipped up, meeting her shocked eyes.
"Don't just sit there! Run!"
Blaire nodded as she stumbled to her feet, turned, coming face to face with another Beowolf.
"AAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEE!!!!" she screamed.
-------------------------Wolves And Steel-------------------------
Jaune grit his teeth as Blaire turned, holding back a wince as she screamed and backpedaled away from the Beowolf emerging out of the woods.
Thirty-Sixth Steel Coward wrenched free of the dead Grimm it was sheathed in and whirled, drawn back as Jaune lanced forward. One, two steps on soft grass before his third sent him into the air, flipping over Blaire. The terrified girl seemed almost frozen in shock as Jaune descended. The steel short sword slashed at the creature's snout, forcing it to draw back.
Hitting the ground, Jaune continued to let his center of gravity drop before whirling into a low spin. Indigo's breaking tips had actually helped a lot when it came to ground maneuvering, Jaune found. One hand on the ground his legs whirled beneath him as his legs blasted from below, one at the Beowolf's hind leg ankle and the other at it's armpit in a modified rochedo assault. The two impacts jolted it back as Jaune continued the spin and put his feet under him. Then with a spring, the sword was up and lancing forth as Jaune drove the blade under where the rib cage would be on a standard wolf. The steel sunk halfway in before the boy twisted and wrenched the sword out. The Beowolf's eyes were wide as it gurgled on its own blood before stepping back, giving Jaune enough time to disengage.
He grabbed onto Blaire's forearm, shaking it. "Come on, Blaire, we have to go!"
Shaken out of her stupor, Blaire seemed to stare at him before nodding vigorously. Jaune gave her a smile before turning back to the woods where more of the monsters were starting to prowl out of the woodworks.
The chipped sword Thirty-Sixth Steel Coward sang in Jaune's hands as he focused on his inner energies, channeling Aura throughout his body and weapon as he had practiced countless times. His body had trouble with the energy sometimes - it didn't flow the way it was supposed to. As if the traditional methods simply weren't enough. Jaune didn't care - he just needed to be strong. Fast. Capable.
And he knew he could be one day. He just had to make that day today
"Sorry Dad, gonna have to break the rules…"
The Beowolves howled, brimming madness inherent in their eyes and slobbering jowls as they allowed their wounded fellow to fall back, filling the ranks. Blaire seemed to hold back a whimper behind him.
Jaune frowned. They were going to try and box Blaire and him in with the water's edge. Not that Jaune cared about the water, but it made for tricky footing and was a disadvantage he couldn't afford.
Not if he had anything to say about it.
"Raaaah!" Jaune roared in defiance, Aura flowing through his form, blazing just under his skin like molten fire, moving through his body and his weapon, harmonizing till they sang in concert. A duet that would proclaim deeds of martial valor upon the battlefield.
Jaune rushed forward as the Grimm darted at them, Blaire dogging his footsteps with her face set in a glare of determination.
The Grimm came at them from all sides, but Jaune was already making circles about Blaire as they moved. Blaire was slow, not used to the exertion that came from having to move in combat, and prone to jumping at every small thing that tried to get close. That and she was weighed down by the fact that they hadn't had the time to relieve her of everything she was carrying - which was quite a heavy load.
Upside: it was relatively easy for Jaune to keep up with where she was moving, and thus keep pace while fighting.
Downside: she was slow and thus Jaune had to work harder to keep both of them alive.
He batted aside a swinging arm before riposting with a stabbing thrust, wrenching Thirty-Sixth Steel Coward free in a spurt of Grimm ichor, whirling to catch the claws of another that tried to catch Blaire's back, quickly stepping up the first's legs to use it as a jumping pad with a kick before twisting the sword to slash at the second's eyes.
He barely missed, but his sword blurred as Aura refined the edge, slashing out its ankle before twisting and darting to pierce the haunch of another Beowolf ahead of Blaire. He roared as the Beowolf howled at the shallow wound and attempted to backhand him, Jaune twisting free and ducking under it's wild swing. Jaune's fist surged with energy, smashing into the Beowolf's jaw before the sword whirled to slash its neck. The monster reared back from the blow, before Jaune leaped into a spinning jump kick, foot exploding outwards like a cannon shot to throw it back.
A shout from Blaire had him whirling to grab her arm and drag her out of the way of a Beowolf's leaping assault, Thirty-Sixth Steel Coward thrust forward as it bit through the underside of its jaw and through its brain. The light faded rapidly from its eyes, but proved to be nothing more than a distraction as another bull-rushed the pair.
Blaire yelped as they tumbled, but Jaune found his feet quickly. Darting up, he smashed his shin into the legs of another pouncing Grimm, disrupting its footing and momentum as he punched up into its abdomen so it fell over and past them.
With a single arm, he grabbed Blaire by the back of her shirt and hauled the faunus girl to her feet, before twisting into a reverse axe kick that slammed yet another Beowolf's claws into the ground by its wrist. While it tried to recover from the awkward position, Jaune capitalized on the opening by stabbing his Aura-enhanced fingers into its eyes.
The Beowolf howled as it fell back, blind, just as three more attempted to swarm them from multiple angles.
With a huff of effort, Jaune shoved Blaire out of the way, falling into a tumble to grab the arm of a dead Beowolf that had yet to fade. Twisting, Jaune adhered to the flow of battle, allowing his instincts to guide him as he thrust the appendage forward, impaling a Beowolf on it's fellow's own claws. Before it could react to the sudden reversal, Jaune used the surprised Grimm as a ledge to clamber over, flipping as he grabbed it's shoulders and spun in midair, legs kicking like a windmill. The other two Grimm stupidly tried to claw at him, but his nimble dodges to interpose with the monster he danced upon resulted in the black demonic wolves clawing their brethren instead.
Howling with rage, the Beowolves smashed the dying Grimm into the ground to sink their teeth into Jaune, but the young hero was already leaping away, curled up in a ball as he flipped through the air.
Then his feet exploded out of the spin, slamming into the back of the skull of a Beowolf attempting to corner Blaire against a tree. It fell forward, but not before Jaune twisted in midair to seize it by the back-spikes that protruded along its spine, continuing to spin. The Beowolf twisted with Jaune as the boy found his feet on the ground and planted them, solidifying his stance with a roar as he released. The throw tossed the Beowolf away from Blaire, the Grimm's body crashing through the trees.
Blaire quickly darted away, but not without sparing Jaune a glance out of the corner of her eyes.
Jaune smiled as he scanned the surroundings for foes. Still plenty, regrettably, but if the two of them could go deeper into the trees, then the Beowolves' size would work against them. Jaune and Blaire were small, while the Beowolves were each taller than a fully grown man and then some. Their imposing figures were a hindrance in these tight quarters, especially against foes this small. Blaire was easy prey since she couldn't move quickly, but Jaune was incredibly fast for his age: benefits of his father's modified Pell Training regimen for his son - the Tiger Warrior's Training. An impossible training regiment at it's standard levels, but Jaune had made it work, then went and did it far in excess of what was considered superlative.
And Jaune still didn't think that was enough.
The boy roared in defiance as he seized Thirty-Sixth Steel Coward from the fading head of a Beowolf before dancing forward in a blur of fists and steel edges. He threw back the wild claws of a the Beowolves that attempted to hobble Blaire, pacing like a fearsome lion guarding his pride, and refined the steel sword edge till it hummed and sliced through Grimm-flesh with ease. The short sword sang to his tune as he danced and spun, carving through the bodies of its wielder's enemies with glee.
Blaire whirled around a tree and came face to face with a snarling Beowolf, only for it to stop dead as the hilt of the sword sprouted from between it's eyes. Like a flash of lightning, Jaune was there, wrenching it free before spinning on the dying Grimm to deflect the wicked claws of another. Blaire slipped behind him through the opening the instant it was presented. He drew back and probed the Grimm's almost non-existent guard before darting forward carving through the hide of another Grimm. Still more emerged to challenge them.
Iron Bows Before The Tiger!
Jaune dropped into a stance and darted forward, heedless of it's warding claws. The sword sang to the song of his heart, erupting in an upwards, white flash with a meisterhau stroke, carving through flesh and bone, opening its body from groin to shoulder as the Beowolf fell in two pieces.
He spun into a negativa kick to dismantle the shoddy stance of another Grimm before ducking under its legs as it fell, moving over it's body to slash over and over again into its back before leaping off its head to kick another Beowolf head that was getting too close to Blaire.
She managed to get away, but Jaune got swatted into a tree by an angry Beowolf for his troubles. There was a ripple through the trunk as Jaune impacted the tree with a grunt. He groaned as he shook away the stars, but yelped when the Beowolf attempted to swipe a claw through his gut.
Reaching his hands behind his back, he gripped the tree trunk and crunched hard. His legs swung out of the away as his body curled up just in time to avoid the deadly claws that ripped into the tree bark and tore it away in an explosion of splinters. Continuing the crunch, Jaune readjusted his hands and got his feet onto the tree trunk. Crouching vertically on the tree-trunk, Jaune grinned as Thirty-Sixth Steel Coward flashed and he leaped off the tree. The sword bit deep into the muscle between the Grimm's shoulder-blades and spine, and momentum let Jaune carve right through its back and spine before hitting the ground.
Tumbling for a few rolls, Jaune kipped back to his feet and right into the mess of things to bull-rush the leg of a Beowolf that had gotten close to Blaire, just as she whirled and smashed its snout with Stick. He didn't bother hiding his grin, laughing at the look of shock on the girl's face before taking full advantage of it's distraction to introduce the Beowolf's ribs to Thirty-Sixth Steel Coward. As the Grimm began to fade away, he wrenched the old blade out, only to find that Blaire was still running ahead.
Jaune grinned. The line of pink was getting closer. It would be much, much harder for Grimm to move in a garden of sakura trees. He didn't stop to even consider why the trees weren't arranged in rows like normal - just that they would slow the Beowolves down long enough for Blaire and him to cover plenty of ground.
Howls and snarls and the general noise of motion as the underbrush and trees were stepped around alerted Jaune to their assailants' positions. Even over the fading roar of the waterfall, Jaune's trained ears could hear their movements. A necessary skill that had been trained to hear the whistle of rocks thrown at him from random directions so he might evade them before they hit.
It appeared that the Grimm were swarming them from two sides as a pincer strike before they could flee into the sakura grove where the lower hanging branches would impede the Beowolves. The token force behind them were just there to help push Jaune and Blaire into the trap.
How tactically-minded, Jaune noted. Shani had once mentioned learning that Beowolves were surprisingly pack thinkers, even at their weakest, and their wolf-pack tactics were fearsome indeed.
But were they enough to trap Jaune? Especially since he knew what they were doing now?
Smirking, Jaune darted with Blaire. "We're almost to the cherry blossoms, Blaire! Keep up that hustle!" he encouraged the panting girl as they ran. She kept stumbling here and there, unsure of her steps, but she kept moving forward. Terrified, but still determined to get through this alive. Good, he had worried she might have given into despair.
His hand tightened on Thirty-Sixth Steel Coward.
Not on his watch.
Use the terrain, let it be your weapon. The world, your shield.
He whirled and danced, short sword weaving intricate arcs as he darted to and fro around Blaire, cutting down the branches of the trees behind them and to their flanks. Beowolves swarming on the vanguard yelped and growled as they were impeded by the falling timber. Under Jaune's skillful sword, the environment had come alive to defend them with falling branches and swaying leaves to obscure the Grimm's vision.
But they were undeterred in hunting their prey, barreling through the obstruction of countless falling tree branches. Still, it slowed them down as the sea of pink grew closer and closer.
Jaune grit his teeth as the maneuver only served to allow Blaire to get closer to the grove. She needed more time. Time that he couldn't buy her if he was still trying to keep up with her - the pincers would close and they'd be caught before they got to the far more favorable terrain of the sakura grove.
Slowing, Jaune watched as Blaire kept running with heavy footfalls, exhausted yet driven to make it forward. Desperate to survive.
He'd buy her time.
Thirty-Sixth Steel Coward flashed brilliantly as his Aura came alive.
The words came unbidden to his lips, echoing like the crashing groan of mountains and the endless depths of the ocean, the roaring blaze of an inferno and the howling scream of a tornado.
"<Shine Forth Thy Light!>" Jaune cried in the words of the gods, and let his will be made manifest as his Aura surged and sang to the invisible chorus of the heavens.
"<Drive Back The Darkness!>"
The Grimm howled in unison, their relentless strides faltering and paling in terror. They faltered and their advance slowed, hesitant to challenge his glory. But they howled and howled, building up strength and resolve before they martialed forces against their hated foe. Blaire was all but forgotten to the monsters as they surged to snuff out the puissant light.
Claws and fangs descended upon the young hero who harkened to the sounds of battle's flows, hearing the humming song of glory and righteousness.
Soaring Phoenix!
Thirty-Sixth Steel Coward flashed, a sublime defense guarding against all threats and brushing aside the claws and deadly demonic beasts like motes of dust caught in the thunderous beating of the divine bird's wing-dance. His defense was so effortless simple and graceful, yet deceptively powerful as the blocks snapped with tremendous force.
Jaune would have to thank the Great Condors for teaching them of the divine wing's defensive dance, for it worked well with a sword in hand, and if there was one thing that Jaune knew it was how to dance. And more sinisterly, the Beowolves' attacks were clumsy, allowing Jaune to chamber in his reply to the assault. The steel 'wings' deflecting harm with deceptive ease before the short sword flashed as the phoenix's talons were bared!
The Beowolves howled as Jaune danced amongst them, the boy surrounded on all sides as he bought Blaire the time to cover more ground.
His blade flashed to and fro, high and low, deflecting harm while returning their assaults in kind, flurrying steel proving that the young boy was still mighty enough to challenge monsters more than twice his size.
That is, until a canny Beowolf threw off his tempo, accepting his blade into it's chest with a gurgling grin of malicious glee. Jaune almost didn't see it coming when instead of trying to claw at the boy, it grasped the sword that slew it and fell away. Off-balanced by the sudden turn, Jaune almost fell with it if not for another Grimm seizing his body in a mighty paw. Howling, the Beowolf swept Jaune off his feet and into the air, before bringing his head down to open jaws.
Jaune roared and kicked, foot exploding with the light of his soul as it smashed the Beowolf's jaws closed. Howling in pain, the Grimm slammed him into the ground. Air rushed from his lungs as the weight of the Grimm bore upon him with crushing force. The young hero struggled and gasped before his hand jerkily tried to reach around it's claws and to his thighs.
The Grimm snarled at its captive prey to the howls of its fellows, breath hot and putrid in Jaune's face. Jaune grit his teeth and heaved to regain his breath. Steel flashed and the Grimm howled in pain as Jaune had drawn the dagger strapped to his thigh and cut out it's eye. Claws slackening as it pawed its blinded red orb, the Beowolf leaned back and howled.
Jaune took full advantage of his opening to dart free and catch his breath. He didn't have long to do so as the rest of the pack descended upon him. Quickly he darted for Thirty-Sixth Steel Coward, flipping the dagger into his off hand, wrenching the weathered short sword free once more.
Blades flashing in both hands, Jaune carved out a bloody path, Aura coursing through his body and steel to refine his skill and technique. His sword and dagger bit through the Beowolf pack like a tiger rending flesh, hammering with far greater force than Jaune's short form should normally possess.
The Beowolves fell back, routed as Jaune hobbled the pack and broke through their ranks. Their numbers worked against them and Jaune fully exploited the trees to run up and gain altitude to strike at their heads and necks.
A pair of them decided that this prey was simply too much for them and broke off from the pack, heading for less dangerous game: Blaire. Jaune spotted them with a shout and leaped after the Grimm. Legs pumping, Jaune barreled through undergrowth to catch up with their loping stride.
Blaire was almost into the grove of cherry blossoms, and had turned back at the sound of growls catching up to her. She faltered at the sight of Beowolves bearing down upon her and screamed, the distraction causing her to trip over her own feet and fall, just as she entered the shadow of the pink sea of cherry blossoms.
"No!" Jaune shouted and steel flashed, finally catching up to stab the lagging Beowolf through it's leg and drag it down. The sword slid free as Jaune struggled to catch up, but Blaire had already fallen upon her bum in fright and was backpedaling with flailing limbs.
The Beowolf snarled and claws descended…
"NO!"
*SHLIIICK!*
… and froze as black branches coiled around each other like spears lanced out from the nearby cherry blossom trees and stabbed clear through it's neck and arms.
-------------------------Wolves And Steel-------------------------
Blaire screamed and Jaune's mouth fell agape as the ichor dripped and sizzled as it fell, the Grimm dying as the young boy rushed towards it. The Grimm behind them howled in rage as they darted forward to slay the two children.
Blaire continued to scream as she crawled away from the trees and the horde of Grimm, trying to find her feet under her. Jaune simply yelped and bolted for the cherry blossoms, using the dying Grimm as a stepping stool before vaulting next to Blaire.
"Oh gods, th-the Grimm just… It just - !" Blaire stammered as Jaune regarded the dead monster with wide eyes. He couldn't say anything, just nod in shock.
They backed away from the trees, crouching low as the Grimm howled from the rest of the forest, unwilling to enter the unseen boundaries of the cherry blossoms. The tree roots had already started snaking from the ground, slowly moving to crawl and wind around the Beowolf's legs, dragging it to the floor and binding it's fading corpse.
Was it…? Jaune paled. Were the trees eating the Grimm!? It was disintegrating awfully fast…
Mildly horrified at the implications of that, Jaune shook the thought away as he realized that the trees weren't trying to eat the monsters. The few Grimm that prodded at the cherry blossom boundary were repelled by shaking branches and swirling petals, roots whipping up to throw them back.
The cherry blossom petals erupted at the approach of the Grimm, swirling in a moving storm on silent winds that carried them to form a barrier of pink flower petals. A living wall of wind and cherry blossom petals that the Grimm somehow could not breach.
"I… I don't think they can enter the cherry blossom grove. The sakura trees are… repelling them somehow…" Jaune muttered.
Blaire looked at him in confusion. "But… how?"
"Magic?" Jaune shrugged. "Some sorcerer's work?"
Blaire's cat ears twitched at the howling of the Grimm, cheated of their prey. "So why didn't it repel us?"
"Well, we're not Grimm. Maybe whoever lives - or lived - in the monastery we saw got this done to keep the Grimm out."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
A moment of silence passed as the two tried to calm down. Night was beginning to fall, and all they could hear was the howling of the Grimm as they continued to move away from the boundary and the beating of their hearts. They held each other close for reassurance that the other was still alive, and could feel each other's breath as they trudged on. Blaire gave Jaune several odd looks as the light of his Aura died away from lack of use. She said nothing on the matter, both of them preoccupied with finding their way to the monastery before night truly fell and they were alone in the dark.
Blaire would be fine of course, and though Jaune's night vision was surprisingly keen, neither of them too any amount of pleasure in the thought of spending another night outdoors when they could be under a roof.
In a manner of minutes, they were submerged in a sea of short green grasses, black bark, and pink petals that greeted them wherever they looked.
"Hey, Adrien?"
"What is it, Blaire?"
"You see the wall of petals ahead too, right?"
"Yup."
"Not the same one we just left behind?"
"Don't think so…"
The pair walked through the wall of petals and were surprised to find that there was another windy wall of petals shortly ahead of them again. Striding through that, the pair found themselves continuing to walk through the sea of pink cherry blossoms. The enchanting trees were beautiful in sucha way, their scents wafting through the air that put them at ease, yet seductive and deceptive in that they all looked similar. Flowers and branches covered the skies and they could only move forward. There was no path nor means of knowing whether the way they walked through the haphazard grove was even a straight one.
"I just noticed something," Blaire murmured.
"What?"
"I'm pretty sure we passed that tree ten minutes ago, Adrien."
Jaune blinked. "Really?"
"Pretty sure," she nodded.
Jaune said nothing as he looked around them. There was no way to tell where they had come. No way to tell where they were going. Jaune shifted the packs Blaire had handed off to him, drawing out the dagger once more. It took substantial effort to even make the tiniest of marks into the surprisingly resilient bark.
And even then, it was barely noticeable given the rough surface of the cherry.
Jaune stepped back and looked at the sea of cherry blossoms they were enveloped in, following Blaire's own gaze. No way to tell which way was which.
"We're lost, Adrien."
-------------------------Wolves And Steel-------------------------
A/N: Pretty much half this chapter is one long fight scene. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to feel about that, but I think it made writing this one rather easy. Sadly, it's a pretty one-sided battle: Beowolves are among the lowest level of Grimm (even if they are taller than a grown man and twice as strong with deadly natural weapons), and despite being a 9-year old kid, Jaune's at the level of a Signal student. He makes some mistakes, but favorable terrain and superior speed mean Jaune can handle the pack and keep a non-combatant relatively safe so long as they kept on the move.
Luckily, they evaded the Beowolves long enough to get into the sakura grove that repels Grimm. Unluckily, the grove has its own dangers. Will Jaune and Blaire's troubles never end?
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