A King's Return

Chapter One: The Ripple

A sixteen your old boy with messy blonde hair was walking next to a younger blonde girl who looked to be about 14. The two were walking along a trail next to a small cliff with a river flowing below. The two chatted and laughed as they walked with bags in hand as they returned home. The young blond boy was Jaune Arc and the girl was his younger sister, Lily. Jaune had on a pair of faded blue jeans and a loose fitting white T-shirt and some sneakers.

The two had been out shopping for their mother, picking up groceries for dinner. The two were just enjoying the nice cool breeze that came with Fall as the trees around them had leaf's turning a bright rustic color making the normally green woods into a nice red as the afternoon light fell upon them in a light golden glow. "Ok so what if you found a legless lizard?"

Lilly asked her brother, getting a deadpan stare as he processed her words before he spoke as a small smile formed on his lips. "Um, Lily you do know that's what snakes are right?" He said causing his sisters eyes to narrow than widen as a look of realization spread across her face. She then began to blush at the fact she had just said something stupid. She turned from him with bright pink cheeks.

"S-shut up! I know that; I just wanted to make sure you knew too!" She shouted at him as she then puffed her cheeks as she took a step to her left to put a little distance between her and her brother. Jaune just laughed at her reaction as he then reached out patting her on the head lightly. The action caused her to pout as she lifted her arms above her head, waving them exasperatedly as she shouted at him to stop treating her like a kid.

The action caused Jaune to smile wider but held back his laughter as he then apologized to his sister. She didn't except the apology though as she ran ahead of him spinning on her heels to face him with a cute little glare as she pointed at him. "You won't get off so easy for teasing me!" She shouted at him and then turned away and started to run ahead of him again as they came up to a bridge just a few yards ahead.

Jaune just let out a tired sigh as he then went to jog after his sister. But just as he stepped forward he felt a chill run down his spine as something moved to his right just ahead of him in his peripherals. At that moment all that cheer Jaune had was replaced with a deep fear as he turned to see what it was hiding in the tress. At first he thought somehow a Beowulf had snuck past the town guard only for the thought to get pushed away as he saw something else came into view.

He had no idea what it was but it had the shape of a Beowulf, only it didn't have any of the Grimm markings or bone armor, instead it was like looking at a huge shadow of a Beowulf moving on its own. The things body was transparent to an extent, like it was gas in a jar. The thing had bright red eyes like that of a Grimm which was what caught Jaune's attention as he saw where its gaze landed. The creature was looking right at his sister as it seemed to lean forward for a lunge, lifting up shadowy arms.

At that moment Jaune didn't think, he didn't plan, he just ran shouting to his sister to run as he dropped his bags sprinting full speed towards Lilly. But instead of running she stopped and turned to see what he was yelling about as she turned only to see the strange shadow beast coming towards her from the tree line. At that moment Lily froze in terror at the sight of the creature unable to understand what was happening as it started to close in on her.

The beast was fast and it was closing the distance between her and it with ease pushing past brush like it wasn't there. The moment it was upon her she closed her eyes and screamed. As she felt a pressure on her arm she tensed for a second before she felt herself hit the ground and she opened her eyes expecting to see the beast about to kill her but instead what she saw made her heart sink. Before her was Jaune with the shadow beast that had charged her, clamping its jaws onto his right shoulder with its claws digging into his sides.

See watched as the beast and her brother both flew to the edge of the cliff and fall towards the cold river below. As they fell she shouted out her brother's name in some desperate hope that this wasn't happening as she watched him and the beast crash into the river twenty feet below.

"JAUNE!"

Jaune watched as he fell looking into the now tear filled eyes of his sister as he fell, only able to tell the fact that she was shouting by the movement of her lips till he felt a cold rush as everything was enveloped by water. As he started to sink, all he could think was, 'at least Lily is safe.' As he slowly drifted down the river under the water with some shadow beast. As he sank he watched the sun's light fading above him as he tried to grasp what he did.

He knew he saved his sister but he had to sacrifice himself and now here he was being taken down stream in a freezing cold river and then nothing. His consciousness just faded as the last visage of light disappeared. The young blonde's body just began to sink deeper and deeper into the river till finally it hit the muggy bottom.

As the body hit it was engulfed in the puff of sleet and mud as it flew up in the water. When it hit the bottom there was some sort of movement. As the body laid at the bottom of the river the form of a women took shape floating over the body. The women had long silver hair and red eyes with pale skin that almost look like porcelain. She wore a white dress that flowed around in the water in wisps. As she floated she reached down lifting up Jaune's body and covering it in a bright white glow.

The two floated for a second before the women moved to the side of Jaune's body and rested his head in her lap as the surroundings changed. No longer where they under water but sitting atop of what looked to be an endless ocean with a sun setting behind them. The women brushed Jaune's hair from his face lightly as she then closed her eyes holding his head as she began to glow a pale white. Jaune's wounds seemed to fade as healed his body.

When she opened her eyes again she gazed down sadly at the blonde. She didn't say anything, she just brushed his hair again and then mouthed some words and began to fade. Just as she was about to vanish she spoke. "Good luck." Was all she said and then she was gone. The surroundings changed again only instead of being the bottom of the river his body appeared at the shore of the river being washed up.

For a second his body just laid there motionless until he started to cough valiantly spitting up water as he turned himself over. As he let out the last of the water that had been choking him he heaved a little till her opened his eyes to look around. Green eyes paned over the surrounding, trying to piece together what happened. His hand shot to his head as a jolt of pain shot through his mind and flashes of memories started to fill his head.

He fell forward onto the rocky shore holding his head tightly as the memories flooded in. Flashes of different childhoods flowed in and out of his mind as he saw himself in two very different places. One he stood with a wooden training sword in hand with an older man with a well-trimmed blonde beard with his own wooden sword teaching him swordsman ship. The other memory flashed with him standing next to three beautiful young blonde girls with him swinging around a wooden sword for play making the girls laugh.

And the memories went on from him being groomed to him playing like two separate lives had merged and he was being forced to watch them play out at super speeds. Memories of games with sisters he did not know to memories of training with a father who groomed him to be a king. As the memories played he watched another set where he stood before a sword in a study with an older blonde man with messy blonde hair reaching up pulling a sword with a white and gold sheath from its stand and telling him stories of it.

While the other memory was him standing before a golden sword logged in a stone pedestal. He watched as he drew the sword from the stone proving himself to be worthy to be the next king. With memories of a life of fun and then memories of a life of war and battle colliding together he felt as if his mind would explode till the set of memories of him having a cheerful childhood all ended at the point of being attacked by some shadow beast and him sinking into a river.

The end of the first set of memories eased the pain stinging his mind only a little as he felt the second set of memories continue to play out and he waited through them all the way up to his death. He watched as he battled a knight in silver and red armor bitterly trying to kill one another. Till finally he was able to strike down the silver knight splitting his helm revealing a face similar to his own. As the helm fell the knight reached out with blood-soaked hands to touch him only saying one word.

"…. Father."

And then died. And as the memories finally started to come to an end he watched as he laid against a tree bleeding out from a fatal wound that his son had inflicted upon him, and with that he watched himself die. Finally, with the memories ending the young blonde lifted himself up into a seated position at the edge of the river. He let his green eyes roam across the surroundings again as he began to piece together what had happened.

From what he had seen from the flash of memories the boy who in the memories named Jaune Arc seemed to have died saving one of his sisters. A very courageous act if somewhat foolish but still courageous. While that registered in his mind the blonde knew though that he wasn't Jaune Arc. No, he was from the second set of memories. He was Arthur Pendragon, the former king of knights. As he sat on the edge of the river he could only stare in both confusion and wonder at what had happened.

It seems when Jaune had died whilst Arthur was given a second chance at life being given Jaune's body. Something that felt wrong in his opinion. If Jaune's death wasn't an accident that meant someone wanted Arthur to take his place and killed him for that sole purpose. He could only assume that a mage of great power had played a role in his return to life. He could only guess from the mages he had known in his past life could have the power to do such a thing.

One of which being Merlin but even with Merlin being the one who had helped Arthur's father infuse him with the powers of a dragon he was still his friend and teacher who had been with him up to the last battle. Arthur couldn't truly see Merlin betraying him seeing as the mage had been so loyal to his father and guided him throughout so much in his life.

That left his sister Morgan le Fay. Yes, his sister had plotted to have his kingdom of Camelot over thrown by their son Mordred but she could not have lasted as long as it has been sense Arthur had last lived. At least he hoped for that to be, Arthur lifted himself from his seated position he looked around hoping to find a way back up the side of the cliff. He looked down at his body to see he no longer was covered in water and wondered if it was because of the blessing he had been granted from the lady of the lake Vivian taking affect.

As he thought this he heard voices calling from above. He turned his gaze up words to see the edge of the cliff. He watched as several people where running along the edge of the cliffs above. There was about 5 of them all running up and down the cliff just far enough from the edge not to fall off themselves. All of them were shouting one name.

"JAUNE!"

As he heard the man he understood what was happening. 'It must be my family…' he stopped that train of thought and shook his head. 'No not my family, Jaune's family. They must be looking for him.' He then looked up at them as he started to wonder about what this all meant. If they were looking for Jaune then what would he do? He can't just go up there and tell them he is some long dead king who just took their dead sons body for himself even if he had no say in the matter.

He couldn't do something like that. It's just wrong and he doubted anyone would believe such a tale, he barely believed it and only because of his connection to the mage world. That left him with two choices and both would end up changing that family's life forever. He lowered his head sadly as he continued to hear the shouts of Jaune's family above him. The choices he had now was either he went up there and pretended to be their son using the memories he had to play it off the best he could, or he just waited them out and let them think their son was dead.

Both choices had repercussions that would ripple through Jaune's family with devastating effect. On the one hand if he let them think he was dead he wouldn't truly be lying seeing as their son was gone and he was replacing him if only in mind but still replacing him. While at the same time he would let a family go through the loss of a son a terrible thing he had experience in. even if he had been the one to kill his son that didn't mean he had true wanted to he was just left with no choice but to kill him, yet that did not justify his actions.

He had killed his son, his own flesh and blood even if his son was born through sin he still knew had things been different he could have raise Mordred, he could have been deserving of him calling him his father of being his murderer. The pain of the act was great but the fact he had lost his son was still an even greater pain only made worse by the fact he killed him. That left him wondering if he could truly let that family go through the pain of losing their son.

With that thought he swallowed his fears and took a deep breath. He wasn't going to let that family suffer, he wouldn't let them go through such a tragedy. He took one last deep breath and then answer to the calls of Jaune's family.

"I'm down here!"

He shouted up the cliff making Jaune's family and run to the direction of where his voice came. As they came closer and closer Arthur started to have second thoughts about what he was doing as he waited. He knew what he was doing was wrong, he knew that once he did this he could never go back. So as he waited he continued to think about how wrong this was till he was pulled from his thoughts as a voice rang out.

"JAUNE!"

He looked up to see a young blonde hair girl leaning over the edge of the cliff being held back by two more older girls one with a mixture of black and blonde hair while the other had just flat black hair. Arthur looked through Jaune's memories to identify the girls. The youngest one being held back was Lily the sister Jaune had died saving while the other two where his older sisters May and Clarisse. He could see the relief in their eyes as he enhanced his eye sight to see them while he could see tears streaming down their cheeks as they looked down at him.

He was about to take a step back out of fear as he thought about how terrible of an act he was committing wishing he just could vanish and give those girls back their brother. His foot slid back some only to stop when another voice rang out and then he saw an older man with messy Blonde hair jump over the edge of the cliff and come falling down towards him. The act caught Arthur of guard as he watched the larger man come crashing down into the rocky side of the cliff with a heavy thud.

The man stood slowly as he turned to look Arthur over. The man slowly made his way towards him with concern filled eyes as he lifted his hands to hold him as his eyes fell on all the rips in Arthur's clothing. The man took a deep breath as he took it all in giving Arthur time to look through Jaune's memories to get the man's name. As he did he saw that this was Jaune's father Jeremiah Arc a former Huntsman, something akin to the knights of his time.

The old Hunter reached out placing his hands on Arthur's shoulders and pulled him into a hug.

"Thank the gods you are ok."

The old hunter seemed relieved beyond belief as he held onto Arthur. The act making Arthur's stomach knot as he thought about how terrible it would be if this man found out he wasn't his son. He wanted to push away he wanted to run and disappear so he didn't have to do this but he couldn't as he felt something else inside him seem to take hold as he returned the embrace.

He was confused by his actions till he realized that he was acting because of the emotions with in Jaune's memories driving him. That was why he didn't let them think he died or why he isn't telling him he isn't Jaune. No he was a small part of him still was Jaune the part that wanted to see this family smile was the part that was Jaune making Arthur act. With that realization he started to plan for the future.

He didn't know how long him pretending to be the true Jaune but knowing he at least had a part of him inside of himself meant he could bring Jaune back. So for as long as it will take Arthur will stay and try to return this family's son to them, but for now he would take his place.

"Yeah, I'm ok."

He said as he felt the emotions controlling him. Took a shaky breath and waited till Jeremiah broke the embrace. It took a minute but finally Jeremiah let him go. The old Hunter looked him over again and then turn back to look up the cliff side.

"He's ok!"

The moment Jeremiah shouted this Arthur and the old hunter could the girls at the top all shouting incoherently about how thankful they were. Arthur then turned to Jeremiah and then back up to the girls and felt a small smile form on his lips. 'I guess I did the right thing.' He thought as he then took a deep breath and patted the old Hunter on the shoulder.

"Um, father we should get up there now."

He spoke in a polite manor like he did his own father. The only thing is the act seemed to surprise Jeremiah as he turned back with a surprised look. This caught Arthur off guard as he wondered what he did wrong. Then he realized in all of Jaune's memories he never once said father only ever dad or old man. Very rude things to say but it was how he was and now Arthur just went and screwed up by acting like well himself over Jaune.

He took a step back worriedly as Jeremiah stared at him for a second before he began to laugh. The action surprised Arthur even more as he was now confused on what was happening.

"You must have really hit your head hard if you're calling me father now." The old hunter said as he reached out patting Arthur on the shoulder.

"Alright, if you're calling me father that must mean you really want to get up to your sisters so I won't stop you!"

The old Hunter cheered as he then reached out and lifted Arthur onto his shoulder and jumped back up the side of the cliff to where the girls were. But before Jeremiah could even bend his knees to jump Arthur acted on reflex and kneed the old Hunter in the face making him drop him. Jeremiah and Arthur fell to the ground the old hunter holding his face in pain while Arthur rolled into a crouch. He quickly moved to Jeremiah's side though and began to apologize.

"I'm so sorry you just caught me off guard." The former king apologized as he helped the old Hunter stand up. Again all he did was laugh as he patted Arthur on the shoulder.

"No, Don't worry about it. I should have known you would be jumpy after everything that has happened."

Jeremiah said with a smile as he patted Arthur on the shoulder. The former king froze slightly at the fact he was called Jaune but he held back his urge to correct him and just looked down to the stones at his feet like they were the most interesting thing ever. The act didn't go unnoticed by Jeremiah who lost his smile and squeezed Arthurs shoulder lightly. The old hunter then began to explain they would be climbing back up the cliff and that he would help him if he needed it.

Arthur just nodded and let the old hunter lead the way. It only took a couple of minutes to climb up the cliff side and not once did Arthur ask Jeremiah for help. Once they were finally at the top Jeremiah's daughters helped them over the edge and back onto the cliff. Once Arthur was away from the edge of the cliff the three daughters all hugged Jaune while his mother who had been with them stood to the side smiling.

The whole ordeal left Arthur confused but he returned each hug and apologized for worrying them the best he could to convince them he was Jaune. Which didn't seem to be a problem seeing as none of the girls seem to care for that as they all just hugged him repeatedly. An act Arthur would have been more than fine with. He was finally let go by Clarisse and May only for Lily to be the last one holding him almost as if never wanting to lit go.

She hadn't stopped crying either since he got back up the cliff as she just held him. She was young and she had been there when Jaune went over the edge so Arthur could understand why she was so desperate to keep her hold on him. He just hugged her back and looked up to the others. These people will be his family now until he could find a way to return them their true son. So he just took a deep breath smiled at them.

"Let's go home."

That was all he had to say for them all to agree and start on their way home. As they walked Lily clung to Arthur's side refusing to let go saying she never wanted to lose him again. Though he felt some guilt for not really being Jaune, Arthur let it been and smiled down to Lily.

"Don't worry, you will never lose me." He said smiling at her making her blush some but smile as she just held his arm tighter. With that Arthur made his resolve to bring back Jaune.

End of Chapter 1

AN/ Yea new story. Please do leave a review and fav and follow if you wish.