Chapter 09: King of Urchins and the Harbinger's End.
"Jaune, wake up." Jaune woke up to the sound of a familiar female voice. Opening up his eyes he came to the sight of a worried looking Pyrrha in her uniform. "If you don't get up we are going to be la-"
She snapped her mouth shut once Jaune jumped at her to envelope her in a hug.
"Oh my gods." Jaune ran a hand through her hair. "I'm so glad you are here."
"Jaune-Jaune?" He heard Nora's voice and looked up to see her looking at him with a worried expression. "Are you okay?" Ren had stopped buttoning up his shirt beside the girl, opting to look at him weirdly.
"I just had the worst nightmare." Jaune replied, keeping Pyrrha in his arms as he felt warm liquid running from his eyes. "But that's okay. You guys are here."
"D-don't worry J-jaune." Pyrrha stammered, no doubt flustered at being hugged by her crush. "B-but… may I ask you a question?"
"Of course you can Pyrrha." Jaune smiled. 'Maybe she'll actually confess today.'
"Okay… um." She seemed to hesitate as she brought her lips close to his ear. "Why did you kill me?"
"What?!" Jaune turned his head to look at Pyrrha… only to see her turning into ash. "Guys!" He turned to see Nora and Ren with wide eyes.
"Yeah Jauney. Why did you kill us?" Nora asked with a smile as she and Ren turned to ash.
"Yes Jaune." He heard a distorted male voice behind him and he turned. Standing there was a copy of himself. He was dressed exactly like he used to at Beacon, old armor and everything. His skin was a pearly white while his pupils were of a bright red color. It held a wicked grin. "Why did we kill them?"
-OOOOO-
Sitting up on his bed Jaune's breaths had become ragged pants. He looked around and saw his teammates… his real teammates sleeping pleasantly… except for Mavros, who was lying on his bed looking at him.
"Everything's fine." Jaune assured him as he picked up his phone to look at the time. 'Five AM… I guess it's a good time to train.' He got up and grabbed his exercise clothing to then go to the bathroom and change.
Once he got out he saw Mavros sleeping again and got out of the room as quietly as possible.
-OOOOO-
He got back to the dorm room around seven in the morning. Roman waved at him from his bed, dressed in his usual black and white getup, Oobleck was reading a book while sitting on his bed, dressed in his green clothing while Mavros nodded at him as he walked out of the bathroom wearing his black clothes. Jaune nodded back and went into the bathroom to prepare for their trip to Vale.
-OOOOO-
"So Roman, what is it that you wanted to show us?" Jaune asked as they walked through the warehouse district. They had a heavy breakfast at a diner called 'Rosa's Kitchen.' It was hearty Southern Vacuan food. Jaune liked the beef and bean stew he had. And their bread was way better than Beacon's.
"You'll know soon." The future thief replied as he stopped in front of an abandoned warehouse. He went up to the door and knocked three times using his cane. "Jasper, be a dear and let me in. I've brought my team."
The door opened to reveal a red-headed kid, no more than 13 years old, wearing ragged clothes. "Mister Torchwick, mister Oobleck. It's nice to see you." The kid let them inside.
Jaune couldn't help but notice the inside of the warehouse looked… way better than the outside. It was furnished, there were some drapes over the windows, carpets on the floor, a bunch of beds scattered around, two long tables with benches at their sides. Some doors led to different rooms, with stairs leading to a room elevated to what looked like a second floor.
A lot of kids in ragged clothes ran towards them and pushed each other aside to get close to Roman.
"Mister Torchwick!" They yelled as Roman tried to placate them with his hands.
"Alright, alright brats, calm down." Once the kid had calmed down Roman turn to look at him and Mavros. "Okay brats, I want to introduce you to my teammates." Roman pointed at Jaune and Mavros. "Jaune Arclight and Mavros Malachite."
"Hi Jaune! Hi Mavros!" The kids yelled in unison.
"Now kids, I gotta go to my office, Jasper you come with me." And with that Roman led them towards the room on the second floor. Once they entered it, Jasper closed the door as Roman sat on a comfy looking chair.
"So… uh… nice place." Jaune mentioned.
"Yeah." Roman smiled. "It is. Barty and I have been running this shelter for a while now." Roman got a serious look on his face. "And we need your help stealing supplies Jaune."
Jaune looked at Roman in the eyes. "I'm assuming you want use of my inventory."
"Yes." Roman replied. "We need your help Jaune. This hit will be our biggest with your help."
Jaune sighed. "I'll do it, but we'll need disguises. Do you have anyone that can help?"
"Not really, we generally use stealth for this because we hit small stores, this time we want to hit the biggest supermarket on Vale."
"I… may know someone." Mavros suggested with a sigh. As all eyes in the room fell on him he sighed again. "Just… don't be surprised."
-OOOOO-
"Mavros!" A girl with black hair and brown eyes dressed in a red and black suit jumped on top of the black haired boy, hugging him. "It's so nice to see you!"
The group had come to a place called 'The Club.' Jaune had once come here to get his fake transcripts. The owner was a pretty big guy. By his own words he 'had a contact at Signal who would approve of anyone in exchange for free booze'. Jaune suspected it was Qrow.
Jaune looked towards Bartholomew and Roman. Both of them were holding out laughter, just like the blonde. He looked above the girl's head to check who she was.
[The Red Axe Boss]
[Xiao Xiong]
"I don't believe we have been introduced." Jaune started. "I'm Jaune Arclight, and these are Bartholomew Oobleck and Roman Torchwick, part of my team."
The girl looked over at him and stood straight while keeping Mavros hugged at her side. She was taller than Jaune. "Where are my manners? I'm Xiao Xiong, this doofus' fiancé." She bowed.
Jaune looked at Mavros' blushing face and then towards Roman and Bartholomew. The green haired boy was smiling pleasantly and Roman had a shit eating grin which rivaled Yang's after making Blake mad with a cat pun. 'Blackmail material is a hell of a drug.'
"Mavros is a good partner." Jaune smiled at her. "Mavros, wasn't there something you wanted to say to your fiancé?" Mavros looked at him with hateful eyes. 'I'm sorry buddy, those kids come first.'
"Yes, quite." Mavros looked at his fiancé. "Xiao-"
"Call me Honey."
"… Honey. My friends and I need your help acquiring some… disguises for an operation."
"I may have what you need." She replied and led them to a room at the back of the establishment. "Sometimes we get these weird parents who think they should have Little Orange's tenth birthday at a nightclub. Since it's money, we usually keep some costumes just in case." She opened the door and Jaune's stomach dropped.
Roman summed up his thoughts pretty accurately. "Oh god."
-OOOOO-
A single man patrolled through a supermarket aisle at night. Confidence swelling up from his chest, he kept smiling, knowing his other guard friends would keep this supermarket safe. This man was Solid Pink Rodriguez, a man from Low Vacuo.
"Que bueno que Waldust es tan amable como para darnos armas para defendernos." Solid Pink exclaimed loudly as he took out his trusty pink sledge hammer. As he rounded the corner he collided with something big and… fleshy. He took a step back and readied his sledge hammer, only to stare confused at the giant brown rabbit that looked at him with dead eyes. "¿Pedro Calabaza?" Was the last thing Solid Pink Rodriguez said before being pummeled unconscious.
-OOOOO-
Jaune looked at the tanned security guard on the floor. 'At least he didn't yell.' He was about to keep walking until he saw the man's pink sledge hammer.
"Pink is the best possible color Jaune-Jaune. It represents love and playfulness. And look how well it looks on Renny!"
'Playfulness huh?' Jaune picked up the sledge hammer and swung it around, getting used to its weight and length. It wasn't as long and heavy as Magnhild but it would do.
[Due to an imaginative use of your abilities, the skill "Warhammer Mastery" has been added to the "Way of the Warrior"]
[Due to repeated use, the skill "Steal" has increased to level 3]
Jaune sighed. 'It's for the children.' He looked at the sledge hammer. 'Welcome aboard… Magnhild.' Storing his new weapon in his Inventory, he went back to stealing supplies.
-OOOOO-
The sound of the children celebrating filled Jaune's heart with joy. He looked on as Bartholomew cooked something on a pot and a group of Red Axe members distributed food and drinks amongst the children. Xiao Xiong was playing some sort of small violin with only two strings while Mavros was playing the harp.
Roman was standing beside him, smiling fondly at the scene with his eyes shining. "Thanks Jaune." He finally spoke.
"No problems." Jaune smiled fondly. "A friend of mine used to say 'If we don't help them, then who will?'"
"She seems innocent." Roman replied with a smile. "A nice sentiment though. Was she one of the friends which helped you with the Nuckelavee?"
"Yup." Jaune's smiled grew. "She was the most positive thinker out of our group. My best friend and fellow member of the socially awkward club." Jaune looked down.
"Seems like a good person." Roman looked at him. "And socially awkward? Maybe you are a bit weird but you are not bad at talking to people."
Jaune smiled at him. "I guess death will do that for you."
Roman's face fell. "Oh yeah, your friends died."
Jaune simply laughed forlornly. "Don't worry about it."
[Leveled up! You have unspent Attribute Points]
[Oversoul Bonds updated]
-OOOOO-
Jaune woke up early next morning to his phone vibrating. He took it and checked to see what it was.
Ozpin: I found a way to check your magic aptitude. You should come to my office.
Jaune got up, went to take a shower, he dressed up and went to Ozpin's office.
-OOOOO-
'Ever since I died for the second time… I never thought I would use this spell again.' Ozpin looked out to the sky, thinking about the new developments that had been happening.
'I wonder why those two bastards sent such a young man to do their bidding.' Ozpin had once decided to not question the will of such enigmatic beings. They had so much power, but they couldn't predict their creations being used against them by a single woman… the woman they decided to punish just because she wasn't yet ready to part with her lover… with Ozma.
Ozma. Such an ancient name. His ancient name. A name which had vanished long ago. A name which had taken over so many lives. He often wondered if Ozma and what he eventually turned into were two separate people. Ozma was an idealistic warrior who had taken up the woman he saved as his wife. Now he was a jaded man who had seen countless people die and who liked to keep his cards close to his chest.
The sound of doors opening made him turn to see Jaune Arclight, Envoy of the Gods.
"Ah Jaune, good morning." Ozpin smiled at the boy.
"Thanks, good morning to you too." The boy replied with a bow. "You wanted to check my magic stuff?"
Ozpin nodded. "It'll be just a second." He willed a bit of his Aura into his eyes as he closed them. "Identify." He opened them and saw a little wisp of power inside the boy's chest. 'Not bad for someone of this era.' He willed the Aura away. "Well Jaune, I can say I'm impressed by your magic aptitude, it's way higher than most people."
"Does that mean I'll be able to learn magic?"
"Yes, although your magic aptitude is very low by ancient standards, so you'll have to practice with the two spells I'll give you." Ozpin walked towards the boy and put his thumb on his forehead, willing the Reinforcement and Identify spells into the boy's subconscious. "Magic is an amazing art young man. The more creative you get with it the more it'll listen to you. The Reinforcement spell lets you power up your body for a time and the Identify spell lets you check something to see if it has magic capabilities."
-OOOOO-
"Magic capabilities huh?" Jaune replied as he used Identify on Ozpin's mug.
Mug of Ozma: A mug enchanted to replenish itself with any liquid the attuned owner desires.
"You made yourself a self-replenishing mug?" Jaune looked at Ozpin, not sure if he should be impressed or baffled.
"Yes, it is quite useful." The wizard drank from the mug. "I recommend using Identify on your weapons."
Jaune facepalmmed as he thought of it. He hadn't use Observe once on Albus Mors or Aureum Protector. He quickly took them out of his Inventory and used Identify on them.
Albus Mors: A sword enchanted to never rust.
Aureum Protector: A shield enchanted to ?
"I can't seem to see what enchantment my shield has." Jaune told Ozpin.
"Then it seems you will have to train." Ozpin smiled, causing Jaune to nod.
"Thanks for the help Ozpin." The boy smiled warmly at the eternal wizard. "Goodbye."
-OOOOO-
Jaune had woken up the next morning with the rising sun. Quickly taking a shower and dressing up he reviewed yesterday's training. He had gotten Reinforcement to level 3 and Identify to level 2, gaining a point of WIS when he decided to simply spend all his AP into Reinforcement to level it up quicker.
He had breakfast with his team and then went to his first class, Combat Class. He was dreading this day. He had heard horror stories of Raven Branwen from terrorized villagers, loyal bandits, and Qrow Branwen. The villagers spoke of her as this bringer of doom. If she managed to get into a town then it would fall. The bandits spoke of her as their warrior goddess, guiding them to victory and glory. Qrow spoke of her as a monster, someone who would give up everything for 'strength'.
As he entered the classroom he saw Raven Branwen staring at him like a hawk. He simply sat down with his team next to Team CTRS. The rest of Team STRQ entered the classroom and walked towards Raven, with Qrow giving him a death glare as he passed by.
Professor Kira and little Yuki arrived a minute later, as the bell rang loudly. "Alright brats, today we have some scheduled battles, the first one is Qrow Branwen against Gretchen Rainart. Get ready and get on the stage."
"Good luck." Jaune told Gretchen as she replied with a childish smile.
Eventually, both combatants were on the stage. Qrow with Harbinger and Gretchen with her axe and shield. Professor Kira started the fight and Qrow rushed Gretchen.
The girl sidestepped a one-handed slow swing, an obvious feint in Jaune's eyes, and rushed to attack the Branwen with an overhead strike. Qrow simply grabbed the axe by its pole and yanked it, making the girl stumble towards him as he head-butted her away.
As she recoiled from the attack Qrow swiped his sword quickly towards her shield, making her drop it as he grabbed her axe-hand's wrist, yanking her towards him again as he shoulder bashed her on the face.
She tried to step back but Qrow had a deathly grip on her wrist. The Branwen kneed her on the stomach, taking her breath away as he turned towards Jaune… and grinned. Then he did something that made the blonde's blood boil.
He threw Harbinger away, something the Qrow he knew would never do for petty reasons, grabbed Gretchen by the neck and swiped her feet off the ground to then slam her on the floor. He then grabbed flipped her backside up and grabbed the back of her head to then start slamming her face towards the floor repeatedly, causing almost everyone to gasp.
Jaune looked towards Professor Kira, but he saw nothing in his eyes, only a stoic face. Little Yuki was hiding her face behind Professor Kira's back, shivering. He then looked around. Summer had an impassive face, Taiyang looked ready to jump in and tear Qrow apart. Roman looked disgusted, same with Bartholomew. Mavros looked stoic, but Jaune could see fury in his eyes. He looked towards Raven, who seemed to look at Qrow with… hate? He shook his head and his attention was drawn towards Team CTRS.
Scarlet was shaking in rage, with only a disgusted looking Celadon holding him back… but no one was holding back Chiffon.
The rabbit Faunus roared in anger as she jumped towards the arena with a red Aura surrounding her. She threw a flying kick towards Qrow using her heavy boots only for him to dodge at the last second, arriving at Harbinger's location and picking it up, getting into a combat stance.
"You get the fuck away from her ye piece o' shit, if you come near her again I will fucking rip out yer testicles and make ye eat them you twig-arm waste of oxygen." Chiffon threatened him ash she held Gretchen protectively in her arms.
"Pathetic." Qrow… no… Branwen exclaimed. "If this is what she can do then she isn't good enough to be a Hunt-"
Jaune hadn't even realized Professor Kira had moved until he grabbed Qrow by the collar and punched him in the jaw while he dropped him. Qrow would have been sent away if not for the black wolves which bit into him.
"The Headmaster wants to see you scum." The Professor's voice was laced with anger and hate as the wolves dragged Qrow away. Little Yuki took Harbinger from the floor and gave it to Professor Kira. "I want to give you all a warning." He took Harbinger and angled it sideways. "Huntsmen don't attack their classmates. They don't attack their teammates. They don't cause needless violence." He took a breath. "But most importantly… Huntsmen are not sadistic idiots who think they should be on top because of their strength!" And with that he threw a downward punch towards Harbinger… shattering it completely.
Chiffon nodded and took Gretchen to the infirmary, with Scarlet and Celadon running towards her. Jaune looked towards Raven Branwen as she turned her head to look at him. They locked eyes. She must have sensed his intentions because she nodded. Jaune took a breath to calm himself and looked at Professor Kira. "I would like to challenge Raven Branwen to a duel."
-OOOOO-
Hey! How are you guys? It's been like… two months… sorry about that. I had lost my spark… but now it's back! Now, I won't promise weekly chapters… but there won't be another two month hiatus… hopefully. Anyways, on to the reviews!
Merendinoemiliano: With Mavros I was trying to make it seem like Jaune didn't really know what to say to him. Mavros was analyzing Jaune with his Semblance and just recently he has opened up a bit, with this chapter trying to show he now at least wants to try. It's nice that you people can see that I'm improving. I often wonder if I actually do.
Silvolde: Yeah, about the Oobleck thing… if this chapter didn't manage to show it, then Roman and Oobleck are both into the stealing food thing… for a good cause!
Blackwingww: We never know! I still don't have an idea on the ships. It's their first year after all.
Random: As I've said before, I don't really know which ship will be canon later on. I have ideas but they are not really developed.
X3runner: Teasing Raven is always fun. I'm actually worried about how people will react to Gretchen's character. She is pretty much an OC in everything but name, but I'm trying to make her as likable as possible. I actually intended Chiffon to have more of an Irish accent though…
Typhonyx: Thanks for your input. It's my story though so I'll do what I want. I mean, canon is already fucked over just by Jaune being in the past. Regarding your points though: I feel like complaining about what a character drinks or does not drink is kind of pointless. The thing about teaching is more important, and it actually comes to something I have planned for later. Remember this is like 20 years into the past, so things are different. I concede the part about Jaune's bandit call being underwhelming, but the point of the scene wasn't about Jaune trying to stir up drama by talking about Qrow's bandit lifestyle… if he had actually said anything about Qrow being a bandit then yeah, it would be a bigger plot point, but he just said Qrow is from a tribe.
Regarding the Faunus OCs… they are a reference towards another story I made, and I thought it would be cool to have them in. As I've said before, it's my story so I'll add stuff I think is cool and fits with what I want to do.
Regarding the stat stuff… yeah, I made a mistake on that part. I meant to put what had actually changed but fucked up and put the complete stat part. Sorry about that.
While I enjoy reading criticism and I will answer to it, even own up to my mistakes and all… please, don't complain about things that are flat out wrong or that are kinda pointless, like what Ozpin drinks. He drinks what I want him to drink.
But I liked your review, it actually gave me an insight to what people don't like about this story.
A54321: While it wasn't much, at least you now know why he is the King of Urchins.
HikariHoshinoAsakura: Jaune: Dattebayo! His haircut sucks in motion. I wish he had longer hair. RIP.
The Ancient Irish Viking: Oh, the Branwen issue, at least with Raven, will find some development soon. Remember, they are just in their first year. Things are going to take time.
AxDevilman: We are gonna see more of their team in the future.
The lost memories6: Dude… it's the first year… I think shipping stories have spoiled this fanbase rotten.
Dethcat: While it is a nice idea… I don't see Jaune really making that temple… it looks too old to have been made 20 odd years before canon. And yeah, thanks for the correction. Also yeah, I really like DBZA, expect more quotes in the future.
Jaune stuff:
Level: 3
Aura Points (AP): 1220 (+10%) = 1342
Wisdom (WIS): 27
Attribute points: 10
Inventory:
-Magnhild.
-Pumpkin Pete Head.
-Pumpkin Pete Bodysuit.
*Oversoul Bonds:
-Mavros Malachite (Observer): Partner [He thinks you are a good, yet annoying person, with a mystery he is determined to piece together].
-Bartholomew Oobleck (Extra Credit): Friend [He thinks you are a pretty good person and is excited to see how your Semblance will develop].
-Roman Torchwick (Smooth Criminal): Friend [He thinks you are trustworthy and an all-around nice guy].
[Way of the Warrior]
Warhammer Mastery (Lvl 1) (Passive): You are adept at using war hammers in combat (1% more damage when using war hammers. 1% more attack speed when using war hammers).
[Way of the Monk]
Reinforcement (Lvl 3) (Active): You will your Aura into your muscles, giving you a power boost for a while (60 AP per minute active. Gives 15% boost to physical attacks).
[Way of the Rogue]
Steal (Lvl 3) (Active): Your ability to steal items is above average (6% less chance of getting caught while stealing something).
[Way of the Mage]
Arcane Core (Lvl MAX) (Passive): The core to learning and developing Arcane spells. Your creativity and imagination will reward you and you will be able to use more techniques (Gives the user the ability to create Arcane spells. Gives the user more AP proportional to their INT).
Identify (Lvl 2) (Active): Lets the user identify something to check its magic capabilities (50 AP per cast).
And that's all folks. Remember to tell me what you think and any questions you have. I will answer them to the best of my ability.