"Every parting is a form of death, as every reunion is a type of heaven" - Tryon Edwards
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A/N: Sorry for posting this late, but Late night shifts fucking suck! Anyway! I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!
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The next day, Jaune slowly woke up from his sleep, feeling rather well rested, something he hadn't felt in a long time, mostly due to nightmares and the presence of the Beowulf, yet, no nightmares and he didn't feel the dark presence of the Beowulf. He got up and saw Deery still sleeping, cuddled up with Zwei and drooling on her pillow. Jaune smiled at the sight, reminding him of the times he had to wake up his younger sisters.
Jauen got up and went to grab his cloak and wrapped it around himself, he then reached to grab Crocea Mors, however, before he could fully grab it... he stopped.
Did he need to carry it at his side today?
'No...' Jaune thought as he moved his hand away, and turned back around and left the room. 'I don't need it today, we're safe here,' Jaune thought.
He walked outside of the room and then outside of the house, where he felt the cool morning air and saw the rays of sunshine peaking over the trees, and once again, a small and genuine smile graced his lips as he looked at the sight.
After taking a deep breath, he headed back inside and looked inside Tai's fridge and saw some eggs and sausage, he then looked to see some bread resting atop the microwave. It was there that he decided to cook breakfast for everyone else.
He then thought back to Saphron and how there were days when she would cook for the rest of their siblings, he thought back to how good her eggs were, and he also remembered the smiles of his family, the laughter and the joy they all shared.
Slowly, in Jaune's mind, the faces of his family shifted and turned into Vernal, Oscar, Maria, Deery, Robyn, Fiona, May, Joanna, Tai, and Zwei. The image of them all sitting around a table and eating while being happy and laughing made Jaune feel warm, something he had not felt in a long time...
It hadn't been that long since he felt such an emotion, yet it felt like it had. It felt as if the name of said emotion almost escaped his mind.
Happiness.
As he cooked, he heard someone sniffing and turned around only to see Tai, already dressed but still looking a little tired.
Tai greeted the young man with a smile, "Smells good,"
Jaunr smiled back at him, "Thanks," He said.
After Tai appeared, Jaune heard a groan from the couch, and sitting up was Qrow, who let out a groan and stood up to stretch.
Tai looked at him with a smile as he made some coffee, "Mornin' Qrow," He said.
"Morning," Qrow replied, he then sniffed the air and looked to see Jaune cooking. "Damn kid, that smells good, whatcha' making?"
"Eggs, sausage, and toast," Jaune replied.
Qrow smiled, "Been a while since I had some breakfast," He said.
Jaune continued to cook and once he was finished, Tai handed him some plates and he put the food on them and made a third, which was for Deery, who he then went to wake up, and she joined them for breakfast.
Since he had left Beacon, since he had started this journey, that one moment, that single meal in the morning...
Felt so normal.
It made Jaune happy, and he had hoped, that there would be a day when he and those he cared about, could sit down around a table for a meal and simply laugh and be happy...
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A few minutes outside of Cobble, it was the afternoon, and in a clearing, Oscar had his sword drawn as he stood and faced Vernal, who had both of her daggers drawn, and both looked ready to fight.
Suddenly, Vernal switched her daggers into their pistol forms and quickly fired at Oscar, however, the young farmboy charged and managed to deflect the bullets that were shot at him with his sword, and when he got in close, he quickly swung his blade, only for Vernal to block the attack with the barrel of her right pistol, before she quickly aimed her left at the boy's stomach.
Oscar quickly acted and jumped up high in the air and over the older teen just as Vernal fired and struck the dirt. The young farm boy landed right behind Vernal and quickly slashed her in the back, hitting her aura, and causing her to stumble forward. Vernal quickly shifted her pistols back into daggers, and turned around, quickly watching charging at the young boy.
She swung with her right dagger, and Oscar blocked, but just as he did, she thrusted her left dagger toward him, and Oscar pushed her right away before deflecting her left. However, just as he deflected her second attack, Vernal kneed him in the gut and he bent forward as all the air in him left, Vernal then spun around and kicked the young boy in the face, sending him flying to the left, but Oscar managed to stop himself by stabbing his sword in the ground.
He landed on his feet and looked to see Vernal charging at him, thinking quickly, he pulled his sword out but made sure that some of the dirt came with it, throwing it at Vernal and blinding her for a few seconds as he went in for a strike, managing to slash the older teen across the stomach, hitting and lowering her Aura.
However, Vernal didn't let that one attack stop her as she quickly backed up and then charged back at the young boy, this time, speeding up her attacks. To an outside looker, it would seem like she was swinging wildly, but in reality, they were more precise than one would think.
While Oscar's training had been going well, his reflexes, strength, speed, and skill with his weapon were amazing, not as good as Vernal and Jaune, but good enough for the average first year in a combat school, however, he still needed to work on his reaction speed.
Oscar's problem when training with Vernal and Maria was that they both accelerated in speed when fighting, quick and multiple strikes with deadly precision, which didn't bode well for the young apprentice.
While Oscar managed to deflect a few strikes from Vernal, he was struck a lot more, his aura lowering at a fast rate.
Oscar managed to duck under a swing and he ran to the side, hoping to get away from Vernal's barrage of slashes. He turned back around and put all of his strength into his next swing and Vernal turned to him and saw his attack and blocked his attack with both of her daggers, but she could feel the strength behind it and was very proud and impressed.
Both of their blades were locked in a struggle for dominance and Oscar smiled, believing he was winning, however, he was completely wrong, while Vernal's dagger may be locked with his sword, her legs weren't.
She kicked his legs out from under him and he fell to the ground, as Vernal stomped on his chest and quickly shifted one of her daggers into the pistol and aimed down at him.
Maria chuckled, "Vernal won, again," she said.
Vernal took her foot off the young boy and shifted her pistol back into a dagger and sheathed both of them before she helped the young boy up, and he too sheathed his weapon behind his back.
Vernal smiled at him, "You've gotten better kiddo, and nearly at the level of a Combat Student," She said and then gave him a soft smile, "Jaune's gonna be proud to see how far you've come," She finished.
Oscar grew happy when he heard that, 'I still have work, but I'm getting stronger... I won't have to keep looking at their backs anymore, soon enough, I'll be standing right there with them,' Oscar thought with a determined smile.
Maria got up from the stone she was sitting upon and cracked her back before complaining about her age and she looked at the pair, "Well, I'm heading into town for some lunch,"
Oscar looked at the older lady with a smile, "Want us to come with?" He asked.
Maria groaned, "Please, I may be old, but I'm not that old," the old Huntress told them before walking toward the town.
As they watched Maria leave, Oscar turned back to Vernal with a raised brow, "You think we'll find Jaune soon?" He asked.
Vernal nodded, "I know we will, but if we somehow miss him, we know where he's going next, and if that fails, we'll find him back at Beacon," Vernal replied. "One way or another, he's not running away from us for too long," She said.
Oscar nodded, but then he thought back to what Robyn had told them about Jaune's time in Mantle, he remembered how she described Jaune when she told them about finding after a building collapsed.
"When we got there, we saw him emerge from the rubble and he didn't even look like a human," Robyn told them, "He was covered in bite marks from the Trushna, and ash and burns... no human could've still stood up after all of that, yet there he was, still standing and still ready to kill, honestly thought we'd have to jump in and stop him from going on a massacre, but thankfully, he must have exhausted himself out because he just collapsed,"
That made Oscar think about how Jaune might have changed drastically because it wasn't Jaune's first slaughter. "Vernal?" Oscar called out.
Vernal looked at him with a raised brow, "Hm?"
"Do you think Jaune's not gonna be the same?" He asked, his tone sounding worried. "Will he be the same Jaune? Has his soul blackened more? Is he... Too far gone?"
Vernal quickly pulled the young boy into a hug and held him tightly, knowing that Oscar had shared the same worries as she had, and she also knew that Oscar blamed himself for Jaune leaving, for pushing Jaune deeper into the darkness, but she knew that it was never because of Oscar, the young boy was never to blame. "Jaune will always be Jaune," She told him softly with a comforting tone, "Because no matter what the world throws at him, he gets up, faces it, and keeps moving forward... and we'll keep doing the same," She told him.
Oscar felt a tug on his heart and he hugged her back, holding her just as tightly as a child would a mother, and he sniffled, but smiled, slowly nodding his head with Vernal's statement.
Meanwhile, inside the town of Cobble, Maria was walking down the sidewalk, looking for a good place to eat, when she heard the barking of a dog, she looked ahead of her and that's when she saw a young teen girl chasing after a small dog who was running away, though still attached to its leash.
"Get back here!" The girl cried.
The Dog continued running toward Maria and she smiled as she managed to slam her cane on a part of the leash and stop the dog right in its tracks.
The young teen girl stopped and smiled when she saw Maria had stopped the small dog. "Thank you!" She cried with relief.
Maria chuckled and gave the younger female a small nod, "No problem, I know how wild them little things can be," She said.
The girl giggled, "Thank you, Ms...?"
"Calavera, but please call me Maria," She told the young girl.
"Nice to meet you, Maria, Name's Deery," Deery introduced herself.
The girl smiled, picked up the dog, and looked at the dog with an annoyed look. "Seriously, that is the 3rd time you've run off! What's wrong with you Zwei!?"
"ARF!" The dog barked back and began to pant.
"Oh, I can't stay mad at you!" She squealed, "Who's a good little boy! You are! Yes, you are!" The girl said as she held the dog like one would hold their favorite stuffed animal. "Anyway, let's start heading back! Don't want Jaune getting worried about us!"
Maria was happy that the girl had her dog back, but that's when Maria finally realized the name she spoke and acting quickly, she grabbed the young girl's wrist and Deery was shocked and turned to the older woman with a confused look.
Maria looked at her with a raised brow, and hoped that her ears did not fool her, "Excuse me, did you say you had to get back to a young man named Jaune?" She asked. "Is his full name Jaune Arc?"
When Maria asked this question, Deery was hesitant to answer, knowing well that Jaune had enemies, but Maria didn't look like a threat, she just looked like any sweet old lady. Deery nodded, "Yes, his name is Jaune Arc," Deery replied. "Why do you ask?"
"I ask because I and a few brats have been looking for him since he left us behind in Mistral!" She cried with a smile. "Is he close by? Can you take us to him?"
Deery nodded but before leading Maria to Jaune, the older woman pulled her away with Zwei back outside of Cobble to Vernal and Oscar's location, happy to tell them the good news.
Today was going to be a day to remember.
Back at Tai's house, the older blonde was reading in the living room and walking in, was Jaune looking at Tai with a bit of a serious expression.
"Tai," Jaune called our to him.
Tai looked away from his book and to the young blonde, with a raised brow and a smile. "What's up kiddo?" He asked.
"Can... can I talk to you?" Jaune asked.
Tai nodded, "Of course, pop a squat," He said.
Jaune took a seat on the couch and looked over to Tai's chair as Tai looked back.
"So, what's on your mind, Jaune?" Tai asked with a raised brow.
Jaune thought about everything that had been troubling his mind, and he sighed, "I've been thinking about the end of the road to all of this, how will my entire journey end? Who I might become and how I'll end up... will he be like my father who just left and suffered in silence or will I... find peace, like it seems you have?" Jaune asked.
Tai looked at Jaune and he could see the trouble etched on Jaune's face, and he let out a sigh, knowing that Jaune wasn't going to like what he had to say, but it was the truth. "I'm gonna be honest with you, I can't answer, because the only person that has those answers is yourself," Tai told him, "You get to be the one to choose who you want to end up like, and get to choose where and how to live when you reach the end of this long road... What do you want in the end, Jaune?" Tai told him.
Jaune thought about it, he remembered his friends, but his mind thought back to the two people whom he cared for the most, he thought about Vernal and Oscar, he thought about how he wanted them there at the end of the road, living peaceful lives and being a family. "I just... I want a peaceful end,"
Tai smiled and nodded, "Honestly, that's a good choice," Tai said, "If you want to find peace like have Jaune, or peace similar to it, then you have to keep fighting for it, this doesn't just happen, you have to keep fighting against the world and its forces, but most of all, you have to fight against the inner turmoil inside of you..." Tai said.
Jaune slowly nodded as he took in Tai's words and thought about his nightmares, the dead that haunted his mind and the dark creature that just lurked deep within his psyche. He needed to let go of the dead and move on... and continue forward with those he loves.
Ozpin, Vernal, Oscar, Melissa, Maria, Robyn, Fiona, Joanna, May, Deery, Ciel, Ironwood, Zwei, and Tai.
He cared for all of them, no matter the little time he spent with them, he cared for them because he had met them because he had done good and terrible things alongside them, and because in some way, they were a part of his story and with that happy thought, Jaune softly smiled.
Suddenly, bursting through the front door was Deery, with Zwei in her arms. "JAUNE! TAI!" He cried out with a smile.
Both blondes jumped up and looked at her with wide eyes and shocked expressions.
"What is it!?" Jaune asked.
However, Deery set down Zwei and grabbed Jaune by the arm, and dragged him outside, both blondes were confused, more so Jaune, as he wondered why Deery was pulling him outside, and when he was outside and on the porch, he looked away from Deery as she let go of his arm and point ahead and Jaune followed her finger and when he looked in front of him, his eyes widened with utter shock.
Walking toward the house only to stop when their gaze met his, were none other than Vernal, Oscar, and Maria.
Jaune's shock turned to joy as he ran past Deery and ran toward the three and Vernal did the same, as the two ran toward each other with smiles, and as the two got close, Jaune went in for a hug... only to be punched in the face and sent to the ground.
Vernal had kept her promise, she had punched him right in the face and sent him to the ground as she glared at him. "YOU FUCKING IDIOT!" She cried with anger. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED WE WERE!? HOW FUCKING SCARED WE WERE!?"
Jaune sat up only for Vernal to bend down, and grab him by his hoodie, bringing him close as her anger continued.
"DAMN IT JAUNE! IF YOU DO SOMETHING SO STUPID LIKE THIS AGAIN, I SWEAR TO THE GODS THAT I WILL SHOVE MY FOOT SO FAR UP YOUR ASS THAT IT'LL COME OUT THE OTHER END!" Vernal yelled.
However, Jaune smiled and slowly began to chuckle, before finally letting out a hearty laugh as tears of joy fell from his eyes, despite how angry she wanted to be, Vernal couldn't help but crack a smile, as she began to feel the joy of seeing Jaune again.
"Damn it stop laughing!" Vernal cried, trying to remain angry.
However, Jaune pulled down and brought her into the tightest hug she had ever felt. "I missed you too, Vernal," he told her softly.
Vernal could hold it in anymore as she smiled and hugged back, "Don't you ever leave us like that again you dumbass!" She said with a sniffle.
The hug broke and the two got up just as Oscar and Maria approached the two, and when they were close, Maria looked up and the blond and then struck him in the knee with her cane.
Jaune winced in slight pain as he rubbed his knee, "OW! Maria!"
"That's for leaving these two behind!" She said before whacking him in the other leg.
"AH! What was that one for!?" Jaune cried with confusion.
She just shrugged, "I don't know, I just felt like it," She said.
Jaune sighed and then picked up the short old woman and brought her into a hug, though she complained and told Jaune to let her down, yet, her small smile told a different story.
After setting down the old woman, Jaune turned to Oscar where Oscar looked up at him and quickly gave the older teen a hug which caught Jaune off guard and took some air out of him, but Jaune smiled and hugged back.
The hug broke and the two looked at each other with smiles.
"You've gotten a whole lot stronger, Oscar," Jaune said with a proud smile.
Oscar beamed with pride, "Well, someone had to watch Vernal's back!" He said.
Vernal scoffed with a smirk and rolled her eyes, "Riiight," she said.
From behind, Tai approached the group with Zwei and Deery and smiled at the scene, "Well, why don't you all come in, I'm sure you all have a lot to talk about," he told them.
Vernal nodded, "You have no idea," She said as she turned to Jaune with a smile.
Jaune turned to her as well and smiled softly. The two stared into each other's eyes for a good while before breaking and heading inside the Xiao-Long household with the other's.
This family had finally been reunited... and for now, they would never be separated again.
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Meanwhile, deep within the Forever Fall Forest, an old woman sat in a chair. The old woman had white hair that was tied up in a bun, and she wore a long-sleeved dark blue sundress with a golden leaf pattern around the bottom of the dress, the leaves almost appeared to be falling gracefully and slowly, and she wore a pair of old brown boots, that looked worn out from years of use.
Hearing the footsteps of someone approaching, she looked to the forest with a smile, seeing an old friend she had not seen for 100 years. "It's been a long time, old friend," She said with a soft tone.
"It has, Alyx," the friend replied. The voice sounded deep and ancient.
The old woman, now revealed to be Alyx, continued to smile, "What brings you all the way out here?" Alyx asked.
"It seems our friend has made a return finally,"
Hearing this, Alyx's expression became one of sorrow, and she let out a long sigh, "I feared the day he would finally show up..."
"All is not lost, Alyx," The friend told her, "He still needs a soul to bond to, he hasn't found one so far, so there is still a chance to end him before the worst is to come,"
"I hope you are right, my dear friend," Alyx replied, "Should he find the right host, should that host become a vessel for him, should their souls become one... then there is no stopping him, he'll be more dangerous then Salem ever will be,"
"That he shall, but I will not let this happen," They told her.
"Grandma!"
Turning her head upon hearing the voice of her Granddaughter, Alyx turned her head to see her granddaughter, and trailing behind her was her brother.
Her granddaughter had dark brown skin, long dark brown wavy hair, and hazel eyes. She wore a baby blue collar shirt with short puffy sleeves, a navy skirt with a golden trimmed design, and black leather boots. In addition, she wore a dark blue headband with two knots resembling rabbit ears, a colorful waist sash that consisted of navy, red, cyan, gold, and magenta strings with a golden rabbit pin, and bandages wrapped around her right leg.
Her grandson was a young boy with short dark brown dreadlocks and hazel eyes. He wore golden-framed glasses. He wore a white collar shirt with fabric ascot and dark blue trench coat, light brown bagged pants, and dark brown boots. In addition, he carried a leather brown bag around his waist.
This was Alyx and Lewis Liddell.
Alyx looked at her grandchildren with a smile, "Ah, Alyx, Lewis, what are you doing out here?"
Lewis looked at his grandmother with a smile, "We're all done with our chores, and we heard someone talking, who's here?"
The younger Alyx nodded in agreement, "Yeah, did Amber finally return?"
The older Alyx smiled and shook her head, "I'm afraid your sister hasn't returned yet, still traveling I'm sure," She told her grandchildren.
The younger Alyx raised a brow in confusion, "Then who were you talking to?" She asked.
Alyx looked away from the two and looked ahead of her, only to see her old friend slowly riding away atop his horse, and she continued to smile softly. "Just an old friend," She told them. 'That armor is still rusty as always I see, eh, Edmund?' she thought before getting up and heading inside with her grandchildren.
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Jaune has reunited with Vernal, Oscar, and Maria! Happy family reunion! Let's go!
But what's this!? MORE LORE!? TWO ALYX'S!? AMBER'S CONNECTED TO ALL OF THIS AS WELL!? WHAT'S GOING ON!? Well, I know, but I'm gonna let you guess and theorize as to what's going on! Have Fun~!