Arc Of Embodiment (Hiatus) - Chapter 97

It’s already been a month since Jaune started his journey to Menagerie. Along the way, Jaune has been to more than five small villages, and each had its issues. One village was having problems with food supply. One had issues with limited housing, etc… Jaune was able to help those villages without using AoE. They need food supplies? Easy. Jaune taught the villagers how to fish or identify non-poisonous berries or hunt while avoiding Grimm. They need new housing? Easy. Jaune helped them learn to create simple but sturdy housing.

All was well until a week ago. For the first time, Jaune encountered bandits raiding a village. What Jaune saw that day angered him. He tried to be civil at first, but the bandits didn’t care about anything he had to say. It was here that things escalated. One of the bandits tried to **** a child, and this didn’t bode well for the bandits. Seeing such a sight pushed Jaune’s anger to the limit. Without hesitation, he extended the claws of his gauntlets and sliced the bandit in half. The bandit leader didn’t like seeing a member of his tribe getting killed, so he ordered his men to kill Jaune. That was the stupidest thing the bandit leader could have done.

One by one, without hesitation, the bandits tried to kill Jaune, but instead, they would be cleaved in half within a split second. No matter what the bandits did, none of their weapons was able to block the claws of Jaune. Their weapons would immediately be destroyed. When all the bandits were dead, Jaune was able to calm down, but this was when everything he did hit him.

That night, Jaune had nightmares of the horrors that he did. The nightmares didn’t stop on their own. No matter what Jaune tells himself, he feels guilty about what he did. On one of the nights that he was having nightmares, Jaune was visited by OTG. Jaune told him of the things he had done.

“I understand that you feel guilty for killing those people, but you have to look back to the day you killed them. What do you see?” OTG said.

“I remember what the bandit tried to do to the little girl. I felt so angry!” Jaune said while clenching his fist. “To me, children are meant to be protected as they are the future of the world. But that man saw the child as nothing more than a plaything. I lost it, and I slaughtered every single one of the bandits”.

“Yes, but what do you see after,” OTG asked.

“I see the people. They were happy. They were celebrating for being saved,” Jaune replied.

“That’s right. Isn’t that the reason you wanted to be a Huntsman, a Hero? Jaune, you must understand something. Being a Huntsman or a Hero will require you to protect the lives of the people, but you will also have to take the lives of those you are fighting against. Those bandits are beings that can no longer be considered people. They are nothing more than savages. Some bandits are indeed born in that life, and they had no choice but to be one. However, most of the time, those savages chose to be a savage. They aren’t someone that can be reasoned with. You can use fear to control them, but the moment they fear is gone, they will return to being what they are. To help someone or to help someone change, they must want to change, and they must want to be helped, because if they don’t, then all the effort that you have done is for nought.” OTG explained.

Jaune understood what OTG was trying to say. He knew that if he didn’t kill the bandits, they would do what they did to the village somewhere else, or they could even do it again in the same village if it survived. It still wasn’t easy taking people’s lives, and OTG told him that it was good he was feeling this way because if he found it easy, he would have been disappointed. Taking lives should never be easy.

Currently, Jaune was in a raft that he made from scratch. He was in the middle of a lake trying to fish for something to eat. It has been an hour since he started, and he still hasn’t gotten a single bite on his improvised fishing rod. This shows how patient Jaune can be. It wasn’t until another thirty minutes he finally got a bite, and it was a big one. Jaune was careful when he was reeling in his catch, and when it was close enough, he yanked the rod, and the fish followed it out of the water. It was a fish that was over a meter long. Jaune enjoyed his lunch.

After having lunch, Jaune continued his journey. While minding his own business, Jaune heard explosions. He then ran in its direction to help anyone that required any ȧssistance. The moment he got out of the forest, he realised where he was, he saw a familiar pathway. The pathway isn’t something that he has encountered personally. No, it was the pathway the Fall Maiden’s powers was stolen.

Jaune followed the pathway and saw Cinder Fall and her cohorts. He took out Tauropolos from his storage and fired an arrow towards Cinder’s hand. The arrow passed through it without issue, not because the arrow was special, but because Cinder’s hand didn’t have Aura due to the gloves that she was wearing, it had Grimm in it, meaning that her Aura wasn’t protecting the area. What followed was the thunderous scream of Cinder.

Cinder didn’t know what had happened, she put on the gloves that her mistress gave her, and the Grimm bug inside came out to absorb the power of the Maiden and transfer it to her, but suddenly, she saw an arrow hit the Grimm bug and then through her hand. She screamed from and fell to the ground in agonising pain. Her two cohorts didn’t know what to do, but when they heard Jaune’s footsteps, they immediately dropped the Fall Maiden, grabbed Cinder, and ran.

When Jaune arrived by Amber’s side, he saw that Cinder wasn’t able to steal the power of the Maiden. He quickly picked Amber up and headed to the nearest village. Jaune could have healed her using the power of AoE, but he didn’t know if anyone was watching him. He didn’t want to reveal his abilities yet. It was a good thing he didn’t because a crow arrived on the scene before he picked up Amber. It stared at Jaune as he brought Amber to the nearest village. It even followed them.

When Jaune arrived in the village, he quickly asked the residents where the doctor was or if they even had a doctor. The people were friendly, and they were immediately given the direction. Jaune waited in the waiting room for over an hour before the doctor came to him. Jaune was told that Amber would be okay and that they successfully extracted the arrow without any complication.

As much as Jaune wanted to continue his journey, he would be an ȧss to leave Amber on her own, especially when she was just attacked. He didn’t even know if Cinder would continue her attack or not. He didn’t even know that Qrow was watching over her.

The following morning, Jaune checked if Amber had awoken. Unfortunately, she hadn’t. Since Amber hasn’t awoken yet, he decided to spend the next coming weeks helping the village. The people were happy that Jaune was willing to help them. Typically, people would only help when they are being paid, but not Jaune. He gladly helped them with a smile and hasn’t asked anything in return. The people were suspicious of Jaune at first, but they realised that Jaune didn’t have any ulterior motives over time.

Qrow was watching everything that transpired. Like everyone, he was suspicious of Jaune, but unlike everyone, even after three weeks, he still believed that Jaune had ulterior motives. He found Jaune too clean and friendly as if he was hiding something.

On the fourth week that Jaune has been in the village, Amber finally woke up. Jaune went to her to check if everything was fine. She told him that she was feeling okay and that her Aura had healed any damage she sustained.

Amber then realised that Jaune wasn’t one of the doctors. She was afraid that Jaune was one of the people that attacked her. Thankfully, the doctor came to the room and explained that Jaune was the one that brought her in when she was injured.. She thanked Jaune for saving her life.