Partners

Chapter 1

The sun set over the horizon painting the sky a deep orange. The warm light shown through the window to an attic in a large house in the woods. Within the attic was an assortment of boxes, shelves, and books. Everything inside the attic looked to have a small film of dust over it. While the attic was full of old things, one thing stood out as a silhouette moved from the darkest part of the attic where the setting sun's light didn't reach. The silhouette moved only to hit one of the shelves causing several boxes to fall and dust to explode out into the air. The silhouette began coughing and hacking as it stumbled into the light revealing a young boy around the age of 16. The young boy had messy blonde hair, dressed in a short sleeved black hoodie with a grey bunny logo on the chest. The boy coughed and hacked before trying to dust himself off only to cough more. He stopped his moving for a second as the dust settled around him and the air cleared a little.

This young boy, was one Jaune Arc. And at the moment he was trying to clean up the attic to find a old book for his father. 'Great, now I have to clean this mess up. I hate when dad gives me chores.' He thought only to turn and look out the single window of the attic. He saw the setting sun just peeking over the mountains in the distance, little more than a sliver. He turned to reach for the light switch only to stop when the sunlight glinted off something. He looked to where the light reflected to see what turned out to be a sword. The sun was reflecting off part of the blade, which was pulled slightly out of its white and gold sheath. The sword had a blue leather wrapped grip with a gold cross guard and pommel. Jaune recognized the sword.

His father had talked about it when he told stories about his grandfather. He slowly knelt and picked up the weapon. 'So, this was my grandfather's partner.' He thought remembering what his father and his partner Song told him about his grandfather's weapon. He told him about how strong his grandfather was, while also telling him just how strong his partner was. If he remembered correctly the weapon's name was Crocea Mors and the sheath doubled as a shield. That meant that Crocea Mors was a pair, meaning his grandfather had two partners. The sword Crocea and the shield Mors. Or was it the other way around, Jaune didn't know. But just holding the weapons in his hand was awesome. He smiled slowly running his hand over the sheath.

"So, you were gramps partners. Shame, I wish I could have had a partner as cool as you." Jaune said slowly clicking the sword back into the sheath only for a soft chuckle to come from behind him.

"Really, you would let us be your partner." A female voice came from behind him as Jaune spun around to see two young women. One was an older girl, she looked to around 19 or 20. This girl had long white hair parted over her left eye and tied up into a braid. Her eyes were a bright while she had a lovely face, with a few light scars, one under her right eye and two more just at the left corner of her lips. She was dressed in a white form fitting long sleeved top with gold trim around the collar and ends of the sleeves. She even had on a pair of golden jeans. Over top of her clothes she had on a set of light armor, a simple leather breast piece with a single white pauldron on her right shoulder leading down to a white bracer and elbow guard with a pair of leather gloves. On her legs she had some white metal shin guards that reached down covering her shoes as well. Something that stood out was the small heater shield she had strapped to her right arm, seemingly connected to her bracer.

The shield was small no bigger than her forearm. On the small shield stood a symbol Jaune knew well. A double golden arc, standing as the Arc family crest. Jaune stared at the small shield in shock before looking up to the woman who just smiled and waved. He looked past her at the second girl. This one was younger than the first, by maybe 2 or 3 years. She looked to be 17 or 16, with short white hair with two golden streaks side by side in her bangs which fell into her face. Her bangs framed her face nicely even with the two long bangs that fell over the bridge of her nose slightly hiding a scar. Her eyes were a deep blue which had a bright almost glowing look to them. She was dressed in a silver waist length coat which was open at the bottom but buttoned up at the top as well as the collar being buttoned close. She also had a formfitting white shirt underneath. She also had on a blue combat skirt with a pair of knee high boots. Over to of her clothes she had on light armor, with a full white chest piece covering her torso and wrapping around to her back. She had two white bracers with golden trim around them.

Her boots had some shin guards which reached up into flexing knew guards. Around the girl's waist was a single lopsided belt with a simple arming sword hanging from it on her left. The sword looked just like the one Jaune was holding which was odd.

"Um, who are you two?" he asked only for the older girl to chuckle before pointing down at the weapon in Jaune's hand.

"We are the Partner's you have in your hand silly. I am Mors, or as my last wielder called me Mars." She said before reaching behind her and patting the younger girl on the head. "This is Crocea, but she prefers to go by Cea. Now I will ask you again, you would let us be your partner's."

Jaune stared at Mars in absolute shock before he began to sputter trying to talk as he looked at the weapon's then the girls again. After a few seconds of this he regained his composure and shot to his feet.

"Y-y-you two can't be C-Crocea Mors! W-when a Partner loses its wielder, the Partner disappears. A Partner can't manifest unless someone forges their own weapon. How could I become your wielder if I didn't forge you?" Jaune stuttered out pointing at the girls only for Mars to smile at him sadly.

"You are right, but the thing is Cea and I aren't your normal Partner's. You see we are one of the first Partner's ever made, because of that we are kind of special. So long as someone takes up our cores, we can manifest in human form." She paused to reach for the weapon's in Jaune's hand slowly running her hand along the grip of the sword. "That means if Cea and I don't have a wielder, we will have ended up being alone in darkness for a long time. So, I will ask you again. Will you let us be your partners?"

Jaune was taken aback by the sad smile on Mars' face as well as the sad look on Cea's. The two looked like they were ready for him to say no. They looked like they were ready to go back to the darkness. Jaune was lost for words, only for the last light of the setting sun behind the girls to vanish leaving the three of them in darkness. Jaune could hear his own breath speed up when he felt Mars grab his arm. He could tell from her reaction that she didn't want to go back to the dark. Her hand was shaking, almost like she thought she would vanish any minute. He didn't know what to do, he couldn't even think of something to say. He did his best, to calm down as he thought of the predicament. He knew that he had to say something, but he didn't know what. 'How could I refuse; Mars' hands are shaking. She really doesn't want to be left alone. It has to be the same for Cea.'

He thought as he felt Mars' grip loosen some. He took a deep breath calming himself before reaching behind him grabbing the light switch and pulled it turning the light on. Mars and Cea both looked to him when the attic light up, the surprise evident on their faces as he smiled at them.

"Sure… I will be your wielder. If you are alright with some untrained kid." He said, remembering a small wish he had when he was younger. He remembered wanting to be a Huntsman like his father, he remembered wanting to have a super cool Partner. He smiled at Cea and Mars before holding up Crocea Mors, their core and presented it to them. "I hope we get along."

Mars smiled alongside Cea, the two both reaching out resting a hand onto the weapon.

"I do to." Mars said kindly before giving Cea a big hug laughing happily. "We did it Cea! We finally got ourselves a new wielder!"

The two just cheered spinning in place before stopping and giving wide smiles to Jaune again. He just shook his head at their enthusiasm before he remembered something important.

"Oh, I guess I should introduce myself." The two girls paused at his words before nodding at him, eagerly waiting to hear his name. "I am Jaune Arc. Again, I hope we get along."

When he gave his name both girls eyes widened in surprise before Mars gave him a soft smile as she reached a hand out brushing her fingers along his face. He blushed at the contact only getting a chuckle out of her.

"Arc, huh. I should have known." She said before her and Cea took a step back from him and bowed. "Well then Jaune Arc, as your new Partner's we shall do everything in our power to help you."

Jaune wasn't to sure what to make of their reaction but smiled at them. He thanked them before remembering what he came up into the attic to do. He asked them to wait for him to finish cleaning before he would go down stares and explain things to his father. Something that kind of worried him. There was a reason why he never fulfilled that dream of his to become a Huntsman. But that would be something he would deal with when he went to talk with his father. He brushed the thoughts to the side and choice to try and talk with Cea and Mars. He specifically asked why Cea didn't talk. Turns out, she just didn't like talking. He tried asking Mars and her about what it was like to be Partners and what they really were.

Mars explained to him as best she could, just what Partners were so he had a better understanding of their situation.

"I guess I should start with why Partner's exist, or at least a quick summary. Seeing you already know about Huntsman and Grimm, you might not know that at one point the Grimm somehow got stronger. Because of this Huntsman began to have trouble fighting them. The 4 kingdoms banded together to try and think of a way to fight back against these new Grimm. They ended up coming up with the idea of Partner's. Originally, we were called Living weapon's but after Partner's began to become more common Huntsman and Huntress' decided to call us Partners. From then on the name stuck. Now I guess I should explain just what Partners are…" Mars paused before she cupped her chin in thought.

"Well to tell the truth, Partner's are little more than mental constructs." Mars said as she moved a box from behind one of the book shelves, to sit on. "See, we Partner's can only come into existence when a person forges a weapon. But that is a bit of an over simplification. You can't simply make a weapon and expect a Partner to take form. For a Partner to take form, the wielder or Creator must put their very soul into the creation of their Partner's core."

Jaune paused as he set down an old box he was looking in.

"Wait, soul? How can someone put their soul into something? Is it like, I gave it my all?" He asked only for Mars to shrug at him.

"No clue, I never considered how you human's make cores. The only thing I cared about was keeping my wielder alive, so the finer details about my creation weren't important." Mars said getting a nod from Jaune as he pulled a book from the box in front of him and smiled.

"Well, your explanation kind of confused me more but I think I have a better idea of how making Cores work and what Partner's are." He said smiling at Mars and Cea. "If what you are saying is true, about the wielder's soul being used to create a Partner's core, then that means you are a part of your wielder. You are their power, their will to fight back against the Grimm. if you ask me that is pretty cool."

Mars looked taken back by his words before smiling at him.

"I see, when you put it like that I can't really disagree." She said while Cea nodded in agreement behind her.

"Glad to hear, well I finished what I came up here to do. We should head down stairs, I need to explain things to my father." He said as both girls nodded at him. As Jaune led the girls out of the attic he couldn't help worrying about what his father was going to say. He just hoped his father would be cool headed.

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Jaune sat down between Cea and Mars as his father stood before him tapping his foot. Jaune's father was a tall man in his mid to late 40's. He had long messy blonde hair tied back into a low hanging pony tail. He was dressed in a thick wool button up shirt over a short sleeved black shirt, with a pair of heavy black cargo pants on. Over top of this he had some light leather armor, with two bracers on both his arms with a pair of black gloves with a metal plate on the back of them. Over his chest was a belt over his left shoulder with a single leather pad over his heart as a second strap went under his arm. Around his waist was a set of 2 belts crisscrossing around connected to a pair of leather tassets, with three pouches each on them.

Jaune's father took a deep breath before reaching a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"So, after I asked you to go into the attic and find a book for me; you instead found Crocea Mors, my fathers Partners…" Jaune's father paused as he rubbed his face down his face. "Partner's who turn out to still be around. Partner's…your Partner's, who are going to help you become a Huntsman."

Jaune nodded at his father's words before he heard a chuckle from behind him. He passed a glance over his shoulder to look at his father's Partner Song. Song was a rough, but handsome man with short silver hair and striking gold eyes. He was dressed in a form fitting black shirt with some detailed spiral design running around his bicep's and along the trim of his shirt. He also had on a pair of black jeans with some gold trim around the end of his pant legs. Hanging from his waist was a long foot and a half long golden rod.

"Man, to find a Partner that can move from one wielder to another. The weirdest things always happen to you, don't they kid." Song said walk around the couch before Jaune and the girls. He looked over Cea and Mars before his hand shot down to the metal rod on his hip and it extended out from 1 ½ foot long to a full 7 feet in a single action. The rod now turned staff came forward so flash all Jaune saw was a streak of gold before the sound of metal hitting metal rang out. He stared in shock to see the spear just a few inches above his head while Mars had her left arm reaching out before him, her small shield up holding the spear back while Cea had her sword draw aimed right at Song who just stood smiling at the two girls.

"You, picked up an interesting pair Jaune." Song said before turning back to Jaune's father as he shrunk his spear back to its storage form. "Well, I see nothing wrong with leaving Jaune in the girl's hands. If anything, Jeremiah this a good experience for him."

He said reaching out to Jeremiah before clapping him on the shoulder whispering something into his ear that made his brows crease before he sighed.

"If you say so." Song nodded happily before walking behind his partner giving Jaune a small thumb up. Jeremiah stepped forward and pointing at Cea and Mars. "I will give you 2, 1 year to teach Jaune how to fight. In that time, you need to get him into shape to at least hold his own against a Huntsman in training. I will test him at the end of the year, if he doesn't meet this requirement you two will give up on him being your wielder. Sound like a deal?"

Jaune was shocked by his father's word, while Mars and Cea just nodded in understanding before Mars smiled.

"You have our word. Within the year Jaune will be more than strong enough to beat a Huntsman or Huntress in training." Cea nodded vigorously in agreement with Mars only for Jeremiah to huff giving them a unimpressed look before turning to Jaune.

"You best not disappoint." Jaune flinched at his father's words shrinking into his seat a little only for Cea to clap him on the shoulder reassuringly. He looked to her only for her to smile kindly at him. The smile made him feel better and he took a deep breath before locking eyes with his father.

"I won't." He said catching the corners of his father's lips curl ever so slightly before he turned away with a wave. Jaune couldn't help letting out a released breath before Mars stepped up before him.

"Well Jaune, we have a year to make you good enough to be a Huntsman. I hope you are ready." She said kindly as he nodded. He wasn't to sure what awaited him, but he wasn't going to sit back and miss this opportunity. He was going to become a Huntsman.

End

An/ so another story idea I had. This is something I thought about for the past year. I saw super cool art of the RWBY cast's weapons being turned into humans and I got the idea of turning that into a story. I had thought about what I would call the living weapon's but I couldn't figure it out for the longest time before I thought of the simplest and maybe stupidest thing to call them. Partner's. Odd I know but I liked it. Basically the idea for the story was that one day Grimm just got stronger for no reason and the Huntsman and Huntress' of old couldn't keep up with the Grimm. So the Kingdom's came up with the idea of living weapons which would be weapon's that when forged had aura fused into them. (This idea came about when we learned Penny was a robot with Aura) The living weapons would basically be like a second semblance for Hunters allowing for them to have a weapon and the weapon's soul to fight along side them. The Partner's are basically super human or Zanpacto(I spelled it wrong didn't I) from Bleach, if you know what Bleach is. Note I only use Zanpacto as an example, the Partner's have no relation to them at all. The first chapter here was only meant to start thing, explanations would come about in later chapters if I ever got to them. My Beta also didn't look at this so bad Grammar away!

Do leave a review so I know what you happy little reader people's brains think of the chapter and story idea. If people really like it I might make it into a full story. Maybe, I need to figure out things for this.

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