Notes at the end

Chapter 1: At the Top

"I do not appreciate being lied to, brother."

"What do you mean by that?"

"We swore that the last creation either of us would make, would be the humans."

"And that they are."

"Then what of the Silver eyes?"

"They are not a creation. They are a gift that I gave to the humans."

"We left them with the relics. Was that not enough?"

"We left them without guidance in the world. We left them with little defence from your creations of destruction."

"We left them with a small essence of magic. That they call Dust. Is that not enough?"

"Not nearly, brother. They needed leaders."

"Leaders that directly destroy my creations?"

"Indeed. Had I not decided to give some humans eyes of silver, humanity certainly would fall within the century. I gave a select few Silver eyes, your creations are at no real threat."

"Then could the ones with Silver eyes could Kill Salem?"

"..."

"Brother?"

"No. Not alone, at least."

"She is their biggest threat. So did you not consider she would never find the importance of life and death?"

"I did, brother. And that is the point of the curse."

"You would willingly destroy humanity in order for one former human to learn its lesson."

"..."

"What are her terms of mortality now?"

"They have not changed, brother. Yet, her immortality now stems from both of our powers. I gave her immortality, but your power will ensure she will always be a scourge to humanity. She will never truly learn."

"Then it would take both of our powers to kill her. She will never learn to die."

"Correct."

"You gave humanity the gift of silver eyes, which contain your power. Then I shall do the same."

"Why?"

"Unless humanity summons us to wipe all of them out because of her, she will never die."

"Correct."

"The only way for Humanity to redeem themselves to us, is for humanity to slay Salem."

"We do not have to keep our promises, brother."

"Then the humans will think we will never be serious about our promises."

"They are inconsequential to us. We could wipe them out if they believe so."

"Then what will we rule?"

"We could create another world."

"And do it all over again?"

"..."

"Let me give them my own gift, the humans. With it, they can redeem themselves. It is only fair, after all."

"... Very well brother. Do so wisely."

10 years ago

"No, I won't train you to be a huntsman." Jaune's father says to him, sitting in his bed, bandaged head to toe. Jaune, 6 years old, stands at his father's bedside.

They're the words Jaune didn't want to hear, the words his father repeated to him almost daily. They're the words that give Jaune a warm feeling. It's not pleasant, not at all.

"It's too dangerous, son. The Grimm will tear you apart. They'll tear anybody apart."

"But if you train me, I can beat them!" Jaune protests, getting slightly closer to his father.

"And look where my training got me." The older man gestures to his bandaged self, raising his voice at the child. Jaune flinches, but says:
"But… I want to be a huntsman. I want-"

"You want to die, Jaune?" His father says, rather calmly. He shuffles around, and lays down, not without groaning loudly.

"Because if you keep heading down this path, you'll end up dead."

"Nicholas!" Jaune's mother screams, storming into the room.

Jaune stopped listening, the words ringing in his head, bouncing around as he took them in.

'You'll end up dead'

"I just want to help people." Jaune says, his voice choked, as tears start to fall from his face.

Without another word, the boy grabbed his father's sword by the bed, Crocea Mors, and bolted out the door.

"Jaune!" One of his parents yells. Who it is, the boy doesn't know, he's too focused on running now. He bursts out the front door and runs. He doesn't pick a specific direction, and just runs, not looking back, and not thinking of what he had just done.

Present Day Location: Southern Atlas

Jaune sits on a small rock on top of a snowy mountain. He wears yellow armor, a chestplate that reaches his midsection, as well as light shoulder, forearm, and knee armor. His hands, are bare and he wears a black, flexible material everywhere else. At the neck, fur can be seen sticking out, which is a dark tan, lion fur. The sun is setting, obscuring anything below the mountain in darkness.

Jaune takes a deep breath of the cold, thin air, and holds it for a moment. He closes his eyes and takes in the aggressive winds, and the light snow falling on his face, and in his hair. On his back, is a purple and yellow shortened two-sided blade, each a foot long, curved, with one side smooth and sharp, like a machete, and the other side is jagged, serrated to fine points. It's also pointed, to allow for stabbing. The Left blade, is purple, with pink serrated tips, and the right, is simply colored gold with white serrated tips. The shaft of each side, is brown, with black spiraling up it. It's a collapsed Double Naginata.

Jaune releases his breath, a small fog escaping his mouth. He opens his eyes, revealing black Irises, and purple pupils. For a brief moment, a small shuffle can be heard to Jaune's left, letting him sigh, get up, and take out his naginata. He twirls it in his hand once, allowing it to be extended all the way. In one swift movement, Jaune turns his body, and swings the Naginata smoothly, slicing clean through the throat of an Ursa that tried to sneak up on him. The head falls before the body, and with a satisfying thunk, the rest of the Ursa drops as well, already beginning to evaporate.

Jaune twirls the Naginata again and places it on his back, sitting down just in front of the rock. He crosses his legs and holds his hands to his stomach, steadying his breath. The air is still thin, even being on the lowest mountain in the range. Taking deep and powerful breaths, Jaune sits there, meditating, and not making a sound.

Soon, light breathing can be heard, as Jaune slips into a light sleep.

Jaune awakens when he hears footsteps behind him. They're soft, and nearly muted by the soft snow atop the mountain, yet his trained ears still pick up on them. Jaune does nothing but take a deep breath, and stand up.

"You know, boy, I told you to be here today, not yesterday." A voice behind him says. It's deep and scratchy, and that of an old man's. Jaune simply sighs and stands up, stretching his arms and legs.

"Took me some time to finish up this armor." He tells Jaune, putting a bag on the rock Jaune was sitting against. Again, the younger man doesn't say anything, and turns around, looking the old man directly in the eyes.

The old man's eyes are the same as Jaune's, only much duller. The man's facial features greatly defy his voice. He has wrinkles all about his face, and his hair is nearly pure white, with small gray streaks in it. He's wearing a thick winter jacket, and on his back, is a single Nagintana, only pure black, and a full six feet long. The man himself, is shorter than Jaune, standing at 5'10.

Jaune kneels down and opens up the bag, finding a blue chestplate, similar to the one he was wearing now, only a deep blue. He rummages around a little more, and finds more pieces, of better quality than what he was wearing now.

"I really think that piss-yellow doesn't suit you, at all." The old man tells him, as Jaune zips the bag back up. He takes a few colored cards out of his pocket, checking if he has enough lien for the trip to Vale. Satisfied with his findings, he puts the cards back, and looks at the scene at the bottom of the mountain. It's a small port town, with a large ship currently at the dock.

"The ship won't leave for another half hour. So, how about you treat this old man to some breakfast?" The man says, stepping next to Jaune. Jaune spares the man a look and jumps off the steep incline.

Jaune sticks his arms out, sliding down the snowy mountain upright, on his feet.

The old man watches the boy and sighs.

"I'm getting too old for this." He proceeds to follow Jaune, sliding in the same rut Jaune made.

Unfortunately, however, Jaune's foot hits a rock sticking out of the snow, causing him to trip, and tumble down the mountain.

In silence, Jaune smacks against the snow, and occasional rock. Falling for about forty yards, before regaining his balance, and sliding against the snow, as if nothing even happened. He continues to slide down, until he slows to a stop, at the bottom of the mountain. Jaune takes a quick look at his arms and legs, checking for visible injuries, before shrugging. The old man slides next to Jaune, having avoided the rock on the way down.

"Have a nice fall?"

Jaune just glares at the man for a brief moment before trudging towards the town, a slight limp in his left leg. The old man simply shakes his head before following Jaune, walking in relative silence, the old man being the only one to talk.

A few minutes later, the two arrive at the town. It's obviously an older town, possibly existing since the creation of Mantle. The small buildings no higher than two stories, and sturdy, but old roofing on them. The roads aren't roads, as much as cobblestone pathways, giving Jaune the feeling of a VERY old town. There is, however, a very new-looking dust shop, although small, you can see from the outside it's abundance of SDC- brand dust, making Jaune ever so slightly sneer.

The old man takes the lead, leading the two into a small diner. It's very homey, with an actual fire in a brick fireplace in the center.

"H-" A waitress wearing a blue and white striped dress begins, before pausing. She looks at each of their eyes, and freezes up for a second when she spotted Jaune before continuing.

"H-Hello! How are you two gentlemen doing today?" The waitress asks, with an obviously forced smile on her face.

"Hi there, sweetums. We're quite fine. We're just looking for some breakfast." The old man tells the woman, with an actual genuine smile.

"Of course! You order here, and we'll call your name up when your order is ready!"

"That's a Vale concept. Is it not?"

"Yes it is! We find it efficient in our little port town here!"

"Ahh. I see. Well, we'll both have the egg omelette there."

"Ohh, good choice!" She says with well-hidden disinterest. "Now, can I get a name for that order?"

"Yes, Dux. Dux Albus."

"Alright Mr. Albus. Those omelettes will be ready in about ten minutes. Please take a seat!" Dux merely nods, and waves his hand for Jaune to follow him. The diner is pretty empty, with about twelve other people. Six of which are alone, just drinking coffee. The duo takes their seat in the corner of the diner next to the door, surveying the whole Diner. After a minute, the Waitress pours the two some coffee and leaves.

Jaune, simply eyes it and looks at the desolate street out the window while the old man tries to make conversation.

"You know, you'll miss the Atlas Battle Tournament if you decide to walk to Beacon. Or, even just go to Beacon. I know You didn't go to Berm Academy, but You could get into Bulwark with my recommendation, or even pass the entrance test." Jaune doesn't even look at Dux, eyeing the street intently.

The man babbles on, but Jaune tunes him out, opting to watch a large man leaning against a storefront, smoking a cigar. Jaune is about to ignore him, when another person walks up, with a large duffel bag over his shoulder, entering the small alleyway. The large man waits for exactly 49 seconds, before tossing his cigarette onto the street and walking into the alley.

Jaune gets up without a word and puts up his index finger, quickly walking out the front of the diner. Dux sighs and says:

"You'd think he'd be more cautious, considering I of all people trained him." Dux doesn't even bother to stop the boy, or even watch him.

"He should be done with his month of silence in-" Dux checks his scroll, and sees a timer for one minute and forty-six seconds.

"Yeah. So he should get a quip in by the time he's finished."

Jaune walks on the street, keeping a semi-slow pace. He doesn't even hesitate walking right in the alley. The alley, is just about as stereotypical as you could get. Wet, musky, and two doors on either side of him.

Jaune brushes past them silently, and watches and listens to the two men converse.

"How much would he run for?" The big man says, bending over the now open duffel bag.

"Hmm. I'd say 30k." The other man tells him, holding out his hand. The two men are faced away from Jaune, exposing their backs to him.

"Bullshit." A loud smack echoes through the alley, and a muffled scream follows afterwards.

"Hey, don't touch the merchandise. I'd say he's more like 29k now. Thanks to that."

"So if I Keep beating him, I could lower it to a more reasonable price?"

"With other sellers, maybe. But not me. Stop wasting my time and decide."

Jaune's heard enough, and approaches the two more, when the two doors burst open behind him.

"Someone walkd' in boss!" The one to Jaune's right says. Jaune freezes, keeping his eyes trained on the two men in front of him.

"Wow. I didn't even hear you." The large man says, turning around to see Jaune, with a look of slight disinterest on his face.

"Look, kid. You better scram before you fall into something you don't understand."

Jaune looks at the watch on his left hand, before taking a step towards the men in front of him.

"Alright then, pretty boy. Get him." The man orders the people behind Jaune to begin attacking. Without effort, Jaune ducks under the two men's punches, and tests one for Aura. He swiftly kicks the one to his left into the wall. The man, already off balance, flies into the wall, a loud CRACK could be heard in the alley, as the man collapses. Less than common thugs, who don't even have their aura unlocked.

The other one, wastes no time in swinging back around and trying in vain to punch Jaune, who simply side steps, and sweeps his leg under the thug, tripping him. Jaune, with his back turned against the two other men now, delivers a solid kick to the man's head. The boy takes out his Naginata and is about to turn around when he's grabbed from behind.

"Stupid boy! Never turn your back on the enemy, Or you'll fall right into their trap!" The big man tells Jaune, lifting him up from behind, gradually squeezing him.

Ding!

Jaune's scroll goes off, and he gives a little smile, the first one in a month, and clicks a small button on his Weapon. He spins it in the air, before catching his weapon, newly transformed. It's a Mosin Nagant, with the barrel gold, and the Stock being brown, and the Action is black. He turns it around and sticks the barrel in the man's open mouth.

"The only one trapped is you, Bitch!" Jaune finally utters, pulling the trigger. The gunshot echoes through the alley, and the rest of the town. Jaune is abruptly dropped, as the man collapses, holding his mouth, a small amount of blood tricking through his fingers.

"Relax, they're rubber bullets. You've got Aura, too. You'll be fine. For the most part." Jaune finishes, delivering a swift kick to the head of the downed man, knocking him out cold. Jaune quickly turns and aims at the other man, carrying the duffel bag. Jaune takes a deep breath, and shoots twice. The man collapses, and ditches the bag, attempting to run around the corner. Not missing a beat, Jaune fires one last time, hitting the man in the back of the head.

Jaune's magazine runs empty, falling into Jaune's hand. The running man, faints, falling face-first in the concrete. Jaune lets out his breath, and approaches the still bag.

He unzips the bag, revealing a child, no older than six, with his mouth taped shut, and basically skin and bones. His arms and legs are bound by some sort of rope. Jaune stands and transforms his Naginata. The boy sits up, and backs away from Jaune, who rolls his eyes, and slices clean through the ropes on the boy's legs and hands.

"Save yourself next time." Without another word, Jaune twirls his Naginata, puts it on his back, and walks out of the alley. The moment he steps out, Jaune isn't surprised to find there were five people standing there, trying to peek at what just happened.

"Hey… That armor looks familiar." One says.

'No it doesn't.' Jaune thinks, rushing to get away from the few people.

"And his weapon!"

'Leaving now.'

Jaune makes a quick dash into the small diner, and sits in his seat, as if nothing happened.

"So, Jaune, did you get a quip out in the middle of that?" Dux asks, reading a newspaper he got from somewhere.

Jaune regards the man for a moment before saying:

"Yep."

"I honestly didn't think you could shut up for an entire month."

"You wouldn't let me leave Atlas otherwise."

"True. True. But still, Atlas has an academy here."

"They do, but it's basically a military school. Not really a way to get to my end goal." Jaune explains to the elder man, ignoring the people outside the window, trying to get a better look at him.

"And your end goal is?" Dux inquires, raising an eyebrow.

"... To die peacefully." Jaune calmly says, as if saying he'll just retire.

"And you'll do that by being a hunter?"

"Well, I like fighting. And look where being a hunter brought you, 83 years old, and living nicely in the Atlesian mountains." Jaune says as if it were that simple.

"And taking an annoying six-year old because of his eyes. Not to mention the oldest somewhat active huntsman. This life doesn't end, kid."

"Yeah, but it's the time between that that makes it all the more special. When you're at peace. Especially for someone with our eyes. Or even to die in combat, doing something I love. You know?" Jaune grabs his mug and takes a sip. He almost retches at the taste.

"What th- Atlesian Black? Guess it figures."

"Now don't be a coffee connoisseur. But either way, it's a little early for you to be thinking about your death. Is it not?"

"Well… Probably. I won't argue with that, but I enjoy fighting. And I believe Beacon would be perfect for that. Here in Atlas, Huntsmen are considered soldiers as well, which means I'll never be at peace with Ironwood on my ass."

"True. True. But if you enjoy fighting, why not keep participating in the tournaments?"

"Gotta become a huntsman at some point if I seek to continue doing that. Besides, They won't accept me if I keep winning."

"Fine. Also, did you really stay silent for the past week and a half? I wouldn't be-"

"Yeah. Also, I really could do away with eggs for the next six months, thank you." Dux laughs at this, and responds with:

"Yes, Yes. Well, Walking, huh? You could participate in the next Atlas Battle tournament if you just take a Bullhead."

"No. Bullheads." Jaune says, pausing between the words for dramatic effect.

"And you'll be better on a boat?"

"Yes. My sea legs are better than the sky ones." Jaune says, crossing his arms and putting his chin up. Dux scoffs and goes back to his newspaper. After a minute's silence, the waitress comes back, except with the plates of omelettes.

"Here you two go. Since we don't have too many people in here today, I figured that it would be efficient to just come and bring you your plates." She says, handing the two their plates. Discreetly, the waitress pushes a napkin towards Jaune, and leaves the two, a small smirk on her face.

"Another, Perhaps?" Jaune looks at the napkin for a second before picking it up, and taking a quick glance at the napkin, finding a scroll number and a small note saying:

"I loved your last tourney! Call me!"

"Yeah. Kinda sick of these, honestly."

"And here I thought being famous came with only benefits."

"Haha. No. I thought that too, but it gets annoying, honestly. At least we're in a smaller part of Atlas."

"Yeah. I don't think your influence has really spanned outside of Atlas, so you should be fine. Especially since I made you blindfold yourself, shoulda reduced your popularity."

"Maybe. Also, why did you make me enter anonymously? There's really no point in that." Jaune says, picking at the eggs.

"I didn't want people knowing your real name, especially your parents."

"I… I understand. But that just made the public name me and my weapons."

"Oh! Speaking of which, Blades-" Jaune cringes at the name the public gave him, not liking it much at all. "What are your names for your weapons?"

"Do I really need to name them? The media already did that."

"Yes, but you are the person who names your weapons, not other people." Jaune thinks for a moment, before saying:

"Well, the blades themselves are named Lunasolis, which means 'Moon and Sun' in the ancient language… I think I'll name the gun itself… Siopi."

Dux raises and eyebrow at this. "I never will understand your thought process at naming anything. If you're happy with it's name, then go ahead." Dux stays silent and eats his omelette.

The two finish eating and pay for their meal, without Jaune giving the napkin a second look.

"Not even considering it?"

Jaune thinks for a moment before leaving the establishment, returning to the cobblestone streets.

"Nope. I'm leaving the continent today anyways, which means I'll have to call over CCT. It'll just be a pain, even if I did consider liking her."

"Gods kid, you've got to be the most dick-dead person I've ever known." Jaune stops for a brief moment, with a look of utter confusion on his face. Jaune opens his mouth to say something but closes it almost immediately, just shaking his head.

"It's okay to laugh once in a while, you know that, Right?" Jaune resumes his pace, and says:

"Yeah, I do know that, but that wasn't funny. That's it."

"Whatever. But still, last warning, you don't have to go to Vale to be a huntsman, you know? Staying here will eventually get you there."

"And I said not five minutes ago, I don't want to be a soldier who takes orders. End discussion."

"Okay, Okay. Just know that you won't be able to come back here, at all."

"When I graduate, I'll go wherever I need to go. If that just so happens to be here, then so be it."

"You won't find me." Dux says, as the two stop at the dock, with the large ship boarding the last of the people.

"I know. And I count on that." The two stop before the terminal, both of them taking a deep breath, before turning to each other. "Thank you Dux, truly. For the past decade of my life, you raised and trained me to where I am today-"

"Ahh, shut it."

"-I was stupid with my decision to leave my… Family, but it was the best one I've ever made."

"It's cause' of those eyes, boy. And you know it." Dux shifts impatiently, setting the duffel bag of armor and extra clothing on the ground.

"I know, but even then, you showed me mercy, when you really shouldn't have. I still thank you for that." Jaune sticks out his right hand, as Dux eyes it for a moment before sighing, and accepting the handshake. Gripping firmly, they shake three times, before they release, and Jaune grabs the bag and turns around. Once he reaches the ticket teller, he's asked:

"Where are you going?"

"Northmost of Vale."

"Right, age?"

"Sixteen."

"Alright, and last question, Name?" Jaune blinks and says:

"Jaune."

"... Jaune… Last name?"

"No. It's Just Jaune." The teller is silent for a moment before replying with a simple:

"Oh. I'm sorry." The teller then gives Jaune his ticket. He turns and starts heading up the ramp, the final Horn on the boat blaring.

Dux takes a deep breath and shouts out:

"Take care of yourself, Jaune." The boy in question, says nothing back. All he does is wave back, not looking at his teacher.

End scene! Being honest, had some fun writing this.

So first things first, this is going to be heavily inspired by Berserk in later chapters, which will start at the end of Vol. 3. This is a champion Jaune AU, in which Jaune is… an Atlesian battle champion. Yeah.

A little side note, as you saw from the beginning, I found it ridiculously unfair that the God of Light went about giving mankind silver eyes, and talks about 'balance' and shit. So I decided to have the God of Darkness have a crack at giving humanity something. You'll just have to wait and see what exactly the black eyes do. Anyways, I don't have a schedule for anything I write, I write it when I feel like it, so don't expect super frequent updates. I'm not that disciplined.

Another side note: I couldn't find Atlas' combat schools or huntsman academies, so I came up with my own.

Berm: A small wall, often of sand, that acts as cover, which can potentially stop bullets.

Bulwark: A curved, slanted wall, that often ricochets bullets upwards. A highly defensive position.

Anyways, toodles!

"To say goodbye is to Die a little."- Raymond Chandler.