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RWBY: Ice Queen Chapter 4: Her History
🕑 Added 2023-02-03 18:01:25 +0000 UTCAfter taking a bath in the river nearby, he changed his pants, since the last one was wet, he needed to dry them for later use, he knew that he needed extra clothes that's why he brought more than 10 sets of different clothing.
Then his gaze shifts toward Esdeath, who was still wearing her previous clothes. "You're not going to change clothes?"
Esdeath looked at him and replied. "I don't have any other clothes aside from this."
Ah…
Suddenly, her bathing naked in the river made all sense since she doesn't have any extra clothes to wear, so she didn't do it just to tease me.
Or maybe she did, but that isn't important. He can't let her wear the same clothes! Especially the one she's currently wearing is covered with her sweat.
Meaning it needed to be washed, there's no way he'd allow her to smell like a dead fish, not in his watch!
"You can use one of my extra clothes." He said since he wouldn't use them, at least for now, why not let her borrow some of it?
Esdeath looked at him a bit surprised by his suggestion, then smiled. "If that's what you want then I will."
He didn't really understand what she meant, so he just shrugged it off as nothing and then gave her a set of clothes.
As soon as she received the set of clothes given by Jaune, without hesitation she stripped in front of him, making him step back a couple of steps flustered. "What the heck are you doing Esdeath?!"
"Undressing? Isn't it obvious?" Esdeath replied in an oblivious tone.
Is she making fun of him or something?!
"I know that! I'm not blind! What I mean is that why are you stripping in front of me?!" He shouted at her out of embarrassment.
Why was he the one who is embarrassed, when she's the one who stripped!
"Why not? It's not like you haven't seen me naked anyway." Esdeath said like it was a statement.
"That's not the point! So you're just going to strip in front of anyone?!" Jaune replied while staring at her in disbelief.
Esdeath frowned at his words. "Why would I do that? Even though I have common sense."
"Then why are you stripping in front of me then?!"
"Jaune, I did this because I want you to see and I'm not doing this just for everyone, I'm only doing this for you and only you alone, and anyone who looks at my body while I'm naked, they better hope I don't find them because they won't have a peaceful quick death." Esdeath stared at him in the eyes dead serious about every word she said.
Her eyes looked animalistic and feral at the moment, making him shiver down his spine. "R-right…"
He averted his gaze away from her eyes, he never thought a human is capable of making such an animalistic look, it's like he's looking at an apex predator rather than a human being.
A minute later, Esdeath finished wearing his clothes and now he's looking at her again, she lost that animalistic look on her face and reverted back to her usual attitude.
Making him sigh in relief, he didn't really want to see that look of her again, it was terrifying.
He stares at Esdeath's new looks, in his eyes she doesn't look dangerous at all, she looks like a beautiful harmless rose, but when you get closer, you realize that this rose has thorns in them.
Jaune shook his head, trying to forget about what he witnessed a while ago. Hopefully, he wouldn't dream of those eyes tonight because it would be a nightmare.
The clothes that he gave her looked a perfect fit for her, it was like they were tailored just for her, he wondered why when he wore them himself he looked like a dork, while she wasn't.
Esdeath is 5 '7 in height, while he's 6' 1 his clothes weren't supposed to fit perfectly with her body size, so how?!
He had a feeling even if Esdeath wore nothing but rags, she would still look good.
"Jaune, what do you think of my new looks?"
Her words made him snap out of his musing, and shift his attention back to her, he answered without really thinking about it. "You look really beautiful."
His answer made Esdeath smile brightly, she was so beautiful for a moment, it made his heart skip.
"I see, I'm happy that you thought of me as beautiful." Esdeath approaches him and suddenly starts hugging his waist while burying her face in his chest.
It was such a sweet gesture, and it only made his heart beat faster, he never knew that his heart was capable of beating this fast.
He could feel her breath in his chest and think. 'Why is she acting like this? More importantly, why am I feeling like this?! Jaune you must've been out of your mind! I know she's beautiful but she's also dangerous if not crazy!'
"I could hear your heartbeat from here…" Esdeath muttered.
Yeah, that's for vocalizing it Esdeath! It's not helping him at all!
All of a sudden without a warning, she pulled his face into her chest, making her flustered to the point his face resembles a tomato!
Before he could say anything, Esdeath said. "Can you hear it? My heart is beating for you."
It made him pause for a bit and decided to calm down and listen to her heartbeat. After a moment, he did, he heard her heart beating as fast as his if not faster.
"You can hear it, yes?" Esdeath softly said.
He tried nodding, however, he failed because doing so, is just burying his face deeper into Esdeath's breast.
Making him feel more embarrassed than before.
Esdeath seemed to understand his action, she only let out a giggle and said. "I take that as a yes then." Then she continues. "You know, I haven't really told you the full story of what happened to my family and my tribe."
That immediately got his interest, as she never really said anything about her family and tribe aside from saying that they were dead and weak.
Now that he had a chance to know the full story, he'd be damned if he didn't listen closely.
Esdeath then started talking about her tribe. "From the place where I was born and raised, our philosophy is the strong survive and the weak die, in my tribe, the strongest get to decide everything, that's the golden rule, it's the way of our living and the people of my tribe follows that rule with no complain and I wasn't an exception to that rule."
Hearing that, he couldn't help but find her tribe barbaric, that kind of belief is considered insane in the mind of modern people, because after all, they aren't living in the stone age anymore, but it seemed Esdeath's tribe is still living in that era.
"In my tribe, I was the most talented in my generation none of the kids my age could match me, that's why I was considered the rising star of my tribe someone with a bright future, that's why most of the young men, if not all tried their luck getting my hand for marriage, and that only way they could do that is to defeat me in a battle, which no one succeeds." Then she gave him a quick look and smiled.
He couldn't help but smile warily at that and thought. 'That smile, is she trying to tell me something?'
Then she continues her story. "Maybe believes that I would remain single for the rest of my life, because of the fact that no one from my generation could beat me, they were simply too weak, too predictable for me not to, the same move, the same trick it was honestly getting boring, so I decided to accelerate my plan to get to become the chieftain of my tribe, it was always been my goal to be the chief of my tribe, and be acknowledge that I was the strongest amongst my people."
"So, that day I challenge the chief because he's the only person in my tribe that could give me a challenge, many were surprised by my decision because, after all, it's not every day someone decides to challenge the current chief, especially when they are still in their prime condition, even my parents tried to stop me, but I already made my mind, my goal is to pursue the highest peak of strength, to become the strongest and doing nothing would get me nowhere."
Jaune listened intently, he couldn't help it. Her story is just too good for him not to listen, she's just that good of a storyteller.
"The chief of my tribe accepted my challenge, but with the condition that if I lose the fight I'd become his third wife, which I don't really mind if he's strong enough to defeat me," Esdeath mentioned it like it was no big deal.
While Jaune could only look at her with pity, she doesn't seem to realize it herself that she's too obsessed with strength that it skewered her common sense.
He couldn't help but think. 'How old is that chief guy in her tribe anyway? Must've been in his early forties at least?'
"I accepted the condition because it is simply how the world works, the strong get everything, now as for the rules of the match, is that whoever surrendered or dies first is the loser, then our battle started the current chief is truly living up to his name as the strongest in our tribe, I was almost defeated in a single move at that time if it wasn't for my honed battle instinct I would been hit by his fist." Esdeath smiled ferally as she remembered that moment.
He could feel her bloodlust, he couldn't stop himself from trembling as this was his first time feeling this oppressing feeling, a feeling that he's just a tiny ant that was about to be stamped by an elephant.
Thankfully though, her bloodlust didn't last long and he let out a massive sigh of relief, he was sweating from head to toe at the experience alone.
"Oh, I forgot to mention that the chief had his aura unlocked while I didn't have mine?" She mentioned something she almost forgot.
'Aura?' He thought confused, he had no idea what that is because it was the first time he heard that term.
Believing that he knew what aura is, she continued her tales. "I haven't unlocked mine because there's a rule in my tribe that one shouldn't unlock their aura at the age of 18, because my people believe that unlocking your aura early in life would only make you weak because you'll end up relying on it. Because they got so used to aura protecting them from most harm and they begin to forget what it's like without aura protecting them, that's why from the moment their aura shatters they become helpless, scared, and more importantly weak."
There was a hint of disgust in her voice, meaning she didn't like those people who had a mentality like that.
"That's why the people of my tribe honed their combat skills to the fullest without relaying to aura, and after they unlock theirs they won't be stupid enough to tank any attacks that were thrown into them believing their aura would protect them all the time."
He didn't know why but, he felt like he was personally being attacked by those words, but then he shook his head, it's ridiculous he doesn't have this 'aura' thingy or whatever that is.
"So, anyway I was at a disadvantage but it didn't really discourage me, instead it was the most enjoyable battle that I had in my life, that battle was me courting death because a single mistake could be fatal." Esdeath had a crazed look on her face as she remembered that memory.
Oum, is he really going to be okay here with her?
"But eventually good times don't last forever, as I already understood how he moves, perfectly I know where he hits next, he became predictable and I waited a few minutes for him to surprise me with a new attack, but to my disappointment nothing, so I decided to end the battle because I don't have anything to gain from this battle anymore. I already knew how to counter him, so I slowly break his aura using my fist alone, and eventually, I shattered them, now that he had no aura protecting him, thought he'd accept defeat but so, but he was stubborn and continued to fight even though futile, which is why he gained my respect he isn't a coward. I killed him in the end." Esdeath said without regret or guilt on her part, it's like she's talking about the weather rather than taking someone's life.
Jaune sucked the air, he just heard that she killed a person, a human being and she doesn't even feel remorse for doing so, he should be scared, he should get away from her as far as possible.
But he couldn't, because it wasn't her fault that she became the way she is, the mentality of her tribe infected her, believing the world was a jungle where the strong rule, and the weak dies.
She was raised into believing that is how the world works.
He was now looking at Esdeath in a different light, while he was still a bit wary of her, however right now at least he could understand her if there's a way to change her way of thinking….
It would be….
Yeah, nope he had no idea how to change it for now, if he knew a way he'd help her without hesitation, he just hadn't found a solution.
Therapy could help, but he's sure that the therapist would die at their first session, he just knows it.
"After I was recognized as a chieftain of our tribe, a horde of Grimm attacked our tribe and my first order was to slaughter all of the Grimm," Esdeath said with a stoic look.
From this point, he'd be an idiot if he didn't know the result of the battle. She mentioned yesterday that her people died, meaning they lost the battle and she's the only survivor.
"My people were weak, that's why they fell from the battle, but I was strong, that's why I survived and won the battle," Esdeath said with great confidence that her ideology is right and the others are not worth mentioning.
He thought. 'She didn't run, to be fair she doesn't seem to be the type to run away from a battle.'
Jaune could only look at this girl in pity, she's alone in this world, without a family or a friend.
Then he realized something, he looked at her and asked. "Where was your tribe located anyway?"
"It's in Solitas."
"What?!" Jaune instantly pushed her away from his chest, making Esdeath pout but he couldn't care less at the moment as he just heard something unbelievable. "But that's a continent away from here!"
Esdeath blinked and was a bit surprised. "Oh, really? I didn't know."
He stared at her in disbelief, then he asked her shakily. "Tell me Esdeath, when was your tribe the destruction of your tribe?"
Esdeath looked thoughtful and then replied. "I think it was when I was fourteen years old."
With a trembling tone, he dared to ask. "H-how old are you now?"
"17, I'm sure of it I counted," Esdeath stated while smiling at him.
Oum…this girl…
With one last question to confirm his suspicion, he asked. "When was the last time you had a human interaction?"
"Before you arrived, I hadn't seen or talked to any human after my tribe's destruction," Esdeath admitted, completely clueless about what he was currently feeling.
He instantly felt the pity he felt for her became despair, this girl survived on her own for 3 whole years, alone without human interaction, she even crossed an entire continent without realizing it!
At that moment, he knew he couldn't leave her, not after knowing what she had been through, the thought of leaving her completely disappeared from his mind.
He would bring her with him to Vale.
—
Yep, poor Esdeath was completely alone for a whole 3 years. If she isn't crazy then I don't know what to call her.
If this was her original world, she would have found the empire and slowly ranks up and became a general, but in this world there's no empire, not to mention there isn't a lot of settlement or town with people because of the Grimm.
