The Beowulf snarled at its prey, its red eyes burning furiously. On this open sandy plain in the mountains on the Vale/Vacuoan border, it had a straight line to its target. There was no cover, no protection to be found.
It charged, opening its jaws...
BANG!
And down it went, the Dust bullet going right through its masked head. It slammed into the sand, and began to dissolve away. Jaune sighed, spun his weapon around his fingers per his habit, and holstered his trusty revolver.
"I think that's all of 'em," Jaune stated, tapping his earbud, "Nora? Ren?"
"We're clear on our end, Jauney!" Nora chirped.
"Good, we'll meet you back at town," Jaune said, looking around. "Pyrrha?"
A gunshot rang out. Jaune looked up and saw a Nevermore falling from above. It slammed into the sand only twenty meters away from him. He grimaced, then traced the sound back to the place of origin. A familiar redhead was on a rocky outcropping up above. She waved.
"Up here!"
He smiled back as Pyrrha jumped down and gracefully landed next to him.
"Nice. Didn't notice it through the glare of the sun," he complimented her, adjusting his hat. Pyrrha smiled modestly.
"You would have gotten it," she said. Jaune shook his head as they scanned the area carefully.
"Gotta get better at that," he sighed, "Feel like I'm gettin' soft."
"It's not like one person can do everything," Pyrrha consoled him, as they turned and began to walk the dusty road back towards the nearby town.
"No, but missin' a great big Nevermore, ugh," Jaune grumbled.
"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself," Pyrrha again said with a warm smile.
"Yeah well, Mister Duke and Pa would be harder," Jaune huffed. He adjusted his hat again.
They made it to the gates, where the guards checked them over and then let them back inside. The town itself was rough and tumble, as was typical of most frontier settlements. White colored adobe buildings interspersed with light wooden buildings. A few holoscreens were scattered here and there, and horses were tied up alongside trucks. The local casino had loud music that was audible even out here.
Pyrrha noticed the look on Jaune's face. A soft, nostalgic smile.
"You, uh... You seem comfortable here," she observed, "If-If you don't mind me saying so?"
"Huh? Oh, well..." Jaune rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Just kind of familiar..."
"HEY YOU! ARC!"
Jaune paused. The relaxed look on his face vanished. His eyes narrowed. His jaw was set. Pyrrha turned with him, eyes locking onto three men in dark clothing. The lead, a man with curly red hair, beard, and a black hat glared from the porch of the casino. He sneered as he advanced, his two goons following alongside. Violence was written in their every movement, and Pyrrha tensed a bit.
"That's me," Jaune stated. The curly haired man sneered.
"Your Pa wrecked my business!"
"What business would that be, sir?" Jaune asked politely, despite the tension in his body language.
"The mining camp at Branston Bridge!" The man sputtered.
Jaune slowly nodded.
"You mean the one using Faunus slaves? Yeah, he told me about that," Jaune said calmly, "Said you turned tail and ran the moment he brought out his sword."
The man snarled.
"Well! I'm going to make him pay! I'll kill his son, and his son's whore!"
Pyrrha's green eyes narrowed. Jaune sucked in a breath, and held out hand in front of her. He shook his head at her questioning look, before looking back to the three men.
"Mister, I believe you should just walk away," Jaune stated, cold and hard. The man sneered back, hand twitching near his revolver.
"No, I don't think I will," he shot back. "I don't think I-!"
His hand went for the gun. He had it halfway out of its holster... When Jaune's revolver rounds struck home. The curly haired man's gun was shot out of his hand first, and his thugs' weapons followed a split second after. They all grabbed onto their hands in pain and shrank back.
Pyrrha stared at Jaune, holding his smoking revolver. His eyes were hard and cold as flint and steel. A few people came out of the casino to see the commotion.
"Yes. I think you will," Jaune stated coldly. The curly haired man growled.
"You-You think you're hot shit you little punk-?!"
"I said, you're going to walk away," Jaune repeated. "You got hearing problems, old man? Beat it!"
The three men turned and ran off, even as the crowd murmured. Jaune watched them go. Pyrrha's entire attention was on Jaune, how the breeze made his poncho wave a bit, how heroic he appeared… Before another shot rang out.
BANG!
Pyrrha had her weapons out in a split second and turned… Just in time to see another man in black fall from the rooftop behind them into the water trough. Pyrrha immediately locked onto the shooter-And started.
Wha…?
It was a hard looking man in a red poncho and a brown flat hat. His hair was dark blond, his eyes weathered and narrowed. A rough beard encircled his strong chin and cheeks. A revolver was held in his right hand, smoking. He walked up to Jaune and Pyrrha, shaking his head as he smoked a cigarillo.
"Very sloppy, Kid," he stated, "Very sloppy." He looked past Pyrrha and Jaune and held up his revolver. He fired three more shots in quick succession.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
And all three of the fleeing men dropped like flies despite the distance.
The man scanned around for one last moment before he spun his revolver around on metal fingers and holstered it.
Jaune's own eyes went wide.
"Mister Blanco?!"
- - -
It took some time for the chaos to be sorted out. All four bodies were dragged back, laid out, and covered-Though only after Blanco shot some photos on his Scroll and took a few scans. Nora and Ren showed up a bit late, but did keep their distance once Jaune waved his hand that everyone was okay.
After this, Blanco let the city undertaker gather the bodies and cart them off. Only then did Blanco lead Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora and Ren into the casino. The music was much more subdued, as a lot of eyes were directed towards the party. Blanco sat down and the teenagers joined him. Blanco lit up another cigarillo, before his Scroll beeped loudly. He nodded.
"I'd prefer the hard stuff, but the electronic transfer works fine… Long as it's all above board," he stated in his gravelly voice.
"Y-Yeah… Thanks, Mister Blanco," Jaune said. The man looked intensely at Pyrrha.
"Your girl should have picked him up. She was distracted."
Pyrrha flushed. Jaune glanced at her.
"I'm sorry…" She said quietly, her eyes down in shame.
"We're learning," Jaune insisted to Blanco.
"Yeah, and you might have been dead from learning," Blanco stated. He shook his head. "Offer's still open, Kid."
Jaune sighed. He shook his head.
"I'm good… Thanks again."
Blanco sighed. He nodded, and motioned to the waiter. Jaune's Scroll beeped, and he opened it up.
Jaune gaped.
"Wha-That's-!"
Nora leaned over and gasped.
"Fifty thousand lien?!"
"You did help out with the bounty," Blanco stated with a shrug, "You deserve a fourth… Though next time? I'm not gonna be there, Kid. Remember that."
Jaune nodded slowly.
"I know. We'll get better."
"You'd better," Blanco stated flatly, "I'm not telling your ma and pa how you got yourself killed." He took a mug of beer from the waiter, and downed it slowly, savoring every drop. He finished it, wiped his face, and set the mug down on the table.
"Also… If you've got a tip on any bounties-?"
"I'll pass it along, don't you worry," Jaune stated. Blanco nodded, and stood up.
"Take care of yourself, Kid. That's the only person you can count on in this world," Blanco stated, his eyes lingering on Pyrrha for a bit. Pyrrha grimaced and stared down at her hands, while Nora glared and Ren frowned. The man walked out, the casino goers giving him a wide berth as he walked out through the swinging double doors. The noise and music returned to normal levels, as Jaune's friends all stared at him.
Jaune sighed.
"Mister Blanco worked for Mister Duke on a few jobs. He uh… He even taught me some shooting. Mister Duke paid him."
"You… You got taught by the scariest, most badass bounty hunter in Vale?!" Nora gasped. She scowled at the doors. "He's still a jerk-!"
"No. He's right," Pyrrha murmured. "I…" She looked over at Jaune in distress. "I-I just… I wasn't focused, I didn't-!"
Jaune reached out, and took her hand. He shook his head.
"You made a mistake. Nobody we care about got hurt. Sides, tournament fightin' ain't exactly gonna have a lot of sniping involved, right?"
Pyrrha shook her head.
"No, but… I'm still sorry," she murmured. "I… I was just too-I should never have-!"
Jaune smiled back.
"Hey. If I don't get to beat myself up? Neither do you. We both made a mistake. We'll both get better. Promise," he said.
Pyrrha smiled softly, and nodded. The doubt was still on her face, but Jaune's smile did help how she felt.
"What was that offer Blanco made to you, anyway?" Ren asked. Jaune turned away from Pyrrha and shrugged.
"To be his partner. His old partner got rich and ran off on him. Apprentice to him and all."
"It would have been a great honor, to be the apprentice to Blanco," Ren stated. Nora grinned.
"Yeah! Sure he's a jerk but WOW! He took down the Golden Ecstasy Gang! The Rojo Baxters! The Angel Eyed Bandit! The Gran Torinos-!"
"I know, I know," Jaune said with a nod, "But me? I've always wanted to be a Huntsman. And that's what I'm gonna be."
He grinned.
"Sides. If I had joined up with him, I wouldn't have met all of you."
"You still could have!" Nora insisted. "Like in this one dream of mine, when we were pirates! And I was rubber and you were a reindeer…!"
Jaune laughed a bit, as Ren smiled indulgently at Nora's epic tale. Pyrrha for her part still felt her worry. She glanced back at the double doors, then back at Jaune.
He caught her gaze even as he laughed at Nora's outrageous dream, smiled, and patted her on the hand under the table. She smiled back.
It was… Nice to be comforted. Nice to be told a failure wasn't the end of the world.
Nice to not need to be perfect.
For once.
- - -
Naturally, Mister Blanco is The Man with No Name with a bit of influence from McCree from "Overwatch", who himself is basically a Man With No Name expy. He is a notorious, near-legendary bounty hunter in Vale and Vacuo. He's not able to take, say, Raven in a fight but he's definitely formidable. Jaune copied his style because it was awesome and he was one of his teachers, but he didn't choose to go his path.
Because hell, Remnant should have bounty hunters. To quote "For a Few Dollars More":
"Where life had no value, death, sometimes, had its price. That is why the bounty killers appeared."
