Chapter Text
1.1 /// Along a chilly stone trail past the outer fields ///
Where the last signs of town gave way to crooked fence posts and dark winter trees, a crisp westward wind buffeted Jan from behind, sending a freezing chill down his back.
The young rider teetered in his saddle as the mare fought him for control. Her first instinct was to keep running. Jan pulled back hard on the reins, guiding her head to the right and forcing her into a turn. He brought her around in a tight circle once, then again, then switched directions until the panic in her movements began to bleed out.
“There, there, girl. I don’t blame you,” Jan said, leaning forward to pat her neck. “Sorry about that. But good job. Yeah. You did amazin’, Lucy.”
Lucy whinnied, offended and nervous all at once.
Jan let out a strained laugh that quickly developed into a more manic cackle as he turned back toward the danger with a grin. His own heart was beating hard but, more importantly, was still in his chest. If that wasn’t reason enough to celebrate, what was?
The Ursa was still behind them, pinned to the dirt by Jan’s spear, and it would stay there for a bit longer as it thrashed furiously. He had it right where he wanted it. A lone Ursa, one of the creatures of Grimm. It was a mass of black shadow lined with enough bones to make a visage of a fairytale evil bear. His first solo clash with one, and somehow he had managed to turn it into a jousting accident.
Future tellings would focus on how he felt in that moment, on the overwhelming joy of a job well done, but for now he still had to finish it. Grimm were creatures of darkness, beasts of black flesh and white bone drawn toward mankind’s fear and misery. They did not hunt for food. They hunted people because that was simply what Grimm did.
Jan’s smile slipped as he regarded the Grimm cautiously for a moment, only for it to creep back a second later.
“So sorry about the victory laps. Took me a minute to come back and finish you, sadly.”
He looked up distractedly, searching for something clever to say. “Erm... buddy, you can’t park there.”
He paused and glanced at Lucy, who somehow rolled her eyes at him.
No one seems to appreciate the classics.
The Ursa suddenly dragged Jan’s attention back to it, pulling itself forward before being yanked back as it tore itself apart against the spear pinning it down.
“You too, huh? Tough crowd.”
Jan dismounted and loosened the saber at his waist. His confidence remained high only because the Grimm had very little left to threaten him with. Even then, his fingers stayed tight around the grip. When he was close enough, Jan dashed forward and drew the blade beneath the edge of the Ursa’s bone mask.
The saber caught for half a second. Jan locked his wrist, forced the cut through, and tore the blade free.
The Ursa slumped forward. A moment later, its body began to dissolve into black smoke. Only then did Jan realize how hard he had been gripping Reiterpallasch. His fingers ached.
“That,” he muttered, “was not nearly as heroic as people make it sound.”
For a moment, he watched the Grimm vanish. No triumph. No grand feeling of victory. Just the fading proof that something had tried to kill him, and now it was gone. All that he was left with was the sounds of his pulse still pounding in his ears.
Jan exhaled pushing the morbid thoughts away.
“Is it just me, or should I feel silly throwing out these quips?” he asked a bit forcefully, glancing back at Lucy.
Lucy whinnied.
Jan nodded. “Yeah. I don’t think smack talk is really my thing either. It started trying to off itself after hearing me talk for so long.”
Jan took Lucy's reins and looked down the path ahead before taking further stock of himself. He realized by now his bravado was already bordering on childish, and turning back now after that incident would just prove how immature he still was. They had made it this far already. Why not finish what he started?
If I intend to become a military officer one day. I could at least try acting like one right now.
Satisfied with his answer, Jan made a show of fully extending his arms as he retrieved his spear. There were no immediate pains, not even any of the Grimm’s black dust on his incredibly polished cuirass. He was fine.
“Come on, Lu. Let’s get out of here before his friends show up.”
Jan mounted Lucy in one deliberate motion before settling his weight properly into the saddle. His faithful mount sniffed the air tentatively before taking a cursory look around the surrounding area and starting forward at a cautious trot. Jan kept his eyes forward and focused on the dirt path ahead. It wouldn’t be that much longer until they reached their destination, assuming Lucy decided it was okay to pick up the pace.
Been training with this horse using spear, sword, and shot since she was born, and she still doesn’t have any faith in me when I tell her to be brave. We gotta go just a little further out.
His teacher’s house sat near the fringes of the forest, where Grimm were known to roam. How Mr. Xiao Long managed to raise two kids by himself in such a place was one of many unexplained mysteries to the rider. Perhaps that constant presence of death was what separated Huntsmen and Huntresses from military folk. It was one thing to know how to deal with Grimm properly and another entirely to live close to them.
Still, this guy must be good if he was the combat instructor at Signal.
“Let’s go. Come on! I’ve got a promise to keep,” Jan explained as he patted Lucy’s neck encouragingly. “Once we get there, you can run off to... wherever you end up running off to.”
Lucy nickered back conversationally but said little else as Jan grasped the reins tightly and they made their way through the unfamiliar area. As soon as a big wooden house came into view in the distance, Jan urged Lucy into a steady canter for the remaining distance. Just as they passed through the surrounding fence, Jan barely had time to swing his leg over before Lucy started to dissipate beneath him. He landed on his feet with an enthusiastic hop before picking up the saddlebags that were suddenly left behind.
Lucy. Lucy. Lucy. You are always up for walks. Less enthused when meeting new people. Honestly, I get it. But why make me carry my own gear? A noble steed should know. You are sworn to carry my burdens.
Lucy was always close by when he needed her. That was the whole point of her. She wasn’t a horse he owned so much as a horse his Semblance had decided to make, weight and breath and temper included, real enough to buck him off if she felt like it. She wasn’t just clever for an animal, either. Lucy understood things a horse had no business understanding. She understood tone and intent. Sometimes, Jan could hold what felt like entire conversations with the mare.
Lucy disappearing was enough of a clue for the rider to realize someone or something was nearby. She had more sense than most people he met, and Jan had learned long ago to listen when she was subtly trying to tell him something.
“Not bad, kid!” a voice called out, loud and proud, right before a hand clapped Jan on the back encouragingly. “I wasn’t expecting you to show up on time, to be honest with you.”
Jan managed a weak smile back at the frankly frightening greeting.
Taiyang “The Whole Package” Xiao Long.
The not-so-subtle nickname came courtesy of his own very single, very available mother.
“I got a ride over here, Mr. Xiao Long,” Jan answered simply before removing the offending hand from his shoulder.
“Tai is fine, by the way,” the older man said with an easy grin.
Jan straightened slightly. “Right. Mr. Xiao Long.”
Tai stared at him for a beat. Jan stared back, completely serious.
Then Tai laughed, loud enough to scare a few birds out of a nearby tree. “Yeah, you and I are gonna get along just fine.”
The older man smirked, almost finding the teenager’s standoffish nature endearing. Looking to change the subject, Mr. “The Whole Package” glanced around for Jan’s supposed ride, then turned back to him in confusion. Jan returned the look with a shit-eating grin, enjoying the older man’s hesitation to ask the obvious.
“My mom is still at home. I had a friend drop me off,” Jan explained, noting a familiar shimmer of white just outside his field of vision.
Laughing awkwardly at the subtle accusation, Mr. Xiao Long instead ushered Jan toward the house and quickly pointed out the major features of casa de Xiao Long before stopping in front of an ordinary-looking sedan.
“It’s cozy, though the location gives me second thoughts,” Jan commented as they finished walking the grounds.
His attention drifted past Tai, beyond the fence and toward the dark treeline he had only recently emerged from. He stared at it for a second longer than necessary.
“Getting jumped before I even reached the house does make me question the locals.”
Tai snorted. “You’re really gonna hold that against me? I just startled you, kid. You’re making it sound like the locals tried to eat you.”
Jan only smiled, lips pressed tight as he found Taiyang’s response so much funnier than it had any right to be.
“No, you’re right. I’m being dramatic.”
Before the trip, it was all the same to him. His mother insisted on this particular setup, so he obliged her. All things considered, the Cherri farmhouse was the closest residence to his teacher’s place, so technically they were neighbors. Though getting attacked by Grimm while going to meet a neighbor wasn’t exactly a common occurrence. Jan was better suited to deal with that problem than most folk. After all, he was enrolling in Signal for his junior year, so the local stray Grimm came off more as combat practice than an unstoppable beast at this point.
“Stella insisted that I should go with you, since you’re the adult and registered Huntsman and all,” Jan said after a moment, sounding like he was trying to convince himself just as much as Tai.
Stella wanted Jan to take every chance he could to get to know his future training instructor. Jan’s concerns about going alone to visit their neighbor didn’t seem so minor after that Ursa’s appearance on the trail. He was going to have a fun talk with his mother about that later on.
“Well, all righty then! Generally speaking, the more the merrier,” Mr. Xiao Long said as he unlocked the sedan. “Feel free to drop your stuff in the back and grab a seat. Just gotta wait for two-no three more to arrive, and then we! Are! Good! To! Go!”
Jan did just that, easing Lucy’s saddlebags off his shoulder before settling into the backseat.
Shouting broke out inside the house before the other members of their trip finally appeared.
The blonde girl seemed reluctant to leave at first, glancing back through the doorway at a younger girl with black hair. Long golden hair spilled over her shoulders, bright enough to make the morning look dull. She had soft cheeks, an easy face, and the kind of confidence that made “girl next door” feel less like a phrase and more like a warning label.
Oh right. I remember hearing he had two daughters. They’re almost my age. The blonde is pretty cute. Not just the face she has a cute-
“You know, I was once your age,” Mr. Xiao Long said, watching him closely from the driver’s seat. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, Cherri.”
Jan smiled awkwardly and tried to hide his growing embarrassment behind a nervous laugh.
“Yang! Ruby! Over here! Where’s Zwei?” Mr. Xiao Long called.
Yang made her way over with easy energy, still looking back toward her sister as she opened the passenger door. Without so much as glancing into the backseat, she tossed her bag over the seat.
Jan caught it before it could land in his lap. He quietly moved it farther back, his expression neutral but clearly offended, while Yang climbed into the passenger seat none the wiser.
Mr. Xiao Long adjusted the rear-view mirror, catching Jan’s expression. “Notice anything new?”
Yang followed his gaze into the mirror. Her eyes landed on the complete stranger sitting behind her.
He was lean but solidly built, with a handsome face framed by silver, square spectacles and dark hair broken by a striking red highlight sweeping down the middle. That alone pulled a small, interested smile from her before her eyes wandered lower and the rest of him stopped making quite as much sense. A bright red shirt, jeans, worn boots, and brown leather fighting gloves all looked relatively ordinary. The distractingly polished cuirass strapped over them did not.
Jan raised a wry eyebrow, pointed a finger gun her way, and clicked his teeth.
“Whoa! Hey there! Didn’t realize we had company,” Yang said, twisting around to look him over.
“I did mention we would have an upperclassman help chaperone the trip,” Mr. Xiao Long said.
“And that would be me,” Jan added. “Jan Cherri. We’re sort of neighbors.”
Yang took a moment to make sense of what he meant before realization brightened her face. “Oh, that’s right! Cherri Farms?”
“That’s the one.”
“Oh, cool! We drive past your place all the time. So we finally get to meet you guys. I’m Yang Xiao Long. Heya!”
“It means Little Sunny Dragon,” Mr. Xiao Long said.
“Dad. Really?”
“Does it now?” Jan asked. “I thought Yang was supposed to be a shorter version of Taiyang.”
Mr. Xiao Long grinned. “Good catch, Cherri. That too.”
Yang rolled her eyes, then lit up when her younger sister made her way to the car with their pet corgi and her own bag in tow.
Jan opened the door for her. Zwei hopped in first and took the middle seat beside him, immediately sniffing the stranger. Then, just like that, the black-and-white furball wagged its tail approvingly.
“Ruby, look!” Yang said. “Our neighbor. His name’s Jan.”
Ruby climbed into the backseat after Zwei, clutching her bag close until she noticed the corgi had already decided Jan was acceptable. Zwei sat beside Jan, tail thumping furiously, while Jan scratched under his chin with practiced ease.
Ruby looked between them with open curiosity. “Zwei likes you.”
“Good,” Jan said, giving the corgi another scratch. “I was hoping to make a decent first impression on at least one member of the family. Honestly, I’m not picky.”
Ruby’s mouth twitched like she was trying not to smile. “He’s usually the easiest one.”
“Then I’ll consider this the beginner trial before getting along with the rest of y’all.”
She sat beside him, a little less guarded than before. “I’m Ruby.”
“Jan Cherri.”
Ruby’s eyes barely stayed on his face before dropping to the weapon at his hip.
“Is that a sword?”
“Yeah, it is! My grandfather gave it a name. Reiterpallasch.”
He rested a hand over the black-and-red grip.
“He fought with it during the Great War.”
Jan eased the blade partway free. Polished steel caught the light, broken by a thin red line running along its length. Most of the weapon still carried the look of an old cavalry blade, from the broad brass guard to the worn shape of its hilt, but the similarities ended once Ruby started looking closer. Small metal housings had been worked into the guard and base of the blade, their openings faintly lit from within by violet Dust. A numbered dial sat along the top beside a short switch, both fitted so cleanly into the older weapon that they looked almost original.
Ruby leaned closer. “You added those.”
Jan’s mouth curled upward. “A few modern adjustments. Wanted to make it mine.”
Ruby looked at the weapon with naked interest. “Can I hold it?”
Jan considered her for all of half a second before turning the dial on top all the way down and clicking the nearby switch into place.
“Sure. Just don’t touch either of those.”
He drew Reiterpallasch fully and offered it hilt-first. Ruby accepted it with both hands, her expression brightening the moment she felt the weight. She adjusted her grip and carefully lifted the blade across her lap, testing its balance with a few small movements of her wrist. Jan never quite took his hand away. A thin shimmer of Aura remained visible over his fingers and forearm as he kept them close to the flat of the blade, ready to catch it long before an awkward movement could become an accident. Ruby noticed. Her eyes flicked briefly toward the faint shimmer around his hand before she carefully offered Reiterpallasch back to him.
Jan slid the blade back into its sheath, and Ruby watched him help tuck her bag out of the way before giving him a thoughtful look.
“Thanks, Uncle Jan.”
Jan paused. “Uncle?”
Ruby nodded seriously. “You helped with my bag. You talk all polite. You pet Zwei like you’re asking permission from him too. That’s old-fashioned manners.”
Yang twisted around in the passenger seat, grinning. “She’s got you there.”
Jan looked between the sisters. “Am I being that stiff, or is this just what passes for manners around here?”
Ruby considered him for a second before smiling. “Both.”
“But I am not old enough to be your uncle,” Jan said. “You can just call me Jan. Or Kuya Jan, if you want. It means big brother where my dad’s family is from.”
Ruby mouthed the word carefully. “Kuya Jan?”
Jan’s expression softened at that. “That works. Perfect, even.”
“Okay.” Ruby leaned back beside Zwei, looking a little pleased with herself. “Kuya Jan.”
“Aww,” Yang said. “Ruby made a new friend.”
“Yang,” Ruby warned.
“A new friend-ship.”
Ruby stared at her. “Don’t.”
Yang pointed between Ruby and Jan. “Too late. The ship in this budding friendship is about to leave the port just like we are.”
Jan glanced at Ruby. “Should I be concerned?”
“Probably,” Ruby said.
Jan eased himself farther into the seat, settling comfortably against the backrest as though accepting his fate. “Well then, I suppose our friendship has officially launched.”
Yang immediately lit up. “Yes! See? He gets it!”
Ruby groaned and pulled Zwei closer like a shield.
Jan looked down at Zwei, then back at Ruby. “For what it’s worth, I’m honored to be aboard.”
Ruby tried very hard not to smile.