Disclaimer: This is a non-licensed fanfiction. I do not own the RWBY series. RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth production and the estate of Monty Orm. Please support the official release.
Starting notes
I am in a dark place and as such this is a bit of dark piece. My apologies in advanced. No blood or grotesque things, merely some unpleasant thoughts and implications.
Partially inspired by I know how you feel by R.W.G.D., You're gonna carry that by NanoTwentyFaces (both from Archive of our own) and Frustrations by Dyde21 ( ).
This is a rather Jaune centric story set just after the events of Volume 4. As I don't know any details about what to expect in Volume 5 and it will likely not fit in with cannon at a later date however it is something I want to get off my chest
Jaune watched as Ren finished the fight with the pack of Grimm Crawler in the small amphitheater.
They had arrived in Minstrel City two days before however RNJR hadn't been able to do much yet.
Qrow had been treated for the scorpion venom and had promptly disappeared the day before. Likely to some bar.
However he apparently had some influence because RNJR had been given a room at Haven Academy and access to their facilities. But was told by a member of the staff not to wander around as the kingdom was on edge at the moment, and people arriving from Vale were considered suspicious.
This was reinforced by the fact that a team of Haven students were always shadowing the quartet whenever they left their rooms. None of RNJR knew if the tail was ordered to or if the students just took it upon themselves to do so.
Not that it matter all that much.
Without the ability to leave, and being under surveillance at all times to ensure they don't, Nora suggested they just work off some energy fighting.
Haven had a small selection of Grimm that were allowed on campus for combat purposes, much like how Professor Port had been allowed to bring some of the creatures to Grimm Studies and that was what most of RNJR was fighting now.
Ruby was the only exception. She had finished writing a letter to… someone. Jaune didn't know if it was to her father, Yang or Weiss. However she wanted to mail it at once.
Ren walked back beyond the barrier separating the area form the sitting area.
"That's a good warm up for you Ren." Jaune commented honestly. Even the blond knew that Crawlers were bottom of the barrel in terms of difficulty and Ren had long ago proven that the lesser things were never a match for him.
Ren nodded his thanks and accepted the water bottle. The gunner was more than a little disappointed. When they were told the arena had Grimm for combat purposes, he was hoping for something to take his mind off RNJR's inability to operate until they had met with the headmaster. However so far they had only fought small fry.
Nora had a flock of young Nevermore, none of whom had been much bigger than her arm and now Ren's Crawlers had been just as unspectacular.
Jaune got up with his weapons to enter the arena and the standard safety barrier sealed behind him.
Their dark opponents had been chosen at random by the computer via a slot wheel much like the theatrical way that the terrain for the Vytal Tournament had been months before.
Ren could do without some of the showmanship. The arena was for students only; so there was no need to impress people.
Just as the slots stopped spinning to select Jaune's Grimm the metal gates that held the beasts a bay broke open. A pair of Ursa Major's charging out.
"This escalated fast!" Nora cheered. Ren was not so confident. Neither was Jaune.
Ursa A instantly caught sight of Jaune and made a b-line for the young man, forcing him to roll sideways. Ursa B was not far behind and Jaune was forced to dodge again. This time however he was able to tag B with a glancing blow that the creature barely seemed to notice as it passed.
Jaune gained his footing just in time for Ursa A round on him and swiped with its paws. Jaune dodged the first. Block the second with his shield while making a stab at Ursa A's face with his sword. The Ursa saw in coming and twisted its head so that the boney plate took the blow and rendered it useless.
Ursa B had used Jaune's lack of perception to come around behind and swiped at the human, knocking him sideways but away from Ursa A.
"Oh." Nora cringed at the blow before glancing at Jaune's Aura bar. It was still holding strong but the impact had made a mark.
Ren was afraid of this. While Jaune's skills had diversified slightly since the Vale City was taken over, without Pyrrha around and them being on the road, the former leader of JNPR's development had noticeable plateaued. And against two mature Ursa might prove to be too much for him.
The analytical part of Ren would have wanted to leave Jaune behind at the Kingdom of Vale and never let him come on this mission. Not that Ren didn't enjoy his company, but Jaune's skills were… not sufficient to the kind of crossing two continents worth of Grimm. But as fate would have it, Janue was the one Ruby had contacted to set the mission up and Jaune had done most of the leg works while the reaper was recovering. Collecting food and dust supplies, securing transport across the ocean, ensuring each member had a backup map. Excluding him would have merely resulted in Jaune following and getting himself killed. And the gunman was not heartless enough to let his friend die.
Lie Ren glanced over at the team shadowing them. One of them was also manning the controls for the arena as a safety precaution. Much like how Goodwitch refereed the sparing matches. The green gunner wondering if they would step in or if he and Nora would have to. Problem was that the barrier that prevented the Grimm from escaping, also prevented anyone from entering. And only the one maintaining the controls could open it.
Back in the arena the Ursa Majors had split up. Circling around either side of Jaune so that the young man couldn't look at both of them at the same time. The blond knew what was coming. It was obvious. One would distract him with a mock attack while the other hit him from the blind spot Jaune needed to make to counter the first. The way to break it is either move with them to keep them both in sight, creating a stalemate that would only last for so long, or attack one before it was ready and hope to swing about. If he was better, faster or stronger or… something, he could have… there it was.
Jaune moved to his left, sliding the sword into the sheath before expanding the sheath outward into the combined blade.
Ursa A saw it and attacked. Aiming for Jaune's now exposed body. However Jaune was under the claw more quickly than Ursa A expected. Behind the Grimm Jaune pivoted like he had practiced a hundred times. Bringing Corcea Mors down to cut through the exposed back of the Ursa's leg. The weighted blade cutting through what would have been the hamstring on a person. But Jaune wasn't about to let opening go to waste. Just as the edge cut clean through the one leg and touched the ground, Jaune reversed it back upward at an angle, cutting the opposite hind leg in an identical manner.
He rolled away as Ursa A fell to the ground was a cry of pain. It wasn't dead, but with its hind legs missing its mobility was severely reduced. Allowing Jaune to focus on Ursa B almost exclusively.
However Ursa B also noticed Jaune's plan and tried to run him down as he moved away from the flailing Ursa A. It missed but forced Jaune to get some distance.
Ursa B looked between Jaune and its wounded companion before disregarding the injured Ursa A and going on the attack.
Claw strike. Dodge.
Body Slam. Block.
Ursa B forced Jaune backwards until the young man rolled out of the way lest he get pinned between the beast and the shield barrier.
"Heads up." A voice called.
Jaune's concentration broke for a second as the unfamiliar voice called out. A second was all Ursa B needed. It slammed into the boy.
If Jaune had seen it coming, he could have expanded the shield and readjusted his feet to take the several hundred pounds of impact force but when the voice had called out, Jaune's feet were better set for maneuverability rather than durability.
As he flew backwards Jaune tried to think of something. Just as he twisted his body to try and land on his feet several sharp somethings stabbed into him. The injured Ursa A had used it's forelegs to drag itself slightly to the side and rolled so that the dozens of boney spines on its back were pointed at outwards and Ursa B had aimed to hit Jaune in that direction. The plan worked.
Jaune's aura level took a sharp nosedive from the combination.
Ren felt himself hold his breath while Nora rounded on the person who spoke. "WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?" She yelled at the barrier operation.
The hunter-in-training shrugged. "I though he could use the advice." He said in a tone that was dripping with sarcasm.
Ren had to grab the back of Nora's shirt to prevent her from attacking the operator. Part of him was tempted to let go and say his hand slipped. But he knew that wouldn't help them in the long run. His eyes went back to the arena.
After stabbing Jaune with its spikes, the injured Ursa A had him in a apply named bear hug. Trying to crush him to death.
Jaune hit the switch on Corcea Mors to cause the shield to expand between his forearm and one of the Ursa's limbs. The Grimm's one arm was forced away enough for Jaune to slip away from the creature… and into the paw of Ursa B.
Jaune was just able to bring the sword up in time to prevent Ursa B from skewing him in the face. Letting out a something between a war cry and a whimper of desperation, Jaune forced the sword forward, cutting the clawed arm in half up to the elbow before getting stuck.
Sliding underneath and using the shield to block the other paw from striking him, Jaune used the Ursa Major's bulk to prevent it from striking him while he moved around back. With his sword still stuck in the Ursa's arm, he used the sharpened edge of the shield to stab into the base of Ursa B's neck where the spinal column would be on a person.
The creature let out a roar of pain and tried to run forward and away from the blond but Jaune wouldn't relent. He struck again and on the third blow, the edge of the shield went through the neck and the creature ceased moving.
Jaune didn't give himself a moment however as he pulled the sword from the fading Grimm and turned to block the blow from injured Ursa A with his shield. Forcing the claw upward in a rising block Jaune moved forward and with the sword in his other hand decapitated Ursa A before falling forward.
As he pulled himself to his feet, Jaune heard something behind him. Just as he turned he felt more then saw the small tornado of rose petals as Ruby all but tackled him to the ground.
"Way to go Jaune!" She shrieked in adoration.
Smile and take the compliment. SMILE AND TAKE THE COMPLIMENT!
"Thanks Ruby." Jaune said.
"Oh." Ruby jumped backwards and off of Jaune's splayed form before helping him to his feet.
Jaune spared a glance at the Aura board that he had been purposefully ignoring during the fight. It registered in the yellow, near red. Roughly at 25% remaining. It was close to his estimation.
Looking at the vanishing forms of the Grimm Jaune couldn't help but give himself a condescending smile. He has just killed two Ursa Grimm. Yang had accomplished the same feat during invitation without suffering a single hit and here he was, almost one year after that date and he still couldn't catch up. Not that it mattered really. Yang had improved a notable amount since then and she still lost an arm. What did that mean for him?
That he was beyond useless.
As they left the arena to meet with Nora and Ren team RNJR heard someone call out, "Bravo."
Looking up they saw that the barrier operator had been joined on the bench by the other members of his team. One of them was the person parsing Jaune now.
"I don't think I have ever seen a hunter-in-training fail that spectacularly." The talker continued.
"What did you just say?" Nora demanded, her voice getting lower as a dangerous edge was added. "If it hadn't been for your teammate Jaune would have been just fine."
The operator readjusted his glasses. "I said two words. Can't help it some fool forgets he where is and takes his eyes off his opponent."
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked, having been absent at the time.
Jaune looked away from the Minstrel team. "It's nothing Ruby." He said. "I just made a mistake that's all." Smile and keep everyone's attention off the problem. Smile and keep everyone's attention off the problem! Jaune repeated a variation of the mantra.
"Distractions happen on the battlefield." The first guy continued. "And Beacon was supposed to be the best of the Huntsmen academies. But if you are any indication of their standards, I can see why the Grimm were able to overrun it in a single day."
Jaune felt his friends bristle at that comment. "What do you say we call it a day guys?" He tried. Jaune didn't want his lack of combat prowess to be the reason the others would get in trouble.
"Not until we hear them out Jaune." Nora said with a conspicuous degree of rationality. Never a good sign. Nora was by no means the air head she pretended to be, and when she dropped the act, the Valkyrie could be down right scary.
"I think you already passed that point." The primary talker said. "What with both of your finalist in the Vytal Tournament being sociopaths."
"I don't think you have any room to call someone else a sociopath Onyx." A far more familiar voice called out. Looking up team RNJR saw Neptune Vasilias and Scarlet David bounding down the seats of the small theater. Saga Ayane bringing up the rear solely because he was using the actual steps. "Especially after what you did to get on probation."
The primary talker, Onyx, turned to Neptune with a condescending smile. "I did what was needed. Even Headmaster Lionheart agrees with me."
"Headmaster Lionheart don't agree with your brutality, he merely needs everyone possible to fight the Grimm." Scarlet responded as he and Neptune came level with the group and stood beside Ruby. "And we'll be taking over for you."
Onyx shrugged while the former barrier operator threw the control panel for the arena at Sage. Onyx's team left.
"SSSN!" Nora exclaimed as she threw her arms around Sage in a bear hug that he returned. They rest of them hearing bones cracking from the pressure.
"Sorry bout them chaps." Scarlet said. "Onyx and his mates have a bit of a mean streak in them."
"We noticed." Ren replied while shaking hands with Neptune.
"We just heard about your arrival." Sage's low voice grumbled as he changed topics. "Or we would have sought you out sooner."
"I'm just glad you arrived when you did." Jaune admitted rubbing the back of his head. "Are they always that aggressive with people?"
"No. Usually team STOE (Stone) is worse. But with any luck, they will be expelled and we'll never have to see them again." Neptune said solemnly before looking at RNJR with a smile. "It's good to see you guys. How are Yang and Weiss?"
"Mixed." Ruby responded as they all sat down on the benches to catch up. The fighting area forgotten except for Sage who sealed all the Grimm cages and deactivated the barrier to save energy. "I haven't heard much about Weiss but Yang… she wasn't doing that well."
Neptune looked away for a moment while Scarlet spoke. "They'll bounce back."
"What's been happening around Minstrel?" Jaune asked. Both to try and keep Ruby's mind off her scattered team and to try and gleam something of Cinder… or is it Salem… whoever's plan.
End notes
There were two parts that I wanted to cover for this story.
One was to explore Jaune's darkening outlook on himself and his inability to fight. However rather than take it in a more positive direction that most others try, I deiced to play it the other way and directly point out that compared to all the other primary characters, he is by far weakest link and as such the most likely to fail.
When two of the top fighters that we have seen at Beacon in the forms of Yang and Pyrrha are taken out with such relative ease, then Jaune himself doesn't have a chance and he will be painfully aware of that. But also trying not to draw attention to it out of fear of being left behind.
I feel that I did the fight scene itself some justice in terms of combat, Grimm coordination and Jaune's own tactical assessment.
We have yet to see Jaune take on multiple opponents solo. We saw him in take on a few single opponents but not several and if I want to be overly analytical, the Ursa he killed during the end of volume 2 and in volume 3 appear to be or the regular variety while the one in the forever forest had more bone spurs and was likely of the Ursa Major category. So in keeping with his fighting of Ursa theme while at the same time accomplishing my own goals of demonstrating his weakness without any significant silver lining, a pair of Ursa Major seemed the most appropriate opponents for him to fight, and nearly lose to.
While number Two is much easier to do I also felt that it fell flat. Team RNJR meets the 'bullies' of Minstrel Academy only to be saved by 3 of the 4 members of Team SSSN. Thus reintroducing them to the main plot for a while; giving a potential resolution or continuation to the flirtation going on between Weiss and Neptune; allowing for Sage and Scarlet to get some more screen time and actual dialogue; filling out some numbers for when Salem's plan to cripple Minstrel goes into effect and Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Jaune, Nora and Ren by having some on the ground assets who know the lay of land and help them try and counter Salem's agents in the form of Dr. Watts and Headmaster Lionheart.
While I do feel satisfied about the fight between Jaune and the Ursa, I am less than enthusiastic about I had the interaction with the place holder team STOE played out. One of my previous reviewers noted that I played the heckler card already and that is wasn't well done but that such types a staple of both real schools and as shown by CRDN the RWBY universe as well so I do feel partially justified in their use.
Also as a side note: the reason team STOE is under probation is that while protecting a town from some Grimm, Onyx saw one of those Beringel gorilla Grimm using a person as a human shield to prevent others from attacking, so he shot the Grimm through the person. Hunters might be able to get away with a lot (See Yang trashing Jr's Bar), but I doubt that killing a civilian to kill a Grimm would be accepted at any of the schools.