Last Resort
By Lightningstrxu
Day 0
Leonardo Lionheart had seen and heard many things in his long tenure as the headmaster of Haven Academy. However, the request of the blonde huntress before him just might have been the strangest.
"Let me see if I understand you correctly, Miss Xiao Long." Leo sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose with his hand, "You want me to loan you an airship?"
"Yep." Yang grinned as she leaned against the wall. "I wanted to try my hand at it. I figured Team RWBY could use a pilot."
"You want to try your hand at it?" Leo placed his pen down. "Meaning you don't know how to fly?"
"Well, no." Yang shrugged, "But, I can handle Bumblebee just fine, how hard could an airship be."
"I'm afraid to ask but what pray tell is Bumblebee?"
"Oh, that's my bike, sir." Yang commented. The silence that followed was deafening as Leonardo just stared blankly at Yang his eye twitching slightly.
"Get out this is utterly preposterous." Leo shook his head. "While I appreciate you are wanting to learn how to fly, Miss Xiao Long however there are currently no pilots here in Haven to teach you. I can't just let a teenager go off on a joyride in an airship just because she thinks she can handle it."
"Fine." Yang sighed. "This was a long shot anyway." Yang turned and exited the office just as she heard the headmaster's phone began to ring.
#####
Leonardo watched the young Huntress in training go. He sighed wearily.
"I often forget how ridiculous some of the ideas these children can come up with." He scoffed as the phone rang once more. "Just a moment, just a moment." Leo hit the button on his desk activating it a hologram was projected out from it.
"Hello, Leonardo." The man who appeared said slyly as the hologram took shape.
"Oh, Dr. Watts, hello sir." Leonardo gulped nervously. "What can I help you with today?"
"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Miss Xiao Long I believe you called her." Watts chuckled. "Quite the interesting request she had. You know I find it quite admirable that she would want to learn such a useful skill."
"Admirable yes, but practical I think not."
"Ah yes but that is where you and I disagree." Watts smirked devilishly as Leonardo's desk lit up. "I am sending you a program Leonardo. It's a wonderfully simple little thing but, with it, I believe you can make that young girl's dream come true. Just pick an airship that you won't miss and upload it, and the girl will fly off into oblivion."
"But…but, that's too risky; She is Qrow Branwen's niece." Leonardo stammered out. "If she were to vanish he would be on the warpath he would…"
"Be so distracted trying to find her that he will be gone from Haven off to look for her; along with that little girl and her friends. It will make a clear path to the relic once we have the spring maiden. Perhaps, if we're fortunate she'll take the silver-eyed girl with her, and she'll perish as well. Oh, what I would give to see the look on Cinder's face when she finds out a simple airship crash felled her foe."
"But she's just a student, a child I can't just…" Leo began to plead, his face distraught.
"That girl dies no matter what you decide, Leo." Watts' eyes narrowed. "Whether it is in a mysterious airship crash or, the jaws of a Grimm her fate remains the same. The question is, what do you want your fate to be Leo?"
"Alright, I'll do it." Leonardo held his head in his hands. "Just make sure it's quick."
"Now now, Leo that all depends on them now doesn't it? Well, good day." The hologram faded and Leo stood from his desk, the faster he got this over with, the better.
#####
Yang walked down the long hallway her hand brought up to her chin in contemplation.
"I guess I'll have to find another way then." Yang muttered to herself. She wandered around Haven for a while trying to think of another way to enact her master plan. She was snapped out of her reverie when she heard the sound of approaching footsteps.
"Ah, Miss Xiao Long, so glad I caught up with you." Leonardo said as he walked up to her.
"Oh hey, headmaster." Yang said with a wave. "Did you need something?"
"Yes I did, I thought about your request again and I may be able to arrange something."
"Oh?" She crossed her arms over her chest. "Why the sudden change of heart?"
"Well, you see…" Leo chuckled nervously. "I had forgotten about a new type of airship, it has a very advanced autopilot program in it. It can teach you the basics of flight while keeping you safe and on course."
"Really now?" Yang's eyes narrowed. Leo fidgeted under her gaze. "That sounds awesome, sign me up, when can we go?"
"We?" Leo asked confused.
"Well yeah, I figured I could take someone from JNPR with us. That way we can both have a pilot."
"Ah, yes, well the more the merrier. I can have a ship ready for you in the morning if you would like?"
"Hell yeah, I do." Yang cheered. "Thanks, teach." Yang bounded off down the hallway. Leonardo was watching her go. He gave a weary sigh.
"What have I done?" He held his head a pained expression forming on his face.
#####
Jaune laid on his bed attempting to doze after a long day of meditating. Finding one's semblance was an exhausting task. However, a knock on the door snapped him out of his sleepy haze. He stood, walked to the door and flung it open.
"Can I help you?" He asked slightly annoyed.
"Whoa, who spit in your soda, Jaune?" Yang waved with a small smile on her face.
"What do you need, Yang?" Jaune sighed looking at the ground not noticing the look of concern on Yang's face.
"Well, I have a proposition for you." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I got permission to go on an airship tomorrow. It's a special airship with an autopilot and a program that will help me learn to fly. I figured team RWBY could use a pilot and that team JNPR could use one as well. So, want to come with me?" Jaune blinked a few times staring incredulously at her.
"I'm sorry what?" Jaune asked a little confused. "I can barely ride in a car, and you want me to learn to be a pilot."
"Yep, I figured it's a good skill for our teams to have, and of the three of you, Jaune; I feel that you're the best candidate."
"You do know I get motion sick right?" He glanced at her trying to see if this was some kind of elaborate joke on his fellow blonde's part.
"Yeah, I know but, that's the point." She grinned. "You can tackle your weakness head-on. You don't want to be let off into battle with a stream of vomit spewing forth from your mouth."
"You never know it might make a good scare tactic." Jaune joked earning him a light jab to his shoulder from Yang. "Ow!"
"I'm serious, Jaune. I think this would be a good opportunity for you. Get out of this house for once and stretch your legs a bit."
"I don't know Yang. I still have a lot of training to do and…" His voice caught in his throat as she stepped closer to him.
"Come on, Jaune, all I'm asking is for one day." She smiled sweetly, flipping her hair back. "You can give me one day, can't you?"
"Alright fine." Jaune sighed. "What time do we go?" Yang took a step back from him.
"Ten o'clock sharp. So, don't be late." Yang winked at him before walking down the hallway.
"What did I just agree to?" Jaune griped while pinching the bridge of his nose.
#####
Jaune arrived in the Haven airship docks. He walked along the rows of airships checking his scroll to make sure he had the correct one.
"Heya copilot." Yang called as she waved him down, she was already seated and strapped into the pilot's chair. "Get your butt in here."
Jaune looked up at the airship. It was a small shuttlecraft, able to carry a small load of cargo. He walked around it, inspecting it. Everything seemed sound but, then again, it's not like he was an expert on airships. He rechecked his gear; his armor and his sword were all he brought. He doubted they would need much; it was after all only a day trip. Jaune climbed into the cockpit, he noticed as he buckled in he saw Yang's bike anchored to the back.
"You brought your bike." He looked at Yang.
"Hell yeah, I did." Yang beamed. "I already programmed the route we're taking, it's scheduled to stop and land near the border of the kingdom, I figured we could get out, stretch our legs, have a bit of lunch and maybe ride around on Bumblebee a bit."
"Wow, you really thought everything out?" Jaune said legitimately impressed.
"Of course, I did." She scoffed. "What? Did you think I just wanted to take a joyride in an airship?"
"Well no…"
"Cause you'd be right." Yang cackled before punching him in the shoulder. "I'm kidding I think learning to fly will be good for us. You ready for takeoff?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." Jaune leaned back in his chair taking a deep breath.
"Alright let's get this show on the road." Yang pushed a button on the console, and the airship hummed to life. It was quite fascinating to watch; the airship lit up and highlighted buttons as needed showing the exact sequence required for takeoff. Yang mimed pushing the buttons as each lit up. The ship began moving forward and guided itself down the runway and took off into the air. Jaune took a calming breath trying not to feel sick.
"Hey, just focus on the lesson it will distract you." She reached over and patted his hand. "But, if you do start to get sick the bags are to your right and please try not to get any into my hair."
"You're so kind, Yang." Jaune said with a roll of his eyes.
"Of course, I am it's one of my better features." She gave him a playful wink. "Among other things." She puffed out her chest for emphasis. Jaune rolled his eyes a second time.
Jaune sat back as he watched Yang continue to push the buttons as they lit up in sequence; he listened as the computerized voice droned on explaining the various buttons. He smiled as Yang looked quite studious. She really was serious about learning to fly.
After a while Jaune felt his eyelids start to droop; he had been up too late again. He leaned his head back against his chair. The airships movements weren't as bad as he thought they would be. It wasn't long before he drifted off to sleep.
#####
Jaune shook awake when he felt a hand shaking his shoulder roughly.
"Jaune!" Yang shouted in his ear. "Somethings wrong."
"What!?" Jaune looked around confused. The airship was still flying, so that was a positive. "What's happening?"
"Take a look, Jaune." Yang pointed out the window. Jaune leaned forward and peered out the window. Water… there was water as far as the eye could see.
"Yang?" Jaune turned to look at her. "How did we get out here?"
"I don't know." She pulled open a compartment and pulled out a rather thick manual. "The autopilot must have malfunctioned while I was asleep."
"You were asleep?" Jaune shouted.
"So were you!" Yang shouted back her eyes were turning red. She panted raggedly while her right arm grabbed hold of her trembling left wrist. She took a deep breath her eyes returning to normal. "It doesn't matter, what matters now is getting out of this."
"So, what do we do?"
"That's what I've been trying to figure out." She paged through the manual. "From what I read when I set the flight path this morning everything is supposed to be automated."
"So maybe there was a glitch in the autopilot." Jaune leaned over in his seat trying to look at the book.
"Big time; according to this all I have to do is push this…" Yang reached up and pushed a bright red button on the console. "…and that should cause the autopilot to reset and return to home. But as you can see." She pushed the button some more. "Nothing is happening."
"Can you get in contact with Haven at all?" Jaune stared at the console of buttons, flips, and switches before him hoping that he could divine some answer from them.
"That was the second thing I did, we're out of range for normal radio, but the emergency beacon did make it and was received back at Haven."
"It was?" Jaune looked at the console before him. "What did it say? Was there a response?" Yang looked at the book and then at the console.
"It was received." She continued to look back and forth between the book and the screen. "They haven't sent a reply message back."
"So, they know we're in trouble?"
"Yeah, so I guess we just sit here and wait until they respond." Yang leaned back in her chair and sighed.
"But, what if the airship runs out of fuel?" Jaune asked frantically.
"Well, if we get low the system is supposed to land automatically. Problem is…" She glanced down at the water below. "…There's nowhere to land."
Jaune peered out at the expanse of ocean beneath him. "So what do we do?"
"I guess we wait?" Yang said with a shrug.
"Yeah, that sounds like an excellent plan." Jaune sank into his chair he was starting to feel queasy. Whether it was from his motion sickness or just nerves he wasn't sure.
Yang got up from her chair stretching as she stood, "Well, we've got time to kill." She smiled perhaps a bit too brightly. "Want some lunch?"
"How can you even think about eating at a time like this?" Jaune snapped. "Aren't you worried?"
"Of course, I'm worried, Jaune." Yang walked to the back of the airship and retrieved a basket. "But, our only options are to either wait or jump ship, and I do not want to do the second."
"I should have never let you talk me into this." Jaune cradled his head in his hands. "Why did you think I would make a good pilot anyway?"
"I didn't okay!" Yang snapped her eyes turning red for the briefest of moments.
"What?" Jaune blinked in confusion as he looked back at her. "Then, why did you…"
"Because you looked like you needed time away from everything Jaune." Yang grabbed two cans of soda and walked back to her chair. She held one of the cans out to him. "Drink up." Jaune reached out and grabbed the can.
"What do you mean?" Jaune asked bewildered.
"The night Weiss and I got back, we all had dinner, everybody was so happy, and they were all smiling." Yang paused a moment to sip her drink. "Except you, Jaune, you were there with us but not really, you seemed off. I've noticed you avoiding everyone it's like you're barely even around. Not to mention I hear you sneaking out every night. What are you even doing?"
Jaune blinked a few times. All this time he thought Yang had just wanted to be a pilot on a whim, and while she did seem to be taking it seriously, it seemed to be the kind of impulsive thing Yang would do, but here she was not even a full week since she came back and did everything she could do to make sure he was okay.
"Yang I…" A sudden almost deafening silence filled the airship which suddenly lurched forward. Yang was knocked out of her seat as the ship fell from the sky; it was nothing like the movies she had grown up with. Crashes were always dramatic affairs. They hit the water in seconds.
Yang reeled being pushed back by the wall of water that poured into the cockpit; her aura shimmered and fizzled under the punishing amount of force. The airship was sinking and fast. She swam back towards the front of the airship the water already up to her waist and rising rapidly.
"Jaune!" Yang shouted worryingly, and she found him still strapped into his chair unconscious. "Oh, come on! I was the one who was tossed around." She undid his restraints and dragged him out of the chair.
Yang looked around the airship. Water was rushing through seams in its side and the cracks in the windshield.
"Wake up, Jaune I don't think I can carry us both out of here." Yang spoke frantically while shaking him. "Damn it, Jaune!" she went to work undoing his armor, she would have a hard enough time dragging him out without an extra forty or so pounds weighing him down. She managed to get the breastplate off him and tossed it to the side.
Jaune's eyes shot open, and he lurched forward vomiting. Yang recoiled from him; it took everything she had not to react there, were more important things to worry about.
"Get it together Jaune. The ship crashed, and we have to get out of here now!"
"What!?" Jaune asked before looking around at the rapidly filling airship. "Shit!" he scrambled to his feet wading through the water. "How do we get out?"
"Brace yourself Jaune." She leveled her mechanical arm at the windshield as a gun barrel emerged from her forearm. "Cause this is the stupidest thing I've ever come up with." She unloaded several rounds into the windshield which then cracked and buckled under the water pressure letting in more water filling the airship completely.
They both swam out through the broken windshield heading as fast as they could towards the surface. As she swam Yang undid the long leather tails at her back and let them sink away, her jacket and gloves following after, the extra weight was dragging her down.
They broke the surface gasping for air, Jaune struggling to tread water. Yang instinctively grabbed onto him, nearly being dragged down herself.
"Take off the rest of your armor, or you'll sink."
"The rest of…" Jaune looked down to see the smiling face of Pumpkin Pete staring back at him. "My breastplate what happened to it?"
"That is what you choose to focus on right now!" Yang fumed eyes flashing red. "I thought I was going to have to drag your ass through the water and you're heavy enough."
"That armor was…" Jaune stumbled over his words his mind jumbled somewhere between confused and angry. "I'm going back for it." He swam away from her only for Yang's right hand to clamp painfully onto him.
"Lose the armor, or you drown!" she growled. "Don't go killing yourself for it I don't care how important it was, cause, then I'll end up drowning trying to save you."
Jaune stared at Yang; he knew she was right. But this armor was one of the few things he had left of Pyrrha, but at the same time, Yang was right, he would drown if he kept struggling to stay afloat. His hands were shaking, he undid his gauntlets and pauldron and watched as they sunk into the abyss. The weight of his sword and shield still dragging him down but he would manage. He would die before he gave those up.
"So, what do we do now, Jaune?" Yang asked treading water furiously.
"I don't know Yang." Jaune looked around hoping to see something, anything that could help them. His eyes scanned the horizon, and he saw something off in the distance; The tiniest speck of green. "I think I see an island."
"Really?" Yang's eyes squinted as she followed Jaune's gaze. "I think I see it too."
Jaune started swimming towards it, Yang following close behind. It was a long shot but it was the only other option was to tread water endlessly in the ocean. Neither knew how long they swam for, stopping every so often to make sure they were still on course and to rest occasionally. By the time they stumbled onto the shore they were exhausted, and the sun was low in the sky.
"Land." Jaune muttered as he crawled out of the surf collapsing face first into the sand. A coughing fit soon followed as he flipped over onto his back. "Bad idea…" he coughed up a cloud of sand.
"No shit." Yang griped as she trudged up next to him, she held a hand out to him. "Come on let's get off the beach." Jaune reached out and took hold of it. She pulled him to his feet and slung his arm over her shoulders. Together they staggered up the beach and into the tree line of a rather lush jungle. There they promptly collapsed onto the ground.
"So this has just been a day." Jaune lay on the ground panting.
"You're telling me." Yang muttered as she curled up into a ball shivering, she was soaked to the bone and the rapidly approaching night wasn't helping. Jaune sat up pulling his hoodie and undershirt over his head. "What the hell are you doing?"
"I'm freezing, and our clothes are soaked, they have to be removed and dried, or we'll get sick." He tossed his hoodie and shirt aside and started working on his shoes. "I suggest you do the same."
"Excuse me?" Yang huffed crossing her arms over her chest. "If you think I'm easy enough to just strip in…"
"Then freeze to death, Yang!" Jaune snapped cutting her off. "Do you really think I care? I'm exhausted, cold, and stuck out in the middle of the ocean on some gods' forsaken island. I don't care Yang. You've got nothing special; I lived with seven sisters, lived in a coed dorm, and traveled for months on the road with Ruby. Trust me, Yang, a girl in their underwear isn't a big deal" Jaune panted a little after his rant and managed to pry off his shoes.
Yang just sat there blinking, as Jaune took off his pants leaving him in only his boxers. He really didn't care. It was like Yang wasn't even there.
"You saw Ruby in her underwear?" Yang broke the silence. Jaune's eye noticeably twitched.
"That's what you took from all that?" Jaune threw his hands up in frustration. "Yes, I saw Ruby in her underwear and Nora too. Want to know what I thought?" Yang slowly nodded taken a bit aback by Jaune's anger.
"Nothing, cause I had way more important things to think about, just like right now. So, I'm going to sleep, warm up and we can figure out what to do in the morning." Jaune let out an exasperated sigh before curling up on the ground facing away from her.
Jaune laid there for a few minutes in silence before hearing Yang shifting and wet cloth hitting the ground. He flinched when he felt her push her back against his own but relaxed as he felt her warmth; she was like a furnace.
"Hey, Jaune." Yang whispered
"Yeah, Yang."
"I'm sorry for dragging you out here."
"It's not your fault Yang, get some sleep. We can talk about what to do in the morning.
"Okay."
Yang settled in against Jaune and closed her eyes; it wasn't long before exhaustion took them.
Well so ends the first chapter of my new story. To those who know my story Trapped you know it started with Weiss and Jaune stuck on a mountain but soon moved on to other things. So I decided to make a story based on the concept of being stuck with Jaune. Thus was born Last Resort, the second installment that my writing buddies and I call the Trapped cinematic universe. Whether there is a Knightshade and Lancaster installment down the line has yet to be determined.
Credits
Mallobaude
Constable Paperbag
Aetherling
Spiritwalker95
Protosaber
And to all the rest in my writing group for helping me to develop this idea.
Special credit
InsertSomthinAwesome for the cover pic
Ijustreadeverything for cropping it for me and proofreading.