Team RWBY and team JNPR walked back through the woods, the sound of laughter surrounding them. Their joint mission had been much easier than expected. The Grimm that were supposed to be populating the woods were severely over reported. Hardly any were there, though there was evidence of a battle. They figured that a hunter must have passed through before them.
"That was too boring!" Nora complained, hoisting her hammer over her shoulder as she walked. "I wanted to see some action!"
"We should be grateful that the mission was as easy as it was." Ren offered. "We can rest up, and none of us were hurt."
"I agree. We shouldn't look for trouble. Blake continued. "It always seems to find us anyway."
Ruby and Weiss were walking ahead of the group, bickering about which way to go, while Jaune and Pyrrha trailed behind the rest a bit.
"Very good job on that mission, Jaune!" Pyrrha praised with a smile. "You have certainly improved physically, and your strategies made the battles a breeze."
Jaune just smiled, rubbing the back of his head. "Ah... thank you. We couldn't have done it without you though, you always carry us through these fights." He said, flashing her a smile which had her looking away with a blush on her face.
"Well I-"
"Hey lovers!" Yang called back to the two. "Stop flirting for a moment, did you hear that?"
Pyrrha blushed madly. "Yang! Hear what?" She tried to identify the faint rustling sound, before she felt something slam into her.
"Pyrrha, get down!" Jaune said as he tackled her, pinning her to the ground as something massive came out of the trees, flying over them before landing on the ground with a thump.
"Is that?" Ruby said, running to inspect the projectile.
"It is..." Yang confirmed. In front of them was an Ursa. The biggest Ursa they had ever seen. Perhaps more shockingly, was the fact it was missing an arm and a leg. What could have thrown such a monstrosity?
"Damn bears. Always sneaking up on me." A deep voice muttered, walking through the woods.
As he entered the clearing with the two teams, he paused. "Shit." He mumbled, holding his head in his hand. He turned around, and started walking away, hiding his face with a hand.
"Wait! Did you clear out these woods?" Ruby asked curiously.
"Yeah. I did. Now beat it, if you know what's good for you." He replied gruffly, still walking away.
"Hey! What's your problem?" Yang challenged, storming forward to confront whoever was brushing them off. "No need to be so ru-"
"Joel. Joel Nacroe." Blake said, taking a step back and drawing her weapon.
Every turned around, confused. "Who?" Nora asked curiously. "Are you two friends?"
"Aw man. If you hadn't had said that, I would have let you live." He said, as he reached behind him, pulling out a large mechanical Machete. As he turned to face Ruby, he was already following through with a massive swing.
Before Ruby had a chance to react, Yang had acted, tackling her sister to the ground in safety. Her eyes glowed red as she shot up with an uppercut.
The man just caught her fist, holding it in place. "Nice punch kid. It's not enough though." As he raised his foot, slamming it into Yang's stomach and sending her soaring across the clearing.
"That man has a massive bounty on his head. He has more crimes under his belt than I can count, not the least of which is murder." Blake said, charging forward to help Ruby. "We need to run. We can't beat him."
Ruby dashed backwards, towards her friends, drawing her scythe as she appeared. "We can take him together."
Blake spun her around quickly, staring her directly in the eyes. "Ruby. He's stronger than most huntsmen. We need to run. Or we'll die."
Ruby felt something she hadn't felt in a while. A deep fear growing in her stomach. "Guys! Retreat."
Yang stumbled to her feet as Weiss helped her, putting her scroll away. "I already told Beacon. Help is on the way."
Joel just sighed. "Oh you really did it now. If you just left, we could have avoided this. I can't let you go now." He said, as his machete switched into a flamethrower. He disappeared from his spot, reappearing behind the group as he set the trees ablaze, burning off their escape route. They all backed up, closing in together.
"We just need to buy time." Pyrrha reassured, trying to keep everyone calm.
"Pyrrha! Me, you, Yang, and Nora will hold the front. Blake and Ren will support while Weiss and Ruby attack from the back. No one get cocky, and cover each other. There is only one of him, we can hold out." Jaune said raising his shield defensively. As he prepared for an attack, his eyes widened in terror. Joel vanished from where he was standing, appearing in front of him, Machete raised and swinging.
"That's a good plan there. Anyone else and it might have worked." He sneered as he slammed his machete into Jaune's shield. Jaune had planted his foot and braced for it in time, but there was a sickening crack as Jaune's arm fell limply to his side. He had blocked the blow but the sheer force had broken his arm.
"JAUNE!" Pyrrha cried out desperately, but was too slow as Joel turned and kicked Jaune in the side, sending him flying like a rag-doll across the clearing. Ruby was quick though and managed to get behind him long enough to catch him and stop his momentum. "Jaune..." The boy was clutching his side in pain, fighting back tears. He grabbed Ruby's arm with his good hand. "You need to run."
Joel turned on the rest of the group of terrified teens, and was met with the combine explosions of Yang, Nora, and Weiss as they all launched their attacks on him. A cloud of smoke enveloped him, but he brushed his arm through it revealing only some of his clothes had been singed. He swung his machete again, but found it sunk straight into the ground as Pyrrha slammed her hand to the ground, glowing with the full force of her semblance, tears falling from her face. "I'll kill you." The threat ripped from her throat as her other hand clenched around her sword's hilt.
Joel took a step back, a bit surprised. "You got a scary aura there kid. Not many people like you out there. I take it you can control metal? No worries then."
He dashed forward, aiming a punch towards Pyrrha. Reacting on instinct, she blocked it with both arms and her shield, focusing her Aura as she slid back a bit. Her eyes widened. No wonder Jaune's arm had broke. His strength seemed inhuman.
The ground below him glowed as ice began to creep up his legs. Blake appeared, swiping at him with her sword as he glared at her. He through a punch, but only hit a clone of hers. "Your attacks do nothing, kid."
"HOW ABOUT MINE?" Yang called out as she appeared behind him, fire burning around her as she slammed her fist into his side.
Joel slid backwards, shattering through the ice as he clutched his side. He glared at her. "Damn. You got a good punch. That actually hurt. At least, a bit." He stood up, throwing a kick behind him and catching Blake as she appeared, hurdling her across the clearing as well. "You're a tricky one, but too predictable."
"Blake!" Yang screamed desperately as Ruby turned and dashed the other way, disappearing into the trees.
"Where is she going?" Ren asked as Nora stood there shaking, a broken lightning dust crystal at her feet. "I'm going to break him. Pyrrha, up!" She said, jumping on Pyrrha's shield and launching herself up in the air.
Yang dashed forward with Ren, but Joel met her half way, slamming his fist into her stomach, lifting her off the ground as he spun around with a backhand. Slamming into Ren's side and sending him flying. Yang dropped to her knees, and fell forward, unconscious. Weiss appeared behind him again, her rapier glowing. "Not again." He muttered, ducking her stab as he uppercutted her, knocking her out cold and kicking her away.
"Next is..." He said as he looked up, seeing Nora plummeting with her hammer and crackling with electricity.
He raised both arms and blocked as her hammer met him from the sky. The ground cracked, and he dropped to one knee. "You damn punk. That hurt." He reached up suddenly, grabbing her by the neck and slamming her into the ground. Nora was no longer moving.
Hearing the faint sound of leafs rustling, he was caught completely off guard as Ruby appeared in a blur of speed, having had a long time to speed herself up, as her scythe cut across his chest.
She slid back a few feet as she slowed down, looking back at him. He stood there, clutching his chest. That would have been very bad if his aura had been lower. "A kid. A damn kid actually cut me. Now it's personal." He said as he turned towards her, only to be met by Pyrrha half way. He traded blows with her, amazed she could keep up with him for the most part, even if she wasn't hurting him much. Ruby appeared behind him again, but he was ready. He side stepped, letting her slam into Pyrrha sending them sprawling. Ruby tried to hop up but she was caught by his fist, sending her flying into the woods. As she was about to slam into a tree, something soft caught her. She tried to see what it was, but passed out with only a blurry figure of silver.
Pyrrha struggled against Joel as he got the upper-hand easily enough.
"This has been fun. But I have to get going. Please die." He said as he caught her sword, ripping it out of her hand and jabbing it into a tree, before turning and slamming his foot into her stomach. Pyrrha flew backwards, bouncing off the ground and hitting a tree. He walked over to her, pausing to pick up his machete from the ground. "It's over."
He raised it over her as she struggled to muster up any strength she could. With a slight sigh, he brought the weapon down in a massive strike that kicked up a cloud of dust.
Pyrrha opened her eyes, and let out a scream of horror. In front of her, Jaune was kneeling on one knee. His broken arm was laying limp at his side as he held his shield up with his remaining hand, having blocked that last blow. She watched as the aura surrounding him glowed and shattered, having depleted all of it.
Joel just stood there, surprised. "You got guts kid. Shame."
Jaune just dropped his shield as both arms fell limp at his side. He turned to look back at Pyrrha, a sad smile on his face. "Sorry I couldn't do more." As he fell back into her lap, out cold, broken and battered.
Pyrrha huddled over him protectively. "Jaune! You stupid hero. Why..." She cried at him, her fists clenching in his hoodie as she cradled him.
"Shame it wasn't enough." Joel said as he raised his machete again.
"That's where you're wrong." A gruff voice said from behind him.
Joel barely had time to turn before he felt a pang of danger radiating from him threatening murder. "Oi oi oi." He said as he blocked a slash from the newcomer. "Who are you now?"
"I'm just a very pissed off Uncle right now." Qrow said as he unfolded his scythe, danger radiating from him that even made Pyrrha shiver. She struggled to stay awake, but her strength slipping as she passed out, still clutching Jaune protectively.
"You messed with the wrong kids. Your time is up pal." Qrow said as he dashed forward.
The ensuing fight didn't last long. Soon, Joel was fleeing through the woods as he held the cut on his side shut. He had to vanish for a while again. His eyes widened as he felt another sense of danger. This time, different but far scarier than anything he had ever felt. It dwarfed Qrow's, making a shiver go down Joel's spine.
Slowly walking into the clearing Joel was in, a man with white hair and a cane took a deep breath. "I do not take kindly to those who threaten the lives of my students."
"Both you and that uncle eh?" Joel said with a smirk.
Ozpin had a dangerous glint in his eyes. "We are not the same. Qrow is a much better man than I am. I've made plenty of mistakes, but bringing you in wont be one of them."
XxXxXxXxX
Jaune was the last to wake up after the fight. The others had been up in a few hours, but Jaune had been out for a full day.
He slowly opened his eyes as he only saw white. As it came into focus he recognized the hospital room at beacon. He tried to piece together what had happened when he felt a pressure suddenly surround him.
"You're okay!" Pyrrha said suddenly.
Jaune struggled to hug her back, but his arms were numb at his side. "What... the fight..."
Pyrrha pulled back, blushing slightly. "Um, yeah. Both your arms and a few ribs were broken in the fight."
Jaune stared at her. "Is everyone else okay?" He said, more concerned about that.
Pyrrha smiled. "Yeah, we all are fine. All a little battered, and Yang is stuck in the hospital for a day as well, but we all woke up yesterday. Ozpin and the others managed to catch up shortly after you passed out and brought in Joel. He's going far far away now."
Jaune released the breath he didn't know he was holding. "I'm so glad. He was... I couldn't..." He started, staring down at the ground.
Pyrrha gently reached up and cupped his chin. "Jaune. He was a full fledged hunter, and we're still new students. They say it's a miracle any of us survived. I know for sure I wouldn't have if you didn't stop his last attack. Sometimes we're just outmatched. That's why we need to stand together."
Jaune smiled. "I'm glad we're all fine. Though not being able to take notes is going to suck."
Pyrrha just laughed. "We're excused for the week to recover. The doctor said you'll be fine in a few days with your aura. I..." She was cut off as the door to his room exploded open and the rest of his friends poured in. Jaune had a feeling his time at Beacon was going to be fantastic.