Nora's Leader

The slow transition from late Fall to early winter always took longer on the small island of Patch than the rest of Remnant. It was still warm enough to keep the icy grip of winter away but still cold enough to warrant the usual green trees and meadows to begin to change to their Autumn shades of orange and red. Many of the reddish leaves would continue to fall until the last snowfall of winter came and went. Some holding on to their former homes until at last they are replaced by the newer leaves of Spring. Symbolic considering the circumstances that humanity found itself in. Even more symbolic for the three remaining members of team JNPR.

Speaking of which…

The falling leaves acted as a cover for three teens as they stocked their prey. They moved silently through the canopy of brownish red leaves and empty branches before coming to a stop on the outskirts of a clearing. One made a fist calling for the other two to stop. They did so without question. Deliberately, they watched as their prey circled around a small family with the intent to kill.

Jaune Arc, leader of team JNPR, watched as the Beowolfs and single Usra successfully closed off any route of escape for the family of three. He quickly made up a plan before turning to his heavy hitter. "Nora, you're the distraction, get the Grimm's attention away from that family." She gave him a two finger salute before readying her hammer to blast off. The blond turned to the other male member of his team, before saying, "Ren. As soon as there is an opening get those people out of there." The silent ninja like fighter gave a curt nod before he too got ready. "As for me…I'll focus on the Beowolfs. Once I engage thin their numbers before we take the Usra."

He waited until the Usra's back was to him, before shouting. "Now Nora!"

Like a hopped up pink horse on sugar the ginger used her hammer to sail from her resting place into the mass of Grimm. A younger grimm was unlucky enough to get his head caved in as her spiked end came soaring down.

The Grimm, like always, turned their attention to the newly found threat and started to chase after the bouncing red head, leaving the family unscathed.

The family of three, however, did not notice this change as they were still holding onto each other for dear life. Only when Ren landed in front of them did the father finally look up. "Come, quickly!" Ren shouted as he kept his eyes trained on the Grimm chasing his lifelong friend.

As quietly as the three untrained civilians could they began their retreat under the watchful eye of the green clad ninja. The child turned around just in time to see an armored clad knight like being jump onto the back of the larger beowolf before plunging his sword into the neck, killing It. The child was about to say cool when his father picked him up as well as his wife and preceded to sprint back to the nearby village.

Ren, his task now completed now returned to the battlefield only to be knocked back as his two team mates slammed into him sending all three stumbling into a tree.

"That was fun!" Nora exclaimed as she stood, her hammer held loosely in her hands. The bubbly ginger looked down towards her two teammates and sighed as she reached down to pull them up.

Jaune cracked his neck before glancing at the only remaining Grimm left and then at the redhead. "Nora. Think you could do the spinning top of doom without causing me to hurl?"

The blue eyed girl gave her signature smile before cocking her hammer. "let's do it!"

The blond looked over to Ren. "Think you could hold on?"

Ren just smiled before reloading his guns.

Jaune looked at the large Usra again and waited a moment. The beast stood still waiting for the three to make their next move. 'Defiantly an older one.' Jaune thought to himself as he picked up his shield. "Go!" he shouted, before he charged.

After a few steps he threw down his shield and jumped on top of it before locking his feet into the arm straps. He felt Ren land in front of him with his guns facing forward. Moments later Nora landed behind Jaune with her hammer facing behind them. Immediately, she started firing, sending the three into a fast paced spiral. Each time her hammer fired not only increased their forward momentum but also their spiral. Nearly to the point where the colors of their armors and clothes seemed to blend in with one another.

The Usra reared back in surprise before roaring out a challenge and charging to meet them.

It, however, did not see the gleaming blade that poked out of the spinning mass as it neared and was not prepared when the spinning mas of human hit it.

The creature let out a gargling growl as its top half fell forward without the assistance of the bottom. When the spinning shield came to a stop several feet away Ren returned his weapons back into his sleeves. With a slight wobble he turned to his leader and winced as the blond fell onto his back followed by an excited Nora who started to giggle. She tried to say sorry but was impaired as her attempts to stop giggling only worsened the problem. Ren tried to cover his mouth to hide his own chuckles when he saw his leader roll over with a green face.

When Nora managed to get her breathing under control before reaching down and pulling up Jaune. Noticing his sower mood she began to dust him off. "S-sorry Jaune…" She apologized meekly her tone still holding on to the slight waver brought on by a laugh.

The blond leader tried to keep his face sour. He really did. But one cannot simply walk away from Nora Valerie without a smile. His small chuckle was enough for Nora as she gave him her signature smile. The green clad ninja stepped up next to the two and gave each of them a small smirk before turning to the evaporating Grimm.

The two others turned as well and watched in silence as the creatures of Grimm vanished. Jaune nodded his head back towards the forest as he said, "Come on. We better get back to the house. That was enough training for today."

Nora's shoulders slumped. "Aww." Her whimper received a pat on the back by Ren as he walked back into the forest. The blond leader gave her a small smile before pointing to his back. Her face brightened as she jumped on top of his spine. "Onward fearless leader!" She shouted, her arm stretching out pointing towards the tree line.

"Nora… watch the hair!" Jaune screamed as he stumbled forward before vanishing beyond the trees, Nora's laughter echoing throughout the now silent forest.

After a few minutes of walking the trio came into view of the home that they were staying at. Jaune wordlessly shrugged his shoulders as a signal for Nora. She groaned in sadness as she jumped off the blond before landing gracefully on her left leg balancing both her hammer and a snack she had started to eat on the return trip. Ren shook his head as he walked to the tent that the two men shared.

As Ren ventured behind the flap of the tent, Nora flopped down on her rear. She immediately regretted that as she started to clutch her shoulder as she jaw tightened in pain. "Owww …" She whined.

Jaune plopped himself next to her while giving her a pointed look. "I told you to tell me if it started to hurt Nora."

She frowned. "It didn't hurt until just now!" She replied. She poked her finger at his noes as she said, "Besides what about you? I felt your limp! Did a beowolf get you?"

The blue eyed leader waved her off. "No, you're just heavy," he gave her a grin as she lightly punched his arm. He waved in her general direction as he said, "You on the other hand. I can tell when your hurt Nora. Both your and Ren. And as your leader it is my responsibility to keep you safe. That's why we went out to day instead of sparing." He looked into her blue orbs. "I wanted to see if you were better."

She smiled brightly as she tried to convince him. "But I am better!"

He placed his hand on her shoulder earning a small whimper. "Your close Nora, but until that heals fully no more fancy tricks with your hammer. Me and Ren would be lost without our heavy hitter."

She slumped as she spoke, "Alright" Her eyes brightened before looking at her leader. "But, I'm not about to leave my boys alone with those mean ol Grimm everywhere!" She exclaimed in bravado.

"Fair enough." Jaune said. The two found themselves in silence until the loud snores of Ren came from the tent. The blond and ginger shared a knowing look before letting a small laugh out.

Jaune went to lean back onto the dried grass only to stop when he felt something pointed poke his back. Confused, he reached back and pulled out Pyrrha's head piece. Once Nora caught sight of it she instantly deflated and looked downward towards the dying blades. Jaune's maternal nature, gifted by his seven sisters, took hold and he pulled her into a hug. The blue eyed ginger buried her face into the crook of his neck and began to silently cry.

Jaune on the other hand had ran out of tears sometime during the second week after Pyrrha was taken from them. He would shed some tears every once and a while for his other friends who were hurt but for her… he just couldn't produce any more. Qrow told him that was natural. And that he would get used to the fact the he stopped feeling sad and instead only felt empty. So to compensate for not being able to feel he made himself out to be the rock for his team.

The past week was hectic as information continued to filter out to the other kingdoms. Numbers of the injured, dead, and missing were staggering. Add that to the numerous rumors that spread because of the lack of speedy information. It was a powder keg waiting to blow. He knew that if his parents could they would be ordering him home. But with communication brought to crawl using older tech to spread messages it would be days or even weeks until he heard from then. By that time however everything might have gotten better… or it might have worsened.

But he had a mission and duty to his team. He failed one already, he would be damned if he fell in his task of keeping the other two safe. When Nora's tears stopped he pulled her away before wiping her cheeks. He didn't want Ren to know that she was upset. He might have been the silent one of the three but Jaune knew how he felt about Nora. And he needed the green ninja to be focused on his task and not on Nora. Ren knew that there was only one other person that was capable of keeping the one and only Nora Valkyrie from tearing apart the world with her energy. Him.

Jaune looked over to the home of his two other friends, Ruby and Yang. They had stayed there ever since the battle for Beacon and Vale ended. Ruby's uncle, Qrow, made the argument to the two other members of his team that Patch would be a safer place to stay until the City of Vale was brought back under control of humans. Jaune, however, frowned at his own reasons to stay by Ruby's side. Revenge.

Not the most honorable goal. Trust him, he knew. One of the many sayings that his father had installed into him was that an Arc never holds a grudge. But he cannot ignore the fact that he was here in the first place was for that one goal. Sure he had evolved his reasons to the more noble mindsets of protecting those close to him such as Ruby, Yang, Nora and Ren, and to save those who cannot fight for themselves. But the fact of the matter was that he came with Qrow because he knew how Ruby was… She was eventually going to go after those responsible. And he wanted a part of that.

"Jaune…" Nora whispered.

The blond looked over to the gloomy face of his team mate. "Yeah Nora?"

She bit her lip and avoided his eyes. "Did P-Pyrrha ever tell you?"

The blond paused before involuntary reaching for his heart. That was a question he had asked himself one thousand times already. Why hadn't he seen it. Why did it have to wait until the last time he saw her to understand how she felt about him, and he her? Why was her last act to him a kiss goodbye? He looked at the tired eyes of the ginger and sighed. How oblivious was he to miss something that Nora Valkyrie picked up on? He gave Nora a sad smile as he answered. "Yeah… She told me Nora."

Her eyes grew heavy as she looked down. "I miss her."

It was so innocent. So pure, that anyone who would have heard how broken her voice sounded would have wept. Jaune had realized on the flight to Patch that he could never understand how hard his two teammates took this hit. They came from a background where they only had each other. Him? He had seven sisters, a mom and dad as well as numerous uncles and aunts. And don't even start on cousins. He could never imagine growing up with no one. Let alone finding some family along the journey only to have it snatched away by cruel hands of destiny.

"Me too Nora…" Came his sad reply.

The snapping of a twig made the two aware to the presence behind them. They turned and found Ruby and Yang's Dad standing off to the side looking slightly annoyed.

"Look I get that you three have some bonding that needs to happen after what you went through but next time there's a Grimm attack." The man began oblivious to the two's sadden state. "Let a huntsman deal with it. Qrow was in the trees waiting to strike when you three got in the way." He turned his head off to the forest, a scowl on his lips. "He doesn't like it when people steal his kills."

Nora was about to argue but was stopped when Jaune put his finger on her lips. He stood up from his standing position and bowed his head towards the retired huntsman. "I'm sorry if we were in the way. I wanted to see if my team was still coordinated enough to fight."

The man let out a groan and said. "Don't bow to me… makes me feel like I'm an old guy." He paused as he started to think over the other part Jaune had said. "If you wanted to train by killing Grimm you could have asked Qrow… Though, I still don't know why he insists you three stay here…" he grumbled as he walked away. Before he got too far away however, he turned back and said. "Dinner will be ready around sixish… Might as well join me tonight." He then faced the house and continued back inside.

Nora jumped to her feet before whispering into Jaune's ear. "Why did- "

Jaune interrupted her as he turned to her. "Because Nora, he's right… Even if he's wrong. Besides we should fallow his rules. It is his house."

She folded her arms and pouted. Her tear stained cheeks giving the allusion that she was far younger than she was. Something that Jaune found funny enough to start laughing.

She was about to argue when the last thing the man had said registered in her mind. "Ren! Get up! FOOOD!" She shouted as she bolted into Jaune's and Ren's tent.

Jaune's eyebrow raised when he heard the girlish scream or Ren as he was awoken by the living embodiment of sugar. "Nora!" came the shocked shout before it devolved into incoherent yells of fright and embarrassment.

Jaune chuckled at the shaking tent.

"Glad to see you smile." Came the smooth familiar voice, making Jaune jump.

The blond turned to look at the man who had snuck up on him. "Qrow! Ahem… I mean…"

The raven haired man placed a hand on the youth's shoulder as he said, "Relax. I just wanted to see how the three of you were coming along."

Jaune sighed. "Sorry Qrow… I keep forgetting you are more quiet than Ren when you want to be."

Qrow smirked. "Well at least your snarky attitude is back." He looked over to the shaking tent. As the screams of Ren and Nora grew louder. "How are they?"

Jaune paused a moment before answering. "Does it ever go away?"

The man shook his head. "Nope. They're called scars for a reason… They change you. Even if you don't know it. The best way to fight it is to accept the damage and do some repairs." He pointed to the tent. "However, before you do that you might want to pull some of your leader crap on those two before they tear apart the tent." With that he started walking off.

The blond tilted his head in confusion. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"I have stuff I need to do. Enjoy dinner." With that he turned and continued into the trees.

Jaune turned back to the tent when a loud scream erupted form it. "Nora! You're not a sloth! Came the ridiculous reply.

He shook his head before shouting at the tent. "Ren, Nora! Come on! Taiyang said dinner would be done at six!" At that Nora gave a loud gasp before busting out the tent flap with a very frightened and sleepy looking Lie Ren holding on for dear life. "Jeez… what happened in there?"

Ren looked off as he started to mumble something about a hungry Nora. Jaune shook his head with a smile before waving the two to follow him.

From off in the distance rested on a branch a crow cawed before flapping it's wings and taking flight. It's destination unknown.

Authors note.

And so another short story flies off the electronic printer and onto the interwebs. Now then. For those of you who reviewed on my other works. Thank you for feeding my ego. Same with those of you who favored them. Your likes and reviews give me substanance.

This story was fun to write, and it proved to be a challenge to show( how I think) the grief of Team JNPR would be like. Now the next one would be similar to this in regards to setting and timeframe. Only with Ren. If you have any ideas that would help my brain get off the ground for this next one feel free to give me a review... Also review if you find anything wrong or just want to feel nice. I'm not picky. Matter of fact I'm rather pathetic when it comes to wanting attention... Anyway thanks for all the love and I will see you in the next one!

TATA!