Chapter 1 - The Death of a Phoenix
The path of a hero is the most unforgiving crucible one could tred. Through death and regret even the strongest of wills will shatter. Through the pain of loss and the weight of helplessness even the most driven will falter. Through the blood of those fallen even the brightest of hopes will be extinguished. The way of a hero has forsaken many before, and will do so for all of time, however it isn't one without merit. For those who stand back up after having their hope destroyed, those who fight even though hope had abandoned them long ago, those are the ones that will inherit the power of a hero. Because it is only when things are at their most bleak when a person's true character can be tested. If one remains strong enough to push through the despair and the hardships, only then they can truly call themselves a hero. However, be wary at hardship to come, as even the greatest hero known to man went through the same turmoil, and not even he could have anticipated the horrors he had to endure.
The ground was littered with bile and decay, as the ocean turned red with blood flowing down from the burning remains of buildings. The smoldering wooden walls that were created to safeguard both Human and Faunus from the darkness known as the Grim collapsed and with it all traces of the once bustling settlement were reduced to ash. However, there yet remained a single survivor, a young man in his early twenties. His blood stained blonde hair draped over his pale white face, as tears streamed down his dented metallic armor spattered in a dark red mix of blood and ash. His once lively blue eyes fell defeated on several shattered fragments of metal, and a hilt engraved with the name Arc. His name was Jaune Arc, and this is his origin story.
Several hours earlier
The hum of an air transport could be heard miles away as it skillfully navigates over the crystal blue morning water off the coast of Vale.
Inside the transport's cabin four young adults begin to wake up to the first rays of sunlight as the pilot's voice crackles over the intercom.
"We will be arriving in the settlement of Phoenix Landing in five."
The first to wake was an orange haired woman sporting a hot pink skirt with her trademark heart t-shirt. Her jade eyes flutter open as she lets out an overly exaggerated yawn, throwing her arms around the dark hair man next to her.
The man opens his pale pink eyes, straightening the wrinkles out of his tradition green jacket attire. He glances over at her placing his hand on her head with a smile. "Why hello there Nora."
Nora smiles back at him running her hand through the pink highlight in his hair. "I hope you slept well Ren"
Ren nods turning his attention towards the red-haired woman in front of him. "What about you Pyrrha, did you sleep well?"
She rubs her green eyes and stretches her other arm into the air, "Only as good as one could expect sleeping in chairs like these."
Ren shakes his head slightly. "What did you expect when you decided to wear your armor under these buckles?"
Nora let go of Ren to examine the stiffness of the buckles and the roughness of the leather seats. "I don't know about you, but I slept like a baby!" She says sticking her thumb up in approval.
"Nora you always sleep like that though" Ren comments looking over at the excitement in her eyes.
Nora grabs one of Ren's hands holding it firmly "Only when I'm around you Ren!"
Ren gasps her hand smiling back at Nora. "So, it seems"
Pyrrha glances toward the blonde-haired man sitting next to her, still fast asleep in his chair.
Nora notices Pyrrha and looks over at the slumbering man. "Jaune was always the heavy sleeper, wasn't he?"
Pyrrha smiles and glances over at him "He is kind of cute asleep though."
Nora learns forward in her seat grinning at Pyrrha. "Awe look at your knight in shining armor here to rescue you from the life of singlehood! Look he even has the white armor to show!" She explains pantomiming a damsel in distress. "You two really are adorable, why don't you just tell him how you feel Pyrrha?"
Pyrrha's face blushes as she desperately tries to cover the obvious message she was portraying to no avail. "What no of course not, I mean he is cute, but ahhhhh!"
Nora falls back to her seat chuckling. "Don't worry Pyrrha, your secret is safe with me." She assures Pyrrha as she crosses her fingers behind her back.
Pyrrha sighs in relief as Ren interjects himself. "So guys don't you think it would be a good idea to wake Jaune up? We do need to go over the mission after."
Pyrrha nods and moves over lightly shaking Jaune. "Hey Jaune, it's time to get…"
Nora gestures for Pyrrha quiet down as she leaned towards Jaune's ear. "Jaune the floor is lava!"
Jaune jumps to flailing his arms around, kicking his feet around the cabin. "Lava hot, hot, hot lava!"
The cabin breaks into laughter as Jaune frowns at Nora. "Not cool Nora, not cool"
The laughter continued as Pyrrha trying to wipe the tears of laughing so much raises her hand attempting to move forward with the briefing. "Okay guys, since Jaune has finally joined us we can go over the mission parameters one last time."
Nora nods as followed by Ren folding his arms looking over at Jaune. "Okay Jaune you are the team leader what's the plan?"
Jaune collects himself giving Nora one last glare for being uncool he pulls out his scroll from his side pocket. "Okay as we are now newly certified team of full-fledged hunters and huntresses we were given a top ranked mission to investigate abnormal Grim activity on the island settlement of Phoenix Landing off the coast of Vale. The island is in a remote region only accessible by air due to a large reef bed surrounding the island making boat travel impossible. Several days ago Beacon received a message from the settlement about strange Grim behavior. That is why team JNPR was sent out to investigate and suppress any Grim that pose a threat to the wellbeing of the citizens within the settlement."
The intercom crackles on. "Phoenix Landing is directly ahead; however, I can't reach them on any channels."
Jaune looks out of the window towards the island ahead of them. "This can't be good."
The other three nod in agreement pulling out their stashed weapons from the carry on. Pyrrha grabs onto her spear and shield placing them on her back, Ren his twin green pistols sliding them into their holsters, Nora and her overly sized hammer placing it on her shoulder, and Jaune with his family's sword and shield in which he slid into its sheath.
Jaune gets up from his seat. "Now bring it in guys." He reaches his hand out towards the others.
Pyrrha chuckles placing her hand on top of his hand. "It wouldn't be a team JNPR mission without this would it?"
Nora bubbly as ever throws her hand on top of the two hands throwing her other hand up into the air energetically. "Let's do this!"
Ren sighs in defeat as he places his hand on top of the pile. "Sounds good to me."
Jaune smiles looking over team JNPR. "Okay guys no matter what is thrown at us we will hold fast, we are the Rook of Beacon after all and no matter what we will all return safe!"
Everyone throws their hands up in the air. "Break!"
Ren moves over sliding open the side door to the transport as the transport began its descent. The other three hunters move up to join him overlooking the quant settlement. The settlement was not much larger than a medium sized town back in Vale, but it's goliath size oak walls would give even Beacon's walls a run for their money. Most notably there was a distinct building in the center of the settlement that towered over the rest. The sound of breaking waves and birds sung over the hum of the transport as moves in to land.
Pyrrha's green eyes sparkle at the view. "It's so beautiful."
Ren thoughtfully give the view another view. "I don't know about you but this place kind of reminds me of a giant dart board."
Jaune shakes his head dismissal "Gosh Ren why do you have to be pessimistic?"
Ren looks over at Jaune and sighs. "Facts tend to be quite pessimistic sometimes, but it doesn't really matter since we have arrived."
The transport touches down on a small landing pad within the settlement. The transports loud hum fades away to the sound of several people making their way to the transport.
The first of these was an older bald man decorated in clean white robes who held a staff in one hand and extended his other in greeting. "Hello hunters and huntresses I am the settlements leader Father Peter, we have been waiting for your arrival."
Jaune walks up to him accepting his outreached hand. "Hello sir we were sent by Beacon on the account of the Grim."
The older man's face grew dark as he frowned at the recent arrivals. "We usually are able to handle the Grimm located outside our walls, however we never had to deal with something so large before."
Pyrrha's interjected between the two men. "What do you mean by large sir?"
The older man looked down at his feet trying to find the right words for such a horrendous situation. "It would be best if you saw it for yourself."
Everyone on the landing platform remained silent as the reality of the situation slowly sank in, until Jaune broke the silence. "Come on guys we are Hunters, and we were trained to defeat Grimm no matter what. It's only one Grimm against the four of us, and even though I'm not a gambling man I really like those odds."
Pyrrha smiled placing her hand on Jaune's back. "Well said Jaune!"
The older man coughed as if demanding our attention. "We humbly ask that you destroy the large Grimm before it turns it gaze on our home."
Nora throws her thumb out in agreement. "Just show us the way old man geezer!"
The older man nodded towards the group of hunters, gesturing for them to follow. "Thank you, brave hunters, please come with me. I'll show you the last place we saw the beast.
The group of hunters being led by the settlement leader make their way through bustling streets full of joy, trade, and life, as if the idea of the Grimm was a forgotten nightmare.
A red ball rolls up to Nora as a little girl with brown ponytails comes to retrieve it. "I'm sorry ma'am." She says grabbing onto her ball and running back to her awaiting mother.
Nora couldn't help but to smile at the innocent little girl. "She's so cute! Hey Ren, do you think I'm cute?"
Realizing the question only had one real answer unless one preferred having the hammer brought down on them, Ren smiles and grabs her hand. "Of course you are."
Jaune looks over at them and the little girl as he throws his arms behind his head. "I don't know about you but after having as many sisters as I have cute is the last word I would think of."
Pyrrha looks over recognizing one of the building from their airborne view earlier. "Hey guys isn't that the large building that stood out from earlier?"
Jaune looks up awestruck at the size of the structure they were passing. "It's so much larger up close, and what is that thing there near the top?"
The older man grins with pride. "Why yes that is our town hall, it serves as a beacon of hope, and a last line defense against the Grimm. It is even equipped with its own cannon in case of emergencies."
Ren glances up at fortress of a town hall. "At least their prepared if things go for the worst. Let's just hope it never comes to that."
The older man stops the group in front of a large wooden door that leads beyond the settlement. "There is no need to worry. No Grimm stands a chance getting past our walls. We had taken every precaution against the Grimm, and now it is your job to investigate the Grimm located outside of these walls: Good Luck!"
Jaune places one hand on the large wooden gate while padding down his sheathed Arc crested sword. "Don't worry you have team JNPR we don't need luck. That Grimm won't know what hit him after we are done with it!"
The older man nods waving down a guard posted on top of the gatehouse. "Open the Gate the hunters are heading out to kill some Grimm!"
The gate slowly opens allowing the four hunters to make their way through.
Some of the guards were learning over the wall. "Good luck to you all! Come bring us it's corpse! Go get em!"
Motivated and ready for the worse they begin to move towards the oak forest before them, and towards the Grimm that will be slain.
Hiking through brush and thicket the hunters push on searching for anything that fit the description of the large Grimm, however the task is proving to be more difficult than the four could have predicted.
All that was found was a whole lot of nothing, which in reality was the part they worried most about.
Jaune begins pacing back and forth as his obvious confusion of the situation bothered him. "Now if I was a really large Grimm, where would I hide?"
Nora looks frustratedly at Jaune pacing back and forth. "Jaune I doubt a Grimm would pace back and forth in the most annoying way possible!"
Ren raises his hand in the air demanding silence. "Guys do you smell that?"
Pyrrha takes in begins to sniff around when she understood what Ren was getting at. "Smoke… and where there is smoke there's fire."
Ren points up the side of a large hill in the distance. "Where there is fire, there is most likely Grimm. Let us go!"
The four of them follows the scent trail up the side of the hill towards what could be described as a clearing of broken trees and smoldering embers.
Ren moves in and examines the embers and trees around them. "Guys this just happened, and since I don't see a thundercloud anywhere, what do you think burned these trees down?"
The group grows tense as their examination of the area fails to come up with any explanation for the fire.
Pyrrha looks up at the sky, frowning in disappointment. "Guys I don't think there's any…"
The ground begins to shake underneath them cutting Pyrrha off mid-sentence.
Nora stumbles to the grounds. "What the heck is going on?"
Ren placed his hand on the ground confirming the fears he had. "The Grimm, it's beneath us right now!"
In a matter of moments, the ground cracks open as four large spiked legs break through. The four hunters evade back into the forest as a large shell of a Grimm rose from the dirt.
Pyrrha looks back at the Grimm reading her spear. "Is it just me or does that look like a giant turtle?"
Nora drops the head of her hammer to the ground. "You mean to say a giant Grimm turtle."
Ren shakes his head at the two pointing towards the Grimm's back. "All things considered I'm more worried about the large red glowing lump on its back.
Juane looked up in fear. "What the hell is that?"
The lump begins to glow a brighter and brighter red until in a flash of sparks it discharges a ball of flaming artillery towards the nearby woods. The impact alone indented itself into the earth as the resulting fire spread like water.
Finally understanding the gravity of the situation Jaune directs himself towards his other teammates. "We need to take this Grimm down now! Nora and Ren go in for a direct hit on it's cannon, use Flower power!" The two acknowledge and move in towards the Grimm as Jaune places his hand onto Pyrrha's shoulder. "We need to go for its legs."
No words were spoken as the team burst into action with Ren laying down a stream of bullets with his green pistols, somersaulting on the back of the large Grimm. He switches out his twin pistols for knives and slices into the flaming red cannon creating a weak spot for Nora. Nora jumps into the air with her hammer in full swing. She pummels her hammer into the soft spot created by Ren causing the cannon to explode. The explosion sent fire in every direction throwing Ren and Nora back. The Grimm begins to bellow in pain as the wound on its back burned. It shrieks in agony as one after another it's legs were cut off by Jaune's sword being augmented with Pyrrha's Polarity Semblance. The Grimm falls to the ground desperately trying to escape the hunters as Pyrrha runs up to its face piercing her spear deep into the Grimm as it disperses into ash. It was over.
Jaune falls to the ground sighing in relief. "Congrats guys on a job well done."
The others join in around him relieved at the momentous task they completed.
Jaune looks up through the clearing. "Hey look, I can see the settlement from here."
Pyrrha joins Jaune on the ground. "At least the mission is done, and the people don't have anything to worry about." She glances over at Jaune with a smile. "Thanks to our brave leader".
Jaune's cheeks flusher at her compliment. "What… I mean... It was a team effort and all, but…" Jaune stops with to the feeling of Pyrrha's head leaning on his shoulder.
Jaune's face turns a bright red as he watches Nora and Ren purposely walk away. "Hey there, ummm…. You're really close… there and all… and."
Jaunes' words trail off as Pyrrha look up at him with a smile. "What's wrong Jaune?"
Sighing at the thought Jaune moves his hand over Pyrrha's hand. "Oh well Pyrrha I was meaning to tell you something."
Pyrrha's cheeks flush as her attention locks in on Jaune and every word he spoke. "What… What is it?"
Jaune scratches the back of his head and after a last moment of hesitation he proceeded. "Pyrrha I think I'm in lo…"
The earth begins to rumble beneath the hunters just as it did before, cutting Jaune off in confusion. Ren and Nora run up to the two of them pulling their weapons to the ready.
Jaune get to his feet moving over to Ren. "Is another Grimm?"
Ren shakes his head. "I don't know, but we did spot dozens of burning clearing identical to this one all over this hill!"
The tremors intensify as roars could be heard across the forest. The once held feeling of victory the four hunters held was quickly replaced with fear as fire lit up the sky.
Jaune almost to shocked for words looks down at the settlement. "No this can't be". He jolts back towards his team as worry and doubt fills his heart. "They're attacking the settlement."
As soon as the words left Jaunes lips the trees behind them explodes as fire shoots out in all directions.
The four of them turn at the approaching wall of fire as Jaune reaches for his shield. "Get to cover!"
Pyrrha and Jaune find cover with their shields, as Nora freezes with no viable cover close by she collapses in fear as the flames reach her: but they didn't.
Nora looks up seeing the body cloaked in green shielding her from the flames. In complete shock she stares as the flames engulf Ren. "Ren …Ren… Why?"
The fires dissipate around them as Ren screams out in pain, falling limp on top of Nora.
Nora catches him laying him on his back. "Ren you dummy! Why did you do this!" She screams, tears run down her cheeks as she grabs hold of Ren's hand.
Jaune runs over seeing the crumpled teammate on the ground. His body was covered in a multitude of burns covering his back and the left side of his face. "Damn it Ren, Pyrrha grab me the bandages from my pack!"
Pyrrha runs over with the first aid kit form Jaune's pack. "Here you go Jaune."
Jaune proceeds to tend to Ren's injuries as Nora sat petrified at the sight of Ren. "Your fine right? Please just tell me your kidding… Ren get up… Ren…Ren." Her tears grow into sobs as she tightens her grip on Ren's hand.
Ren grunts in pain "Nora… that kind of hurts!"
Nora throws her arms onto Ren as tears of relief run down her face. "You idiot!"
Ren cringes at the pain and sits up looking at Jaune. "I'll be okay, I'll be okay, but I can't see out of my left eye."
Jaune grabs the last if the bandages place it over his left eye. "It will be okay Ren, we will get through this, but we need you right now. Do you think you can stand?"
Ren puts slowly pushes up on his feet clenching his teeth in pain. "More the most part…"
Jaune looks over and both Nora and Ren and back to Pyrrha. "Nora can you carry Ren?" Nora wipes the tears from her face nodding her head. "Good, Pyrrha I need you to take point while I take the rearguard with Ren and Nora taking the middle. We are going back to the settlement! Those people need our help, and we will not let them down!"
The four of them depart down the burning forest towards the settlement. They exit the forest into the clearing by the settlement realizing the true gravity of the situation. The Grimm where everywhere, with dozens identical to the Grimm they defeated on the hill, and they were all sieging the walls to the settlement. The sound of cannon fire echoes through the air as the team stands where the gatehouse once stood, now being reduced to ash. The buildings inside of the settlement were burning as more and more Grimm flood in slaughtering anyone they found. The team runs into the flames but stops when they reached what was left of the marketplace. Piles of burnt corpses paralyze the team as a little red ball rolls up to Jaune dripping in blood.
Jaune looks around at the dead bodies littering the streets, as his face ran pale in despair and guilt. "It's all my fault… I'm team leader and I let these people die… Arghhhhh!". Jaune screams as tears roll from his face.
Pyrrha grabs onto Jaune looking back at the others. "Nora, get Ren to the transport and be ready we might have to bail."
Nora steps in face full of rage. "How could we run away when everyone here is dying!"
Tears fall from Pyrrha's face as she faces Nora. "Would you risk Ren's life on that? Besides, if we die here who will warn Beacon or Vale of this!" Her face drops towards the frightened and confused Jaune. "Get the transport and meet us at the roof of the town hall. Jaune and I will look for any survivors."
Ren places his hand on Jaune. "Let's go."
Without much of a choice Nora and Ren make their way towards the landing pad leaving Pyrrha and Jaune to deal with any survivors. The growing fires spreads around the two of them as even more types of Grimm flood into the settlement.
Pyrrha switches her spear into a rifle grabbing Jaune by the arm. "If anyone survived they most likely went to the town center for cover. We should head there now." She pulls Jaune up as tears roll from his face. "Jaune remember we are hunters of Vale the most esteemed hunters in all of Remnant!".
Jaunes wipes his tears with his free arm. "Thanks, Pyrrha. Let's get to the town hall."
Pyrrha nods in affirming what that had to do. The two of them sprint through burning buildings and bodies as the Grimm flood in around them becoming even more monstrous than before. The screams of the dying began to fade out to the chilling roar of Grimm surrounding the heart of the settlement. The building was in flames and the Grimm crawling over the structure trying to force their way in. Pyrrha fires round after round at the beasts before them carving a path straight to the large metal door of the town hall. She grips the door with her semblance and in a cry of pain pummels it into the advancing Grimm. The flying door gives them the opening they needed allowing them to move inside the building. Inside things were worse than the two hunters could have hoped for as charred bodies littered the halls as flames licked up the walls. They push their way up building as the flames were growing more intense making it much harder to breathe. The crackling of wood grew as the floorboards underneath them start to give way to the flames beneath them. Floor after floor the hunters ascended to the roof of the building through a small metal hatch. They survey the roof finding only the body of an older man in white robes now soaked with blood.
Pyrrha moves over and places her hand on his neck. "He's dead…"
Jaune kneels besides the corpse moving his hand over his frighten eyes closing them. "He trusted us to protect them… They all did!" Losing his cool he fell back collapsing to the ground. "Why should we be the only survivors, why did they have to die?"
Pyrrha gets up shutting the hatch to the lower flows, placing her weapon through its handles locking it in place. "Nora will be here we just need to hold on until then."
The roar of Grimm grows even louder as the hatch begins strain with the ascending Grimm when the low rumble of a transport ship came into view.
The transport door slams open mere yards from both Pyrrha and Jaune with Nora reaching her hand out towards the flames and Grimm that separated him from his teammates. "Jump! We can't hold this position long!"
Pyrrha grabs onto Jaune pulling him to the edge of the roof as the unthinkable happens. A violent roar shakes the ground beneath them as the hill outside of the settlement erupts into fire and lava. From the flames emerges a beast as dark as night and as large as the settlement itself. Out of its large black shell dozens of large clumps of fire hurls into the air, raining down on the remains of the settlement. One by one they impact into the earth throwing flames and debris into the air as it pulverizes all it touched. The massive Grimm shakes the ground as each of its projectiles land near the last standing structure where the hunters were. Then in a single fateful moment several flaming missiles tore through the base of the town hall, causing the structure to crumble.
The pilot of transport threw the door to the cabin open. "The heat has fried most of the circuits and we only have enough fuel to get back to Vale if we leave now!"
Nora looks over at Ren who was laying down on a stretcher and back toward the pilot. "We are not leaving without our teammate!"
A explosion goes off in the side engine of the transport throwing smoke and fire into the cabin.
The pilot's eyes widened as a multitude of alarms goes off in the cabin. "Crap we are losing power and the left engine is burning, I need to do a reroute, but there's no time!"
The transport began go into a freefall as it suddenly stops with Pyrrha crying out in pain. She grips onto the transport with her semblance as the floor beneath her and Jaune crumples as the flames grew closer.
Nora looks down at Pyrrha and Jaune with tears in her eyes. "No don't do it Pyrrha do…"
Pyrrha closes the door to the transport throwing it up into the air. The transport hums back to life as the pilot brings the power back online. "This bird is barely holding itself together we are leaving now!" He pushes down the thrust leaving the two hunters behind as the building crumbles to the ground.
Pyrrha and Jaune fell for what seems like an eternity as the town hall collapsed around them. Through burning wood and crumbling masonry Jaune and Pyrrha fell were falling to a fate sealed before their arrival.
The building completely crumbles throwing flames and debris out in all directions. The dust and ash settle to the ground as the Grimm overlook the destruction. Than through the smoldering wood and broken stone someone begins coughing.
Jaune opens his eyes, coughing violently as he attempts to gain his bearings. With squinted eyes he surveys the ash riddled area he landed in. The area was full of burning wood and crumbling stones, but for some reason they didn't land on him. He attempts to stand when a sharp pain shoots through his left arm, as he realizes a large splinter of wood protruding from his shoulder. He grabs on to the wood and in a scream of pain he removes the wood allowing blood to flow down his ash caked armor.
A distressing female voice breaks through the haze of ash and debris. "Jaune… is that you?"
Jaune clutches his shoulder darting towards the origin of the distressed voice. "Pyrrha where are you!" He yells tripping over himself as he rushed over to the side of a young woman blood running down her face. One of her hands was shaking uncontrollably, as the other hand was gripping a long metal pole protruding through her stomach.
A single green eye catches Jaune next to her bringing a faint smile to her face. "Thank the gods your saf…" She was cut off as she violently begins to cough up blood over her dented breastplate.
Jaunes stares at Pyrrha in absolute panic as tears course through the ash and dirt covering his face. "Pyrrha… I...I... I won't let you die her! We're getting out of here together!"
Her smile fades being replaced with a deep sadness as if she couldn't hide the gravity of the situation any longer. "Jaune I can't move, and even if I could I won't be able to hold the rubble up much longer."
Jaune steps back in shock, immediately looking up at the large metal door they we entered from. Jaune tried to form the words that would let him escape the situation, but nothing came out.
Pyrrha begins to grow paler as her blood puddled around her. "I grabbed the door with my semblance on our way down to shield us from the rubble, but…." Her voice trails off as she looks at the metal pierced through her. "I didn't have time to dodge…" She was cut off again coughing up more blood.
The roar outside the rubble intensifies, and the smaller ones tunneled their way to the two hunters craving the despair they felt.
Jaune looks at Pyrrha in a horrified shock, as his skin turned pale and his hands shaking. He pulls his sword from its sheath throwing the it to the ground. "I can't let you die! I won't! I… I…!"
Grimm flooded around him darting towards them in beastly rage. Jaune recklessly threw his sword side to side missing and stumbling as more and more Grimm surrounded him. One of the Grimm went in to attack, but at the last moment grabbed onto Jaune's sword kicking him across the rubble next to Pyrrha. Jaune looks down in despair at the fractured family heirloom that had failed him in his most desperate moment, and the Grimm drew closer to the two hunters.
Pyrrha in let go of the metal rod moving her hand towards Jaune. "Jaune… can you please come here… I need to tell you …. Something."
Jaune crawls over towards his teammate, leaning his body over hers.
Pyrrha smiles and moves her blood-soaked hand over towards his face bringing it closer to her. "I have always loved you Jaune… and I want you to know… I am so happy … I'm here with… you." Tears ran down her one green eye as she pulls Jaune closer kissing him. It was only for a moment, but it was a moment that captured the feelings, hopes, and dreams Pyrrha had for Jaune. The life she wanted to build with him. The family they would have had one day, and the feeling of growing old with the man of her dreams. She pulls her lips back placing her hand on his chest. "Run Jaune… please live…"
Pyrrha gripped onto Jaune's armor with her semblance, and through the screams and protest he put up threw him away from the rubble and pursuing Grimm. Her vision grew blurry as in her last moments she smiles at the face of despair releasing her semblance.
Jaune crumbles to the ground unable to control the grief that begins to overwhelm him as he begins to take in what just transpired. Then as if his legs decided to carry out Pyrrha's dying wish he ran. He ran and ran and ran leaving only tears and blood in his wake as the Pyrrha was buried in the rubble. "I'm so sorry Pyrrha!"
Hello and salutations fellow readers of the inter webs. Thank you for taking the time to read my first RWBY fan fiction . This will be part one of three so don't fall into complete despair I brought the tissues. All comments and feedback is welcome, as I want to become a better writer to give you (the reader) the best content possible. Thank you again for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter!