Page 13
The Fool Part 2
Scattering leaves flew in the air of judgment from an individual that already killed her last grimm for the day. The white cat faunus walked in a middle of nowhere, alone and was saw by one in sight to bring nourishment to a poor stray. She was hungry, tired, and was a verge of collapsing without her only credit card to rest in a comfortable place. Thana felt as a child again, who was unloved by anyone and she had to steal to survive for herself after her parent's death. She couldn't take the fact that she lost everything to the stupid travelers who owed her from the last time they met. Thana felt ashamed of herself and she slumped on a tree under the shining moonlight.
"I can't sleep…" Thana crawled in great fatigue on her body, "I must...keep...going…"
"You don't have to darling."
"Huh?" Thana felt someone carrying her whole body, the strange warmth made her tired from a man's arms that felt like her father, but a warm palm awoken her again.
"It's okay sweetie, you will rest and eat in a nearby inn with everything I got for you." said the familiar soothing dark voice that made Thana fall asleep.
"Cinder!" Emerald ran down in a tree with Mercury holding the sleeping faunus. "What are you doing? Now's our chance to get rid of her!"
"..." Cinder's amber eyes glared at Emerald, then she slapped her.
"Doh!"
"Do not forget your place, do you remember on our previous discussion that this girl can help us?"
Mercury made a big smirk to himself and looked down at the faunus girl. "What if she turn your back at you? Sometimes an animal can go wild on their own."
"I am well prepared of that, now take her to an inn. Make sure she is well fed and rested for tomorrow, I will give her some new orders that will make everything more interesting."
Thana was back in paradise to be saved again, she stuffed bread on her face and she slept in a comfortable bed again. Cinder has done it again, she really saved a faunus in need that is just like Thana. She showed honor to Cinder one last time, then she set herself towards outside with her new credit card in her pouch.
Thana...your next order is to also take down the girl with the silver eyes too. Make sure of yourself that you will perish if you fail me and yourself...
Cinder's last words echoed in her mind as a reminder to herself. She held her daggers up in the air to have sun shined down at her sharpen blades. Thana does not want to let Cinder down when she had been so good to her for this entire time being in the White Fang.
Thana followed their trail that was given by one of Cinder's faunus pet. She set her tablet on the side of her table when her rainbow sashimi was set in her table. Thana squealed in excitement when the set of fishes were pulled out from her fantastic dream last night. The joys of having money again had Thana picked up her fish with chopsticks bit into her favorite raw fish: Yellowtail. She loved eating those ever since her sister gave her the supermarket bought ones before. The delicious fish made Thana smile like a little girl again, then she heard the chatters of familiar voices from the distance behind her.
"How are we going to cross the sea without swimming to Mistral?" said a boy's voice that she didn't want to hear.
"Jaune Arc." Thana grumbled and chomped on her raw salmon.
"Well, we just need to find a boat…" said a young girl's voice that paused without any hesitation, "without having people to be scared of the sea grimms."
"Are you kids finished with your food?" asked another voice that seemed to be a waitress, and Thana continued to chow down her fish dish.
"Thank you ma'am!" the young girl said.
"Hey, I kind of eavesdropped your conversation while I was coming over, but I know there is a shortcut to Mistral instead of going to the sea."
"Really?" exclaimed the young girl. "Could you tell us?"
"Ren? What's wrong?" Jaune asked.
"I feel as though that someone is watching us."
The two boys looked at a table next to them, but there was only an empty dish from the previous customer that just left.
Remember your plan Thana, do not fail or else you will perish.
Thana thoughts made her breathing rapid from standing on a large branch to await for footsteps in this forest that a spy told her to fulfill her mission. Cinder stated that she must kill two people for mission, but if there are others in her way. They will perish for following a murderer and a mysterious person by their own stupid choices.
The crows laughed below Thana's place and flew away from it's spots. She watched down at the ground for a while, then she spotted the four people that she wanted to see the most.
They were walking towards a trap from the way that it was planned by Cinder. The environment was also perfect for no one but Thana to have them to see themselves to die here. Thana jumped down from the branch and made a loud stomp that had Ren shot his head towards the sound.
"I heard something."
"What is it Ren?" Jaune said.
"I don't know, but I think it might be a grimm."
Nora giggled and took out her Magnhild. "Let's rip them apart!"
"Something isn't right though." Ren said. "I only heard one sound, there should be more."
Silent surrounded the four young travelers as the sound ceased from their hearings. The wind grew cold from the sky that grew dark.
"Maybe we should camp for the night." Ruby said.
"In the middle of a nowhere is dangerous," said Jaune, "we got to clear the grimm before we do anything else."
"Hehe, you are a fool Jaune Arc." Thana smirked while her hands glowed green on a tree trunk.
Crunching sounds surrounded the confused team with their weapons readied on their hands.
"Watch out for the ground!" Ren yelled, but Nora's scream had him turned around.
"Branches?!" Jaune's foot was caught by one of the tree root and soon the roots surrounded his body to have him struggle so little that Thana had to smile that she finally got everyone.
"You know Pyrrha, but you don't know me." Thana walked out of the bushes to show her new self that was filled with happiness.
"Thana?!" Jaune yelled.
"Yes," Thana smiled. "Instead of you training your aura for less than a year. I spent my entire childhood to train my aura with Pyrrha! You poor weakling as a worthless human would always think that you are the ancestor as a hunter? I heard everything from Pyrrha, she always talked about you, and you took her away with your selfishness."
"Thana you don't have to do this!" Ruby exclaimed with her arms tied together with the branches. "This is not what Pyrrha wanted!"
"Hush!" Thana clenched her teeth when her hands made a sudden tremble when she picked up a Schnee dust vial from her pouch. Everyone's eyes widen from the sight of the bright redness from a simple bottle, then Thana threw the cork away. "Any last words? Team Failure?"
"Please don't!" Jaune yelled. "Take me instead! Isn't it me that you wanted in the first place?!"
Thana took a slight glance at Ruby with her fearful eyes, then she made a small laugh to herself.
"This is also for you Cinder…"
When Thana blew the dust from her hand, the flames engulfed in Jaune's branches and the fire soon spread onto Ruby, Nora, and Ren. The struggles and screaming made Thana wanting to laugh at their sufferings from the way that her sister felt before her brutal death. Even to Jaune Arc that can barely move from the fire that surrounded his self. Thana finally got her revenge…
The smell of burning wood made Thana a bit sad when she was using those wood for killing humans. This might be her last time that she ceased her nonsense killings. After her time being in the White Fang camp, she does deserve a break that she never had in such a long time.
Thana's cat ears twitched when she thought that she heard constant flapping that was coming in her direction. She ignored the sounds and sat on a nearby rock to watch her most beautiful show. There was nothing that the birds can do, but instead of being away from the flames. The birds spun around to create a whirlwind and soon the flames disappeared that left most of the wood charred.
"What?!" Thana yelled, then she heard rustling with guns cocking around her in the worst timing ever. She swallowed her spit when she knew from the robots was famous was made by one place and one family that came out of the bushes.
"You there!" called out a formal tall woman. "You just realized that you are going to be arrested for using our dust for manslaughter!"
"Ruby! Jaune!" A girl younger than the tall woman looked under the charred woods that were filled with unconscious children. "Were you trying to kill them?! How could you do this to me? These were my friends!"
"Give these children to some medical attention and fast!" The woman ordered the robotic soldiers and some had to take them away. Thana clenched her fists from the sight of glaring blue eyes that were locked onto her. Somehow their eyes turned green and Thana widen her eyes from the sight of disappointed faces surrounding her.
"No...no...I didn't mean to!" Thana cried to the tall woman, but only the young girl was speaking to her.
"You tried to kill my friends! Why?!"
"I'm sorry!" Thana's knees fell on the ground without a doubt that the soldiers went closer to her.
"Weiss, that's enough." The woman comforted the young girl by patting her shoulder.
"I'm sorry Winter, but...I didn't think that it would come to this."
"They'll be fine, at least we got here on time."
"Thank you so much for helping me Winter."
"Anything for you my dear sister."
Thana saw a great resemblance from the two human beings in front of her. She can see a great comfort that the young girl was receiving from the tall woman. Thana imagined her sister that was patting her head again, trying to comfort her pain of being a faunus.
"Pyrrha…" Thana whispered to herself and she collapsed on the ground.
Thana woke up in the most uncomfortable position ever. She was handcuffed as soon as she stepped in the Alta's ship prison room from her first crime to manslaughter on four human beings. As a faunus, she would get her own people involved in such madness of criticism. Thana sat in her bed with a deep wound in her heart that shown her sister's disappointed face that could not cease from her mind.
"I'm so sorry!" Thana sobbed from her guilt from her loving sister who was loved by everyone. She was known as a fighter, she was known as a warrior, and she was the smartest girl too. Compare to herself, there was nothing…
"You have a visitor." said an Alta soldier in front of her door and a screen lit up to see a face that she never wanted to see.
"Hey Thana, it's me Jaune."
"What do you want?!" Thana yelled.
"I just want to talk to you." Jaune said with no anger in his voice, but Thana kept herself beaten up by his sad stare from his azure eyes.
"Why? You want to shame me as a low life faunus? Go ahead, I like to see you try."
Jaune became silent from his screen as he stare at the faunus without another slight anger from his expression, then he sighed. "Thana, I know that it's hard to let go of the past. Even by making a mistake like this is very hard to deal with."
"Don't say that you miserable human! You know nothing of my pain! You don't know Pyrrha!"
"..."
Jaune's screen ceased to blankness as a sense of relief for Thana. She sighed when she sat back down on her bed for some rest, but her prison door slam opened to the person she wanted to see the least.
"Why?!" Thana jumped from her bed.
"I didn't know Pyrrha from the very start!" Jaune said with his sobbing voice. "I only knew that she was a star athlete from the Pumpkin's Pete Marshmallow Flakes! She was a type of person that will help me with my training with Aura and my sword skill! Pyrrha was the one who taught me everything I needed for me to become a hunter! You don't understand my pain too Thana!"
"..." Thana's cat ears went down from the top of her head. "I...I don't know what to say about you Jaune-"
A sudden rumble from the small room made the only two living beings drop on the floor when the ship was operated by Alta's robots. Thana fell on the ground with a great shot of pain from her head, then her vision grew dark…
"You fool…" said a voice that echoed in Thana's mind.
"Pyrrha...is that you?" Thana asked to the tall figure.
"Really faunus? Is that all you can say?"
"What? Pyrrha, what are you saying? Wait! Where are you going? Don't leave me!"
Thana felt broken from the disappearing sight of a shadow that she kept on dreaming for a week. Her heart was cold, and yet something felt warm at the back of her head. She felt that she was back in her bed with her soft pillow to rest in peace again.
"Thana!" called out a voice that shook her entire body. She opened her eyes to see the moonlight shining down a boy's face that made her face turning red.
"Jaune! What are you doing?!" Thana pushed him away and turned away from her shivering body.
"Ow…" Jaune groaned.
"Are you okay?" Thana walked towards him and she peered down a visual wound from his waist. She took her pouch from her dress and took out her emergency bandage. "Lift your shirt for me Jaune, let me tend your wound."
"It's just a scratch."
"Really? Are you going to admit to yourself that you couldn't let a girl touch you?"
"No really! It's just a scratch!"
"Take your shirt off!" Thana raised her voice at him and she had to struggle with the wounded human to wrap her bandages around his opened wound.
"Hehe, thanks Thana." Jaune smiled.
"There is nothing for you to thank me for!" Thana looked away from his smile. "I didn't do this just because I was worry about you!"
"You're a really nice girl Thana. You really do resemble Pyrrha…"
"What? I'm not Pyrrha!"
"I know that you're not her, but I know that you were worried when acted like her when you tended my wound." Jaune sat down and listened to the waves from the shore that made Thana relaxed, but the sight of the boy who was as stubborn as his sister before...
"How can you be so nice to me Jaune Arc?" Thana got up from her spot and looked away from his face. "Is this some kind of prank that you're making? What am I to you?! I am nothing but a mere faunus who tried to kill you and your human friends!"
"...Thana, I know that you're a better person than that. Cause I know one faunus who fit in the school for being herself, even though she hid her identity, but she made great friends to understand her situation until now." Jaune's eyes lowered and he went back to face the horizon. He looked so peaceful without the sight of sadness from the last time Thana saw him, then she slumped back on the soft sand. The waves from the ocean had Thana's heart beat fast from her next sight of a smiling boy. He forgave everything for her actions with a slight acknowledgment to consider for her guilt. Until her cat ear's twitched twice when she heard a couple of things in two different directions. One in front of them was wing spinning from the sky, the other one was behind and something was coming towards their direction.
"Jaune!" Thana ran behind him and something struck behind her neck.
"Thana!" Jaune said from his muffled voice, then she closed her eyes...one last time.
Please! Do something to save her!
We're sorry, but this is the best that we can do.
No! No! Thana! I'm sorry, just let me stay with you until your parents come to see you again okay? I'll be there...until we get to Haven...
A black vision was brighten by the sight of ceiling light at her eyes. She got up from an unfamiliar and yet a comfortable bed that she never felt in such a long time. A boy barfing on a trash was found near the girl on the bed. She couldn't remember on what she did before, but she tilted her head at the sick boy when he turned his head towards her.
"You're awake!"
"Jaune?" The girl said to him when she finally remembered on her previous actions, then she looked away from him in the most greatest sadness and anger that she'd never felt before.
"I'm so glad that you're alive!" Jaune exclaimed and cried while he grasped her hands.
"...I am...alive? I can't feel my legs, am I half-dead?"
"..." Jaune looked away from her eyes and then, a door opened.
"I hope that you're feeling all right ?" said a tall woman that came in the from the doorway.
"What is this Jaune Arc?" Thana asked, but there was no answer from him.
The tall woman sighed. "I'm sorry to say this, but the doctors did everything that they can to save your life. You can no longer be a Huntress due to your spinal injury that no longer functioned in your legs."
"...What?" Thana's lips trembled. "Does that mean...I can no longer walk?"
"There are three choices for you, but all choices are risky and it will take a lot of time. I suggest that you talk to those choices to your parents that are going to be transported to come get you."
Thana clenched on the blankets with tears falling down from her eyes with such shame from her numbed legs. Jaune squeezed her body with his warm self and for the first time, Thana didn't bother to push him away.
"Mr. Arc, we are expected to arrive at Mistral in thirty minutes. I suggested that you prepare yourself as soon as possible, the two of you have five minutes."
The woman walked away with the two silent people with streams on their eyes. Thana had only three choices to choose for her new life, then she looked at Jaune's kind blue eyes.
"Are you going to be okay on your own?" Jaune asked.
"Jaune...I want to apologize for my previous behavior." Thana looked down at her new useless legs and clenched on her blankets filled with tears. "I really...really...do..."
"Hey, it's not a big deal, now we don't have much together alone, so we have to say goodbye."
"...It was good meeting you Jaune Arc, next time, I should meet your teammates."
"Yeah, they're not so bad once you get to know them."
Jaune and Thana exchanged a friendly handshake, and when Jaune head towards the door.
"Wait!" Thana called him.
"Yeah?"
"Take this."
Jaune's eyes widen, "Pyrrha's circlet?"
"Yes, take this. I know that you are doing to this for my sister, so...take it." Thana looked away when the circlet was going to be at Jaune's hands, however, it was pushed back at her chest.
"No Thana, you need this more than I do."
"Why?"
"I got Ruby, Ren, and Nora to come along in this journey that I have come so far now. I could've never done this without them in this whole trip in Remnant. I appreciate your generosity Thana..."
"!"
Thana felt a small warm feeling from her forehead, the glimpse Jaune's kind face made her heart beat fast, then she watched his back disappearing from the closed door.