Chapter Two: Remains

Jaune walked alongside Ruby, the two of them leading their mismatched group down the forest path. Ren walked just behind them, with Nora and Pyrrha following and Aven and Zahra taking up the rear.

"So…" he paused as they came to a fork in the road. 'Want to check the map and figure out where we're going?"

Ruby reached into her bag and rifled around for a few minutes, then turned back to him, a sheepish expression on her face. "I, uh…"

Jaune suppressed a groan of frustration. "You lost it again?"

"No, she gave it to me." Pyrrha appeared at his side, handing him the folded map.

"R-right. Thanks." Jaune took it from her. She's real, he had to remind himself. She's really here. Before, he'd seen her-in dreams, in glimpses out of the corner of his eye but it was nothing like this, even after weeks he couldn't believe he could talk to her, hear her-

"Jaune?" Pyrrha's concerned voice brought him back to the present. "You're staring."

"Oh. Sorry." He snatched the map from her and hastily turned away. "Looks like the next village is just up this way."

"Great. I'll scout ahead for Grimm." Ruby activated her semblance and took off without giving Jaune the chance to reply, leaving a trail of rose petals in her wake.

Jaune didn't miss the way Pyrrha's face fell as she watched Ruby disappear from sight. "You okay?" He reached out to her but she took a step back and shook her head abruptly, as if snapping herself out of a daze.

"Don't worry about me," she replied, smiling. "I'm fine." As she slipped away towards the back of the group, Jaune could have sworn he heard her mutter something irritably under her breath.

Before he could wonder about Pyrrha's odd behavior Ruby came back over the ridge, skidding to a halt in front of him. She Crescent Rose drawn and unfolded to its full size, and her face was drawn and pale. Something was obviously wrong. "What did you find? Were there Grimm?"

Ruby shook her head, panting. "The village- I think there were bandits… you have to come see, hurry."

Jaune turned to face the rest of the group. Nora and Ren had their weapons drawn, Aven and Zahra had moved in beside them. Pyrrha held her borrowed sword down by her side. "Ren, Nora, guard the ridge in case whatever's going on up there attracts more Grimm. The rest of you, come with me."

The moment they came up over the ridge Jaune was met with the terrible sight of the wrecked village. Where houses had once stood, charred remains now collapsed in on themselves. Smoke coiled in tendrils from the destruction.

There was a clatter and Jaune turned to see Pyrrha, wide eyed and pale, taking in the scene in front of her. Her sword had slipped from her hand. "Oh my Oum…"

"Hey." Jaune reached out to her, setting a hand on her shoulder. She flinched at his touch.

"Ren and Nora…I have to make sure they don't see." She retrieved her sword and rushed back in the direction they had come.

Jaune thought about going after her but a shout from Aven drew his attention. "I found something!" She was standing in front of what looked like it was at one point a house. Half of it had caved in. Aven stood outside the remainder of the doorway, her scimitar Xinsheng at the ready. "I heard something in there." She nodded to the interior of the building as Jaune and Zahra joined her by the entrance. "Might be a survivor, might be Grimm."

Zahra moved to enter but Jaune held up his arm, stopping her. "Hold on. We need to be careful about this."

Zahra rolled her eyes but obeyed the order. "Of course, fearless leader." Jaune had grown accustom to the sarcasm that dripped from her voice whenever she spoke.

Brushing her off, he turned to Aven. "You head in first. Use your semblance."

Aven nodded, and her whole form began to shimmer as she bent the flow of time around herself. When she activated her semblance time slowed or sped up for her depending on what the situation required.

So when a large, black creature lunged at her out of the darkness she was prepared, moving faster than seemed possible. It was different from watching Ruby, she became a blur of movement and flower petals. Aven just seemed to sort of blink from one place to the next, as she did now, appearing underneath the Beowolf Grimm and driving Xinsheng up through its skull.

Aven sighed and stepped back from the body of the Beowolf that had already begun to dissolve. "No survivors then."

Jaune did his best to remain optimistic. "There might still be some. Ruby's still looking."

No sooner had he finished his sentence than Ruby appeared by his side. He didn't need to ask if she'd found anyone, her face told him the answer was no. "It's all gone." She said. She sounded like she was in shock. No matter how much time they spent outside the kingdoms, the brutality that they encountered out here still seemed to take her by surprise. "The best we can do is scavenge for supplies and take care of the rest of the Grimm."

Jaune managed a nod, swallowing down the lump in his throat. "Can you go update the others? I told them to wait by the ridge."

"On it." With that, Ruby was gone again.

Aven and Zahra exchanged a glance. Though the two had joined them a few months ago, they were still very much their own team. "We'll take another look around while you wait for everyone else," Aven said after a pause.

Jaune couldn't help but think it was a waste of time-it was unlikely that the bandits and the Grimm had spared anything or anyone that they wouldn't have already found-but didn't argue. He could use some time to think.

However his thoughts were quickly interrupted by Ruby returning again, this time with Nora. Pyrrha and Ren in tow. Jaune couldn't help but notice the way Ren and Nora walked closer together, tense and guarded, holding onto each other for comfort. Their past was something the two of them rarely spoke of, but Jaune knew enough to know that the sight of the village would bring back awful memories for both of them. Pyrrha looked just as shaken. She trailed behind the group, her face vacant and pale. Jaune wanted to go to her side and comfort her, but right now he had to lead his team. He wished he didn't have to expose any of them to this, but they needed the supplies badly and even if they hadn't, there was no easy path around the village.

"Alright," Jaune said, clearing his throat. "Spread out, search any buildings left standing, and watch out for Grimm. We'll meet back up here before heading out." He was met with terse nods of understanding from Ren and Nora. He tried to meet Pyrrha's eye but she wouldn't look up from the ground. Still, he couldn't just leave her looking so upset. As the others headed off, he caught up to her. "Hey, Pyrrha."

She glanced up briefly, acknowledging him with a small smile. "Hello, Jaune."

Talking to Pyrrha had once been so easy. Now, Jaune found himself grasping for the right words. "Just… hang in there. It'll be okay. We'll be out of here soon."

"I know. Thank you, Jaune." Without further discussion Pyrrha wandered away, leaving Jaune wondering if he had actually helped her at all.

A/N:

Thanks to those of you who have liked/subscribed so far, I hope you're enjoying this. This chapter might be a little shaky becaus eI have less experience writing from Jaune's pov than almost any other rwby character so I'm still figuring him out.

For those of you that haven't read Warnings and Choices already, you might want to do that because it makes this make a lot more sense. That being said I'm sure not all of you have time to do that so brief synopsis of what you need to know: Pyrrha died in the Fall of Beacon like in canon and her aura was trapped in Cinder's body. RNJR set off for Mistral and ended up coming across Aven and Zahra of AZSR. Cinder was hunting them and tried to kill Jaune, but Pyrrha's soul extracted itself from Cinder to protect him, bringing herself back to life in the process. She doesn't know how this happened and that's something I'm going to get into in later chapters. If you're confused by this I'm sorry but I'm really bad at explaining my own writing.

Anyway... If you have any thoughts I'd love to hear them, feel free to leave a review.