That first word surprised everyone, but before Jaune could ask for an explanation, she had already fallen back asleep, a small, honest smile on her lips.
She was taken to an emergency hospital in Vale, where she was treated for injuries and put in intensive care for a week. During that time she was awake for only thirty minutes a day, and she did not speak – it was either too painful for her, or she simply chose not to. Doctors zipped around, sweat dripping from their foreheads. Harsh lights, tinged blue by the dust inside them, illuminated the entire open-floored complex. People with a variety of injuries seemed awash in this place; they were crammed together like fish in a can, barely enough room for the doctors to rush past their patients and onto the next. When one man was discharged, another would soon took his place.
Vale was in chaos. After the Grimm had overrun the school, they turned their eyes to Vale. The people could not simply evacuate; Mistral and Vacuo would not take every citizen of Vale, and the people of Vale refused to trust Atlas - their droids had been as destructive as the Grimm, and had taken almost as many lives. The remaining soldiers, police and huntsmen had formed a safe zone in the center of the city, where this emergency hospital had been set up. Every day, more and more citizens made their way to the safe zone, and every day more and more tales were told of those who did not make it. According to the huntsmen, everything was under control and the Grimm were slowly being beaten back, yet the people remained scared, and so the Grimm kept coming.
Not once during this time did Jaune leave the girl's side. While Ren and Nora did what they could to help with the fortifications, Jaune had stayed behind, waiting for her to awaken. This wasn't the kind of place to leave someone alone, and he feared what she may do if she woke up alone. As Dr. Oobleck had predicted, she made a fast recovery, at which point she was hastily cleared from the facility to make room for new patients.
It was only now, as they walked side by side out of the hospital and into the abandoned city streets that Jaune realized how small this girl was. She was wearing a simple dress and sandals, as her previous clothes had been almost completely destroyed, and her eyes were only halfway up his chest. He felt bad, looking down on her like this, but he hardly had a choice in the matter.
"So, I'm Neo, huh?" She repeated the name to herself. There was a hopeful, happy optimism in her voice, or perhaps it was just ignorant bliss, "That sounds about right for some reason. And who are you?"
"It's Jaune," he replied hastily, "Listen, do you remember anything? Anything at all?"
She hmm'd, a cute sing-songy hmm, before shrugging, "Sorry, but the last thing I remember is a one-armed girl threatening me."
"Oh that was a friend of mine. Don't worry, she's not as scary as she must've seemed. Speaking of which, she said you were mute, but you seem to be able to talk just fine. Do you remember why you didn't talk before now?"
Neo gave him a glare, though at her size it looked like a pout, at best.
"Okay fine, dumb question. Let's just find my friends and we'll figure out what to do next."
"So just look for a one-armed blonde girl. Can't be too many of those around right?" Neo laughed nervously.
"Oh, not her. We're looking for a red-head with a big hammer, and a guy with long black hair who wears green and dyes part of his bangs pink."
"…Can't imagine there are many of those either."
They made their way to the west gate of the safe zone, where Ren and a very enthusiastic Nora were helping to keep guard. Ren looked up, nudging Nora, who gave a massive, two armed wave before running over to the pair.
"So, our little mystery girl is awake! I didn't know she was so small!"
Neo gave her pout-glare again, which Nora either didn't understand or didn't care, "It's rude to call people short, y'know."
"Oh she is just adorable."
Jaune turned their attention to more serious matters, "So, any ideas guys? Where to now?"
A silence fell over them.
"Nora and I have nowhere left to go, so we'll follow you."
"Yeah! You lead the way, Jaune!" Nora added with her typical boundless enthusiasm.
Jaune turned to their new friend, "What about you, Neo?"
Neo gave a small, cute smile, "I have no idea what's going on, who you people are, or who I am, but I think you're my best chance to learn all of that. Count me in."
Jaune paced for a moment, thinking, "There's a small island off the coast of Vale called Patch. Yang and Ruby are from there, and there's a lot of Grimm on that island. I think that's where we should go. We can train, get stronger…"
Nora's voice dropped its prior excitement, "And eventually get some payback for what happened at Beacon."
Ren nodded, "Then it's settled. Let's find a boat."
"Could I find some actual clothes before we leave? Something tells me I'm not a big fan of dresses," Neo shifted uncomfortably.
Nora's eyes lit up, "Oh, yes yes yes! I've got no idea where we'll find a clothing store at a time like this, but we just have to get you something cute to wear! We never went clothes shopping while we were at Beacon, probably because school is so expensive! But now I've got an excuse and a cute, mini-sized mannequin to dress up!"
Nora dragged Neo away, raving to no one in particular, with Ren and Jaune following close behind.