The second wave broke through. A group of Beowolves broke away from the horde and scaled the walls, making their way into the school via the windows. While they were quickly slaughtered, the short lapse was enough for the main army to break in.
"Shall...we go?" Jaune asked, looking at Weiss. The heiress was sleeping, her slow breathing tickling him. They had left the shower and collapsed, butt naked, onto the bed. Weiss had quickly fallen asleep against Jaune's torso, her tears drying up as she escaped into her dreams.
"Mmmm…" Weiss moaned in her sleep, not waking up. Jaune decided to stealthily sneak out of the bed and take a look outside.
Carefully extracting himself from the sleeping heiress, Jaune pulled his clothes on and walked through the door.
Slaughter. This word encapsulated what happened in Beacon's halls. Children are children, no matter how strong. Hundreds dead within the hour. The remaining Huntsmen and Huntresses in training surrounded. All seemed lost.
Jaune wandered the silent halls of Beacon. Bloodstains covered the walls and ground, remnants of the brave warriors-in-training who had died to protect these halls. Stepping out into the courtyard, Jaune found himself staring at the sunrise. The orange hue was so beautiful that Jaune was momentarily breathless.
Instead of awe however, Jaune felt anger. How could something so beautiful exist in a world full of sorrow?
"Why Oum!?" Jaune roared, shouting at the rising sun. "People died Oum! We're just kids! We should be enjoying our youth, not dying at the hands of monsters! The world should be bleak! It should be dead! And yet, you still allow such beauty!? What are you!? Are you sick!? Do you enjoy our suffering!? Is this funny to you!?"
The words that came out were rotten, doused in poison and hate. Had a younger Jaune heard what his future-self was saying, he would have been disgusted. Yet, in light of what happened, such a change was not surprising.
"Answer me Oum!" Jaune wailed to the skies. Fear, anger, resentment, all these emotions were laid bare in Jaune's screams. "Answer meeee!"
"He won't you know." A new voice cut in. Jaune spun around, tears in his eyes, to find himself face to face with a man he'd never met before. "When Oum created the world, he promised himself that he would not interfere directly in its events. The only thing he left us with were a series of stones with words to enlighten and guide us towards the future."
Jaune, like every other person in Remnant, knew about the Crow Stones. Upon it, inscribed in scrawling script, was the supposed knowledge left behind by Oum himself. No one knew if the story was true, but many people still took his words to heart.
"Who are you?" Jaune asked. He was not in the mood to discuss religion or beliefs with this man.
"A Hunter." The man replied, moving towards Jaune. Jaune noted the limp in his step. "Rainer Perun of Team DDRG, at your service."
"Team DDRG?" Jaune vaguely recognised the name. "You were one of the Atlas teams under Ironwood's command."
"Yes. My team and I were in charge of security here." Rainer winced as he rested his right foot on the ground. "When the attack came, we were quickly overrun by the Grimm. My teammates were killed while I was crippled and knocked unconscious. By the time I awoke, the fight was over."
"Just like me then." Jaune muttered darkly.
"Just like you." Rainer echoed. He looked at the young boy in front of him, so full of hate and regret. A path that Rainer knew would lead to nothing but self-ruin. "What do you seek boy?"
"Revenge." Jaune replied.
"Against what? The Grimm who attacked this place? They're dead."
"Not all of them." Jaune made a fist. "I'll kill them all."
"And then what will you do?" Rainer asked, watching the boy. "When all the Grimm are dead, what will you do?"
"I'll make sure something like this will never happen again."
"How? With force?"
"If I must."
"To fight for peace." Rainer chuckled. Not in a humorous manner either. "That seems rather paradoxical doesn't it?"
"This world is twisted and broken." Jaune replied. "A world where children are trained to fight monsters, isn't that wrong?"
"You choose that path yourself." Rainer sighed. "But the fault lies not in you, but the system. Remnant is a place where warriors are coveted, not feared. A place where war is the norm. It is the fault of the adults, not the children, that the world is like this."
"I'll change that." Jaune promised. "I'll tear it all down and build a new world."
"Melodramatic are we?" Rainer smiled bitterly. "Grimm are manifestations of negativity." Rainer waved at the destruction around them. "To destroy, to raze, to hate, to kill, these are all things that bring the Grimm. The world tried to fight fire with fire, to raise heroes who would fight for humanity." Rainer looked at Jaune. "Did you want to be a hero?"
"Who didn't?"
"Then let me ask, what kind of hero did you envision yourself to be?"
"Someone who fights for the people. Who keeps the darkness away." Jaune looked at Rainer, dressed in his Huntsmen outfit and with his weapon on his back. "Someone like you."
"Someone like me? Someone who became the darkness?" When Jaune didn't answer, Rainer continued. "Killing is killing Jaune. Even if they're monsters, what we do is kill. And that stains us. The more you hunt, the more you fall into the darkness. And the more the Grimm come."
"So you're saying it's impossible then? That we're just delaying the inevitable?" Jaune fell to his knees, his energy spent. "Then why do we live then!? To prolong the agony!?"
"Humans are odd creatures." Rainer sat on the ground, so that his eyes were level with Jaune's. "We're inherently weak, compared to the Grimm. The Grimm have claws, teeth, poison, speed and a whole host of other abilities that we don't. Physically, humans are nothing but easy prey for everything else on this planet."
"So Oum put us here to die then? We're just food?" Jaune's eyes had lost all energy, all hope. Reality was finally hitting him, and along with it, despair.
"No. Oum gave us something to fight against fate." Rainer put his hand on his forehead. "Ingenuity, and-" Rainer pocked Jaune's chest, right above his heart. "-spirit. We've learnt that attacking the Grimm doesn't work. So why don't you try the opposite?"
"The...opposite?"
"Find something to protect. Don't raze this dark world to the ground. Build a new one with your own two hands. One where the heroes aren't warriors." Rainer looked Jaune directly in the eye. "There must be something in this world you want to protect."
A crying angel, with hair like snow.
An angel that he promised never to leave.
Immediately, Jaune shot to his feet, all energy restored. His eyes, once filled with despair, were filled with something else.
Purpose.
As Jaune prepared to run off, he paused.
"Thank you. You really helped me out there."
And with that, he rushed off, leaving Rainer alone.
"...Heh." Rainer let out a low laugh, slowly standing up. "I look forward...to the world you'll build. But first-"
Rainer drew his weapon from his sheath, allowing it to fully extend into its two meter form. With his aura-enhanced hearing, he could hear a Grimm horde in the distance. It would be arriving in a few hours.
Rainer was going to ensure they never made it to Beacon.
"-let the adults clean up their mess."
Jaune burst into the dorm room, his eyes darting around for the girl.
No, his angel.
"Weiss!" Jaune shouted, his eyes zoning on the small ball in the corner of the be. "Weiss!"
"Ja-une?" Weiss mumbled, waking from her stupor. Upon seeing the boy, she shot to her feet. "Jaune!"
"Weiss!" Jaune rushed over, embracing the smaller girl tightly.
"I thought you were gone." Weiss cried, tears staining Jaune's chest. "I thought-I thought I was alone…"
"No Weiss." Jaune whispered into her ear. "I won't leave you. Not now, and not ever."
Weiss didn't answer with words, instead hugging Jaune even closer.
The Knight had found something to protect.
And protect it he would.
Guys...Life...it's pretty awesome. Just keep at it. And I'll keep going too.
-Crow Stone located at the bottom of Heavy Cavern, deep underneath Mistral, specifically in the Underlight Cave.
THIS STORY IS NOT DEAD MUHAHAHAHAHAHA
It's just really hard to write this.
Anyway, like I said before, this sort of writing is experimental for me, so feedback is appreciated! This story will be short however, perhaps three more chapters more.
Ferris.
