Chapter 4
Travail
Disclaimer: Rust.
AN: Jaune is well and truly traumatized by the tragedy. It simply hasn't had time to sink in. Remember, the narrator is always unreliable, even when he seems like a cool guy.
Also, Jaune was chosen in the show as leader for skill in leadership in tactics. I think a tactically sound leader would be more in character for this Jaune, as well as be a generally more entertaining protagonist.
They had been trekking for a few hours, Grimm appearing intermittently only to be slaughtered with swift ruthlessness. The group of four moved efficiently, facing little resistance in the forest. A rustling in the bush was met with rapid shots from Reece's pistols. A Creep flew out, knocked on its back by the force of her gun fire. Without pausing her stride, Pyrrha speared it through the head with javelin, killing it instantly. In the sheer monotony, Jaune took the time to take stock of his likely future teammates. He wouldn't have put it beyond Ozpin to engineer flight scenarios to place them together. Already though, he expected himself to be chosen as leader- no one else actually wanted the role in their group of four.
Reese was flighty, unsure, indecisive. Unfit. Pyrrha was experienced, but incapable of forming complex tactics. Arslan would make a good candidate, but already she deferred to him in matters regarding leadership. Without intending to, he had taken command of their little group. Given the most probable scenario of him being team leader, he began to plan. What were the tools he had at his disposal?
Red-haired Pyrrha, patient and polite, an image sharply contrasted by the Grimm ichor staining her armor. She was the most versatile of all of them, having a rifle-javelin-sword as well as the strength and dexterity to wield it. It seemed she was skilled with all of her weapon's forms, seamlessly switching between them in the heat of battle. She was strong, having the power to rip large gashes into Boarbatusk armor and Ursa plate.
Graceful in battle, and having incredible battle-sense, he reckoned that she could dance through a minefield unhurt. To top that package off, there was her semblance, which made her weapons glow with a metallic sheen. Likely a form of ranged kinesis, with how she redirected his charge at the Beringel earlier.
She would be the trump card for his plans, an ace that he could use to compliment the skills of others. She played off the fighting styles of all three of them very well, acting as the subtle knife to Jaune's charge, the defensive wall to Arslan's darting dagger, and the overwhelming force to Reece's covering fire.
Her only flaw would be her inability to command- skilled she was, but tactically sound she was not. Used to one-on-one duels and lacking the natural intuition required for quick decisions, she left the major plan making to Jaune. Fine by him, he supposed.
Arslan was distinctly different to Pyrrha in that while they both were physically impressive, Arslan's weaponry did not lend itself to the duties of a tank or a damage-dealer. She had three main options in battle- her dagger which could be turned into a rope dart, her martial arts, and her semblance which allowed her to shoot fire balls from her palms.
The rope dart was used mainly in disrupting the attack patterns of opponents, severing vital tendons or causing large wounds at unexpected times, catching many Grimm unawares. Her martial arts revolved around using brutal blows to disable quickly, immense strength battering an enemy's weak points until they were unable to stand. Her semblance, while having potential to act as long-range fire, was mainly used in the same capacity as her dagger, being fired in between strikes, or to trip up prey that sought to close in on their location.
In this, Jaune found her mostly useful as a disruptor. Setting up kills and complex assaults would require her prowess in order to create openings for Pyrrha or him to charge in. She had the toughness to withstand a direct assault, and as such Jaune could redirect tactical resources to keeping Reece or a mission target safe.
In the event Pyrrha was disabled, she could act as a damage dealer as well, but he would probably need to call in fire support from Reece to allow her safe exit. More importantly, in the event he were unable to act as leader, Arslan had the tactical smarts and decision-making ability to assume his role temporarily- she contributed heavily to the discussion on tactics, and would likely have been chosen as leader in a different team.
In Reese, he found a capable ranged support, competent in shooting accuracy and damage, as well as being incredibly skilled in maneuvering and repositioning herself within the battlefield. Her weapon was a bladed hoverboard capable of transforming into twin pistols, but she lacked physical power and a melee weapon. While she was skilled in what he saw of her usage of martial arts, she didn't have the strength behind her blows to truly finish off an enemy.
Her melee offensive capacity was severely hindered by her need to dodge all attacks for fear of being disabled by a single good hit. Worse still, she was also easily deceived by the fake body of a Geist, despite the fact that she had seen this occur many times before, which may indicate a lack of foresight, situational awareness or just plain gullibility.
Thus, he was forced to put her as covering fire and ranged support. Despite her many shortcomings, she was excellent at doing her job, accurately hitting Grimm in weak spots and executing plans with great efficiency. Contrasting her jovial demeanor, she was professional in battle, assessing the most rational points of attack and forcing enemies to make mistakes.
Her semblance was a mystery to him- she probably did not see the need to use it currently. Jaune could understand- after all, it was not her who set his first real bed on fire.
That left himself- he admitted that his semblance and his build made him well suited to being the brute force of the team. His aura reserves were exceptionally large, even among the Arc family, likely the combination of good genes and a particularly tenacious spirit. His body was built strongly, with powerful muscles and broad shoulders, bowling aside lesser Grimm with confidence. His weapons- a longsword, a shield, and a revolver- meant for heavy and prolonged battles, dealing crippling strikes with each attack.
He was not without his own flaws, however- he lacked the battle-intuition and deftness of feet that allowed Pyrrha to duck and swerve around Grimm with ease, body too heavy or too large to ever reach that level of elegance. The combination of his role as a leader and a tank were in direct conflict, requiring him to somehow give commands in the middle of gunfire and battle. He was stubborn, and in the occasion he was wrong, he needed to butt heads in order to snap him out of a bad course of action.
Shaking himself from his brief reverie, he returned to the light conversation currently ongoing.
"-nk that he's actually a Grimm in disguise. Don't you remember that overwhelming pressure he released last night?" Reece.
"Actually, I'm more inclined to believe that he's secretly a robot. I don't think he feels pain- and a piston-charged swing of his arms would certainly explain how he dealt with that AK-130..." Arslan.
"That would make sense, but he was eating just fine earlier in the cafeteria..."
"If they made the effort to make a robot that could produce aura, I think they would account for a digestive system as well."
"I dunno, it seems kinda unlikely. Too much emotion, too much sass."
"Fair enough, but I think robots could simulate that too... I thought the AI in the CCT were pretty good at displaying emotion."
"Maybe he's just a normal guy?" said Pyrrha, nervously looking over to Jaune. He quirked an eyebrow in response.
"Nah, that's too boring. What about a time-traveler? That would explain how he's so unfazed by literally everything that happens here-" Reece interrupts herself, just now noticing Jaune, who was paying attention to the conversation. "Oh, that's awkward."
"..." Jaune said, silence somehow more significant than normal silence.
"Well, if you heard all of that, then what are you? No normal Beacon applicant takes a hit from a Beringel like that, outpaces Pyrrha, the Mistral national champion, in kills like that, and releases such pressure, like, like- blargh. Just- what makes you different, you know?"
"I eat a healthy breakfast everyday, and keep a regular schedule."
"You seem like an awfully unflawed person." Arslan remarked, noting the Mary Sue-esque tendencies in Jaune that would totally not fly in respectable writing.
"I'm actually a teeming wreck, kept together only by the skin of my teeth."
"Seems like it."
Glib and deflecting, just how he liked it. Seemed about right. Glib and deflecting, just how he liked it. Glib and deflecting, just how he liked it. Glib and deflecting, just how he liked it-
Fuck, what was that? His mind stopped working for a second, fixating on a single line of thought.
Fixating on a single line of thought.
His mind was drawing away from the present, refusing to cooperate with his demands. Hot flashes hit him like a truck, that same inferno-blood sensation that demanded full attention and wished for war and pain.
h
The factory, burning down.
e
The walls, rubble and dust.
l
His parents, on the ground.
p
He found himself unable to think clearly, images of fire and darkness taking command of his mind.
While Jaune would never say he was insane, he would admit to himself certain idiosyncrasies that do come off as a little eccentric. All experienced hunters eventually undergo PTSD, with the nature of their work. Villages destroyed, missions failed, teammates dead. This was normal. This was normal.
A calm, detached partition of his mind realized that he was spiraling downwards- thoughts scattering and emotions peaking. His semblance was subconsciously reacting to his mental state, building up pressure from his veins and muscles. No one went through a total destruction of status quo without some trauma- his just hadn't caught up yet. It was all piecing together.
The way how his thoughts shifted so swiftly from grim to joking, or how he stopped using his scroll contacts so he wouldn't see their names, or how his semblance was always a little bit on, just to keep that endless tap of courage flowing so he wouldn't forget how to breath. Breath- breath- fuck. He could feel it sinking in- sinking in- sinking down. Himself, sinking down.
"I'm going insane."
fuck-
Jaune stumbled, catching himself on the trunk of a tree. His (not yet) teammates looked at him curiously- turning swiftly to worry when they caught sight of his pale face. What was that? His legs weren't responding, rooted, stock-still, statue-like- his mouth felt curiously dry."Pyrrha-" Gasping for air. "Can you-" Breathe. "Help me a little-" Breathe. "Bit, here."
"Are you ok?" she said as she stepped around the tree trunk he leaned on. Moving swiftly, she slung his arm over her shoulder. She carried their weight almost like a feather- like- like-
His semblance turned on to full, like the flicking of a light switch half-pressed. His body glowed dimly, and his breaths began to stabilize. They had stopped moving now, efforts fully focused on him. "Are you ok?" she repeated, eyes brimming with concern. He considered lying to them, about his past and his memories. He discarded that swiftly- lying lead to tension, which lead to hate, which lead to- Breathe. But there was no time to explain it now. Not in a dangerous Grimm-infested forest. Later, when it was safe.
He closed his eyes, singling out only the flow of his aura, allowing the soothing sensation to spread out from his body. There. He could feel his body working now. His psychosis, locked up and resolvable later.
"I think it's gone now. I'll explain later when we get out of the forest, I promise."
Their eyes- vivid green, olive green, forest green, -wow, they all had green eyes- lingered on him for a second more, then continued on. He jogged slightly, catching up to them with little exertion. This would be fine. He would force it to be so.
He hoped he could.
...
Conversation resumed shortly after, slightly stilted and awkward, but nonetheless there. They were talking about their favorite foods (Jaune and Reece preferred Atlesian cuisine, while Arslan and Pyrrha favored Mistralian) when the sound of four, distinct screams alerted their group. Three of which he recognized, Weiss, Ruby, and Neptune. The one he didn't recognize was male, with an accent vaguely Vacuoan. "They sound like they're in trouble." Arslan remarked.
"Let's go help them, then!" Reece replied, getting her hoverboard ready.
They looked at him, searching for a course of action. He considered the benefits of simply not responding- an increased chance of passing, less Grimm to attack them- but decided against it. Pragmatically, having a group of eight was simply more useful, as well as increasing the breadth of strategic options tenfold. Ozpin was a highly moral person- abandoning people in need would reflect bad on his chances of passing. Providing assistance would grant him goodwill in future hunters and political movers.
Most importantly, Ruby was his friend, and Neptune and Weiss were acquaintances. Jaune had resolved to never leave a friend behind- he wasn't going to go back on that now.
It would be difficult, however. They would first have to locate them, then rescue them from whatever caused them to scream. Weiss seemed to be like a person who kept her composure under pressure, and has likely dealt with dangerous situations in the past. A scream from her meant that the magnitude of the situation was to some extent, dangerous.
But he had tools in the form of other people- a working disengage in the form of Arslan, recon and intel in Reece, and a trump card in Pyrrha.
"Yeah, let's help them. Reece, scout ahead for Grimm. Don't engage until we arrive."
Reece nodded once, and sped off on her hoverboard. He turned to the other two.
"Let's travel fast, but make sure to kill any Grimm on the way."
They followed suit, moving adeptly. All of them had experience traversing forest terrain, with the exception of Arslan. She was agile, however, and could keep up with them with little difficulty.
He considered the possibilities- the likelihood of a Grimm horde was low, given that they usually numbered in the thousands, and he would have seen them by now. An attack by a fellow student team perhaps, but still unlikely, taking into consideration the instructions Ozpin gave. He doubted Ozpin would accept a team that attacked those in need. Perhaps a natural disaster? But the noise from an earthquake or a tornado would be loud enough to be heard from where they were currently.
The landscape was beginning to worsen, with the canopy getting thicker and the trees gaining a slightly sinister image. Shadows grew longer, the noises of wildlife disappeared, and rock formations grew erratic and jagged.
After a few minutes of running, Reece returned, a troubled look on her face.
"Did you see anyone?" asked Jaune.
"I wasn't able to go very far on the hoverboard- the treeline grew too thick, and going above the canopy didn't help because the trees were too close together to see through."
"Alright, let's keep going in that general direction. We'll find them soon enough."
...
Weiss was not having a great day. First, she got Ruby as a partner. While she wasn't particularly upset over the fact that it was Ruby- she was competent in battle, and eager to please. However, she had planned for Pyrrha, and now had to rethink battle strategy without having an instant-win card. Weiss was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but she was no stranger to hard work nor hardship. It simply meant that dealing with school politics would be a little bit harder.
Secondly, after landing and meeting with Ruby, they had encountered two particularly annoying boys in the forest. The blue-haired one- Neptune- kept trying to flirt with her with that pretentious 'intellectual' accent of his, and the other -Sun- was a faunus. She -was definitely not racist!- and could tolerate their kind enough when they were well-behaved, like that cat faunus, but this one exhibited all the stereotypes- bullheaded, brash, and overconfident. They were confrontational, and basked in showing off when fighting against Grimm. They needed to be efficient- their job was to kill Grimm, not to impress girls!
Third and most egregious of all was the fucking Taijitu nest. The four of them stumbled into a particularly thick copse of forest, not realizing that it was infested with around fifty King Taijitus. Sinuous and slithering, the Grimm pack came for them, maws bared wide in ravenous pursuit. They ran back the way they came, hoping to lose them, but the Grimm were slowly gaining on them, bodies maneuvering expertly around the terrain. These Grimm were built for traversing the forest swiftly, able to cover plenty of ground in a short amount of time.
She reckoned she might have been able to take on a single Taijitu, but fifty was out of the question, even for the most experienced of teams at Beacon. An experienced team they were not, so they decided to run.
By her guess, they had been running for five minutes, when the sound of footsteps alerted her to the presence of other people.
"Hey, I hear footsteps." It appears that Sun had heard it too, looking around for the origin of the sound.
"Guys, I think it would be a REALLY good idea if we asked them for help!" Ruby said, voice half-frantic and half-hopeful.
Weiss entertained the thought of not asking for help for a brief moment, before quickly discarding it. She was not so prideful to jettison any chance of survival out of some misplaced sense of arrogance. "If there's anyone nearby, we would greatly appreciate assistance!" she shouted, hoping that they would be able to hear.
Jaune's voice resounded in the distance. "We're on our way!" The sound of footsteps drew nearer.
"Hi Jaune! We're being chased by-" Ruby shouted, cut off by their arrival.
He was accompanied by three girls; Pyrrha and two others. One blonde, dark-skinned and fierce-looking. The other green-haired, with facial markings.
His face turned grim, overcast by a large shadow. "A Taijitu nest." Weiss turned around slowly, to see what he was looking at. A hissing, rattling sound filled the air, both ominous and disconcerting. Red eyes peered curiously out of the copse of trees, and serpentine bodies both black and white coiled sinuously around the tree trunks.
"Get ready to fight," the blond boy said, unsheathing sword and shield. "We're not getting out of here until they die."
Eight students against a hundred serpents. The dawning realization that the only option now was to fight. Even Sun, ever-joking, felt it, face stained somber and serious. Weiss didn't feel too optimistic about it- they would be uncoordinated, fight messily, and die. It was their first time fighting together, and they would probably get in each others' way.
Jaune's voice cut through her thoughts, voice lucidly clarion. "Stick together. Focus on getting good, clean hits. Listen closely, and trust what I say." He didn't plan on micromanaging every person, but if one were in imminent danger, or they as a group needed to retreat, he needed their absolute trust in what he would say.
No one responded, readying their weapons and tensing their muscles. Their assent went unsaid, but he could see it in the way their stances shifted, bunching together. The way their eyes looked to him in the silence afterwards.
"They're coming."
The first Grimm came out blinding fast, teeth gleaming like polished bone. It was met with a hail of bullets from Reece and Pyrrha, then swiftly pinned to a tree with Arslan's rope dart. Neptune, recognizing an opportunity, lunged forward with his gun swiftly shifting to a guandao. A second head burst out of the forest, then a third and a fourth. Ruby, disappearing in a flurry of rose petals, appeared beside Neptune, stance low to block the assault of a Taijitu.
Weiss grimaced. Time to fight.
...
Ruby grinned. Time to fight!.
When she accepted Ozpin's offer, she knew instinctively that she would be out of place, given her age and inexperience. But she hadn't expected it to turn out so well and so... weird. She made new friends in the form of Blake, Sun, Neptune, and maybe even Weiss. Blake, with her meaningful silences and appraising stares. Sun, light and joking- and constantly getting on Weiss' nerves. Neptune, suave and polite- a bit pretentious, but no one was perfect. Weiss, prickly and judgmental, but she hadn't hesitated to save Ruby from a Nevermore during their short stint together before meeting up with the two boys. Jaune, vaguely mysterious and cool, but kinda dorky and a little bit dreamy- scratch that last part.
Despite these newfound friends, it was all so awkward. It felt as if no one treated her seriously, or she was always saying the wrong things. She found herself putting her foot in her mouth more often than not, and annoying Weiss, her new partner. Social interaction was a minefield, and she didn't have the patience or skill to navigate it without losing a few legs.
Killing Grimm was something else entirely. In battle, her blood sung, an odd sense of completeness so overpowering it stung, and seared her bones from the inside out -in a good way. There was no ambiguity about combat that clogged up her sentences and made her want to hide in her bedroom, and scream into her pillow. Killing was simple- you run fast enough to not get hit, and cut them sharp enough to kill them.
She jumped, allowing the lunge of the Taijitu to pass under her. Jumping over it with a semblance-powered leap, she swung her scythe in a curving arc into the base of its skill. Deftly spinning herself around the handle of her scythe, she used her body's weight to leverage the barrel to face the main portion of the head. Pulling the trigger several times, the bullets entered from the back of the Taijitu's skull and exited out the front.
Before she was able to really confirm its death, Jaune's voice rang out clearly. "Ruby, dodge to the left."
Her body moved faster than she could think, throwing herself to the left like he commanded. Just in time to watch the other half of the Taijitu crash into the spot where she would have been standing. Without preamble, she moved into action, dashing straight for the other exposed half. A clean cut, shattering the bone plating on its head, and splitting it near in half.
Another. This time, two Beowolves, charging at her. An open-mouthed snarl cracked their masks, teeth the color of polished bone and eyes a claret red. Pushing strength into her muscles, she swung her scythe in a sweeping arc, knocking both Grimm back a few meters. Her semblance clicked, half subconsciously, and she was in front of one of the two Beowolves, weapon in mid-swing. Using the momentum of her dash, she slammed her scythe down to end its life.
The other was less wounded than she thought, getting a good hit on her from behind. Her aura took the brunt of the blow, but her body was sent flying into the tree. Gritting her teeth, she readied her scythe once more. Her semblance once more, lightening her body and turning her into an afterimage of red. She slammed the head of the scythe into the Grimm's chest, then before it could react, flicking the gun barrel open and primed. With a little bit of vindictiveness, she fired.
Another. An Ursa Major, in combat with Weiss. The white-haired girl dodged its heavy strikes gracefully, using her glyphs to dart around the battlefield. Her rapier flashed, ice-white streaks of dust like comet trails. A jump, and a lunge towards its head. With the lumbering steadiness of a colossus, it swiped her away, sending her to the ground with little effort.
A subconscious trigger fired in her mind, and the world around her blurred. A trail of rose petals left in her wake, and a scythe moving into position. She appeared to the side of the Ursa's face, blinding speed on her side. She crashed into it like a red meteor, scythe carving sparks into the side of its bone-armor. Her body was of a slight build, however, and was only able to stun it momentarily.
Weiss, taking the opportunity with grace, formed a thin sheet of ice on the ground to slip up the large Grimm. As it attempted to regain control over the battle, it received another harsh strike from Ruby's scythe, attempting to sever its head from its neck. The Grimm, destabilized, collapsed on the ice floor. Weiss didn't hesitate, plunging her blade into its eye sockets, and discharging an entire vial of fire dust into its mask.
Ruby left then, understanding her duty was completed and noticing a wounded Creep trying to escape. She appeared in front of it, and executed it with a scything cut.
Giving herself a moment to rest, she looked around her. Jaune, firing his revolver into the maw of an Alpha Beowolf with staccato fire, until it stopped struggling. Then, pulling up its already dissolving corpse, he flung it at a nearby Taijitu in combat with Sun. With the large serpentine Grimm distracted, the monkey faunus fired his shotgun-nunchaku-staff at the beast, nearly tearing off its head with a well-placed shot. To the side, Pyrrha ducking under a fireball shot by Arslan, then rolling forward to impale a heavily wounded Beringel in the chest.
Jaune, Pyrrha, Arslan, and Sun were working in a large group, acting as a large hand, batting down large groups of Grimm. After the initial assault, they beat the onslaught of Grimm back with ruthless efficiency, forcing Taijitus to path into each other and leave both tangled. All four were heavy physical fighters, capable of taking hits and dealing incredible damage. They charged into particularly dense clusters of Grimm, forcing them to scatter and killing the ones that stayed. Ruby and the others picked the stragglers off. The Ursa Major must have slipped their view, then.
Normally, they would have cleared out the Taijitu nest already, but the fight did not exist in a vacuum, and several Grimm, hearing the sound of battle, closed in on their location. Now, they were fighting while moving, heading towards the general direction of the temple. It was not a good idea to remain long in a Taijitu nest- horror stories of the wounded King Taijitus merging and forming an Orochi abounded in dark taverns and online forums.
Her semblance activated again, making her feel light and buzzy. A single step, and she found herself moving in to kill a heavily wounded Taijitu. Someone had ditched the Grimm in the middle of battle, probably to save someone who was in a sticky situation. Judging by the three puncture marks, it was most likely Neptune. A swing of her scythe sheared its head off.
Again. A swirl of rose petals, and a course of action.
"We're moving forward again!" Jaune shouted. She leaped to a nearby tree branch, scanning for teammates potentially left behind. Peering around rapidly, she searched for a glimpse of color amongst the sea of grimm blood. There. Golden light, and leather armor. Jaune. Waiting a few seconds longer, she disappeared in a burst of speed.
Better not get left behind.
...
Jaune grimaced. More Grimm, this time mostly Beowolves and Ursas. Individually, they were easy to deal with- most of them were skilled enough to kill one in a few seconds. The trait that made Grimm so dangerous, was a dogged tenacity, and an infinite pool of troops. They were not like normal armies, that had human motivations, and limited troops, and stomachs to feed. Normal armies could be outsmarted, subverted, or reasoned with. Grimm embodied the concept of "total war."
Total war is the concept that includes any and all resources and infrastructure as legitimate military targets, mobilizes all of society to fight the war, and gives priority to warfare over any other need. A dictator could claim to espouse "total war," forcing the young and the sick to pick up a weapon, but even then, they required uniforms, food, and a reason. Their bodies would shut down if pushed too far, and rebellion was always a lingering thought in the back of their minds.
Grimm were different. They lived only to hunt down humans and faunus, ignoring all concepts of morality, ethics, or reason. They observed no discernible hierarchy beyond that of the animals they cruelly mimic. They defied physics and logic- they do not have working circulatory systems to supply energy and nutrients, nor nervous systems to create decisions and respond to stimuli. They existed in spite of the fact that they should not.
A sufficiently experienced hunter could take down thousands of Grimm, even millions, if they were given the time. But weapons wore down. Stomachs grew hungry. Muscles tired. Minds broke. And another corpse would be found, lost in a tide of black and bone-white. Neither humanity nor faunuskind were at the top of the food chain on Remnant. That right belonged to the Grimm.
Even then, that ignored the large Grimm, the heavy hitters. The Myrkvior, a Grimm that took the appearance of a forest which bent the boundaries of space to bring you to its gaping mouth at the center. The Aethon, whose wingspan blotted the sun, and sucked the life out of those who stood in its wake. Worse still, ancient records mention Grimm the size of continents, footsteps changing the geography of the land they walk on. More esoteric effects- Grimm that stole memories, amplified feelings of pain, and took control of human bodies. Grimm that glowed with the light the soul. Grimm that eerily looked like missing hunters.
Jaune considered himself lucky that he wasn't tasked with defeating anything of that gravity, but found himself annoyed at having to walk through a Grimm-infested forest. Dealing with the Taijitu nest was easy enough- Taijitu were mainly territorial, and they managed to exit their area of the forest before the rest of the nest could come bearing down on their heads. Even the Grimm attracted were easy enough to deal with- it was simple to ram into them as a group of four and break straight through their armor with overwhelming force. The problem was they just kept on going.
They were moving forward, albeit slowly, but the horde never seemed to thin. Wave upon wave of Grimm leapt from the deep treeline, and he barely had time to think. Were this a video game, perhaps he would have rejoiced at the bounty of EXP, but such was not to be. It was physically strenuous in a way that felt monotonous, and in their group of eight they had enough fire power to continue moving without fear. The Beringel was tough, but combat scaled multiplicatively with the ability to formulate and execute tactics- a group of eight with diverse weapon sets and skills had a lot more options than him and Pyrrha.
Weiss could use her glyphs to manipulate the environment, Reece could scout out avenues of retreat, Arslan could disable and cripple large Grimm, the list went on. Utility was the name of the game here, not pure firepower. And even in that regard, they were not wanting.
There. A Boarbatusk, charging at him. Charge arm with aura. Bring up shield. Redirect force to side. Pull out revolver. Fire twice into underbelly.
Another. A Beowolf, leaping from a tree branch. Roll to the side. Bring up sword. Horizontal slash across the chest. Push forward with shield. Impale center of mass. Pull out. Sever head.
Another.
Another.
Another.
He wondered if this would ever end, this unceasing repetition of motion. He beat on senselessly against the waves of Grimm, sword driving the waves of darkness to seek repose from the night. To what depths of madness he would sink, to look upon the one hundred and eight vigintillion Grimm masks, bone white and spiraling into infinity! The glinting blade, the charging shield! All will be laid low by the aeolus of time, sand grains wearing away until the soul itself is reduced to-
"Hey, I think I see the temple!" Reece shouted, voice descending upon him like the chorus of a thousand non-Euclidean angels, manifold upon their hoary heavens. Jaune peered curiously, eyes squinting to get a better view.
The "temple" consisted of the broken ruins of a rotunda, Stonehenge-esque in its broken bricks and mossy exterior. The floor of the structure bore a radial design, geometric shapes expanding outwards, byzantine and intricate. On it, stood a single pedestal with an array of cards.
They moved closer warily, realizing that the onslaught of Grimm had stopped, and there was time for them to rest. They fanned out, a collective subconscious tactic to maximize their response time and efficiency in the event of an attack. Jaune was angry, and vaguely indignant. They made us go through that for playing cards!?
As they approached, Jaune noticed that the cards were not playing cards as he had assumed, but rather blank-faced white cards.
"Hey, what's the deal with these cards? They're all blank!" said Sun, stating the obvious.
"I think we're supposed to get one each." answered Arslan, taking one and putting it into her pocket.
"Hey, what if they're booby-trapped or something? This might be a trap!" chimed in Reece, a smile on her face. Easy for her to smile, Jaune thought bitterly, she had recon duty. Then again, he was the one who assigned her to recon, so that was probably his fault.
"Well," Neptune muttered, inspecting a card close to his eye, "All the Headmaster said we had to do was to reach the temple and survive. We've completed that objective, so what now?"
Jaune picked up the card, and fiddled with it. Turning it over for any writing or symbol, he found only white space. Think. What did Ozpin say?
Do not hesitate to destroy anything in your way.
That felt illogical. Nothing in his statement alluded to the cards themselves, or having to destroy them. He flipped it over in his hands, gears turning in his head. Ozpin was the kind of person to weave deeply intricate plans to fuck with him, so why not?
Perhaps these blank cards we meant to be proof of competence- the ability to reach the temple, and by destroying it he ruined his chances of graduation? No. There were instructors observing them, so they knew that he had achieved the objective. Moreover, why would it be a blank card? It lacked symbolic meaning.
Or did it? What did Ozpin say in his introductory speech? Of all the times to not listen...
"-une? Jaune?" Ruby was in front of him, eyes looking up at him. His team had a vaguely worried look written on their faces.
"Sorry, sorry, I spaced out there." he said, hands raising up in a supplicatory fashion. "Just thinking about the cards."
"Yeah, we were actually going to ask you about the cards." Reece, an inscrutable look on her face.
He closed his eyes. What points of information did he have to assess the next point of action?
"Ruby." He turned, eyes burning with dark-blue intensity. She started suddenly, face turning a dark red blush.
"Um, uh, y-yes sir! I mean Jaune, I mean, yeah."
"What part of Ozpin's introductory speech stood out to you the most?"
"Uh... The part when he was talking about wasted energy and stuff? Something about taking the first step?"
Weiss chimed in, seeming to also be in deep thought. "He mentioned honing our skills and knowledge, how we had to start from a "blank state.""
Blank state. Tabula rasa, "an absence of preconceived ideas or predetermined goals; a clean base." It was up to us to fill in a blank state with our skills and dreams, and discover new things about ourselves. His semblance rose, harkening to the call of his subconscious mind. What could be more apt to fill a blank card, than with the light of our soul?
His aura coalesced around it, a faint gold sheen around his body. He felt it being consumed hungrily by the card, more and more aura being drawn out from his pool of energy. At this point he was basically glowing, a bright corona of luminescence pulsating with a languid glory.
Lines of gold began etching themselves into the card, the curving arc of twin crescent moons. He heard it suddenly, like tuning in to a radio channel in the middle of song. The drum beat of war, furious and lurid, drawing him in and burning him from the inside out. That too, was being sucked into the card. The crescent moons found themselves encircled by a sanguine red, lucid hateful flames burning upwards.
Jeanne d'Arc, after all, died burnt at the stake.
...
They had spent around an hour waiting at the temple after arriving, using their auras to fill the blanks given to them. He used the time to regain his lost aura, and occasionally chime in to the conversation when needed.
It seemed that Grimm deliberately avoided the clearing they were in, given that not a single one had wandered in despite the dense numbers in the forest. The concept of anti-Grimm wards had been investigated and researched before, with limited success. They did exist, but failed to ward off the largest of Grimm, and costed wasteful amounts of dust and aura to keep running. It involved the usage of several fields of aura manipulation, complex machinery, and intricate dust-weave patterns to produce- it was expensive, inefficient, and didn't always work. Thus, it was never pushed into mainstream defense systems.
However, there were ways to work around the barrier of inefficiency- rumors of Mistralian sages warding temples and villages against Grimm with the use of powerful aura casting. They were few and far in between, with the amount of recorded sages in Vale countable on one hand. Perhaps there were more ways to increase the effectiveness of the technology, but the scientists and resources they had were limited. A state had to prioritize a certain gain over a speculative gain that while possibly more beneficial, is still unlikely.
He found it curious that they were the first group to reach the temple. Surely there were others just as competent as he or Pyrrha? Beacon was known for producing legends, but that was in part for drawing from a pool of the best of the best. He acknowledged his own strength, but the thought that he was the best? It made him shiver a little bit. The pull of self-glorification was tempting, but he resisted it. Overconfidence was just as deadly as a knife to the back.
A loud noise brought his attention back to the real world. He turned to his right, expecting to see the everpresent specter of Grimm. Instead, he was treated to the sight of Ruby falling off of Reece's hoverboard. Her face, a rictus of panic. Reece, clutching her gut in laughter. He laughed too. It was funny, and he had not laughed in quite some time.
"Hey, stop laughing! It's not funny- that really hurt!" Ruby said, indignant but without any real heat.
"I believe you should be worried about your pride more than anything." Jaune answered, making his way over to the main group of people.
Ruby, Reece, and Pyrrha were talking about weapons, something about comparing the durability of mechashift weapons to regular ones. Arslan was re-wrapping her bandages around her arms, but it looked like Weiss had struck up a conversation about the political situation of Vacuo. Sun and Neptune were talking about the latest Spruce Willis movie; they reckoned it was better than the previous one, but still generally bad.
"Oh, Jaune. We were having a conversation about viability of mechashift weapons regarding their utility and durability in battle." Pyrrha, shifting her gaze from Ruby to him.
"That sounds pretty cool; do you guys mind if I listen in?" he said, already sitting down on a fallen column beside them. Of course they would let him join the conversation- the question was meant to act as a segue for the dialectic to continue, as well as fill in the empty space. He knew some tricks to reduce awkwardness: this Jaune was not so inept in social situations.
"Actually, I think this topic would benefit much from your input; you probably have the most experience with "regular" weapons." That was true. Ruby used a scythe-sniper, Reece's hoverboards morphed into twin pistols, and Pyrrha had a javelin-xiphos-rifle. In comparison, he used a sword, a shield, and a revolver.
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. So, what lead to Ruby falling off Reece's hoverboard?" He was genuinely curious.
This time, it was Reece who responded. "She wanted to try out the control system for the hoverboard and failed spectacularly. It wasn't a bad first try, until she fell off."
By this time Ruby had already picked herself up from the ground. In an attempt to be inconspicuous, she asked. "How much of that did you see?"
"Enough." he replied, a grin on his face.
"Auuuuuu..." she let out a low keening wail, like that of a whale deeply embarrassed.
After indulging in that glorious noise for a moment, he decided to get back to the topic. There was much to learn, and from what he knew of Ruby's skill with weaponsmithing from the first night, much he didn't know.
"So, let's start this discussion back up. From what I know, a mechashift weapon requires repairs more often, due to the many interlocking modules and thinness of metals used in the forging process."
Ruby perked up instantly, a strange gleam entering her eyes. "Well..."
A few (around ten) minutes of intense discussion later, Jaune found himself dizzied by the speed and depth at which Ruby talked. She was really into weapons, and was able to rebut most of his points on why regular weapons were superior- the durability difference was minor due to recent advances in dust forging, aura syncing happened faster with normal weapons, true, but the effects on mechashift weapons was stronger, mechashift weapons were swiftly becoming cheaper and more widely produced due to the pursuits of Atlas.
Despite losing the debate, he wasn't too sore about it. He gained valuable information on mechashift weapons (always aim for the interlocking joints, utility scaled poorly due to shift times, aura reinforcement should be pooled on the handle to prevent slipping) and even the industries revolving their creation (i.e. Atlas' near monopoly on standardized mechashift modules, the rich ore deposits in Vacuo, etc.)
He was stretching his arms when he heard the sound of other voices entering the clearing. Another group of eight -Ozpin likely rigged the flight paths- four girls, four guys. An even split. Four he recognized. Yang, Blake, Roy, Nebula. Four he didn't.
He walked towards them, stride deliberate and calm. A light and easy-going smile on his face. "Hey, I'm Jaune. Nice to meet you guys."
The group looked a little on edge- closer scrutiny would have shown that they were all badly bruised, facing the trials of the exam. Most, if not all, had tearing on their clothing as well as heavy blood splatter on their weapons and bodies.
Yang spoke first. "Hi, Jaune. What're you guys doing just waiting at the temple?"
"Well, Ozpin just told us to reach the temple and survive. We assumed that the Giant Beringel and the Taijitu nest were the "survive" part."
Whispers of "Giant Beringel?" in the background. He couldn't tell if it was the group in front of him, or to his back. Didn't matter.
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense-"
Ruby ran to greet her sister, using her semblance to disappear in a flurry of rose petals.
He allowed himself a sigh of relief. Tension defused.
"I think introductions would do us some good." he said, hailing them over to the main cluster of people.
Social interaction was tiring, and a little bit awkward. But making new friends was never a wasteful endeavor.
...
They waited a few more hours at the temple before being picked up by Beacon's bullheads. As it turned out, there were multiple temple sites, each with their own challenge at the location itself. Both the Beringel's dais and the Taijitu clearing counted as temple sites, and it was only their inability to see through basic semantics that prevent them from saving themselves major effort and time.
He shook his head. Despite this, the extra effort was not in vain. He had made new friends- his fellow students being called on stage right now.
Ozpin's voice rang out clear through the microphone. "Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, Sage Ayana, Scarlet David." As he said their names, their faces flashed onto the auditorium screen. "From this day forward, you will work together as Team RSSN, led by... Lie Ren!"
The rest of the team looked on with an amused look on their face as the girl (presumably Nora) tackled their new leader to the ground.
He noted the team listings idly, making a mental assessment of the ones he already knew. The rest of the night passed by quickly, him numbly standing up when called to be recognized as team leader.
He opened the door, ready to fall on to the bed and pass out, when a hand caught him by the scruff of his neck. The most likely suspect was Arslan, given how his other two teammates were already in the room.
They turned to him, eyes filled with slight worry and a somber look.
Pyrrha spoke. "Jaune, you still have to explain what happened back in the forest."
Reece added. "Yeah, you looked close to death a while ago! Well, until you started glowing."
He steeled himself. The night was not over yet.
TEAM LIST:
(leaders italicized)
TEAM JANR (Janissary)
Jaune Arc
Pyrrha Nikos
Arslan Altan
Reece Chloris
TEAM RWWN (Rowan)
Ruby Rose
Weiss Schnee
Sun Wukong
Neptune Vasilias
TEAM BGNY (Burgundy)
Yang Xiao Long
Blake Belladonna
Nebula Violette
Dew Gayl
TEAM SSND (Sandstorm)
Brawnz Ni
Roy Stallion
Dove Bronzewing
Sky Lark
TEAM DESH (Desher)
Gwen Darcy
Octavia Ember
Bolin Hori
Nadir Shiko
TEAM MNWT (Minuet)
Nolan Porfirio
May Zedong
Cardin Winchester
Russel Thrush
TEAM RSSN (Resolution)
Nora Valkyrie
Ren Lie
Scarlet David
Sage Ayana
