Chapter 3
Jaune slowly made his way through the massive courtyard leading to Beacon. It turns out that puking your guts out can be rather tiresome though his fatigue may in fact have to do with the embarrassment of already being known as the guy who threw up on the airship.
He wondered if that blonde girl whose boots suffered from the first wave of vomiting hated his guts, though he doubted he'd ever get the chance to ask her. As she was far too pretty for a guy like him on top of that the chances of actually running into her was probably not that big.
Looking around once more he had to admit that Beacon was a marvelous sight. Everything looked amazing from the trees to the cobblestone ground of the main avenue which led right towards the heart of Beacon.
If Jaune had to guess the distance to walk from the landing pads to Beacon was at least three or four miles. It may however just look larger due to the throngs of incoming students, all of whom were excited to be here.
A small explosion however caught his attention further up; a cloud of smoke with sparks of electricity and the sound of ice being cracked could be heard.
People immediately backed away or gave it a wide berth which irritated Jaune, why would they ignore something like that? Someone could have gotten really hurt from something like that.
Walking closer he could see the white hair girl and a girl with a red cloak talking to each other. Well talking wasn't the right word, more like a one sided rant.
"Uh, are you girls alright?" He asked interrupting the white hair girl's rant; the two of them looked at him. The girl in the red cloak looked at him as if he was her savior while the other girl looked like she wanted to castrate him.
"I'll be fine if she stays away from me." White said.
"I told you already it was an accident!" The red girl broke in her voice rising in pitch as she defended herself.
"If this is what you call an accident I'd hate to see what you do when you try." Jaune held up his hands.
"Look whatever happened, happened but now that it's clear that no one is hurt I think apologies are due from both of you." The white hair girl glared daggers at him.
"Why should I!? I'm the victim here!"
"Let me explain please." She crossed her arms impatiently; Jaune looked at the cloaked girl.
"Okay, so while you may say that this is an accident I think you should say sorry despite that and you shouldn't be so harsh. As accidents do happen all the time even if the people involved don't wish for it to happen." The girl in the red cloaked looked down at her boots while the white hair girl just glared daggers at him.
"I'm sorry." The girl in red said.
"You should be." The other girl responded.
"Come on now." Jaune started to say but she cut him off.
"No. I don't need to apologize for this, she ran into my stuff, she set off my Dust, she's clearly in the wrong so she needs to understand that, coddling her isn't going to make this better. Now if you excuse me I have better things to do than listen to the whining of a girl far too young to be here and a naïve boy." Jaune just shrugged as the snow hair girl left.
"You didn't have to do that." A quiet voice said from behind and he looked down to see the young girl sitting on the ground. Her cloak was wrapped around her and the hood was up. She honestly looked like a blob of red smacked down middle of the pathway next to a black mark of where they had blown up.
"It's not a problem I know you didn't do it on purpose." Jaune said as he kneeled next to her, in the corner of his eye he could see a black hair girl watching them from a distance.
"Thanks." The young girl finally said and Jaune felt a smile grow on his face as she peeked out to look at him. He stood up and held his hand out towards her.
"I'm assuming you're a student here, if so you probably don't want to sit on the ground like that." The young girl squeaked as she grabbed his hand and pulled herself up. She pushed back her hood, silver eyes met his and recognition flooded them.
"Wait a minute aren't you the guy who threw up?"
Later…
Pyrrha Nikos moved silently through the entrance of the auditorium where the incoming students had all come to gather. She made sure to stick towards the back as she didn't want to get rushed by another group of students.
It seemed her fame preceded her like always, ever since she's arrived in Vale, reporters, civilians and students have hounded her every step until she was able to get on the airship. The captain, a pleasant old man, had taken pity on her and allowed her to stay on the bridge until they arrived in order to give her some peace of mind.
Even there though she ended up getting badgered by a Schnee of all people, she'd have figured the girl would have attended Atlas. There she would have easily gotten the student body to eat out of her hand, alas Pyrrha had to sit and listen to the girl as she talked.
As much as it angers and saddens her to the consequence of her fame, she couldn't bring herself to be mean to the people. For if it wasn't for them that she started the tournament fighting, it was for her family.
"Thereismysistergottagobye!" A girl shouted from her right and she could see a red cloak fluttering away leaving a tall blond teen alone. He sighed and said something but Pyrrha didn't hear what it was. As she was more fascinated by how he looked.
He was tall with simple white plates that looked a little too small that went over a black hoodie, jeans and sneakers with a sword sheathed at his waist. Had it not been for the armor and weapon she would have thought that he was somehow in the wrong place.
Pyrrha's keen eye however couldn't help but noticing that beyond simple appearances there was something more to him. She could tell that he had a lean but powerful body with training as she could see it in the way he walked as if subconsciously aware of his movement.
At the same time she noticed, almost imperceptibly, that he favored one leg over the other. Along with that she could see how he unconsciously put his hand on his shoulder as if to massage it.
Was it an old injury? She couldn't be sure nor could she just ask as that would be rude plus she wouldn't want to risk him freaking out in excitement at seeing her.
It was bad enough being popular in everyday life but when people at schools like Sanctum fawned over her but keep a far too formal distance, making friends and even talking to people becomes a challenge. Though that hasn't stopped her before as there's one trait or flaw in some cases that Pyrrha always accepted.
It was her desire for a challenge.
Later That Night…
Jaune sat in the boys changing room massaging his leg, for some reason it had been aching ever since the assembly where he listened to Headmaster Ozpin give a really awkward speech. On a side note he couldn't help but feel like he heard that name or at least something like it recently.
"Well lad, it seems you've already started acquiring some battle scars." A voice boomed from above and Jaune looked up to see an older man with a bushy mustache and eyebrows.
"Uh, I suppose." The man held up a hand.
"Fear not lad, I'm Professor Port, I teach Grimm Studies. Right now though I'm merely making sure no young lad decides to go take a gander at the ladies changing room but I couldn't help but notice you massaging your leg."
"Okay but what makes you say that I've got battle scars?" Jaune asked as he straightened up.
"A few things actually, for one a young man like yourself would only be massaging a body part if something ached and since you haven't exercised that led to the thought that something else is bothering you. Along with that I saw that you also were massaging just one shoulder earlier as if it was stiff. Secondly I can see the scars on your leg quite clearly." The professor point at his leg, multiple dark sunken scars marred the back of Jaune's leg that clearly contrasted his skin color.
"Oh."
"Oh indeed, now I admire your hunger for battle but when your Aura is nearly or completely depleted, it's better to make a tactical withdrawal or as I like to call it advancing to the rear. Trust me I learned that at your age as well when I decided to see if I could take on the denizens of the Outlands. Alas even I wasn't able to keep an eye all around me when I fought a whole Beowolf pack barehanded since my trusty weapon was stuck in the ribcage of a Beowolf that had yet to dissolve." The professor began to go on a long tale of what Jaune could assume was one of many adventures he went on in his youth. However Jaune didn't want to listen to it so he covered up his leg and slowly stood up then walked away. The professor never even noticed him leaving.
As soon as Jaune was out of the locker room, Port stopped talking and looked towards the exit as he pulled out his scroll.
He had a message to send.
The Next Morning…
Jaune cursed horrendously as he looked for his equipment locker. He had written the number down on his hand but he should have known it would smear when he washed his hands.
Around him Ruby and her sister Yang were talking while Weiss was talking to some red head. For some reason he could have sworn that she looked familiar.
What really caught his attention however was the fact that they stood next to his locker.
"I mean aside from letting things be decided randomly if you want we can team up?" Weiss said to the taller girl who looked really apprehensive.
"Uh, excuse me." Jaune softly interrupted and Weiss snapped her head towards him while glaring icy daggers at him.
"Can't you see we're having a conversation here? What gives you the right to interject yourself into it? Don't you know who this is?" Weiss said gesturing to the red head, who gave a small wave and an apologetic smile.
"Hello there!" She said abnormally loud.
"Uh, hi?" Jaune scrunched up his face as he replied then pointed towards his locker.
"That's actually my locker by the way, so if you don't mind." Weiss groaned as she stepped back letting him to his locker, as he was putting in the code Weiss crossed her arms.
"Do you really not know who this is?" Jaune shook his head.
"This is Pyrrha Nikos." Weiss said gesturing towards the red head again.
"Okay, nice to meet you Pyrrha, name's Jaune Arc." Jaune said simply as he pulled the bag that his father gave him from the locker out.
Had he been looking at her he would have seen the bright smile on her face at his casual greeting. Weiss sputtered incoherently but Jaune was already ignoring her as she's been nothing but a pain in his ass ever since he met her.
"You as well Jaune if you don't mind me asking but what is that you're putting on?" Pyrrha asked.
"Oh it's just a bag for me to wear." Jaune said as he double checked that the straps were all in place and tightly secured.
"Why do you have it?" Weiss asked.
"My dad gave it to me."
"Why would he do that?" Pyrrha asked but Jaune simply shrugged.
"If I knew why my old man did what he did half the time I would probably be the smartest person in the world." The two girls looked at each other and Pyrrha seemed like she was about to say something but a voice boomed from somewhere calling all of them out to the cliffs.
"We should get going, come on Pyrrha." Weiss said and Pyrrha seemed to hesitate but reluctantly walked with her.
"Bye Jaune." She said as she walked away and Jaune flashed a smile before pulling Crocea Mors out from the locker. As he strapped the belt on he looked up to see Ruby and her sister Yang standing in front of him.
"Come on! It's time!" Ruby said hopping up and down a little in excitement.
"What's with you?" Jaune asked as the three of them walked out of the equipment room.
"Oh I'm just finally excited to be doing something I'm good at." Ruby said as she walked ahead of Yang and him.
"And what's that?" Jaune asked as he followed the two of them.
"Anything but having to talk with strangers."
"But Sis, we don't even know what we're doing yet. Maybe it's a meet and greet. You know to have all the newbies like us meet each other." Yang pointed out and Ruby snorted.
"Come on Yang, it's obvious that they're gonna have us fight to show off our skills. Besides that we both know that there's talk of them assigning us teams." Jaune gulped a little at that idea. As his leg and shoulder still ached so he'd rather not risk failing as result of them.
"What's a matter vomit boy? You're looking a little green there." Yang said as she took a few deliberate steps away from him.
"Please aim it away if you really are going to throw up." She said but Jaune chuckled as he shook his head.
"I'm not going to throw up…I think…no I'm just a little nervous at what they're going to have us do." He could see Yang grinning at that as she cracked her knuckles. He couldn't help but noticed the strange, thick looking bracelets around her wrists. It occurred to him that they were probably her weapons.
"Oooh I can't wait to get out there and knock some heads together."
"Do you like fighting?" Jaune asked and Yang seemed to mull it over a little.
"Well I wouldn't necessarily say that in this case but more so the competition and thrill of it. Sure I don't want anyone to get hurt needlessly but it doesn't matter since if we do fight since it'll be against each other and since we all have Aura no one is going to get hurt anyways." Yang said as they continued down a hallway with Ruby in the lead talking about how she constructed her weapon.
"Speaking of which, what's your semblance?" Yang asked looking at him.
"What?" Jaune asked.
"Your semblance dude, what is it if you don't mind me asking." Yang repeated and Jaune just shrugged.
Yang tilted her head a little before realization dawned on her face. Jaune felt a momentary pang of fear as the thought that she realized that he didn't have Aura passed through his mind.
"Crap. You don't know your semblance yet? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." Yang said her face scrunching up in sympathy.
"No! No, its fine Yang and I'm not too worried about it so it's fine." Jaune hurriedly said while trying to steer away from the topic. They finally pushed their way through a set of double doors that led outside again; Jaune could see a sprawling forest in the distance past Beacon's cliffs.
That's when it dawned on him why his father gave him the bag. Which instantly made him want to throw it aside but he had already put it on so there was no point in taking it off again. Jaune and the others made it closer to Deputy Headmistress Goodwitch and Headmaster Ozpin.
"Please stand on the platforms before you." Goodwitch called out and Jaune tentatively stood on the grey platform. He kneeled down, tapping the surface with his knuckles.
"Metal?" Jaune mused to himself before standing up straight as he could see Headmaster Ozpin looking at him. It wasn't so much a stare as it was just simply observation, as if Jaune was nothing more than a simple puzzle for him to decipher.
Jaune couldn't help but notice that he also was glancing at Ruby as he stared at a tablet Scroll that he carried in the crook of one arm. He seemed impatient for some reason, Jaune wasn't sure maybe it was the way he kept looking at the tablet but maybe Jaune was just imagining it.
"Alright. Everyone is here? Good." Goodwitch called out before looking at Ozpin who stepped forward, handing the tablet to Goodwitch.
"You're all here today after spending years of commitment in training your bodies and mind. Now we'll see if that hard work has truly paid off." He started off by saying and Jaune couldn't help but feel that he was looking in his general direction. Whether he was actually looking at him or Ruby, he wasn't sure.
"Now before we get any farther." Ozpin said before stepping back as Goodwitch stepped forward once more.
"We're aware of the rumors and discussions that have been going around regarding teams. Allow me to puts those to rest, as of today your teams will be decided." Jaune swore he heard the whimpering of Ruby at that.
"The people you will find yourself in a team with will be your teammates for the rest of your time here." Ozpin called out and now Jaune was sure that Ruby was whimpering.
"So choice wisely as the first person you make eye contact will be your partner for as long as you are here at this Academy." Ozpin continued oblivious to the sense of remorse that filtered out from Ruby and the general unease of the others teens.
"Once you're in the Emerald Forest and have found a partner. You will be required to head north where a ruined temple waits for you with relics that each pair must attain. Failure to attain said relics will lead to the immediate dismissal from this Academy. A fair warning for you all, along the way you will find the Creatures of Grimm in there. You have a limited number of choices, kill them, evade them, flee from them, or die. The faculty will be monitoring your progress and grading you on your performance but we will not be lending any assistance. Sink or swim this is where you really prove that you deserve to be here." Jaune felt himself grow cold at the idea of being kicked out from Beacon; at least if he died he wouldn't have to bare the shame of seeing his family again.
"Now, any questions?" Ozpin asked but before anyone could raise their hand, he flashed them all a knowing smile.
"Good, let's begin." At his words, the platforms began to spring upward with enough force to send each person standing on them into the air with extreme force.
"You've got to be kidding me." Jaune murmured as he watched Yang go sailing into the air.
"Remember to pull the cord Mr. Arc." Ozpin called out to him but before Jaune could say anything the platform sprang up.
Jaune felt an intense pressure on his body as he went upward. It didn't last long however and for a second he felt as if he was floating.
That thought was dashed as the inevitable pull of gravity started to drag him downwards. Spinning around he could see a sea of green canopies below him. A few openings gave way to small clearings and ponds but he couldn't see any sign of a temple.
Tucking his arms and legs straight he shot downwards, he could see Yang sailing across the treetops and the red blip of Ruby reaching the trees before disappearing.
The wind roared in his ears and his eyes dried out faster than he could blink so he kept them closed. Counting down from ten he waited till the last second to pull a small cord on the left strap of his bag.
There was a ripping sound and Jaune was jerked back with a teeth rattling force. However his descent into the forest was slowed down by an incredible margin and he started to laugh. Within a few seconds though it was abruptly interrupted as he heard yelling in the distance, yelling that sounded a lot like a warning.
Jaune's descent stopped and he found himself being pulled sideways as something snagged his hood. The parachute however interfered with the objects momentum and Jaune's vision spun as he hurtled towards the forest again.
"Shit! Shit! SHIT!" Jaune yelled as hurtled towards the trees. Tucking his legs and arms in again he braced himself as he made contact with the tree tops. Breaking through the smaller branches he bounced off a tree truck.
Arms flailing at his sides there was an explosion of pain as Jaune hit another branch his back. He could hear the parachute ripping as he continued to fall.
Looking up he could see what had altered his descent, a red and gold spear that tumbled above him. Any other thought he might have had was soon wiped away as he hit the ground, knocking the breath out of his lungs.
As he tried to breathe again his vision was beginning to constrict at the edges and going black as he looked up again. The last thing he saw was the spear falling towards him.
Meanwhile…
Pyrrha sprinted through the forest, she needed to find him and see if he was okay. She hadn't expected him to have a parachute on him, which in hindsight made was pretty clear but none of them knew that they would be flung off a cliff.
So when she saw him fall to the forest in the uncontrolled descent she felt fear grip her heart. What if he had gotten seriously hurt or worse because of her? She wasn't sure how she'd be able to live with herself at that idea.
As she leapt over a fallen tree, she was surprised to see Weiss being followed by the short girl, Ruby if she remember correctly, in front of her. The two girls turned towards her as she got closer to them, a smile of relief spread across Weiss's face.
"Pyrrha! Am I glad to see you, do you have a partner yet?" She asked and Pyrrha shook her head.
"No, are you two partners?" Pyrrha asked before Weiss could answer, Ruby zipped in putting her arm around her shoulder with a joyful smile on her pale face.
"Yup! We're partners and we're going to be the best partners on the most awesome team of all time, ever!"
"Hey, have you two seen Jaune?" Pyrrha asked as she looked around.
"What about him?" Ruby asked as she tilted her head a little.
"I saw him fall and needed to meet up with him to see if he's okay plus he's got my weapon." Ruby frowned.
"Wait, why does he have your weapon?"
"It doesn't matter, have you seen him or not?" They both shook their heads.
"Well I should get going." Pyrrha said as she started to walk away.
"We'll come with you! Jaune's my friend as well, if he's hurt like you think then I want to help." Ruby called out but Pyrrha shook her head.
"No it's fine, you've already got your partner, so you should start heading to the temple now." Ruby looked like she was going to say something else but Weiss took her arm and started pulling her away.
"Come on, if she wants to waste her time looking for him then it's none of our business." She said and soon Pyrrha was left alone again in the forest.
Normally she would just use her semblance to help locate Miló as it was practically a natural function for her to manipulate it even from a certain distance. It seemed however that she was much farther than she was used too as even with her semblance she could only get a general ping of direction of where it was.
In the distance, she could hear the sound of wolves howling but she knew that they weren't any normal creature.
"Beowolves."
Meanwhile…
He awoke with a jerk, in the distance he could hear howls echoing through the forest. In his mind, the vision of his encounter with the wolves played out once more.
In the corner of his eye he could see a bronze and red spear embedded in the ground. He could feel the cold metal against his ear and it dawned on him that he had been incredibly close to death.
As he turned away, his body screamed in pain which brought the memory of the pain that the bites the wolves had given but spread across his entire body. Every breath he took made his back twitch in painful spasms.
Which remembered him of hitting his back on one of the branches and panic flooded his brain. He turned back onto his back and with some effort he managed to raise himself onto his elbows.
Looking down at his legs he could see that they looked normal, and with a deep breath he raised his right leg. Much to his relief he could feel the strain as it rose and he started to laugh as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. His celebration was cut short as more howls could be heard along with the sound of thunder, which could only be one thing.
Combat.
He was still in the middle of Beacon's initiation, he needed to find a partner and find the relics then head back to Beacon. Looking up once more he could faintly see the sun was reaching its zenith in the sky.
Getting back on his feet he began to stretch, trying to loosen his body before glancing up again to inspect his ruined parachute. It was caught up in the branches too far to salvage, he hated leaving something that might be useful behind.
Using the sun, he turned in the direction of what he thought was north and drew Crocea Mors. It had been a while since the last time he had held the sword and shield but he felt more ready than ever to wield it.
As he was about to leave he remembered that there was something else there that might be useful. He turned to see the bronze and gold spear still stuck, tip first, in the ground.
He had to wonder who in their right mind would throw a spear at someone. Shaking his head he sheathed Crocea Mors and returned it to his belt as he pulled the weapon out of the ground.
As it came free from the dirt something peculiar started to happened, as he was holding onto it with both hands he could feel something pulling on it.
Shrugging he turned back north and started to walk. Hopefully he'll find a partner soon but he didn't really know anyone at the moment that he'd like to partner up with.
Ruby was nice if not a little eccentric but that couldn't be helped as she was no doubt still coming to terms about being accepted into Beacon early.
Yang, who probably was still a little upset about Jaune throwing up near her, seemed to be nice. Though she was also a little rambunctious, which Jaune wasn't sure if that would end well with him since she seemed to like fighting a lot. Which meant it would be easier for her to find out that he didn't have his Aura unlocked.
Then there was Weiss, who definitely didn't like him. Though in truth he didn't really like her as much as well, since her apparent status made her a little, prickly, to be around.
The last one would be Pyrrha but Jaune didn't know anything about her technically so she was out of the equation as well. Looking down at the spear again he realized that the spear however may belong to her. If he recalled correctly her outfit seemed to match the color scheme of the weapon but why would she throw it at him?
Questions for later he supposed, he'll just have to hold onto it until he saw her again. He would also have to use it for now since he didn't have any way to carry it, spinning the weapon around slowly with both hands he could feel that it was very well balanced.
Nodding to himself he set off into the forest.
Elsewhere…
Pyrrha grunted as she flung Akoúo at leaping Beowolf, the bronze shield smashed into the Grimm's sternum. As she willed it to return to her, she ducked a claw swipe from another Beowolf before somersaulting over a third.
As she landed in crouch, she immediately dove to the left and brought her shield up in time to block the claws of another Beowolf. Slipping around it she threw her shield at the back of its head, the bronze shield cleaved into its skull.
Running forward she ran up the falling body and used it as a springboard, drawing her shield towards her, it flew back to her hand. Only for her to spin in air, hurling the shield at a charging Beowolf, the bronze shield struck it in the throat with bone crunching force before rebounding back to her as she caught it again before landing on the forest floor.
She quickly leapt backwards avoiding another strike then hurled the shield like a discus at the last Beowolf; the bronze shield hit it in its snarling mouth. The creature however didn't react fast enough so the shield cleaved its head in two.
As the shield returned to her arm, Pyrrha looked around at the dissolving bodies, nothing stirred. Taking a deep breath she could smell smoke in the distance, apparently someone had decided to set the forest on fire. She hoped that it didn't go out of control because that's the last thing she'd want to deal with today.
Activating her semblance again she could feel the pull of Miló much clearer now, it had begun to move so she had been picking up pace which unfortunately caused her to run into the Beowolves.
With that being said if Miló was moving then that was a good sign but it was heading away from her, if she wanted to have Miló before it was too late she'll have to move faster.
Meanwhile…
"Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie are partnered up, though I don't imagine that they'll be getting along so well." Goodwitch remarked.
"I wouldn't be so sure Glynda, those two came here together I have a feeling they'll leave together." Ozpin replied coolly as he monitored the young reaper, Ruby, as she struggled to get her new partner to work with her.
"Also it seems that there are still two people who are still in the initiation that have yet to find a partner, Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc. Though I still can't wrap my head around why you accepted him, his transcripts were obviously forged, none of the combat schools recognized him or his, Huntress, as it's claimed on the form." Glynda said as she looked over at the Headmaster.
"I accepted him because while the form was a lie, the name behind it were clearly real."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean his name; it's a name that has rung over the many battlefields that have transpired over the decades, even centuries on Remnant, a name that comes from a forgotten time in which the world was covered in darkness and war. Arc" Ozpin said as he looked up to the sky, Glynda frowned.
"Them? I thought they were holing themselves up in their own Kingdom, not caring about we do?"
"It wouldn't be the first time we've had an Arc under our tutelage."
"Really?"
"Yes really, in fact it was the eldest Arc child if memory serves me correctly. So I suppose he's simply following in her footsteps." Ozpin remarked as he swiped through video feeds on his tablet.
"Then why hide?" Ozpin sighed.
"Now that's something I don't know anything about." Glynda snorted.
"I doubt that, you've got to have at least some speculation about this." Ozpin simply sipped his mug.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Besides that it's not as if the Four Kingdoms have been very open with them, even Vale has made a few missteps in dealing with them. We pushed them away and now for the most part they want nothing to do with us. Which one would imagine would leave them in a dire situation since they have to defend themselves alone out there which is difficult enough for the Four Kingdoms or so that is what the Atlas, Mistral and Vale all believe. Vacuo however believes that they've endured if not thrived in their years of isolation." Ozpin said.
"Do you agree with them?"
"I don't know but for the times being with what we know I would have to agree. What they had done during the Great War and the Faunus Revolution has left many memories of the carnage they wrought. War for them is second nature."
"If war if second nature, should we really keep him here?" Glynda asked and Ozpin flashed a knowing smile at her.
"Yes."
Meanwhile…
Jaune could feel his lungs burning as he dove behind a fallen tree. Thirty meters away from him, a Beowolf slowly moved out from behind a rock, it had been following him for the past five minutes.
It had yet to find him but it knew he was nearby that much Jaune was sure. Covering his mouth with his left hand he slowly brought his racing heart back down as he gripped the spear with his other hand.
As much as he wanted to fight he couldn't help but feel a wave of trepidation. At that moment he could hear the Beowolf growl louder, Jaune gripped the spear with two hands now as he took slow deep breathes.
He needed to act fast and act smart. Had his legs decided to listen to him, he would have stood up to fight but they didn't. Jaune could feel his legs begin to shake with fear.
Jaune could hear the beast creeping closer to him, he kept thinking that he needed to act fast but he if he leapt up at the wrong time then the Beowolf would claw him to pieces. The spear wobbled and suddenly pressed against his chest with enough force that Jaune was afraid it'll break his ribs.
Thankfully the pressure relaxed but Jaune realized that the Beowolf was practically on top of him. Slowly looking up he could see the lumbering form come into view, the creature snarled and raised one clawed paw.
However someone started to yell, it sounded very familiar, and then the Beowolf lurched forward over the fallen tree. Jaune rolled the side as the Grimm tumbled on the spot he just sat at and he could see a bronze shield embedded into its back.
"Over here!" The voice shouted again and Jaune turned to see the redhead, Pyrrha, Jaune instantly hopped over the tree and headed towards her. She raised her hand and Jaune was surprised to see the bronze shield flying back towards her.
"I think you're missing this." Jaune said as he closed the distance between them. Pyrrha flashed a quick smile as they met eyes and he gave the spear back.
"Thanks, now let's kill this Alpha and we can get out of here." She said spinning the spear around and Jaune was surprised to see it shifting into a short sword.
"Alpha?" He asked as he drew Crocea Mors and activated his shield then face the Grimm as it climbed back up to face them.
"Of course, look at the size of it and the bone spikes on its back and well now's not the time to discuss this. Are you hurt?" She asked glancing over at him as she circled to the right.
"I'm a little banged up, but I'm good to go, you?" Jaune replied as he circled left.
"Banged up?" She asked but didn't get any farther as the Beowolf roared then sprinted on all fours at Jaune.
It was almost felt as if everything slowed down around him while he took a single deep breath before releasing it. The Beowolf raised its right arm and swiped it at him but Jaune crouched angling his shield a little as the claws reached him.
The impact sent painful tremors up his arm but it did the trick of deflecting the blow as he stepped inward towards its right. Pivoting to the right he swung Crocea Mors down and the blade bit into the back of its knee.
More tremors traveled up his arm as if he had hit a solid piece of wood but alas it was nothing but flesh and bone. The Grimm roared in pain only to be silenced as Pyrrha came leaping at it, swinging her sword downwards it cut the snout of the Beowolf in two.
As she landed on her feet she quickly spun around and Jaune watched in awe as she threw her sword which impaled the side of the Grimm's skull.
Jaune watched as it fell with a thud on the forest floor. He could see thin trails of black smoke starting to emerge from the Grimm; Pyrrha walked up to it and pulled her sword out with ease.
"Well that was quicker than I expected." She said as she turned towards him and Jaune felt a slight wave of annoyance.
"Really? Did you not think I could handle myself?" He asked as he collapsed his shield then sheathed Crocea Mors before returning it to his belt. Pyrrha's eyes widened in realization and she shook her head.
"Oh! Wait! No that's not what I meant, I, I was just thinking about what you said about being banged up and thought your Aura must be low for that to happen." Jaune couldn't help but feel like he should point out that it couldn't be low at all since he didn't have it unlocked but he resisted that urge.
"Ah, well its fine." Jaune said as he scratched the back of his head then a started to smile before extending a hand towards her.
"Well I guess this makes us partners now." Pyrrha looked down at his hand in surprised and Jaune wondered if that wasn't the right move but she took his hand.
"Partners it is then."
Later…
Jaune and Pyrrha pushed through the forest, they hadn't run into the other initiates and neither have they run into another Grimm since they slew the Beowolf. Jaune for one was quite thankful as his body ached all over from the day's events so he'd rather not go and fight anything else.
His hands still shook at little from the encounter with the Beowolf, he always knew that Grimm were described as monsters but seeing one up close felt completely different. The mere presence of it had made Jaune's skin crawl and sent his heart racing with adrenaline.
Glancing over at Pyrrha who was busy keeping an eye around their surroundings, he could see that she seemed completely fine.
"So, uh, where are you from?" Jaune finally decided to ask, breaking the silence that had been going on since they started making their way north together.
"Do you really not know?" She asked glancing back at him with puzzlement evident on her face.
"Crap, is it an accent thing? Cause I'm terrible with accents." Pyrrha smiled and shook her head.
"No, I'm just; well, sort of famous I guess so I'm actually surprised that you don't know who I am." Jaune tilted his head a little.
"Famous? Like movie celebrity famous?" She shook her head again.
"More like sports famous." Jaune rubbed his chin for a second.
"Yea I still don't know, never really watched a lot of sports."
"Fair enough, I'm the same way I guess, never really liked to watch others play when I could be doing the same thing." Pyrrha replied.
"Well, if you don't mind me asking why'd you come to Beacon then? I mean if you liked playing the sport then why not pursue a career in it?" Jaune asked and Pyrrha seemed to mull it over for a little bit.
"To be honest becoming a Huntress and participating in the Tournaments were sort of the same thing in theory and in some sense practice. I learned how to control my semblance much better and gauge mine or my opponents Aura. So while the Creatures of Grimm don't have Aura I would know how to react based on the Auras of those around me from my experience of fighting." Jaune tilted his head again in confusion.
"Fighting? What kind of sport were you in?" Pyrrha frowned briefly as she glanced at him before looking away.
"I've been participating in the Mistral Regional Tournaments for the past four years." That's when it finally clicked for Jaune.
"Ohhhhhhh, you're the girl that got featured on Pumpkin Pete's." He said looking back at her and Pyrrha laughed.
"Yes, I'm the girl that's on Pumpkin Pete's."
"Man, I love that stuff."
"I hear a lot of people like it, shame it's not really good for you." Jaune chuckled.
"Sometimes you just wanna drink of bowl of sugary milk and for me Pumpkin Pete's is the best brand." In the corner of his eye he could see Pyrrha smiling a little and he felt happy to see that.
The smiles that both of them had fell away as they came into a small clearing next to a small cliff, there they could see a dark opening of a cave.
"Think this is it?" Jaune asked as he rested his left hand on the handle of Crocea Mors but Pyrrha shook her head.
"No, the Headmaster said that we should be looking for a temple and besides that I don't see anyone else here." Pyrrha pointed out.
"I guess you're right, we should continue north." Jaune said and the two continued on however something screeched loudly in the distance above them. Looking up Jaune was surprised to see a massive bird in the sky heading north as well.
"That's a large Nevermore." Pyrrha noted.
"Yea but there's something on it, something red on the talon I think, I can't see so well." Jaune said and Pyrrha pulled Miló off her back. Jaune could hear the mechanisms clicking as it shifted into a rifle, aiming it upward Pyrrha looked at the Nevermore again.
"You're not going to believe this but its Weiss Schnee and her partner, Ruby." Pyrrha reported and Jaune snapped his head up again.
"Ruby!? What direction is it going?" Jaune asked and Pyrrha pointed north.
"It looks like they're going the same way as us."
"Then let's get a move on!" Jaune said as he stretched himself for the long run, wincing at the flashes of pain over his body. Making a mental note that he was going to need to look into getting some bandages as he no doubt had more than a few cuts on him. Hopping up and down a little he looked at Pyrrha who nodded in return. The two teens immediately took off into the forest.
Later…
Jaune was panting heavily as the trees finally started to thin out and the two of them found themselves in a large clearing. To one side they could see a stone structure with a few people standing near it while in the complete opposite end was the cliffs.
However Jaune could see what looked to be another large structure there was well.
Above them they could see the Nevermore circling high in the sky, too far for any chance of someone to hit it at the moment.
"Vomit boy! Over here!" A familiar voice called out and Jaune turned to his left to see a blonde figure standing next to a distinct red blob.
"Uh, I think she's calling us over." Pyrrha said who was barely winded herself.
"Yea…I…noticed." Jaune managed to say between deep breathes, Pyrrha frowned.
"Are you okay Jaune? You seemed really tired, I must have been right to suspect your Aura took a big hit for you to be like this." Pyrrha said but Jaune waved her off.
"I'm…fine, it's nothing to worry about." Pyrrha narrowed her eyes, she didn't want to say it but she definitely didn't believe him. He was sweating, breathing heavily, and looked to be dead on his feet. That wasn't normal, she didn't even remember the last time she felt as tired as he looked.
"Come on." Jaune said as he started to jog again towards the figures in the distance. As they got closer Pyrrha could see a buxom blonde girl with a black hair girl standing silently behind her. Weiss and Ruby were already at the temple picking up what she assumed were the relics.
There was also an orange hair girl who surprisingly was skipping around as she hummed. She was heading to a teen with a pink strip of hair that also looked like he was catching his breath as well. Though Pyrrha suspected it had to do with the other girl than his physical condition.
"Jeez Jaune, you look like you've been through the wringer." Yang said grimacing at the sight of him.
"Ah, well, let's just say there was a snag or two with my landing strategy." Jaune said before walking up towards the ruined temple. Pyrrha however had winced when he said that as she was technically the cause of his misfortune.
"Hey, you're Pyrrha Nikos right?" The blonde girl asked as she stepped closer and Pyrrha nodded.
"Yes, and you are?" Yang grinned as she held a hand out.
"Yang Xiao Long." Pyrrha shook her hand.
"Pleasure to meet you."
"So what's up with the Nevermore? We saw Ruby and Weiss riding on it earlier which is why we came running here as fast as we could." Pyrrha asked but Yang sighed as she shrugged as if she had already given up trying to figure it out.
"To be honest I stopped asking how Ruby does some of the things she does years ago."
"Oh, are you two friends?" Pyrrha asked tilting her head a little but Yang shook her head, a sad smile appearing on her face for a second.
"No, we're actually step-sisters."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Pyrrha said but Yang held up a hand.
"Don't apologize, you didn't do anything wrong."
"I hate to break up this conversation but do either of you know what we're going to do about Nevermore? It's not leaving plus it's between us and the cliffs." The black hair girl interrupted.
"Blake, come on, we can take that thing easily." Yang said as a wanton grin grew on her face.
"I'm not sure it's going to come down here for you to get in a punching contest with it." Blake replied flatly.
"We don't have to fight it; we all have our relics now we just need to get back." Ruby called out as she and Weiss joined them.
"What piece did you pick?" Yang asked and Ruby held up a golden knight piece.
"Good choice." Yang said with a smile as she held up her own.
"I'm not so sure about that actually." Jaune spoke up as he and the two other initiates joined them.
"What do you mean?" Weiss asked and he pointed up towards it.
"It's not leaving but it's not making a move which to me means it's waiting for us to get into a good position for it to attack." Jaune explained.
"Why wouldn't it attack us, we don't have anything to bring it down at range?" Pyrrha asked.
"It might be because we're in a solid group; it probably doesn't want to take the chance with all of us hitting it at once."
"Okay but like Pyrrha said most of us don't have a powerful long range weapon and you don't even have any that can hit at range." Weiss pointed out again and Jaune rolled his eyes.
"That's not the point, it thinks that we are a threat hence why it's not attacking us this very moment and that's what matters." Jaune said.
"I think he's right, it's better to be safe than sorry." The magenta eyed teen spoke up from behind Jaune.
"Yea, I guess I'm gonna have to agree with Jaune on this as well." Yang said then looked at Ruby.
"I don't think any of us wants to make a mistake here. There are no second chances when it comes to things like this." She said as she put an arm around the younger girl then looked up at Jaune.
"So what's the plan?" She asked and Jaune realized that everyone was now staring at him. Clearing his throat he looked around then nodded mostly to himself.
"Alright, we're going to split up, two teams, we each go to one side of the forest and swing wide before heading towards the cliffs."
"What's that supposed to do? The Nevermore would be too difficult to take down then." Weiss pointed about.
"The point isn't to fight it in the forest; the point is to lure it down to a point where we can hit it at all. If it sees we split off then it'll come after one of us. When it starts to attack we'll start making our way back to the cliff ruins. If the team with the Nevermore gets there first their job will be to hold it down until the second team comes from behind and strikes. If the other team makes it first then they'll set up position to ambush it, hopefully injuring or killing it outright." Jaune said and the black hair girl spoke up.
"So how will we know when to turn back? None of us can communicate at a distance." Jaune scratched his chin as he thought about it.
"Then how about this, both teams will head away from the cliffs for ten minutes then start swinging back around towards the cliffs." Pyrrha interjected and everyone seemed to nod at the idea.
"What are the teams?" Ruby asked and Yang looked at her.
"Well, I'm coming with you Ruby, especially after what happened earlier." Yang said and Jaune could see the young girl lower her head a little. Though he didn't know what she was referring to nor did he want to step in as it wasn't his business.
"You cool with this?" Yang asked as she turned to her partner who shrugged.
"Sure." Jaune turned to the other two teens.
"Well I guess you're with me and Pyrrha, name's Jaune Arc." He said as he extended a hand, the magenta eyed teen took it.
"Lie Ren and this is my partner." He said in a cool monotone voice as he gestured with his other hand to the shorter, bubbly, orange hair girl.
"Nora Valkyrie! Ready for duty!" She shouted as she gave a mock salute. Jaune grinned as he looked at the assembled group.
"Alright, let's finish this."
15 Minutes Later…
Jaune dove over a rock behind Pyrrha as another flurry of feathers came after them. Jaune could feel the violent vibrations of the rock as the steel like feathers embedding themselves in and around the rock.
"You good!" Jaune shouted.
"We're good!" Lie Ren shouted from nearby.
"Jaune we have to keep moving, Ruby's team should already be heading towards the cliffs now." Pyrrha said before they were drowned out as the Nevermore flew over the treetops screeching, broken branches rained down the on the duo.
"Alright! Let's move then. Nora! Ren! Let's go!" Jaune shouted and Nora cackled as she hopped out into the open, her weapon held in her hands. Jaune watched as she fired three times, in the distance he could see three bright pink clouds explode.
None of the shots however connected with the Nevermore but it did force the Grimm to stop in air as it waited for the smoke to clear.
By that point the four of them were already high tailing it through the forest. Jaune, who was bringing up the rear, looked over his shoulder to see the Nevermore looking for them as it circled the air above where they had taken cover.
"Jaune! Keep up!" Pyrrha shouted and he realized that the others were starting to gain distance from him. The Nevermore continued to screech then Jaune could see a shadow pass over head and it flew ahead of them. It was trying to cut them off as it turned around and flapped a few times in air.
"Dodge!" Pyrrha shouted and everyone but Jaune dove to the side. It took a few moments for him to realize what she meant and dove onto the ground just as another flurry of large feathers struck around him.
Glancing to the side he could see the trunk of a tree explode in a shower of wood chips that rained down on him as a feather struck it. A pair of soft yet powerful hands grabbed Jaune's left arm and he gasped in pain as he was dragged up.
Jaune had made the unfortunate mistake of trying to block a feather earlier with his shield until Pyrrha called out to him to not do that. He was too slow in moving out of the way and ended up getting glanced by the feather.
His shield protected him but even the glancing blow was enough to send pain through his wrist and shoulder.
"Jaune are you okay?' Pyrrha asked taking her hands off him as she saw his face twist up in pain.
"I'm fine; it's nothing to worry about." Jaune said as he stepped away and continued to jog towards the cliff leaving Pyrrha behind. She exchanged looks with Ren and Nora as they all knew however that he wasn't fine at all.
10 Minutes Later…
Jaune broke through another bush only to come into a clearing, large stone columns covered each side that led up to the stone ruin that rose up from a massive ravine.
Gunfire, bright lines of energy, along with explosions however soared up into the sky around it as Ruby and the others fought the Nevermore. The massive bird Grimm had lost interest in Jaune's group so it had zeroed in on another, much clearer target.
"What should we do?" Ren asked as he ran up besides Jaune.
"Let's get across the bridge, you, Nora and Pyrrha have weapons that can assist them." He nodded and was about to move forward when he looked back at him.
"I think you should sit this out." Jaune blinked.
"What?"
"You're obviously out of Aura and are hurt. Nora and I noticed it a while back when we were heading here. Stay here and keep out of trouble." Ren said but Jaune shook his head.
"I'm fine there's nothing to worry about, trust me." He said and Ren narrowed his eyes a little but was interrupted before he could say anything.
"What are you two lounging around for? The fight's that way!" Nora yelled as she ran past them, Ren gave Jaune once last look before taking off after her. Jaune was about to go when he realized that Pyrrha was just standing there looking at him.
"What?" He asked as Pyrrha stepped forward and grabbed his left arm. He winced a little in pain as she raised his arm up then rolled the sleeve back. Revealing his sweat covered arm, however Jaune felt himself grow cold as he saw the long gash on his arm, thin trails of blood seeped from it.
"When were you going to tell me?" She demanded before letting his arm go though he could see that her face wasn't matching the outrage in her voice.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He said trying to cover up the panic in his voice but Pyrrha stepped in front of him. Looking into her eyes, he swore that they were glowing with rage as she stared him down.
"Don't lie to me Jaune, when were you going to tell me that you didn't have Aura? When you collapse from exhaustion or was I supposed to find out after you got yourself killed." Jaune sighed wearily as he pushed down his sleeve, he didn't have the energy to go through with lying.
"No one is supposed to know, alright? Now can we get back to the fight at hand?" He asked but Pyrrha shook her head and gripped Jaune's shoulders.
"Not yet, there's something I need to do." Jaune furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
"What is it?"
"Jaune we're going to be partners for the next four years so plus just trust me." She said frustration obviously leaking into her voice again and Jaune sighed.
"Fine, I trust you." She nodded.
"Close your eyes please." He tilted his head a little but did so none the less. He immediately felt a hand on his cheek and Pyrrha began to speak but the words were lost on him as suddenly he felt an intense sense of vertigo.
Then images and sounds began to play out in his mind. None of which made any sense to him, a city in ruins, the sound of a bow being drawn and a voice much like his own that screamed in despair. A deep guttural laugh and the feeling of dread grew in him before giving out as a white light flooded his vision.
Jaune opened his eyes to see Pyrrha leaning against a stone column, visibly exhausted as she took in several deep breathes.
"Pyrrha?" He asked but she waved him away.
"I used my own Aura to unlock yours, how do you feel?" She asked and Jaune immediately realized that he indeed felt a lot different. His body no longer ached, the pain in his back, leg, and arm was all gone. Now he felt as if he could sprint forever whereas each step before had been an excruciating effort.
However that didn't last long as his new sense of energy soon gave way to exhaustion. Looking down at his hands, he could see a white glow that came from his body however it began to flicker before even that stopped.
"What you see is your Aura and it's already working intensely to fix the damage done to your body. Though I suspect that if it hasn't already exhausted itself in healing you then either your injuries weren't as bad as they appeared or you have a lot of Aura to work with. Which if I had to be honest it seems like the latter." Pyrrha remarked as she stood up straight again, in the distance the thump and booms of Nora's weapon could be heard now along with the rattle of Rens weapons.
"How are you feeling?" She asked as she stepped out from behind the column, Miló and Akoúo in her hands.
"Exhausted, I thought Aura was supposed to fix me up." He asked as he slowly followed her.
"It is but it's not instant nor is it perfect, you still need to rest and you probably should still go see a doctor after this." Pyrrha said as she looked at him and he shrugged.
"One step at a time I guess. Now let's go kill that son of a bitch." Jaune said as he pulled Crocea Mors sword out while leaving the shield in its sheath form on his belt. There was no point in have it since he couldn't block any of the strikes, so he preferred just to have the sword out even though it was just as useless in this fight.
As Jaune and Pyrrha finally made it onto the stone bridge where the others were firing their weapons from, the Nevermore screeched loudly in pain as it fell briefly into the ravine.
Nora, Ren, Yang and the raven hair girl that Jaune learned earlier was called Blake however were still firing their weapons at the Nevermore as Weiss and Ruby moved further to the right.
The Nevermore cried out in rage as it recovered and rose again from the ravine. It flapped its wings a few times before speeding up towards them.
"Move!" Ruby shouted from nearby as the Nevermore got close and Jaune realized what she saw. The Grimm wasn't aiming exactly for them but underneath them.
Jaune dashed to his right just as the Nevermore struck the bridge, floor beneath him start to shift and he leapt forward. Rolling to his feet he turned around and saw that there was now a fifty foot gap between the two sides.
Nora fired two more times; the loud thumps were followed quickly by explosions and the scream of the Nevermore.
Jaune looked up to see that Pyrrha, Ren and Blake were missing from their group. Looking across the gap he could see the three of them firing their weapons as well.
They needed to get a better angle on the Nevermore; he looked around and saw a small doorway in the main structure with a splintered wood frame.
"Hey Nora!" He shouted and the orange hair girl looked at him.
"Let's find some higher ground, come on!" He pointed towards the doorway and she nodded. He took off with her following him through the doorway but he was surprised when his foot didn't step on anything. He didn't even have time to scream when he fell down on a stone floor.
"Watch out!" Nora shouted and Jaune felt something heavy land on top of him.
"Ow." He moaned.
"I said watch out." Nora replied as she hopped off him.
"Well this is great, now where are we?" Nora said as she looked around.
"There's only one thing left to do and that's finding a way out of here." Jaune said as he got to his feet and looked around. It was sort of dark but outside light was coming in through the doorway and cracks in the walls. Most importantly however was the fact that he could see that the stairway was broken.
"Why do you think the stairs are broken?" He asked but Nora just snorted.
"It's old?"
"I mean obviously but why is this place even here? Nothing is even close to here except for Beacon." Jaune replied.
"I guess you're right in that sense, I thought it was odd that the Headmaster launched us into the forest for a temple. I wish Ren was here, he's much smarter than me he'd figure this out."
"Well we should look around and see if we can find a way out." Jaune said instead as he looked around and the two teens searched the room. Jaune was surprised that they found old, rusty cutlery, cups and wood furnishings.
They could still hear the crackle and soft booms of explosions coupled with the screeching of the Nevermore. However Jaune couldn't help but hear something else as well, it sounded a lot like the skittering of something that always appeared from behind him.
"Jaune?" Nora asked softly.
"Yea?"
"I don't think we're alone here." Nora said as she stepped closer to him, he pulled his sheath out from his belt and activated the shield.
"I'm starting to think that as well."
Unbeknownst to them, eight red eyes followed them. Followed by sixteen then twenty four more eyes, each set closing in on them slowly.
Jaune wasn't sure how long they had been in the structure when everything started to shake violently. He feared that the Nevermore had somehow weakened the structure and it was now going to collapse killing both of them.
Instead light filtered down from above and Jaune looked up to see the clear blue sky from a hole in the ceiling. The sound of fighting was much clearer now. However there was something else that truly frightened Jaune and Nora who took a sharp intake of breath next to him.
Three Creatures of Grimm were next to the opening in the ceiling. Each had eight legs with multiple bone spikes protruding from the black legs; another bone plate with red markings protected the cephalothorax. Each of the Grimm creatures was about a meter in length and width.
Jaune tried to swallow but his throat was far too dry from fear.
"Jaune." Nora whispered.
"Yea?"
"What should we do?" She asked and there was only one thing that Jaune could think of.
One of the creatures started to lower itself down towards them; Jaune could see a stark white line of webbing being produced that allowed it to descend. He made a mental note not to get caught in that as it would probably be impossible to get out of.
"Run! He shouted and the two teens backed away. Nora braced with her weapon and fired. The sound of the grenade launcher in close confines might have permanently damaged Jaune's hearing but now with his Aura, it simply rang loudly.
The shell exploded in a cloud of pink smoke and a black shape fell to the ground. Jaune stared at the twitching mass of the Spider Grimm; three of its legs were missing as it squirmed in pain.
"Watch out!" Nora screamed and Jaune looked up to see another spider jumping from the ceiling towards him. He crouched low at the last second came at him and swung Crocea Mors horizontally. The tip of the blade hit something and there was an abnormally high screech as something hit the ground behind him.
Jaune spun around just in time for it to jump on him again. As Jaune fell back he could see the only thing that was keeping the chelicera away from his body was Crocea Mors. The sword as wedged between the two fangs as they tried to close.
The Grimm was surprisingly heavy and its flailing legs were making it difficult for Jaune to bring his shield around to get it off him.
"I got it!" Nora yelled and suddenly the Grimm was off him. Looking to his left he could see it sprawled out against the wall of the tower, twitching slightly. Nora stood over him wielding a large hammer as she looked at the ceiling. Jaune looked up to see the third one backing away.
"Should we kill it?" She asked but Jaune shook his head as he stood up.
"No, let's just find a way out of here." She nodded and the two of them headed in the opposite direction. As they ran that when they started to hear more movement everywhere they turned, the constant skittering grew louder and louder that it nearly drowned out the fighting above them.
After what seemed like forever there they made it to another room like that they had come though. Jaune pointed towards the intact staircase and followed Nora up the stairs with his weapons ready in case another Grimm appeared.
Jaune could feel the wind on his back as Nora pushed over a dilapidated wooden door. They stepped outside again but this time they were on the other side of the structure from where they had come in from.
Looking up Jaune was surprised to see the headless corpse of the Nevermore fall down into the mist obscured ravine. Looking again he could see the red form of Ruby on top of the cliff, for some reason it looked like rose petals were flying through the air.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha's voice called out from nearby, he turned to see her and Ren running towards them. Nora was about to run ahead when suddenly she fell forward with a slam, losing her grip on her weapon, then started to get pulled back.
"Get it off me!" She yelled as she was pulled away, Jaune turned around to see the same webbing wrapped around her leg. He could see the Grimm from before standing at the doorway pulling her towards it.
Jaune slashed down with Crocea Mors and expected to have a clean cut. Much to his horror Crocea Mors didn't cut the web completely, instead it got stuck halfway through soon he was being dragged along trying to slow the pull.
"Watch out!" Pyrrha shouted and Jaune lowered his head as her shield flew in then struck the Grimm. However it wasn't enough to dislodge the Grimm and Jaune pulled harder on his sword finally getting it free when Weiss came in from above.
Ice formed as she made contact with the ground, Jaune and Nora finally were stopped as the ice held the web in place. Blake quickly came in and Jaune could hear the sound of her fighting coupled with what he assumed was the death screech of the creature.
"Are you two alright?" Yang asked as she got closer to them, Jaune held up a thumb as he panted on the ground while Ren helped Nora up.
"What was thing?" Nora asked.
"If I had to guess it looked like a Death Weaver." Weiss said as she cupped her chin.
"A what?" Ruby asked looking confused.
"A Spider Grimm." Pyrrha explained and Yang shuddered.
"Ew."
"I think we've got more pressing concerns." Weiss said and the others looked at her.
"Death Weavers don't come in just small groups, the fact we encountered one means that there should be more nearby." She said and Nora nodded.
"I think we should just leave now, we've did what we needed to do and that's make it to the cliffs with the relics." Jaune said as Pyrrha pulled him to his feet then they moved towards the cliffs, Yang sighed.
"You gotta admit though, if this is what the first day of being at Beacon is like then the next four years are going to be really eventful."
Later That Day…
Jaune struggled to stay on his feet as Headmaster Ozpin called out four more names. He was assigning teams and apparently every two pairs that picked the same pieces were being assigned as a team together.
He was also surprised at how many teams there were before them. He didn't remember seeing a lot of people at the cliffs when Ozpin launched them all but he supposed that they probably got separated or launched at another time or something.
In fact the more that Jaune thought about it, the more it felt as if random people in his memory were just black silhouettes.
"Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, and Lie Ren." Ozpin called out and Jaune shook his head a little as he followed them.
Jaune ended up standing next to Pyrrha while they stood on the stage facing Ozpin. Jaune could see the crowd of attending and new students like him watching them.
He could see that more than a few of them were whispering to themselves and were looking at Pyrrha. Glancing at her, he could see that she stared stoically at Ozpin, betraying no emotion to the obvious fact that people were quite specifically staring at her.
"Form this day forward, you shall be known as team JNPR. Led by Jaune Arc." Jaune snapped his head around towards the Headmaster who gave him a small smile.
"Congratulations young man." Jaune wasn't sure what to say so he just said the first thing to come to mind.
"Oh."
Meanwhile…
Alexander was sitting in a small coffee shop near the pier sipping from a small porcelain cup of tea while he read the newspaper. Apparently news had finally leaked out about another Schnee train being robbed in the northern sections of Forever Fall Forest.
Police and a Schnee representative had both confirmed that it had all the hallmarks of a White Fang job. All of the human crew killed, with the cargo stolen, and the train's eventual derailment while being covered in White Fang symbols.
Though Alexander found it odd that they didn't specify what exactly was stolen. Normally someone would give detail in the amount of Dust stolen. As the missing Dust ended up driving prices which would just help the authorities deepen the animosity of the public towards the White Fang.
At the same time it did stir up trouble for those still trying to amend the ever weakening relations of the Human and Faunus communities.
His own Kingdom was having a relatively minor problem with it as there have been some rumors spreading of Faunus seeking to acquire reparations for the crimes committed against their people in the Four Kingdoms.
Alexander had no patience to deal with such trivial greed; Arcadia has nothing to do with that mistreatment. Nor had it turned a blind eye to those that committed such acts in their borders.
He could still remember the day that The Son had given the edict to punish those that discriminated against Faunus by stripping them of their land and money. Or alternatively be forced to serve in the Army for a set amount of time for such violation.
With Arcadia's isolation, the White Fang had yet to establish a foothold in his Kingdom. This brought the benefit of preventing trouble starting in Arcadia like that which plagued the Four Kingdoms; however it left him open to criticism of being apathetic to the tribulations of their people as well.
All of which he didn't care for, the Four Kingdoms had made their choice to distance themselves from Arcadia a long time ago and he respected that decision. As such he was able to put his attention on making his people happy rather than the governments of other Kingdoms.
Though of course raising a family had been a slight issue as well but one that he was okay with. If he had to put a meaning of what it was like to have a family, he would have to pick the term vacation.
Out of the twelve months in a year he would spend nearly half of it in Arcadia. Spending weeks or months there at a time and other times just taking four or five days to attend to minor issues.
Now that changed as Arabella was taking the girls back to Arcadia to now live there for presumably the rest of their lives. The decision to do so did have some influence rooted in Jaune's decision to attended Beacon but in truth he had omitted the part of having decided that during his last trip to Arcadia.
Something was stirring up trouble on the borders; patrols have gone missing, renewed appearance of the denizens from the Ether and the unusual Grimm activity. The Creatures of Grimm that surround Arcadia have always been a little odd as the constant warfare with the Arcadia Military has in fact strengthened the survivors of those campaigns.
Many soldiers and civilians nowadays however have the tendency to call the various campaigns, Crusades. It probably had to do something with that new cult that was supposedly being formed amongst the populace.
Alexander however could say for sure that things were being set in motion that could drastically affect the future of his Kingdom.
"Sir." A voice interrupted Alexander's internal musing and he looked up to see Zus.
"Ah, have a seat lad." Alexander said gesturing to the other chair in front of him. The operative sat down without a complaint and in the corner of his eye. Alexander could see that more than one or two female patrons and staff members were eyeing their table now.
"What brings you my way today Zus?" Alexander asked as he poured a second cup then set it in front of the other man.
"Just business as normal." Zus replied as he picked up the cup and took a sip.
"Mhmm, this is pretty good, what is it?"
"Just White tea, I find it very soothing to say at least." Zus nodded as he finished his cup.
"I'll need to remember to buy some before I leave."
"They're pretty well priced so I encourage it." Alexander said as he put the cup down, he folded his hands and looked out towards the busy street.
"So what have you learned?" He asked without looking at the other man, Zus cleared his throat a little.
"Well it seems he passed, they had some difficulty with a Nevermore and some Death Weavers. However they cleared out without looking for the nest. Which we suspect is in the main structure of the junction in the ravine. I've consulted with Zander and he said that he could assemble a team to demolish the structure they were seen in if you wish." Alexander shook his head.
"No, we still can't reveal our presence here, so blowing something up is out of the question. I'll have Arthus form a kill squad and contact you about this. It served its purpose long ago now put it to rest." Zus nodded as he pulled out a small red note pad and wrote in it briefly.
"The next thing is Azalea's report, we don't know much about the local White Fang branch other than that they're being led by, let's say, a fella with an anger management problem. Which is all she has for now, she says that she'll be able to find something within a month all she needs is to find some contact that knows the White Fang." Alexander nodded then looked at him as he could see the man reading something rather pensively.
"I assume there's something else."
"Two things actual, I guess one's good news and the other not so much." Alexander narrowed his eyes a little.
"Well?"
"Do you want the good news or bad news first?" Alexander just glared at the other man who cleared his throat as he looked down.
"I'll go with bad news first then. Apparently as of 0600 yesterday, communication officers onboard the A.N.S. Jericho received an emergency beacon from operatives in the South Western regions of Sanus. The beacon came from a village there by the name of Nymirr."
"Nymirr you say?" Alexander frowned as he rubbed his chin.
"Sir, is there something important about Nymirr?" Zus asked but Alexander gave him a cold stare.
"It was before your time, for now forget about it. I will inquire into that myself." Zus nodded.
"So what's this other piece of news?" Alexander asked as he leaned forward.
"We know where Katherine Arc is."
Why hello there, come here often? No? Fair enough.
Oh! I didn't see you there, uh, disregard that.
A new chapter, a new day, ah how it feels to be bursting with ideas only to not find the fucking words to describe them! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed the chapter, I'm sure Jaune didn't since he was next to useless but his opinion doesn't matter.
So! Leave a comment or review on what you think about the story. Or PM, find me on steam, or Teamspeak or Ventrilo, or whatever, if you have anything you want to discuss story related or not.
Alas I must leave you my sweet darlings as my people(dog) requires my attention.
Till next time!