Special thanks to Maldevinine from AO3 for beta reading this chapter.
Let me know what you think!
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Ren, Pyrrha and Nora hiked through the forest with camping gear strapped to their backs. They had already been walking for most of the afternoon. Oddly enough the farther they walked the fewer Grimm they encountered.
"Is it just me or is the forest rather quiet?" Pyrrha commented, keeping an eye out for potential threats. Not that there were any. They had only encountered a few Beowolves pretty early on, and even that was pretty sparse considering the things they encountered during initiation.
"Maybe it has something to do with the blood seals?" Nora suggested pointing upwards. Sure enough a bloody marking adorned what was left of a stone entryway, matching the marks in their dorm room.
"I guess that means we're going the right way at least." Ren added. The three passed under the archway in relative silence, making their way to the pedestals that once held the relics for initiation. Now they stood empty, with no sign of their leader except an arrow drawn on the stone floor in blood. It pointed to a second archway leading to stairs carved in the mountainside, another blood seal drawn above this one too.
"Is it just me or is fearless leader going a little crazy with the blood trails?" Nora commented uncomfortably. Pyrrha didn't respond, though she was think the same thing. She didn't want to imagine how Jaune got his hands on so much blood. Was it his own or someone else's? She shuddered just imagining her leader harming an innocent. He would never do something so cruel… right?
They entered the passageway indicated by the arrows, climbing up several hundred eroding steps as the sound of rushing water became louder and louder. After thirty minutes they reached the top, all going slack jawed at the sight. The remains of a grand building was spread all around them. Parts of the stone walls were still standing with the rest scattered in large blocks across the tall grass. Not far away was a small lake leading into a waterfall, the source somewhere under the mountain. Oddly there was a more recently made stone altar with bones and a ram's hide draped across, and a familiar winged figure kneeling in front of it.
"Jaune!" Nora bound forward and tackled the blonde in a tight hug. He looked up at the bomber and gave her a small hug back. Pyrrha and Ren also approached, but more hesitantly until Nora pulled them into a big group hug. After a moment Jaune moved back getting a good look over his teammates. Pyrrha took the chance to do the same, noticing her partner was dressed differently. His normal hoodie and chest plate were left back at the dorms. Instead he wore a black long sleeve zip up with a little Pumpkin Pete rabbit on the chest. There were slits in the back of it for his wings, which already looked bigger and more developed then when they last saw each other. He also had a white pillowcase over his shoulder for some reason.
"Jaune." Pyrrha breathed. "I wanted to apologize for the other day. It wasn't right to get involved in you personal business like that."
"We're also sorry." Ren stated with Nora nodding along.
"Don't be." Jaune sighed. "I should be the one apologizing." That seemed to catch all of them off guard. "I never told you how dangerous Angels can be, and I think that gave you all a false sense of security. I can only blame myself for that."
"To be honest I'd like to know." Pyrrha held her arm and looked to the ground. "You've never summoned a shield or weapons in front of us before."
"Well, it's a good thing I plan to rectify that. Drop your stuff off and we'll get started."
"We're going to spar?" Nora asked excitedly. Jaune nodded to her glee as she quickly took everyone's camping gear and threw it in a pile. The Angel led the three a little ways out from the ruins to a more open area, one surrounded by trees and tall grass. He pulled the pillow case from his shoulder and tied it loosely to his belt.
"What's with the pillowcase?" Ren asked.
"Good question." Jaune answered. "I didn't want this to be overly serious, so your job is to get the cloth from around my waist." He crossed his arms and stood ready, not bothering to take his sword from its sheath. The three looked at Jaune skeptically, trying to figure out if he was serious or not. Finally Nora started laughing hysterically.
"That's a good one Jaune!" She waved him off only to realize she was the only one laughing.
"I'm serious." Jaune answered. "I think this will be a great way to get my point across. Start whenever you're ready, though I'd recommend attacking as a team." The bomber was the only one stepping forward despite his suggestion. Apparently Ren and Pyrrha were still skeptical.
"Alright Jaune, it's your funeral." Nora pulled her weapon out as it transformed into a large hammer. She leapt forward only to be assaulted by five glowing swords overhead. Nora jumped back with a yelp when they whizzed by leaving craters with each impact. Pyrrha and Ren just looked on in disbelief.
"What's wrong Nora? I thought you said it would be easy." Jaune held his arms out mockingly, getting her to growl. She charged forward again while pulling her hammer back ready to slam him. With a cry she swung aiming for his gut only to hit a shield of light instead, which rung like a bell on impact. This time two swords appeared and delivered a devastating uppercut.
"Nora!" Ren rushed forward managing to catch his partner as the force sent them both sliding back.
"As I said. You'll have an easier time working together." The three got into fighting stances as they finally got serious. Ren rushed first, dodging and leaping over the swords Jaune summoned. Nora followed close behind with her hammer ready. She jumped high into the air and swung forward aiming for the blonde's head. He held an arm out and a light shield erupted knocking Nora back again. Ren darted under her shooting his pistols but wasn't able to pierce the glowing wall. Then Pyrrha pounced from behind, managing to slip past his first barrier and preparing her shield. She tried knocking him off balance but a second light barrier from his hand easily deflected it. She brought her javelin down only for Jaune to block that too. Each strike she took was easily deflected no matter how fast she moved.
Finally he pulled his wings back and flapped them in a powerful motion. The resulting wind lifted her off the ground and sent her flying. Pyrrha glanced around desperately before seeing Nora latched to a sturdy branch nearby. She reached out her hammer for Pyrrha to grab hold of and yanked her securely to the tree.
Ren took the chance to sneak around Jaune's back, rushing in quickly while the Angel was distracted. He reached out ready to take the pillowcase not expecting a massive black wing to slap his face. Jaune readied his wings and took off like a bullet creating a second gust of wind and a new crater. It sent Ren soaring back into a tree with a loud crack.
"Good attempt." Jaune complimented from his aerial perspective. "Keep in mind Angels can track your soul's position." Ren grimaced but managed to rush back into the underbrush. He quickly met up with the two girls while panting heavily.
"I think we need a new plan." Ren breathed. Pyrrha looked between her weapons and Jaune until an idea started forming.
"Ren, can you try distracting him?" The boy nodded before jumping between trees firing bullets at the angel. The blonde responded by flapping his wings repeatedly whipping up a huge gale storm. She waited until Jaune seemed fully focused on the ninja.
"Nora, could you launch me? I have a plan." Pyrrha asked thinking on Jaune's statement. The bomber grinned devilishly as she picked a good spot on the ground. She held her hammer back and started swinging her body in circles to build momentum. Pyrrha jumped and used her semblance to hold her shoes and shield to the face of Nora's hammer. The bomber yelled putting all her strength into the final swing, hitting the trigger of her grenade launcher to send Pyrrha flying. She held her limbs tightly to her frame zooming through the winds. The champion came closer and closer to her target, doing an aerial flip and throwing her javelin at Jaune's hip.
The blonde finally took notice, dodging to avoid her weapon entirely. His eyes illuminated bright yellow and her body suddenly felt far heavier. Pyrrha was quickly brought to the ground with a loud thud barely able to catch herself. Struggling against the increased gravity she glanced up seeing her partner summoning several swords above his head. With swift, concise motions they danced around in a circular pattern before launching. Pyrrha tried changing their projection with her semblance, only to realize the flying swords weren't actually metal. Quickly she used her shield to block the swords and her free hand to manipulate her javelin. The glowing weapons rained down knocking her aura to the yellow despite her shield blocking most of the assault. The champion's arm was already throbbing in pain as she looked up to see Jaune descending towards her.
"Have you had enough yet?" The blonde asked. Pyrrha used the hand hidden by her shield to hold his sheathed sword in place.
"Not quite." With a cry she pulled her other hand back and the javelin came flying towards him from behind. He realized too late, unable to move much thanks to Pyrrha holding his sword. Milo grazed the cloth around his waist before his barrier could form, ripping a large chunk of fabric. By some miracle the pillowcase refused to fall. Pyrrha was shocked. The gravity changed her weapon's trajectory?!
Jaune recovered quickly, realizing he was still in the game. Not letting up the gravity he held his arms to the side and said some foreign words under his breath. Three mirror like objects appeared around his upper body, his face reflected in all of them. It gave Jaune the appearance of having four heads, each of his eyes still lit bright yellow as the mirrors began charging energy.
Nora and Ren tried to attack but were caught up in the gravity well. Ren hit the dirt quickly but Nora managed a few steps further. She was able to fire her grenade launcher before collapsing. The bombs ascended but didn't reach their target, colliding instead with his light shield.
Jaune let out one otherworldly shout, echoing through their ears rendering them paralyzed. His mirrors fired at Pyrrha, Ren and Nora. All three braced for impact as the heat intensified. A loud noise accompanied the boiling temperatures as the ground was torn to shreds. Pyrrha shut her eyes against the heat, unable to think of anything but survival. Suddenly the light stopped and Jaune floated to the ground landing on his feet. She slowly opened her eyes seeing her teammate breathing heavily with a hand outstretched. His face was a mix of worry and relief. Pyrrha could only stare at him in stunned silence.
"Jaune… why did you-"
"Looks like I finally won a spar with you." He panted. Pyrrha slowly took his hand and allowed him to pull her up, turning to see the true carnage of that attack. The flat earth just behind her was now a smoking black crater at least three feet wide. She realized Ren and Nora were also okay, both taking in the damage for themselves. "Are you all alright?" He asked clearly concerned for his teammates. "That's the first time I've used that attack since coming here. I tried to reel it in but kind of failed."
"I… think I need a rest." Ren mumbled before his face hit the dirt since he never bothered standing.
"That was so… AWESOME!" Nora jumped around excitedly trying to get Ren upright when a loud rumble came from her stomach. Jaune scratched the back of his head with a tight grin.
"Right. I'll see about getting a fire started."
"And I'll get dinner ready." Pyrrha added.
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"You dunce!" Weiss shouted at Ruby's blunder. She had accidentally dropped one of Weiss' text books and crinkled the cover. Ruby had done far worse in the past, yet this set the heiress off for some reason.
"I'm sorry!" Ruby cried guiltily.
"Sorry? How is sorry going to fix this damage!" She waved the book in her face angrily. Yang put her magazine aside and watched the exchange. This wasn't the first time Weiss acted oddly this week. First it was practice where she wouldn't stop shouting at everyone for getting in her way, then the dinner table, and now this. "Honestly how do you hold this team together-"
"Seriously Weiss, what is with you this week?!" Yang interrupted, getting right in her face. The heiress stepped back with her mouth agape. "You've been a complete mega bitch this whole week, and you even alienated a bunch of our friends! We can't function as a team like this!" Weiss opened her mouth to say something but fell silent. "Seriously, your going to make me guess?!" Yang growled. "Did you lose a credit card? Chip a nail? Get disowned?"
"... my Uncle." Weiss finally breathed pinching her eyes trying to ward off tears. Yang's eyes quickly returned to purple and Ruby made to approach her. "He was abducted by White Fang members a few weeks ago… my Father didn't get them the ransom money in time so they beheaded him." Ruby pulled Weiss into a hug, the heiress slowly returning it.
"Shit." Yang breathed.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Ruby asked. It took a moment for Weiss to answer.
"Blake was part of the White Fang before. I didn't want to bring it up."
"So you took it out on everyone else instead?" Yang asked with a raised brow. Weiss seriously considered the brawlers statement.
"Perhaps I didn't handle the situation in an… appropriate manner." She looked over to Ruby and Yang. "I apologize for my brash behavior."
"Apology accepted!" Ruby exclaimed happy to finally have it somewhat resolved.
"I… suppose I should apologize to Pyrrha and the others as well."
"That's the best idea you've had all week!" Yang grinned. The heiress rolled her eyes and walked out, only to find Blake looking at team JNPR's door with a small black feather in hand. All of them knew something weird was going on with Blake, especially with how much time she spent watching team JNPR recently. This, however, was on a new level of odd.
"Are you planning to knock?" Weiss asked perplexed. Blake paused trying to think of what to say.
"There's no point. They left this morning."
"Did they mention when they'd return?" Weiss asked only for Blake to shake her head.
"They took a lot of stuff with them." The Cat Faunus paused before looking to her teammate seriously. "I think they might be in trouble." Weiss was startled by the odd statement, Ruby popping up close behind.
"What do you mean?" The reaper asked worriedly.
"... we should talk about this in the room."
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Before long sunset was looming over Remnant. The four members of team JNPR ate around a campfire watching the sun go down, Nora going on nonstop about how awesome their sparring match was earlier. Ren listened quietly while Jaune smiled and yawned throughout her rambling. They had decided to do some more matches after the first one, and everyone was completely spent. Pyrrha couldn't remember the last time her aura was in the red. They wouldn't have to worry about Grimm at least, according to Jaune anyway. Though something really didn't sit right with Pyrrha.
"Why do you act so weak?" The champion asked, much to Jaune's confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you're capable of bringing the three of us down without issue using your magic, but you choose to fumble through combat with a sword and shield? Is… is this just a joke to you?" Pyrrha didn't mean to say that last question, but she was thinking it. Jaune's face became serious.
"I've told you before, my powers are directly related to the state of my wings. When they're clipped I'm cut off from most of my powers. Though I must thank you Pyrrha." He smiled tiredly at her. "I've learned a lot about hand to hand combat working with you. It was never something I needed to use before coming here. It's been… fun." Pyrrha couldn't help laughing lightly at how genuine he sounded.
"In that case I'm glad I could help you." She grinned when he stretched trying to keep awake. "Are you really that tired?" Pyrrha questioned.
"That last attack… took a lot out of me." Jaune yawned. "I don't replenish energy through food, and since I'm cut off from my Lord the only way I can recuperate is through sleep."
"You don't have to stay up then." Pyrrha added. The Angel shook his head in response.
"Not yet. Something's been bothering the three of you and I figured it had something to do with me." All three teens went quiet, not knowing how he figured it out. "I can track souls, remember? I'm able to judge them too, and I can tell something has you all tense."
"It's about the blood markings in the dorm room." Ren finally said. "And all over the ruins on the way in."
"That's it?" He blinked tiredly a bit underwhelmed. "I made seals to keep a few celestial beings out of our dorm room. Neither will be able to enter now."
"But… where did the blood come from?" Nora asked this time.
"I used the blood of a sacrificed ram mixed with my own." Jaune yawned as if this was completely normal.
"Wait, you killed a ram?!" Pyrrha looked over horrified. Now he seemed ready to zone out of the conversation entirely. How could he treat this as no big deal?!
"Yes. You didn't notice the stone altar I made? I left the bones on it." He gestured to the pile of rocks he was kneeling by earlier, the hide and bones still sitting undisturbed.
"But why?!" Nora asked also freaked out.
"I can't make protection seals without sacrificial blood. Why are you guys acting so weird about it?"
"We're acting weird?! Killing animals for rituals is not normal!" Nora shouted though Jaune just shrugged.
"Where did you even find one?" Ren inquired.
"We aren't far from the farming side of Vale. I just... dropped some lien off and took one."
"I'm not sure that's legal." Ren commented but Jaune just waved him off.
"I'll do… Что должно быть сделано." The Angel responded groggily.
"Oh no! Don't try blowing me off with that gibberish! This is important!" Nora continued rambling while Jaune just sat there nodding off. Pyrrha and Ren both watched the encounter quietly. That wasn't the first time he had spoken in a foreign language. How many languages can he speak? She had to admit hearing him talk like that was very… Wait, did he say neither?
"Hold on." Pyrrha interrupted. "I thought Cinder was the only one?" She didn't get a response and Jaune didn't stir. She was about to ask again when his whole body fell sideways onto her shoulder. Pyrrha's cheeks flushed when she realized what had just happened. Jaune had passed out and fallen directly onto her. His breathing was deep and even, and his muscles were completely relaxed. He was out like a light. Nora even stopped her tirade to make cooing and smooching noises while Ren just shook his head.
The champion slowly relaxed her shoulders as she listened to his breathing. His body heat was comforting against the cold night breeze. She slowly brought her arm around his back and the other to the wing draped over his shoulder. Her heart was pounding in excitement. Jaune was finally in her arms, and he wouldn't stir for at least a few hours if his wing clipping last week was anything to go on. She could just spend some time with her crush in her arms and-
"HOLD ON GUYS!" Ruby rushed into the ruins in a flurry of rose petals, her scythe drawn and ready to attack. It took her a moment to realize nothing was wrong.
"Ruby?!" Pyrrha gasped realizing Jaune was exposed. Nora and Ren both rushed up to hide him but were too late. The little reaper looked to the champion only for her head to tilt in confusion.
"Why's Jaune still sleeping? And what's with the… wings?" She looked on hesitantly.
"Ruby, I know this looks… odd, but I can explain." Pyrrha said slowly unsure how to continue. Jaune picked a really bad time to pass out. Suddenly a familiar Cat Faunus swung into view with Weiss and Yang trailing behind on the stairs. Blake's eyes immediately fell on Jaune. Her pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks, her bow laying flat and hand going straight for her weapon.
"Blake!" Ruby cried. "It's fine. Nobody's- BLAKE!" Her weapon was drawn and pointed forward, going off with one deafening bang.
