No big intro this time, just a quick announcement! In addition to this story im going to be starting another story that's more in line with the actual canon of the story, mainly focusing on Blake and Yang reuniting to bring ruin to the White Fang.
-Vale-
Jaune had been on his way into the barracks when he heard Ren speaking in a quiet voice, to Nora he assumed. He pressed his back to the wall and listened closely. "I believe it's best we just give them to him, Nora. He has a right to have them."
"Im not arguing that part, Ren. I just think it can wait until things are at least a bit back to normal is all."
"When will that be, Nora? You heard the projections as well as I. It's only going to get worse for a while. Maybe it'll give him a reason to keep fighting."
"Or it'll be the nail in the coffin. You see how well he handles Ruby and Weiss. We can't just toss this into his lap on top of everything else."
"You think he isn't ready?"
"I don't know. He still hasn't dealt with his grief over her properly. This would-" Jaune walked in, unable to just keep listening.
"How about you let me decide if I want whatever this is? Or do you think I should let you decide FOR me, like I'm a child?" He demanded, making Nora wince a bit. She gave Ren one last 'your sure' type look, to which he nodded. Nora patted the spot on the bunk she was on and Jaune carefully sat down, his legs and back still aching from the fight.
"When..the evacuation was going on, me and Ren had to go to the dorms to help some students who were trapped. And well..we managed to stop by our dorm on the way out. We grabbed a few of..her things." Jaune's throat tightened a bit at how her voice lowered. Ren let out a long sigh, sensing his friends tension.
"We'd already heard about her from Weiss. We thought it'd be worth the effort to try and bring it back." Jaune saw him walk to his locker and bring back a bag. The logo was faded but Jaune saw clear as day it was team JNPR's old training gear bag. Ren sat it down and opened it. After digging for a moment, he handed Jaune a scroll. "Pyrrha had left this in the bag before her fight with Penny, and well..there's some messages on there you may wish to hear."
"She..she left messages?" Jaune whispered, running his hands over the scroll. It was Pyrrha's alright, that background image on it was one of her and Nora in front of the test of strength game from the vytal festival. Jaune smiled a bit sadly at the memory, remembering the vendor being furious when they had smashed the game to bits.
"She recorded several. I believe she wanted to send them but..Pyrrha never was good at that. Also.." Jaune looked up as Ren produced some of the metal that Pyrrha kept to repair her own gear. "I though..what better way to honor her then by using this with your own weapons and armor? And lastly.." When he pulled out a red sash, Jaune thought he would lose it. It was exactly like the one Pyrrha had worn. Ren put everything except the scroll back in the bag and put it at Jaune's feet. Nora put a hand on his shoulder, making him look at her, her eyes full of concern, but Jaune shook her off.
"Could..you guys leave me alone for a little bit?" He said softly. Nora was about to say no, but one look from Ren silenced it before it was spoken.
"Of course, Jaune. Come find us when your ready to talk." He grabbed Nora's hand and the two left, Nora giving him one last worried glanced before the door closed. Jaune slid the bag under his bunk and relaxed against the pillows as he held the scroll close. When he went to unlock it however, he saw it had a password on it. Cursing under his breath, he began to type anything he could think of: Destiny, pumpkin pete, you name it.
"Wait.." He said, his chest feeling a bit tight as it dawned on him. He typed in Arkos and the scroll unlocked with a pinging sound. His eyes watered and he had to take a moment to compose himself before he went to the video recordings and shuffled through it. He found the ones set after they'd already been partners for a while. The first was her sitting in the courtyard by one of the fountains
"Okay! So…I don't really know how to start this. I mean, not this the recording, obviously I know how to start that but..I'm already messing up aren't i? Never mind."
He chuckled a bit as the recording cut. "Why were you always so nervous..god I should've been the nervous wreck." He said softly. The next one was her sitting in their dorm. From the date, he figured it was just after the dance.
"Hello again, Jaune. I just wanted to tell you that..i um..really appreciate everything you did at the dance. You really made it worthwhile to go, even though I didn't want to initially. I must admit, I didn't expect you to be such a good dancer. Which..kind of leads me to why I'm sending this. What I wanted to ask was…maybe we could go do that again? Theres a few decent places in Vale and..n-never mind. Silly idea, you probably wouldn't want too."
He sighed heavily as it ended. Had he really given off that impression, even after all of that? He would have gladly taken her out to dance if she'd wanted too. The last one was recorded about two hours before her fight with Penny. Pyrrha was in the prep area for the tournament finals, and she looked very upset
"Jaune..i can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am for what I did. Slamming you into that wall like that…I wasn't thinking. I hope you don't hate me now."
"Never Pyrrha..never."he whispered
"I wouldn't blame you if you didn't even come here to support me. But I promise Jaune..I will explain everything once this is over and we have some free time. You mean so much to me, and I..I..I hate that I hurt someone that I truly love like I did. I'll make it up to you. I swear. And even if you don't want to be as close as we have been..I'll always be here for you. No matter what.'
Jaune felt tears running down his face as the recording ended. That one sentence kept echoing inside his head. 'I hurt someone I truly love like I did'. Pyrrha really had loved him. She probably had for a a long time, then if her other recordings were any indicator. The nervousness, saying he was the type of guy she wanted to take her to dance..it was all adding up. And he had not only been too blind to notice this, but had flirted with Weiss in front of her AND asked her for advice to get with her! The weight of realizing all of this felt like someone had dropped a lead weight on his chest.
"P-Pyrrha..oh god.." He sobbed, the scroll dropping out of his hands as he curled his legs up, his face dropping onto his knees as his body wracked with sobs. His hands tugged at his hair as every memory he had of her ran through his mind. He was so fucking stupid. How could he have possibly been so blind?! "I-Im so so s-sorry Pyrrha.." He choked out, laying down onto his side. He had no idea how long he had stayed there like that, but when the door opened, he heard the quiet sigh of Ren.
"You watched all of them I'm assuming.."
"Im such a fool…I failed her."
"No. Your not, nor are you a failure of any such description. Being oblivious to the affections of another is a common thing, Jaune. You forget who your talking to sometimes." He said as he sat on the bunk nearest Jaune.
"Did you know? How she felt about me?" Silence met his question. "Ren?"
"I…had my assumptions. I didn't feel it was my place to intrude so I didn't. It took some convincing for Nora to stay out of it, however." Jaune sat up and gathered up his sword and shield, heading towards the door.
"I need to get out of here for a bit.."
"Jaune it'll be dark soon. You know it's against code-"
"Fuck the code and fuck Atlas. If they hadn't let themselves get hacked, things might have been better! Pyrrha might still be here!"
"I understand hearing this has upset you greatly but-"
"Ren. Im going. If you try and stop me, Im not making any promises about wether or not I'll move you." Ren sighed heavily and sat back down. Jaune had more in common with Pyrrha then he had ever realized. He simply nodded and sat back down as Jaune stormed out. After a quick stop off to find out where there had been Grimm sightings, Jaune made his way to the outer gates. Ignoring the calls of the Atlas officials who yelled after him, his mind had settled on one thing only-to take as many Grimm out if this world as he was able too. If he died..so be it. "At least I'll see Pyrrha again, if that happens," he said softly. The last bits of light from the camp faded, the darkness of the forest fully surrounding him now. He embraced it.
-Hideout-
Mercury shifted a bit as he and Emerald sat watching the screens. All around them, the various approaches and routes in and out of the place were covered by cameras. "How much longer are you wanting to do this?" She asked with a yawn. He turned his head from the laptop to glance at her.
"As long as I have to until I'm positive there's nothing Im overlooking. When we make our move, it has to be quick, and when there zero chance we'll be spotted. That includes memorizing the guard changes."
"Were not slaves Merc. We could just make up some excuse, say were going in a mission for Cinder," she mumbled.
"Well first off, I'd think it's debatable if were slaves or not. And it'd take about 3 seconds to call and confirm were not. She wants us here until she gets back from the attacks. That means she doesn't want use moving on our own and that's not good. Id bet money she has people waiting to rat on us if we just try to waltz out of here. Were running out of time, that's why I hacked into the camera feeds." Emerald looked back to the screen and pointed to feed number five.
"That one..the path is covered in trees on both sides and the guards are usually half asleep anyways."
"I was thinking of that, too but the area before the tree line is wide open. If we get unlucky and get a half-competent guard were finished before we start." She sighed and yawned again before nodding. "Look..you can sleep for a bit if you want. the nightmares wont be too bad tonight. I got this. I'll wake you when I'm done so you can go back to your room."
"Yeah, wouldn't hold my breath on the nightmares. But…thanks," she said, finally letting her eyes close fully. Mercury let out a long breath before going back to watching. His eyes flicked over every inch of what he could see. He wanted no mistakes, not even the chance of one. They would be essentially gambling their lives on this, but if they stayed with Cinder..
"There is no gamble. Were as good as dead." He mumbled. Beside him, Emerald was already shifting and twitching nervously. Seems she was right, her nightmares weren't letting up at all. After a moment, her hand reached out, grabbing onto his. For a moment he thought she might've woken up, but her eyes were still closed. She was just reaching out for whatever was close while she dealt with this. He went back to studying the screen, but when he felt her hand squeeze his, he couldn't help a little half grin forming on his face, gripping it back. Emerald slowly relaxed in her sleep, seeming to at least been calmed by this. The sight made him even more determined to make sure they got out of this.
So I decided to cut the part with Adam and the attack preparations, as I realized it kind of spoiled something big I have planned for later and needed to re-write it but ive been delaying this chapter enough already
As always, if you wouldn't mind leaving a review/fav/ follow I'd be eternally grateful
Peace out,
-DB
