Chapter 8: Skin
Jaune groaned as he struggled to get up. His back ached and he was sure that he would have cracked a couple of ribs if he hadn't had his Aura.
'Man this thing packs a punch.'
He got up and saw the monstrosity that had thrown him against the wall. It was glaring at him.
'I've lost 'Ole Trusty,' he began to assess his current situation. 'This thing is far stronger and faster than any normal human being has any right to be.'
The monstrosity began to hiss at him and bared its claws. Sharp things, those claws. He could personally attest to it now.
'And it really wants me dead.'
Oh, and he was bleeding from various cuts on his legs and his back hurt like a bitch. His eyesight was obscure due to the blood falling from a cut over his left eye and he was pretty sure his ribs were bruised.
He sighed inwardly. 'And it's still not even close to being the worst situation I've ever found myself in.'
Which was a really, really sad thought. He really needed to reassess his life. Or a bottle of alcohol. One or the other.
He reached into his jacket and pulled out his Taurus. He made sure the safety was off and took a deep breath.
"C'mon, then, pretty! Let's dance!" he snarled at it.
8 hours ago…
Jaune ran towards his locker.
'The problem with dealing with the supernatural,' he thought to himself. 'Is that you never quite know what you'll need until you find out what you're hunting.'
He opened the locker.
He smiled grimly. 'Good thing I know what I'm dealing with.'
10 minutes later, he closed the locker and ran towards infirmary. Shirley was probably still there, looking after Eric. He reached the familiar blue door and knocked.
Ako came out. She blinked when she saw him and then smiled at him. That same warm, innocent and incredibly scary smile that made him shiver.
"Oh, my. Didn't I tell you not to come unless you were really sick?" she asked him nicely.
'Lady, I am sick. But the kind of help I need, you can't give.' And he was. Only crazy people would chase after things that wanted to eat them. Ah, well. He didn't choose the hunter life; the hunter life chose him and all of that, yeah?
"I just need to talk to Shirley." He replied.
She blinked. "Oh. Well, c'mon in then."
Jaune walked in and saw Shirley sitting on a chair next to Eric's bed. She seemed surprised to see him.
"Shirley." He greeted.
"Jaune." She replied.
"Can I ask a few more questions?" he asked her.
"Umm…Okay, I guess." Shirley seemed subdued. Not surprising, considering she had lost all her friends.
Yes, all of them. Even though she probably didn't know that just yet.
"You told me that Sakura used to be meek and shy, right?" he asked.
This was important. People didn't suddenly undergo massive personality changes with no reason. And from what he'd seen, Sakura was the furthest thing from shy and meek right now.
"Yeah. Why?" she asked back.
He should have felt satisfied. This was a point to his theory, after all. But he couldn't. He knew he wasn't going to enjoy
"Did she ever show signs of being as outgoing and confident as she is now before the test?" he ignored her question.
"I…I don't think so," She replied thoughtfully. "She was always so shy and quiet."
"I see. You told me that she leaves early and comes back late, right?" Jaune nodded thoughtfully.
"Uh, yeah. Why are you asking all of this?" Shirley confirmed.
"Do you know where she goes?" he continued asking, ignoring her question entirely.
"No," she answered. The she glared at him.
Pity. That would've made his job easier.
"Why are you asking all of this?" She demanded.
Jaune paused and gave her an appraising look. He considered his options.
Then he went back to asking questions. "I'll tell you later. Do you know where she might be going?"
Shirley glared at him. "No! I want answers now! You know something, don't you? What is it?"
Jaune considered his options. Again. He couldn't do anything too rash. Ako was there, looking at them with interest. And he was sure she had the freaking syringe with her somewhere.
Should he try…telling the truth? It usually failed, but he might be able to achieve something her. There was a trained medical professional and enough circumstantial evidence for him to hopefully convince them to give him a chance if he worded things perfectly.
"Look, I know what's causing the students to go nightey night." Jaune told her seriously.
Shirley gasped and he could tell Ako was looking at him with renewed interest and a little bit of suspicion.
"And I can stop it, but only if you help me." He finished. This was his Hail Mary. If she didn't help him he'd have to resort to plan B. He did not like plan B.
"So what did a student find that trained medical personnel couldn't?" Ako suddenly demanded.
Jaune ignored her. He liked her, yes, but he really didn't need the Inquisition right now. Not now. Maybe in a couple of minutes.
'Nobody expects the Inquisition!'
"So I'll ask again: Do you know where she might be?" Jaune asked her slowly, deliberately.
Shirley was looking at him with suspicion and anger.
Damn. Telling the truth may have backfired. He might have to cut his losses here and leave before he said anything too important.
"And you think Sakura has something to do with it?" she demanded.
No, he KNEW she had something to do with. Everything to do with it, in fact.
He turned to face Ako. "You examined Sakura, right? When they came back from the forest? How was she?" he asked her.
There was still a chance of this working, if he managed to get the trained medical professional on his side. He just hoped lady luck would smile on him for once in his life.
"She was bleeding badly. There was blood everywhere."Ako replied carefully.
"But she was fine, wasn't she? Moving about, no cuts, no wounds, no nothing. Nothing that would cause that much bleeding, at any rate." He continued.
Ako had a thoughtful look on her face. "I…Don't think so…" she finally told him.
"Didn't you find that strange?" Jaune asked her. Could he still do it? Could he convince them?
Ako frowned. "Yes, but I assumed her Aura was working overtime to keep her alive."
Jaune nodded thoughtfully. He knew Aura could accelerate your healing but he hadn't realized just how helpful it could be. This was both good and bad. Bad because it might be used to explain a situation that he didn't want explained and good because this was so freaking awesome. No more nights spent drinking down pain killer cocktails. This was a huge plus in his book.
"But did you see the amount of blood loss on her?" Jaune kept asking. He felt like he was grasping at straws now.
'Yeah, turn the Inquisition on itself!'
Ako frowned. "Yes, but-"
"She'd lost far more than one person can, right? And don't give me that Aura crap." He interrupted her. He had to regain the momentum.
"Well, yes, but she was still standing, walking, and yelling. She seemed completely fine. Although I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself…" Ako answered, confused.
Jaune kept looking at her, hoping she'd put the dots together herself.
"And when I cleaned some of that blood away, there were no wounds…But it was her blood. I had it tested…" Ako was mumbling to herself now.
Wait what? Was that kind of thing normal here? Ah, well, no time to worry about that right now.
Jaune decided to try a random stab in the dark.
"And was she the kind of person that had enough Aura to heal that quickly? That much?" he asked her.
It was a good thing he had investigated about Aura once he realized he could use it himself. Although his knowledge was still mostly superficial. He really would have to crack open the books after this.
"No, her Aura reserves were slightly below average." Shirley was the one to answer. She seemed pensive now. Ako turned to face her, surprised.
"Which is why you guys gave her Aura transfusions, right?" Ako asked her.
Ah, yes. From what he remembered of the school curriculum, he understood that they would be taught basic first aid later on. But wait, Aura transfusions? Really?
He began to think of all the possibilities. He would have giggled madly if he weren't too busy trying to look completely sane.
"No." Shirley replied while shaking her head. "We were just relieved to find her walking about that we didn't even ask her if she needed them."
"That's…that's impossible. With the amount of blood loss and lack of large Aura reserves that would have meant…That would have meant…" Ako muttered.
Shirley was now glaring at the nurse.
Jaune hated what he had to do now. Hated the defiant, angry and confused look on Shirley's face as Ako tried to explain this. But it was necessary.
"It would have meant death, right?" He interjected.
"What?" Shirley was glaring at them both now.
Ako nodded slowly, hesitantly. Then she looked directly at him. "What are you getting at?"
"Tell me, what do you two know about Boo Hags?" he asked them.
6 hours ago…
Jaune ran towards where he was hoping his next class was. He'd already missed one and he didn't think skipping out on the 3rd day of class would go unnoticed. The last thing he wanted was to be asked a bunch of questions that he couldn't answer.
He spotted Pyrrha and sighed in relief.
"Where were you?" Pyrrha demanded when he approached her.
That surprised Jaune. Pyrrha had struck him as a relaxed, easy going kind of person. Had he done something to anger his partner lately? Besides abandoning them all in the morning, not telling them where he was going, and skipping a few classes?
Oh, right. That would explain it.
He gave Professor McGonaga-err…Goodwitch a note from the infirmary.
Then he turned to looked at his partner. "In the infirmary. I had to get a routine checkup." He answered.
He felt like a jackass when Pyrrha began to look at him with genuine concern.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"Yeah, just a checkup." He gave her a smile.
"Mr. Arc, you may have an excuse, but you're still late. Please refrain from disturbing the class." McGona-err…Goodwitch scolded him.
Jaune smiled sheepishly. "Ah, my apologies, professor! It won't happen again."
'Smooth, jackass, smooth.'
"See that it doesn't," was the answer he received. "Anyways, as I was saying, I will now divide you all into pairs."
Excited and nervous murmurs. What was this about?
"These pairs will be chosen at random," she continued. "Every pair will step up into the arena," and she motioned at the arena behind her. "Where you will duel your partner. This will allow me to gauge your skills."
'WHAT.'
He was going to die here then. Why, oh, why, had he chosen to sneak in as a student? In all honesty, it would have been far easier to sneak in as a janitor.
He wouldn't have had to fake transcripts too.
'For dust's sake, what the hell what I thinking?!'
Then again, Beacon was fully staffed and positions here were highly sought after. Even the janitorial ones, so who knows if he would have been able to.
"Jaune, are you okay?"
He turned around and saw his partner looking at him with concern.
"Yeah, what's up, pancake buddy?" Nora chimed in. "You look worried. Ooh, are you worried about your match? If you're paired up with me I'll go easy on you!"
Yeah, that made him feel better.
He looked at his watch.
Damn it, he did not need a fight with a super soldier! Not today, not right now! He needed to be in tip top condition for tonight!
He began to look around for something, anything that might delay the duels. McGonag-Goodwitch was now dividing everyone into pairs.
Although he supposed he could also just forfeit the moment his duel started. What did he care about grades? He was going to leave soon anyways.
With that thought, he managed to relax somewhat.
Then he began to imagine his partner's disappointed face and his team mates' and friends' faces if he did that and frowned.
On the one hand, he was looking into a fight with a super soldier. On the other hand, he really didn't wanna disappoint his friends. He sighed.
"Mr. Arc." McGon-Goodwitch called him.
"Yes?" he was inwardly cursing. Was it his turn?
"You were in the infirmary until now, correct?" she asked him.
"Yes, professor." He confirmed.
"Are you able to fight today?"
There was a god. There was a god and Jaune was going to find a nice goat and sacrifice it in his name.
"I'm afraid not, professor. The nurse advised to me take things easy today." He was now hoping she'd buy that. He really, really needed her to buy that.
"I see. Then you will participate tomorrow. Your partner will be Cardin Winchester." She informed him.
YES! YES! YES! The sky is blue again, the grass is green, and the world is beautiful once more!'
"I understand, professor." He said meekly.
McGona-Goodw-Ah, screw it, McGonagall nodded at left.
He felt like dancing and would've done so if were alone.
"Well, good luck, guys!" he told his friends.
"You told me it was just a routine checkup!" Pyrrha seemed indignant.
"It was. I was just told to take in easy today." He replied. It
"Oh, is that why you were nervous?" Nora asked him.
"What happened?" Ren seemed curious.
"Look, it was just a checkup and I was told to take it easy for today, okay? Now stop worrying about me, get out there and kick some ass!" he told all of them.
"Sure thing, boss!"
At least Nora seemed excited.
Ren and Pyrrha nodded.
Jaune sat back. It would be interesting to watch the fights now that the threat of immediate death by overpowered student wasn't looming over his head.
4 Hours ago…
The dueling session had been an eye opener for Jaune. It had showed him 2 things:
One, not everyone had the insane skill level that his friends did. This was kind of reassuring. He had seen a lot of rookie mistakes being made and a lot of fights that could have ended differently if things had played out differently. This meant he wasn't as bad compared to his classmates as he had originally believed.
Two, his friends were monsters. In a land of predators, his friends were lions. They stood heads and shoulders above most of their peers. As if he didn't feel emasculated enough by their weapons already.
Jerks.
"That was fun!" Nora cheered as they entered the cafeteria.
'Meth on crack ain't got nothing on Nora.'
Ren just nodded with incredible patience.
Jaune snickered. 'Man, this guy's either incredibly whipped or a saint.'
They sat down at their table and Team RWBY joined them shortly afterwards.
"Man, that match was fun!" Yang and Nora were going to get along swimmingly. Jaune was willing to bet his apple pie on it.
Blake just ignored her partner and buried her face in a book.
Ren and Blake were also going to get along well. Nothing drew people closer than shared suffering!
"I think I went a bit overboard…" said a sheepish looking Ruby.
"Nonsense! You kicked his ass and that's the end of that!" Yang clapped her "sister" on the shoulder. "Oh, I'm so proud of my little sis', kicking ass and taking names already!"
Jaune chuckled and then looked down at his watch.
He still had some time before the hunt. He looked around and saw his team mates and team RWBY conversing and laughing together.
He frowned.
'I…Damn, I'm actually going to miss them.'
"Jaune? You look kind of sad. Is there something wrong?"
Jaune looked up and saw Ruby looking at him concern.
He gave her a slightly forced smile. "Nah, just thinking about a few things."
"You? Thinking? About what?" Weiss asked him.
"Me, yes, about a lot of stuff." He answered with a genuine smile.
Yang chucked at Weiss's almost imperceptible eye twitch.
Nothing better than snark to improve your mood.
Weiss humphed and turned back to her meal.
Ruby seemed a bit unconvinced but she nodded and smiled at him. "Well, if you ever need help, we're here to help you out, okay?"
Jaune would've snorted if it were anyone else. He smiled at her instead. A genuine smile this time. "Thanks, but I'm fine, really."
It occurred to him that he still hadn't taken Ruby to see his arms dealer. Great, more guilt. As if he wasn't feeling like crap already.
He got up. "I'm sorry but I have to go ask McGona-err…Goodwitch some questions about my duel tomorrow. See you guys later!"
He left the cafeteria.
The sudden silence was broken when Blake looked up curiously.
"…Did he call Professor Goodwitch "McGonagall"?"
3 hours ago…
Jaune was in the library, which he had begun to develop a fondness for, and opened his rucksack to make everything he needed was in it.
It was.
He pulled out his journal and read the entry he had marked for what seemed like the 100th time today.
He got up and stretched. Then he looked down at his watch.
It was almost time. In one hour he would go and track down a monstrosity that could very easily overpower most people. In one hour he was going to fight the thing and hopefully make sure it could never hurt people again.
In one hour he was going to face a monster that had so many different myths that he wasn't even sure what would work and what wouldn't.
But more importantly, he was going to go toe to toe with something that he was sure could not be killed by conventional means.
'Man, why are all my cases so weird?'
AN: Man, this took some time to make. I blame exam week for that. Anyways, hope you enjoyed it. And now to address individual reviews:
Necrofantasia: Most people can't deal with the supernatural not because they're incredibly powerful (although some are; remember that some creatures were worshipped as gods), but because they don't know about the supernatural. They simply don't have the knowledge. It doesn't matter how good you are if you're caught off guard or have no idea what to do. Every monster has a weakness, and Aura enhanced punches or bullets aren't usually it.
Blitzxs: Glad I could entertain you.
AndreiN00B: I think chapters are gonna end up being longer now. Also, Crocea Mors will be making an appearance really soon.
Noob6: Yeah, some characters really get a lot of hate.
Totez amaze baws: We have a winner!
