Gasping, coughing, flailing. He was being dragged down by the raging current and his gear. Desperate he removed his armor, the metal and ceramic sinking to the bottom of the surprisingly deep river. He took a deep breath when he finally managed to get his mouth above water, only to lose consciousness when his head hit a large stone that almost broke his skull like an egg, aura or no.
The body of the blonde knight continued travelling down the stream, eventually reaching the mouth of a dark cave, dropping down another, smaller, waterfall as he went beneath the earth.
Teams RWBY and JNPR were nervous, dressed in their best clothing, as they waited for the people who had asked to meet with them.
It was the day of Jaune's memorial service, but the Arc family had requested to meet with Jaune's friends and teammates, so Ozpin had afforded them the use of one of the classrooms for the meeting a half hour before the service.
Ruby fidgeted, waiting anxiously. She glanced at Weiss, finding her partner gazing down at the ground from where she sat, hands folded on her lap. She still looked drawn and unwell, but it was still an improvement over how she'd been not that long before.
The reaper looked up when the door opened and a mass of blonds entered along with two heads of dark brown hair. The two teams immediately stood up somewhat apprehensively, and Ruby and Pyrrha stepped toward the group, faces solemn.
An older woman, in her mid-fifties, with grey streaks in her bright yellow hair, was the first to greet them, smiling tremulously even though she looked drawn, her eyes bloodshot from constant tears. "Hello. You must be my son's friends…"
Ruby did her best to smile. "Yeah, that's us. I'm Ruby Rose. I lead team RWBY, with my sister Yang, and Weiss and Blake. This is Pyrrha Nikos. Pyrrha was on the team Jaune led, along with Nora and Ren."
"Hello…" Pyrrha said softly as the others gave their own subdued greetings.
The only man in the entire group, his hair almost completely white but for some streaks of sandy blonde hair, nodded back. He was probably about sixty, and he had the face of someone that was used to smiling, though his face showed a bone deep weariness now. "I'm Ferrus Arc. This is my wife, Clementine, and my daughters: Azura, Coral, Alba, Aurelia, Xanthe, Veridian and Saphron, along with Saphron's wife Terra Cotta-Arc and their son, Adrian." Each woman mentioned nodded or waved, small smiles on most of them, though a couple couldn't manage it, and one outright scowled at them.
"Jaune told us about all of you in his letters to us." Saphron said from where she had an arm wrapped around her darker haired wife, who was holding their sleeping infant. She looked tired, just like everyone else. "He… was really happy to have you as friends. Really proud of how amazing you all are, as fighters and people."
"Fat lot of good it did him…" One of them, a short haired one who was wearing dark trousers with suspenders over a white dress shirt, growled, making the students flinch.
"Azura, that's uncalled for." Another one of the Arc women said, this one a girl about a year older than most of the students, large, thick glasses on her face, long hair in a bun and a dark blue dress on. "From the reports Professor Ozpin showed us, there wasn't anything they could have done. It was bad luck. If you have to blame anybody, blame the Grimm."
"How about I blame this goddamn school, Xanthe?" Azura snarled. "Jaune had no place studying here. He didn't have the skill. We all know it. If this place had done its job they would have bounced him back home, where he'd have been safe. But no, they had to let him play pretend, and now look at what happened!"
Pyrrha didn't know what made her do it, but she stepped forward, looking at Azura. "Jaune may have had some things to work on, that's true, but he was improving every day. He was able to hold his own in combat class now, and I helped tutor him almost every night."
"Then you're as much to blame for his death as this fucking school is!" Azura practically screamed at Pyrrha, teeth gritted in a snarl of pained rage.
The redhead staggered back as though physically struck, her eyes wide and hurt. Two of the other Arcs, the twins who looked and dressed identically, glared at their sister. One of them shouted at her older sister. "What the fuck is wrong with you!?" The other crossed her arms and glared.
"ENOUGH!" roared the oldest sibling, who looked to be in her early thirties and was dressed in a dark suit, her hair the brightest yellow of the family. "We're all ragged and easy to set off, so calm down." She looked at her confrontational sister. "Azura, I understand you're upset, but don't take it out on Jaune's friends. They're hurting as much as we are." She turned to Pyrrha, who was looking down at the floor, Nora and Ren's hands on her shoulders. "I'm sorry, Miss Nykos. Azura tends to lash out when she's upset. You didn't deserve that."
"I… I understand…" Pyrrha said softly.
"Please…" Weiss said, stepping forward. "Please don't be angry at Pyrrha, or any of the others. If anybody deserves your scorn, it's me." She bowed her head. "I'm the reason Jaune died. If he hadn't saved my life, he'd still be here." She started to cry, tears rolling down her cheeks. Funny, she thought she'd cried herself out when she was with Winter. "I treated him horribly, but he still helped me. I…" She let out a sob. "I'm so, so sorry."
The Arcs looked at each other, most unsure about what to do. Finally, Jaune's mother moved forward and gathered the crying white haired girl into her arms, tears in her own eyes as well. Weiss stiffened as she felt the arms encircle her.
"There's nothing to forgive, dear. You can't imagine my sorrow at having lost a child. But you also can't know how proud I am that he went out saving someone else. He died a hero, and that comforts me." She gave the heiress a gentle squeeze. "Do your best to honor his sacrifice, and I'll be content."
Weiss sobbed harder, but the Arc matriarch's words did what even her own sister's hadn't really been able to, no matter how much they'd comforted her. She felt like she could begin to heal now, even though it would take a long time.
Azura sighed and moved over to Pyrrha, who looked up at her tentatively. "I'm sorry." She said gruffly. "You didn't deserve that. It's just…" Her voice changed, the tough girl tone disappearing to leave raw anguish behind. "I lost my little brother…"
Pyrrha blinked before suddenly reaching forward to wrap her arms around a surprised Azura. "And I lost the man I loved…" She said, stating her feelings out loud for the first time, tears in her clenched eyes.
Azura blinked before wrapping her arms around Pyrrha, her face twisting with pain as she finally began to cry as well, letting herself mourn.
The rest of the teens and Arcs moved together, hugging each other and consoling each other. Saphron wept on her wife's shoulder, Terra rubbing her back and whispering reassurances while she kept the still sleeping Adrian from waking.
There was a knock at the door to the classroom, and several of the mourners turned to find Goodwitch standing in the doorway, her expression soft. "The service is about to start…" She said gently.
The Arcs and the students disentangled themselves from each other and quickly cleaned up, making themselves presentable. Then, each one taking a deep, fortifying breath, they headed into the auditorium.
The auditorium was packed with students and teachers ready to honor a fallen comrade. Glynda guided the Arcs to a place reserved for them as RWBY and JNPR moved to be with the other Beacon students, passing by team SSSN, who nodded to them, Sun and Neptune especially given their friends their best reassuring smiles. Ruby caught sight of Penny in the back, who waved slightly. Weiss saw Winter standing behind the Atlas delegation, the Specialist catching her sister's eye and nodding.
Once everyone was in position Ozpin stepped forward alongside a wreathe of white and yellow flowers that held a picture of Jaune, who was smiling sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. Velvet sighed as she recognized the picture she'd provided.
"Of the many duties I have as headmaster of this institution, there is none I dislike more than this one. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the profession we have chosen, it is one I have to perform more than I would like. However, not matter how many times I am forced to do so, saying goodbye to a promising youth who will never be able to accomplish their dreams never gets easier. Nor do I wish it to."
He was silent for a moment, thinking before he looked back out at the crowd. "Jaune Arc was not the greatest fighter this school has had. Nor was he the most proficient at the academic side of things. But he had talent in spades when it came leadership and group tactics and strategy. Indeed, he had the highest score in the assessment for those aspects in the last four years. It shows in how, during the initiation test, he led a team of people he, in some cases, didn't even know the names of, against a deathstalker, and killed it with a demonstration of an intuitive grasp of each person's strength, handily defeating a Grimm that even many recent graduates would have had trouble with. After seeing such a display, making him leader of team JNPR was the easiest decision I've made with regards to teams in quite a while."
He paused again, once again gathering his thoughts. "He was not just a leader for his grasp of tactics, however. Over time he demonstrated empathy and willingness to assist whoever needed it, even protecting people he'd had… disagreements with." More than one set of eyes flicked over to CRDL. "He was also able to, with a bit of prodding, admittedly, recognize his own shortcomings and mistakes, and work to remedy them. Those were qualities that are, unfortunately, relatively rare to find."
"I have no doubt that, given enough time, if he'd kept up the rate of improvement in all areas that he'd already demonstrated, he would have been one of our best when he graduated." Then Ozpin sighed. "Unfortunately, we will no longer be able to see that happen."
"Mr. Arc died saving the lives of his friends. He did not hesitate, he did not falter. He simply did it. And while I highly doubt he expected for events to conspire to take his life, everything I know of him tells me he would not have thought twice even if he'd been aware." He turned to Jaune's picture and bowed his head. "Rest easy, Jaune Arc, knowing that we carry on in part thanks to your sacrifice."
"May you be at peace, wherever you are now…"
The first thing he was aware of was the cold. Not like stepping outside in winter without a coat, but more like stepping out into a cool early spring breeze without clothes after a cold shower. He shivered as he opened his eyes, not seeing much of anything. Wherever he was, it was dark, only a dim illumination coming from a tunnel off to the side letting him see the walls of the cave he'd ended up in.
Jaune winced as he turned his head, feeling the knot in the back of it throb. His body was still mostly submerged in the now calmer water, the current lacking the strength to carry him away from the cold stone he'd landed on, though it tried. With a groan he dragged himself away from the water, his entire body aching after being battered by the raging rapids and rocks. Slumping once his boots had clear the water he lay there, trying to get his strength back.
He needed to get out of his soaked clothing. He was going to catch his death of cold otherwise. Slowly he got up, and that's when he finally noticed that the pack holding his supplies was no longer on his shoulders. He had a vague recollection of shrugging it off as he tried to keep above water in order to remove his armor.
Frantically he reached down, checking for Crocea Mors, sighing with relief when he felt it still strapped securely to his hip. He didn't know what he'd do if he lost his family's heirloom sword. Not only would it be a great personal loss, it would severely reduce his chances of survival.
A bit more checking revealed that he still had the hunting knife strapped to his boot and his quiver strapped to his lower back, though it was empty now, the arrows having escaped in his tumble through the river. Not that they were much good to him without a bow. He growled angrily at the memory of the damn centipede breaking it, only to wince as the action aggravated his head injury.
Looking around once again he decided to head in the direction of the light that was letting him see. He didn't have any better ideas, and he needed to find somewhere he could take his clothes off and let them dry.
He could feel his aura working on healing his battered and bruised body as he slowly made his way down the passageway, but it seemed more sluggish than usual. If he had to guess, it was because of how low his aura was after the fight and subsequent events. That just meant he'd have to take it slow.
Finally, he reached a small, dry cavern. A hole high in the ceiling let light in, and the area underneath it, where the light would hit, had plenty of plant life growing. Sighing in relief, Jaune moved over to the patch of greenery and quickly took off his soaked clothing, wincing when he saw the mass of bruises covering his body. He set his clothes under the sunbeam to help them dry, sitting down with another sigh in just his boxers. He already felt warmer just from not being in a waterlogged hoodie and jeans. He only wished he still had his lighter so he could start a fire in order to warm up faster.
Now that he was sitting down and not focused on needing to do something, however, he was having trouble keeping from freaking out over how screwed he was without his supplies, not to mention his anger and despair over the fact that he had been so, so close to civilization, only to have it all yanked away by that damned centipede.
If he ever saw that thing again he was going to rip it to tiny shreds if it was the last thing he did.
It was a lot like what he'd felt when he'd seen that bullhead flying overhead. Except worse. At least then he'd still had his supplies and bow.
Carefully resting the side of his head rest against the cool stone wall of the cave Jaune closed his eyes. He felt tired, and the warmth of the sunlight made him sleepy. Vaguely he remembered some advice about falling asleep with a head injury, but it slipped his mind as he relaxed, let his weariness drag him down into the land of dreams.
When Jaune next awoke the sun was dimmer than before, but the light and chill he felt indicated it was morning light and not evening. Apparently he'd slept through the night without being attacked and eaten. It seemed like Lady Luck decided to throw him a bone.
Checking his clothes he found them mostly dry, the hoodie still damp, but tolerably so. He hurriedly put them on and sighed in slight relief at the protection from the chill of the morning. Reaching back experimentally he noted that the bump on his head was almost entirely gone and barely ached, meaning his aura had done its job, seeing as his bruising was also mostly faded.
Feeling thirsty he walked back to the river he'd washed up in, quickly drinking some of the cool water. He was about to move away after having slaked his thirst when he caught movement in the dark water. He tensed, waiting for something horrible to emerge to try to kill him, but relaxed when a completely normal fish poked its head up briefly, trying to catch whatever had been disturbing the surface of the water.
Knowing he was going to be feeling hungry soon, even though he didn't have anywhere to cook anything, Jaune knelt by the water's edge and lightly dipped the fingers of one hand in. When the fish poked at his fingers experimentally he quickly struck with his other hand, grabbing the fish and launching it onto the stone behind him before it could wriggle away. It flopped about, gasping for air, and Jaune quickly picked up a small stone and bashed the animal's head, putting it out of its misery.
Smiling at his success, Jaune turned back to the river and did some more fishing. It took him another half hour, but he got two more decently sized fish. Strapping his catch to his belt he made his way back to the cave to figure out his next step.
Not having anything better to do he made his way to the tunnel at the opposite end of the cavern that he'd entered from. He hadn't noticed it before, since he'd been focused on getting warm, but now he could see it, and he hadn't seen a way out back the way he came.
The tunnel was dark, so while he still had a bit of light to navigate by he put his hand against the stone wall, following it as he walked carefully along the uneven cave floor, the gloom slowly deepening the further he went.
He didn't know how long he walked, but his stomach was growling and his throat felt a bit dry when he finally noticed a dim light illuminating the tunnel again. Eager to find out where he was now he moved forward faster, hoping for some water and something he could use to cook his fish. That was all blown away when he reached the tunnel exit, his eyes going wide as a gasp of awe escaped him.
He was standing on a ledge halfway up the wall of an enormous cavern, much larger than Ruby had told him Mountain Glenn was. Holes in the cavern ceiling let light in to illuminate the place. But that wasn't what awed him. Inside the cave was a city. Ancient buildings made of stone occupied he space, looking to be surprisingly intact despite their obvious age, though a fallen wall or crumbled building was noticeable here and there, especially near the small river that cut through the middle of the city. At the far end on the cave he could make out what looked to be some sort of temple, a glint of gold catching his eye. Interspersed around the city itself were patches of vegetation, trees and other plants growing to show how nature had reclaimed the areas the sunlight reached.
Jaune had never, ever heard of an ancient subterranean city before. Especially not in the Deathlands. He knew that Doctor Oobleck would immediately pass out if he caught even a single glimpse of this place. He really wished his scroll worked, because he'd love to take pictures of this sight, knowing that nobody would believe him without them.
His awe was interrupted when he caught sight of movement, however, and he saw a beringel lumbering along down a path in the distance. He grimaced. Of course this place was full of Grimm. What else could he possibly have expected?
Wanting to get down off the ledge before something spotted him he glanced around, finding an old, worn down staircase carved into the wall that would let him travel down into the city proper. Quickly yet carefully he made his way down, almost slipping and falling twice. He sighed in relief when he reached the ground.
Glancing around he found that he was in one of the areas of greenery. A couple of trees grew moderately high, with some shrubbery and flowers adding some color. Somewhat hidden by the plants was a partially collapsed well. Thirsty, Jaune moved over to it, looking down to see the glint of water not that far away. Then he frowned as he realized he didn't have his canteen anymore. Moving back from the well with a sigh he stiffened when he felt the hot breath of something behind him.
He was just starting to whirl around, reaching down to draw Crocea Mors, when something slammed into his side and sent him flying, his aura shimmering from the impact of both the attack and the impact with the ground. He groaned and pushed himself up, coughing lightly as he looked up to see what had attacked him.
It was another beringel. It glared at him, growling menacingly, before pouncing on the downed knight. Jaune immediately rolled away from the Grimm's attack as its fists left dents in the packed ground. Quickly scrambling to his feet he drew his sword and expanded his shield, ready to fight back.
Remembering the last time he fought one of these, Jaune held his shield up, waiting for the aggressive Grimm to attack. The beringel obliged and launched itself at the huntsman-in-training with a howl, who proceeded to sidestep and bring his glowing sword around. The Grimm howled louder as its right arm was removed, stumbling as its body weight suddenly shifted. It spun around, snarling as Jaune glared at it, shield once again up and at the ready. He'd learned to methodically take his time with Grimm like this one. He needed to be especially careful now that he didn't have any armor.
The fight went on that way for another five minutes, the beringel attacking and Jaune either countering or blocking with his glowing sword and shield. Soon enough Jaune was able to remove the Grimm's head once it was on the ground, both arms severed and one of its knees crushed from impacting his glowing shield. The blonde sighed in relief and sheathed his weapon as the beringel began to dissipate.
Looking around he found himself by the open doorway to a small building, whatever door that had been there gone from the passage of time. Since he hadn't seen the beringel before it attacked he figured that's where it'd been hiding.
Walking into the building he looked around. The first thing he noticed was what appeared to be battle damage on the walls. The source was soon revealed to be a skeleton at the base of the stone staircase in the corner, a mace laying dented and broken beside its hand, its ribs crushed inward, giving an obvious cause of death. Considering the scraps of clothing and armor it still had on (none of which looked like it would serve Jaune's purposes, sadly), Jaune figured it was someone who'd died long after this city had been abandoned, though still some time ago. Probably one of the many people who had tried to explore the Deathlands throughout the centuries and never made it out.
Deciding that it wouldn't hurt to check to see if he had left anything of use behind, Jaune carefully moved around the remains and up the stairs. Whoever it had been had obviously been guarding the way up before dying.
On the second floor he found the remains of four more people. Unfortunately, almost anything of use, including weapons and armor, had either been destroyed in the fight that had killed them, or had deteriorated due to age to the point of worthlessness. The only things that looked like they might still be usable were some stainless steel cooking supplies and utensils, which just needed to be washed. Still, at least he had some steel mugs to get some water now. This included some flint, most likely used to start cooking fires, since dust could run out. It wasn't his dust lighter, but Jaune wasn't going to complain about having what he needed to cook the fish he was still lugging about.
The only other thing he found was a small metal strongbox the only unarmed skeleton was clutching. Respectfully removing it from the skeleton's hands, wincing when he accidentally damaged the bones more than they already were, he inspected it, seeing if there was any way to open it. Thankfully he saw that a rusty key was still in the lock. Carefully turning it, hoping it wouldn't break off considering how fragile it felt, he smiled when it clicked, a slight rush of stale air indicating the box had been environmentally sealed, likely something very expensive during the time of whatever expedition this was from. Whoever this was, they'd been pretty wealthy and/or well connected.
Wondering what was so important to this person that they'd kept it in a box like this, he opened it to find… a yellowed, leather bound journal. Jaune blinked, surprised, but then considered it. If whoever this person was had been an explorer or researcher, then they likely would have considered their notes extremely important.
Somehow Jaune new that, back at Beacon, Oobleck had begun salivating without knowing why.
Opening the journal to a random page, his eyebrows rose when he saw it was dated a little under a decade before the Great War. This expedition was even older than he'd thought.
His growling stomach reminded him of his priorities, and he shut the journal and put it back in its box without locking it. He'd read it after lunch.
Hours later, Jaune was going through the journal again, his stomach settled and content as the bones of the three fish he'd eaten were set to the side.
The journal was pretty interesting. It detailed the journey of five people into the Deathlands: the researcher/explorer, Sophia Sand, and a team of four hired mercenaries with combat specialties who were essentially proto-Huntsmen. Sophia had received a grant from the King of Vale to go into the Deathlands and investigate what, if anything, made it such a deathtrap. Though Jaune had initially wondered why the King hadn't assigned some of his own troops to the task of escorting her, apparently it had been Sophia's idea to hire a small group of combat specialists.
Sophia had catalogued the various species of Grimm they'd encountered as they traveled including detailed sketches of them when possible. That information alone was worth a pretty penny back in her day. Though he noted they apparently hadn't encountered the damned centipede.
He'd just reached a point several days after Sophia and her team found the hidden city. They'd apparently come across one of the holes in the ceiling that let light in and seen the buildings, so had found the opening nearest to the wall and ground and rappelled down. Sophia had proceeded to draw sketches of what she saw in between her writings.
Truly this is the greatest find in possibly many lifetimes. An ancient city of a people never heard of in all the rest of Remnant's known history. Who were they?
We have found some surviving wall carvings here and there when we are not avoiding attracting the attention of the roaming Grimm. Something which is difficult, as there is an even denser population here than outside. I speculate something must attract them here, though what that could be I haven't the foggiest idea.
In any case, the carvings. They depict a peaceful people who apparently had never had any issue with the Grimm, considering the fact that not a single carving has depicted one of the creatures even incidentally. This fact is astounding, especially considering the unnatural population density in this day and age. This makes many hypotheses come to mind.
Could the people of this city have had some sort of defense against the Grimm? Something that kept them away from the cave? Possible, but I consider it unlikely. That does not explain the lack of any Grimm presence in their carvings.
Could the common people have been kept ignorant of the Grimm in order to make the likelihood of their fear attracting the creatures minimal? Slightly more likely, in my opinion, yet still not my preferred option. Such a gambit is unlikely to last long, as all it would take would be one national tragedy, one natural disaster, and the Grimm would be upon them like ants on a piece of dropped taffy.
That means, as unbelievable as I personally find the option, the most likely explanation is that this city predates the Grimm. Which is astounding, as the Grimm have been a constant throughout all known human history. The idea that we have found a remnant of a time before them…
I may, of course, be wrong. I want to investigate the temple before drawing further conclusions. From the way it glints in the sunlight, it seems to be adorned in gold, which is plenty of reason for my companions to want to travel there. But there is something else that attracts my attention. Both my team and I have noticed that there is an odd glow from it at night that gold would not explain. There is something there, maybe even something that backs up the first, unlikely hypothesis. Though why it would have stopped working and allowed the Grimm to slaughter the people here, I do not know. I guess we will find out.
I am so excited. Not only is all of this fascinating, but when I return to the King's court with my findings, my name will be written in history.
The dreams of my childhood are so tantalizingly close. I hope Julie will be proud of me.
Jaune sighed, feeling sorry for Sophia. She'd made such an incredible find, at such great risk, and she'd ended up forgotten, like so many others this place had swallowed whole.
Not feeling like reading any more, he set the journal in its box, determined to bring it back with him when he made it out of the Deathlands. It would serve as proof of what he'd found, and it would hopefully give closure to the spirit of Sophia and her team.
Glancing out of the window of where he was sitting on the second floor, Sophia and her team's remains laying nearby, he saw that it was getting dark. Setting Crocea Mors in his lap, ready to be drawn at a moment's notice, he settled in to sleep. He'd look for a way out of the city in the morning. For now, he'd get some rest.
Yawning he glanced once again at the skeleton he presumed was Sophia's. "Don't worry. I'll make sure all of your names are remembered." He closed his eyes, falling asleep in an instant.
Woot! Finally reached one of the chapters I've been looking forward to.
So yeah, now we've seen part of the reason the Deathlands are special. The rest of it will be revealed to Jaune soon enough. If you want a visual image of the city, I had in mind something like the lost city of Kitezh from Rise of the Tomb Raider.
About the scene with the Arcs at the beginning, I'm not really satisfied with it, though something tells me I never will be. Still, I feel like it could have been implemented much better. Unfortunately, this is what I've got at the moment. Hope it was still to you all's liking anyway.
In other news, I've found an alternate theme song to this fic. It's AmaLee's English cover of Guren No Yumiya, which some of you might know from Attack on Titan. Seriously, look it up. It's on Youtube and Spotify. This translation of the song seems almost tailor made for RWBY, and considering Jaune now has the Archery skill, it fits even better. The title even means 'Crimson Bow and Arrow'. Let me know if you all agree that it fits.
I think that's all for now. If you want to have a say in what I write, patrons get a vote for each dollar they donate on my Pat A Ron. That's why this was updated so quickly compared to my other stuff. It's dotcom /athanmortis. 'Survival?' isn't on the poll this month because I want to plot it out a bit, so it'll be back on next month. Feel free to donate and pick something else, if you want.
Till next time.
