Volume 2: And Other Broken Things
Chapter 1: Not Everything with a Long Title is a Song by Forever Fallout Boy
"He is even worse than a Faunus, he is—may the gods of Light and Dark forgive me for uttering this word—Cielo!"
— 1 —
She had that dream again.
Sweat licked at her like a lonely puppy. Not enough to soak Ruby, but enough to make her really want a shower.
She realized she was cradling her scythe. She didn't suspect she wasn't going back to sleep again. Not that she wanted to. Her cloak was soft and comfy; it's why she bought it. But she hadn't entirely worked out the best way to turn it into a pillow yet.
One day she would. Then she could sleep anywhere.
Until then, her neck hurt.
She stood to massage it, halfheartedly pulling her cape over her shoulders. Fort Kickassia had come about to protect her newborn team. Once she'd found her big sister Yang during the Initiation, she couldn't let her go. Thus her hastily building this fort to guilt her into sticking around so her partner, that Blake girl, could rest. Weiss came along too for some reason.
Yang's partner slept by the window. If you looked past Blake's figure, you could see the embers of the burning horizon. The distant inferno looked so much like dawn she had to do a double-check on her scroll to make sure it really was as early as she thought it was.
It made her feel, well, she wasn't sure. Like there was something out there she could be doing. Should be doing. Not to knock Jaune and his idea, but Ozpin's task for them felt like a brush-off.
"Why, yes," Headmaster Ozpin had been like, "there's lot of bad stuff going on here. Why not go off to somewhere not bad and just walk around."
It's how it felt in Ruby's gut, at least.
Fort Kickassia should've been built by an air vent. Place was too stuffy. She reached out to wake Yang, but then didn't. She couldn't say why. It just felt wrong. Rude. Made her think of how when they'd come to Beacon yesterday, Yang hadn't wanted to be on a team with Ruby. She's practically just abandoned her to be with friends from her class at Signal.
So she retracted her hand. Ruby wanted to go out for some air, but not alone. But who else? Blake? Ruby had really tried to connect with her, and all she'd done was give her the cold shoulder. But as opposed to the ice shoulder, it wasn't bad.
Yeah. Weiss. Her partner. And—well, Weiss was mean. Frustrating. And she liked to yell at Ruby. She was only going with Ruby, her dang partner, because she was worried Ruby would drop dead without her supervision. Odds were if Ruby woke Weiss up, she'd just scream and yell and wake everyone up and they'd all blame Ruby and everyone would be angry at her!
Ruby felt her flesh peel away into ribbons of roses. Before she knew it, she was beyond the protective borders of Fort Kickassia. Alone. Where the air was cold.
Beacon's main building was like a cathedral. Ruby had one been inside one once. It'd been an abandoned place near her mother's grave. She'd once asked if that's where Mom and Dad had gotten married, and Dad had laughed and said, "Do I really look that old, Rubes?"
"You're the oldest person I know!" Ruby had said, prompting her Uncle Qrow to laugh and ask if Dad needed some of the sunshine from his flask.
Beacon was like that place if it hadn't been abandoned. Even the back halls and little side rooms she found had these tall ceilings. Like it had been built for giants. Giant cats, probably. It made the most sense, since the doors were people sized, and cats could get through anything their head could get though. Giant cats could make full use of the overhead and the doors.
She chuckled to herself. That was a dumb through and she knew it. Didn't make it any less fun to imagine.
Ruby clenched her eyes.
"No, stop it," she told herself. "You're a Huntress now. Act like it."
No more little kid thoughts like that. She was at Beacon. Meant she had to grow up.
Before she really knew where she was going, Ruby found herself out back the main building. There area was too thin and narrow for the military or graduated Huntsmen, so it was pretty lonely. Lots of places to walk around, picnic, or stare out at the all-consuming fire on the horizon.
She found a table with an umbrella and just… stared. The air out here gave her goosebumps, but she could manage. She could always cinch up her coat if it got too bad.
Out in the still-burning forest, she could still hear Grimm. Even with a campaign of white phosphorus and high-yield Burn Dust, it wouldn't be enough to stop them. There'd be more. Always would be until you solved the problem off at the root.
Incompleteness.
Her mother had told her once about the Wheel of Souls. That Grimm were the souls of people who died with their souls incomplete. Which meant all her life she'd wondered what Grimm her mother was. Because of course Summer Rose had become a Grimm after her death. There's no way she'd died not wanting to see Ruby and Yang again. It was how the stories always started out: the monster trying to get back to its family but unable to resist hurting them. Her mother was out there, looking for her. In every town, cottage, and hamlet.
Someday her mother would be free.
And who knew? Do that, and maybe she'd see her mother again.
Ruby unfurled her scythe, planted the blade into the ground, and sighted down the barrel out at the forest. In lieu of binoculars, her scope would do. Once upon a time she closed one eye when looking down the sight, until her Uncle Qrow convinced her to keep both eyes open.
"Keeps you from getting tunnel vision," he'd said. That meant only being able to focus on one narrow thing. With both eyes open, one could focus on the narrow thing, and the other could keep watching. It was like being your own one-girl sniper team.
Which is how she saw that tall redhead coming to sit with her.
"Hi," Ruby said, collapsing her scythe. Pyrrha, if she recalled from last night. She didn't know where else to begin the conversation. Maybe she shouldn't have spoken at all. What was she even doing here?
The girl smiled. "I saw you last night. You're one of the people who's going with us today, right?"
She nodded. "Yeah. My name's Ruby."
"Ruby?" she asked.
"Yeah. Like the flower."
Pyrrha frowned, and it took everything Ruby had to keep a poker face. Oh my did that take a lot. Her cloak didn't have any pockets for this spaghetti!
"You're…" Pyrrha awkwardly rubbed her shoulder with a hand. "Holding up well."
Ruby would take it. "Yeah. I'm ready to get back out there." She kept her eyes up on Pyrrha's nose. Success! But don't cheer, you'll just look weird! "Just wish I was going out there with a better team."
Pyrrha faced out at the forest. "Not a member of your partner's fan club?"
No longer being eyed, Ruby relaxed enough to give a humorless laugh. "A million stars, seven planets, like twenty time zones, five continents, four Huntsmen Academies, and I just happen to make eye contact with her first. Her name is Weiss, by the way. She says she's rich and I believe her because she's acting like those rich people my Uncle Qrow used to talk about."
"At least I know I'm not the only one," she said with the ghost of a smile.
"Huh?"
"Partners."
"…wanna trade?" Ruby offered like she were trying to sell a schoolmate bootleg Shadow Monsters cards.
"I was going to make the offer myself," Pyrrha said with a chuckle. "But however tempting it gets, I don't want to be indirectly responsible for a homicide."
"I don't get it."
Pyrrha let out an oddly mom-like sigh and turned to face Ruby, folding her arms across the table. She lowered her head, looking equal parts relaxed and thoughtful towards Ruby. "I think I learned something yesterday. Why the Headmaster organizes partners like he does."
"You mean random chance."
The woman nodded. Wait, no, girl. But it was hard to think of Pyrrha as a girl. A girl was someone like Ruby. A woman was, like, Glynda Goodwitch. An adult.
What I want to be, she thought.
"It's the opposite of something my dad used to tell me," Pyrrha said. "'You can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose.'" She gave a weird little smile, and Ruby chuckled awkwardly, more than a little homesick at the reminder of listening to her dad and Qrow's old 'bullshitting sessions' after her dad got better. "What I mean is, not everything here will go as expected. The first lesson at Beacon isn't to survive the landing. It's that you can't control the hand you're dealt. You have to banish expectation, soak in the moment, and adapt.
"In other words, Ruby," she added with a smile, "suck it up and deal."
Ruby immediately frowned. "But, no booties 'bout it, my partner suuuucks! How'm I supposed to deal with that?"
"Mm," Pyrrha hummed with an amused little smile Ruby tried not to get tingly over. "I'll let you know when I figure that part out myself." She re-folded her arms. "I think it has something to do with beating your head against a wall until the wall breaks first."
"And my wall is Weiss?"
Pyrrha nodded. "It's what I'm doing, and it's worked so well I've only resorted to drinking once."
"It's only been one day!" Only her uncle was supposed to be that bad off!
The redhead winked. "Which means it'll be easy to break my record."
Ruby squinted. "I… can't tell if you're being genuine or messing with me, Pyrrha."
She laughed. "Now you know how I feel every time I talk to Jack. I think he's rubbing off. Maybe I gave him too many chances and this is my punishment?"
"Right. Gotcha. Headbutt Weiss until I gain her powers."
A smile. "Now you're getting it, Ruby!" In any case, she stood up. "I'm going for a morning jog, maybe get a last round of exploration on campus before we head out. You care you join me, Ruby?"
"I have the cardio of malnourished pug," Ruby said, making skeptical eyes. "And pugs can't even breathe. They're literally bred so you can slowly watch a thing you love suffocate and die."
"Then do you expect to get around as a Huntress?"
Ruby beamed. "Soul Magic Bull-Pucky!"
Her body ribboned away into rose petals and stormed past Pyrrha, who in minutes was doing her best to keep up with the red bullet in front of her.
— 2 —
"Yeah, it's official, this list is lame, man," Chloe said, making a face at the paper in her hands. She looked up at Jaune and cocked a brow, daring him to deny her.
Instead, he started counting off his fingers. "Eight of us, a day or two alone, times three balanced meals a day, and other amenities to cook and stay dressed. No, this is the barebones."
Chloe scoffed. "Why you tryna plan it out? Just live off the land. It's too early for crap."
He rolled his eyes and sighed from the back of his throat. "Do you know what lives out there? Plants and animals. Stuff to eat."
"Of course!"
"In Vale's Forever Fall Forest?" he insisted.
"How hard could it be? I'm from the breadbasket of Vacuo. Finding food outside is a talent of mine," she said.
"She's got a point," Ruby added, oiling her scythe weapon gun thing. She didn't seem distracted by the bullhead hanger she and everyone else was set up in as they waited for the ride out. "Pack light. Lets us move faster."
Chloe snapped her fingers. "See? Tiny red sniper girl knows what's up! I like her."
"Yeah!" Ruby beamed. Truth be told, there were more reasons Chloe liked Ruby Rose. Aside from being Weiss Schnee's partner, the girl was a mere fifteen. Getting into Beacon like that requires some serious talents. She must have impressed someone important. That meisie there was someone to keep an eye on.
Jaune gave them all a flat look. His gaze eventually fell to the Schnee girl, who was sitting on a crate and loading Dust into her rapier. Past her and all there was was the pre-dawn light outside Beacon's airship hangers. Jaune pulled out a hunting knife he'd taken as supplies earlier. "Weiss, you have fire Dust; you're on cooking duty."
She looked up sharply. "Excuse me?"
"Ruby, use your speed to chase."
Red made a funny face.
"Chloe, you cut 'em off," he concluded. He adjusted the knife. "I'll do the butchering. We'll draw straws who gets the pelt."
"What are we doing?" Weiss asked.
Jaune shrugged. "I mean, if we're going be living off the land, we're gonna work out how to hunt, clean, and cook some meat. Have any of you ladies ever gutted a deer? How about plucking clean a bird of paradise?"
Well, Chloe thought he was trying too hard. A for effort, though. She was golf clapping for him in her head.
Ruby rose a hand. "I've killed Grimm. Does that count?"
"Ruby, how good of you to volunteer," he said, ignoring her question. "Why, yes, we'd love to put your talents to use hunting down rabbits. We could use the lean meat."
"What, no!" Red said. "I'm not killing any bunnies."
"Then we're packing up the food before we leave," he concluded, pounding a hand into the fist. It looked somehow silly. Like he was trying to be more final than he was coming across.
"Who died and made you leader?" Weiss asked, hand on hip.
"Technically that list hasn't been made public yet," Chloe pointed out, trying to distract and lend Jaune some help. "But, probably lots of kids during the Initiation."
Everyone looked away. A bullhead was landing outside the hanger, kicking up dust and particulate.
"Fine," Red said. "We'll pack ahead of time. Just—no killing bunnies."
"But you're carrying the stuff!" Chloe declared, and the other girls all nodded.
Jaune sighed. "Y'know what, if it keeps everyone from dying, deal." Then, in a lower voice: "Besides, I've been shopping with my sister. I'm pretty much bred for lifting things."
Chloe stood up and stretched her legs. It felt good. She was still sore from the Initiation yesterday. Someone was helping taxi in that bullhead over to their marked landing pad. The whole area was a hub of activity, but this was was at least heading towards Chloe and the gang.
Speaking of, she looked out over her team. While Jaune and the girls insisted this was a temp thing, Chloe had other ideas. Jaune Arc, Chloe Weaver, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee. How to make a team name for that?
JWSR (Juicer), SAWR (Sawyer), CRAW (Craw, like the fish), RWWJ (Rouge)? No, beginning with a J or A felt better. Jaune seemed to be stepping up to the leader plate, which was a little frustrating. Meant he might steal some of Chloe's limelight. But, if he was going to be barking out orders and ideas, Chloe could live with it. Just so long as they all knew she was the brains behind the team.
Then again, team leaders didn't always have first name in an color. While that was usually the case, sometimes you just had to rearrange a name to make it work. Chloe imagined there were tons of awesome team comps out there in the past who never became a thing because they couldn't be made a good color or color-reminding thing.
"Look alive, people," Pyrrha called out to all eight here.
"Ride's here," her partner, the complete nobody with the hummuna-hummuna eyes, added. Like he was trying to remind people he was here and important.
The short one in the dirty police cosplay stepped up, followed by her partner. Tall guy. Cello or something.
"If we were gonna go back out like this why did we even shower in the first place?" Police Girl—Cards, she could have sworn that was her name—asked, cringing in her uniform. It was still absolutely caked in specs of blood, grime, and sweat.
Cello Man shrugged. "You asked."
"Because," Chloe said with a huff, "ain't no self-respecting Huntress ever looks anything but her best. We have an image to sell, girlie! A brand to maintain."
"Please don't get her started," Jaune said, cringing into himself.
Police Girl tugged at her outfit, grimacing like she had cockroaches in her veins. "I'd hardly call this looking my best. I mean, I can feel dirt in places I didn't even know I had. And right after dealing with—" she paused, her gaze settling on Chloe "—that one girl who tried to claim the showers for herself." Then her eyes narrowed into murderously-thin slits, no doubt jealous of Chloe's impeccable personal hygiene, as most girls are. "That was you!"
"Showering is also a part of the image!" Chloe said, folding her arms. She would bare no dissent from dirty cop girl over here!
"You just piled up all the chairs from the main building into the locker room to form a barricade!" Police girl ranted. "That wasn't even funny!"
"We're Huntresses, not the junior girls volleyball team!" she spat, clicking her tongue in disgust. "Girl's gotta have some standards! It's something you're gonna have to learn some day, Police Girl."
She glared Chloe, biting her lip as if to keep herself from saying something she might regret.
"Chloe," Jaune said disapprovingly.
"Vacuoans have standards?" Cello Man asked with a quirked brow, placing a hand on Police Girl's head.
Chloe turned her nose up. "Yeah. They're called at least I'm not you. Try it sometime. Life'll get better."
"So being you is somehow a better alternative?" He asked. "No thanks, I like being from a country that isn't Atlas' bitch."
Chloe slammed a hand down on a box, ignoring the conscious way that Weiss was looking anywhere but the argument. "You wanna say that to my face, Mr. Mistrali man? Need to be closer. Think there's some language barrier here preventing point A from reaching point B. But, I guess you have that problems with lots of girls, huh, Mistrali?"
"I don't get it, was that an insult or reference?" Ruby whispered rather loudly to her partner. "Felt like she was trying to set something up."
Cello looked to Weiss. "Hey, you're a Schnee, right? Mind muzzling your Vacuo pet?"
Oh, that sonofabitch! Chloe was gonna rip out his eyes and shove them where his b—
Jaune grabbed Chloe by the shoulder. She yelped as he pulled her back. "No," he said sternly. "Bad Chloe, bad. Don't make me get out the spray bottle." He turned sharply to the mans whose eyeballs were forfeit one day. "And Cielo, stop being an asshole, man. I get that's your thing, but c'mon."
Cello met his glare. "Then keep your bitch on her leash, Jaune."
"Hey, settle down!" Police Girl insisted, shoving herself between the two. "All of you!"
"I sense great things from this team comp," indigo eyes commented idly, twirling one of his knives.
Beside him Pyrrha nodded gravely. "We're not doomed at all."
"Exactly, Nikki!"
Yeesh, he had a pet name for her? Maybe the two really were boning. Chloe wondered how she could use this knowledge to her advantage.
"Glad to see we're all in such high spirits," Weiss groaned, massaging her eyelids. She traced the scar over her eye as if reminding herself it was there.
The Bullhead doors opened with a pneumatic hiss. Out stepped a man in the earthy green-and-brown colors, a Valite Ranger. Rifle slung over his back, he jumped down onto the concrete and looked across all eight assembled students.
"You the kids we here for?" he asked, pulling up the visor of his helmet.
Eager to get away from Jaune and instrument boy, Chloe hopped to her feet. "Yep, that's us. Ready and able, man."
The man grunted and said something into a helmet microphone that Chloe couldn't hear over the cooling Bullhead engines. Then, louder, and thumbing over his shoulder: "It's your gig now, kids. Stack up your stuff while they swap out the pilot. Me and Baker Company gonna hit the RR."
Baker, or BAKR? Did the military do theme or color naming like Huntsmen did? If so, it'd have to be one funky way of spelling Baker. She counted thirteen guys and gals in the bullhead gathering bags or stretching.
"Loud and clear, Captain!" Ruby cheered, saluting the man.
"Captain?" Fatigues scoffed as he passed Chloe by. "Please. Have you seen my paycheck?"
— 3 —
As Jaune found out, it wasn't the flight that got him sick. It was the takeoff. The sudden way airships rose up, then bobbed as they stabilized to find a suitable cruising speed. He sat back in one of the seats, eyes closed. He needed to get used to this. Airships were the fastest way from Beacon to Vale. Unless he wanted to be stuck on campus all day (or rely on any more of Ozpin's giant springs), he needed to learn how to handle this.
Another thing to deal with, the spat between Chloe and Cielo. Whenever he opened his eyes he noted his team and that guy's team were broadly on other sides of the ship. Save for Indigo and Pyrrha. They were sitting together between the groups.
Oh god, eyes open too long. Too long!
When he'd calmed his stomach, he found Chloe trying to strike up a chat with Ruby about weapons. Ruby's reaper scythe was also a gun, and Chloe's kama doubled as shotguns (and she often cheated by loading them not only with buckshot but slugs and grenades). Weiss was giving Jaune a curious look. He flashed her a weak smile and went back to pretending the bullhead cabin didn't have this air of forced awkwardness.
This feeling sucked. The nausea mixed with a desire not to look over at the other half of this eight-man team. Last time he'd felt this mix of emotions, well, it'd been the day he'd decided he'd make something of his life and become a Huntsman by any means necessary.
Jaune screwed his eyes shut harder. It wasn't a day he liked to remember. Save for that one ray of gold at the end, the entire thing made his chest hot with shame and embarrassment.
He idly wondered if he could use memories of that to remain wide awake during long nights. The thought made him snort a laugh.
Chloe elbowed him. "Yo, Jaune, sup?"
He half-lidded her with a grimace. "Flying sucks." He stole a glance at Cielo, seeing if he'd make some demeaning remark.
He didn't. In fact, he didn't even seem to be paying any attention at all. Or anyone for that matter. He just rested his head against his seat as if in a daydream. His partner, Cards, seemed to occasionally bring him back down to Remnant. Highest record was a whopping nine seconds.
If only everyone had that sort of attention span. At least it wouldn't be too much of him to ask for everyone to just forget the last hour.
"Sure that's the only thing on your mind, boss boy?"
Plenty was on his mind. If he tried to lay out a comprehensive list in terms of severity, it'd take the rest of the trip, the entire mission, and the ride back to Beacon.
The most pressing thing, though, was their little group. Jaune didn't think he could have gotten a more dysfunctional team if he'd begged the Headmaster for one. If he was being completely honest with himself, he didn't fully trust Cielo. That Cards girl seemed nice, he supposed. She and Cielo were partners, and he seemed pretty protective of her if that scene in the hanger meant anything at all, so who knew what that said about her. Indigo Jack seemed okay, but that was mostly because they hadn't spoken yet. Not for real.
Then there was Pyrrha Nikos. Chloe had been awfully intent on getting her on their team. Apparently she was a super famous athlete in Mistral. Enough to get sponsored by Pumpkin Pete. Now that he thought about it, was it normal for Huntsmen to get sponsorship deals?
Maybe Ren and Nora could've helped round this team out with some sanity. But despite what Nora said last they spoke, she hadn't answered her scroll when he called her this morning to ask if she was up for this mission. Might've been because he was calling her at four in the morning, but, still.
All together, what did this mean for Jaune?
Worries. He had worries and concerns. But could he tell Chloe all of that? Or maybe it'd be better to put on a brave face. Act bold and confident and hope the others followed his example.
Jaune sighed and put on a smile. "I like when you call me boss boy. Really inspires me to think of a name for you, too."
She cocked a brow, impressed. "For the record, that's as far as I'm going. 'Daddy' is strictly off-limits."
Jaune leaned over. "Hey, Ruby, will you call me daddy?"
Ruby turned and gave Jaune a weird look. She finished loading a cartridge into her weapon. "You're not my dad."
"Step-daddy it is," Jaune said, grinning. He let himself believe stupid humor like this was the way to break the ice. Now they would all drown together in the frozen water!
"Would you stop hitting on Ruby?" Weiss asked.
Ruby did a double-take. "He was hitting on me?"
Chloe snerked. "Honestly, it was bad enough I'd consider it closer to 'domestic abuse' than flirtation."
Jaune sighed, rolling his eyes. But at least he felt like the plan was working. While his pride didn't like it, he'd take one for the team like this if it, y'know, meant the team could remain a team, Be in high spirits. Something like that.
At least half of the group was semi-functional. He couldn't really say anything about the other four.
Something made a calming boop from the ceiling. "Attention, ladies and bitches," an unhappy woman said over the intercom, "we're about to arrive at our destination. We hope you've enjoyed flying with the 479th Cavalry, and ask that in the future you learn how to walk so we can do our actual jobs."
"Wow," Pyrrha said with a whistle. "The military sure is passive aggressive here."
"Well those thumbs ain't gonna twiddle themselves," Cielo replied, stepping up to the door.
"So does anyone know who we're with?" Cards asked. "You know, like teams and stuff?"
Pyrrha shook her head. "I know I'm with Jack. Other than that there's nothing official."
The guy with the name of Jaune's sister nodded. His indigo eyes were flickering over everyone, and for some reason it made Jaune uncomfortable. As if he were being judged like a slab of prime rib again. He looked away at Cielo, and when he glanced back, Jack was pausing on Jaune.
Look somewhere else!
"Oh," Cards replied. "I kinda thought we'd be splitting up. So we can cover more ground?"
Weiss quirked a brow. "Doesn't that usually get people killed?"
"Depends where you are," Jack said with a confident little smile. "Since all we have are our partners, no sense in not mixing and matching. Hey, Cielo, Cards, we fought the Handyman. Work with us. We can swap out later." He glanced back at Jaune, as if looking for his approval.
No, not approval. Support.
Goddamn self-collected bastard. I bet your Pyrrha isn't as volatile as my Chloe is!
Jaune nodded. "Yeah, sounds cool. Weiss, Ruby, stick with me and Chloe."
The two men met eyes. Another of those 'I'm not gay' nods passed between them. He even flashed a little smile. Jaune didn't like it.
"We just need to establish a base camp and a time table," Jaune continued, trying to get a leg up. Prove to himself he wasn't just following Jack's lead. Jaune had his own good independent ideas!
The bullhead came to a stop and the door opened to a sea of red leaves.
"Wait, aren't we going to land?!" Weiss said, standing up. She had to yell just to be heard over the roar of the engine.
"I think she wants us to jump out!" Ruby replied.
"Damn right I do!" the woman's voice crackled over the intercom. "Don't they teach you kids landing strategies at Beacon?"
"This is the fourth time in two days!" Cards cried, staring down vast red expanse. "Am I cursed?!"
Jaune stepped closer towards the edge. They were still pretty high up. Seriously, was the pilot just this lazy?
Oh boy.
"So… uh, who's going first?!" he coughed, forcing the dread back down his throat. "Wanna draw stra—?"
"Last one to hit the ground's a rotten egg!" Ruby cheered as she leapt off the edge with a running start.
Of course it was Ruby.
"Well when she puts it like that," Cielo replied, calmly strolling off the edge. Weiss and Chloe followed them out immediately after, his partner patting him roughly on the back before somersaulting out the airship.
Cards massaged her arms like she was trying to stave off an intense chill. She breathed in and breathed out and palmed her cheeks. "Doubt and die, Cards," he heard her say to herself despite the engine. She walked to the back of the cabin before sprinting out into the air. "Doubt and die!"
No seriously, did someone christen this "Steal Jaune's Thunder" day while he wasn't looking? Because he was feeling oddly bereft of thunder. What kind of leader was he supposed to be? The kind that hid out in a safe, cozy spot while the rest of his team took the initiative.
After that it was just himself, not-his-sister-Indigo, and Pyrrha Nikos. She said something to silver-blond boy—completely unintelligible over the engine's howl. Indigo nodded before giving them a two finger salute and leapt to join the others.
Aura or not, that was a fall he was staring down. Did Huntsmen just take these kinds of falls on the regular? Could he even take the fall? Had it not been for Chloe, he knew with certain clarity that he would have died before the Initiation had even really started.
Just staring down this shifting sea of red leaves made him feel like some phantom force was pushing him forward towards certain death. He hadn't even realized he'd been stepping away from the open door until he felt a hand—firm, but gentle—pressing against his shoulder.
Pyrrha Nikos stood behind him, smiling. Mom-like was probably the first word that popped into Jaune's head. Which was weird considering they were probably around the same age and that he found her kind of hot.
Jaune shook his head, if only to keep the confusing thoughts and subsequent psychiatric therapy bills at bay with a sharp, pointy stick.
"Are you doing alright?" she asked, patting his shoulders. "Need some help? I guess these falls can seem pretty scary sometimes, hm?"
Was that how he looked to her? To all of them? Scared? Like he needed someone to hold his hand like a little kid in the dark?
It reminded him of his sisters, in a way. Condescending smiles and hollow pep-talks. Even if they did mean well, he couldn't help but feel they were just… just laughing at him behind his back. Looking down on him. Jaune thought that'd end when he became taller than them, but no. They seemed to take it as a challenge. The tall baby of the family.
Was it going to be the same here?
Jaune shrugged Pyrrha's hand from his shoulder.
"Hey, I can make the jump just fine," he insisted, voice more bitter than he'd meant.
She stepped back, hands raised to placate him. "It's okay to be nervous. It's not like combat schools really teach skydiving in their curricula." She leaned in as if letting him in on a dark secret. "Just between you and me, I nearly fainted my first time in the air. I could barely walk even after I landed."
Jaune's fists tightened. Was she trying to connect with him? What could they possibly have had in common? Even if he was taller than the girl, that at this distance she had to angle her head up to look him in the eye, it still felt like she was looking downwards.
"You'll get used to it," Pyrrha said. "But that doesn't mean you shouldn't go look for help when you're afraid. We have teammates for a reason, after all."
"I said I got it!" he snapped. Harsher than intended, it took all of his willpower to keep himself from flinching at the tone of his own voice.
Pyrrha sucked on her bottom lip slightly, giving Jaune a single nod. She mercifully remained silent. All she did was look at him expectantly and gesture for him to go first.
He looked from her out to the swaying canopy of red beneath the bullhead's engines. She was watching him. Jaune could feel it on the back of his neck. And if she was waiting on him, he had to jump. He felt equal parts spiteful and thankful for her.
It's like Dad always used to say. "The key to success is to pretend like hot girls are watching."
Time for rubber to meet the road.
Jaune balled his fists, flared his aura, and took a running leap into the Forever Fall.
a/n: Time to start on Ruby herself and our odd take on her. Also, you go, Jaune. Totally making smart choices there, huh, hotshot? Aside from that, it seems that our 8 man brigade here isn't perfectly friendly with each other. The C-Team [Chloe/Cielo/Cards] seems to be at odds with each other.
And this is the chapter where we officially changed our plans. We were originally gonna have team Jaune-Weaver-Valkyrie-Lie (JWVL). But here we've gone for Jaune to be the leader of the soon-to-be confusingly named Ruby-Weiss-Weaver-Jaune. We just liked the character dynamic more.
