Chapter 11
Yang screamed in rage and a pulse of energy blasted out from her. The shockwave knocked Neo back as Yang became engulfed in dazzling flames. Flames clung to Yang, burning more intensely than ever before. The cast on her left arm burned away and the remnants of her prosthetic turned molten and dripped out of the mangled stump of her right. Her left arm glowed brightly and fire formed into the shape of her missing right arm. Another pulse of energy sent flames shooting out in all directions before they was sucked back in. Yang roared as a new right arm grew in the flames.
Neo, so recently smirking with overconfidence, was terrified. She began to slowly back away. Yang stomped forward, her eyes locked on Neo. The grass beneath her was incinerated and the dirt below turned to glass. Yang took a deep breath and charged, trailing flames as she closed the distance in an instant. Her left arm was healed and she used it to punch Neo straight in the face. Neo staggered back, taken completely off guard. Yang roared again and charged once more as Neo continued to back away. This time she punched with her new right arm as Neo lifted her parasol to block. It absorbed the strike but was set alight and began to burn away. Neo stood there as if frozen. Yang reached back and unleashed a punch with all her power. As it struck Neo she shattered like glass, just an illusion.
Yang stood there hyperventilating, her eyes glowing bright red and the air around her swirling with flames. "Yang…" Ruby said weakly.
In an instant the flames died away and Yang's eyes returned to their usual violet. She rushed to Ruby's side. "Are you okay?" She asked with obvious concern.
"I'll be alright." Ruby said. "You have two arms. What happened?"
"I have no idea." Yang said. "I'm just glad I got here in time to save you."
The others had arrived in time to see Yang's brief fight with Neo. Now they stood at the edge of the trees, looking on in shock. "How did you do that?" Pyrrha asked.
Yang shrugged. "I was worried about my sister." She said. "It feels good to be rearmed."
"Your puns aren't getting any better." Blake groaned.
"Someone help me get Ruby back to camp." Yang said. She helped Ruby to her feet and supported her. Ren rushed over to take Ruby's other arm, and the pair helped Ruby limp away. Weiss went to work using her glyphs to douse the brush fires Yang had inadvertently set before they became serious.
Everyone met at the campsite. "We should check the woods to make sure Emerald, Mercury and Neo are really gone." Pyrrha suggested.
"Ren and Nora, stay here with Ruby." Yang ordered. "I'm going to help with the search."
"Maybe you should stay with your sister." Pyrrha said. "After what just happened, you should get some rest."
"Pyrrha, I've never felt more energetic." Yang declared. "I've never been more ready for a fight. It's as if I tapped into a whole new reserve of power."
"Are you sure you're alright?" Pyrrha asked. "I still feel bad about...your arm."
"Don't worry about it." Yang said. "I've got a brand new arm, a better arm. And I am sure. Now let's get going."
"It's a shame about Phoenix Wing though." Nora sighed. "It was a really cool name!"
The group searched the forest for some time but found no sign of their attackers. It seemed they truly had fled. Still they kept looking, double-checking areas already searched just to be sure. "Uh...I...guys?" Pyrrha said as she was picking her way through the underbrush.
"What's wrong?" Yang asked, rushing to Pyrrha's side, soon to be joined by Blake and Weiss.
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Pyrrha asked.
"I can't believe it, but yes." Yang confirmed. Blake and Weiss nodded in agreement.
There at their feet, shrouded by bushes and fallen leaves, lie Jaune. He was tied up and his mouth was taped over. "This isn't another trick, right?" Pyrrha asked.
"We're all seeing it." Weiss said. "I don't think that's within Emerald's abilities."
Pyrrha bent down closer to Jaune and he looked up at her. He had the same jagged scar on his throat that the illusion had born. Pyrrha reached down and pulled the tape off of his mouth. "I'm so glad to see you." He said, his voice a barely audible whisper.
"Is it really you?" Pyrrha asked.
"Who else would it be?" Jaune replied. Pyrrha and Yang looked at each other. If only he knew. "What's going on? Where are we?"
"We're here to stop Cinder and her group." Yang said. She could not help but feel suspicious. "How did you get here? You were dead."
"I'm not really sure." Jaune answered. "I remember getting shot, then everything went black. When I woke up I was in some warehouse, tied up. Then Emerald and Mercury dragged me out here. I heard shooting and screaming, but I couldn't get free. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful."
Pyrrha drew her blade to cut the binds. "Are you sure that's wise?" Yang asked. "This could be another trap."
"We know it's not an illusion." Pyrrha countered. "How could it be a trap?"
"Why would they just leave him here?" Yang asked.
"Maybe they needed him to create the illusion." Pyrrha theorized. "With that done there's no reason to take him along. Besides, they couldn't have fled from us as quickly if they carried him along."
"Then why not kill him?" Yang said. "They're not the sort of people who show mercy. I know you desperately want him to be alive, but I don't like this at all."
"Is this even about Jaune?" Pyrrha accused. "Or are you jealous that I'm showing him attention? Are you afraid I'll dump you for him or something?"
"No, that's not it at all." Yang said. "Listen to yourself. You're not thinking clearly. You're letting your emotions get in the way of your judgement. I know you blame yourself for what happened to him, and that him being here and okay would help you get over everything, but this just doesn't feel right."
"I'm with Yang." Blake said. "Something's off."
"Well we can't just leave him here." Pyrrha said.
"I mean, we could…" Weiss said. The others shot her angry looks. Even given the situation, that sort of callousness was not acceptable.
"I'm untying him and that's that." Pyrrha said. She sliced through the binds. Jaune rubbed his wrists. They were bloody and swollen. "If you think it's a trap you can just keep a close eye on him. As for me, I'm willing to give my friend the benefit of the doubt. Besides, what kind of threat could he possibly be. He's by far the weakest fighter of any of us."
Yang and Blake looked at each other. It was hard to argue with Pyrrha, both because she made good points and because of her insistence. She would not be swayed no matter what they said. "Fine." Yang relented. "But if you do anything suspicious, I'll strike you down myself."
"Nice to see you too." Jaune said with an uneasy laugh.
The group brought Jaune back to camp where they were greeted by the same stunned looks they had had so recently. "It's really him." Pyrrha said before the others could ask.
"Jaune!" Ruby cheered. She flew at him with all the speed of her semblance and hugged him. "You're alive! I'm so glad. I thought you died because of me."
"Pyrrha said the same thing." Jaune said, his voice still barely audible. "Why do you guys blame yourselves? None of it was your fault."
"I never thought I'd say this, but I agree with Jaune." Weiss said. "Now maybe the two of you can stop beating yourselves up."
"Nora, Ren, it's good to see you." Jaune said as Ruby released him.
The pair looked on with obvious unease. "How can it be him?" Ren asked.
"You were dead." Nora said. She and Ren kept their distance.
"Apparently he was just captured." Pyrrha explained.
"Why did they let him go?" Ren probed.
"I guess they didn't need him anymore." Pyrrha suggested. "Why are you questioning it? Our friend is back!"
Nora and Ren exchanged glances. "I'm sorry Jaune, but something feels wrong." Nora said. "This has to be some kind of trick."
Ren would usually soften that kind of blow, but this time he wholly agreed with Nora's assessment. "I'll be watching you." He said.
"Why don't you trust me?" Jaune asked. The answer was obvious but he was still as slow on the uptake as ever.
"It's not that we don't trust you." Nora said. "With everything that's happened this just seems...too convenient."
"I have to agree." Blake said. Ren, Weiss and Yang made their positions clear just by the looks on their faces.
"I guess I understand." Jaune sighed. He sounded more than a little disappointed. "I guess I would be suspicious if someone I knew came back from the dead too. Hopefully I can show you that I'm the same old Jaune."
"Maybe try being a little better than the old Jaune." Weiss said. "I didn't like him very much." Again angry looks. She did not care. The truth was the truth.
Pyrrha dug around in the pile of gear the group had made it ashore with. She found the backpack she had been wearing throughout the journey. She unzipped it and withdrew the contents, Jaune's weapon. "I saved it for you." She said as she handed it to him. "I never gave up on the idea that you were still out there somewhere."
"I don't think it's wise to arm him." Yang warned. "We still don't know if we can really trust him."
"Come on sis." Ruby said. Only she and Pyrrha seemed to take Jaune at face value. It probably had something to do with their feelings guilt over his death. "It's Jaune. He couldn't hurt us if he tried."
"I appreciate the trust but I could do without the brutal honesty." Jaune groaned. He took the sword and shield in his hands and looked at them. "Thank you. It means a lot that you held onto them."
Yang glared at Jaune and Pyrrha. She could not trust him, no way. It was all just a little too perfect. There had to be something else going on. She did have to admit that she was a bit jealous. Before winning Pyrrha over she had had very obvious romantic feelings for Jaune. It was not that Yang worried that Pyrrha would leave her for him, Yang was pretty sure that would never happen, but seeing them being so close against Yang's suggestion was infuriating. She had once warned Pyrrha that Jaune would only hurt her, and now it seemed those warnings were being forgotten.
Pyrrha noticed Yang's anger. "Don't get the wrong idea Jaune." Pyrrha said, as much to placate Yang as anything. "I'm still not romantically interested in you. I'm just happy to have my friend back."
"I totally understand." Jaune assured her. He noticed Yang's anger too and even if he was interested in Pyrrha, he was not about to invoke Yang's wrath. "I think that ship sailed a long time ago. I'm just glad to be back."
"I know!" Ruby suddenly shouted. "We should have a feast to celebrate! If Ren can cook up anything like last night's dinner, it'll be perfect!"
"It does look as though we'll be here for a while longer." Blake conceded. "Perhaps it would be wise to prepare a meal."
"Fine, but I'm staying here with Jaune." Yang said. "I want to keep my eye on him."
"We'll use the same hunting party as last night." Weiss said. "Hopefully the fighting didn't scare off the wildlife."
Qrow found it rather difficult to locate the group. They were quite a bit farther south than predicted, still quite a ways short of The Narrows. The searchers would take more time as well. He had managed to track the group down just in time to see Yang's fiery display. He was thoroughly impressed. Not only were they fighting more effectively, they were unlocking new powers. For the first time they had taken on their primary opponents and come out victorious. Still, it seemed rather too easy.
The foes they were dealing with were not the sort to just give up and go home after being checked, but that was precisely what had happened. He followed Emerald and Mercury some distance as they left the scene, expecting them to circle around to attack again at some point, but they just kept going. Neo did not stick around either, though it seemed her cause was personal rather than still being attached to Cinder's faction. It all made Qrow uneasy. Then the group had stumbled upon Jaune. It was a little too perfect. At least Yang and most of the others seemed alert to the potential danger, even if Pyrrha and Ruby were unwilling to see it.
Qrow could not quite figure out what exactly was going on. That in itself greatly troubled him. Jaune was certainly not going to stand up to any member of the group in a fight. He would not be particularly useful as a spy either. Cinder's allies had been shadowing the group almost from the beginning. Qrow would just have to keep a close eye on things and be ready to respond if something happened. Like the group he hoped there was nothing untoward about Jaune's sudden reappearance, but could just not quite bring himself to take it at face value.
Qrow decided to start moving his pieces into position. He called Ironwood on his scroll. "I'm sending you coordinates." He said. "I need you to wait nearby."
"Why?" Ironwood asked. "Is there trouble?"
"I'm not sure yet." Qrow replied. "Something's up but I don't know what. Just be ready."
"Very well." Ironwood said. He paused for a moment. "I should probably inform you that Winter Schnee has joined our cause."
"Is that right?" Qrow laughed. "Tell the Ice Queen I said hi. Did she manage to drag Taiyang along too?"
"No, he remains opposed to our operation and unaware of our location." Ironwood replied.
"That's a shame." Qrow sighed. "I wish he'd see the light but I can understand where he's coming from."
"I feel bad for the man, he just wants his children to be safe." Ironwood said.
"He'd do a better job of protecting them if he just joined us." Qrow said. "I've already explained it to him be he refuses to listen to reason."
"Can what we're doing really be described as reasonable?" Ironwood challenged.
"No, I guess it can't." Qrow admitted. "At least not from the perspective of those outside our circle."
"If it works we'll save the world, but if it doesn't we're going to look like the villains." Ironwood said.
"Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the good thing." Qrow sighed. "It's unfortunate, but Ozpin understood. It's just something we're going to have to live with." He hung up abruptly. Qrow was done with the conversation. He took a long drink from his flask. He had left one back in Windy Shoals but he always carried extras. Doing the right thing was not always easy. Sometimes he wondered if he even was one of the good guys. No matter, the booze would put a brake on those thoughts.
The hunt was going well. In no time at all they had got themselves a deer and a hefty one at that. They probably could have called it a day but decided to see what else they might bring in. It was not all sunshine and rainbows though. Except for the communication necessary to successfully hunt, they said nothing to each other. Ren, Weiss and Blake wanted to convince Pyrrha that something was wrong with the Jaune situation, and she was not inclined to listen. Any mention of the topic would surely lead to an argument that no one really wanted to have. Still, it had to be said.
Weiss finally decided that enough was enough. "Deep down you've got to know something's wrong with this situation." She said.
"If it's about Jaune I don't want to hear it." Pyrrha shot back.
"Pyrrha please." Blake said. "We're saying this for your own good. Something is very wrong. For him to just show up like he did when he did, it's too suspicious to ignore."
"They're right." Ren added. "Please, we only have your best interests at heart. As a teammate and a friend, I would want nothing more than to have him back, just like old times, but this doesn't feel right. We need to be smart about this or it'll put us all in danger."
"So what are we supposed to do, leave him in the wilderness?" Pyrrha asked. "Do you want to kill him?" It was a good point. There was not much the group could do with Jaune.
"We need to be very careful." Weiss said. "I'll admit that we can't just abandon him out here, but I don't think it's smart for him to stay with us either. We should leave him behind when we get back to civilization."
"He won't be much help to us anyway." Blake pointed out. "Not only is he a weak fighter, he's not fully healthy. We should send him home as soon as we get the chance."
"That's a good idea." Ren agreed. "If he recovers, and there's nothing untoward going on, he can meet us at Haven. I'm sure his family will want to see him too."
Pyrrha wanted to argue in favor of her friend, but she could not really disagree. Sending Jaune home at the first opportunity would probably be the best thing for everyone, even if there was nothing to the group's suspicions. "Fine." Pyrrha relented with a sigh. "We'll put him on an airship home when we get the chance. He can decide what to do after that. I'm sure he'll understand." The others were relieved that Pyrrha was finally listening to reason. Jaune was an unnecessary distraction in an already complex and difficult situation. It was a distraction they could ill afford.
