"I once met a rather interesting individual who had made it their life's work to study the Grimm menace that plagues our world. We were wandering along a similar path and I happened to notice his sketchbook full of the beasts.
"Yes, a little hobby of mine." He said as he tucked it further into his pocketed vest.
"Why sketch them? I'm reasonably certain that there are several accurate accounts of what these fiends looks like all over Remnant." I asked.
The man simply sighed as he replied. "Might I ask why you care, stranger?"
I explained my journals to him as he shrugged. "I suppose it's for the same reason you do it then. I want to make sure that some things are never forgotten."
Before I could press him on this, he forestalled my inevitable questions with a hand. "Have you ever wondered how there can be so many Grimm and yet they seem to have no sign of breeding points like any other animal we can think of?"
He continued on in a clear lecturing tone. "I once found a Nevermore nest on my travels. Judging by the bones that littered the floor, no living thing had been there in several years. There was little to no evidence of any young having actually been born there. And yet the very moment I left, I found myself beset by the flying menaces until I managed to contact a nearby Hunting group to help me." He shook his head in disbelief.
I asked the man what he thought about the Grimm and how, after so many years, there had been no real progress in pushing them back. "A lack of Hunters and Huntresses would be an obvious one." He said sadly. "Even now, the amount of people who are even able to develop battle usable Aura don't make it into the main Academies. I've encountered several such individuals on my own expeditions through the Outlier Regions and they are rarely noticed by the more metropolitan based academies.
"Then, of course, there is no real information as to where the Grimm come from. Nests and hunting grounds are rarely found and no-one has ever seen a Baby Grimm since long before any of the Kingdoms. Oh, there are bigger versions of adult Grimm to be sure but no children."
I pondered this for a while before replying something about the idea of a greater Grimm intelligence.
"Nope." The other man responded. "Grimm fight with no strategy or any grand scheme. With their numbers, they easily have the means to utterly stomp us into dust. My good traveller," He smiled not unkindly at me. "The Grimm are beasts. Mindless, unfeeling, unnatural things. They do not scheme or plot as we do."
He wandered on his way a day or two later, leaving me with no small amount of terrified dread coursing through my mind."
Tatar of the Wandering Tribes, "Marvels of Remnant - The Hunting Lodges"
"Listen…" Pyrrha said. "I know it's your first mission and all…"
"I know, I know. I should have handled it differently." Jaune nodded.
"No! No, I was actually going to say that you might have wanted to act sooner." Pyrrha encouraged.
"You're kidding right?" Jaune grinned.
"Not really." Pyrrha's luminous smile stayed on her face, resilient in the face of his skepticism.
"Is now the best time for this?" Jaune laughed.
A minion just flew past them, the fragments in his metal armor flinging him into the wall at break neck speed.
"I think it's okay. You having trouble with these guys?"
"A litt- Ah!" A clang resounded off of Jaune's shield as he flinched into a near flawless strike across the attacking figure in front of him. "A little!" He carried on. "I mean, my body's moving on its' own more than I'm actually fighting…"
"That happens." Pyrrha said, her tone as casual as her fighting style. A flick of her wrist sent a small group of the black clothed attackers back as she swung at their ranks with her javelin. "After I'd fought with Milo here for a while, I found my moves becoming mostly second nature." Another smooth flowing movement preceded one poor hapless goon being sent head first into Jaune's upright shield.
"Really?" Jaune struck the thrown goon with his hilt for good measure. "Huh. Explains why Mom and Dad never really did much practice…"
"Have you got in contact with your parents?"
Jaune held a guilty look on his face as he lunged past the seemingly glacial strikes of his horde of opponents. "I really don't want to. Mom'd kill me and Dad'd smash the pieces into tinier pieces."
Pyrrha's eyes pierced the wrecked warehouse where the two of them currently fought, searching for a leader or something to desperately change the subject of conversation.
There. Her cool mind, untouched by the carnage around her, thought. "Jaune. You take the leader at the back. I can handle these."
"You sure?" Jaune asked, still playing offense against a line of minions.
In response, Pyrrha just raised an eyebrow as another wave of goons were sent flying into the walls with her shield.
"Okay, okay. Forgot who I was talking to." He replied.
His new body flowed through the gaps in the defensive formation and crashed relentlessly against the larger groups. As the poor minions were sent flying, Jaune's eyes narrowed in on the leader.
A tall imposing figure, her long blue hair was perhaps the only identifiable feature about her. The black clothes that she wore hid any marks or skin colour as her mask, a blank piece of something metallic, shone in the dim light of the warehouse. She stood firm, her arms moving as if conducting the entire combat from her position.
Jaune rolled straight into her. His barreling force enhanced by the ocean of Aura he pumped into his legs before he jumped, he expected to see his opponent in the wall as he stood upright.
No such luck. Jaune thought as he saw the firm stance of his opponent hold.
"I'll handle him." Her voice was hard as her arms flung her subordinates away. No real emotion slipped into it save for a hint of anger.
A professional then. Jaune thought. Pretty sure anybody else with less experience would be a little louder.
He screamed as he swung a wide arcing strike at her chest.
Her metal gauntlets grabbed the ancient blade of Crocea Mors, halting the enhanced boy's swing dead in its' tracks. "Nice try."
With a mighty effort, she threw him away from her as the sound of exertion barely escaped her lips. She sprinted towards his landing and was on him before Jaune had a chance to properly defend.
What in the hell? Jaune thought as he held his shield firm against the onslaught. She's as fast as I am!
He held firm letting the strength of the metal endure the blows as he rapidly thought of a counter attack. Where's Pyrrha when you need her?
Jaune pushed back against the flurry of strikes, feeling more than seeing his opponent flow back away from him. A rapid slash upwards missed the lady by a mere inch before he spun into her with his shield and slammed her against the wall.
He was charging after her airbourne form as he saw it contort around to allow her to spring off the wall. Her strike hit Jaune straight in the chest as he hit the ground with a dull slap. An axe kick to the head followed soon after, forcing a shield block from the less experienced fighter.
"You're not half bad." Her masked face leaned over him as she pinned Jaune to the floor, one arm at his throat. "Y'know, we'd been told about you before we set up this little operation for the boss. Said you had spirit." A slamming strike forced Jaune to spit out a dribble of blood. "Didn't say it'd be this easy though."
A rapid repetition of strikes struck Jaune's face before he managed to roar once more in effort as he threw the woman off his chest. She landed with all the grace of a cat as she turned her heavy gauntlets towards him.
"I'm harder to put down than that." He bragged.
His internal dialogue was more frantic. Just gotta land a good hit on her. Her strength is drawn too much from her Aura, I can nearly taste it in the air. Once that happens, I can put her on defense and- Woah!
This time, the lunging attack missed. Jaune's enhanced reflexes slammed down on the attacking woman with his hilt, forcing her onto the floor.
Another thwack or two for good measure satisfied Jaune that she was indeed out cold.
A fast clapping sound came from behind him and Jaune, still battle ready, spun around to face the new foe.
Her red hair flowed gently behind her as her bronze armor reflected the lights. "Not bad for a first time. Aura fights are rarely that quick."
"You were watching!?" Jaune shouted.
Pyrrha looked only a little guiltily towards Jaune. "Well, yeah… I just wanted to see how you'd do! Besides, it's not like I couldn't have jumped in at any time."
And I would have missed the show if I'd done that… Some dark section of her mind whispered scandalously.
Jaune stood there, his outfit straining against the outline of muscles underneath. His face betrayed every emotion in his head as it flickered between them.
She… I don't believe it! She just watched as that… Well, I appreciate that she didn't think I needed the help but… Dang it!
Jaune's face eventually settled on "grumpy" even as his smile betrayed him.
Pyrrha, to her credit as a professional, only held a small smile on her face as she walked over to the unconscious agent. "Come on, Ozpin wants us to report back with her ASAP."
"Anything he wanted us to do here?"
"You find anything as you were getting your butt handed to you?"
Jaune glared good naturedly as he flung the enemy agent over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. "I've done nothing to you. Why must you mock me?"
"Why couldn't you have brought her in conscious?" Moaned one of the lab techs. "It's so much easier to interrogate someone when they aren't drooling all over the seat!"
Jaune shrugged as he subtly pointed towards Pyrrha.
The lab tech just sighed, putting a hand to her forehead in disbelief. "Right. Fine. Just give me a second here."
A series of wires being attached, followed by a rather large electric charge, led to the entrapped woman waking up rather violently. "Where am I?! What the hell have you done to me?"
"Don't worry." Pyrrha's voice soothed. "Just tell us where another base is, or the main base even and we will let you go."
The person in the chair just scoffed. "Yeah, right. Even if I knew-"
"Why are you protecting your boss?" Jaune blurted out.
"What?"
"I mean, the guy didn't exactly scream "sane." What makes you think that defending him is gonna do anything?"
The woman just hmpfed in her chair. "You wouldn't understand, boy. Loyalty-"
"Doesn't seem to count for much at this point. You said yourself that he told you about me so why isn't he here busting you out? He's certainly got the power to do so…" Jaune left the unspoken implication hanging.
His prisoner sighed in response. "What do you think he'll do to me if I tell you? I mean, you've clearly met him. He's not exactly approving of failure."
"He's not going to get in here." The conifdent voice of Pyrrha interjected. "Trust us, it'll take more than one man to make it through here."
"Oh." The woman said. "Can you give me a minute alone?"
The two warrior left the prisoner in the room alone with the beleaguered lab technician as they stood watch outside.
"That was pretty cool." Pyrrha said.
"Huh? What?"
"The whole 'loyalty' play in there. Wasn't expecting you to try something that risky."
Jaune's eyes widened. "Uh… I had no idea. Seriously, I was just wondering who would follow that clown at all."
"People do weird things. Just look at the White Fang recently. They-"
"Hey!" The lab tech said from the door. "She's given up the location of a base. Not the big one but it might lead to something. Said it was time sensitive though."
Jaune and Pyrrha nodded as they sprinted towards the equipment room.
"Okay! Next time, even if we don't think it's a trap, we bring more backup!" Jaune shouted as he rolled under the spear of a minion into a stabbing position.
"What's wrong? I thought you wanted to fight!" Pyrrha laughed as she lay down a volley of suppressive fire.
"Yes!" Dodge. "But." Roll. "Not." Strike. Swing. Kick. "Like." Shield bash. "This!" Jaune roared as Crocea Mors' blade stabbed through another man's chest. "I thought I'd be fighting Grimm, not other humans!"
"You do know Hunters and Huntresses have to hunt down rogues, right? Y'know, people who go completely mad and start worshipping Grimm?"
"Oh." Jaune paused for a second, letting the momentum of his strike carry him through before his mind engaged again. "So what about-"
A scream ripped through the room as a hulk of a man burst in through the wall, scattering fragments everywhere. "You pathetic fools!"
"He's mine." Pyrrha stated, a gleam of battle lust flickering through her eye. "You handle the others."
Without waiting for a response, Pyrrha flung herself towards the muscle bound beast as she lunged in with Milo at his throat. His bare chest and cloth trousers gave her little pause as the blade glanced across the man's hastily moved chest.
With a landing more suited to a cat with it's grace, Pyrrha rallied and began an onslaught of stabs, thrusts and slashes against the man.
All of which, somehow, he managed to dodge. "Haha! You're slow, Nikos!"
A backhand missed her and she flowed around her opponent. The ham fisted attempts at him striking her never even came close to connecting as she danced between the blows. A flip into the air allowed her a new angle of the attack as she battered the man with her shield.
Staggered, the man charged full force at Pyrrha. His mighty frame undaunted by the ease at which his opponent had avoided him before, he lunged forward with both hands and grabbed Pyrrha in bear hug.
"I will crush you to tiny pieces! My master-" His monologuing was interrupted by a swift Aura enhanced kick in between his legs, causing him to collapse to the floor in writhing pain.
Pyrrha slammed the man in the stomach with her heels a few more times before turning around to observe the battle behind her.
What she saw was Jaune wrapping one of the minions in a headlock, punching him in the face repeatedly. "Good work!" He said, keeping easy control of his captive. "Little cruel at the end, though." A final slam into the captive's face dropped the man to the floor as Jaune walked over to Pyrrha.
"Anything goes in a fight, Jaune." She smiled, shaking her head. "Just because he forgot to guard himself doesn't mean that I can't exploit it ruthlessly." Her smile never wavered even as she stalked over to the crawling muscled hulk.
"Now, you're gonna tell us where another base is or I'm going to show you how effective these heels are…" The threat dangled like a sword on a horse hair thread.
"Hah, hah.." The man half panted, half laughed. "You'll never get there in time. My boss has been evacuating ever since you started sticking your head into our business. There's a base not far from here, outside of town. Heavily defended. Head north for a while, you'll see it eventually..." He laughed in pain.
"Why tell us? Even if it isn't some form of trap, why would you give up a base?" Jaune asked confusedly.
"Moment I leave this place, I'm walking to my death. Go to yours!" He just continued laughing even as he crawled towards the exit.
"We've got to move." Pyrrha said as she slammed the man's head into the floor. "No time to go back to base. You alright?"
Jaune nodded, his Aura rapidly healing the small nicks and cuts he'd received. "Let's go."
The great looming walls jutted out against the plains background that they stood up in. The iron was dulled from years of use even as the patrols continued around the barricades. The occasional human being could be seen in between the claws and fangs of various beasts that followed them.
"What in the world… How'd we not see this thing before?" Jaune gasped as he hid behind a tree.
"We don't have time to worry about that." Pyrrha hushed him. "That base is our main objective." Her own slight grin took pride of place on her face as she continued to survey the area.
Ignoring the obvious joke, Jaune asked "So, what? I'm gonna spring over the walls and try and break through?"
"I was thinking I would, but nothing saying we can't both do it."
"Sure! Why not. Let's go and fight against an iron wall and probably a horde of enemies behind them! Sure!"
"Come on." She laughed again.
The two threw subtlety out of the window as they barreled towards the giant steel sheets. Jaune's muscles tensed as he felt the Aura flow through him into the rough ground.
Okay, don't screw this up. Huntsmen have done this for ages, don't be the first one to slam face first into a wall.
The air rushed through his air as Jaune propelled himself straight towards the walls. The arc of his jump took him high enough to see an overview of the base.
Huh. Seems to be just… tents? One main structure at the centre, heavily guarded. Some patrols… Oh no the wall!
The grey metal was rapidly approaching and Jaune's face was looking to get up close and personal with it. With a lurch, Jaune felt his body lunge forward just enough to fling his body over the wall into an awkward crouch.
The knees. Oh man, the knees!
No time for that! Look!
The hordes of screaming minions descended on him as Pyrrha gently landed next to him.
"I'll take the ones on the right." Jaune said, raising his shield. "Think you got the ones on the left?"
Pyrrha's answer was to charge in to the centre of her half and batter the poorly armed masses into submission. The wide smashing blows of her shield were punctuated by a rapid series of slashes and strikes from her javelin. A flipping motion sent a wave of her opponents flying towards the wall past Jaune as he stared, mouth open.
Damn…
Without warning, Jaune parried a mammoth strike from his left and began following Pyrrha's lead. Where as Pyrrha had style and agility, Jaune powered through the phalanx of his foes with Aura buffed brute strength. The hilt of his sword cracked across one man's face as the blade slammed straight through into the chest of another. The blank metal masks of those surrounding them were splattered with ruby red blood as Jaune continued to surge forward.
"Pyrrha!" Jaune shouted above the din of metal on metal. "There's a building straight ahead." As he diverted a hammer strike into one of his opponents, he continued on. "Probably a good place to start, eh?"
Pyrrha just shield bashed another minion before replying. "Race you there!" She managed to break out of her dogpile of foes before dancing through the remaining enemies towards the base.
Jaune simply battered his way through, ignoring the small scrapes and cuts he took as he did so. He could feel the bodies collide with his as he bull rushed forward, using both the sword and shield of Crocea Mors to creating a defensive field around him.
By the time they made it to the base proper, there were barely any minions left. Those who weren't slain were crawling away, desperately trying to heal wounds or simply trying to escape the carnage the two invaders had brought. The wooden structure looked flimsy enough as Pyrrha burst through the doors with Jaune lagging just behind. He could feel the whole building shake as he stared at the wall of maps.
Several bases, all spread out across the kingdom. Some even in the Outlier regions with one marked…
His distraction helped an unseen figure crack him across the face and back out the door. "So!" Came a voice from the inside. "You're the lab rat!"
Pyrrha flexed into her defensive stance as she frantically looked around for the invisible assailant. "Oh my! And you brought Miss Nikos with you! How lovely. I've never killed a Tournament winner before… at least, not this year."
Jaune sprung up to his feet, his shield acting as leverage as he spun round into an almost mirror match of Pyrrha's stance. "Can you see her?"
Pyrrha shook her head. "Can't even feel her."
Jaune didn't have time to ask Pyrrha what she meant before the two were shoved apart violently to opposite sides of the compound. By now, even those still able to fight had sprinted off into the woods.
"Damn it!" Jaune shouted. "Show yourself, coward!"
"Now, why would I do that?" The voice mocked as a sharp cut appeared across Jaune's sword arm. "I'm having too much fun here!" Another slash across his shin forced Jaune to flinch down even as Pyrrha surged towards him.
Come on… Jaune prayed. I know I've got a Semblance, Now would be a good time to activate! Please!
Jaune's hands began to glow as he forced himself to his feet, his shield standing firm in front of him. Something overtook him as he staggered towards Pyrrha. He felt that same difference he had all those days ago, back at the testing base.
His hand grazed Pyrrha's hand before he was slammed back away. His hands glowed no longer as more cuts and slashes ripped through his clothes.
"Oh dear…" The voice cooed. "So close…"
Pyrrha threw her shield in a vain attempt as she lunged at where she thought the voice was coming from. As she lurched into the air, her shoulder seemed to graze against something.
Things progressed rapidly from there.
A bright burst of white light erupted from Pyrrha's shoulder as she landed, one hand scraping along the ground to slow her down. A cry of pain ripped through the air as the light faded and a slight outline could be seen.
"What in the hell?!" The voice roared. "Oh, Outis needs to hear about this. Damn the base!"
With as little warning as the bright light before it, the wooden building erupted into a cacophony of a Dust explosion. The fragments scattered violently all over the now deserted area, setting fire to the cloth tents.
Jaune, his blood dripping gently on the muddy ground, roared back in response as he threw Crocea Mors at the rapidly fading outline of his opponent. The shield ripped through the air, whirring like a buzzsaw as it scored a glancing blow.
Not enough to stop them regrettably as the shape faded into the rising smoke.
The shield appeared to boomerang back, digging itself into the ground as it swung back.
"Come on!" Pyrrha shouted. "We've got to get back to base!"
Jaune sprung up, his Aura already stitching his tattered body back together. A thousand plinking notes of pain played in his mind even as the two warriors dashed out of the burning torrent of flame they had caused.
"That's most interesting news." Crackled Ozpin's voice over the screen. "You say that you couldn't sense her at all?"
Pyrrha nodded. "She didn't even seem to have an Aura signature, Sir. If the Nameless have some form of invisibility…"
"Well, that would be regrettable." The Professor's voice paused. "Still, it was not a complete loss. Mr Arc, are you certain about the location of these bases?"
Jaune nodded, his stance full of certainty. "Absolutely. I can see it as clear in my head as I can see you in front of me."
The Professor nodded. "Then I must ask that you and Miss Nikos proceed directly to the largest base you identified. We don't have time to waste on this. By now, they may have already started to take actions against us. Good luck, you two."
The screen blipped out as Jaune let loose a sigh of relief. "Man, talking to the Professor is terrifying."
Pyrrha's laugh twinkled as she replied. "He's certainly very… direct. Come on, we've got to collect our new armor."
Jaune didn't quite manage to keep a look of surprise off of his face as he followed the crimson haired maiden towards the Quartermaster's building.
The large hulking form of the Blacksmith greeted them as soon as they walked in through the door. "Ah, Miss Nikos! And Mr Arc…" He said, carefully putting himself away from the firing range. "Your new armor pieces are in the booths."
Pyrrha nodded as Jaune and her walked quickly over. "Be out as quick as you can." Her voice was all business as she slipped behind the curtain.
Jaune pulled off his tattered clothes and took a quick moment to admire his new armor. The gleaming white plates were clearly drew in style from his old set, now lying on the floor covered in dents, but there was a line of gilding running over the edges that granted a grandeur that hadn't been there before. He started with the thigh guards, wrapping the heavy metal plates around and locking them in place with a simple click. The boots were simple enough fare as the plates clicked around them. The chest piece had his family symbol of two crescents etched into it in what appeared to be gold. The symbol shone clearly as Jaune attached the main shoulder guard of his new outfit onto his undercloth shirt. His gauntlets slipped on easily as he clenched his hands within them, feeling the firm leather wrapping around his fingers.
He walked out, Crocea Mors at his side in scabbard form and his great helmet at his hip as he met Pyrrha face to face.
He tried not to stare. Honestly, he did.
The boots are the same, it looks like. But her thigh guards aren't and the skirt seems to have been reinforced… Both shoulders have been fully armored even as they still leave that opening at her chest for her-
His eyes frantically flinched up as he saw her eyes slowly observing him. Oh man… This is bad. What does she think of me?
Pyrrha's thoughts were along the lines of Oh yes… That'll do nicely…
"Should we go?" Jaune asked, hoping to break what he felt was an awkward silence.
"Uh! Yes! Let's go!" Pyrrha's eyes flickered back to Jaune's as turned and ran for the exit.
Jaune sprinted out, not noticeably slower than he had been running in even as his gleaming armour rattled gently through the room.
(rwbyfan5 is still awesome. Just in case, y'know, you forgot.
Many thanks to Zentari2238 for favouriting the story!)