The Red Knight of Remnant
Chapter 14
Jaune sat tapping his foot impatiently as the airship carried him and his class to Forever Fall. Sitting on his right was Pyrrha who was fidgeting uncomfortably with Mordred to her right. Mordred sat, her arms crossed and a deep frown across her face. He sighed and turned back to looking out the window of the airship. Normally Jaune would be thinking about how he would stop from getting motion sickness, but he hasn't had to worry about that since Qrow unlocked his Aura. Instead he was thinking about the terrible night and morning he had. First was when he came back to his room last night after his spat with Mordred. He was the first back to the room and considering Mordred had slugged him, he had a pretty mean bruise on his cheek. Pyrrha tried asking him what happened, but he didn't want to tell her.
How was he supposed to tell her that he had basically called Mordred delusional and crazy? He couldn't, hell he couldn't believe the things he'd said at the time. While that'd been bad, what was worse was the fact Mordred never came back to the room. When morning came Pyrrha and the others were worried. Jaune gave in and told them that he had a fight with Mordred when they refused to stop questioning him. He didn't go into details, but he did tell them that Mordred was beyond angry with him. Pyrrha and Nora had tried to console her but that didn't work. She simply refused to acknowledge what happen the previous night and ignored him.
That made for a very difficult morning. The only thing worse was when Ms. Goodwitch took notice of the split in their team. She didn't out right say anything to Jaune or Mordred, but when the students were rounded up for the trip to Forever Fall she made sure to tell the whole class that if the team wasn't cohesive it could lead to problems during the trip. The leader winced when he heard this and tried not to draw attention to the fact it was his team that brought this about. Which led to the situation they were in now. Ms. Goodwitch made it so the teams would all be seated together, and that led to Jaune and Mordred sitting with Pyrrha squished between the two of them.
Jaune wanted to say something, but he had no clue what to say. Which worked for him because he didn't want to say anything either, if that made sense. He wanted to say something to clear the air, but at the same time he wanted to give Mordred the silent treatment just like she was doing to him. It made the situation very awkward. The ride to Forever Fall was filled with the chatter of all the other teams and then dead silence between his team in the far back corner of the ship. He felt bad for Pyrrha seeing as she was forced to sit in such an awkward situation. Sadly, that awkwardness made a short 20-minute flight feel like an hour of hell. Once the ship landed everyone rushed out following Ms. Goodwitch as she explained what the classes task was.
Jaune would have listened to her had he not been lost in thought. 'Damn it, I'll have to talk with Mordred sooner or later. If not, god knows what sort of problems will rise up.' He was pulled from his thoughts though when Ms. Goodwitch spoke up.
"Mr. Arc, would you be so kind to carry the classes supplies?" He flinched turning in surprise to see the professor glaring at him. He wanted to argue but stopped himself and nodded. He knew from the way she'd spoken that she wasn't asking him to do anything, she was telling him. He moved to collect the supplies and follow the professor through the forest as she gave a quick warning to the class. She spoke about not splitting up from the group or the class for worry of Grimm attacks. The pack mule listened for a short time before tuning the lecture out. He thought about what he should do with the Mordred situation.
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Jaune crouched down before one of the many tree's in Forever Fall, stabbing his sword into the tree making trap spill out of it. He brought a glass jar to the tree to collect the sap as he turned around to look over his team. Pyrrha was busy helping Ren keep Nora out of the extra sap they had collected while Mordred was farther off to the back at the edge of the clearing collecting sap on her own. Jaune sighed before capping off his jar and tossing it to Ren.
"Can you guy's finish up, I need to do something." Jaune said as Ren caught the Jar. Pyrrha turned to him before looking down towards Mordred with a slightly worried gaze.
"Do you nee—" Pyrrha began to speak only for Nora to jump onto her back stopping her.
"Good luck Jaune!" Nora cheered, her wide smile shrank just a little. "You and Mo should get along, ok?"
Ren nodded as he sat the jars down and waved for Pyrrha to help him collect more sap. Jaune nodded his thanks before he made his way towards Mordred. She was far from the class and out of sight of Glynda. She turned to look at him when she heard him approach. She didn't say anything, going back to collect more sap and moving even farther from the class and him as she did. He huffed at her behavior but pushed on as he finally caught up to her.
"Mordred, we need to talk." He said coming up behind her as he snatched her last jar of sap from her so she would look at him. She turned with a glare, making him flinch before he straightened up and locked his eyes with hers. "We need to talk."
He hoped that he would be able to get something from her. She cocked a brow questionably before crossing her arms over her chest.
"Really, and what do we need to talk about?" She asked as if she didn't know what he wanted. That pissed him off a little but he kept his emotions in check.
"About last night. We need to clear the air after what happened. If not, you and I won't be the only ones affected by our spat." Mordred clicked her teeth as she turned away from him.
"And what do you want to talk about? Do you wanna talk about how you were being a cry baby, or how you called me a delusional little girl!?" Her words stung, both for the insult she threw his way and reminding him of what he did. She wasn't wrong. He basically called her crazy at the end of it all. He ran a hand through his hair turning away from her with a frown.
"Both, I guess." He said before sighing in frustration. He was having a lot more trouble figuring out what he should say than he thought he would. "Look, we both said some cruel things. But you need to understand, I only said what I said because you pissed me off. You are beyond difficult and you love to push people's buttons. You need to understand what I said was only because I was angry. Yes, some of it was true, but not all of it. I'm sorry."
Mordred chuckled at his words surprising him before she got right in his face.
"Nice try, but I don't believe you. If you didn't believe the things you said you wouldn't have said them." She grits her teeth. "You never believed me when I told you about my past. You had to of always believed that my training was useless. Why else would you have been so angry? But I don't care anymore. I'm done training you, I'm done being your partner. You can go back to Pyrrha and be happy you're done with me. But know this, no matter what happens I will never help you again."
Jaune was shocked, he couldn't think of anything to say. He could only feel his anger build up at her words. He chucked the jar of sap he took from Mordred off to the side, shattering it against a tree.
"Are you fucking kidding me!? I'm trying to apologize to you!" He shouted glaring down at her as she glared back. "Can't you fucking see I'm trying to be reasonable!? I knew I was wrong! Everything I said was cruel and senseless! Why can't you just accept the apology and give one back!?"
Mordred seemed surprised at his last remark for a second before breaking out into a fit of laughter.
"Apologize!? For what!? For trying to help you? I have nothing to apologize for!" Mordred snapped only pissing Jaune off more. He reached out grabbing hold of Mordred's arm pulling him into his chest as he got right in her face practically smashing their foreheads together. The action surprised Mordred before she glared back at him.
"Are you serious!?" He hissed through grit teeth. "You have nothing to apologize for!? You need to apologize for belittling like you did! For beating me and calling it training! If you can't do that, then just acknowledge the fact that your "train" had run its course and stopped working, because you had no idea what I need to improve!"
Mordred growled angrily as her hands balled into fists.
"Fuck you! I did nothing wrong! You need to accept that!" She paused for a second before smirking. "How about this, if you stop training with Pyrrha than I'll apologize. After all, the only partner you need should be me. Admit that training won't do you any good unless it's with me. Admit you need me. Do that and I will gladly apologize. Even if I don't have to."
Jaune was shocked by what he just heard.
"Are you serious!? What the hell is wrong with you! I—" Jaune couldn't finish what he was about to say as the sound of growls and howls rang out around them. The two spun to see a pack of Beowolves and even an Ursa Major sniffing around a tree. The beasts had all taken notice of them. Jaune was shocked by their sudden appearance before noticing the tree they were all around was the one he threw Mordred's jar of sap at. He moved to draw his sword before seeing even more Grimm approaching from the tree lines. How such a large group had appeared without him or Mordred noticing is rather baffling.
He couldn't believe how caught up the two of them were in their argument. He cursed as the Grimm's number grew with more beasts, making their way from the forest.
"Mo—" Jaune turned to speak to Mordred only for her to grab his arm and throw him back behind her.
"Go! If you tried fighting all you would do is get in my way! Warn Goodwitch, tell them to wait for me to return!" Every fiber in the young Huntsman in training told him to ignore the order. Especially after she said he would get in her way. He grits his teeth and shoved his way past her.
"Screw you! I am not some invalid!" He shouted drawing his sword and extending his shield as he prepared to fight the Grimm before Mordred could stop him. He shot forward and cut through two Beowolves before rolling to the side, dodging a third that lunged at him. He came up into a crouch and braced his shield blocking several slashes from another before pushing into it's chest and stabbing it in the heart. He wasn't going to sit back and let Mordred fight alone. Even if she pissed him off, he would prove to her that he could fight on his own. He would prove that she was wrong about him being weak.
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Mordred stood staring in shock before growling in anger. She watched as Jaune dodged, slashed, blocked and rolled through the trees as he fought the Grimm.
"Fine! Get yourself killed for all I care! Don't start begging for my help when get cornered!" Mordred turned to the horde of Grimm as her sword formed in her hands. If he wanted to get himself killed who was she to stop him. She would leave him to face his fate and prove that she was right about him needing her.
She glared at the beasts before red lightning like energy crackled over her. She vanished for a second before appearing in the horde tearing through Grimm as she lets out a mighty cry. Her sword went through the beasts like they were butter, while her fists crushed and splattered the monster's blood and organs all over the field. With each attack 10 or more Grimm fell before her as she ran through the trees constantly killing beasts. It took less than a minute for her to almost completely clear the area of Grimm as she came to a stop, stabbing her sword into the heart of an Ursa Major. She clicked her tongue at how quick the fight had ended. She turned to see what was left only to see Jaune fighting an Ursa Major himself alongside 4 Beowolves.
She huffed at the sight having expected as much. 'Of course he couldn't finish them off.' She thought before turning to leave. She only made it ten paces before she stopped. She groaned in frustration cursing as she turned to go and save him. 'Damn it! If that idiot dies how am I going to prove he needs me?' She prepared to rush in and help only to stop when she saw that the Ursa was the only thing left in the clearing with Jaune. He rolled to the side dodging one of the beats giant paws. Another swipe came in as he raised his shield blocking it. After blocking the attack, he stepped forward slashing out against the beasts hindlegs. The monster growled in pain spinning around to strike him only for him to roll between its legs coming up behind it and stabbing his sword into its back.
The beasts roared in pain and tried to kick backwards. Before it could land the night jumped up using the bine spikes on the beast's back to climb to its head. He rotated his grip on his shield as the Grimm bucked and bounced around like a made bull trying to dislodge him. He held on and pulled his shield arm back before he drove the pointed end down into the back of the beast's head. There was a loud cracking noise as the its head exploded with black viscus blood. The beast stumbled before falling flat before Mordred, dead. She stared in surprise before turning to Jaune as he climbed off the fading beast, panting.
To say she was shocked wouldn't be right, she was more astonished than shocked. She didn't expect Jaune to win. Hell, she thought he was going to die. Yet here he stood before her, victorious. He let out a deep breath a deep frown across his face before he calmed his breathing a spoke. He let out a deep breath a frown across his face. He glanced around the clearing seeing no Grimm remaining, and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that Mordred had killed them all. He was amazed, yet at the same time he was angry. He turned back to her before he calmed his breathing and spoke. If he didn't he was going to regret it.
"Look Mordred, I won't stop training with Pyrrha. But you're right about one thing. I need you. I need my partner." He said before pausing. He didn't know why he paused other than the idiotic frustration he felt at the situation he was in. He gripped his head running his hands through his hair and screamed in frustration. "Damn it! Mordred, I fucking hate you! You're loud, rude, and nothing but a pain in my ass! But I do need you. What you said last night was true. Without you I wouldn't have made it to where I am. But one person isn't enough to change someone's life. That's not how the world works. You were just the first person to make me who I am. And while you're definitely a pain in my ass, I still need you."
Mordred was having trouble understanding what he was saying, but she got one thing she wanted.
"So, you need me?" She asked calmly getting a nod from Jaune. "I must admit, I was wrong to well. You aren't as weak as I thought. If you were you'd be dead right now."
He frowned at her words before sighing.
"Don't hurt yourself. Apologies can wait. For now, let's just try to fix what is wrong between us, ok?" She just shrugged.
"Fine, but I was wrong. You aren't as weak as I thought, I see that now. But don't think you'll be forgiven for not believing me about my past." Jaune chuckled at her last remark as she turned walking away.
"Well at least we found a place to start." She paused just ahead of him before nodding in agreement. For now, she just needed to make him believe her about her past. She already got one thing she wanted from him, but she was far from done with him. She will make sure he never forgets that he needs her, and she will prove her past to him.
End
AN/ So I know you guy were worried there wouldn't be character development but look! Its here! I am sorry it took me this long to even begin developing the characters but truthfully! I am just a slow stupid writer person with little he can do. But yes development! You know what you need to do!
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