A/N: Peeks inside, pushes chapter forward.
Thanks for reading, please enjoy chapter twenty-five.
Pyrrha opened her eyes to the sight of her blankets, and groaned miserably. Her eyes were sore, and her head was throbbing lightly, and she felt as if someone had hit her in the stomach repeatedly with a baseball bat. She let out another piteous moan, and the corner of her bed depressed as someone sat down.
"Good morning, Pyrrha." Ren's low voice came from somewhere above her. Blessedly, Ren had guessed her hearing would be sensitive, so Pyrrha did not flinch at the noise. Instead, she extended a hand from underneath the blankets, hoping for some kind of succor. The motion let in a painful beam of light, showing her the black cloth of Jaune's hoodie before she shied away from the light.
"What happened?" Her voice was raw, as if she'd been yelling. Along with Ren's chuckle, she knew she wasn't going to be happy.
"You had a bit too much last night, I'm afraid. We got you home before you caused much of a scene, and most of the troubles were limited to getting you to bed and dealing with your mother." At mention of her mother, Pyrrha groped around her for a scroll, but found none. "Jaune took the brunt of it on both occasions, but he's more mad at everything else than at you, so no worries. He left about an hour ago to collect our first assignment."
"W-What did I do?" She felt a cool glass be pressed into her hand, and she withdrew it back under the warm and dark covers.
"You stormed out of the restaurant, and a few paparazzi have shots of you and Jaune talking in an alley, as well as you leaving with us. They were making some noise about Pyrrha Nikos partying, but those are just the dregs." She'd heard worse back home, but Pyrrha still hated learning she'd given them an opportunity. The water was ice cold, and the single greatest thing Ren had given her.
"Back home was another issue, as it all caught up to you. First, you wanted to dance. After we convinced yo against that, you wanted Jaune to sing to you. When you were finally convinced to go to bed, you wanted Jaune to cuddle with you." Her face grew redder by the word, and she could hear Ren's smile grow with each word. "In the end, you settled for his hoodie, and him tucking you in for the night. He was very tender."
Pyrrha struggled with the equally powerful urges to crawl in a hole to die from embarrassment, and to snuggle into the reminder of her boyfriend. She settled for the latter, deciding finding a hole would involve getting out from under the covers. "Nora?" She asked quietly.
"Playing keep away with Thetis. Your mother was in quite the mood; she and Jaune had a full-fledged shouting match. Nora has been outside since he left, but I haven't heard anything since; no doubt, Nora is playing peacemaker." Strangers would have thought that a joke, even Team RWBY would have thought it Ren being flippant, but Pyrrha knew otherwise.
"They both seemed calmer when I last stepped out, but I sense Thetis is trying very hard to not come in and scold you. She came home not long after us: we've not heard from Mr. Arc."
"I'll owe her something special." She mumbled from inside her cocoon of cloth.
"We're a team, Pyrrha: you're the closest Nora and I have to family. You don't owe either of us for anything." A hand came to rest lightly on her arm, and Pyrrha felt a flare of warmth at both word and gesture. She loved them, all three of them. She couldn't ask for better friends. "So, if you think your stomach can handle it, I can get some light food."
She wasn't entirely sure, but her stomach didn't feel horrendous: "Alright, let's give it a try. I need to try and work up some strength." She heard Ren silently depart, and she decided it would be good to try and rise. Pulling the just-too-large hood up, Pyrrha crawled free from her blankets. The light, even obscured, was piercing, and her head swam as she rose to her feet. She shouldered on, however, striking out for the bathroom.
"I am never doing that again." She promised herself, killing the lights as she shut the door.
The Beacon Barracks surrounded a small courtyard, the dark green forest of tents blocking out the civilian world. Jaune felt in his element, somehow, surrounded by the Hunters and students who had taken up residence here: he knew the life of the average person in Vale was behind him. His home now was found among complex, shifting weaponry and cases of dust rounds. Home was where color proudly declared a Huntsman or Huntress, and where steel on steel was music.
"Since when is sparring so cathartic? I get my ass kicked most of the time!"
Skill aside, he still felt at home amongst the oddities of Hunters. On the streets outside, his gleaming white armor stood out, but among his peers he was restrained. He could see could see Yatsu's massive orange sword rising and falling to his left, and a girl in yellow and brown robes was sparring with a Beacon upperclassman dressed in a blue cloak and flame-patterned armor. He briefly stopped to watch the electric fight, but returned to the task of finding his team a job. The mission boards surrounded the inside of the court, screens glowing softly with long lists of tasks.
"Something in Vale, and on the easier side: we haven't seen real combat in months." A Grimm extermination job in North Commerce seemed appealing, but he decided against it. "We need to be in a more remote area if Pyrrha wants to test herself. No guard duty either…" Something thwacked him on the head, and Jaune spun to face his attacker.
Blanche, a rolled up magazine in her hand, was grinning at him. "Morning, little bro! Have a good time last night?" Jaune didn't need her smirk to spot a loaded question, so he returned to job hunting.
"Morning, Blanche, how're you doing?" A local combine was trying to get a team to clear out the Grimmin the orchards in the south, that could work.
"Oh, I was alright until Dad came in; he was a thunderhead. Wouldn't talk about it, but the tabloids aren't so quiet." Blanche cleared her throat dramatically, and Jaune heard the rustling of paper. "Mistrali celebrity Pyrrha Nikos was seen in Vale last night, enjoying a wild night on the town. The renowned fighter and Beacon student rushed out of a restaurant before departing in style with several other people. Why Nikos is painting the town red while her home kingdom is under siege is unknown, but we suspect-" Jaune interrupted Blanche's reading, tired of hearing Pyrrha badmouthed.
"Please don't read crap like that, sis. We had dinner with Dad and Pyrrha's mom, remember? We left in the car she hired and went back to our house: we didn't go clubbing or something. I've got a find a mission for us, so do you mind?" He was having a hard time focusing on the board with Blanche standing just behind him.
"Didn't say you were up to no good, Jaune. I was just letting you know what they're saying."
"Well they can go jump off a bridge." People who ran those magazines made a mess of Pyrrha's life. They took any little thing she did and exploded it into a scandal. "Grimm extermination in North Fork: not a lot of people around, large amount of low-threat Grimm, and nothing to worry about breaking." Jaune selected the job and submitted his team's credentials. Given how crowded the boards were, he doubted they'd be turned down for being students.
"Telling the media to stuff it as he takes on his first mission: my little Jaune is all grown up!" Blanche threw her arms around him and squeezed. He took hold of her arms to try and return the gesture, letting a little bit of the tenseness from the morning seep out. It hadn't been a great day so far, and a bit of Arc Family warmth was just what he needed.
"I am proud of you, Jaune. I'm scared for you, but don't think I'm not proud of you." Her head rested on his shoulder, and she pulled him a little tighter.
"Thanks, sis. It's been a pretty stressful morning…" His sister chuckled behind him, letting go to step next to him.
"Trouble in paradise? Pyrrha seems like a good girl?"
"Hmm? No, no it's her mother. Thetis and I normally get along, but she was pretty pissed today. She didn't like that Pyrrha stormed off, and she really didn't like what those leeches wrote." He gestured to the paper still in her hand. "She's probably even more touchy about this kind of thing than Pyrrha, since she handles a lot of the business," Touchy was putting it lightly: Thetis had practically shouted herself hoarse this morning. He blushed, remembering responding in kind. "Not the best look, Arc…"
"Your girlfriend's mother isn't the best person to be in a fight with, Jaune: why do you think Noire is still single?" Despite the joke, his sister was lasered in on him. He held up his hands in surrender.
"I know! But I don't like being accused of causing trouble when it was Thetis and Dad that started it. Blanche, they hate each other. They spent the entire dinner taking shots over the bow, and Pyrrha lost her cool; I wasn't doing much better, either." "And I still don't know how I'm going to address that…" His scroll pinged, and he found JNPR had already been approved for the mission: Professor Goodwitch's signature appeared on the form.
"Already? It usually takes a day or two, how do you have approval in minutes?" Blanche had seen his screen apparently.
"The headmaster wants us to get out there soon: she knew I'd be looking for a mission today, so she hurried it along." His sister's flat look all too clearly said she didn't believe him. "And I can't go into more detail, sis."
"Ugh, you're even getting special missions. Fine, Agent Arc, go on and leave your dear sister behind in the mundane world of paperwork and interdepartmental relations. Go, save the wor-" Now it was her turn to duck, as Jaune lazily swung an arm to pull her into a headlock. She barely dodged, surreptitiously sticking her tongue out at him. "Ha, nice try! But seriously, got any plans to deal with this problem?" Jaune shrugged.
"Lay low and put my nose to the grindstone. Thetis respects hard work, so if we do that and don't get in more trouble, we'll be fine." Or at least he hoped so.
"I hope so." Blanche mirrored. "Say hi to the team for me, alright?"
"I will, and tell Dad I said hi. Later sis!" Jaune ducked back, and dove back into the swarm of hunters.
The hum of the ship's engine and the cries of the wind pushed away any chance for conversation, leaving Pyrrha to watch the buzzing landscape in silence. Four days into their return, and JNPR was back on missions. It felt good.
Jaune had explained the job upon his return the other day: a quick flight to a small complex along Vale's northern river, which they were to clear of Grimm. Their employers prefered if the buildings were left intact, but there was no special objective or restrictions on force. Simple, private, and relatively safe: the perfect mission to get back in. Her mother had agreed with Jaune's assessment as well.
She could still feel the tension around her mother and the team, sense that Thetis desperately wanted to take her to task for her behavior, but her mother held back. Whatever Nora had said to her seemed to have worked, thankfully. Her mother had been quite displeased with Jaune, but the negativity seemed to fade when Jaune began the mission brief: her mother's respect for Jaune as a team leader still stood firm, it seemed.
The bullhead slowed, dipping down to hover just above an empty alley beside a great brick and metal complex. Jaune dropped first, taking point while she covered them. Ren and Nora quickly followed, then she dropped as well. Jaune signalled the pilot, who lifted off, and set his scroll to sound when pick-up was due to return. The street was empty, though strewn with the debris of a crashed supply truck.
She and Jaune approached the door to the nearest building, Nora and Ren stacking behind them.
"We'll go through the administrative building in the south", Jaune's outline replayed in her head, "once it's clear, we'll move to the manufactury on the east, then the warehouse and outbuildings. Pick-up is in three hours, or when we signal. Worst comes to worst, head for the the river."
He nodded to her, and she reached out to the door with her mind. The lock was electronic, and a bit of force from her semblance fried the equipment. With a mental shove, she forced the door open, and Jaune entered with his shield raised and Stormflower covering him. She felt the dulling sensation that meant Ren had activated his semblance, blinding their presence their prey's unnatural senses. As soon as Ren cleared the door, Pyrrha and Nora followed. The lobby was empty, thankfully.
"Door at seven, our normal formation." Jaune whispered hoarsely. Ren and Jaune traded point, while Nora and Pyrrha took up positions to Jaune's sides. The door opened again under Pyrrha's efforts, and Ren slipped through. There was a lone Beowolf at the hall's end: Pyrrha, Jaune, and Nora halted while Ren dashed forward. Ren silently crossed the distance in an eyeblink, burying his blades in the creature, tearing into its neck from behind.
They moved to rejoin Ren, who was already leaning around the next corner, inspecting their route. A brief thumbs up informed them the hall was clear, the Grimm likely not alerted to their activities. Rejoined, the team moved ahead, going door to door as they made their way to the distant stairs. A handful more Grimm met the same fate as the first, none raising the alarm. Going in quiet like this extended the mission length, and in likelihood was unnecessary, but none of them were interested in drawing the attention of a surprise swarm.
The office secured, they stood at the exit, examining the brief distance to the warehouse entrance.
"Anyone see anything?" Jaune asked, dropping back from his window.
"All clear for me." Nora responded seriously, Magnihild's grenade launcher deployed.
"Right. We'll cross to the double doors, Pyrrha and I take point. Ren, i think we can test your theory here." Ren reached into his bag, withdrawing a large sack Pyrrha had no clue he'd managed to fit. He handed it to her with a metallic clink. She eyed the two boys suspiciously. "I call it 'opening with a Yang.'" She glared at Jaune harder.
Door opened, the team sprinted across the way to their new target. Jaune opened the door silently, looking inside before quickly pulling back.
"Found them." He said with a hint of excitement. "Pyr, you need to cover a twenty by six by two hundred space, think you can manage with those?" She opened the sack, peering in. She smiled viciously at them all at the sight of contents.
"Oh, I think i can manage." She closed her eyes, envisioning the wall, and reached out. Several scores of ball bearing lifted silently from the bag, aligning themselves in a grid along the brickwork.
"Ready?" She heard him whisper. She nodded. "Go!" She pushed.
Stone cracked and dust burst around her, but she felt the metal ammunition drill through and burst across her targets. The projectiles flew across the room, jarring contact threatening to pull them from her grasp, but she powered through the resistance. She reached what she estimated to be the far wall, then withdrew the bearings at the same speed she had fired them, again feeling the pull of contact. A grating of brick told her the projectiles had returned to the entry point.
She opened her eyes to Nora's staring face. "That. Sounded. Terrifying." She whispered in awe. Jaune peeked through the door again, then swung it open casually, gesturing them forward. There were no Grimm in the room, only several massive, dissipating corpses. Riddled machinery and collapsing boxes littered the room, but Pyrrha couldn't help but feel immense satisfaction with their little test.
"Alright! High five!" Nora held up a free hand to her, and Pyrrha cautiously returned the gesture: they were still in a combat situation, after all. As their hands clapped, the air was filled with a wave of roars. "Apparently they heard us." Nora muttered, stating the obvious.
"Over to the east wall. Pyrrha, watch the west, Nora can cover the north and Ren the south." Jaune's stern voice directed, the team falling back to cover behind perforated walls and battered equipment. The sounds of scrambling claws could be heard, followed shortly by the crashing of Grimm throwing themselves against the doors and walls of the building. "Nora, be careful." Their leader warned. "If they get past the halfway mark, switch to melee." The building shook ominously under the assault, and then the Grimm wer upon the,.
The Grimm burst in, and his team reigned down hell. The staccato burst of Stormflower, the rapid but precise crack of Milo, and the reverberating boom of Magnhild filled the air. Jaune stood at the ready, watching his friends fight. "I really need a ranged option. Maybe we could make Crocea Mors mechashift?" Beowolves collapsed as Pyrrha picked them off, Creeps and Boarbatusks sent tumbling by Ren and Nora. There were simply too many in the wave crashing against their building, and it was soon time for him to join the fray.
The building creaked terrifyingly above them as Milo shifted into a spear and his partner stabbed forward into the Ursa approaching her. The blade licked through the beast's neck, and Jaune bulled through the collapsing beast to engage the next creature. In the corner of his eye, he could see Nora diving headlong into the fight, but soon was face to face against his next target.
Claws lashed out, but they slid harmlessly against his shield. He struck forward, the rush of combat trying to drown out his peripheral vision and unneeded sound. His sword buried itself in the creature's chest, and Jaune forced himself to remain aware, to keep his head. He pulled his blade back, cutting to the side as he did, raising his shield. Milo flashed over his shoulder, ensuring the Beowolf was finished, while he turned on the approaching Creep.
Once, the Grimm terrified him. Sure, he was still scared of alpha Grimm: of Ursai taller than a building and Taijitu long enough to crush ships. But these things? Grimm hardly bigger than a man? Jaune was more concerned about exhaustion than actually being bested. His sword rose and fell, his shield bashed and deflected, and Grimm fell around him.
"Good thing we don't keep score!" A hysterical part of him laughed, watching as Pyrrha unleashed a complex pattern of swings, leaving half a dozen Grimm on the ground. She stuck out her hand, a burning flash temporarily blinded him, but Nora's maniacal laughter accompanied by a loud crackling told him all he needed to know. A great weight smashed into him just as his vision cleared, and Jaune was carried to the ground by a Deathstalker. The stinger stabbed down at him, and Jaune felt it skitter across his aura as he stabbed weakly at its stomach. A pincer fixed onto his shield arm, pressing down against his rerebrace. "Okay, maybe they aren't as harmless as I thought!"
The tail struck again, and once again his aura reserves were all that kept him from gaining a new hole in his skull. There was a furious cry from above him, and the great scorpion vanished. Turning, he saw it pinned to the far wall, Milo jutting from its chest. Pyrrha was above him in a heartbeat, black light yanking him to his feet. Jaune readied himself to defend, preparing to hold off attackers until his partner was rearmed. Lolling jaws came for them, but he wouldn't let them reach her. he chopped down brutally, and a head rolled by.
A flash of red, and he knew Pyrrha was rearmed. Akouo butted against his shield as they formed a two-man shieldwall, ready to face their next foe.
The ceiling shuddered, the building once again groaning loudly.
"Out!" He screamed, pushing back on Pyrrha, nudging her towards the wall behind them. A Taijitu lashed out at him just as he heard Magnhild's concussive release, but he managed to beat the creature back, withdrawing from the fight. A row of cracked and pockmarked pillars gave way in rapid succession, and the far roof tilted forward. Jaune once again saw the black haze surround his armor before he flew back, landing on the outside street loudly just as the building's supports finally gave way.
The crash of metal and stone was deafening, dust ballooning into the air, but Jaune could see his entire team standing in front of him, watching the collapse. He rose to his feet as the sound died down, all four coughing inside the light cloud. "Everyone okay?"
A round of affirmative coughs.
"So… the Grimm did that, right? We didn't knock the building down?" He could hear the painful pause as his friends yet again watched the wreckage in front of them.
"Everyone knows Grimm have no sense for architecture: they barreled right through load bearing walls." Ren answered flatly, drawing fervent nods from the girls.
"Exactly!" He looked up and down the street for signs of Grimm rushing their position: he saw none. "Okay, let's… get back in there. We don't know if that caught them all. Ren?" Their stealthiest teammate moved ahead of them, Nora quick to follow, but Pyrrha held back. Jaune stepped up close to her; she was staring worriedly at the ruins, a guilty expression on her face. On a whim, he planted a light peck on her cheek. The contact broke Pyrrha's distant concentration, and she stared back at him in mild surprise, cheeks dusted pink.
"Thanks for bailing me out, again." He said warmly, motioning for her to start moving. Pyrrha frowned, but began to follow Nora.
"If not for me, I doubt you'd need to have been bailed out, Jaune. I just knocked down a building…" He chuckled a bit, drawing a small glower from his partner.
"Pyr, I didn't see a thing. Well, nothing besides my amazing girlfriend kicking ass." Her frown turned to a suppressed smile, which he returned full force. "Now, let's get in there and finish the job." The two fell instep behind Nora, and followed their friends back into the totally Grimm-induced rubble.
Post: So, yeah. Been a while, huh? Sorry everyone! I did some work on my other stories, then some work on other people's stories, then it was Christmas: it got away from me! My bad, y'all!
But, if you'd like to see what I spent some of my time doing, check out "Last Resort", by Lightningstrxu.