Well, yet another long chapter for you. I'll be honest, there will be a lot happening during this chapter, so expect some scattered points. Many ideas will be in play, so I guess the only thing I can say is prepare for anything.
Once again, thank you Bassman11 for your review and support. I'll try to make Umber less confusing, though his speech patterns are remaining the same for the most part, probably. To Remnant7, basically yeah, you could say that Slate/Chirpy is a semi-self insert.
Jaune breathed heavily, his blood pumping and body shaking from the adrenaline. He supported himself on a knee, staring at the towering knight who blocked his path. His face was dripping with sweat as the monster of a man stared down at him, with that damned grin on his visor. Around them, hunters charged soldiers and soldiers charged hunters. Knights in black armour slashing down innocent students, flames roaring around charred corpses, blood spilled everywhere by both sides.
He forced himself onto his feet, left arm broken and dangling to the side while his right gripped his sword. The plan had almost been followed to the end, but only one obstacle stood in their way. The Link himself. Jaune closed his eyes as he remembered the first phase and the beginning of this suicidal plan.
Many hours earlier...
Jaune sat on his knees and drew with a stick in the dirt, absentmindedly. Next to him, Ren was cooking a meal over their tiny campfire while Nora stood by the cave entrance and watched for any Grimm or Abandoned soldiers. Nora and Ren had been quiet since they witnessed the slaughter of the baby Grimm, even after they entered a town to get supplies and new clothes, where the people had been more than gracious hosts. Too much going on, Jaune thought, they'll snap back.
"So... uh." Jaune stuttered as he tried to start up a conversation, Ren looked up but returned to cooking. Jaune sighed, looking back to the drawing he made. He jerked back in surprise as he realised the drawing was of Pyrrha's crown. He rubbed his face and sighed heavily, his breathing soft. Something was put in front of his face, a plate of food. He smiled at Ren and took the plate, eating the meal while watching Ren walk over to Nora with another plate. When Ren returned to the fire, he merely stared blankly into it as he ate slowly. Jaune sighed angrily and stood up.
"I know that everything is happening too fast, but we can't give up!" Jaune said loudly, catching both of his friend's attention. "I can see it, in your eyes, you wanna give up. I know that look! I've had that look before I can to Beacon, before I met you or RWBY, before I met Pyrrha. But it was my friends that changed that." Jaune stared at Ren, then at Nora, his eyes filled with determination. "We need a plan, because all we've done is walk in circles! I have a plan, but it won't work unless I have my friends." Those works hit the two other members of JNR, Nora smiled and walked over, punching Jaune in the shoulder.
"It's good to have our lovable leader back." She said as Jaune rubbed his arm, wincing with a smile. Ren also stood to put a hand on his friend's shoulder, nodding at his friend.
"Okay, here's what we're gonna do." Jaune squatted down and picked up his drawing stick, using his hand to wipe away the picture of Pyrrha's crown. "We need to get as many, no, every huntsman out of Vale." That got Ren and Nora's attention.
"Jaune, that's gonna be an bit tricky since, you know. There's an army occupying it!" Nora exclaimed and Jaune shook his head, thinking for a moment before moving his stick over to a clear patch of dirt and making three crosses.
"We steal uniforms, we've seen those patrols go out. We knock them out, take their stuff and hide them." Jaune said as he made three circles before putting a line through them, Ren noticed something.
"Can we even wear that gear?" He asked and Jaune looked up at him.
"Remember those guys who wear the White Fang uniforms, we'll take those." But then another problem arose, as both boys looked at Nora. "Have either of you seen a woman around in that army?" He asked hesitantly, but Nora just waved her hand.
"Give me the armour, I'll be fine. Nobody will no the difference." She said with a grin, both boys looked at her with a deadpan expression. Nora giggled. "Maybe I could be your prisoner?" She asked with a slight blush, staring directly at Ren. Jaune ignored their little blush-fest and drew a large circle in the dirt, then a line going towards it.
"Okay, when we get into Vale, we'll need to find the other huntsmen. If we go with Nora's idea, we could be lead directly to them." Jaune said, then hummed. "But they might not." He murmured, but quickly shook his head. "After we find them, we'll need to find their weapons and free them. Because I have a feeling that the soldiers would notice their prisoners running..." Jaune trailed off for a moment, staring at the ground.
"Jaune?" Ren asked and the blond grunted.
"Just thinking, what if we take the Abandoned's weapons?" He asked and the pair blinked, so he quickly explained. "Remember when we saw that other guy get taken, he fired at the soldiers but did nothing to them. But when the soldiers shot him, their bullets went right through the guy's Aura." Those words made them all wince, the mere thought was terrifying.
"I don't know." Ren said hesitantly and Jaune nodded, respecting his friend's input.
"Well, the idea is there if we need it." The blond boy murmured, then dew another circle within the bigger circle of Vale. "Alright, once we release the huntsmen we need to split up. No doubt the alarm would be raised and the place would be on high alert, so by splitting up the crowd we can get at least a third out." Jaune explained, drawing three more lines from the smaller circle to the outer rim of the larger one. Nora raised her hand.
"But what do we do after that?" She asked and Jaune froze, looking back and thinking. Ren put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." He said calmly and the blond nodded.
"Thanks, Ren." He murmured and was about to finish up when a thought came to mind, he looked at the pair with worried eyes. "What about the Link?" Was the simple question, but it made Ren hesitant and Nora lose her smile.
"We run, none of us can fight him." Ren stated grimly, looking around at the other two faces. They were silent until Nora yawned, making Jaune chuckle.
"Let's get some rest, we will have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow." He said with determination, unaware how hellish the next day would be.
Three Abandoned soldiers marched through the forest, two Auxiliaries and a Pathfinder. Their mission was a simple patrol, sent out by Captain Glare to find any signs of huntsmen in the nearby area. One of the Auxiliaries held a brass shield, emblazoned with a ring, and a shortsword. The other held a pair of handguns, engraved with Latin writings. The Pathfinder simply held a large flamethrower, a poor choice of weapon in their current location.
"Man, I knew I should've left this and grabbed an axe or something." The large firetrooper grumbled, the Auxiliaries laughed.
"You knew we'd be going out, Ryan. You idiot." One of them chuckled, getting a punch from the Pathfinder.
"Shut it, keep an eye out." The Pathfinder ordered, pointing ahead of them. The pair of faunus soldiers obeyed and they continued their march, not hearing the quiet thuds from behind. Suddenly the firetrooper felt a massive force slam into the back of his head and Aura, making him stumble forwards disoriented. The soldier turned to see his attacker, only to get smashed across the face by a large warhammer. "HUNTERS!" The Pathfinder roared as Nora battered the man with her hammer, the other two soldiers turned and raised their weapons.
"Fucker!" One of them barked and charged with his sword raised, only to be tackled by Jaune to the ground. The pistol wielding Auxiliary turned his sights to the back of the blond teen, but was thrown to his back by a sweeping leg from Ren. The Pathfinder levelled his flamer at Nora, but it was quickly knocked away by her hammer. The larger man grunted as Nora's hammer smashed into his side and sent him skidding away. She ran at the stunned man with a large grin and warhammer pulled back, it was the last thing the man saw before everything went dark.
Ren slashed at the Auxiliary with his guns, then spun around and sent a kick to the man's head. The hit caused the man to trip over his own feet and fall to the ground, but to Ren's dismay that didn't stop him from firing a few shots at him. This fight was going not as easily for either side, as they clashed steel.
"Nora!" Jaune barked out, shoving his opponent back and raising his shield above his head. The girl fashed a smirk and leapt onto the shield, using it to fire herself high into the air. The action distracted both the Auxiliary and Pathfinder, so Jaune took the chance to backhand the faunus soldier with his shield. The man's Aura flashed dangerously, its golden colour dimming. The soldier flew back with his sword flying forwards for the blond boy's head, only for it to fly over and leave the Auxiliary exposed. His gaze went down, only to be snapped to the sky when Jaune uppercutted his jaw with his sword hand, screaming as he did. "Ow." Jaune muttered and flicked his hand a few times, not realising that the Pathfinder had his fists raised to slam down onto the boy's head.
"Incoming!" The cheerful voice of Nora giggled as she dropped onto the large soldier, hammer crushing his head and Aura and knocking him unconscious. "Whew, that was fun." She said with a grin, but Jaune pointed at Ren.
"We're not done yet." He said and charged the only Auxiliary left, who had forced Ren into the treeline with his guns. He walked up behind the soldier and slashed down, then bashed forwards. The attack surprised the man who stumbled too far, leaving himself exposed for Nora to smash her hammer up and into the Auxiliary's ribs. The soldier cried out as his Aura cracked, just as he was about to fire at Nora, Ren dashed forwards and calmly shoved a palm into the man's head. The soldier grunted and fell forwards, unconscious. "Okay, now we're done." Jaune stated as he breathed heavily, letting his arms hang lazily.
"Come on, we better get these uniforms before they wake up." Ren said and pushed the Auxiliary over, slipping the mask off his face. Jaune jogged over to the other soldier and took his mask, but paused to look at the man's face. It wasn't of a man's though, just of a boy's. He looked around the same age as Jaune, with a youthful face and pale skin. Jaune inhaled and sat the boy up to take his vest and shirt, now trying his best to look away from the soldier's face.
While the pair took the uniforms, Nora stood nearby with her back turned. She awkwardly hummed as she listened to the rustling that boys were making as they undressed the soldiers, a slight tinge of red on her cheeks. Soonthe two teens were in the grey uniforms, the brass masks on their foreheads.
"That's the first part almost done, after we tie these lot up." Jaune gestured to the bodies behind him, then a look of thought came over him. "We should put something on that we all recognise, if we get separated." The blond said and Ren nodded.
"Good idea, but can we use?" He asked and Jaune thought for a moment until Nora spoke up.
"How about paint?" She offered, pulling a bucket from behind her back. It was confusing to the two others, but they just accepted it as Nora. They went about painting three letters on their masks, J, N and R. After that, they quickly tied the three soldiers up and shoved them behind some bushes, finally they were ready. Jaune pulled his mask down, looking at his two friends.
"Let's go."
It was just an hour before they saw Vale, and the first checkpoint. It was a simple blockade, with barriers and a few scaffolding towers that soldiers stood on for lookouts. Behind the concrete barriers, there were a few tents and a whole lot of troops. One of note that Ren could see, was a Legionnaire in black armour. He jogged back up the road, finding both Jaune and Nora sitting there. Nora grinned from the ground, her arms tied with thick rope. This was both to reinforce the illusion of her being the two boys' prisoner and to hide her weapon that remained on her back, in its collapsed form of course.
"So, what's it look like?" Jaune asked, mask still down.
"Not good, at least twenty soldiers and one in darker armour." Ren reported, now having slight hesitation to walk his gir- Nora into an occupied city. "But they look bored, I don't think they're alert." He said and Jaune hummed.
"Okay, that makes the whole getting in thing easier." He said and stood up, helping Nora to her feet. "You still up for this Nora?" He asked and the girl nodded.
"Yup, let's get our friends!" She cheered and the blond chuckled, Ren pulled his mask down and walked with Jaune down the road. They frogmarched Nora in silence, waiting for a shout and gunfire or charging soldiers. But they reached the checkpoint without harm, soon they were met by a pair of Legionnaires. One had his visor up and a larger pauldron, while the other had his visor down and a smaller shoulder piece. The open visor one spoke first, with a smirk on his face.
"Well well, another one? Where'd you get this hunter?" He asked, Jaune pointed a thumb over his shoulder.
"Just up the road, sleeping near a campsite." Jaune said, trying to make his voice sound different but only making it raspy. The Legionnaire seemed surprised at that.
"Really? That close to us? Man, Glare wouldn't like hearing that." He chuckled, leaning down into Nora's frowning face. "You are a quiet one, good, that means we'll have no trouble." He sneered and stood aside, but before they could walk through the other Legionnaire put a hand up.
"Hold it, who sent you out?" He asked, voice suspicious. Jaune sent a look at Ren, then stumbled on his words.
"Well t-the... um. You know." Jaune muttered and Ren stepped in.
"We went out on our own, couldn't let our guys have the renown to themselves." He said, staring at the Legionnaire. The soldier was silent, then nodded and stepped aside.
"Gotta get glory somehow, eh? Also nice hair, pink, wouldn't have expected it." The first soldier said, the pointed down the road. "You know where to go, down at the docks on platform three. Can't miss it." He finished and Jaune nodded thanks, quickly dragging Nora away with Ren. They passed a few more soldiers before heading into Vale proper, letting Jaune exhale loudly.
"Man that was scary, thanks for that Ren." Jaune said with a grin, the black haired boy just nodded. Now they entered the place that had been their temporary home, or at least the closet place to it. They walked the streets and found themselves under the watchful eyes of both soldiers and civilians, but it was these people that had Jaune, Ren and Nora thinking. Some were scowling at them, while others smiled and nodded in respect.
"I thought they'd all be angry." Nora whispered as the trio found a stretch of road clear of people.
"Yeah, me too." Jaune agreed, but Ren hummed.
"It seems like these soldiers are doing something that the people like, hearts and minds if you will." He said, looking at Jaune and seeing the confusion even through the mask. "It's when an army of government tries to appeal to an occupied people to sway them to their own side." Ren explained quickly, the blond boy nodded in understanding and looking forwards. He suddenly stopped in his tracks, halting Nora and Ren along the way. They sent him confused stares then followed his gaze, quickly seeing the problem. It was Alex, and he was currently only a few metres away looking at something in his hand.
"This way." Jaune said and dragged the pair into an alleyway, crouching and waiting for the other teen to pass. It was a good call, if he had recognised Nora, he'd recognise Ren and Jaune. That wasn't something they could bet on, they were deep behind enemy lines with no escape if something wrong happened. They spotted the armoured teen starting to walk past, only to stop and look up for a moment, his golden eyes narrowing. It was then that Jaune noticed how sharp Alex's sword looked on his back, gulping in fear.
"Hey, Alex!" A voice called from somewhere to the side, or from behind Alex as he turned around, luckily not in their direction. It appeared to be another Auxiliary, though he seemed a bit nervous. "Felix is causing trouble, we need some help a couple blocks over." He said and gestured behind him, the golden eyed boy nodded and jogged after the soldier towards whatever this Felix had done. Suddenly Nora gasped and Ren stiffened behind Jaune, causing the boy to immediately spin around and see what had start Nora.
"Whoa." He muttered in shock as he found himself staring at a dented and battered suit of brass armour, chiseled and covered with runes. Though only the chest plate, helmet and a few plates were left of the set, it was nevertheless impressive. Around its shoulders was a massive cloak that looked familiar, as well as a mask that stared at them from the darkened corner. The remaining plates were crushed and flattened slightly, with a gaping hole in the lower torso of the chestplate. Quickly recognition came to Jaune. "Bill's armour, but if it's here where's Bill?" Jaune asked quietly, but Ren shook his head.
"We should get moving, we still need to think of how we are getting over a hundred huntsmen out of Vale." Ren said and the blond leader nodded, standing and helping Ren pull Nora up and out of the alley. As the trio continued on their way, they thought of ways to get the group of hunters out. One that the three agreed on, though reluctantly, was to simply arm a bunch of the students with stolen weapons and send them running. Another was to split up into small groups and leave one at a time, to lessen the chances of being spotted, though it was flawed as they had no idea if the soldiers were observant or not.
Guess winging it would work, has in the past.
They came within sight of the docks at midday, immediately their plans changed. There were two guard patrols disappearing down streets and a few ominous black knights stationed around. The trio stood in another alleyway, planning for their next move. Jaune looked at his friends, stolen mask on his forehead.
"Alright, the plan might not work." He said with a nervous grin. "You two know anything about those knights?" He asked and the pair shook their heads, the teen sighed and rubbed his face. "Okay, it just means we need to be nice and easy when we walk in. Then we spread the word about the plan, and rush the guards." The plan wasn't perfect, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
"Let's do this." Nora said with a grin, dropping it when they walked out of the alley and towards the gate of the docks. The guard they met was another Legionnaire, who had his arms crossed and stared at them silently. Jaune stepped forwards and pushed Nora forwards, staring at the visor of the soldier.
"Got another one." He stated and the Legionnaire turned his gaze to Nora, arms still crossed. The red haired girl smiled sweetly, then promptly jumped forwards and smashed her head against the soldier's helmet. The force knocked the soldier down, giving Nora the chance to kick the man.
"This. Is. For. Interrupting. Pancake. Mornings!" She snapped with each boot into the soldier's ribs and head, finally stopping and breathing heavily. Then she looked at Ren and Jaune. "Let's go." Quickly Jaune pushed the gates open and tore his mask off, tossing it down and walking into the compound. All around him were startled faces, students from all corners of Remnant staring at their saviour in disbelief. The boy stood tall and took a deep breath.
"My name is Jaune Arc, and we're here to get you out!" He shouted, the crowd erupted into murmurs. Ren and Nora ran into the groups, cutting and tearing rope off the bound hunters. Jaune joined them, slicing through with his family sword and giving reassuring smiles at the scared faces. Suddenly, when he cut through the bounds of a female hunter, a hand landed on his shoulder.
"Well if it isn't Jauney boy." Jaune turned and found Cardin and his team staring at him, smirk on the big boy's face. The blond stood up and stared back at Cardin, not stepping down. Cardin raised his hand, almost as if to hit Jaune, but soon levelled it out for a handshake. "Thank you." He said with a surprisingly gentle tone, the blond teen took the hand and nodded.
"Everyone! Help each other out! We need to be strong and united to escape Vale!" Jaune shouted out as he jogged towards the familiar faces of team CVFY and a fox faunus girl, though he gasped when his eyes landed on Fox's face. "What did they-?" He started but stopped himself, quickly cutting through the ropes. Fox stared at him through a black eye, nodding thanks and using Yats as support as he stood. Jaune looked around at all of the hunters, trying to find any that were still tied up. "Is that everyone?!" He yelled, one hunter looked at him and pointed to something behind him.
"I think there's someone over there! Red head!" He barked and Jaune nodded, turning and jogging over to a stack of containers. He turned the corner and found the last huntsman, Pyrrha. The girl was sitting against a crate, tied up like the rest of the hunters and looking downcast.
"Pyrrha!" He cried as he ran towards her, causing her head to snap up. Her face was one of horror.
"Jaune! No!" She screamed, Jaune faltered and soon realised her horror. Suddenly, he was launched to the side by a backhand from a dark armoured knight. He groaned and started to get to his feet, only for the Centurion to stomp over and slam an arm down onto the boy's back. Jaune yelped as he collapsed, only to be pulled into the air and held close to the Centurion's visor. Jaune grabbed the closed hand around his throat, staring with shaking eyes as the knight raised a rapier high.
"I got you!" A voice stated as a hunter leapt onto the Centurion's arm, pulling it back and knocking the knight's aim off. Unfortunately, the knight was far stronger and more unnatural than the boy, as he soon figured out when the arm he was pulling suddenly flew from his grasp and backhanded him. Then the Centurion returned his thin, freezing blade to its previous position, only to be interrupted when he felt something clamp down on his gauntlet. The knight turned his visor and found his hand crushed, looking up to find Pyrrha with his eyes closed in concentration. Suddenly the Centurion's chest crumbled, causing him to drop Jaune and grab at his chestplate.
Jaune coughed and watched in awe as the Centurion writhed, stumbling on now unseasy boots and shaking fiercely. Pyrrha frowned ever so slightly, completely tearing the entire torso from the knight and crushing it to a ball. The Centurion's arms and helmet hung it the air for a moment, before dropping like stones and clanging on the stone ground. There was silence for a moment, broken when Jaune got to his feet and ran to Pyrrha.
"Thank you, Pyrrha." He said as he cut her loose, then found himself in an embrace from the red head. "Let's get out of here, nice and quick." He murmured into her ear, unaware how horribly wrong he was.
Raiko suddenly jerked up from his desk, the previous Headmaster's of course. He felt his hip burning, his Wrought Vanguard. The hilt was glowing a bright red, flashing at second intervals before fading on the fifth. The Link frowned for a moment, confused at why his blade had started to burn... then it hit him. One was gone. One of his Centurions, one of the oldest was gone. The Link looked at his left hand, noticing it shake into a fist. His breathing reached his ears, like the enraged snorts of a bull. He stood up and slammed his fist onto the desk, turning around and throwing his coat off.
He screamed in rage, pure animalistic rage, as the ribs of brass formed over his own. His armour formed over his shirt and arms, burning his skin slightly at the sudden call for it. His eyes were ablaze, soon traded for an inferno within his horrific grinning visor. The elevator doors opened and two pairs of feet sprinted in only to skid to a stop, in awe of the Link's rage.
"Sir, the huntsmen... they've-" Captain Foxtrot stated nervously, stopping himself under Raiko's glare. The Link turned to the other soldier, who quickly slammed a salute over his heart.
"Sir, the Predators and Grenadiers have made a line around the borders of Vale, Pathfinder squads are moving through to search and capture. The Triarii are assisting where they can." The Legionnaire reported, getting a glare from Foxtrot. Raiko nodded and pulled his sword from his hip, examining it.
"Capture as many as you can, not in one piece this time. This time, they will learn their lesson." The Link growled and the soldiers nodded, turning and returning to the elevator as Raiko turned and kicked the glass out. He leapt from the tower as his ruined cape fluttered to flames around his neck, he would drop to the grounds of Beacon before jumping again to the edge of Vale. A mere flex of a finger for the Link, his powers mighty and rage more so.
Jaune's shoes slammed against the concrete as he lead his team and another through the side streets of Vale, behind them were the shouts of more Abandoned soldiers. The two teams passed many others, some who had stolen weapons while others were scattering like insects. But all had the same objectives: get out of Vale as quickly as possible. Suddenly, the grinning face of an Auxiliary appeared from a side street, large knife in hand.
"Sup fuckers!" He chuckled and went to stab Jaune, luckily he was saved by the sudden appearance of another student smashing a plank over the man's head. The soldier turned and slashed the boy's arm, unfortunately giving the other teens the chance to run. Jaune had to be dragged a few feet before he returned to running by Pyrrha, who had a grim look of determination on her face. They saw a few huntsmen fighting back against the chaotic flamethrower soldiers, but most were being beaten back an in some cases down to their knees.
"Hey, we'll get them back." One of the stranger students said, his uniform marking him as an Atlesian student. He ran next to the blond boy, his own brown hair flicking back as he ran. "The name's Jeremy, you're Jaune right? Thanks for saving us back there, thought we'd be stuck there. That bastard said we could leave, but he never came back!" The boy spat and Jaune shrugged.
"At least you're out, eh?" Jaune chuckled and returned his attention to ahead of him, finding the group entering an open plaza. They made it halfway before they found the first of many nightmares. The leader of the group was a purple haired girl, wearing another Atlas uniform, she turned to check on the group before turning back. Then her right leg was slashed clean off, sending the girl face first to the ground and before she could move, the guillotine-like blade slammed down onto her other leg. The huntress screamed out as Alex walked towards the group of students, his golden eyes narrowed and filled with fury.
"Look at what you've done." He growled, gesturing with his other hand around the plaza and city. Faint screams, gunfire and cries of brass filled the air. Alex hefted Thundering Brass up and grabbed the second notch with his hand, eyes locking onto Jaune, Ren and Nora. "You, you will die here. You three shouldn't have interfered, but you won't any longer." He stated and picked up the pace, sprinting at them with his greatsword raised at an angle. The teens scattered as Alex charged forth, his eyes set on Jaune.
Fortunatly, Pyrrha was looking out for him once again and raised her hand towards Alex. The soldier spotted her just as he began to feel his chestplate shrink, he gasped and fell to a knee and grasped the neck of his armour. Pyrrha frowned and slightly crushed once more before being pulled by one of the surviving Atlesian hunters, another girl with black hair. Her teammates were helping their collapsed friend as were Pyrrha's own friends. She took another look back at Alex, who was pulling at the hinges of his armour to release some of the pressure.
"Come on! We're almost there!" Jeremy cried as he hobbled along with his other friend, supporting the purple haired girl. They burst from the urban area into a war zone. Around them, some hunters were firing at soldiers while others were merely running. Luckily, Ren pointed out a more open part of the Abandoned's defensive line.
"There!" He said and the group moved quickly, reaching it and just about to pass the distant soldiers who stood only metres away. Then Raiko appeared from the group's right, stomping towards them and swinging his coiled sword at the three Atlas students leading them away. They flew back at the rest of the hunters, bodies scorched from the Link's blade. Jaune looked at his poor friends, expression hardening as he turned and raised his shield and sword, stepping between the Link and his fallen friends. The Link said nothing as he raised his sword and smashed it down onto Jaune's guard, then his spiked crown flashed and he followed up with a fast punch down onto the shield.
The blond boy collapsed with a scream, but it was overpowered by those of other hunters and a few injured soldiers. He felt his left arm dangling, pain erupting through his body as he slowly looked up at the towering knight that stood before him. He finally felt the warm sweat that dripped down his face, almost forgetting it through the excitement of escaping. He gritted his teeth before taking a shaky attempt at standing up, succeeding at the now straining task. Soon his sword was raised and held in front of his body, teeth now forced against one another to bear the pain. Raiko watched silently, ignoring everything around him and diverting all his attention to Jaune.
"You really care about your friends, don't you?" He asked and lowered his blade. "Unfortunately, you were blind to what you just did. You just showed that we were right." Those words got Jaune's attention, as he lowered his own blade shakily.
"What?" He hissed and the Link gestured around them.
"We had known that you abandoned us, all those years ago. But now even the people of Vale know that you would only free your own, even then, all of you just forced us to inflict even more damage to Vale. Once we drag you back, you will answer for your crimes." Raiko stated and raised his sword, twisting slightly to angle the tip at the blond teen's chest. "Judgement will be served immediately." The Link snarled and turned, throwing his coiled sword forwards. Then his blade was halted in the air, just inches from Jaune's blade. Raiko seemed to quickly figure out the reason, as his grinning faceplate snapped up and he spoke in stunned awe. "The Maiden..."
Suddenly, the Link was thrown to the side and the soldiers around the small group of students were knocked off their feet and onto their backs. Jaune turned around in amazement, finding what Raiko had been affixed on. Pyrrha, who held her hand out as fire burned from the sides of her eyes. The blond boy took only a single step, before blood loss and exhaustion hit him and his vision turned black. His name echoing around him.
"Sorry to interrupt your daily broadcasts, but there's been a serious breach in Vale. The huntsmen who were being held for the safety of the citizens were broken out, now I ain't one to get that angry, but they have destroyed more than they have saved. Right now, any hunters who approach Vale are to be immediately arrested, if you see any of these criminals, alert the nearest patrol. That's all from 37.0 and me, the Radioman. Enjoy your day, Vale."
What the hell is gonna happen now? The huntsmen have escaped, but now the Abandoned have more proof that they are the better protectors of humanity. Unfortunately, this isn't the end of the story, so you don't know! Anyways, we got a special pair of chapters from good ol' Umber, who will have a lot more to deal woth than already. I hope you enjoyed, cheers.