Wood
"So… this is Shion, eh?"
Jaune looked out over the village where they'd landed, the brawny Faunus standing nearby leaning on the wall of the open hull door in front of the hold as he typed away on his scroll.
"Yeap. Welcome to Mistral."
The young man nodded, fairly content with the change in scenery overall. He knew he'd never really been a city person at heart, but for some reason he hadn't quite been able to get it out of his mind the previous night after the events at the docks. Specifically, events surrounding a certain young woman who'd been casing the Fang like they had; though apparently, she'd been doing so on purpose. They just happened to be nearby. Her words still echoed through his mind even now.
Did she know him? Did he know her?
Of anyone her age, let alone anyone as beautiful, he knew that there couldn't be a large pool of possibilities at all. Even so, such limited prospects unbiddingly brought him back to a single day he barely remembered anymore at this point, eclipsed as it was by the harrowing events that had followed. Thus, he didn't feel bad about brushing off the possibility altogether; after all, what did a Huntsman Academy have to do with a location as inane as a city dock?
He sighed, annoyed that as simple as the logic sounded, the young woman's face and pleading amber eyes had flashed through his mind over and over during the night and even now, as if she'd never left at all... so once again, he brushed the thought and its odd familiarity away as a much more familiar voice wafted through his mind.
Yeesh, can we go back to Vale already?
Jaune deadpanned at the question, turning to raise his brow at his partner with a nonplussed expression.
Why, getting depressed already just cuz there isn't a single building around here taller than two floors?
Very funny. But not incorrect.
"Hmm," Amber mused aloud, cocking her head now that she looked over the village with her hands at her hips, "It sort of has a homey feel to it, though. It almost reminds you a bit of Lower Cairn, no?"
"Heh, what are the odds o' that," Al began, chipping in as he absently continued skimming through his scroll screen, "Just peeped that name in one of the extermination requests I was checkin just now, y'know, to see if I could offer my dropship services to some huntsman team or whatever after I get back to Vale-town. Looks like they already assigned a Beacon team to it though, second years too… and yous knows what that means…"
He didn't notice the pair trade worried glances at the name, simply finding the B-rank mission request at hand and flipping his scroll over to show them the name of the village, crossed out with the letters CFVY listed underneath it that showed the team that had taken up the mission, "See that? Means they're more worried 'bout damage control now, 'stead of crowd control."
Flipping the scroll back, Al was going to continue scrolling down when Amber finally gained the heart to ask, "And… what's the difference between the two?"
The answer came easily and nonchalantly.
"Damage control, cuz there's no more crowd to save."
Finally reading the room, Al looked up when the silence that followed was too saturated not to notice, lifting his facemask to reveal widening hazel eyes as he came to the realization.
"Oh damn, yous guys actually knew the place. I'm so sorry, B."
He watched Amber sullenly take a few steps toward her partner's side, his heart going out to her as he watched her empty expression and how she literally just let herself slump against her partner's shoulder. Jaune was slightly surprised, but understandingly wrapped his arm around her to give her a light squeeze around the shoulders.
"We didn't know. All we can hope is that at least the Grey family made it out safely."
Amber sensed his genuine efforts to console her with his words… but she also couldn't miss the slow hum of Harbinger signalling the storm of rage howling within. So wrapping her arm around him as well, she hugged him back for a little while before Al stood straight and approached the pair.
Scratching the back of his head with apparent discomfort at interrupting their moment of silence, he tried to contribute, "Ey, uh… looks like there's a sammich joint around here or sumthin. Please, lemme buy yous twos a meal or drink at least."
Jaune sighed, thankfully replying with less bite in his voice than Amber would've expected at a time like this due to Al's evidently sincere motives, "Thanks but no thanks. If you wanna help us, I'd suggest starting by pointing the way over toward Haven Academy."
Al's eyes practically bugged out of his head, getting Amber's and Jaune's attention as he huffed his reply, "Oof, guys. That spot's practically clear 'cross the continent from here! Shoulda told me before."
The atmosphere pervaded with hints of frustration in the air that dissipated the previous somber moment, Jaune and Amber finally separated to deliberate their situation.
"Not sure we can cover all the fuel costs for that, Cro. Most of our lien went to covering the ride to and back for Al, I don't think we could afford anything more unless we take up local mission requests."
"Even then, we probably would have to go to Mistral City to register and back again to claim the commission, so that's a bust," Jaune reasoned as well.
"I mean, there's villages here and there that's got access to the CCT and can forward that registration info, like maybe the Shion train station close by," Al added helpfully, "Takes a couple extra days from outside Mistral, but that's an option. Ima have to stick around a couple days anyway since I gotta go to a fuel station a few stops down and line their pockets a bit to… y'know, turn their cameras off for when I come back to get the fuel with the payment money I got so far. Last thing I need is heat from Vale trackin' the ship here. If ya decide by then, lemme know."
Amber could barely hold back a well-meaning scoff at the revelation of such drastic measures necessary to move between continents unnoticed. Just who this man was and what his past entailed was beyond her, and that without even factoring in his two associates they'd met over a week prior. Such a personality contrasted oddly with the somber facts they'd just learned about their first rest point upon reaching the surface... and while she knew, as was usually the case, that no survivors usually meant exactly that when it came to Grimm attacks, she let out a slow, long breath with a shake of her head. Jaune too was likely well aware of the near certain fate of the poor Grey family if Huntsman support wasn't sent until after a horde had attacked.
What a zany world they lived in, she wanted to tell herself. Treacherous, deadly, unforgiving and cruel... yet somehow accommodating to those precious few, a few who usually didn't deserve such mercies, as long as they could adapt to it. In truth, she hated Remnant for what it'd done to her and to so many innocents with and without the Maiden powers over the ages, or at least had nearly begun to hate it - slamming her into a world story she'd never wanted a part of in the first place, at odds against powers that be which would rend her to pieces on sight for little more than power and control. But with a single glance to her new partner's questioning gaze, his ever-grim expression hidden under those goggles and that distinctive hooded cardigan draped over a grey ribbed tank and dark cargo pants, Amber knew she was willing to brave the storm a while longer if it meant life in this world ruled by demise... if it meant hope in a land of the hopeless.
If it meant no longer having to face it all alone.
I say we agree. We can regroup and gather supplies after a meal and figure out how to get to Haven from here.
Content with Al's suggestion, the pair agreed with the terms and Jaune gave Al a one-armed shrug. He didn't question the way his partner's eyes had shifted but a moment prior... nor the way the pressure around her seemed to swirl differently and somehow darken a bit momentarily from the usual brightness he'd known before. If it was her past and her innermost thoughts, all he had to do was remind himself that he still had his. Though in all truth, he knew he still had yet to really come to terms with how to deal with the past now that the present was as it was. There was simply no time. However, at least, he had little doubt they'd each choose to relinquish their fatuous hold on such thoughts in order to share the burden with one another. Maybe sooner, maybe later... but he was wiling to wait. They were in no rush.
Their only priority worth rushing, one he knew they shared, was the threat at hand and the swiftness they'd need to press the advantage lest their incognito movements someday slip and subside to the waxing gaze of the warring factions for the relics.
"Alright. Guess we'll take you up on that drink, then."
"Hah, for a sec there I thought ya really was fixin fer actual booze!" Al cried out with a wide grin, the three of them at their seats in the nearby pub as the hostess served their beverages.
"Eh, I'm not against it or anything, but you can't go wrong with this stuff, either," Jaune replied before taking a gulp from the large mug of root beer in front of him.
Jaune sighed happily, but accidentally cracked the glass mug at the handle when he put it down since it was being held by Harbinger. He stood up to start wiping down the small spill on the floor and table with a groan of despair, and Amber smiled in amusement at the aftereffect of the two guys' reactions and guffaws at the blunder as she took a sip of her ale. However, they were somewhat surprised when equally loud laughter echoed from elsewhere.
"Aw man, what a loser!" some blonde from behind Jaune seated with another half-dozen men and women at a round table chortled, "And that ain't even real booze!"
The shifty-looking crew continued cackling away, Amber taken aback and offended at their crude humor. However, it was Al who stood up first with a face that said he was ready to throw down, his height and bulk made even more evident over the small table where they'd been seated.
"Man y'all crusty as hell over there. I take it all yous had quite a bit to drink, so outta respect fa this establishment and for mah patrons here, ima ask y'all to do yalls selves a favor and take this as my only warning: Mind your manners, na mean?"
At that, the pub owner walked over, wearing a heavy green smock and plate and cloth in hand to presumably break up the tension. But before he could say something, the blonde man snapped at him, "Not a word outta ya, Verdell, unless ya wanna have your protection fee doubled this month!"
Al scowled at that, Amber and Jaune noticing for the first time that he had Aura as it activated in a shade of red-orange.
"Protection fee?"
Before anything more could be said, however, yet another voice from a person Jaune and Amber immediately recognized piped up as that specific cat-eared bargoer now stood up with a scoff.
"And what gives the likes of you people the right to extort money from innocent villagers! Don't you know that kind of resentment builds and ends up attracting the Grimm you were supposedly protecting them from in the first place!?" she began, her amber eyes practically glowing with righteous fury, "That kind of invasion could wipe out an entire village like this in a matter of hours! There's absolutely nothing that justifies risking an entire village's way of life like that!"
Any leftover fury she had, though, was subtly snuffed out when she realized just what she'd done out of instinct and which pair of gazes from the debacle at the docks had just clearly locked onto hers.
"Well nothing unless it risks our way of life~" the blonde man replied with a snicker, "Which just so happens to be charging protection fees for the places we choose to visit!"
The skeevy group behind the blond man comprised of four men and two women all burst into laughter at that, the man himself grinning with their encouragement.
"Haha yeah! You tell 'em, Shay!"
However, the grin on the blond man, Shay, morphed into the beginnings of a scowl when he noticed Al's auburn aura surging at his fists with surprising control. His reaction was quick, scoffing as he pointed derisively at the larger man.
"Besides. Wouldn't it risk the same thing if you try to stop us with a brawl right here and now?" he countered before adopting an overacted expression of distraught emotions, "We got negative emotions too, y'know~"
Jaune's patience was being tested; until now having been content with dabbing off the rest of the spilt root beer on his grey sleeveless tank under his cardigan, he finally turned to face the group which had been at his back with an easygoing smile and raised arms.
"Well I mean," he began, Amber noticing how he kept the cloth he'd been using over his left hand to cover Harbinger, "You can't really feel any negativity at all when you're dead. Am I right?"
The pause at his opening remark grew across the pub into a standoffish silence, more than a few of the scowling group members slowly inching for their weapons before Jaune suddenly dispelled the tension with a sudden chortle and placating gesture with his hands.
"Haha! Kidding. I'm just kidding!"
But not really.
Amber snickered into her drink at that, even Al and some of the group members at the table chuckling out their tension in semi-relieved annoyance. Shay, however, was not having his thunder taken from him, so he pointed at Jaune with a snarl.
"Well if ya got jokes, save it for when you've got enough begging money to bring the circus to town, you and yer fellow Faunus freaks you got all around here," the man spat with his finger pointing at Al's and Blake's general direction before then pulling out a pistol to aim at Jaune, "And get this through yer head, you and all you small-brained hillbillies in this dump! If the chumps in Shion don't pay up, we just take 'em for all they got!"
At that, the group behind him cheered loudly in approval, banging the table with their fists and mugs with an evident effect on the other somber bar goers who knew they were too powerless to defy them.
Amber softly put her ale down, letting out a long-suffering sigh with her eyes closed in disapproval.
"Small men are so loud."
Shay turned and scowled at Amber before adopting his ever-present grisly smirk.
"Oho, and now their squeeze finally joins the convo. So you belong to the meathead? Maybe to this edgelord stinkin' up my sight? Or do they just pass you around whenever they like!? Haha!"
At that moment amid the laughter, Jaune picked up the sound of the entrance to the bar in his blindspot opening, remembering there was a clear line between their tables and the wide open door. With a clench of his leg and a single burst of centripetal energy, the background music in the pub stopped playing when Jaune launched a single kick that spun and hooked Shay right in the gut, literally punting him right out the door of the establishment screaming the whole way.
The other six people at the table stood, but with Jaune now fully facing them, his large hood down and his pale face, distinctive black goggles, and grim expression visible for everyone to see, none of them really had the heart to draw their weapons. His statement was as calm as it had ever been as he addressed them.
"So, then. Ya gonna mind those manners now?"
About an hour or so later, the new quartet stood at the train station, a few awkward glances traded all around before the train could finally be seen coming.
"Ya sure yous guys don't regret givin' the pub guy practically all yer leftover guap?" Al finally spoke, more than a little apologetic as to the escalation his attempt to defend their honor brought on, "Y'all could've gotten tickets to go with me to the fuel spot and back."
"Or," Amber added helpfully, "You could've cut the reparation cost off the top and given the delta to us as a discount for the flight over here."
Al couldn't help but smirk at her negotiation tactic.
"Heh. Ya woulda thought."
I… can't tell if that's a Yes or No…
Jaune shrugged at her, with Blake at some distance from the group remaining mostly a passive but stubbornly present observer the whole time.
"Honestly, I would if I could," Al elaborated thankfully, "But I was already givin' ya a split-even rate with literally zero percent margins. Another chit discounted means I ain't gettin' back to ma boo back in Vale-town, na mean?"
The pair each nodded in understanding, having gotten somewhat of a feel for his accent to at least process the denial.
Yeah, well, it was worth a shot, Jaune noted mentally, reassuring his partner for her efforts.
"That's fair. Thank you for your consideration," Amber concluded, the train nearing and slowing as it arrived.
"Nah, thank you for savin' our asses back at Mountain Glenn, bruh," he replied, Blake definitely catching that last bit with pricked up ears and a whole new wave of awe at the young man, "I got nuthin' if it ain't for my boo Candy around. We were able to go back to our little stoop in Vale-town that day coz of yous twos."
With the bell for the train ringing for the passengers to board, Al checked his ticket to ensure that this would be the train that took him to his destination before giving his farewells.
"Aight, real talk - kinda been trippin' 'bout that thirstbucket grillin' us from over there for a hot minute, so we out. Peace out boss," he noted with a fist bump at Jaune, "Mah G," he added with a quick side hug for Amber, and then finally giving a curt wave over in Blake's direction, "And to creeper chick over there, ya best thank ya boi Cro here for not lettin' ya catch these hands for stowing on my ship! I'm still mad tight over that!"
Amber chuckled at the ease and general light-heartedness he'd somehow infused into such a confrontational sentence, but they waved him off regardless as he boarded and eventually disappeared into the distance.
"You know, it really would've been easier to simply lay those bandits all out so they never returned," Amber noted, the two standing side by side and watching the train disappear into the thick forests ahead. Jaune shrugged, but still shook his head in the negative.
"Nah. Those guys were bold, but they're no gang bosses. Whoever they work for would've probably taken it out on the village and caused a Grimm invasion in the end anyway."
Amber couldn't help but agree, impressed with the veritable tactician she'd begun travelling the world with.
"I cannot argue with such excellent logic, as expected of my wise dear partner~"
Jaune good-naturedly rolled his eyes at Amber's knowing grin in his direction, knowing what was about to come next.
"So, why follow through with the kick then? Wouldn't stopping just short have done enough to intimidate him?"
Jaune nodded in admission to the rhetoric, but found himself fighting down a flustered cough as he tried to muster enough composure to reply.
"Yeah, but… what he said about you," Jaune began, glancing away at the sight of a pair of big brown eyes hanging on his every word, "I… I wasn't gonna let that stand."
Her expression at those words was nothing short of beaming.
At least, until he put his hand on her head to turn it away from him, causing her to chuckle with an ear to ear grin.
Yeah yeah, laugh it up ya jerk…
"It was sweet!" she complained loudly with a giggle, though a moment later picking up on the fact that they were still not alone on the station. Her next remark was mental, though more matter-of-factly due to the subject change. After all, the kindness behind his actions, violent as they may have been, deserved for him to be let off the hook of further teasing. At least for now.
So… what do we do about the stowaway?
"Not sure yet," Jaune sighed softly, continuing aloud quietly, "I'm still deciding whether we ditch her or just… I dunno, politely tell her to take a hike? But honestly, she's about as stranded here as we are."
"She has also made it very clear," Blake suddenly began from right between them, startling both teens quite immensely with how she'd snuck up between them so easily, "That she will not be going anywhere until she's had some answers."
"Gods in heaven!" Amber cried out, a hand over her frantic heart in surprise, "Nearly scared me to death!"
Jaune had just stopped short of crying out himself since he still had trouble tracking the location of aura users, but cleared his throat regardless with his composure recovered, "Well, whatever your name is-"
"Blake."
"I don't care," Jaune briskly noted just as quickly as she had interrupted, ignoring the name completely since it'd never been said around him during initiation, "As I was saying, I don't think that's gonna happen."
Blake's jaw went slightly slack in affront at the remark but found herself tagged out by Amber, who began to speak as well.
"Cro and I are travelling across the continent - as I'm pretty sure you've learned by now with your incessant eavesdropping - and we are to face terrain, adversity, and assailants of unknown caliber and malignancy. This is no trek for hitchhikers and stowaways."
Jaune nodded in agreement before adding to the point.
"What Am-"
Joan.
"What Joan is trying to say," Jaune added with steepled hands in front of him gestured towards Blake, "Is that we're probably about to get mobbed by bandits not even five minutes after stepping out the village."
"But-"
"You probably wouldn't survive."
"Hey!" Blake retorted, now sufficiently offended to butt her way into taking the conversation floor by demand, "Do you not see the plainly conspicuous gun-blade katana strapped to my back!? I'm no pushover - I am a Beacon. Student."
The faunus girl caught it again. A brief moment where she could almost hear a bell of recognition ringing in this mysterious powerhouse's mind. Just who he was and how he knew her was filling her to the brim with curiosity and questions she could barely handle! Jaune himself, however, was struggling to associate two similar faces and weapons he'd just realized were very alike from memory, but bodies that were completely different.
The girl from initiation didn't have cat ears… she was a human!
That's it, I say we take the ditching option.
You mean a Light Step!?
No no, I mean a 'wait until she gets tired and sleeps or something and then run away' option. We can't do a Light Step here without risking Harbinger putting out enough power to attract Grimm.
Jaune huffed, Amber huffed, and they both simply turned away to walk back toward the main street in the village, leaving Blake with furrowed brows about how oddly synchronized that reaction had just been.
"What are you guys, fraternal twins or som-?"
"Ah, there you two are!" a new voice exclaimed just as the pair appeared around the corner with their third wheel in tow, "I was looking everywhere for you!"
"You were?" Amber began, not quite recognizing the man until he pantomimed cleaning a plate with a cloth. The three recognized the man who was out of his smock and cleaning supplies just before he introduced himself.
"Yes! My name is Verdell Estella Artois. I thank you for stepping in earlier, those bandits have been causing a ruckus for a few weeks now and many have feared that their notorious tribe might've even been casing the entire village as a potential target later on," he began indicatively before proudly motioning at the pub down the street, "And I wanted to thank you for doing so without damaging my lovely pub. Its name is Stella Pub and Grille - she is a thing of beauty, no?"
The three teens did their best grins as they nodded in half-hearted agreement toward the seedy joint.
I'm pretty sure my ale was half water.
Don't even get me started on the bathroom.
"There is... no doubt that she is your pride and joy," Blake added aloud first before the pause could become inorganic, the pair silently nodding their thanks to her uneasy attempt at flattery. The pub owner, however, was only more than happy to accept the adulation.
"Around these parts, we do the best with what we have!" the man noted with a proud grin before procuring a chit from underneath his shirt pocket and handing it to Jaune. Interestingly enough, it was not lien, but a voucher.
"I don't have much to offer as gratitude, but I do know how difficult it is to traverse the Forest of Hinoki in case you wish to travel to nearby settlements. Please take this voucher for a free rental from my friend's growing new business!"
Amber peeked around Jaune's shoulder to see it, the young man immediately made uncomfortable by Blake peeking over his other shoulder. With a frown, he moved it away from Blake and closer to his partner so she could read it aloud.
"Hm. 'You Haul'. What is that supposed to be?"
"Well, y'see," Verdell continued, evidently an avid storyteller as he gestured and pantomimed parts of his explanation throughout, "The business concept is to provide a commodity solution that would make travelling across villages just as easy as CCT communication! My friend's dream is to have rental vehicles available at every village and town in Mistral so that people could rent, travel, and return vehicles and necessary moving equipment as they make their way between villages. So that's when it hit him - You! Haul! Haha! How about that, eh!? My friend's a real entrepreneur, he is."
"Sounds… really risky," Blake mused as she looked over the card, Jaune suddenly surprised at how she'd somehow snatched it from his fingers without him or Amber even realizing, "I mean, with Grimm and Mistral's penchant for bandits loitering around most roads, it'd seem like your friend would stand to lose too much of his investment to make a profit. Don't you think?"
"W-Well," Verdell stammered, going a little red in the face with anxiety as his point was being challenged, "I know it's a growing business and they all have their hurdles, but I really believe he's onto something there! And as the man who funded my dream to make a family owned pub I can pass down to my children someday, I have to vouch for his ideas!"
Amber couldn't help but smile at the man's sincere loyalty to his benefactor, giving him a benign reply in turn, "Well thank you, Mister Artois. Where might we be able to redeem this voucher?"
The man, glad to have his gesture acknowledged, was only too happy to elaborate further, "Why of course! Further down the road to Mistral, you will find a village named Higanbana. While it's about a full day's walk, they also have an inn… which unfortunately, Shion does not, despite having a train station. You see, it's a rather new station, as you may be able to tell, and the infrastructure of the town has yet to catch up to the increased traffic it will bring from travelers and tourists. But catch up we shall!"
Jaune couldn't help but cock a brow at that.
"So, you're telling us to walk a full day through the woods to reach a village where we can get a ride back?"
"And that way, you'll get to where you're going much faster still!"
"Aright," Amber conceded with a nod, traded in kind by the slightly eccentric older pub owner, "Thank you for your help, we will make arrangements to leave immediately."
"Of course! And please, have your next meal on the house the next time you drop by!" he called from over his shoulder as he took his leave with a final wave in their direction.
It was quite a bit to go off of, but Amber didn't sense any malice or deception from the man. Jaune had certainly been right earlier about the peril they faced as soon as they left the relative safety of the village; of course, the possibility of Verdell being in league with the bandits had crossed her mind, and from what she could tell, Jaune's as well... but this man had a sincerity more akin to Al's than anything else. If Jaune didn't have anything to say against it by now, she certainly wasn't going to complain. Besides, for each of them, facing groups of thugs had basically become as par for the course as facing creatures of Grimm themselves over the past few days.
"Well, having faster transportation is not a bad idea," Blake mused aloud, a hand to her chin in thought as the other idly flapped the card in the air… at least, until Jaune snatched it back with narrowed eyes and speed that frankly more than surprised her in turn.
"Bold of you to assume you'll even be sticking with us for that long."
Blake balled her fists at her sides, all but stomping her foot on the ground as she fired back, "Bold of you to assume I'll let you just swat me away like some riff-raff!"
Amber raised both brows at that.
Hm. We really picked up a stray with this one.
Jaune, however, was not amused. There was no way on Remnant that this girl and the silent wallflower he'd met in initiation could be the same person despite their uncanny resemblance. Perhaps a second year or third year he'd never had the chance to meet, but definitely not the one he'd fought the Deathstalker and Nevermore with on that ill-fated day! That girl was so graceful, but this one? Boy did she have a mouth on her, and it was grating and draining and absolutely drove him up the wall…! Just like… just like...
Jaune felt a familiar pressure subtly building at his side even before the words sauntered into his head like little charming assassins promising excruciating torture, and, well… probably assassination.
Just like WHOM, hmm…?
Right. Mind reading, Jaune eked out with a silent gulp at the landmine he'd just stepped on, My bad.
"You know what?" Amber suddenly began, a bright grin and sweet tone in her voice directed at Blake that only Jaune knew too well promised him sulfuric agony underneath, "I admire your persistence. I say she joins us, Cro. At least until Al returns. What do you say?"
Jaune turned to face her gaze, his eyes widening a bit behind his goggles at the sight of hers itching to burst forth with flaming magical fury.
SAY. YES.
A litany of comebacks and rebuttals came to mind, but for once, a lifetime of experience from having dealt with scorned and occasionally hormonal female siblings instinctively willed him to keep his lips and brain signals tightly shut.
He nodded in reluctant agreement.
"Y-Yeah… sure."
Now Amber was the one snatching the card out of Jaune's hand with a dangerous smile, even Blake instinctively catching the air of peril for just a brief moment before the feeling left as quickly as it'd come. Regardless, the awkward atmosphere lasted for all of another ten minutes while the new trio made their way across the main street and just out of Shion. Blake watched the furtive glances between the two and the small grimaces on their faces as she wondered how difficult it would be for anyone like herself to maintain close friendship with others considering the current state between a pair that purportedly worked together as well as these two when it came to fighting.
"They must have it hard, not knowing what the other is thinking when they probably wish they could," Blake muttered to herself, "I know I've been there before…"
...H-I-J-K-phosphorous-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z, Jaune recited mentally in the meantime, Amber squinting as she tried to keep herself looking forward but unable to resist a reply with a quick glance in his direction.
Okay, I'll bite. Why say 'phosphorous' instead of the actual letters?
Jaune glanced back, trying his best to avoid giving the punchline with too big a grin.
Because it's an EL-EM-ENT-AL P.
Amber's eye twitched, her teeth grinding to hold back a chuckle with every ounce of willpower she could. Grimm be damned if that one wasn't actually funny.
For the last time… I'm… I'm not going to laugh! You won't be getting off the hook so easily!
Jaune silently growled with an air of frustration even Blake could feel and couldn't help slightly cowering at, the young man knowing that last joke was one of the best in his repertoire of brightening up his occasionally angry sisters' moods.
Alright, fine. One more and I give.
Rrr, fine.
A man walks into a zoo. The only animal in the entire zoo is a dog.
Amber raised a brow as Jaune paused for effect.
...It's a shitzu.
Blake visibly flinched at the sound of Amber bursting out into laughter out of nowhere.
"Pfffffft! I hate you, Cro! I hate you!" she cried out while chortling some more before smacking him on the shoulder.
Blake was stunned. She'd seen partners who could get along and make up immediately after a fight. She'd known of partners, like her previous one before Beacon, who could fake the semblance of making up in an ongoing cycle of negativity and emotional abuse.
But never had she witnessed such camaraderie between two people that could heal rifts after a disagreement without a single word. These two truly must've been tied at the hip after years of trials together to forge such a bond!
With her respect for them growing practically by the minute, Blake also didn't miss Jaune's concurrent reaction to hers when each of them became alert at the same time to motion nearby.
Hey Ammie… how long ago did we leave Shion's jurisdiction?
Hm. I would say about five minutes, perhaps.
Yup. We've got company, then.
Amber turned up to face him, all traces of animosity gone as she looked to him for a plan with a whisper, "Okay, well with the three of us, how do you want to go about engaging the ambus- wait…"
They both paused, suddenly hearing rustling nearby that their would-be attackers couldn't possibly be making by choice if they were trying to maintain the element of surprise. Jaune turned, reaching what should've been an obvious realization when he noticed a telling absence in the ether surrounding them.
"Hold on. Where's-?"
His answer came in the form of a person flying across the path in front of them, two more familiar armed bandits emerging to engage with Blake when she reappeared as another four, including a clearly miffed Shay at the lead in light of the botched surprise attack, emerged from the treeline on the other side of the path just ahead.
Looks like we were about to be pincered.
Yeap.
You couldn't tell?
Oh don't start with this again.
Amber and Jaune broke their pointed glares at each other before turning back to face the clearing. The scene surprised them, that with Blake already engaging the entire group of bandits alone with her weapon and doing a fine job wearing them down and otherwise disorienting them with acrobatic flips above and around them.
"Huh."
"Kind of unexpected."
"Yeah. But eh, she's taking forever with this."
"Even so... not half bad."
With the seventh bandit recovering and attacking Blake from her blindspot, one she dodged with what surprised Amber and Jaune was an afterimage from an apparently shadowy semblance, they both readied themselves for an intervention when a scowling Shay drew his pistol and fired with surprising accuracy, hitting her in center mass and breaking her aura with the one bullet.
"I guess neither was he," Amber retorted with a grimace, "We underestimated the wretch."
There was no time to process the telltale shadow abilities he'd seen once before. Even though it was likely more than one person, similar in appearance or not, could wield similar abilities with aura, Jaune's main concern had just shifted to keeping said person alive.
I'll zip in and get her out of the way. I think it's about time we test that new Dark-Light crystal I made for Autumn.
In a split second, Jaune was at Blake's side, the girl on all fours still clutching her diaphragm where the shot had hit and clearly winded her. Before Jaune could grab her and Light Step away, though, Amber got his attention with the urgency in her tone alone.
Don't grab her for a Light Step!
Why not!? He retorted quickly.
I'm… not sure the effect the sudden force will have on a body that's not magic-capable. Especially one with a spent Aura.
Jaune turned back to face the cat girl just as she turned her amber eyes up to meet his. It hadn't really hit him before until he looked at the increasingly familiar shade of amber in her irises... that it would indeed be a huge mess if her body popped like a tomato with the sudden induction of unnatural levels of kinetic force. But before he could reach down to help her up, the barrel of a pistol was pressed against the back of his head.
"Little light on yer feet there, eh? Well not so fast… we ain't done with the little lady. Or the rest of ya."
It took every ounce of Jaune's willpower not to eviscerate the man in an instant where he stood, and it was Amber's voice ringing out as the other six bandits got back to their feet that kept him from giving in to his new darker urges.
"Funny you mention that," Amber replied calmly, an eerie swirl of energy surrounding her staff as it expanded at both ends with a Gravity crystal and Lightning crystal at each end, "I was thinking something rather similar. You lot simply do not know when to stand down, do you."
"Well how 'bout I put one in edgelord's head here and see what you two ladies ha-" Shay began spitting back in reply, but couldn't finish when she twirled her staff and thrust it into the ground.
The shockwave alone was enough to push the bandits back a few paces before dark lighting raced out through the ground at each one, electrifying them with effects akin to their bodies suddenly feeling like lead and dropping them to the floor. Amber nodded at Jaune indicatively, who took the cue and took Blake's frame effortlessly into a bridal carry to Air Step her to a nook in the woods nearby.
Before the wide-eyed teen could even comprehend what'd just happened, Jaune had already sped back to Amber's side to see her quite conflicted at what to do with the band of bandits who seemed to be all but suffocating under the immense gravitational pull and elemental paralysis.
"You know, come to think of it, Cro," Amber began aloud as she watched one of the women wheezing with bloodshot eyes due to oxygen-deprivation, "We came up with this attack to counter entire horde-level waves of Grimm…"
"Yeah. Your point?" he retorted simply.
"I think this is a tad overkill for these brigands here. You know… considering that it's actually killing them."
Okay. Then just dial down the magic.
Amber turned to give him a deadpan glare.
I didn't use ANY magic. Just Aura!
Jaune turned to give the group a once-over with an unimpressed frown, walking over to a downed Shay who was stuck on all fours and unable to even turn his neck up to face him properly.
"Y-You… bastards… ain't no normal Dust… capable of… doing that to people…"
"I know. That's because it was meant for Grimm," Jaune noted matter-of-factly, lightly kicking Shay over for him to collapse on his side under his own weight harder just so Jaune could make him meet his piercing gaze from behind his goggles, "You a Grimm?"
Unable to even breathe anymore from the new position, all the blonde could do was wheeze and slowly shake his head against the unnatural forces pinning his frame down. Jaune turned to give Amber a small shrug as the man began turning blue, finally giving her the indicative nod to release them all as he walked back to her side to spare them such pointless deaths.
To the man's credit, he did the gall required of his occupation due service when he picked up his pistol and used the cuff of the hand holding it to wipe the drool and spittle from his lips with fiery rage in his eyes.
"You'll pay for that."
To the bandits' surprise, and maybe even boosted morale, Jaune and Amber actually traded worried glances at the determined promise of violence behind that remark.
Um, Cro. That was my weakest attack, Amber began with wide eyes filled with concern, I don't think I HAVE any techniques that won't kill them outright.
Well shoot. We're in the same boat then.
But… what about the knock-out mind thing you did to that random man under Mountain Glenn?
Ehh, I wouldn't count on it, Jaune recalled with squinted eyes in thought, Of the two guys I've tried that on, I've not heard of either of them waking up again.
Amber shook her head in defeat at the thought, misconstrued by the bandits slowly surrounding them with hesitation on her part.
Well… you have a finer touch with your attacks than I do, she admitted, it's either close quarter combat or full Maiden for me if Autumn is no longer an option.
Meh, definitely no need to blow your cover just for that. I'll handle it and just put em on ice, Jaune noted with his decision made before thinking to look around them, "Oh hey. We're surrounded."
"Pretty sad last words from a dead man," Shay taunted with venomous intent seething from his words. In fact, so strong were those feelings that for the first time, Jaune could feel exactly where the man was even though he was well within Jaune's blind spot. Snickering at the realization, Jaune's choice was made.
"Look who's talking."
Did you think of something? You've got that look on your face again.
Yeah, Jaune began with a knowing smirk in her direction before relaxing his pose and raising his arms to the bandits around them, I just realized that as long as I get 'em spooked, I can actually get a good idea where they're standing to hit everyone at once. If I spin it right, it'll throw them off and get us a nice cover story at the same time… and we won't even have to be engaged anymore!
Ha ha.
"See, I'm almost surprised neither of you know," Jaune began, the smoky frost at his fingertips causing the temperature to subtly drop in the entire area. It took a moment to spin the idea into something viable, but knowing Mistrali culture from some of his sisters, the easy ways his abilities and those of his partner could be misconstrued into something much more mundane, and taking inspiration from one or two scary stories around a campfire he'd heard on occasion as a boy... it didn't take long to come up with an excuse.
He'd come up with the hare-brained idea of forging transcripts that had actually worked... what was another hare-brained idea to add to the pile now?
"Know what," Shay spat back, ignoring the inexplicable chill in his spine he was getting as Jaune spoke. What was worse was that the other bandits seemed to be getting the same reactions, too.
Jaune looked up at the late afternoon sky, closing his eyes and letting a theatrical knowing smile grow across his lips.
"It's twilight," the young man began, "Otherwise known as Magic Hour. In other words, that's when people from my Mistralian tribe, like my partner and I, have our auras at their peak…"
Watching the bandits trade uneasy glances and then looking to Shay as if silently bidding for an order to retreat, the man himself sneered at Jaune to sway his comrades toward the obvious win, "Quit flappin' yer yap. You're stalling and you know it… yeah you got a cheap hit on me back at the bar, but now you and your little lady friend here are outnumbered and in the open."
"Noticed you minded your manners when referring to my partner this time. Good choice."
"Shuddup!" Shay cried out angrily as everyone realized his subconscious caution, pointing his weapon that prompted everyone else to do the same, "Now which one of you wants to die first! We'll make sure to flay that house cat freak real good right after!"
Jaune took a subtle deep breath, the whiff of fear from each bandit providing a sense of pressure as good as from any Grimm. Seven total, well in range of a single area ice blast.
Gottem.
"Your funeral," Jaune replied, the suspense in the air and in every person present reaching a peak with his hands glowing with aura and elemental energy…
Until everyone, Jaune and Amber included, realized nothing was happening.
The young man blinked owlishly at his hands.
I'm out?
You're out!?
Shay's grimace turned upward with cruel self-assured confidence.
"LIGHT 'EM UP!"
Ratatatatatatata!
All manner of weapons on the automatic scale fired dozens of rounds relentlessly onto the pair, the entire area flashing with expended casings and energy from their weapons until they realized after a few seconds that the pair was miraculously still standing.
"What the," one of the bandits couldn't help saying aloud, another of the female bandits watching them having survived over a hundred rounds unscathed, "They're… they're monsters!"
Seriously… that actually HURT.
Amber turned up to glance at him, their next flurry of thoughts taking up the better part of a couple seconds as the bandits released all their spent cartridges, Cro, we were extremely lucky just now that they were using substandard Dustless bullets, but I'm not sure I can simply tank another volley like that. What just happened to you?
He flexed his real hand a few times, looking to everyone as if he were just checking his Aura levels, but Jaune had also licked the back of his lips to quickly cycle through every type of elemental energy he could recall.
Ice, Fire, Gravity… I'm out. Most of the Air and Water, too… and anything Lightning related is kinda out of the question unless I wanna kill them. Running isn't an option, 'cuz that either leaves the girl behind or all of Shion exposed… and honestly, I don't just wanna let this go, either. Jeez.
Cro… how can you possibly be 'out' of power?
Despite his apparent annoyance, Jaune was roosting over real concern after realizing that consistent Dust usage over the past two weeks since defeating the Hydra without any real recharge - aside form the occasional stolen Dust vial from Dee or Dudley he'd sneak down his gullet behind Amber's back - had finally caught up to him at the worst possible time. If he were to hope to protect Amber, and have her cover him too at a time like this, he now knew transparency and honesty was the only policy.
Dust. I know it sounds weird, and believe me, I checked, but I eat Dust to get my power. I don't know why it doesn't kill me, but it lets me use the Dust energy I consume without ripping me apart.
The girl's eyes went wide as the bandits continued quickly reloading, the action giving Shay some more mistaken reassurance.
So THAT'S how you-!
Amber. How do I use magic.
Jaune's partner looked up at him with the same wide-eyed gaze, slowly shaking her head partly in disbelief and partly with complete ignorance as to how to teach it to someone in the first place.
Cro… I, she began with the intent to answer in the negative, but quickly shook her head when she realized she was talking to a living contradiction of what should be physically possible with crystallized elements of the gods' parting gift to mankind.
It's hard to explain… you don't 'use' magic, you 'feel' it, she began, trying her best to keep her composure as she saw weapons being raised against them once more, Dust is nature's wrath, Cro. It's not just in crystallized form, neither in powder. Nature… it is not so fickle. It is everywhere. In everything around us, imbued in the things we see, hear, and feel… so FEEL it, that's what I do… and if you reach out, it'll respond. Wrath and all.
Jaune looked around at the area around them, lighting a heavy dose of Lightning Dust energy to speed up his body and mind and buy another precious few moments. He was unable to hold back his thought as he watched Shay begin opening his mouth in slow motion.
It… it can't be that simple, can it…?
Months honing his sensory abilities underground, feeling the air, energy, and the very space itself around him… how had he not thought of doing this before now that he'd reached the surface? Jaune calmed his senses and set himself into focusing on his every nerve to feel out the pressure around him.
Interestingly enough, it hit his nose and taste buds first. It was there…
It was everywhere.
Particles of Air Dust in the air, flecks of Water Dust in a nearby stream, several nuggets of Earth Dust littered throughout the ground underneath them… Jaune felt their taste, their presence, their pressure.
Realizing that the earth dust was clearly the most plentiful of the three, but not nearly enough to use for any offensive purposes, Jaune went about recollecting his initial discovery of the aural energy around Earth Dust; its taste, the way the earthen energy coalesced in Amber's hands when she used it against the Petra Gigas, and how she'd taught him to skim that energy from Dust in a flash of thought. He wouldn't suffice with doing what she'd done, no… if he was to be strong enough to extinguish all Grimm on Remnant, he would do more.
He would become stronger than anyone.
Jaune let the world go back to real time, lighting a visible coat of aura over every square inch of his body as he gave Amber a single command.
Put up your aura shield. I'll draw their fire and take care of the rest.
Cro…?
He took a step toward Shay, drawing the cross-hairs of every weapon there and the hesitant but commanding order form the lead bandit.
"F-FIRE!"
Here goes nothin'.
Jaune took the idea from the Dust energy, Amber's wielding of it, and of the concept of skimming she'd taught him and combined it into one: with the taste of rock candy washing over his tongue, Jaune infused the earthen energy around him, not into his body… but into his Aura itself.
"Strengthen."
RATATATA-PINGPINGPING
Amber's jaw went absolutely slack as she realized every bullet simply hit and slid off of Jaune's aura, which had unbelievably somehow taken on a fractal nature and absorbed every ounce of momentum from the gunfire without being whittled away in the least.
You're… you're bulletproof now!?
He turned to give her a smirk just as everyone else stopped firing with their cartridges now fully unloaded… and clearly without any effect on this young man or even his aura level.
Damn right, I am.
He turned back, taking a few more steps toward a now clearly disturbed Shay before he raised his gun right at Jaune's head.
"Stay back! D-Don't come any closer, you freak! I'm warning ya!"
Jaune smirked again as he took another pace to put himself barely an arms length from the pistol before Shay fired. The shot rang out across the open area, and Jaune momentarily went cross eyed as he looked up at how the fractal energy of his aura flared up over his area of vision to dissipate the incoming momentum of the bullet before speedily reaching out with his hand to catch the bullet as it fell right in front of him.
Shay went almost as white in the face as Jaune's skin when the young man looked back up at him with the perfectly fine bullet in hand and an easy-going smile on his face.
"Man, you guys really unloaded into us back there," Jaune began while imbuing the bullet with some earth energy and causing it to levitate and point at Shay in midair, then making it spin like a mini Crocea Mors, "But lucky you, I'm a nice guy. So how 'bout we do this: one bullet in the head for each of you, and we'll call it even! Whaddaya say?"
By the time Jaune turned to see what anyone else had to say, all he saw was an empty path with just Amber in the middle, giving him a shrug to indicate everyone else had already run away. He turned his head back slowly to face Shay again, only for the man to cower and stutter at the growing bloodlust emanating from the young man and turning tail to run away screaming.
"And don't you ever come back to Shion!" Amber called out with a wide grin on her face before walking up to Jaune's side.
Meanwhile, a pair of amber eyes, frozen to what had been going on the entire time, rolled back into their owner's head. Amber and Jaune each turned right on time to see the poor catgirl fall backwards across the bushes where Jaune had hidden her, the faunus no longer able to process so much unbelievable information.
"Hey, you hungry? I feel like I could go for a nice meal right about now."
"Of what, a nice helping of Dust? You're absolutely mad, I hope you know that."
"Ha ha," Jaune drawled before looking back down at his hands, "Though I guess I don't need the Dust like I used to anymore, don't I…"
Still… what it didn't quite explain was why then he still had that hunger brewing deep within which had only been exacerbated by the altercation just now.
"Mm, nope," she replied cheerily, "Though you'll definitely have to elaborate on that bit about Dust ingestion later. For now, though, let's go collect your poor audience of one who just gave new meaning to the term 'knock-out performance'."
A/N: First chapter in May, in the books! This bi-weekly schedule works out pretty well, not because I've reached an impasse as much as life just getting busy. Long story short, I'm kind of considered an "essential worker" for some reason, so I've actually gotten busier than ever the past few weeks keeping big things from breaking around the country. Not easy, and overall not fun, but meh. It's only an insult to myself if I complain about the duties I myself have chosen to undertake with my secular career. Enough about irl stuff, back to the fic!
Seriously, Blake's name isn't said around Jaune even once during initiation. The one or two times Yang says Blake's name aloud, Jaune is somewhere else in the forest. Bet you didn't know that fun fact, eh? I seriously don't know how I ever got to shipping Jaune and Blake, much less accidentally coining the ship name Knightshade back in May of 2015 (seriously, check CH8 of The Gamer Girl, first usage of the ship name ever). But it's too much fun not to ship, and it'll be just as fun here. Don't worry though, Blake will be shipped with Jaune, not "Cro". A nifty little reveal THAT'LL be… oh the surprises I have in store for my dear readers~
Goodness, i'm just full of fun facts today.
And ah, the tragic fate of Lower Cairn... it was meant to be, and is indeed the place that CFVY gets stuck at for weeks and essentially causes them to miss the school dance. Just goes to show that even if a few elements in a timeline changes, it doesn't mean everything can change or be saved. I am of the belief that time works like a river: even if you somehow gained the power to interfere with it, if you cannot overcome the 'threshold' of chronological interference, time will flow in such a way that it self-corrects, as it were. Of course, that implies that time itself has already been set to flow in a certain direction beforehand, meaning that this is just another loop (which I can arbitrarily say is true since canon is supposedly the initial timeline that set the flow of time in the first place), or that events have been predetermined somehow. Which in a way, they have, since I'm the author. Just a disclaimer: none of my points of views in terms of fic-writing reflect real-life beliefs lol.
And finally, wow - I didn't expect such a consensus on my deliberations between OPM and NGNL approaches to writing from my last author's note. There were some awesome points brought up by reviewers last chapter and I'm super thankful for them; the only thing is that since these chapters were technically written months ago, so were fractions of the A/Ns. I've thankfully figured out how I want to do things by now - as a few of you may be able to tell from this chapter since they're realizing more and more that they're higher up on the power food chain than criminals. In any case, I am definitely planning to reengage with introspection moving forward and will definitely keep the elements in mind that I've received from certain reviews. That, and finally a bit more RWBY team interaction! That's right, look forward to next time and feel free to leave a Fave, Follow, and Review in the meantime! Until then, take care, stay healthy...
And Happy Reading!