Family Pains

What was more important, your dream or your life? In all his years, Joseph was no closer to an answer now than he'd ever been.

What he knew was that dreamers were fragile—like the glass pane of a window, even a little bit of force could start some cracks. As the gardener weeds the weeds and patches the ground and waters the flowers of the garden, so too did dreams need nurturing, patching, and weeding out. Those who supported the dreamers were just as important, in his opinion.

He thought about that every time he watched his wife. Even more so now with her plopped in the armchair across from him in her ruffled nightgown. The grainy tones of oldies film noir danced on their TV screen, volume low, yet filling their home with a calm ambience. A dull crack from above, thunder, the patter of heavy rain, the window beside his wife's head battered with it.

Saphron leaned tip-toed over the arm of the chair, big blue eyes staring at the new creature in her mother's arms.

Joy had always been a stoic woman. Didn't show much of how she felt—it often came down to how well you understood her to figure it out. She was guarded in that way. Easy to want to break down those walls, but it was how she'd learned to cope in the world. You didn't get by being weak, even he had to agree with that.

Imagine his surprise that she agreed to marry him, imagine his further surprise that she was willing to have children. They'd never agreed on the matter when they were dating, even when things started to grow more serious, she never budged on it. She never wanted children. Bottom line.

"They can never be Huntsmen." she'd said. And, in the moment, so in love and full of hope, he'd agreed.

Their first few, still young as they are, showed no inclination toward the job even despite the fact that he was a retired one and their mother was still active. Neither Saphron nor her younger sisters had shown even a passing interest in it. Was that divine intervention or just dumb luck?

For some time, it hadn't seemed like Joy had much connection with her children. And she certainly hadn't played the mother role well early on. She was talented at so many things, but love and nurture and vulnerability, those were challenges she hadn't been strong enough for initially. A lifetime fighting Grimm was nothing compared and she found that out pretty quickly. But the wall did not break with her daughters.

It broke because of her son.

Maybe it was convenient timing or fate, but she'd understood it then. Their son had helped his cold wife realize what she loved about her children. Normally she was insistent on her space, but now she hugged and showed love for her daughters more.

The first time Joseph held Jaune was when he was born, and since then, he had not so much as touched him. There was never a moment that Joy was not cradling him, feeding him, tending to his cries, had him clutched to her chest. Even now, she seemed lost in their newborn's face, who slept away without a care. How could he not when he had a mother who'd so clearly fight the world if it'd protect him?

"They can never become Huntsmen." That was the promise. The one he'd agreed to. Even if he didn't fully agree with it.

What if Saphron ended up wanting to become a Huntress? What would they do? Tell her no and that its a horrible career that's not worth the effort? Joy didn't believe in the system as much anymore, if at all, and for good reason, but Joseph couldn't lie to himself and say there was nothing good about it. That there was no good reason to become a Huntsman.

And what about their new little Jaune? How would they train him to believe a Huntsman career isn't worth it? Tell him over and over again, keep him from watching Huntsman related media, crack down on outside influences like the schools, maybe show such vehement disdain for the idea so that, in a plea for his parents' approval, he'd never choose that lifestyle?

Oh it'd spare their children incredible pain, a lifetime of horrors and struggles, but was it worth it?

"Under any circumstance. Never. Do you promise me, Joseph?" He'd promised his wife to never let it happen. He promised to crush their children's dreams if they ever decided to become Huntsmen. And an Arc never went back on his word.

But if there was one thing he learned, it was that the world's unfairness was as unbiased as death. The more you ran away from it, the sooner it caught up. Joy couldn't protect her children forever, she couldn't save them from pain and suffering, death and violence, failure or tragedy. They were the building blocks of life. Within reason, Joseph believed and accepted that his children would have to suffer and struggle, and hope he raised them to be strong enough to learn from it. And maybe all his children wouldn't, maybe some would sink into despair—as it had happened to some of his brothers. Not everyone was strong enough for this world.

But as he watched his wife kiss her baby boy for the thousandth time, silent tears pouring off her cheeks, he wondered if what he was doing was the right thing. Maybe not. But it was to make his wife happy and to keep his babies alive. What could be more right than that?

What was more important, your dream or your life? Joseph still had no answer. He doubted he ever would.

"What's yours like?"

"Like any other, I guess." Jaune answered. That left him thinking about her though. He hadn't thought too hard about his family since they got stuck in this damn forest. Maybe it was just because it was easier not to. Or his thoughts were hard-pressed somewhere else—the whole trying not to die thing. "Why're you so curious all of a sudden?"

Ruby shrugged one shoulder, but didn't say much else. They laid in the grass together, her on her back and him on his stomach, swirling his hand in the wet mud by the stream bank. The sound of the felling water in the air, the spritz of foam, the hot overlay of sun bearing down on them. Beautiful day to be outside, to be running around and doing things, a beautiful day to be out there fighting Grimm with everyone else.

Instead he was here with his leader talking about moms. Fantastic.

"Then how should I have answered?"

"Well, tell me about her." Ruby said with a half-grin, cheeks tickled pink. "What do you think when you think of her?"

"I mean, she's..." Jaune paused for a moment. "Tough."

"Tough?"

"Really tough." Jaune said, then thought about it more. "She's a Huntress so duh kinda obvious, but I guess that's not really what I mean." She was tough in many of the ways he wished he could be. Calm, calculating, smart, and never the type to bend the knee to anyone. He'd look at her sometimes and wonder if he'd actually come from a woman like that. "She's not really the affectionate type. She's a very tough love type person. But that's not a bad thing—all my sisters are like her because of that."

"How about you?"

"Me? More like my old man," Jaune said. "Yeah, my mom is tough… but not perfect. She gets angry really quick, not nearly as logical as everyone thinks she is, and not nearly as cold, though I guess since I'm her son, my experience is sort of biased. I've only ever seen my mother cry twice in my whole life. When I won the tournament… and when I told her I wanted to be a Huntsman."

Jaune stared at the ground. It was never a good memory to recall. It wasn't the embarrassing situation that he could look back on and laugh at, or the happy moment that he looked back on with fond yearning. It was just a shitty memory—the kind that got stapled in your head and never budged. He could still hear her crying, her knees hitting the floor, people rushing down the stairs. His eyes almost welled up, and before Ruby could ask him further questions, he asked first. "How about yours?"

"Super cool, from what I've been told. I guess that's all I have to go on outside of pictures and recordings. I can't really remember what she actually looked like." Her smile wilted a bit, "Do you think you can love someone even if you don't really know them?"

Jaune would have said no, wished he could have. But Pyrrha existed. So instead, he chuckled and propped his head up in his hands. "You learned it from your family, they do all the remembering for you, I think. When you're a kid, you don't really have a reason to not believe them, right?"

Ruby looked to think about that a moment, lip curling slightly. "Nope."

"You miss her?"

"Yeah… and no."

Jaune blinked at her, but Ruby was already going more into it. "I guess I miss that she was here once, I miss what could have been, but I was always more proud than sad. That she'd died protecting people. I didn't really get the chance to miss her."

Jaune scratched his cheek. He wondered what that felt like for her, for Yang, and for all of his friends really. He supposed his family was the most average, the most stable. While the others had some extreme complications with their parents or didn't have any anymore. In Ren's and Nora's case, there was no family left at all.

"I wanted to be just like her though, isn't that weird?" Ruby giggled, though it wasn't one he found to be very genuine. "She went out just like the heroes in the stories. I thought that was awesome. I wanted to carry myself the same way. Be someone who always did the right thing and sacrificed for other people no matter what and didn't care about herself at all."

"I mean, I think you're already like that, Ruby. I think your mom would be proud."

"I think so, too. For me, that was enough. Even though my dad lost mom, he never tried to tell us not to be Huntresses. He supported us the whole way. But I remember one day, when I was thirteen and he sat me down and showed me a picture. It was him, my mom, Yang when she was two, and me when I was born. They all looked so happy, and I was just sleeping there in my mom's arms, I had no idea what was going on." Ruby smiled a little, "I looked at that picture every day before I went to school, I thought about it when I passed mom's grave, I brought it in for show and tell in first grade. That was the window I saw my mom through. It was the best thing I had of her besides my hood. Well my dad looked at me, and I could tell he'd been crying. He told me, "Ruby… never be like your mother."

Jaune swallowed, she had his attention by the ears, nothing else around him could steal it. He stared at her, watched those silver eyes shift like she was searching the sky, fingers drumming her stomach.

"That's the first time me and my dad had a real argument. I defended mom, he criticized her, things like that. But he was the grown-up so I got grounded. We made up eventually, my dad apologized and never brought the subject up again. And I walked away from that still believing that mom had done everything right. I chalked it up to dad missing her and getting upset about it."

Made sense to him. It was easy to blame people for things they couldn't control. Maybe her dad was still going through the loss, then projected an unfair blame on his late wife. Considering how Ruby and Yang turned out, it seemed to him like their mother's death, though tragic, still let her love help them learn and grow. Even if she was gone now, in some way she was still with them. "Your mom sounds amazing."

"Doesn't she?" Ruby grinned, "She was always helping people and was willing to sacrifice herself to save the day—a real hero! The best there could be!" That grin fell, "But, maybe she wasn't as good a mom as we all remember."

"Why? Because she died? She couldn't control that, Ruby."

"I know that, but…" Ruby turned to him. "My dad doesn't just get angry at people for no reason. He gives uncle Qrow way more chances than anyone should, so why wouldn't he do the same for mom? Even if its not fully justified, don't you think he'd have a good reason for being angry at my mom?"

"I…" But what could he say? Ruby was right. If her father was the way she said, then he had to wonder if his wife didn't die the angelic paragon she was so praised to be. Maybe there were problems. A problem. One that had hurt her husband deeply. "Ruby, what is this leading to? Why are we talking about our moms? If you believe in yours and your dad never brought it up again, then what's the problem?"

Ruby looked tired in the eyes, like she had come to some tiny realization that had shifted her world considerably. She looked at him straight in the eyes without flinching and said, "My mom was a hero, I still believe that. But… didn't she also abandon us?"

Jaune didn't know what to say. Was it Ruby actually saying this? Was she actually serious? It sure looked like it. She didn't burst into laughter revealing it as a joke, she didn't blow a raspberry and say "just kidding". She was dead serious.

"She put us aside so she could go help people. And maybe there's nothing wrong with that. But we were her family, right? Yang was only five, I was only two, dad had already been abandoned by Raven. Should we really be applauding her for going off and dying, if she knew that her death would only hurt us?"

"I get it, Ruby, but isn't that kind of harsh? She cares about others more than herself. In what world is that a bad thing?"

"One where I never get to see her again. I can't remember her face outside that picture, I can't remember her voice, I don't even know what it felt like to hug her, all because she went and got killed." Ruby said, "Dad was depressed for years, Yang was the one that had to pick up the pieces and raise me until he got himself back together. Yang had to grow up with no help since Uncle Qrow wasn't always around. We had help from mom's guild sometimes, but most of the time it was just the three of us. I wonder if his death even amounted to anything, how many people did she save, how many Grimm did she beat that made it all worth it? That's what I think about now when I remember my mom. I think about how unfair it is."

Ruby sniffled and wiped her eyes. "I can't get it out of my head. I get angrier and angrier when I think about it too much. I used to think it was an honor for a Huntress to die protecting total strangers, I thought that it was the perfect example of a good. It seemed so easy to believe that until someone actually did die like Mister White. Then I realized it actually could happen to me. Just as easily."

"I won't let you die." Jaune promised.

"But you're willing to die yourself, aren't you?"

"What?"

"Aren't you scared to die?"

Jaune didn't really think about that. Didn't much ponder on the idea even if he knew it was possible. Seemed like he was fighting it so much that the fear never manifested. Not a good idea to tell Ruby that though. "Who wouldn't be?" Jaune gestured to the forest. "I mean, isn't this what we'll be doing when he graduate. Missions won't always go well and when they don't… this will happen again. Of course, I'm scared."

"Then let us protect you too. We almost lost you once. Everyone wants to make sure that doesn't happen again."

"I don't need to be protected. I just need to be out there fighting with you all. Healing won't kill the Grimm."

Ruby scooted closer. "What are you running from, Jaune?"

"What?"

"You're so eager to be back at full strength, but why? What are you so scared of?"

"Everything around us!" Jaune growled, "These Grimm could swarm us any moment, so excuse me if I want to be ready."

"I'm just saying you could be more understanding of how we feel. You don't always need to charge in and fight. Don't you know what your healing can do for people?"

"My healing wasn't of much help to Leo, was it?"

Ruby's turn to swallow now. Jaune hated using that guilt, but he had to make her understand. "Jaune, that's not your fault."

"Yeah well, thats nice to hear and all. Ozpin said the same thing too and it didn't help at all. That kid is still dead because of what I—" What had he done exactly? "Because of me. That's why I have to be fighting with you all. There's nothing else I can do."

Ruby had sat up. "Is this what you like to do, just pile the weight on yourself? You weren't so arrogant before you left. Don't you realize you can't do it all alone?"

Jaune gave her a dark look, he might have sat up to meet her, but chose to stand instead. "Then I'll keep trying until I can. If you've lost faith in your mother Ruby, I get it. If you're scared, I get it. So rely on me. Don't you get it? I'm powerful again. I can make sure that we're all safe and healed. I'll never let anyone get hurt again, I promise. I'll protect everyone. Okay?"

Ruby's eyes looked to grow even more moist, like Jaune had crushed her heart. Not exactly the response he expected from someone he'd promised to protect. This forest had gotten to everyone. They were weak right now. No problem. He'd step in and make things happen. As a leader, as a friend, as the Champion was born to do. He had to accept that role.

He was the strongest, he was unbeatable, defeat was an impossibility. He'd bring this whole forest to heel and keep his friends safe while doing it.

Even if it destroyed him.

~RA~

For Nora Valkyrie, the most important thing in the world was love. And by extension, the love of one's family.

Deadlegs jumped at her from the trees. black shapes with eight legs spread out wide as they descended on the world. Give us a hug, we won't bite. They would bite, though, so there was no point in testing them. Most were taller than Jaune, even on all legs, and they let out screeching hisses, venom oozing off their giant black fangs.

Without hesitation, they rushed the field. Swarming. Thumping across the forest floor, and the party formed up to stuff their approach.

"Surround Weiss," Pyrrha called, "I'll take point!"

She cut through the legs of one with the edge of Jaune's shield, left it to flail on the ground as she blocked the jump of another, then slammed it on the ground. Weiss was rolling away as two caught up to her, Yang coming through from behind to snatch up the beast and hurl it into a tree, tearing off a leg in the process. Ren let out a yell, coming up as he tried to discourage another Deadleg from attacking, but they were an aggressive Grimm as they'd come to learn, and for good reason.

They could suck aura straight off a person.

They didn't need a bite, didn't need to touch you, but if they were close enough and you had your aura up, they could start draining. No clue how, but that wasn't really important was it? You had to either kill them quickly, or engage them without aura, risk being poisoned or bitten. Which was very fair, without a doubt.

Nora bashed the Deadleg with the shield, flipped it onto his back, allowing Blake to land on it and bury her sword into its mouth, then rip it out of the side. Alright, they had everyone. Now they just needed to form the circle and—where was Ren?

There he was, fighting several Deadlegs on his own, having been edged away from the group. She nearly darted over, but Pyrrha's spear went through the head of one, pinning it into the other behind it, while Ren caught Blake ribbon as it came toward him, and let himself be yanked through the air and back to the group. Just in time too, as hot globs of web and venom hissed when they hit the grass.

She didn't get to fight nearly as well without Magnhild. Oftentimes, it made her feel like she couldn't do much at all.

And that was before her knee started acting up. Like it was right now.

A shooting, stabbing pain worked at her flesh, made it feel like the muscles would split any minute. Normally she could relieve it somewhat with a knee brace, but unfortunately this forest was fresh out of them. Even taking a step sometimes bordered crippling, Nora having to constantly adjust her weight as she intercepted more of the Grimm.

Meanwhile Pyrrha moved with all the grace she'd ever had.

There was no doubt that she could fight many enemies on her own, she was strong enough and smart enough to. But no one was too powerful to escape a mistake, and mistakes could and often did kill. Same with small injuries. Like a busted knee. Nora wondered if Pyrrha ever went through pains like that.

Nora whipped around and backhanded a Deadleg that jumped at her, would have grinned at the oh so satisfying sound of banging metal, the intoxicating thrum swimming through her bones. But these days she felt that thrum in her knee and that only brought more pain. Which brought more rage. Which only made her hit more things. Wasn't that just the cruelest fucking curse?

She doubted Pyrrha knew the kind of pain she was in. She didn't have to take breaks, or mind her running, she didn't have to halve her training sessions or anything like that. All she had was that scar, and it certainly ripped away a good chunk of the perfection and beauty she was so known for. When Nora was in pain, she thought about that. Wasn't sure why, but it always made the pain seem… worthwhile, if that was the right word for it.

Again and again they came, but their group stayed tight and covered one another. Weiss in the middle, directing the Shield Knight to take blows others couldn't and strike back accordingly. Almost felt like the real one was right there with them. Their Jaune. The one before this new one.

Maybe it was time to get her money back. She'd returned her broken leader so he could get fixed, not be sent a discount knock-off. Nora watched the Shield Knight fight. The only remnant of the Jaune from a year past. And what did she get for being understanding? What did she get for letting him go despite how much and she and Ren would miss him? How was she rewarded?

Not with love, that was for certain.

She roared after ducking aside, twisting in her foot, ankle crying out, and while Nora wasn't sure if the roar she let out was one of anger or pain, it didn't matter for the Deadleg. She stomped on one of its hind legs, jerking it to a stop, then bashed it so hard that it twisted around, free legs kicking at the ground. She raised her shield to take the spray of web, then beat its head into mush, snarling all the way, relishing her unquenchable fury. It wasn't like she could take it out on anyone else.

She'd seen enough of everyone else doing that around here without her adding to it. Which was why she just smiled. Smiled and laughed and cheered everyone up. Blaming others for what she was going through? Never. She'd never. Not even when her knee was threatening to break the skin and Pyrrha was busy whirling around like she was dancing at a club rather than fighting vicious monsters. Nora used to whirl around like that too, like a ballerina almost.

Now a spinning teacup could do it better than her.

"They're getting closer to camp." Ren caught her arm before she even realized she was going down, but he was talking to everyone.

"The groups are getting bigger too." Blake said, "They're doing it steadily. Trying to keep us from noticing. Five, maybe six more added with every attack."

Tough thing to notice immediately. Still, Blake's deduction on the enemy numbers could be trusted more than anyone's. She had an acute eye for things like that.

"I don't want to have to say what we're all thinking." Weiss said as her knight vanished, a noticeable droop in her shoulders.

Leaving the camp. Nora had been thinking that too, she'd been thinking it ever since they found their little oasis. Could such a tiny slice of heaven in the middle of hell last forever? Never. The Grimm, however it is they worked, were either giving them time to heal because they wanted more of a challenge, or had something even more devious planned. There couldn't be any other reason to leave them alone for so long.

Who could know what they wanted? Were these attacks meant to force them to leave? Or to make them fear leaving so they stayed holed up in one place? Perfect for bigger, more dangerous Grimm to attack? She could never decide which one was more believable. But there was one thing they all could believe. Giving up their safe haven was out of the question. They had it all here and that couldn't be sacrificed under any circumstance.

"Did you figure out anything on the hunts with Ruby?" Nora asked Pyrrha, who only shook her head somberly.

"Wherever they're coming from, its not close by." Pyrrha said, "And I'm willing to bet that's what they want to do, lead us away from camp so they can attack us on ground we aren't familiar with."

"So what now then?"

"Stay the course," Pyrrha said as she pinched her temple in thought. "Seems like that's all we really can do, lately. Almost sunset, let's push on a little longer."

"Wait, Nora's leg." Ren said.

Damn him, Nora wasn't going to say anything about it, but he was already trying to let her down on the grass. No point in fighting him—she'd done enough of that in the beginning. And Pyrrha, bless and damn her, was the first to come to her side after ordering everyone to take a moment to rest. Nora wanted to shift away, push her off, but gods when she got her knee massaged, it wiped away the anger entirely.

And instead, just left her feeling like a child again. Getting her boo-boo kissed. Sure, maybe mothers didn't exactly kiss boo-boos in reality, but the closest thing she got to such a thing was her team. Pyrrha, the sister who acted like the mom. Ren, who'd been the closest thing to a brother before she realized that wanting to bang your brother was very bad. And Jaune, who was the real brother, the little one you cherished and encouraged. Family. Or the closest thing to it.

Only now her surrogate sister had permanently crippled her, and her little brother was not who he was supposed to be. Nora wanted so badly to admit those things. Even Ren didn't know she felt this way—she was much too good at tricking people with her smiles.

So good that she'd learned how to trick herself, too.

"That feel better?" Pyrrha said, eyes concerned, yet smiling because she so clearly wanted to cheer her up. So different than before. That monster was no longer in her.

Because it had found a new host.

Why did you hurt me? Nora wanted to ask. But she never would. It'd only hurt Pyrrha, when even if she deserved it, Nora didn't think she could go through with it. If you loved your family, you did your best to shield them from harm.

But what if your family was hurting you? What if they didn't even know they were hurting you?

Fuck if she knew.

~RA~

There was nothing up there.

The other him was driving him crazy. Which in hindsight, should have been obvious. No matter how much Jaune tried to pay attention to something else, the other would be right there with him, pointing at the empty sky painted in the warm colors of sunset. Well, he, or it, was an idiot. He wasn't fooled in the slightest. Even if he did look almost every time. But that was just to make sure there wasn't anything up there, certainly not because he believed this creature. Definitely not.

Ruby had retired for the day, and Jaune had to keep convincing himself that it was simply because he was tired. He couldn't have seen disappointment in her eyes. No way.

She was hurting and tired and depressed. This forest had destroyed his friend's confidence, which was understandable—this place was brutal and unforgiving. So, he'd help her in the best way he could. Not through fucking healing. But by being out there, crushing the Grimm and showing her and everyone that these Grimm were nothing before them. He'd build up their confidence, make them feel strong again, then… well he didn't know what they'd do after that. He was sure he'd figure it out later.

Had he just had a fight with Ruby?

That sentence itself sounded unnatural. Blasphemic. He didn't have fights with Ruby, he didn't argue with her, in fact they often agreed on a lot of things and hated arguing with friends. He sooner saw himself arguing with Pyrrha than her. Which technically was still correct, but perhaps he'd thought fighting with Ruby just couldn't happen.

I'd thought the same with Velvet too. Shit, he hadn't thought about her in a while. She felt so far away, and not because she actually was. He usually tried to recall her advice whenever he was down, give her a call if he needed someone to talk to. But he hadn't seen her at all since returning to Beacon—third years spent a long portion of their time on missions, so they were rarely at the school at all. That just made him miss Fox, and Yats, and Coco right along with her.

Would she agree with what he was doing right now? Probably not. She'd probably smack him upside the head with a rolled-up newspaper and call him out on being a fool.

But he was done wishing she was with him. He had to make his own way now. He was strong enough that he didn't need her anymore. Or anyone, for that matter. Yes, it was lonely on top of the hill, but it was the hill he'd chosen to climb. He couldn't complain now.

Would Roman agree with what he was doing?

Maybe it wasn't right to care about the opinion of a criminal. It felt like he was the only one who saw Roman as something more than that. Maybe it didn't excuse his heinous crimes, and Jaune might not stand in the way of him getting arrested, but… he was the only person that understood him in a way the others couldn't.

You had to build a palace out of the mud, assert your will on the world with your power. The world does not give a shit how you feel or what's fair, which is why you must fight and take and struggle until you come out on top. Until you win. Roman would probably tell him to stick to what he believed. He could almost hear him now, telling him to do it, telling him over and over and over…

A faint voice somewhere in the depths. Whispering. Whispering something he could barely make out. He tried to listen harder, caught something. It got louder. A whir. Something… above him?

The other him was pointing up.

A high-powered motor. The hum of something mowing through the air. Shockingly familiar. Panic-inducingly common. It reminded him of the airstrip in the courtyard at school. It was hardly moving slow, but not fast either, like it was searching for something. Someone. Jaune hopped to his feet, his heart threatening to burst out.

"Hey! Down here!" He jumped up and down, waving his arms.

But the Bullhead kept moving, and no matter how much he yelled, he doubted they'd hear him. Jaune raced for the nearest tree, leapt into it, but missed his footing and came tumbling back down, temple smashing against a rock. His brain was stirring. Get him, someone yelled. That's the target, said another. Guns. Guns everywhere. The ship. He had to get to the ship.

"W-wait," Jaune hurried up, jumping into the trees, his vision swimming with fuzz. He clawed and scraped, twins snatching at his face, but he ignored it all and burst into the canopy. He looked around desperately, breathing ragged, warm wet oozing down the side of his head. Gunshots and screams pelting at his brain. There!

He feared it was going to cross the sea, but it was actually coming down to land. It vanished amongst a mass of cliffs and giant trees. But it was there. Salvation, at last.

Wait here? Jaune entertained the thought. No, that was ridiculous. This place was dangerous, what if their rescuers got attacked? They'd have defenses, but it wouldn't be enough against these Grimm. They had to go find them. Right now.

"Ruby!" Jaune hurried down and burst into the cave, where Ruby was pushing herself up groggily. Barely getting out a word before he started howling again, "A ship! I just saw one fly over!"

Her eyes snapped open. "A shi…" she could barely get out the word. "Really?"

"Yeah, I just saw it. Didn't you hear it?"

Ruby shook her head. Weird, how had she heard his yell and not the ship engines? Maybe the cave had muddied the sound or something. "We've gotta go help them, they don't know what's out here!"

"We don't know that, Jaune." Ruby said, "I'm sure they sent professionals. Maybe we should wait here."

"We can't!" Jaune said, even though she made total sense. Surely the ones coming here had to have some inkling what they were about to face, right? "It won't take long, we could cross that distance in thirty minutes if we run the whole way."

"Jaune—"

"You want to get home, right? You want to get everyone else home, too? Here's our chance, Ruby!"

"I didn't hear a bullhead, Jaune. Are you sure you aren't making it up?"

Jaune frowned. The hell was that supposed to mean? Why wasn't she believing him? "Ruby, I'll go on my own if I have to. Just see if you can stop me. So please come with me. I know what I saw!"

Ruby gave him that concerned look again, then with a deep inhale, she snatched up her scythe. "Okay, Jaune. Lead the way."

Jaune was alive with aura. It was the best he'd felt in a long time. Finally, finally, he'd get his friends out of this place. He cleared the cave, his foot splashed in the spring, then the trees were hurrying past him as his body began to heat up. Haste burning at a steady pace and Ruby sticking close.

In the corner of his eye, the other Jaune kept pace with them. Never once moving. A still, frozen image trailing the black smears of the forest at the edge of his peripherals. He smiled and pointed up. At where the ship had been.

Strange, how in the world had it known that?

Kay so that little rant of mine was humiliating.

Thats my personal problem and one I didn't want other people to know about. Still, no point in going on about it. If I didn't expect to carry the weight of high expectation, then I'd never ask people to criticize me. But I've learned it is important to also make your intentions clear as a writer so your audience knows what to expect, which I wanted to avoid, but I'd better just go ahead and do it. This isn't to invalidate people's criticism, cuz trust me, I read every review multiple times, even the really mean ones. Sorry if this comes across as a bit dickish, but I don't care.

The Tone - I half-agree with this. No, the story didn't have to be dark. In the same way TA did not have to be a hypefest. I already admitted I went too far in some places with this fic, but there are some people who fail to understand the premise here.

They are in the middle of a forest surrounded by dangerous Grimm and under the threat of death at all times. What do you expect from that, Jaune skipping through a meadow and sucking the honey out of flowers? The comedy and light-heartedness get toned down accordingly for this darker tone. I keep it sparse so those moments matter more. It serves a purpose. And while I can understand the sentiment that a story should keep the same tone all the way through, it's incorrect. Writing and art in general are not that linear. Plenty of sequels change the tone if it's meant to serve a specific narrative purpose. Cuz trust me, I believed this same notion until a friend of mine proved me wrong.

The choice to go dark was for a specific reason that you guys don't yet know. In fact, I'm very surprised no one had guessed it by now. So no, it's not because I think going dark is cooler or I'm trying to subvert expectations just for the sake of it. I mean, TA is a cesspool of tropes played straight. Not that it's worse for it, but it's clear that I don't much care for shock value if you've read that story.

Sure, I could have made RA another balls to the walls, massive, goofy hypefest, but didn't you read that already? Go read that, if that's what you want. I already said not to come into this story expecting the same things in chapter one. I did warn you. Did you think I was joking? I knew before chapter one that plenty of people wouldn't enjoy the darker tone, so use whatever excuse you want, but it won't hold up to that, I promise you. And I'm not saying you can't be critical of how I handle the dark aspects, but if your criticism is that the story is dark instead of the hypefest that you liked TA for, then that's a personal preference. I won't consider those criticisms valid any longer. Especially when I was quite straight up with everyone in the beginning.

Piggybacking off of Other Anime - This was a criticism I received a lot in TA, and one I agreed with. Here's the honest truth, TA was solid up to chapter 14. But chapter 15, when the story branched away from its MHA influences, was when the story became its own thing. Sure, I could repeat this formula, but I'd only be hammered with the same criticisms, which tells my readers that I don't care about improving. Now that's not to say I stopped using ideas from my favorite stuff, I still do, even in RA. But now I'm trying not to rely so much on them like I did in TA or I will be doomed to make the same mistakes.

Soul - Sure, this story does things very differently than in TA. It seems like the soul of the original is gone. Seems like it. You think the themes and ideas being explored in RA make the events in TA pointless? A fair assumption to make based on what you've read. So far. It definitely seems that way, doesn't it? Seems like it.

Now I'm not here defending RA's flaws, the pacing is off and in some moments I went too dark with my storytelling, the original chapter 14 was very bad. I agree. Rather, I am providing context for what you guys should expect in the future so those who aren't enjoying it know whether to keep reading or not. I'm fine with people not liking it. And I don't care if my saying all this makes me seem petty or unprofessional, either. I'm done caring about that bullshit.

And thanks for trying to cheer me up, regardless of what I feel for TA right now, I haven't lost passion for this story despite its pitfalls. I forget to have fun writing this story and stop caring about the comparisons or the reviews that, be they respectful or not, don't help me accomplish my goal.

In any case, I think I've managed to find a groove in the pacing again since you'll find that this chapter reuses things from the old chapter fourteen that should work better here and blah, blah, blah.

Thanks for reading, and see you in the next one.

ISA