The dance had lasted long past midnight. Hours of dancing and socializing, fueled by rounds of delicious food and drink.

It hadn't taken one of those hours for those close to Jaune to work out what was different between him and his partner. The most intuitive of them such as were quick to spot the little signs. The way his hands rested on her hips or how hesitant they each seemed to be apart from each other.

There had been teasing of course. Comments made on how dense they both were for waiting as long as they had to get together. It seemed everyone but Jaune and Pyrrha were confident that this had been just a matter of time. Of course in hindsight, they both realized that their friends were right.

Much of the staff disappeared toward the end of the night. Without the teachers to maintain the atmosphere, it changed into something more. The crowd had thinned by half as countless pairs of students had returned to their dorms early. Jaune and Pyrrha were among the few who didn't, neither having the desire to go quite that far in so short a time.

They spent the night just enjoying the music, slow dancing until the sun began to rise. Though the thought hadn't crossed his mind at the time, he realized Ruby never did come back for that second dance. She had retired around the time that the professors had.

Jaune only realized this while he poured himself and Pyrrha a double-strength coffee. He spotted her at the table looking like she'd slept a full eight hours. Something literally no one else had managed.

"Here," Jaune said as he passed Pyrrha her drink. "Where did you go last night Ruby? You never came back for that second dance."

"Well, I didn't want to intrude on you two hehe," Ruby replied as she glanced at Pyrrha.

"I wouldn't have minded." Pyrrha politely responded.

Ruby looked nervous. Like there was something she wasn't saying.

"Well, it doesn't matter I suppose. You probably made the right choice going to bed when you did." Said Jaune.

"Right, bed! I was tired after all." Ruby very quickly added.

Weird.

Upon thinking this, a message played over the school speakers.

"Please report to the amphitheater in 10 minutes. All students, to the amphitheater in 10 minutes." Ms. Goodwitch's voice stated.

Jaune looked down at his plate of food that he had barely managed to touch. He was close to regretting having spent the whole night out as he had.

"Come on then guys we better get going." Said Jaune.

Ren, Pyrrha, Jaune, and the entirety of team RWBY all stood and prepared to leave. Nora though just sat there eating her pancakes.

"Come on Nora, we have to get going," Ren asked.

She hastened her efforts to shovel down more. Ren just sighed and picked her up slinging her over his shoulder and carrying her with him.

/-/

The eight of them gathered with the rest of the students from Beacon. Each student standing in one of four separate groups based on their academy.

"Professor Ozpin would like to share a few words before we begin." Ms. Goodwitch declared once it became clear no one else was arriving.

Oz stepped up to the microphone, ready to give another one of his speeches. Jaune listened, as was polite to do so, but he wouldn't exactly call it captivating. It was a history lesson poorly veiled as a ceremonial speech. He covered the history of the festival, the color naming rule, and why we need to work hard. 'Don't forget your training.'

It was all very ordinary.

The crowd gave a polite round of applause before breaking off into teams.

"Ren, go pick whatever mission you want. I'll trust your judgement." Jaune said.

Ren nodded and he and Nora went off to find the exact type of mission they were looking for. He looked pleased that Jaune hadn't forgotten his promise.

"Is it really okay to just let them choose? You're team leader, shouldn't you pick for us?" Pyrrha asked.

"It's fine. I promised to let him pick. He wants to look after the outskirt villages, so it'll probably be a search and destroy or an expedition. That's right up our alley." Jaune explained.

Pyrrha nodded. "I suppose you're right."

Jaune looked over the crowd. Team RWBY was speaking to professor Ozpin by one of the terminals. Meanwhile, the rest of the students were browsing the different options. It seemed that not every group was so certain of what they wanted.

"Can you believe that there are only two weeks until the tournament? A week for our mission and a week to prepare, then four nonstop days of action." Pyrrha excitedly asked.

"I can believe it, but I wish I had more time," Jaune admitted. "It just feels like everything is happening too fast."

She brushed her hand against his, prompting him to open his hand for her to take.

"Going on a mission right after last night... What I wouldn't give for a few days just for us." Jaune complained.

"Our timing might not have been the greatest I suppose. But after the tournament we have weeks of holidays before next year's classes start." Said Pyrrha.

"If it makes you feel better Mr. Arc, you won't be spending as much time training with me. That leaves plenty of time for you to spend time with Miss Nikos." Professor Ozpin suddenly said from nearby.

Pyrrha jumped and practically threw Jaune's hand away.

"Jeeze Oz, can you stop sneaking up on us like that?" Jaune asked. "And what do you mean we won't be training as much, we barely got started."

"I'm sorry Jaune, but that's just the way things are. There will be a lot of paperwork from these missions, more if someone gets injured. Then I have to deal with the tournament. I'll help you where I can, but it will be limited." The professor explained.

Jaune grumbled for a few seconds.

"I suppose that's just how things work when you study under the headmaster. I'll make do somehow." Jaune replied.

"Actually, um, I have a few of those training videos I promised you ready if you want?" Pyrrha offered.

It wasn't a trump card that would give him the edge he needed for this tournament. But Pyrrha's training on basic forms and eliminating wasted movement would go a long way.

Jaune handed her his scroll. "Sure, I'd appreciate that."

"Well, now that that's sorted, I would suggest you catch up with team RWBY. From what I understand they'll be leaving shortly." The professor advised. "Good luck on your mission."

As the professor left, Jaune spoke to Pyrrha just loud enough to let Oz hear.

"You shouldn't let him get under your skin like that Pyrrha. His sense of humor is twisted. He has a fetish for making people uncomfortable I think."

The professor's gait missed a single beat but he didn't turn to comment.

"Jaune! You shouldn't say these sorts of things." Pyrrha scolded.

"Haha, probably not. Come on, you heard the professor. Let's meet up with Ren and Nora and say goodbye to team RWBY before they leave." Said Jaune.

Finding them hadn't proved difficult. Nora's excited voice could be picked out of even the loudest of crowds.

"What have you got for us?" asked Jaune.

"An expedition and a search and destroy in the same location. We're allowed to do either or both while we are there. The mission is due to start at lunchtime tomorrow." Ren explained.

A double mission had its benefits. The option to back out of one mission and attempt the other offered a degree of safety. If one of them proved too simple, then it meant they could get even better pay out of it by tackling the other objective. For Ren, money likely had nothing to do with it. Whichever mission would help the most would be his top pick, regardless of the pay.

"What rank is the expedition?" asked Pyrrha.

"D rank. Same as the one we took with team CFVY. Beowolves exclusively from the reports. The search and destroy is a Two-headed King Taijitu though and it's in the same area."

"We'll try our best. There will be a huntsman with us too, so a D rank shouldn't cause any issues." Jaune commented. "Well, we can discuss that later. Team RWBY is leaving, we should say goodbye."

Nora bounced on her feet. "Oooh! Come on Renny, we have to wish them luck!"

Needing no further convincing, the four of them made their way to the bullhead docks. The four girls were stood before a prepped bullhead looking somewhat deflated.

"Well alright then. Looks like we're going to save the world with Dr. Oobleck... Okay yeah, when you say it out loud it sounds worse." Ruby said, clearly trying to cheer up her team.

"Save the world?!" Nora cried out upon hearing her. "You're going on world-saving missions without us? I'm hurt! And sad! Maybe a little hungry? That last one's not my fault though... Ren!"

Ren merely looked away from the glare she shot him, pretending not to know what he did.

"Sounds like Blake has gotten you guys into some trouble again," Jaune commented, sparking verbal protest from the Faunus. "Where are you going?"

"Just outside the kingdom," Ruby replied.

That doesn't sound... World-saving?

"Hey! So are we." Said Nora.

"Ren and Nora wanted to help out some of the smaller villages on the outskirts. We're shadowing a huntsman to do some extermination work." Pyrrha explained.

Ren nodded. "We set out tomorrow."

"Then you can party with us tonight! We're shadowing a crime specialist. All inner-city detective stuff." Neptune said before leaning in really close. "We get junior badges."

"We've been in Vale for like, weeks now. This whole time, I don't think we've been to the city without stuff exploding near us. This is our way to check out the kingdom when it's... normal." Sun added.

"Four minutes ladies!" Dr. Oobleck declared from the bullhead.

Yang, Blake, and Weiss' shoulders drooped, while Ruby drew a sad breath.

"Well... Wish us luck?" said Ruby.

And with that, they left for their mission. Jaune hoped that the mission would be exciting enough to justify being stuck with the doctor.

The suggestion of partying with team SSSN (Sun) had gone ignored in the end. Ren was taking this coming mission too seriously and wanted to make sure he was prepared. Jaune was also taking it seriously. Even if it was only for his friends' benefit. So collectively they said their goodbyes.

Without a teacher for the day, Jaune was stuck training the techniques he already knew. Compared to the fast pace which Oz's training moved, training alone seemed to drag on. He had been spoiled with training that stimulated his mind and exhausted his body. Training with Pyrrha too had always been over before he knew it.

Regardless, Jaune knew that when motivation failed, it was dedication's job to pick up the slack. Years of basic training had ingrained the 'stuff' he needed to switch off his brain and just work.

He spent a few hours in the gym, then several more hours practicing countless sword drills. Pyrrha's training videos were short, a few minutes each. But they were made to be repeatable. To cement certain combinations or movements and build habits. As it was, he only wound up using a single video for the days training. Jaune ended the day with meditation and aura control activities.

Jaune's final thoughts before he fell asleep were those of the mission to come. The day of relative simplicity left him yearning for something more.

/-/

Jaune woke with a start when his scroll began to blare from right next to his face.

"What time is it..." Jaune muttered as he picked up his scroll.

It was just turning a dark orange outside meaning that it was just before morning.

What could Ruby want this early?

"Hello?" he asked, after accepting the call.

The sound of static nearly blew his ear off. Jaune pulled the phone away from his head, just in time to see the call end.

Realizing how weird it was for Ruby to call and then just hang up, he tried to call back.

"The number you have called has been disconnected or is no longer in service." His phone replied.

Maybe her phone ran out of battery?

Jaune decided to ring Weiss. They were partners so she would know what was going on with Ruby.

"The number you have called-"

Yang then. Yang will know.

"The number-"

"Damn it. They said just outside the kingdom, their scrolls can't all be out of range."

"Jaune?" Pyrrha sleepily called out. "What's wrong?"

"It's Ruby. She tried to call then suddenly cut out, now I can't get onto any of them." Jaune answered.

"They're probably just in a low signal area. Maybe they went underground for a while. I'm sure she'll ring back if it's important." Pyrrha looked out through the window to see the slowly rising sun. "I guess we might as well get up."

Pyrrha slowly pulled herself out of bed with a yawn and a stretch. Jaune continued to stare at his phone, thinking about what it is Ruby could have been ringing for at this time. Even if the reason she cut out was benign, the reason for her calling might not have been.

Pyrrha pulled him from his thoughts with a kiss on the cheek.

"You're worrying too much. I'm sure they're fine. We have our own mission to get to and Ruby wouldn't want to find out you were distracted because of her, right?" she asked.

"Right..." Jaune replied.

"Let's get something to eat ready for the others. We don't want a repeat of yesterday with Nora, do we?"

He shook his head and pulled himself out of bed. "I guess not. Maybe leave the cooking to me though. I've seen you grill a fish before. I don't trust you with pancake batter."

Pyrrha pouted, but she didn't deny it.

Together they made their way to the cafeteria to start cooking. It was enough to occupy his mind for the most part, but Jaune kept thinking back to it. Ruby rarely rang anyone, she preferred to text when possible. Not to mention, why would she ring him?

Pyrrha was still as useless as ever in the kitchen. She had insisted on helping with something. To satisfy her. he had asked her to mix the batter while he got to work preparing some field rations for them to take along. It had taken her seconds to make a mess by lifting the electric mixer out of the mix while it was still on. She sprayed herself, Jaune, and the kitchen walls with specks of batter.

"Silly Pyrrha, leave the cooking to the boys!" Nora cheerily advised as she bounced into the kitchen with Ren.

Ren came over and offered Pyrrha a handful of paper towels that he seemed to pull out of his pockets. He must carry them around at all times, or at least all meal times for Nora's sake.

Pyrrha dropped her head in shame, taking the towels to clean herself with, and she sat at the table with Nora.

"I'll do breakfast, you finish what you're doing." Said Ren.

Jaune nodded. Ren was a master with pancakes so it suited him just fine.

"Did either of you guys get a call from team RWBY this morning?" Jaune asked.

"No." Both Nora and Ren replied. "Why? Should we have?"

"Jaune got one from Ruby which suddenly cut off. He can't get in contact with them and he's been stressing about it all morning." Pyrrha explained.

"It was probably a butt-dial," Nora said before getting stuck into a plate of pancakes that Ren placed before her.

"I'm inclined to agree. Team RWBY has always performed exceptionally in the field. I'm certain they won't encounter anything they can't handle." Ren added.

"I've just got this... feeling. I don't know. Something just feels out of place. Like I've been overlooking something. Like something bad is going to happen if I don't work this out." Jaune tried to explain.

"Jaune, I know that normally your intuition is quite good. You always seem to end up where stuff is happening. But there's nothing we can do. We don't know where they went. It's not like we can just go to where they are." Pyrrha reasoned.

Jaune would have admitted that she had a very good point but a siren blared from Vale, interrupting him. Shortly after an identical one deafened them from within the school.

Blocking his ears with both hands, he rushed to the nearest window overlooking Vale. He could see smoke.

"We're getting on a bullhead. Now." Jaune ordered.

/-/

It had taken barely two minutes to reach the bullheads and no longer than five to reach the skies above Vale. Seven insignificant minutes was all the time they had spent, but it had been too long already.

The black plume of smoke multiplied and grew across central Vale. Even with the noise of the engine roaring around them, they could hear the screams from the streets below.

There were Grimm everywhere. Not just a few weak Beowolves either. Jaune could see just about every kind of Grimm he knew tearing the city apart. They gathered most densely in the center square where it had originated.

A large hole had been blown out of the ground. Within it was a large subterranean cave system from which Grimm poured. The wreckage of a train spilled out of the opening, and near it, Jaune saw his suspicions confirmed.

Team RWBY were all down there, pinned by a horde larger than any he had seen before. Ruby was cutting down Grimm by the dozen, but from out of the breach an endless wall of flesh continued to emerge. Upon second glance, Jaune realized why.

The train was carrying nightmare stones. Three of them, at least, and not small ones either.

Jaune took a deep breath to steady his racing heart. Flames had already popped up over the city and the sight of them was getting on his nerves. It was only thanks to his daily efforts in delaying the symptoms that he could manage like he was.

"Ren, sorry, but we've got a new mission. We have to take out these Grimm as soon as possible. In the middle of town like this, we can't afford to let them keep spawning." Said Jaune.

Suddenly the vehicle they were in shuddered and veered to the side. A Giant Nevermore, bigger than even the one in the initiation, had grabbed onto the bullhead. Strong enough to manhandle their entire vehicle, it pulled them toward a building.

"Everyone out, now!" Jaune ordered.

Jaune thanked all the adrenaline in his blood for dulling his motion sickness. The bullhead lurched once more, sending everyone crashing into the side. An action that would have had him emptying his breakfast under normal conditions. Team JNPR hurried to leap out of the ship, lest they go down with it.

Jaune hadn't had the chance to perfect his landing strategy yet, even after all these months of training. In the end, he drew his shield and attempted to absorb the impact of the fall with it before rolling through. He pulled it off, but not without his fair share of pain.

Jaune would never understand how Pyrrha managed her landings. Crashing knee first into concrete with enough force to shatter the ground. Standing up afterward as if nothing had even happened. It was quite frankly, terrifying.

The Nevermore had pulled them off target slightly. As a result, they were stuck on the outside of the horde that had team RWBY pinned.

"Ren, Nora. I need you both to focus on culling as many as you can as possible. Widespread damage Nora, Ren will cover you. Pyrrha, you and I are cutting straight through to team RWBY. We need to make sure they're safe before we can do anything else, got it?" Jaune ordered.

"Got it!" they all responded.

Nora immediately began unleashing carnage upon the Grimm with her grenades. The danger of numbers was that it limited your mobility. Even with a Semblance that makes you invincible, you can suffocate amongst all the Grimm as they pile on you. Managing horde population was the first step in any expedition.

Jaune and Pyrrha raced into a recently bombarded area. They tried to cut through the remaining Grimm that got in their way. The only problem with this is that the ones that remained were the stronger, more dangerous Grimm.

Pyrrha plunged her javelin into the chest of an Ursa before vaulting herself over it. She was struck out of the air by the tail of a King Taijitu. Fortunately, she had blocked with her shield. The damage was negated, but it put distance between her and him.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune shouted.

He tried to chase after her before a loud screech alerted him to the presence of something behind him.

Jaune rolled forwards, narrowly dodging the strike of a Deathstalker.

It was big. Bigger than the one they had fought in the cave, and not at all constrained or surprised as the last one had. Chances were, like the Nevermore from earlier, this Grimm was one of the guardians.

"You're first huh?" Jaune said, mainly to himself.

Looking in his peripheral vision, he could see team RWBY just ten or twenty meters away. They didn't look good. Their clothes were covered in dirt and soot. Likely from the train crash and the explosion. In places, he could see cuts and bruises on a few of them. Yang and Weiss in particular seemed to be in the worst condition. Their aura had either been broken or drained recently. If no one got to them and gave them a chance to recover, it wouldn't end well.

With that said, he couldn't exactly bring a guardian Deathstalker with him.

Jaune activated everything he had at his disposal. There wasn't time to worry about being conservative.

The Deathstalker charged straight for him. Its claws striking simultaneously from either side of his body.

Jaune didn't have time to play safe. He dodged forwards, leaping onto the head of the beast before kicking himself upwards. The Grimm tried to react to his unorthodox evasion by striking him out of the air with its stinger. Jaune was counting on that.

He spun his whole body around by bashing the offending limb with his shield. Using the rotation of his body, he activated heavy strike. Crocea Mors cleaved straight through the tail several feet down from the tip.

He was frozen in mid-air while the Grimm reeled in pain from his blow. Its thrashing gave him time to hit the floor and recover before its next move.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha called out.

Looking over his shoulder he could see the Taijitu evaporating behind her. She was heading straight for him.

Pointing with his sword Jaune shouted, "Get to Ruby!"

Jaune squared off in front of the Deathstalker, making sure he had its full attention. With the tail dealt with it only had two more weapons to work with. Three if you considered its heavily armored body a ram.

How is to going to move next. Predict, plan, then react.

Jaune saw it rear back with its claws as the creature began to kick off with its legs.

Two strikes this time. It's smart enough not to try the same thing twice.

Jaune wished he'd been able to see this coming a few seconds sooner. The plan he came up with was risky, and the extra time to react would have gone a long way.

As it was, Jaune deactivated his shield and gripped his sword with both hands. It was injured, missing health no doubt. Jaune would not go around this threat. He would go through it.

"Coup de grĂ¢ce!" Jaune shouted as he brought his sword straight down onto the knuckle of the Deathstalker's left claw.

The skill took over, for the most part guiding his blade. Jaune pushed his aura augmentation beyond his max right before the moment of impact. He would risk an injury to ensure this strike went off exactly as planned.

Jaune had fulfilled all conditions for this skill to work at peak efficacy. As a result, his sword dug into the carapace of the Grimm with a sound of nails on a chalkboard. With a continued effort, Jaune dragged Crocea Mors through its dense gravelly flesh. Jaune's arms immediately began to turn slightly pink as the burst blood vessels bruised his skin. It hurt, but it wasn't a significant injury.

Before the Grimm even registered its pain it had thrown the follow-up strike. Jaune was forced to wear it directly on his back, absorbing it entirely with his aura. He was launched directly into team RWBY.

"Don't mind me, just dropping in." He grunted when the cooldown wore off.

"It's good to see you, Jaune." Yang tiredly admitted.

Jaune pushed himself back onto his feet and stretched out the dull ache in his spine and shoulders.

"Yeah, you too. I'll be right back though. I've got a job to finish."

Jaune strode forwards, directing his aura and willpower at the beast. Even from a distance and thrashing about in fury, it noticed that. So too did several Grimm nearby and they leaped towards Jaune.

Without breaking eye contact from his mark, he cut them down before any of them could make contact. All that ki training had made sensing creatures as loud and aggressive as Grimm easy. Even when he wasn't focusing.

Accelerating into a sprint, Jaune reentered close quarters with the Deathstalker once more. He tried his best to use his willpower to feint that he was going for a head-on collision with the Grimm. Hoping that Grimm could sense it just as well or even stronger than humans could.

Jaune held his sword out to his left. When the Grimm struck, Jaune internally cheered as his plan had once again worked as hoped. He dodged to the side that no longer had a claw, dragging his sword along the incoming claw to keep it at bay. From the dodge he sprinted past its face and along its flank, swinging his sword through its three legs.

The Deathstalker toppled onto its now limbless side while Jaune raced to its rear. Unable to turn and defend itself, it could do nothing to stop Jaune from landing strike after strike. He wouldn't deal any injuries this way, but Grimm didn't work like humans. As long as they took damage, they would die, regardless of how effective the final strike was.

With a final wail, its remaining legs collapsed and curled under its body and it began to turn to smoke.

Quickly checking his status when he was certain it was safe, he noted that his aura was already down below half. Taking that hit and using all his aura techniques simultaneously as he had was costly. But it was going to be worth it.

Jaune jogged back to where team RWBY and Pyrrha were holding off the Grimm. Nora's grenades had done a good job of thinning the horde around them. Unfortunately, the nightmare stones were starting to generate their replacements.

Upon his arrival, he was finally close enough to get a hold of the situation they were in. Dr. Oobleck was unconscious. This whole time team RWBY had been fighting while protecting him. It was no wonder they didn't try and retreat.

"What happened to the professor?" Jaune asked.

"The White Fang had stolen Paladins. He held them off by himself while we tried to stop the train. I think he ran out of aura when the train crashed because he was unconscious when we found him." Blake explained.

"Got it. Ruby, with me! I need you to clear a path underground." Jaune ordered. "Can the rest of you hold out for a few minutes without her?"

"Why does it have to be Ruby?" Yang shouted. The concern for her sister was tangible.

"It's fine Yang. He picked me because I'm best suited to it. Right?" Ruby said, earning a nod from Jaune.

"Reinforcements from Beacon are going to take a while to get to where we are. That Nevermore took our bullhead out of the sky and none of the other pilots have come as close since. Everybody is making their way here on foot. That means we have to do everything we can to manage the situation here. I'm certain that Deathstalker was a guardian. If we destroy its stone then we can cut the generation of Grimm by a whole third." Jaune explained.

"What if it wasn't? What if it was just a regular Deathstalker?" Yang shouted back.

"Then we are in even more trouble. Ruby, come on." Jaune said as Ruby led the way to the breach.

Jaune activated his scroll's emergency contact feature to connect with Ren.

"How are you two holding up?" Jaune yelled, making sure his voice would come through loud and clear.

A few seconds later Ren responded, "Nora's almost chewed through all her dust already. We'll be fine, but you guys are going to get surrounded again soon without her."

Ruby cut a path through several Creeps and a small Boarbatusk, bringing them up to the first stone. Jaune's sword dragged across it without leaving a mark. It wasn't this one.

"Nora are you able to hear this?" Jaune asked.

"You bet!" she replied.

"How do you feel about some window shopping?" said Jaune as he cut down a Beowolf which had gotten between him and Ruby.

"You mean it?" Nora excitedly asked.

"I do. You and Ren get to the closest dust shop. Take everything you can carry. I mean everything. Empty your packs if you have to. Then bring it all over to us!"

"You got it O' Fearless Leader! Let's go Ren!" she replied.

Jaune ended the call so that they wouldn't distract each other and he checked the next stone they passed. This time he left a small scratch on the crystalline surface.

"This is it, Ruby, hold them off for me while I crack this one!" Jaune requested.

Repeated strikes were the way to go with this task. The cooldown from the use of skills would impede how much damage he could put out per second.

Jaune focused on flowing from one diagonal slash to another, gouging a larger and deeper 'X' shape as he went. Finally, when his sword was up to half its length into the stone, Jaune thrust his sword into the cross up to the guard.

"Ruby, toss me a magazine!" Jaune shouted.

Without missing a beat she ejected the one she had in and replaced it with a fresh one. She kicked her old one back towards him and continued to hold back the Grimm. Even after all this time they were still charging at them from within the tunnel.

Jaune picked up the magazine and withdrew the remaining dust rounds within. He uncapped them with the edge of his blade and emptied their contents into the hole he had made.

"Explosion incoming!" Jaune warned.

He thrust his sword back into the hole, channeling his aura through the blade and into the dust. The resulting explosion tried to push his sword back out to let the energy out, but Jaune held his ground. All the force was then forced back into the stone itself. It fell apart like shattered glass.

"Done?" Ruby asked.

"Yep, let's get out of here," Jaune replied.

Together the two sprinted out of the tunnel, back to where they came from.

"Anything new?" Jaune immediately asked when he saw Weiss, Yang, and Blake.

"Some of the professors have made it into the square." Blake instantly reported back.

"Nora and Ren dropped this off too," Yang mentioned, pointing to a small rucksack.

Perfect.

"Yang, I need your help this time. I'm going to throw that bag down there at the crystal closest to the entrance. It should be full of a lot of dust. When it's in position, I need you to blow it up." Yang gave an immediate nod.

"What about you Jaune, an explosion like that is going to set you off for sure," Pyrrha mentioned.

"Good point. Yang, I still need you to light that bag up when I give the signal, but afterward, I need you to make sure I'm still with it. Don't let me do anything stupid if I start seeing things."

"I'll knock you out myself if I have to," Yang replied.

Good.

Jaune grabbed the bag and made his way over to the breach once more. Ruby and he had thinned the numbers down there a decent amount on their way out. This made his job of pushing back in to get close enough to launch the bag a bit easier. But he still had to cut his way through several Grimm one-handed.

Jaune threw the bag as hard as he could once he got within reach. It collided with the crystal and bounced less than a foot away. Jaune immediately turned and ran as fast as he could once he confirmed it was in position.

Professor Port had once said that a stone could be destroyed even when the guardian still lived. Jaune only hoped this wasn't one of his tall tales.

"Now!" Jaune shouted as he jumped past Yang out of the breach.

The resulting explosion picked him up before he landed, turning his jump into a small flight. Jaune hit the ground with a thud, too disoriented from the explosion to right himself mid-air. His head cracked against the pavement as he bounced away.

The dizziness and nausea that he felt numbed him to whatever pain he might have been in. He rolled to his feet a second later.

The breach had been closed, but that didn't mean the problem had been solved. The subterranean Grimm would no doubt be able to clear the debris after a few minutes. The remaining stone will have spawned more Grimm. Not to mention the Grimm that would be making their way from further down the tunnel.

Knowing this, Jaune looked around to survey the situation, to see where he could help the most.

Many of the buildings surrounding the square they were fighting in had caught fire. A combination of damage caused by the Grimm and collateral damage caused by hunters.

Not much point worrying about the buildings, they can be fixed.

More allies were making their way into the area from the streets in every direction. Jaune could see Ms. Goodwitch repairing structural damage with her telekinesis. Team CFVY was cutting down Grimm en masse thanks to Coco's minigun. Even team CRDL was putting in good work, Cardin's mace exploding Grimm left and right.

Good for him.

He realized that Yang was yelling something at him. She looked pretty stressed, not that he blamed her. Perhaps it was the Ursa lumbering towards him that she was worried about.

Yang tackled him out of the road as the Ursa's paws slammed onto where he had been sitting. The impact re-rattled his brain.

"What the hell were you doing you idiot! Why didn't you move?!" Yang shouted straight into his face.

Jaune didn't have an answer for her, not a satisfying one at least. He could barely remember what he had been thinking at the time. It was like he had been a passenger to his own body. Even the flames hadn't bothered him, as if they were just special effects in a movie.

They bothered him now though.

Jaune pushed Yang away and scrambled to his feet.

His heart rate spiked as he frantically looked around.

The Grimm were everywhere. His friends were being overrun while he was just sitting here doing nothing.

Got to... Got to deal with these Grimm.

Jaune raced out to strike down the closest Grimm but was pulled back. Something hard slammed into his face, before being replaced with something soft.

"Focus Jaune!" Pyrrha said as she pulled away from the kiss she had forced on him.

"Pyrrha?" Jaune asked.

"What are you seeing right now?" She asked.

"The Grimm! I need to-" Jaune tried to look away as he spoke but he was silenced and his head was pulled back to face her.

"Not before you calm down." Pyrrha calmly explained. "Look again. You're safe."

Jaune's eyes flicked to the side, desperate to confirm his suspicions. Gone was the horde of Grimm, in its place a small number of stragglers. The bisected corpse of the Guardian Nevermore was dissolving on the ground. Surrounding it was a hundred more of its kind. Team CFVY, CRDL, even team SSSN were all here, cleaning up. The damage to the buildings was being reversed by professor Goodwitch. The Atlesian flagship was flying overhead releasing Atlesian Knights. Robot soldiers which were eradicating the Grimm presence with precision gunfire.

"You're safe," Pyrrha repeated. There was fire dust in that pack and it set you off, that's all. Help arrived and everything is under control."

"Right... My bad." Jaune responded.

Pyrrha offered him a hand, to help him to his feet. He took it and tried to hide his thoughts, stop them from showing on his face.

He had thought he'd done well. He fought Grimm that would have slaughtered him months ago. He developed plans on the fly that he thought had played a big role in their success. Then he had to go and taint his victory by zoning out and hallucinating again.

"So it's under control here then?" he asked.

Pyrrha nodded, explaining what he was already seeing around him. He didn't try to interrupt her though, in case he had missed something important.

"Ruby! Your team all good?" Jaune shouted out once Pyrrha had finished.

She shot him a thumbs up.

"Good good... Pyrrha, I'm going to head back to the dorms. I don't think we'll be going on our mission after all of this and I'm... Well..."

"I understand. Do you want me to go with you?" she asked.

No.

"Yes." He lied. He knew Pyrrha would likely want to keep an eye on him after that.

Pyrrha, to her credit, gave him some space as they collected their teammates. Together they all boarded the first bullhead back to Beacon.

Ren and Nora apologized for the fire dust in that bag when Pyrrha told them what happened. Jaune accepted it and dismissed the issue entirely. It was his order to grab everything they could fit that led to it anyway and he said as much.

Jaune was physically exhausted and mentally even more so. The stress and disappointment from yet another breakdown was draining his energy. It was this mental fatigue that had him borrowing Pyrrha's shoulder as he rested his eyes.

/-/

"Jaune," Pyrrha said, bumping his head with her shoulder. "We're here."

Jaune cracked open his eyes. Looking around he realized Ren and Nora had already disembarked.

Seeing him look for his teammates, Pyrrha explained that they'd gotten something to eat. Nora had been complaining about not getting to eat a full breakfast.

Jaune groggily stumbled back to his feet and began walking back to the dorms. What he needed right now was a nap.

"You know, Jaune... Maybe we should do something about your... reaction to fire." Pyrrha suggested.

I guess sleep will have to wait until after this conversation.

"I'm already trying to get a tolerance for it, aren't I?" Jaune asked.

He realized he sounded more defensive and rude than he'd intended to.

"Sorry. I'm just tired." He apologized.

"It's fine." She dismissed instantly. "I just think that maybe you're going about it the wrong way. You're developing a resistance to it, but you're not fixing the issue. And it's not like we even know what kind of reaction you're going to have to train a response either. You freeze up, you lash out, I don't know what happened today but that Ursa could have killed you."

Jaune sighed. "Okay. You're right. But what should I be doing then?"

"I was doing some research-"

"Pyrrha..." Jaune interrupted, annoyed that she was wasting her time on him like this.

"I was worried okay! Look, lots of huntsmen get post-traumatic stress disorders after work in the field. Something like three-fifths of surviving huntsmen experience it after a few years on the job. There's been plenty of studies done into this for that reason." Pyrrha explained.

"You think I have PTSD?" Jaune asked with a hint of frustration.

"No. Maybe, I don't know. It's similar. Can't we at least try some of the stuff they suggest? For my sake, please?" Pyrrha begged.

Jaune couldn't have said no to that even if he'd wanted to.

"Fine. What's your idea."

"Well... I don't understand all of it, but apparently, you can unlearn the memory, or replace it with something else. They normally use an anti-anxiety medic-"

"I don't need drugs." Jaune immediately interrupted.

"I know, let me finish." She reproached. "That's what they normally use, but I thought... What if right as we expose you to your trigger, I distracted you, reminded you that you were safe."

Jaune considered the idea. It wasn't out of the realms of rationality, and it wasn't even that different from what he was already doing. Exposure therapy with a little extra.

"How are we supposed to do that though?" He asked. "Even with aura, fire is dangerous. It's not like I'll just forget that."

Pyrrha pulled a small lighter out of her pocket.

"Where did you-"

"I was going to suggest this as training on our mission. It would be wasteful to use aura for anything but fighting Grimm. I bought it yesterday." Said Pyrrha as she sparked the lighter, igniting a small flame.

Jaune's eyes were drawn straight to it, but even as tired as he was, he'd worked with flames of this size enough to resist. He could feel himself becoming hyper-vigilant, more on edge, and tense, but beyond that he was fine.

Before he could comment, Pyrrha planted a chaste kiss on his cheek.

"If you see fire, think of me. You know I'm not dangerous... My hair is red so you can try to form an association there. We could try more classical conditioning too... If you do well, I could... reward you." Pyrrha awkwardly explained her plan.

In her defense, it had worked. He wasn't thinking about the small flame.

"I don't know if it's a good idea to turn... that, into a reward for training." Said Jaune, not wanting to use Pyrrha in that way.

"Why not?" She asked. "You didn't mind before we started dating when it was a challenge during training."

"Because back then I didn't believe you'd do it, and half the challenges I had no hope of beating anyway. I don't want to make you do this for my sake."

"It wouldn't just be for your sake." She mumbled. "And I wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it. Don't you?"

Pyrrha put the lighter away and tried to get closer to him. Jaune stepped back, cornering himself against the door to their dorm.

"I do..." he said as Pyrrha stepped closer. "I just can't help but wonder if we're going a bit too fast."

"Are you saying that because you're not comfortable, or because you think that's what you're supposed to say? You could've gotten hurt today Jaune. I don't want to hold back because and wait some arbitrary length of time that other people decided was right. We fight monsters; any day could be our last."

Jaune realized that his performance today had bothered her more than he had realized. She was trying this hard to help him get through his disorder because she didn't want him in as much danger. She wanted to spend time with him like this because she thought she almost lost him.

"I'm not going anywhere Pyrrha. And I'm sorry for worrying you." He said, putting some space between them.

Jaune opened the door to his room and began taking off his gear.

"I'm not uncomfortable, I don't think so anyway. I'm just... traditional, I guess? I don't want to rush things. I don't want to miss any step of... us."

"I see," Pyrrha said.

"So..." Jaune immediately added, interrupting whatever she might have started thinking. "It might not be for training, and it might not be as... enjoyable. But if you want we could... lie down together?"

Pyrrha raised both eyebrows. "You want to lie down with me? As in to sleep?"

"Yes?" Jaune cautiously responded.

Pyrrha snorted almost instantly.

"Forget I said anything." Said Jaune as he jumped into his bed and turned his back to face her.

Jaune wished he could fall asleep and try to forget he had said what he said. It wasn't to be. The sound of Pyrrha removing her armor and snickering was painfully loud in this empty room.

"Jaune." Said Pyrrha, trying to get his attention.

He ignored her, pretending to have fallen asleep.

She huffed in what sounded like amusement at his behavior.

Jaune felt the covers lift and he instantly turned around to tell her to let him sleep.

He was rendered speechless when before he could get a word in, she slid next to him.

"I get to be the little spoon." She said with a grin, grabbing his arm and draping it over herself.

Jaune's brain caught up a few seconds later. He pulled her in close, slipping his other arm under the pillow her head was resting on.

"Goodnight Jaune." Pyrrha teased.

He sighed.

"Goodnight."