rage.

Jaune Arc flew, trapped in the weapons locker Pyrrha had pushed him into moments before, felt no sadness, no depression, no anger at Pyrrha. not for what she had done. his rage was all self-directed. how was he supposed to just let her go after that confession (and kiss)? the pain of the locker crash landing jolted him out of his thoughts, he did the first thing he thought of. call ruby, there was no way Pyrrha would be able to fight that woman, strong as she was, that woman was on a whole new level.

he should have done something! if only he had been stronger, Pyrrha wouldn't have felt she needed to protect him.

after hanging up on ruby, a sickening sensation settled into his stomach. Ruby wouldn't get there in time, he could feel it.

a beep from his transport drew his attention. amazingly, it still functioned, waiting for a location.

a huge explosion drew his attention to the CCT tower, whatever that blast was (Pyrrha, a part of his mind shrieked hysterically), it had torn the top of the tower clean off. Damn it, if he was going to be a leader then he would not let his teammates fall before him. it was a simple matter of tipping the locker over, climbing in, setting his destination and shutting the door. once he was airborne, he once again started to question himself, what could he possibly do? whatever he could. he was going to get himself killed, didn't matter. better him, a wannabe huntsman with no future than a skilled warrior goddess. How was he going to protect her? well, Pyrrha did say that he had a lot of aura, guess it's time to test that theory.

alright a voice Jaune didn't quite recognize but somehow knew intimately

if you're sure

I am

you'll do anything?

Pyrrha was the one who opened my soul with hers. it's time I repaid the favour.

good.

As he approached the tower, he became acutely aware of three presences in his mind, one that was starting to climb the tower, full of hope and life that he instinctively labelled as Ruby. The second one was burning at the edge of his mind, dark as obsidian and cold as ice, the attacker. the final one was diminished, muted like one who had pushed themselves too hard, however, there was this soft warmth that belied an unyielding spirit, like heated steel. that was who he was aiming for, Pyrrha reaching out with his aura, he focused on the steely aura of his partner and, feeling the connection between them that he had felt the first time she had unlocked his aura, he pushed.

Pyrrha knew she was beaten. her aura was depleted, Miló lay in pieces just behind her assailant and somehow the arrow she had tried to knock out of the air had simply reformed on the other side of the shield that flew into her Achilles heel, (there was a cosmic joke happening here, she could feel the gods laughing at the irony) crippling her right leg. forced to kneel in front of Cinder Fall, she was determined to look her killer in the eye as she asked a question that had driven her to near insanity the last few weeks "do you believe in destiny?" Cinders eyes hardened, "yes, and this is mine" as she released the arrow, two things happened

One, she felt a foreign yet familiar aura flood into her, healing her wounds and forcing the glass arrow shaft out of her heel.

Two, a loud clang sounded and Jaune arc, the boy she thought she would never see again landed between her and cinder, blocking the arrow with his shield.

"For it is in strength that we achieve victory. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in time and unbound by space, I will be your sword, and by my body your shield" the words flowed out of his mouth like someone else was speaking.

she found a hand waiting to pull her up and saw Jaune standing there, one arm holding his shield to protect the two of them and the other waiting for her acceptance.

taking his hand and summoning her shield back to her hand Pyrrha levelled her emerald glare at Cinder and smiled a smile full of teeth, "ready for round 2?"

frustration.

what should have been a simple fight to kill Ozpin's chosen champion had been interrupted and dragged out ridiculously long thanks to that arc boy. the supposedly useless leader of team JNPR, the leader who apparently decided now was as good a time as any to finally grow a spine and get a rather useful support semblance to boot. the same leader who was using his shield to block Every. Single. One. of her fireballs and arrows, keeping her occupied on him while the girl had taken his sword and was now attacking with impunity! this was not to be!

with a snarl, she activated her semblance sending explosions under the feet of the blond, what was his name? ah, didn't matter. he'd be dead soon enough. oh, would you look at that, the so-called champion had gotten a third wind. time to show this wannabe maiden what real power is.

Pyrrha stared as Jaune went flying to the edge of the roof and almost immediately felt the extra strength that his semblance seemed to give her fade, no matter, time for the final round. she tightened her grip on the hilt of Correa Mors and funnelled her semblance into her armour. giving one last side glance at her unconscious partner she levelled her glare at cinder (the thief, the interloper, a small voice in the back of her head supplied) and charged. cinder couldn't have much aura left, not with the amount of punishment she and Jaune had put her through.

the two women started to circle each other, now knowing enough to formulate a plan for their victory. however, it proved to be the Amazon who made the first move rather than the usually more impulsive false Maiden. Cinder grunted in surprise at the viciousness of the girl's strikes, what was more concerning was the fact that her aura was finally starting to give way and by the looks of things, disengaging from the fight to retreat was not going to be an option.

Pyrrha smiled. it was like everything had suddenly clicked into place. her partner had gotten strong enough to stand next to her and they had held this... insurrectionist to a standstill.

The smile turned predatory as she once again forced Cinder into close quarters, right where she was the weakest and judging by the increase of the scowl on her face, Cinder knew it.

They had locked blades, neither able to use their other skills to gain any ground between themselves.

The sniper round that landed right between Cinders eyes startled both of them and finally (finally!) broke the terrorist's aura. Ruby Rose had finally made it to the top.

The dark-haired reaper looked at Cinder, Silver Eyes pooling with unshed tears, before tightening her grip on the sniper-scythe "WHY? Why would you do this?"

Cinder climbed back to her feet, seeming not to notice the slight trickle of blood running down her forehead "Do you believe in destiny? Because this is mine. Your friend is either dead or soon will be and you won't outlive him for long"

A glistening drop fell from glowing eyes as Ruby took in what Cinder was saying before a blinding white light exploded from the Reaper as her grief of the day finally pushed her over the edge.

"Jaune!"

1 week later

Emergency hospital outside Vale

The sound of beeps was the first thing that alerted Jaune that he wasn't dead, the second was the pain. He was fairly certain you stopped hurting when you died.

He finally managed to force his eyes open and immediately regretted the decision; why oh why did they have to make hospital lights so bright?

The apparent noise he made seemed to have an effect by shifting the weight on his side. He chanced a second glance through a barely cracked eyelid to see the pool of crimson hair that could only belong to his partner resting in what had to be an uncomfortable position on the side of his bed.

He chanced speaking "Pyrrha?" even his voice sounded cracked, broken and bruised

She jerked awake, emerald eyes now glowing like embers, and smiled

"Hello Again"