Sorry for the month-long wait, I started grinding heavily on genshin Impact and minecraft. Haven't written anything in awhile so this chapter may be worse in quality compared to the previous.
Also, If you notice any capitalization errors, sorry! It's a force of habit, Never paid too much attention to Capitalization before, and now It's really hard not to press the shift key after typing a word.
AAOTRV is On Hiatus. Maybe until the next season of RWBY releases.
Now on with the story.
Jaune Arc was awoken by the rays of sun which seeped from his window, He rubbed his eyes as he stood up from his bedside. He gave a long yawn which was followed by a deep breath. He headed towards the bathroom of his room. It's been a month since they had arrived in vacuo, Jaune hasn't spoken with Ren and Nora, He wanted to apologise but his pride made him feel like he didn't deserve their forgiveness. He even went as far as renting out his own room at an Inn nearby just to avoid them.
He would keep himself busy by doing small missions near the school, doing them also meant that he could pay for the room he'd been staying in. Usually he would do minor grimm exterminations, but from time to time he would also do missions alongside Winter, The first time they fought alongside one another, she saw the need for improvement. Jaune wasn't really the best fighter so she volunteered to train him, He gladly accepted her proposal and the two have been training twice a week eversince.
As Jaune exited the shower and wore his clothes, He looked at the mirror, what he saw wasn't the same goofball who cheated his way into beacon. He saw a huntsman. He looked to his eyes, despite being dark blue they always shined. but now, his eyes were no longer the Hope filled cobalt orbs they once were. They were slate, a grayish blue which looked as if it was devoid of life, A faded blue formed from the tears that filled his eyes every night before he went to sleep.
His armor was cracked. Damaged from the constant fighting of grimm. The clothes he wore under his armor were torn slightly. His Hair was longer. Similar to his old Beacon hairstyle but shorter on the bangs to prevent them from getting in the way, He also had a 'warrior's wolf tail' at the back of his head.
He moved away from the mirror and walked past Crocea Mors, He hadn't touched it since he'd started renting out his room. Instead, He used two swords, Their blades were white while the cross guards were silver. One sword was longer than the other, The longer sword had a Crimson colored Hilt wrap, while the shorter sword had a Fern-like colored Hilt wrap. Jaune picked up both swords and hung them on his belt. As he exited the door.
"What took you so long?" Winter with her arms crossed back against the wall She sported a White shirt that reached to her elbows but she still wore her exoskeleton armor.
"Had a rough night," He said calmly while locking the door. "I thought you hated waking up early?" He raised an eyebrow which she could only roll her eyes at.
"I do, courtesy of the Atlas Military Academy." She shuddered, "They Make you sleep at 11Pm and wake you up at 3Am." Winter said reminiscing the times Her batch would be violently woken up by the incessant drill sergeant's screaming.
"I know, I know." Jaune chuckled as they both made their way down the stairs "You've told me a thousand times,"
"No, I've only told you 24 times" She growled, crossing her arms, before taking a deep breath and sighing.
"Were you seriously counting?" Jaune scrunched up his face, Unable to tell whether she was joking or not.
Winter gave a smirk and hummed, Placing both arms behind her back. A trait picked up from being in the atlas military.
For the rest of their walk, Jaune remained silent. They got on a bullhead to Shade. They haven't eaten breakfast yet but were planning to get some food from Shades cafeteria.
As they were heading to the cafeteria, Jaune and Winter walked past many of the Atlas Refugees. The smirks and smiles they had before entering the school grounds were wiped from their faces, Who could blame them? Seeing thousands of people crammed in such a small space, Orphaned children crying. The elderly who looked as if they could pass on any second, and the many adults who were fighting for more food. Winter hated the sight of this. It was a constant reminder that she was partially responsible for this.
During the first week she would often get stares of anger and annoyance. To the people, she may have saved them from the grimm, but they wouldn't have been there if it weren't for her boss in the first place. To them, She wasn't a Schnee, She wasn't a savior, She was Ironwood's Right hand. And they hated her for that.
Winter was already used to being hated via association. Courtesy of the Schnee family name. She could deal with the insults and slurs thrown at her. But once the people started threatening her family, they ultimately decided to sleep far from the academy grounds. Whitley, Willow, and Klein moved to one of their summer homes, An Island South of Shade Academy. Winter thought the journey back to shade would be too much of a hassle and ultimately decided to rent out a small room 3 blocks away from the inn Jaune was staying at.
Whenever Jaune and Winter agreed to meet up, they would often eat at the Cafeteria and then decide to pick a mission. The missions were simple, Kill grimm or Hunt bandits. They would do so with ease, Jaune would usually boost Winter's aura. Creating large pillars of ice and snow crushing any opposition that stood in their way.
On training days however, they would fight the bandits via swordplay, Winter would watch from afar, while she coached Jaune on how to fight with his swords. His technique was a less elegant and more aggressive version of Winter's swordplay. His sword was lighter than his old one making his strikes much faster than before.
At first he didn't really understand how to use his second sword. Having no shield meant he couldn't defend as well as before. Winter at first, questioned the reasons why he had changed his weapons in the first place. After one good look at his swords she immediately knew why.
Shortly after their breakfast the two made their way to the Headmasters Office, The mission they picked was a simple hunt bandit's one. They quickly left for the Bullheads and arrived at their destination.
"On your left." Winter's voice rang from Jaunes earpiece as a bandit lunged towards him spear in hand, Jaune used his longer blade to redirect the spears trajectory, Allowing him to follow up with his Shorter blade, leaving a gash on the bandit's cheek.
The bandit was frozen in fear, The blonde knight's sword was mere inches from ending his life. Jaune on the other hand pulled back his arm and knocked the bandit out with the blunt pommel of his sword.
"Phew, that was close" Jaune sighed as he wiped sweat from his forehead, only for his face to scrunch up in disgust when he realised that some blood was left on his gloves which he just wiped all over his head.
"I think I'm gonna be sick..." Jaune clenched his stomach, resisting the urge to vomit.
"If you can't stand the sight of blood you spilt, you are not fit to be a huntsman." Winter spoke through the earpiece in a strict tone.
"You know, when you say things like this, I can't tell if you're nicer or colder than before." Jaune slurred as he emptied an unnatural amount of puke on the knocked out bandit.
"That's… Disgusting." Winter cringed at the sight, those bandits were villainous but no one deserved being barfed on like that. 'How was he even able to puke that much? That's more than what he consumed this morning!' Winter internally thought as she felt her own lunch creep up and nearly out of her throat.
"I think we should head back." Jaune groaned, he took a quick glance towards the mountain he'd made, before turning away and making sure he'd never need to witness such a sight ever again.
"Agreed." Winter resisted her own urge to puke, which she luckily managed.
Qrow Branwen was anxious, It had been a whole month since he last saw his nieces. QARHE (Quarry) were now heading to Vacuo. They would have arrived sooner, If not for the massive grimm flock which attacked them shortly after entering mistral. After weeks of traveling throughout Anima, they'd finally made it to Kyoudai port. they had managed to stowaway on a ship heading to Vacuo, which was forced to close its borders to any visitors.
QARHE sat inside one of the empty crates, they were playing some poker to pass the time, for the next 10 hours they would continue, until Harriet grew impatient and snapped. "Why are we even here in the first place!" She growled at Qrow, "Why are we even following you?" She seethed at Qrow.
"We've been travelling together for months, and now you decide to ask questions?" Qrow looked at her dumbfounded.
Harriet gave an Irritated screech, before Robin rolled her eyes and covered Harriet's mouth. "Shush, Someone might be nearby."
The sounds of heavy metal being dragged across the floor echoed throughout the dark storage room. One of the many downsides of staying on a lower floor. QRHE Quickly readied their weapons. The weeks of constantly fighting bandits and Grimm made them on the edge.
"Did you hear? A bunch of Atlesians suddenly appeared in Vacuo, hours before Atlas supposedly fell." A ship worker spoke, He had been carrying chains around which created the noise QRHE heard.
"Yeah, Weird." The other shipworker grumbled, "People say Shade's been tryna keep it quiet. If they are, they're doing a damn good job." The man shrugged as he walked away.
"Atlesians? What are they doing in Vacuo?" Harriet quickly snapped at the new information.
"I don't know." Qrow Clenched his sword tightly before calming down and sighing, "Hopefully the kid's managed to escape." Qrow rested his head on the wall and scoffed, knowing his own luck, he prepared for the worst.
"Yeah..."
"C'mon Renny lets go talk to Jauney!" Nora whined at Ren, Oscar and Emerald just looked at each other with an 'uh oh' face, Ren sighed at his partner's request, "If he doesn't want to talk to us, let him be." Ren was upset at Jaune, not because of the fight they had, He was mad because Jaune didn't even bother to console his team and apologize. To him Jaune up and left to find a new partner and team. The lack of communication certainly didn't help.
"Ren's right nora. I'm sure Jaune will come around!" Oscar tried his best to cheer up the ginger valkyrie, He turned to emerald who was oblivious to what he was trying to suggest. She raised an eyebrow before saying,"I don't know, maybe? Usually guys who just up and leave like that don't come back." She shrugged, Causing Oscar to mentally facepalm.
"If he doesn't come back I'll break his legs!" Nora Screeched jumping from her bed, hammer in one hand, plate of pancakes on the other. "Is she serious?" Emerald raised an eyebrow in concern, before turning to Ren who simply said "for the most part." then turned to Oscar for confirmation, "Don't look at me, I don't know!" He shrugged.
-
QARHE had finally arrived in Shade, As they walked the halls, they gained several stares from the Atlesian refugees, the specialist uniforms no doubt. Marrow, Elm, And Harriet bowed their heads to avoid meeting the burning gazes they were receiving. When they finally arrived at the headmasters office they were greeted warmly by Theodore.
"Qrow, My old friend!" The boisterous man gave a crushing bear hug that even The great Nora couldn't fathom.
"Good to see ya too theo," Qrow patted the larger man on the back while wincing in pain." How'd all these atlesians get here?"
"Ahh, Addressing the elephant in the room Quickly, Typical Qrow!" Theodore gave a Hearty laugh before beginning to explain. " something about the relics and the portal. Kids brought em here"
"I see-" Qrow was Interrupted by Jaune accidentally opening the door, "Oops I forgot to kno-" Jaune's and Winters eyes widened at the sight of Qrow, Who promptly smiled, Under the assumption that his nieces survived.
Jaune had been dreading to see Qrow, He wasn't sure if Qrow was even alive, but he'd been dreading the meeting. His face filled with grimace which wiped Qrows smile. Winter on the other hand took a step back and gave a deep sigh.
"Where are Ruby and the others?" Qrow gave a forced smile, His nieces had to be alive, Right?
"..."
"They're okay right?" The forced smile Qrow slowly faltered. First he lost Summer, His best friend, Now he Lost Ruby and Yang too. Was he really bound to lose everything he's ever cared about? Who would be next, Tai? Raven?
"I-I'm sorry" Those words cut him deeper than a certain scorpion's tail. He fell to his knees, His muscles felt heavy, like they'd just turn into water. He soon fell face first onto the cold marble floor, a single tear fell from his eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Sorry for not updating in a while, I haven't really found much time to do any writing. I also apologize if this chapter seems like it was written by multiple people, I'm pretty sure I switch how I write everytime i take a 30 minute break.