Jaune opened the door and peeked outside the shack. While there seemed to be a little bit of smoke from places, it seemed that the bandits that were conscious were putting out any fires or damages that Jaune and Nolan caused. Jaune thought this would give them a chance to sneak out without attracting too much attention.
He closes the shack door and turns to everyone. "Okay," he started. "Right now they could still be looking for us but at the same time they are doing damage control. We can either sneak out or we can fight head on. What do you guys want to do?"
"I say we sneak out of here," Nolan said. In order to carry the food and case of water Nolan had to holster his baton. He carried the backpack full of food and the ammo for the gun, and he was carrying the case of water. He was basically the pack mule. "I'd rather not risk losing this stuff in a fight."
"Stop being a pussy Nolan," May said. "We're nine hunters in training, we can take on a bandit camp."
"You're not the one who has to carry the food and water May." The two glare each other for a moment.
"I'm with May on this," Dew interrupted. "If we get caught we're going to have to fight our way out anyway."
"We don't need to cause unnecessary risk," Brawnz argued. "If they can't find us before it's too late we'll get a big head start."
Everyone began arguing amongst each other. While some wanted to be on an attack others wanted stealth. Jaune was thinking himself about what would be best for the situation. Both had its ups and downs so Jaune didn't mind either. That was when he got an idea.
"Guys," He started but either everyone ignored him. "Hey guys!" Again, no one heard him. Jaune then put his right pointer finger and thumb in his mouth and whistled. This caused everyone to stop and turn to him. "All right, how about we split off into two teams?"
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Octavia asked. Jaune nodded his head. He opened his left palm and pointed his finger at the edge of it.
"What I plan to do is have one team go directly to the garage," He drags his finger to the middle of his palm and taps on it. "When there are bandits, the team fights. Meanwhile the other team goes to the prison and grabs the guys clothes." He put his middle finger at the edge of his palm again and had it go off in a different direction. "Once the attack team reaches and clears out the garage the other team will meet them there." He uses his finger to simulate both teams meeting up at one point. "Any questions?"
"Yeah," Octavia asked. "Why do we need to get your guy's clothes?"
"I'd rather not wear this bandit crap any longer than I have to," Jaune said. "Plus I want to make sure we don't get shot on sight since I'm pretty sure the guards at Shade would." However, both of those were a lie. Jaune didn't like it, but there was a selfish reason for this plan. Jaune needed his hoodie back. It was one of the only few things, besides Crocea Mors, that he could connect to his family with.
He had to send in fifty box tops of Pumpkin Pete cereal for that hoodie. Obviously he couldn't do it alone, so he asked his family for help. He and his sisters would only eat the cereal for breakfast lunch and dinner until Jaune got it. Once he did he was so happy that his sisters helped him that he gave every single one of them a big hug. Now he wasn't even allowed back in the house anymore.
Everyone took a minute to think about Jaune's plan. Jaune gulped, nervous if they would be okay with it, and not see through his lie. That was when he noticed May let out a slight sigh. "I don't think the guards would shoot us on sight," May said. "I guess it won't hurt to be sure."
"I can agree with this," Dew said.
"Let's do it," Brawnz and Roy said together.
"Great plan Jaune," Nebula encouraged.
"Dibs on clothing retrieval," Nolan called out as he raised his hand. Meanwhile Gwen smiled and nodded, and Octavia did the same. Little did they know that those words of encouragement lifted Jaune. After being second guessed every turn, it was a nice change of pace to actually have more than a few people like his plan. Even if it was a selfish plan. However he didn't have time to let it sink in.
"All right, who wants to be on the garage squad?" Jaune asked. Nebula, Dew, May, and Roy raised their hands. "Okay, and the rest of you want to be on the retrieval team?" All of them gave various forms of yes.
"Who will you be joining, Jaune?" Octavia asked. Jaune put a hand up to his mouth. He goes through what he thinks will be best for the plan. He begins mumbling incoherently, causing everyone to stare at him.
After two minutes go by Nebula leans over to Brawnz. "Should we reboot him or something?" She joked.
"I would but I think he would shut down completely," Brawnz replied. This caused all of them to let out a chuckle.
"I can still hear you, you know!" Jaune said. This cause everyone to recoil a bit, as they did not expect Jaune to respond. "Anyway, to answer your question Octavia…" everyone leaned in a little closer. "I'll be joining the scouting team. Any objections?" No one voiced their opinions. "All right, garage team, let's go. cloth retrival, you're good to go."
"Right," everyone said. Jaune opens the door and picks up Crocea Mors. Nebula follows behind followed by Roy and then May. The others went the other directions to the prison. Jaune began leading the garage team through the bandit camp. For a little bit it seemed there were no bandit's around, which made Jaune's skin crawl. Something was up. They eventually ran into a patrol of six, all of whom had melee weapons. One had what looked to be a wood club, another had a metal crowbar, another one had a bat with screws and nails put in for extra power, one had a metal bat, One had a wood staff and the last one looked to have a gun.
"There they are!" The bandit with a club said. The bandit with the gun aimed up in the air and fired, to reveal that it was a flare gun.
"Ah shit," May said. All of the bandits charge and the garage team charged back. Meanwhile the bandit with the flare fled, presumably to get a better weapon.
Jaune blocked an attack from the bandit with a metal pipe with his shield. He sweeps with his sword but the bandit read him and jumped in the air to dodge the attack. While still in the air the bandit kicked Jaune in the chin causing him to back up. Jaune shakes his head growls at the bandit. "That all you got?" the bandit said as he twirled his metal pipe. Jaune shifts to an offensive stance and charges at the bandit. He kept his sword low, making it seem that he was going to sweep the bandit again. The bandit smiled and jumped up before Jaune swung, and fell for Jaune's trap hook line and sinker.
Jaune turned his blade so the sharp end was vertical instead of horizontal, and swiped upwards, cutting the bandit. The bandit lands on the ground and grips his metal pipe tightly. "You bastard!" he yelled. He swings down with his pipe hoping to hit Jaune. However Jaune side stepped out of the way causing the bandit to hit the ground instead. Jaune lifted his shield and slammed down on the bandit's arm, causing a sickening crunch. The bandit let go of the metal pipe and used his other hand to grab his now broken arm. Jaune then hit the bandit in the side of the head with his sword's pommel.
Dew was facing the bandit with nails and screws in his bat. He swung for her head but she rolled out of the way. As she popped back up she used the pole of her weapon to smack the guy in the leg and trip him up. He falls to the ground and Dew tries to stab him, but he rolls out of the way and gets back up. He is quick to counter attack as he swings for Dew's body. Dew plants her spear in the ground and uses her pole to block the bat. It succeeds and Dew then uses her spear to pole vault and kicks the guy in the face. The bandit grips his face and growls.
He goes for an overhead swing but Dew stabbed him in the stomach causing him to recoil. She then uses her pol to unleash a flurry of attack and finishes with kicking the guy to the ground. She spins her spear and stabs the guy in the leg, causing him to scream and grip his leg. She then stomps on his face to knock him out.
May and Roy took on the two with the crowbar and metal bat. Roy spun his blades and was trying slice down on the one with the bat, but the bandit's bat was strong. The two clashed and stared each other down. Meanwhile May was blocking attacks from the crowbar with her gun. The bandit kept up a malicious battle against May. Eventually he made her lose her balance. He smiles and hooks May's leg and trips her. May falls down with a loud thud, and the bandit lifted his crowbar only to fall over, due to Roy tossing the other bandit into him.
Roy goes over and helps May up. The two Bandits get up as well. Roy throws his saw at the bandits causing them to duck. May then charges at them, but just before reach them she began sliding. She dragged her sniper rifle and held it in axe form. Her axe hooks one of the bandit's legs and she trips them as they stood back up. The other bandit turned to May but was hit with Roy's saws as he recalled them back to his gauntlets. May, then hits both of them in the head with the butt of her rifle. Roy and May looked at each other with small smirks on their faces and nodded at their work.
Nebula was facing the bandit with the staff. The bandit charged Nebula with the staff trailing behind him. He jumps and slams his staff down on Nebula, who blocks it with her sword. She parries his staff to the side and stabs him three times in the torso. She then charges at him and tackles him to the ground. She straddles the bandit and grabs his neck with her left hand and begins punching him in the face multiple times. The bandit eventually grabs Nebula's head and headbutts her causing her to get off of him.
Both of them get up at the same time. Nebula walks backwards while switching to crossbow form. The bandit charges just as she was loading an arrow into it. Nebula loaded the arrow but wouldn't have enough time to fire it, so she blocks the staff attack. She then hooks the bandit's neck with the limb of the crossbow and brings his head to her knee. The bandit falls to the ground unconscious as she unwrapped the limb.
However it seemed that the one guy that shot the flare attracted another horde of bandits and the team got ready for another wave of attack. Meanwhile, the other team had their own problems.
"I swear to God I'm going to skin the bastards who did this," Alex said. He was carrying an assault rifle. Right now three bandits were guarding the prison and they were talking about their friends they found dead in the prison.
"Even the girls?" Temple asked. He was carrying a shotgun.
"Dead or alive it still feels the same right?"
"That's fucked up, even for you," Sean said. He was also carrying an assault rifle. Alex sighed.
"I know," he said. "I'm just so fucking pissed right now."
"It shouldn't be a surprise the Shades would kill us," Temple said. "But yeah, I'm gonna fill 'em with bullet holes if they even come around here."
"Too bad we won't seeing as someone else found them," Sean said. all of them saw the flare but they were to stay and guard the prison. All of them heard something hit the wall next to them they all turn to the wall to see nothing there. "What was that?"
"I don't know, but keep your guard―" Temple didn't finish as he got hit in the face with rock. He lets out a pained groan and grips the right side of his face. The three guard look over to where the rock came from.
"I'll check it out," Alex said. He goes over to the corner and then slowly peeks out of it. Only to be grabbed by something and taken behind the shack.
"Alex!" the two others called out. They go over to the corner but stop before turning it. Sean holds up five fingers and counts down, however once he got to three a person popped from the corner, causing the two of them to panic fire. However as the body fell to the floor they realized that it wasn't the attacker, it was Alex. The two bandits stare with their mouth open at the shock that5 they just shot their friend.
That was when another attacker decided to make her move. She popped out behind them and had a small knife in each of her hands. She threw them right into the bandits' necks, causing both of them to choke and try to stop the bleeding. However it was too late as the job was already done. Both of the bandits fall to the ground dead. Their gunshots brought out their friends from the caves,
"Hey guys what's going on?" Another bandit with a shotgun said as he came out of the cave. Behind him was a bandit with a revolver. They noticed the black haired attack and pointed his gun at her. "Stop!" he yelled out. The girl saw him and took cover behind the shack.
Both bandits fired at her but missed. The shotgunner growled and ran after her with the revolver bandit close behind. The shotgunner was met with a hit to the face with a baton just as he reached the corner. Meanwhile the revolver bandit wasn't paying attention behind him and felt a pain in the bend of his knee. He felt a hand go over his mouth. The last thing he saw was a red curved dagger go to his throat, and the last thing he felt was a sharp pain in his neck.
Meanwhile the bandit who got hit with the baton felt someone grab his arm. He then felt his body move and felt himself begin slammed into a wall. The bandit slides down and turns over only to be met with a boot to the face.
"All right, I think that's all of them," Nolan said. "At least that's all I saw when I was in the rat."
"Did you make sure to check every corner of that cave Nolan?" Octavia asked as she wiped the blood off of her knife.
"Of course I did. What you don't trust me?"
"I do, I just don't like sneak attacks." Nolan stuck his tongue out at her. Meanwhile Gwen went over to the two bandits she killed. She grabbed her knives from their still warm corpses and sighed.
"Doesn't get easier, does it?" Brawnz said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. She shook her head. "Come on, we still got work to do." Gwen nodded and the retrieval team entered the Prison to get the guys gear.
The attack team stood in silence with the unconscious bandits surrounding them. All of them were out of breath from the constant attacks. They were lucky that one of the bandits told everyone to retreat, most likely because they were getting their asses kicked.
"You think they'll return?" May asked as she loaded a clip into her sniper.
"Let's not wait around to find out," Jaune said as he holstered his sword. "Let's just get to the garage and see if the others are there waiting for us."
"Right!" Everyone present said. They holster their gear and start following Jaune away from the bandit massacre. There were no Bandits as they got closer to the garage which made Jaune suspicious.
Eventually they reach the metal door to the garage, only to find that it's locked. Jaune turned around and faced all of them. he pointed his thumb back to the door. "Anyone know how to pick a lock?"
"Can't we just destroy the door?" May asked.
"Unless you got C4 tucked somewhere, we aren't breaking down the metal door. It'll cause too much attention. So I ask again, does anyone know how to pick a lock?"
Everyone shook their head, causing Jaune to sigh. "Guess all we can do is wait."
"What about that window?" Nebula asked pointing up the building. Everyone looks to see a square window near the roof of the garage. It wasn't big, but it was big enough size for a person to get through.
Roy picked up a nearby rock and threw it at the window, causing the glass to shatter. A couple of glass shards fall on top of the students, causing them to shield themselves as to not get cut. May, Nebula, Dew and Jaune glare at Roy, causing him to shrug.
"I though'd it be easier to get in if we didn't have to break it once we got up there," He said. This caused a couple of groans from May and Dew. Meanwhile Jaune gathered everyone's attention.
"So," He started. "Who wants to climb scale the wall and possibly fight bandits in the garage by themselves? Not it!"
Jaune's screaming of "not it" set off a chain reaction of everyone doing the same. The first one to do it after Jaune was Roy, followed by Dew and Nebula at the same time, with May being the last one.
"I hate all of you," May grumbled.
"Come on," Roy said as he motioned his head over to the building. "I'll give you a lift." May nodded her head and the two got to work. Meanwhile, Jaune walked over to Dew and Nebula. The two of them saw Jaune coming and wondered what he wanted. As they asked Jaune sighed.
"You get the feeling that this almost too easy?" Jaune asked.
"How can you think that?" Dew asked.
"I'm just saying, don't you find it weird that other bandits haven't came for us yet? I mean we're practically defenseless here and no one is nearby."
"Jaune," Nebula said. "Just learn to take what you can get. Sometimes things just go your way."
"That's a first," Jaune said in a pessimistic tone. Nebula and Dew can hear the tone and look at each other. May put her hands up in mock surrender and backed away, causing Nebula to sigh. It's not that she hated Jaune or anything, she was even one of the few that wanted to give him a fair chance. It's just growing up in Vacuo doesn't breed for the most tender of caring. She places a hand on Jaune's shoulder, gaining the blonde's attention.
"Hey, I know these past few days have been tough on you, but sometimes you just gotta suck it up." Jaune raised an eyebrow at this causing Nebula to try and make it so it didn't sound so... Vacuian. "I mean, sure life might be trying to tell you that it isn't going to let you have it easy," Again she heard Jaune just sigh, she had to save this quick. "Uhm, but that doesn't mean you give up! Even if it's just little breaks of peace and happiness, it's better than none at all, right?"
Jaune just stares at her long enough to make her uncomfortably shift her weight. To her surprise, he sighs but gives a little smile. "Your motivational speech could use some work," he said. "I appreciate the thought though."
Nebula smiles back. "Sure, anytime." There was a beat, and then Dew decided to break the moment.
"Kiss!" she said in a mock tone. Both of the students stop smiling and turn to Dew, but both with very contrasting looks. While Nebula just glared at her friend like it was a horrible pun, Jaune actually had a small blush on his face and gave her a "how-could-you?!" look instead.
"Had to ruin that moment, didn't you?" Nebula said. Dew just shrugs with a smug smile. Jaune was about to comment too, but all he could get out was a small stammer. The garage door opened and everyone turned to see May unharmed and well.
"Surprisingly, no guards," She stated. This did not appease Jaune's uneasy feelings, but they didn't have time to think upon it. all of them rushed inside and May closes the door behind them.
"Okay," Jaune said. "Let's all look for more stuff we can use. Ammo, fuel, etcetera. Stay together though, at least until the others show up." The others nodded and began to look around for more items to bring. Meanwhile, Jaune needed to take a break. He wanted to relax and clear his mind. He had been running around a lot, was it so bad that he wanted to at least recall and reflect on some of the events that happened.
As he remembered everything that has happened to him since the start of the initiation, he couldn't help but silently chuckle to himself. How did an initiation about going through the desert back to the academy, become a life or death situation? Out of everything that had happened, this was probably one of the hardest things that happened. His first initiation, training with his team, the breach of Vale, even the festival wasn't as difficult as the situation he was in now.
The festival. In a way, it kind of tags along with what's going on now. He remembers everything that happened that day.
Before Penny vs Pyrrha:
Penny and Pyrrha were both mentally getting ready, as all they had to do is wait for Oobleck to finish the countdown. "Three!" his voice carried throughout the stadium. "Two!" the crowd was excited, Penny was combat ready, and Pyrrha, though her mind was a little fogged up by Ozpin and his crew, was prepared. However, another voice spoke before Oobleck could.
"Such a desirable match up," A female voice says. The screens that were along the walls of the colosseum changed to a picture of a black chess queen piece with a red screen behind it. "The star pupil of Beacon versus the android of Atlas." This caused a few murmurs from the crowd. "Oh wait, no one knows about the little girl that's really a robot do they?" The screen changes from the chess piece to what looked to be schematics of Penny. "Now why would Atlas need to have a robot look like a little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference. And what of Ozpin's academy? We get a person who cripples another, and a students who faked his transcript papers." The image changes again to an image that Jaune recognized. And as he did, his breathing began to waver. It was his transcript papers.
"Everyone knows of the Arc family: The Arc of the Great War, whose battle prowess was so legendary, that he could defeat a hundred soldiers before breaking a sweat. And this Arc's father, Michael Arc, also known as the Arc-angel, a man whose kind deeds were matched by his brutality against enemies. And now we have him, Jaune Arc, who has faked his way into this school." The image changed to a URL. "If you don't believe me you can read the schematics and the transcript papers on this site." The screen stays the same for a full minute for everyone to remember the URL. It then changes back to the chess piece. "Can we honestly put our trust into these men as they recruit dangerous children, and those who don't even deserve to belong in a school? Can we trust the men that make human like robots and invade another kingdom with his army? Tell me everyone, who do you think you can trust?"
The screen goes back to normal and shows Oobleck and Port shocked by what they heard. There was silence for a few seconds, and then there was another announcement. "Warning. Incoming Grimm attack: threat level six. Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner." A giantnevermore landed on top of the dome around the colosseum and pecked at the shield.
Everyone in the crowd began to panic, except the Huntsman and hunters in training. All of them stared at the creature as it continued to peck away at the shield. Right now they didn't have time to reflect on what the voice said, they needed to defend the arena and the rest of Vale. All of them got out their scrolls and called for their rocket lockers, to prepare for the fight ahead of them.
Unbeknownst to them, there was a group of three people hiding out in a building somewhere in Vale. The three behind all of this. Cinder broke the phone in half and then incinerated it. "What is next Cinder?" Emerald ask.
"We kill the fall maiden, and let the world destroy Atlas and Beacon," Cinder said with a smug smile on her face.
"We should have just had a full blown grimm attack," Mercury said. "Why do all of this?"
"As much as I agree with you," Cinder said. "Salem had other plans. She wants to train me once we finish the fall maiden. She believes I won't be able to handle the power."
"She's wrong," Emerald objected. "I'm sure you could handle it."
"Quiet," Cinder said. Emerald recoiled and nodded her head. "I will not disobey her. Besides, in her words 'A kingdom destroyed by outside forces can rebuild, a kingdom destroyed from within cannot.'" Cinder grew a wicked smile. "The world will remember my words, and tear Atlas and Vale apart."
Jaune was shaken out of his reminiscing by having some very familiar cloth hit him in the face, followed by the sound of metal clanging next to him. He removes the cloth and sees Brawnz in his normal grey and purple gradient shirt.
"I'll make fun of you later," Brawnz said. Jaune titled his head in confusion but shrugged it off. He, along with Roy, began removing their bandit wear. However halfway through Roy noticed the girls watching them and called them out on it.
"Do you mind?" he said passive agressivly.
"Nope," Dew said with a slight smile on her face. Roy rolled his eyes and put on his shirt. He noticed that Jaune didn't seem to care that he was being watched by the girls.
"Jaune you're acting unusually calm for undressing in front of girls."
Jaune pulled his hoodie over his head and put the hood down. "I just imagine they're my sisters," he said as began to put on his armor plates. However halfway through he realized how… indecent that sounded. "That came out wrong, that came out very very wrong."
"Hey you said it not me," May said.
"So why does that work for you anyway?" Dew asked.
"I grew up with seven sisters," Jaune said as he put his chest plate on. "Doesn't really breed room for privacy." Everyone stares at him with slight awe on their faces. Once he finished putting on his gear, he noticed the looks he was given. "What?"
"Seven?" Dew repeated. Jaune nodded. "Seven?!"Jaune just sighed.
"Look I'll tell you about my family later, all right?" Everyone nodded and Stood up.
Once the guys were dressed Jaune got on top of the hood of the car and got everyone's attention. "All right here's what we need," Jaune reminded everyone. "Nolan brought the ammo for the turret and the water and food. However let's not just leave anything lying around. I don't care if it's a half eaten bagel or a half drunk water, pack it with the rest of the food."
"Just uh, make sure it doesn't touch the unwarapped stuff," Gwen said timidly.
"We also need stuff that will keep the car running. Fuel, coolant, probably a tool box just to be safe. Is that clear?"
"Oh it's very clear ya drongo," a familiar voice says. The nine students turn around to be met with familiar unfriendly faces. One was that of a lunatic who likes explosives, one was covered by a mask that resembled a pig, one was a very angry Eric, and the other was the Bartender that Nolan had talked to. "And just where do you think you're going?"
To be continued.
Beta reader: TheShadowOfZama