Hope I'm keeping up to par or even improving. Let me know if not! Please enjoy!
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Chapter 21
The pale woman stood motionless, her expression focused and deadly as if she could pin her prey by gaze alone. Weiss stepped in front of Yang defensively, knowing her partner was already low on aura and wouldn't last long. "Yang, you need to get out of here. Find one of the teachers." She whispered sideways, hoping her blonde partner would listen.
"Do you seriously expect me to run away?" Yang scoffed, expertly hiding any fear she felt towards those piercing red eyes. "No chance ice queen, If she's anything like Jaune you'll need my help." The strange woman twitched at the mention of his name, drawing both girls full attention.
"I need to find him." Her voice resonated deep within her throat before convulsing violently. "He needs to die!" another convulsion "I need answers." She had the same voice but her expression changed drastically from violent and enraged to serene as still water.
"She won't listen but, it shouldn't be too hard to defend against. Most of her body is still human." As the last, confusing word left her mouth, her expression changed once more from serene to violent. "I won't lose! I'm so much stronger than I was."
She charged with reckless abandon, catching Weiss off guard with a body check that smashed through her defence, sending her to the ground meters away. The woman turned just in time to block the blonde's shotgun punch with only minor burns to her arms, burns that began fading away immediately.
Yang was surprised to see her weapon burn someone so easily, did this woman not have Aura? Then how was she healing so fast? She shook the thought from her head as the woman's dagger flashed outwards like lightning, forcing Yang on the defensive due in part to her low aura reserves.
It didn't take long during the exchange of fist and weapon for Yang to realize she was not able to keep up with the deranged woman. Her speed and strength was being overshadowed, every punch she threw was easily blocked while every hit she blocked sent painful vibrations up her arms. She wouldn't last much longer and she knew it. Where in the name of dust was Weiss!?
Letting herself get knocked backwards, she took a moment to see Weiss throwing her scroll aside and preparing to attack. Yang saw the chance and released all the power her semblance had been storing, causing her aura to burn around her like fire while tinting her eyes red.
The pale woman was caught off guard by Yang's sudden increase in strength and speed, receiving a lethal wound to the kidney and ribs from the first strike plus a shattered jaw from the second. Yang froze suddenly, unable or unwilling to throw a third strike and press her advantage.
Weiss didn't understand what had happened but didn't hesitate to launch herself forward with her glyphs, impaling her target with a sickening squelch. The pale woman pulled herself off the blade slowly, black blood flowing from three different wounds that could each prove fatal for any normal human. A confused look flashed past her eyes before they glazed over completely and she collapsed to the ground.
"Are you alright?" Weiss asked, turning to Yang who wore a deep frown. "It's nothing... Just don't like hitting auraless people." She shook the black blood from her hands, suppressing the sick feeling building in her stomach.
Weiss glanced at the blood on her blade, a part of her surprised it pierced so easily. "She would have done much worse to us." she said aloud, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt inside. "It is surprising she had no aura though…" She added quietly to herself, the shock wearing off and her thoughts beginning to circling around what she had just done.
She felt it, felt her Myrternaster punch through flesh and glide past bone before settling deep in the woman's still beating heart. Weiss could even feel the sternum crack as her hilt impacted with it, she felt all of it and could think of nothing else but how it felt.
"What about you, Ice queen? You're looking a little green yourself." Yang spoke with a light-hearted tone though the concern on her face was serious as she placed a hand on Weiss' shoulder. "You good…?" She asked far more gently than Weiss thought possible for the Blond berserker.
"I didn't know it would feel so. Real…" Weiss looked at her shaking hands before tightening them into fists. Never had she ever run anyone through, nor had she expected to but she couldn't let that slow her down. "I'll be fine" She said, determined not to let any doubt show.
"You know what's funny?" Both girls nearly spun around at the sound of the woman's distinct voice, weapons poised to strike. "I told her she would need armor, even offered to make it for her." The woman's body remained motionless but just above it knelt something else.
"But no, "Too bulky" she said, "humans are too slow to hit me" She said." The vaguely humanoid figure complained idly, looking up to the girls with it's featureless face. "Do you really need to point those at me?" It motioned to the sword and gauntlets being point at it.
"Wha- Yes! You were just trying to kill us!" Weiss practically screamed out, feeling more than a little confused at the sudden change in atmosphere. "I don't mean to frighten you but if I had wanted you dead, we would not be talking." It wasn't being malicious or threatening, sounding more like it was stating what the weather was and nothing more.
"Lucy is just... struggling to cope with everything that's happening." The creature looked downwards to the pale woman and both girls noticed the surrounding black blood had receded back towards the body to cover the wounds.
"She's not the only one…" Yang muttered while rubbing at her throbbing skull, lowering her weapons and drawing a surprised look from Weiss. "What are you doing?! It could strike at any moment!" she sounded panicked, assuming sanity had fully vacated her partner.
"At this point I just don't care Weiss." Yang responded with her hand still rubbing at her head, exhaustion was hitting her like a goliath. "First Jaune scares the shit outta me, then Ozpin has a chat with us, only making things more confusing. I decide to blow some steam off and next thing I know Crazy pants over here starts coming at us like a ballistic missile!" Her eyes began tinting red but she didn't have the energy nor the aura to go berserk.
Weiss looked from the creature to Yang and back again in shock, no response coming to mind but her trained body refused to let her drop her guard. Yang paid her no mind and sat down facing the makeshift person, unable to stop herself from staring at the piercing red orbs that acted as its eyes.
"Could you answer some questions before the backup I assume Weiss called show's up?" Yang could see Weiss' jaw drop but couldn't find it in herself to care. She was never good at beating around the bush and, assuming this thing knew Jaune, this might be her best chance to get some solid answers.
"Sure, in return you'll help me get answers of my own." It didn't sound like it was asking, simply telling her what it was expecting. She nodded with a shrug, agreeing somewhat carelessly and drawing further reactions from Weiss.
"You can't be serious…" Weiss looked absolutely dumbstruck, was Yang honestly going to converse with this thing? Why did she tell it they had backup coming?! Why in the fuck did she look so flippant all of a sudden!?
"Well he hasn't run yet, and crazy pants doesn't look like she's going anywhere." Yang motioned to the unconscious woman. "Please. Could you stop calling her crazy?" The creature interrupted, sounding very aged all of a sudden.
"She thinks she's crazy because of what Jaune had done, what I am doing." It let out an exhausted sigh with it's voice thick with guilt, surprising the Huntresses. "She really isn't a bad human." It insisted as softly as it could.
"She just misses her brother."
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Jaune struggled in his semi responsive state for what felt like hours, losing consciousness entirely for seconds that dragged on infinitely. One moment he was staring up at Miss Goodwitch watching over him, then he saw her talking with Ozpin before finally he noticed he was all alone in the room.
That didn't make sense, he was never alone. "Whitback…?" he was able to speak despite his vision fading to nothing, shouldn't that have scared him? He was going blind and yet he held no doubt whatsoever that Whitback would fix him, relied on it to fix him. "Can you hear me?" He tried again. numbing silence was the only response.
It didn't matter, he knew it would be listening. "Do you think…" Jaune spoke more clearly, his mind finally beginning to focus and his thoughts falling back to what had happened with Yang. "It's even possible, after everything we've done." He remembered losing control at Torchwick's, remembered the men he not only killed but devoured.
"Is it possible for us to be Huntsman?" A shattered corpsed embedded in an old alley flashed across vision, right next to the terrified woman he slaughtered trying to save. Had he saved even a single person in the years since he started trying? None he could remember…
If that is what you want, then there is no doubt in my mind we shall succeed. Whitback's familiar voice held the same confidence it always did but Jaune knew how it liked to choose it's words. "Why would I not want to be?" Jaune asked as his senses began to return, the dull colors of the infirmary coming into sight.
...Huntsmen may not be the kind of heroes you think they are. It hesitated before replying, showing Jaune it's reluctance. He was about to press further when something from the corner of his eye caught his attention. Something very red.
"H-hey Ruby…" Jaune greeted his team leader somewhat nervously, how long had she been there? Why did she look so uncomfortable? She already knew about Whitback so had he done something else to her? His memory was a bit fuzzy but he didn't think anything else had happened.
"Oh! You're up." She jumped slightly at his words, a lost expression on her face told Jaune she was thinking hard about something. "C-could you come with me? your um… your so-... er- dau- hmm." She kept stopping, struggling to find the right words.
Jaune let her collect her thoughts while he made his way out of bed, stretching out to test if everything felt how it should. To no surprise everything was perfectly fine, Whitback being as thorough as always. Ruby finally found her voice as Jaune was standing up.
"Your... child wants to talk to you."
…
"What?" Jaune deadpanned, feeling very much like a joke was being played on him.
Ruby's face told him otherwise. "Your child." She said with a painfully awkward look on her face. "It wants to talk with you." Jaune was trying to figure out what else Ruby could have meant while Whitback was already taking them out the door.
Ruby zipped in front of them with her semblance, leading them to Ozpin's office. "You must be mistaken, what do you mean my child?" Jaune asked while they waited for the elevator to arrive.
"Well there's an unconscious woman and something that looks almost human protecting her" Ruby tried to explain quickly "And the almost person is saying its your child and… and it looks and sounds almost exactly like you. I-I think it's telling the truth…" She responded helplessly, silencing any argument from Jaune.
I can feel it's presence from this distance, she isn't lying. A part of us is inside Ozpin's office. Whitback confirmed and yet Jaune still struggled to wrap his mind around exactly what they meant. Didn't a child require sex? and more importantly two opposite genders to perform said sex?
The elevator dinged loudly and cracked open, stopping Jaune's thoughts and drawing his attention to the interior of Ozpin's large office. absently he noticed Weiss, Yang, Glynda and Ozpin but his eyes were pulled straight to the desk. On top of which was the unconscious woman Ruby spoke of and leaning over her was a humanoid mass of white and black.
"Whitback…?" Jaune had seen Whitback take that very form though it was far more masculine compared to the feminine form standing in front of them. It's not me, and yet it very clearly is… Whitback sounded just as confused as Jaune felt.
Without realising it Jaune (or perhaps Whitback) had approached the figure, scanning over the porcelain white skin before stopping at the eyes. He had never seen anything even remotely like himself and now he almost felt like he was looking into a mirror.
He couldn't believe what he was seeing, it was another Grimm like Whitback! He had so many questions but one stuck out above the others. "Who are you?" Jaune's voice lacked the nervous energy Ruby had heard in the elevator, replaced with an almost awestruck wonder.
"Who am I?" The creature looked unsure, almost bashful while it scratched the back of its neck in a rather human display of uncertainty. "I-I don't have a name, but hers is Lucy." It motioned to the woman lying on the desk, pushing the attention away from itself.
Jaune saw the woman's face and felt his heart sank as he realised just who she was and how she got this way. He felt a wave of guilt hit him as the torturous memories hit him like a train, removing any previous excitement of finding someone like himself.
"This is all my fault."
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So there was multiple ways i saw this playing out in my head and as I wrote this is what I ended up with, I admit I'm a lil nervous that I've buggered something up. That being said I can't say I'm unhappy with how things are progressing, I hope you guys agree and stick around! (please lemme know right away if not and why! I wanna improve if even if only a little!). We're going to be coming up to the outing at forever fall but honestly I'm not sure if that will be two chapters from now or ten, maybe I should work on planning better... Ah but I digress, like always I hope to hear what any of you think and I wish you all a happy day/night.
Sm0keyPanda, indeed it does! though i wonder if my way of dealing with problems right away doesn't take away that sense of... anticipation? either way I hope you like how I've tangle up the lives of our favorite characters!
Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh, There is still time for a breakup! and honestly that idea passed through my head because of paradox reader so its still clinking around up there. But after getting this far and being able to predict basically nothing accurately I can honestly say I'm not sure what'll next! (that sounds much worse than i mean it to. There is a plan in my head it just gets re modified so much while i write I can really recognize the final product from the starting.). For example I had no plans on turning assassin lady into what she is but while i wrote the idea popped in and didn't leave. I'll stop rambling, hope you enjoyed my latest writings!