A/N: Happy Friday. The muse likes this story most right now. Adventuresome and she seem to be at an impasse right now.
Several weeks have passed since the incident at the abandoned settlement. Jaune sneaks off nightly now to train with his videos. He's running himself ragged with them both physically and emotionally. They're at a hunters lodge for the next few days. A small part of him is grateful that he cant sneak off as easily. A bit of a forced break, its not unwelcome and a few full nights sleep does everyone good. The weather is warming and the first birds of spring sing their songs waking the group this morning.
The mission boards are down for maintenance so they wont have any work for the day. It's another opportunity to relax. Ranger are walking down the main street of the little town. Ruby and Nora are talking about something he only caught the tail end of. Ruby's wide armed spin catches his attention and he smiles. He has great affection for the little silver eyed girl. He takes a minute to just take the scene in. He catches his reflection in a store window again. For just a moment guilt tries to take hold, a squee from Ruby pulls him back.
This town has a pet sanctuary. Nora and Ruby have their faces pressed to the window. Nora looks to Ren and Ruby looks to Jaune. Their unspoken request meeting the boys full force. Jaune and Ren share a look. The blonde boy sighs dramatically. "Just for a little while." He relents. Ruby flashes a brilliant smile in his direction. Jaune smiles gently in return. Ren quietly observes the interaction picking up something familiar in it. The sanctuary is welcoming and the group are allowed to pet or play with any of the animals they wish. It's no surprise when Ruby is drawn to a little corgi mix.
She's sitting on the floor and the little dog has crawled in her lap. She scratches it's ears and nuzzles its fur. She finds the pups nametag "Prince" is his name. She coos the dogs name and tells him he's the second goodest boy in the world, scratching his chin. She looks up realizing Jaune is still standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. "Come sit with me and pet Prince!" She calls up to him flashing puppy dog eyes at him again. He idly wonders how her father ever told her no growing up. He settles next to her and before long the two are playing fetch with the pupper.
Ren and Nora, mostly Nora are fawning over a large fluffy dog. The redheaded girl looks over to her friends in time to see the little legged dog trot over to Ruby, drop the ball and flop on the floor in a sploot. Ruby giggles and absentmindedly leans her head on Jaune's shoulder. Jaune himself is absently scratching the little dogs ears enjoying a moment of contentment. Nora smiles, she makes a mental note to talk with Ruby soon. Seems she and Ruby are in similar boats. That is if Ruby even realizes it herself. Puppy play time comes to an end all too soon. The group set out to find something to eat.
A little outdoor weapons stand derails Ruby, predictably. While she is busy browsing the scene calls Jaune's mind back to the night of the carnival. The smile on his face fades. Thoughts of the carnival bring to mind thoughts of the grimm infested town. His fists clench. Thoughts of the town bring him back around to thoughts of not being strong enough and the consequences. His body stiffens Ren senses the change in his friend. "Jaune?" He calls out. The young knight doesn't answer right away. It takes Ren calling out a second time to get his attention. Jaune blinks once "Go on without me, I'm not in the mood to shop anymore." His voice has an angry edge to it that catches Nora's attention.
"What about Ruby?" Nora decides to test the waters. Ren shoots her a reproachful look.
"She's got you two." He says simply, he turns walking off, no real destination in mind. Nora grumbles to Ren that this is something like the fifth time Jaune's ran off in the middle of a fun day. She is telling the truth. Two days in a row in the town prior the blonde boy had abruptly left the group. A few times more in between.
Jaune ends up in the towns gym/dojo. He spends several hours in the place. It's a good way to work out his frustrations. He was falling back into the trap of comfort hours ago. He doesn't have the luxury of being comfortable if he wants to be stronger. He lost Pyrrha to his weakness, he very nearly lost Ruby a few weeks ago as well. What's worse he was sitting around being happy when his partner is dead because of that very weakness. The dojo only serves to slightly tame his internal raging. He paces the streets of the little community fuming at himself. He ends up in a little deserted alley at the height of his anger. He shouts out punching the brick wall. The blonde boys brain finally catches up to his hand as he shakes it in pain. The caw of a crow catches his attention. "What are you looking at?" He mumbles at the thing. He almost swears the bird rolls its eyes at him.
Sighing he decides to go back to the lodge. Passing a little park a flutter of red fabric catches his attention. It's Ruby and even from the street he can see she's performing maintenance on Crescent Rose. A quick scan of the area reveals Ren and Nora aren't with her. She is actually all alone in the park. There's an odd tension in her body language, something he's never seen when she's working on "her baby". He wrestles with himself for several minutes before deciding ultimately to go to her. She finishes up the last bit of her work and snaps Crescent Rose onto her holster. Turning to leave the park she spots Jaune walking towards her. The tension in her body language eases and she smiles at him.
He allows her to meet him half way. He quirks an eyebrow when her smile falls. Jaune follows her gaze to his injured hand. He hadn't realized he was still cradling it.
She reaches out for his hand but he pulls back. "what happened?" her voice is quiet and carries a weight of worry with it.
"It's nothing, don't worry about it." He lies and makes to put his hand behind his back.
"Let me see." She states firmly.
"It's ok really, where are Ren and Nora?" He attempts to change the subject.
"Jaune, let me see." Her tone brokers no arguments. Idly he wonders if she got that tone from her dad, Uncle, or Yang, probably Yang he decides. Sighing he reluctantly lets her examine his hand. His aura already beginning to mend the scrapes.
"What happened." She frowns deeply, gently examining his hand.
He finds he can't meet her gaze. "I lost a fight with a wall."
Jaune didn't know it was possible to sigh angrily. The sound coming from the tiny reaper causes him to look up. She opens and closes her mouth a few times. She's clearly having trouble finding the words to express whatever she is feeling. She settles on a growl. His hand is released from hers and she walks briskly away from him. Jaune stands confused for a moment before he comes to his senses. The young knight realizes he's been so intent on running from and indulging in his own emotions that he hadn't given much thought to anyone else's. "I'm an idiot" He sighs Into the air. The blackbirds caw almost sounds like its agreeing with him.
Ren and Nora come into view as he leaves the park. "There you are!" Nora calls waving him down. "Have you seen Ruby? She was supposed to meet us here." The redhead finishes.
"She was here, I think I made her mad?" Jaune rubs his neck.
"You made her mad?" Ren repeats confused.
Nora prickles. "What did you do?" There's a warning edge to her voice that causes him to step back.
"He's running off without telling us where he's going and getting himself hurt." Ruby grumbles from behind them. Jaune ducks a little at her tone. She grabs the wrist of his uninjured hand and drags him to a nearby picnic table. Ren and Nora shrug at each other a follow. "Sit" Ruby demands and he obeys. She opens up a small first aid kit. That's where she stormed off to Jaune reasons. "Hand now." She again demands. He complies again and allows her to clean his hand and bandage the scrapes, she does so in silence.
The tension in the air gets to be too much for Nora. "How did you hurt your hand again?" she finally asks.
"I.. hit a wall" The young knight dares not dodge the subject.
"You hit a wall?" Ren repeats again in confusion.
The sound of the first aid kit snapping closed catches everyone's attention. "I'm going back to the lodge." Ruby states simply. The anger is gone, but its replaced with weariness. She doesn't wait and just walks away. The three stand in silence for a few minutes. Nora looks to Ren, he gives an almost inperceprable nod to her. Nora jogs to catch up with Ruby, but not before giving Jaune a reproachful look. Jaune in turn looks to Ren who sighs.
"Jaune, we know you're having a hard time of things, we all are. Your disappearing and avoidance of the group during our down times. Its not doing anyone any favors." Jaune opens his mouth to speak but Ren puts his hand up to stop him. "We're not asking you talk about whatever it is until you're ready. We just need you by our side in the meantime. We're all each other have." Ren places his hand on Jaune's shoulder.
"You're right, I'm not handling things the best. I'm sorry." Jaune sighs.
"Don't apologize to me apologize to Ruby." Ren pats Jaune's shoulder secretly enjoying the other boys confusion. The boys leave the park catching up with the girls just before they enter the lodge. Jaune apologizes, promising not to run off and get hurt any more. Ruby smiles every trace of tension and anger leaving her. Nora nods sharply in apparent approval.
The following morning they leave the town. It feels nice to be travelling again. Ruby takes to post hopping when one of the trails leading out of town has low "fencing" marking the path. She's using Jaune's shoulder to keep steady hopping from one to the next. The young knight cant help but smile at the tiny reaper. Her hand on his shoulder leaves him feeling warm again. He makes a point of not drawing away again. Nora nudges Ren to make sure he sees the cute scene. He nods to the redhead. She grins back. They manage to make it further than they anticipated before settling for the night. Jaune sneaks off training again. The memories of being pushed into the locker something he uses to push himself. The image changes, this time when he swings his sword he sees Ruby being swatted out of the air by the alpha. The images flicker back and forth during his training. He is so focused on training he doesn't take the time to think on what it means. The training continues through the night.
The early morning sky steadily darkens as they travel. A rumbling thunder in the distance makes it clear an early spring storm is on its way. The sudden downpour has them looking for shelter. The rain is cold and they are soaked to the bone in no time. Mercifully they happen upon an abandoned two room shack. Luck was on their side as the little buildings fireplace seemed undamaged and the previous occupant left some firewood behind. The fire is started and the girls and guys take turns changing into their spare clothes in the second room. They huddle around the fire, eat and play cards waiting on the storm to pass and their clothes to dry.
The storm shows no signs of letting up so they resolve themselves to staying overnight. Nora and Ruby drift off to sleep first that night. Ren and Jaune continue talking quietly amongst themselves. The dark haired boy notes that Jaune is idly twisting his fingers through Ruby's hair. The sleeping arrangements having the boys closest to the door and the girls closest to the fire. Jaune follows his friends gaze and surprises Ren by just smiling gently he continues playing with her hair. Jaune flicks his eyes toward Nora, Ren is doing the same thing. The dark haired boy and blonde boy share a smile. Jaune allows himself a this small act of comfort. His brain stubbornly refusing to read more into it.
A/N: I have a feeling next chapter wont be as fluffy as the end of this one was. Also Nora ships it. heh