Chapter 7: Alone
Jaune Arc was 8 years old sitting on the floor of his mansion, currently he was pushing around his latest toy car. He smiled as the wheels squeaked and the tiny car smashed into the wall next to him with a satisfying thud. He heard footsteps in the hall behind him, so the boy turned around to see his mom walking towards him with a confused look on her face. Wondering what was wrong with mom Jaune asked.
"What's wrong mommy? His mom smiled and looked at her son before responding.
"Nothing honey, It's just that your daddy hasn't come home from work and he was due an hour ago." As if on cue the doorbell rang which confused the worried mother, Micheal would never ring the doorbell. Carefully she walked up to the door and opened it slowly, only to be greeted by a man in a black suit. Wasting no time the man started off with.
"Are you Mrs. Jennifer Arc?" Mrs. Arc nodded slowly putting the pieces together. "Well Mr.s Arc I regret to inform you that your husband Micheal has suffered a serious injury. Do not worry Ma'am he is alive, but he won't be able to become a hunter, I'm sorry." At this point Jennifer was in tears as she asked.
"Where is he?"
"The hospital Mrs. Arc, I'm sorry but you won't be able to visit until tomorrow, since he isn't stable yet." And with that the man left swiftly. Jennifer closed the door softly and broke into tears.
Jaune opened his eye's after that dream with a start, he looked around having no idea where he was, he could see he was in a cave with Blake curled up and asleep next to him, Ruby was draped over his legs asleep too. Yang had her head resting on his stomach which made him blush, eyes open and looking at him with her hand on his shoulder. He made eye contact with the girl who only responded with a raised eyebrow, to which Jaune replied with a shrug.
"Bad dream… I've had worse though so don't worry." The blonde brawler moved on seeing that Jaune didn't want to talk about this one, and the two began talking about other things, family, hometowns, friends, and whatever else came to mind. Despite the circumstances they were having a good time, Yang was laughing at Jaune as he told a story about how he tried to be bold and ask a girl out at 1am by knocking on her front door. Long story short Jaune ended up with a handprint across his cheek and no for an answer. After she was done laughing however she became serious and blurted out.
"I'm sorry Jaune." Now it was Jaune's turn to be confused as he gave her a look that said 'go on' So she continued. "I'm sorry for when I punched you, I never actually apologized, and I'm sorry for hurting you yesterday. I feel like that's all I've done to you on this mission I'm so sorry." The knight looked down at Yang with a blank stare before responding.
"I forgive you Yang, yesterday was my fault anyway since I didn't tell you guys about my injury. Plus I view it as karma for not being able to pull you guy up on the Bullhead, Yatsuhashi could've lifted you three up."
Yang was about to slap or strangle Jaune she wasn't sure yet, he was honestly trying to blame himself for them being stranded and stabbed through the gut with a sword. To her surprise however, she laughed taking the blonde boy by surprise.
"Jaune you're such a dork oh my god! You can't honestly be blaming yourself for this happening, If anyone blame the fuckers that attacked us and hurt Ruby. Also don't compare yourself to Yatsu, you're not him and never will be, you're Jaune Arc, brave, courageous, and sometimes do dumb things like almost die for someone you barely know." Now it was Jaune's turn to chuckle and respond.
"You should smile more Yang, your smile's very pretty." At this point Yang clapped her hands together waking up her teammates up and scooted over to the fire to make sure it's out.
Jaune mentally face palmed he had been a little too confident and scared Yang away, not that she would ever like him, he just hoped she would consider him a friend, which was all he could really ask for. He looked at Ruby who sat up rubbing her neck as she did so, Jaune decided to have some fun at the girl's expense to try and raise morale.
"I don't think legs make the best pillows eh Ruby?" She replied by sticking her tongue out at him and lightly punching his leg. "I'm hurt Ruby, can't you be a little nicer to your pillow." Ruby elected not to respond this time and began to stand up. Jaune just laughed and looked over towards Blake who must've been really tired since all the commotion hadn't woke her up. The knight poked her, not getting a response he stepped it up and shook her, when she didn't respond he swore loudly.
"Fuck, goddammit, can't we have everyone conscious for one hour, I knew she had a concussion I should've been awake to stop her from going to bed till her aura healed her." He turned to the sisters next to him who look very confused and answered their silent question with. "She told me her head hurt when we woke up and now she's gonna be unconscious until her aura's healed her concussion." Ruby walked over to Jaune and patted his shoulder before comforting him with.
"Jaune nobody's to blame here, we're all worn down from this mission. Lets just go look for water, we need to assume we won't be rescued soon and plan accordingly." Jaune just nodded and began to scoop up Blake much to Yang's disapproval. Jaune noticed this and paused what he was doing and looked at the blonde before saying.
" Don't worry Yang I'm well rested so I won't overwork myself, plus I'm sort of the only one that can carry her so we don't leave her to the wolves. Since Ruby will be helping you walk, because I assume you can put a little pressure on it right?" Yang just nodded at the boy who responded with."Ok, now that we are all at an agreement lets go get us something to drink." When he finished he quickly put his sweatshirt on and finished picking Blake up, then walked out of the cave with the girls. After about a half hour of walking Ruby asked Jaune.
"Where exactly are we heading Jaune?" To which Jaune replied simply with.
"Downhill, they taught us that on the first day of survival class, or were you sleeping Ruby?" Ruby just laughed letting out a 'probably' as she did so.
They continued downhill slowly, since Ruby was the only one in good health she was letting Yang use her as support as she limped along. Letting out quiet grunts whenever she put too much pressure on her knee or stumbled when her leg almost gave out on her. Ruby was concerned for her friends, if she was honest with herself they were in really bad shape, she just really hoped rescue came before they came across anything big in the forest.
Trying to ignore her last thought she focused on the blonde boy next to her carrying their unconscious teammate. He had sweat running down his face from carrying her, but he didn't complain he just marched on bearing the burden of Blake silently even though he was clearly exhausted. Even though he wasn't limping Ruby knew he was the worst off of the group, he'd been through hell on this mission and it only got worse when they fell out of he Bullhead. It was at that point she realized just how strong the blonde knight was, maybe not on the physical side yet, but mentally. Jaune was a master tactician they knew that, but how he puts everyone else's feelings before his was crazy in her eyes, and he did so without a complaint. She thought back to when Weiss rejected him on multiple occasions he just took it in stride and even went as far as to set her up with Neptune. Realizing that he wouldn't stop moving until his body shut down she called out.
"Alright, we're taking a break right now, let's sit down." Jaune looked like he was about to object, but he silently gave in and sat down relishing the rest his body got.
After about five minutes Ruby saw Jaune stand up and stretch out, then he said.
"Alright that rest was nice, but we should really find water, then we can rest for at least one day." This time when Jaune picked up Blake he used the fireman's carry which told Ruby that he was getting tired. She really hoped that they could find water before Jaune or Yang gave out.
Thankfully it didn't take too long for Blake to wake up releasing Jaune from the burden of carrying her. She gave him a quick thanks and apologized for being dead weight. To which Jaune told her it wasn't her fault and not to worry about it. Soon thereafter they reached a lake similar to the one they slept by earlier in the mission except this one was much smaller, about the size of a Nevermore and seemed to have fish coming out of the river on the opposite side of the lake.
Without a word all 4 people rushed over and began drinking water silently until their thrust that had been accumulating over the past day and a half was quenched. With everyone satisfied Ruby felt her stomach rumble and said.
"Now that we have this water source we should stay here today and try to get some fish so we can also have full bellies." Everyone nodded and Jaune called out.
"Alright Blake and I will go get some fish as they go down the river, Ruby you get us some firewood so we can cook them. And Yang just chill out and let that leg heal." Not hearing any complaints Jaune set off toward the river with Blake.
They walked in silence until they got close to the river, at that point Blake nudged Jaune and asked.
"How're you holding up Jaune?" Jaune considered telling everything to Blake for a split second. He thought about his side that felt like it was on fire, or that his left shoulder was hurting again and it felt like his bones were grinding against each other every time he moved his arm, but in the end he responded with.
"Don't worry about me Blake, how's your head doin?" Blake cursed the blonde boy, he was an expert at deflecting conversation away from himself. She responded quickly with an 'I'm fine' and decided to ask him again later.
Shortly thereafter they reached the base of the river, and Jaune left Blake and went farther away from the lake so he could get the fish Blake missed. So far though after 5 minutes Blake had gotten 3 while Jaune was still empty handed. As he watched the blood from the fish flow down the river he felt it was unfair Blake's weapon gave her the advantage in this situation, he made a mental note to get an upgrade of some sort when they got back. While he was thinking he noticed the water to his right get darker, the hair on the back of his head stood up and instinctively he rolled to the right and not a second too soon because there was the head of a King Taijitu where he just was that had splashed fish blood all over him. He didn't wait a second though because where one was, the other was never far behind, so Jaune grabbed his shield and ran towards Blake who noticed what had just went down and saw that there were more coming down from the trees behind them.
"Let's get the fuck out of here Blake!" Jaune yelled as he ran with her back to the others.
Ruby stood atop the tallest tree she could find holding her scroll over her head hoping that she could get a signal, her wish came true when she saw one bar appear. She hurriedly hit the emergency button tapped Ozpin's name and put it up to her ear. It hadn't even rang once when she heard Professor Ozpin's voice as he said.
"Thank god you're ok miss Rose, we're sending a Bullhead right now to get you and your group are you guys alive?"
Ruby's jaw was open, she was looking towards the river, but trees made it so she couldn't see her friends. That is until they burst from the treeline followed by at least 6 pairs of King Taijitu. She heard Ozpin start saying something else but she interrupted him with.
"Sir send some students with that Bullhead, we're all alive right now but Jaune and Blake seem to have stumbled upon a nest of King Taijitu, and we are in no condition to fight these, goodbye Professor." She hung up and started climbing down as fast as she could hoping that they could get through this.
Jaune was scared shitless, he heard the giant snakes behind him gaining on them, their heavy bodies slithering across the grass behind him, knowing that they weren't slowing down terrified him. Adrenaline was the only thing that kept his legs pumping while his body threatened to quit on him. They ran to the two girls, Yang leaning against a tree for support as they stood in a circle, they knew they needed to act fast the Grimm were about 20 seconds away and there were a lot of them. Ruby quickly told the two that had just arrived.
"I made contact with Ozpin, he's sending a Bullhead to get us." Jaune nodded then took lead and said.
"Alright girls, let's have Yang propped up against this tree firing supportive rounds when she can. We'll just defend around this tree until we get the support from Beacon Ozpin promised us. I just want you 3 to know that no matter what happens I'm glad I had the honor of becoming friends with you guys and everyone at Beacon." With that Jaune turned towards the beasts who were now upon them and willed his semblance around him. Nothing happened, he wasn't too surprised, he was so exhausted he doubted he could take off the clothes he was wearing let alone summon weird ass aura armor to protect him. So he readied himself as the Grimm slithered towards him almost casually, like they knew that they weren't going to try to run.
Jaune gulped and prepared his shield to block, he wasn't exactly in the condition to dodge unless on reflex. Jaune saw the black head pull back before lunging forward, Jaune blocked the hit and chopped the head off while it was recovering from its failed attempt to hit the boy. The minor victory gave him some confidence, until the white head rammed into him knocking him across the grass dirtying his clothes and nearly rendered his sword arm useless. He knew he couldn't pity himself now, he stood up dropped his shield and put his sword into the now empty hand and waited for the white head's attack. He knew what it would do, open its giant mouth and go for the final blow, but Jaune was ready, dropping his sword and grabbing the Snake by the fangs just like how Ren told him he did during initiation. Both of his arms were burning, his right more than his left as he struggled to keep the creature from sinking it's fang's into him. Sweat was running down his face as his muscles throbbed, he knew that he couldn't last long like this, but he didn't know what to do. Suddenly he felt something hot fly under his right arm and then the King Taijitu pulled back and closed it's mouth, Jaune looked back at Yang who cocked her gauntlets back, nodded at Jaune and turned to help Blake who was having trouble with her third King Taijitu.
Jaune had a temporary break in action, which he used to grab his shield and carry it with his good arm, and put the sword in his other hand. Now though he had a dilemma, drop his shield and wield his sword, or drop his sword and focus on defending until rescue came. He chose to be defensive and dropped his sword, and not a second too soon as one pair of snakes approached him and hissed at him while they figured out how to kill the knight. Jaune on the other hand was trying to figure out how not to die via snake fangs before help came from Beacon. The Grimm decided seemed to notice that Jaune had no weapon and began ramming it's heads into Jaune's shield, slowly pushing him back as Jaune grunted after every hit feeling his left arm begin to falter as he slowly got closer to the tree Yang was standing in front of. Said girl had now begun shooting dust shells at the snakes as they continued their assault against Jaune, the knight waited for Yang to stagger the black head which was on his left, when she did he threw his shield like a frisbee into its open mouth lodging it in the back of it's mouth, a as it slid right and with all the energy he could muster he dropkicked it causing the shield to cut through the middle of the snake and kill it instantly leaving just the other head alive. What he failed to remember while making this plan though was that the badass maneuver left him defenseless and weaponless, so Jaune made a break for his sword since going for his shield meant certain death. Unfortunately for Jaune the snake had gone into a frenzy and by time Jaune had reached his sword the snake was already on top of him not even being slowed down by Yang's shotgun blasts as it charged.
Jaune knew this was the end of him he felt everything slow down as the giant maw of the snake opened and turned sideways ready to put two holes in his chest that he wouldn't survive from. He closed his eyes and waited for the jaws to clamp around him, but to his surprise it never came. He felt something hit him to the side and then he felt himself sliding across the ground, but not the fangs he was anticipating. When he looked up he saw something worse than death taking him, he saw Yang standing there two fangs poking out of her back as she looked at Jaune and said.
"Now we're even" Jaune instantly was on his feet and slicing off the beast's head with a cry as he removed Yang from the creature's mouth and set her gently down on the ground. Tears formed in Jaune's eyes as he applied pressure to Yang's wounds in a fruitless attempt to stop the bleeding, as he yelled.
"It was supposed to be me, not her not anyone else goddammit!" Jaune leaned over the girl who coughed up blood before she said quietly.
"I'm cold Jaune… I don't think I'm ready to die" Jaune shook his head before crying out and saying.
"Yang, don't say that, it's all my fault this happened you're getting out of here I promise!" Yang shook her head and coughed before whispering to Jaune.
"Take care of Rubes for me Jaune, I know you'll keep her safe." Even as the light started to leave her eyes Jaune couldn't accept that she was about to die, in fact he wouldn't accept that she was about to die. Then suddenly Jaune felt something inside him snap, and then dark energy seemed to begin pouring out of him. Jaune barely had enough time to call out to Ruby and say.
"Take Blake away from here don't turn back until you hear the Bullhead. Now!" Ruby didn't hesitate at all grabbing Blake and getting them the hell out of there trusting Jaune.
Before Jaune could do anything else a suit of armor appeared around him, but this time it was pitch black compared to the white armor he had summoned a couple days ago. But this time he knew that this side of him craved death, he could already feeling it urge him to kill anything that came near him. Which luckily was about 8 King Taijitu that had now circled him while that whole ordeal had gone down. He picked up his sword, which was also as black as his armor and he started smiling, he had no control over his smiling, in fact he had no control over his body which completely and utterly terrified him. It felt like a dream, but as he slashed at the snakes and felt their retaliation, he knew it wasn't a dream, he watched the stuff that dissolved from the dead Grimm go into Yang's wound. Mentally he smiled as he saw Yang's eyes flutter open albeit briefly it meant she was alive. So the more I kill the more I heal her? How do I stop oh fuck this is bad as dicks.
Jaune was interrupted from his thoughts by a bullhead hovering over his head as he finished off the last of the Grimm, at once he heard a loud voice over the speakers call out his name. He willed his body to respond to him but it wouldn't listen, he was concentrating so hard it hurt, his brain felt like it was turning to mush as he felt his body respond to him by waving then suddenly, the armor faded away, he gained control of his body, he threw up, then passed out
Fuckin hell guys I'm sorry and I hate to use the same excuse everyone gives, but school, starting up made it hard for me to get this done, hell it's 1:50 am at the time I'm finishing this, plus my editor/ beta reader can't help me anymore so I'm on my own, if this chapter is too shitty I'll edit it for you guys Thanks for reading!
P.S leaving a review really helps motivate me, criticism is appreciated as long as it isn't too harsh Thanks!
