Roaring waters. Rot and decay. Orange and red flowers upon a mound of mud. A cavern by a waterfall. A flash, he was flying. The world was enveloped in a sea of endless flame.
Rage. Burning rage. His vision was red, his throat raw as he screamed and screamed and screamed.
"Jaune! Wake up!"
He groggily opened his eyes, "Pyrrha?"
Where was he? Was this still a dream? A nightmare? His face was lightly slapped, drawing him further out of his stupor.
"You were thrashing in your sleep. Is your nose bleeding?"
He slowly raised his hand to his face. His nose was bleeding. The blood was pooling down his lips as he sat up. When was the last time he had a nosebleed like this? He sat up.
"I suppose I am. Give me a moment, Pyrrha," there was not much he could do to clean himself up without a water source.
Jaune stood up and headed over towards their bag of supplies. In his preparations, he had packed a sewing needle and some thread to aid in patching up any tears in their gambesons. Only a few patches of fabric were included, but in an emergency the fabric could be used as a bandage. In this particular case, one of the patches made for a perfect tool for wiping the blood from his face and stemming the flow from his nose.
"What time of day is it?" He held the patch of fabric against his nose as he mumbled out his question.
Pyrrha poked her head out of the tent for a moment before speaking, "Very early in the morning. Are you feeling alright, Jaune? You must have had a bad nightmare."
"I don't think this weather agrees with me. It's just another nosebleed, so don't worry too much. I don't remember much about the nightmare. Think I punched my nose when I was thrashing in my sleep?"
"Hm, maybe. You're certainly clumsy enough to. There is enough light out to get moving again. Do you want me to start taking apart the tent? You look exhausted," she moved restlessly around the tent.
"No, it's fine. This will go faster if we work together. We can eat on the road. Can't risk spending too much time in one spot now that the sun is coming up," he held his nose again with the fabric.
She was staring at him, "If you're sure…"
"I am, Pyrrha. Please, let's just pack things up. I'm alright, so don't worry about me."
Before long, their tent was packed and they continued their journey down the mountain. It was around the late-afternoon when they faced their final obstacle to enter the Disputed lands. The bottom path of the mountain contained a small garrisoned castle of Lower Cairn soldiers. They were the first defensive force of the territory. More importantly, they were led by his second eldest sister, Violet Arc.
Jaune and Pyrrha stopped a distance away from the walled castle. Getting around the wall was not a viable option. He might have been able to do so on foot, but it would mean leaving Pyrrha behind. His hands were tied, leaving him very few choices.
"Pyrrha, we'll go straight through the front. I might be able to talk my way through before Violet knows I've arrived. We haven't seen any airships yet, so I doubt anyone within the garrison knows we've fled. If Violet sees us, I don't know if we'll be able to escape."
"I'll trust you. Are you going to be using your bratty noble routine?" She had a small grin on her half visored face.
"Absolutely. I'm going to be insufferable to the point they should hopefully just shove us out the gates."
With very little options available, he directed Pyrrha towards the castle gates. As the two neared the castle, the gate guards seemed to take notice of their approach given the drawing of their weapons.
He squeezed Pyrrha's shoulder as he whispered, "Take it easy, let me do all the talking."
The two guards approached with swords drawn. The female guard on the right yelled out, "State your name! Explain why you have this abomination with you!"
Jaune scoffed as he reached past his chainmail and gambeson to fetch the sigil necklace around his neck, "I shall do no such thing. Know your place! You speak to an Arc! Stop wasting my time. Open the gates and stand aside."
He dangled the sigil necklace before both of the guards. Being soldiers of the Duchy of Lower Cairn, they were sure to recognize the significance behind the necklace. The two guards kept their swords drawn as their heads pivoted towards the necklace in his grasp.
The female guard on the left spoke up, "The Commander has the same exact sigil. This looks legitimate, Sarah."
The guard on the right took another step forward to look at the necklace, "Apologies. This is a legitimate sigil of the Arc household. Given your appearance, you must be Jaune Arc. We welcome you!"
At her words, both her and the other soldier sheathed their swords before pounding their armor in a salute with a single closed fist.
Jaune rolled his eyes at the display, "Clearly! Now let me through. I have business to attend to within the castle walls. You two have already wasted enough of my time. If you hurry, I will not tell my sister you drew your blades on me."
The soldier to the right spoke, "We are terribly sorry. You must understand our precau-"
"I am growing impatient!" He glared down at both soldiers from the top of Pyrrha's back.
The left soldier yelled near the gate, "Open the gate! We have a distinguished guest!"
As the two passed by the guards Pyrrha muttered, "Assholes."
The right soldier's hand shook on the pommel of her sheathed sword as Pyrrha and Jaune passed through the open gate into the castle courtyard. A glance at the top of the walls surrounding the courtyard was enough to see just how garrisoned the castle was. Several groups of soldiers manned different portions of the walls. From his memory, the garrison within the southern mountain pass castle amounted to around 200. At least a tenth of the garrison manned the walls at any given time.
Jaune whispered to Pyrrha, "Speed up. The announcement of a distinguished guest arriving just lost us a considerable amount of time to escape."
Pyrrha's speed slowly increased into a trot as they made their way across the cobblestone path dividing the courtyard of the castle. A good portion of the soldiers along the wall were glancing down at them. More than a few held bows in their grasp. Jaune was sure quite a few arrows would have been heading their way if he wasn't announced to be a distinguished guest.
Pyrrha spoke up as they continued forwards past a cleared portion of the courtyard containing only one large object, "We might have a problem. Did you notice the landing zone?"
Jaune glanced over his shoulder, "Only one air balloon. Where's the other?"
"Patrol or supply run, which would be worse for us?" She whispered back.
Jaune looked back up at the manned walls, "Patrol. It would mean something has them on edge in the Disputed lands. A war between tribes or clans would make getting through the Disputed lands into the Wastes a challenge."
"We can only hope it's a supply run. We should be out of the castle by the time the air balloon spreads news of our escape," Pyrrha sounded nervous.
Jaune put his hand on her shoulder, "We'll be fine. Just focus on getting us out of here. There's no point in focusing on what might happen if we never get out of here in the first place."
As they neared the gate to the Disputed lands, a commotion began in the courtyard behind them. Large castle doors opened exposing a knight in gleaming silver plate armor. A blue and gold tabard was draped over the figure. Four knights stood behind the silver plated Commander of the castle. The group of five seemed to be aware of their presence.
"Shit! Why is she here already? Hurry Pyrrha!"
At his words, Pyrrha sped up into a canter. The soldier at the inner gate seemed baffled by the spectacle of the two rapidly approaching their position. The soldier approached them as they stopped at the closed gate.
"The gate's off limits to outsiders. Away with you!"
Jaune looked over his shoulder to see the knights still approaching them from a distance. He looked down at the guard, "You will open the gate this instant or I will see you removed from the castle!"
He dangled his sigil in his hand as he tried to fight off a wave of anger and anxiety. They were so close to fully escaping. He would not let some soldier of his territory condemn him.
The guard's eyes widened before she saluted, "Milord! The Comm-"
Jaune rested his hand on the pommel of his blade, his anxiety erupting into a roar, "Open the damn gate!"
He nervously glanced over his shoulder to see the knights moving at a jog. One of the figures was shouting something in the distance.
The gate guard awkwardly shifted in place before turning around to yell, "Open the gate!"
The portcullis was a quarter of the way open when the approaching force was close enough for the voice of the Commander to carry to the gate, "Close the gate!"
Jaune pulled his sword from his sheath, "Ignore that order!"
His sword was pointed towards the gate guard. The guard kept her hands at her side as she looked between Jaune and the approaching knights.
The gate guard took one deep breath before shouting, "Close the gate!"
"I can make it!" Pyrrha yelled.
Jaune turned his gaze from the gate guard to the now barely half-way opened portcullis. It was still slowly opening in the confusion of the situation.
"Go!" He squeezed Pyrrha's shoulder.
A bell above them began to ring as she started to move at a gallop towards the large castle gate. Jaune ducked down, holding Pyrrha around her waist. She ducked her own head as they passed through the gate. A moment after, the portcullis slammed down behind them. If they were just a second too late…
A flurry of arrows rained down from the top of the castle walls. Jaune held his breath as arrow after arrow nearly struck them. Each arrow just barely veering away from them as Pyrrha stormed forwards. It was a surreal experience to see the volley strike the ground a hair's breadth away from them. He could only thank whatever deity decided to bless them on this day. Whether it be the Father God or the heretical Mother Goddess.
Jaune leaned to the side and vomited as Pyrrha continued to gallop forwards. His ears picked up shouting near the castle gate.
"Hold your fire! Stop ringing the damn bell and open the gate! Jaune, get back here! Have you gone mad?!"
He looked towards the gate to see it opening again. Violet had her sword and shield drawn as she stood near the opening portcullis. Dozens of arrows littered the ground between their positions.
He wiped his lips as a small grin grew on his face. He shouted one last time as Pyrrha galloped them into the Disputed lands, "Absolutely! Goodbye, Violet!"
Pyrrha did not stop until the castle was a mere speck in the distance. She heaved as she paused to catch her breath. Jaune was lost in manic laughter as he tried to process the insanity behind what they just did.
His manic laughter spread, causing Pyrrha to similarly giggle, "W-we did it!"
She turned over her shoulder to meet his gaze only to see the tears freely falling from his face, "Jaune? We made it! We're okay. Both of us are okay."
He was overwhelmed by emotion. He didn't know whether to be terrified or ecstatic by their escape. If they waited a mere second longer or veered just a little off their course…
He wrapped his hands around Pyrrha's waist as he laid his head against her back, "I'm sorry. That was…too close for comfort. We almost didn't make it out."
The escape from his home only required dodging a single arrow. This time, they were almost crushed by the gate and were forced to dodge a rain of arrows to make their escape. His head was pounding as he tried to process everything. This was madness, utter insanity.
"But we did, Jaune! We made it out. Both of us are safe. I'm safe, you're safe. Please calm down," Pyrrha would have sounded more convincing to his ears if her voice didn't shake as she spoke.
Jaune reached into the pack of supplies on the back of Pyrrha. He pulled out one of the bottles of mead before popping open the glass bottle. He hovered the bottle above his mouth, letting the liquid fall freely into his mouth. He silently handled the bottle over to Pyrrha as he tried to clear his thoughts.
She pressed the bottle up against her lips before downing half of the bottle in one uninterrupted drinking binge. Neither of them had much to say as they spent a few minutes calming down. Pyrrha began to slowly move forwards again before long. They could not risk staying in one place for long with Violet potentially pursuing on foot or through using the air balloon within the castle.
They pushed forward, switching between paces to ensure Pyrrha did not exhaust herself. By the time they finally finished their descent down the mountain, the warm hues of the setting sun dyed the skies. There was no sign of pursuers as they trekked into the dark canopied forest of the Disputed lands. Patches of sunlight from the canopy illuminated the dirt trail they followed.
He had done some research on the Disputed lands before going through with his desperate gambit of a plan. The archives in his family castle contained various reports of clans and small villages established within the Disputed lands. Despite being illegitimate territorial claims, his family still recorded those claiming ownership of various settlements. While he didn't have a map, records indicated some sort of village by a large lake a ways away from the mountains.
Given the slow fading of the sun, it was not a viable option to continue their travel.
Jaune tapped Pyrrha's shoulder, "We've gone far enough today. Let's look for a clearing."
Pyrrha tilted her head to the side, "I think I hear running water to our east. Should we head off path?"
"Running water sounds great. I'd like a chance to clean up some of the dried blood on my gambeson. Let's not go too far off the trail if we can help it."
Pyrrha veered off the trail, passing in between trees. They spent only a handful of minutes heading deeper into the forest before coming across a pond framed by hilly terrain. Jaune faintly heard rushing water as Pyrrha continued to follow the muddy shoreline of the pond. His nose itched as he smelt smoke in the distance.
Pyrrha frowned, "I see faint light behind the trees over there. Someone may have already set up camp near the running water."
Jaune rested his hand on the pommel of his sword, "Should we try to make friends? Depending on who is out here, you might have to do the talking."
Pyrrha nodded, "We should. I've had enough excitement for today. I would very much like to avoid running for our lives again."
As they neared the campsite, Jaune shouted out, "Hello! Anyone here? We're travelers seeking a place to camp for the night!"
Pyrrha passed through one final patch of trees before the camp became visible. A small tent and a single campfire sat in the center of a clearing. North of the camp, a small elevated stone waterfall trailed water down a side path towards the pond. A variety of red and orange flowers bloomed near the trail of water. East of the waterfall, a crevice dug into the earth of the hillside.
The world was spinning. His head was pounding.
Something was wrong.
A voice he didn't recognize called out to them from the sky, "Oh! Ren! Look at her! I've never seen a faunus like her before!"
He tore his gaze from the crevice, only to see an orange haired harpy hovering above them. White plumage enveloped her arms as she flapped in the air. Her leather shorts gave him a view of plumage along her legs as well as her sharp talons. Held within those talons, was a lithe black haired male faunus with wolf ears and a large fluffy tail. A bow was drawn in his hands as he floated above them, held in the air by some type of harness strapped to his shoulders.
"She's a Centaur, Nora. I was under the impression they were confined to Mistral."
Pyrrha shouted in response to the floating faunus, "We mean no harm! We're just travelers."
Ren kept his bow trained on them, "Heavily armed for travelers. Mercenaries?"
Jaune's head was still pounding as he answered in Pyrrha's place, "Adventures would be a more apt title. You?"
The harpy shouted down, "Treasure hunters! Ruin delvers! Shiny collectors! I'm Nora, this is Ren!"
Ren rested his grip on the drawn bow, "Nora, you could have just said we were adventures."
"Where's the fun in that? They seem okay, Ren. Look how much stuff they have packed! They must have traveled far."
Pyrrha spoke as she pointed over her shoulder, "I'm Pyrrha, this is Jaune. We've been traveling for most of the day. We're looking for a place to set up camp tonight. Are you willing to share this clearing? We have our own tent."
The two seemed to silently communicate in the air before landing on the floor by the campfire. Both took seats on the floor near the fire as they kept their gazes on them.
Ren spoke from the campfire, "Stay away from our tent and keep your weapons away from us. If you want to barter any of your supplies for ours, come to me. We might be able to come to an agreement."
Jaune nodded before pulling himself off of Pyrrha. The two faunus seemed to be around their age. It was a risk to camp with strangers, but they didn't have much more daylight to search for a possible campsite. The two faunus were certainly not as heavily armored, given they were only wearing basic leather. If the worst case scenario were to occur, he was sure he could escape with Pyrrha.
He was broken out of his thoughts by the harpy faunus, "Hey, blonde guy! Your nose is bleeding. We can help! We collected a whole bunch of herbs today. Let me boil some into tea for you!"
He reached for his nose to find blood trailing down towards his lips, "It's Jaune. I would appreciate any solution to this annoyance. We have some mead we can exchange in return. Just… let me get the tent up first."
He pulled the supplies from Pyrrha's back. As he passed her, her gaze shifted between his eyes and nose, "Don't overwork yourself. Take your time, okay?"
He nodded in response as his eyes scanned the clearing. Something about the hillside crevice bothered him. He felt on edge as he began to set up their tent for the night. He needed to finish setting up the tent, clean up his face, and see about getting that herbal tea from the harpy faunus.
