Welcome to another chapter. First thank you everybody for reading, following, and liking this story. It's always a pleasure to see people enjoy this and leaving comments. I really enjoy hearing your thoughts on where this is going, how it is going, and where it might go. Now for the shoutout, this months goes to Sunshine by RocknRoll7575, I would call it an exile Fic. The blonde night hits the road with a slightly shifted timeline, aiming to rejoin Beacon in his second year. Once again thanks for ready and please review I like hearing from all of you
Beta Reader: BlackJackHero
An explosion rings out causing the passing students in the courtyard to look up. Headmaster Lionheart comes barreling out of the smoke and crashes into the courtyard ground, bouncing once before flipping up and onto his feet. "Clear out!" he yells with authority, waving his arm to clear the smoke that was sticking to him.
A whistling sound accompanies small objects erupting from the smoke following the headmaster. Haven's First Lion begins jumping to the side as small explosions destroy the area he was just standing in, before his eyes catch a student who is frozen in surprise. Without thinking he moves in front of the student and holds up his buckler, another explosion follows.
The smoke clears showing Leonardo with steam rising from his body, now a little larger. "Carry on student, you have elsewhere to be," his voice now calm, but slightly deeper. More whistling echoes across the courtyard, in response Leonardo spins the disk on buckler landing on green then back the other way to black.
A dark pulse bursts forth, and small objects freeze in the air with a matching color surrounding them. Now held in place the small jellyfish like Grimm are visible to all passing students, "Students, those of you with firearms, please assist." Small explosions ring out as the students aim and shoot the small Grimm out of the air.
Standing up to his full height and pulling his collar tight he addresses the courtyard, "Thank you for your assistance; now as I instructed earlier, clear out."
The students waste no time clearing the area, and as the last student manages to clear the area an oppressive force pushes down on the lion faunus. It takes every ounce of his power to throw himself out of the way as a spear tipped tentacle pierces the ground and descending from the smoke at the end of the appendage is a Seer. Its head glows red and the oppression starts anew freezing its prey in place, spreading it tentacles more of the small jellyfish flow from the bottom of its round head.
They briefly float in the air before vanishing, the whistling sounds starting anew, clearly signaling the attack. Suddenly Qrow appears tackling the headmaster to the side as more small explosions tear apart the ground, "What the Fuck Leo!?"
"I'll explain later Qrow. We need to deal with that first."
"Ok, fill me in."
"It can let out a force of some sort, it freezes you in place, then it will either spear you or fire off those small explosive versions of itself," answers the head mast with certainty.
Qrow looks at his old friend before eyeing the Grimm, "More thinking Grimm, just my luck. Anything else?"
"It can detonate them remotely."
"Fuck!"
They split running in different directions as more of the tiny missiles try to find their mark. Qrow starts to shoot at the main body, and gapes as it weaves in between the bullets. Quickly changing his approach, he shifts Harbinger into a scythe, channeling his aura he launches three overlapping aura slashes trapping the creature with their flight path. In response it releases more of the small bodies, they meet and explode against the attack of the veteran hunter.
The Seer charges Qrow through the smoke, making the huntsman roll away. Seeing the dodge, it stops just above the ground and spins, lashing out the barbed tentacles scoring hits and causing gray aura to spark. Still spinning it throws itself into Qrow's gut, the huntsman plants his scythe into the ground to stop himself from being thrown away. Using the scythe as leverage sends a kick that lifts the Grimm into the air.
Watching the creature take off after Qrow, the headmaster spins Stalwart quickly selecting red and brown dust crystals. Charging forward Leonardo appears behind the Seer fist cocked back and coated in molten rock. The sound of an eruption crashes against the air as the powerful blow lands, creates a controlled explosion, and spikes the creature into the ground. Bouncing off the ground bits of debris and fire raining around it, the glowing tip of a scythe splits it down its center.
"Qrow!"
Small jellyfish bodies fall from the split in great numbers, Qrow sees this and trips as he turns to get away. 'Sorry guys, I'm going first.' Images of his family flash through his mind from the team STRQ days, to teaching the girls at signal, even the few good ones of his sister. Then a purple glow covers his body and he's harshly thrown to the side as rock encompasses the jellyfish, and green wind swirls around the earthen ball.
A muffled boom is heard as the bird themed man recovers, standing to his full height and walking back over, "Thanks Leo, I really owe you one for that. Saw my life flash before my eyes and everything." A splash brings Qrow's attention to the grounds, where a pool is growing.
"Think nothing of it old friend," Leonardo says through haggard breaths, holding his arm trying to pinch it off with raw strength.
"Leo your hand-", the headmaster's right hand and wrist were blown off completely leaving a severely bleeding nub.
"Now if you would please get me some medical attention you can consider us even," the faunus man responds as more blood hits the ground.
"Yea man I'm on it. How did that thing even get to you?"
"It was -," the lion stumbles trying to get the words out. "It was waiting for me."
"An ambush? Shit, should've known."
"No!" Leonardo shakes his head furiously trying to stay conscious. "Was there for communication," he slurs out as he falls to his knees. "Was. Contact. Salem. Helping her in-" Qrow is stunned watching his old friend collapse after confessing treason.
"Dammit Leo!" Qrow yells, finishing the call and then stops himself from sending a text to Ozpin. Looking at the man that just saved his life he curses, and takes a swig from his flask, "You better live to explain yourself.
Waking up and looking around the room, Leonardo spots Qrow sitting in a chair leaning forward, Harbinger standing in front of him, hand gripping the worn wrappings of the handle. Lifting his hand, a cuff makes itself known and he notices Stalwart is no longer in place, laying back with a sigh, "So when does Ozpin get here."
"Probably about a day after I make the call," answers the unlucky man.
Voice full of surprise the lion can only ask, "You haven't told him yet?"
"No, you saved my life back there, any traitor worth their salt would've been more than happy to let me die." Qrow drinks from his flask and shakes his head, "You've gotta give me something; anything worthwhile enough to have me make Ozpin wait to find out."
"...Mistral has a diverse history full of triumphs and follies. We are a people that has managed to stay strong through the ages. But then she came to me, and I was young and full of pride in myself. I fought her Qrow…for a long time."
The man just winces knowing about Salem's magic, "She has -"
"I know that now, and it was a harsh lesson. Eventually I was exhausted, and despairing and that's when she struck. But not with force, with her words."
"You should've asked for help Leo," Qrow leans forward.
Leonardo roars back, "WHO!? Who was I supposed to ask? Summer had just died; You and Ozpin were caught up in searching for her. You wanted me to go to James? Absolutely not, with Mettle active and right after Ozpin lost a trusted subordinate, who knows what he would've resorted to? Theodore? You know how distrusting he can be; he would've killed me rather than run the risk, leaving Mistral unprotected."
Qrow sits in silence lining up when all this really started, "I'm-"
"No, you aren't, you wanted to find Summer and that was all you could think about. Salem told me I could still be brave, still protect Mistral's people, and future. She said as long as I helped her, no harm would come to the people and their children," he wrings his hands together remembering the time.
"All I had to do was send Huntsman to missions where they were in over their heads. There was a little false information here, a few falsely raised ranks there, and soon the Grimm attacks were noticeably less. At first it wasn't even that often, and with the mortality rate of hunters it was a small difference. I even got the students at the academy included; she wouldn't harm them."
It then occurs to Qrow that it was a few years later when Kuroyuri was wiped out and the attacks started to rise. "But then she started to renege on her end of the deal."
"Yes, and by the time it became apparent I was firmly under her control, my pride crushed, and brought to heel."
"What changed? You even drove back that coordinated hoard."
Steam starts to rise from Leonardo's body as he expands in size, "I found a new source of pride; I saw this generation of students struggling with many things. I watched a young man defend a faunus he just met, I saw a young woman support her friend through unjust hate, I saw two lads given a second chance and thrive facing down their sins."
The cuffs break and fall to the ground in pieces, but the gray huntsman makes no moves to place another one. "Ok, I'm staying. For now, I'll be your right hand," he motions to the stump. "But you're coming to Vale with the students and will face Oz's judgment. I'll explain our arrangement and give him reports on your actions from here on out, and if I die that won't be a good look for you."
"What if you die from some freak accident?"
"Then that's just your luck." He takes another drink, "I'll catch you later I'm gonna go check out your destroyed office. You make the scroll calls needed," he adds, throwing a scroll onto the bed.
"Thanks for putting up with us Saph," Jaune hugs his sister. "It was good seeing you."
Squeezing him back, "Don't be a stranger, and make sure you call home."
Jaune scratches the back of his head, "Yea, I'll um, get to that."
"Jaune," she answers, eyes narrowing.
"We'll make sure he does," Arslan says.
"Yep, we'll keep the boss in check," Reese adds in.
"Somebody has to make sure he does what he knows he's supposed to," Cardin reassures.
"We'll help him out too," Sun throws in.
"You don't have to worry," Sage calmly states.
"He does always come through though," Scarlet puts out.
"It'll be a group effort, just like most things we do," Neptune rounds out.
"Awwww that was so sappy," Saphron says with a laugh. "Thank you all for sticking with him. And thank you two for staying his friend, after everything that happened at Beacon," she turns to the three girls from the mentioned school looking at Ruby and Nora.
"Jaune's my friend. Plus, I know he would never actually harm me on purpose," Ruby says with a bright smile on her face.
"Yep, Fearless Leader is just like that," Nora says, hands resting behind her head. "He never puts other people in danger with his plans, he always takes the worst part despite not being the best. That's why he's my Fearless Leader, even if he isn't my leader. I'd follow him anywhere."
Jaune crosses his arms, face saying he is perfectly capable of remembering to call, Adrian leans over from Terra's side and pats his uncle's face getting his attention. He soon reaches out grabbing the blonde boy, responding Jaune takes the boy from his mother, and the baby giggles smacking his face. Jaune smiles at the baby trying to cheer him up from his fake pouting. Saphron's scroll clicking goes unnoticed by the pair as they continue to laugh and smile.
She takes a break from the pictures, "And it was nice meeting you Ilia, you have my scroll number if you ever need advice, or if you just want to talk every once in a while." The chameleon faunus smiles and answers with a slight blush and a nod of thanks.
Handing the bundle of joy back over, Jaune hugs Terra telling her goodbye and wishing her the best with work and promising to see them again. As they take their bags and head towards the bullhead docks, Reese turns around making a few motions that mean 'Send one of those to Arslan!' and receives a thumbs up in response. It doesn't take them long to catch a trolley, the ride is full of small talk and some chatter about Ruby and Nora's plans for Jaune's gloves and quiver.
Arriving at the bullhead docks, they see the Beacon group standing a bit away waiting. "I promised we would go back together," Ruby says motioning over to the group. "It was good seeing you Jaune, and it was nice to meet your team," she adds a little dejectedly.
Seeing this Jaune smiles down at the girl, and gives her a light shove, "Cheer up Crater Face, we'll see each other soon enough."
"Wha-"
"We're gonna be in the Vytal Tournament. We've got the grades, a mission, and we qualify on combat."
Ruby just stares at her blonde friend, before a smile spreads across her face, "Hope you're ready Vomit Boy, cause we're gonna kick all butts, even yours!"
Laughing at his old nickname, Jaune gives a grin with a confidence that honestly stuns the girls before he responds, "You're all welcome to take us on; Team AACC is pleased to beat you."
Nora latches onto his back, and motions to her and Ilia "Don't forget team LVAN! We will not go silently into the night!"
The large group erupts in laughter, they each exchange small goodbyes. Cardin, Sage, and Nora exchange scroll numbers to talk about lifting and building up power. Ilia, Neptune, Reese, and Scarlett talk about different places to hang out that are faunus friendly and some outdoor spots for various activities. Jaune, Sun, and Ruby agree to give tips on leadership and its different styles, also making promises for them to hang out when they get to Vale.
Waving bye, they go their separate ways, and true to what Ruby said the rest of the Beacon group does not approach to give them any trouble. When they see the three girls rejoin their teams, the atmosphere seems awkward, but nothing appears strained, if anything it looks to be fixing itself. "That's good, I'm glad they won't have trouble," Jaunes says.
"Dude you're still way too nice," Cardin says, giving the group a small snort.
"You think so? It's landed me a pretty good partner," he quickly responds.
"Nope, I don't do sap," he says walking over to their bullhead.
Jaune chuckles, as he catches up walking slightly behind the ginger knight, "Meh," he shrugs. "It's not for everybody."
"It's not true, he's a big softy at heart," Reese chimes in while walking beside Cardin.
Arslan finds stride next to Jaune, "I agree, you have to be considerate of others to cook the way he does." Team SSSN quickly joins them entering the airship having their own conversation about leaving for Beacon
Two Weeks Later
"What is Aura?" an older voice asks.
"It's the manifestation of our souls given form to aid us," Arslan answers, sweat dripping down and forming a pool underneath her as she balances on one arm, feet holding a large uneven rock over her body.
"Good," comes the old voice. "How can we use it?"
"It can be used to enhanc-whoa!" starts Reese only to almost lose balance. "It can be used to enhance our attacks, our defense, and fuel a semblance." Reese is walking a tightrope balancing a pole with bags at the end.
"You got that one, Next!"
"A semblance," Cardin grunts as he makes another trip up the slope heavy sled behind him. When reaching the top, he turns and slowly walks back down making sure to control the weighted sled.
"Too Fast! Slower, and with control, you wall of meat! And blondie, the girl, switch hands!"
"I'm kind of offended by that!" said meat yells back, while Arslan pushes up hard, giving enough room to switch hands. A rock hits Cardin in the head making him stumble and almost fall, "Damn ok, a semblance is our soul's effect on the things around us, loosely understood as how the world views your soul."
"Alright ditz, you're up."
"Semblances come in many types," Jaunes answers in a horse stance balancing on two stakes in the ground, arms straight out holding a pole similar to Reese's but with far more weight and a small gray-haired woman sitting on the area between his hands. "Enhancement, Control, and Creation, but these classifications are based strictly on what your semblance is suited for, some people have trained to be capable of multiple classification."
"Examples," the old woman says, tapping her cane against the pole the blonde boy is holding.
"Can. You. Not?" Jaune manages between labored breaths, only to get the crystal skull of the weapon jammed into his stomach.
"Don't drop me. And that wasn't an answer."
Reese answers, "Headmaster Lionheart, his is an enhancement semblance." Turning slowly at the end of the rope, she manages not to fall. "But he controls the effect of dust. He can even strengthen the ground under his feet and create stones and ice with various uses," she spits out hurriedly trying to regain balance after tipping too far, till with a grunt of effort she manages to right herself.
"Wait, that's because of his semblance?" Jaune huffs out barely able to raise his voice due to the strain.
Sighing, the old woman speaks up, "Yes, otherwise you would just be throwing the effect around."
"Like the Schnee or Reese," Cardin yells through gritted teeth, slowly coming back down the hill.
"I did notice that they can't really control the shape of the ice, wind, and fire. That explains a lot." Jaunes manages to puzzle out, painfully raising his arms back to level.
"The Schnees have a creation type semblance, it sounds like this Weiss doesn't have a solid grasp of her semblance yet," Maria says. "Explain yours."
"Skywriting, creation," Reese goes first, answering quickly with the hopes of stopping first. "I can draw shapes in the air with aura or dust. The shape and medium decide the effects. When it's just aura I can make barriers of varying sizes, words, and holes if I draw a circle." Hands slippery with sweat she just barely manages to hold onto the pole after adjusting her grip. "Add dust and each thing changes, fire for example, the lines for barriers turn into arrows, words burn into things, and a circle is a small eruption."
"Noble Presence, control," Arslan follows up forcing her arm straight after bending it under her weight and the boulders. "I take a dome shaped space under my control. I can sense anything that enters it with certain intents, if I change the size, the clarity changes with it. I can already use projection, and control a space away from my body, in some cases I can condense it and add dust to shoot balls of either fire, or lightning." She huffs out the last part refocusing on her task, clear effort marring her face.
"Crash and Bang, creation-I think," this time it's the ginger knight, and he grunts digging his feet into the hill pulling the heavy weight up again slowly. "I make shockwaves, but I have to have momentum first. The amount of momentum sets the size of the shockwave, dust gives me effects. Fire is explosions, gravity is a pulse, and earth lets me shift the ground." Fighting for the last few steps to crest the hill he adds, "I can kind of use projection but only along the ground, I can't fire my semblance. Yet."
"Dummy, yours falls under control. You control the momentum you build to cause shockwaves," the old woman corrects. "I've seen you use it."
"That makes sense…thank you Maria," answers the ginger hunching over trying to catch his breath.
"Keep going! Alright ditz, what is yours? I haven't seen you use it in the last few days."
"That's because it's still new to me. I'm trying to figure it out," Jaune answers, sputtering at the end to get the sweat out of his open mouth.
She barks a laugh, "As it continues to evolve, you'll need to reevaluate it so get used to it. Now give me what you got."
"Rally, Umm I don't know," Jaune resists the urge to scratch the back of his head but does tilt a little, doing so forces him to struggle and rebalance. "Honestly so far, I've created a dome that has restored the aura of multiple people, but I haven't been able to repeat that. When I use it on a person their aura is restored, and their semblance is enhanced, but when I use it on myself, it augments one function of my aura, like speed, healing, defense, or strength, even aura sight." His answer comes quick without taking a breath hoping this is the last question.
Maria just stares at the blonde boy over her shoulder narrowing her eyes, "Well that sound like con-"
"Oh, and it restores my own aura." At this the older woman freezes up, body visibly stiffening. "Ma'am?"
"Is that true?" she follows voice coming out a little distant.
"Umm yea," he grunts. "I use it for recovery after working out. Heal myself with aura, restore aura, and rinse and repeat."
"I'd call it a control type," she says. "We are done for the day." She hops down, falling twelve feet to the ground and moving forward, turning around just in time for Jaune to come crashing down. "What does it cost you to use that on yourself?"
"Virtually nothing, just a bit of time."
"How long?" she stresses.
"How long?" he questions back.
"How long does it take boy?"
"At most about 10 seconds."
She stares at the blonde running through a few things in her mind, she narrows her robotic clunky eyes at him. Soon she feels the familiar twinge in her eye sockets respond to something that isn't there anymore. "Tell no one. One because effectively this means you could never run out of aura. Two couple that with your semblance and you're liable to end up in a lab or somewhere worse. And three people will kill you if they can't have you. Do you understand?"
Gulping out of fear and lack of oxygen the boy can only nod, getting one in response. Cardin, Arslan, and Reese walk over standing next to their fallen leader. Standing up, he gets his team in line, hands behind their backs, "Bow!" he barks.
"Thank you, Maria," they say in unison.
"Bah, I'm just giving you a bit of time since you protected me. I gotta deal with the boy band in the afternoon, so I'll see you next time," walking away she sees Headmaster Lionheart. Stopping, she gets him to lean down and whispers something into his ear, his eyes widening as he glances over his students before nodding and walking towards them.
"You all look quite tired," he says upon approaching. He can't help but chuckle as he watches their eyes follow Maria away, only for them to collapse when she enters the building.
"She's insane," Cardin complains breathing deeply.
"Even I have to admit to her being on the intense side of things," Arslan states hands on her knees.
"I think the boss is down," Reese says watching Jaune stare at the sky laying on his back.
"She quizzed us while working us to the bone," the ginger knight speaks up again. "On everything, from Grimm types."
"To huntsman laws," Reese sighs.
"Even aura," Arslan adds, looking more exhausted than the headmaster has seen her.
"Well, I came to talk to you about an interesting opportunity that has crossed my desk. Me and Beacon's headmaster need a few teams to investigate an Island with some strange Grimm activity. This is to occur before the Vytal Festival and will account for your grades for the semester. You will, of course, still attend classes," Leonardo adds, motioning with his remaining hand.
A pale yellow, almost white flash catches everyone's attention as Jaune stands up, "We'd be happy to sir, but why us? We're just first years."
"You ain't wrong kid," comes a gruff voice that has Jaune making a face like he ate a lemon. "But we plan on sending a bunch of you, two from Haven, and two from Beacon." Qrow throws a wooden staff over to Jaune, "You ready?"
"No"
"Good," and he lunges at the blonde boy who assumes his spear stance, clacking rings out as they begin to exchange blows.
Jaune soon finds himself back on the ground looking at the sky once again heaving for air, "I…really don't…like you."
"You'll get over it,"
"Wanna bet?" the young blonde
Taking a drink from his ever-present flask, he bends down and snatches the pole, making sure to tap the blonde on the head, "Winchester you're next." He attaches a thicker piece of wood to the end of the staff, making it top heavy. Cardin groans as he stands and Qrow quickly begins beating on the boy.
"I think he likes you," Reese gets out between winces at the hits raining down on Cardin. Suddenly her scroll rings with a tone they haven't heard before, she briefly glances at it before motioning she needs to walk away.
"What did I tell you?" Comes a feminine voice from the scroll.
"Mom it wasn't-" Reese begins.
"Be quiet! I told you to keep yer face off the tubes and the prints," her mom snaps.
"I know, but-"
"Then tell me why, I'm seein ya everywhere!" The woman yells some accent coming through. A deep breath is heard, "You better hope people can't make the connection, because The Wave will not be coming to your aid."
"But I'm-"
"I told you when you ran off, refusing to take over. Do not expect any help from us if you get spotted by the Branwen or the Spiders and that was before the incident. One girl, even my oldest daughter ain't worth Da Wave dat we've rebuilt!" Lemon yells at her daughter.
Taking another breath, she seems to straighten herself out, "We are barely keeping things afloat. This call is a warning to you, you chose to leave my protection to follow a foolish dream."
"You know, I was worried about you. They were saying you were dead, everybody wiped out. I cried back then, cried for you!" Reese yells back. "Then I don't even hear you're alive for half a year, and it wasn't even from you. And all it really said was you moved the business to Windpath."
"Reese, rememba t'was ya who left! Ya turnt on us!"
"You could've stopped it was your chance after almost dying, but no the business is just too important. What do those trinkets even get you? When was the last time you saw Lim, or Georgia?" Reese questions, almost pleads.
A sigh is her answer before, "This was a warning. That's all Reese."
"I love you mo-" Reese is cut off before she can finish. Looking down she watches the tears that had started at some point continue to fall. 'Brothers I'm stupid, the only thing I've ever been was a burden, first hidden from the world, then kicked from the family.'
"Reese? Are you ok?" comes the last voice she wants to hear.
"I'm fine Cardin," she answers without turning around. "You should be worried about yourself, that Qrow guy beat you like a drum."
"Reese you're cl-" the ginger knight tries.
"Cardin," Reese quickly snaps around, and the larger boy sees the remnants of aura flowing into her eyes, taking away the redness from crying. Smiling, she looks up at the ginger knight, "Come on. You still owe me dinner, and I figure why not something that will help with recovery. So, you know, full of protein and what not."
"I'll listen," he says after she brushes by. "Whenever you need me too, I'll listen. I don't know if I'll have advice but it's something I can do." Reese continues walking over to Jaune and Arslan, giving a small nod to the ex-bully.
A Few Days Later
Jaune and Cardin are walking through the open market in lower mistral, "Card, what are we even looking for?"
"I told you man, oxtails. They say everything comes through this seedy place," the larger boy answers. "I'm trying to make something for Reese, you know she's been off the last couple of days."
"Yea…I asked Arslan if she knew what was going on."
"And?"
"She does, but it's something pretty close to Reese. She said just like us, it's her story to tell," the blonde finishes. "Hey, they have a portable grill! How much? Can you deliver it?"
Cardin looks around as Jaune haggles with the vendor whose goods clearly 'Fell off the truck.' He finally sees a butcher advertising exotic meat, and quickly enters it. The counter is staffed by a Vacuo native from his look, and demeanor. "Hey, you guys sell oxtail?"
Cardin is able to get a deal before Jaune shows up and starts asking for deer, boar, and fish saying they need to fill up that freezer they bought. The large boy shrugs and they end up buying enough for a delivery, they just call one of the services and give them the information. Once done, the boys begin to walk around looking for anything that catches their eyes, Jaune found a few oddly designed compact arrows, and Cardin found some quality kitchen knives.
"Cardin, are they still there?" Jaune asks his partner quietly kneeling at a stall.
"Yea, they've been tailing and herding us back towards the less populated areas," Cardin observes.
"Thought so, and I see spider tattoos on the lot of them."
"Spiders? I don't remember pissing them off."
"Yea me either, but it looks like we've got their attention. Ready?"
With a subtle nod the boys take off down the alley behind them, it isn't long before they hear people yelling about them, telling other people in the area to be on the lookout. Jumping over trash piles they quickly exit the alley only to jump through a cart, land and duck into another one. They start throwing trash down behind them and they keep running as they hear people tripping over them.
"We need to get higher, think you can scramble up?" Jaune yells as they turn down another alley and avoid more of the Spiders.
"If you give me a boost with your semblance, I can make it even harder for them to keep chasing us," Cardin yells back.
Looking around the area, Jaune shakes his head, "Too risky we might bring something important down."
"Hard way it is!" Using the aura movement technique both boys jump, boosting from one side of the alley to the other they ascend to the roof. A crack rings out and Jaune boosts his defense as something slams into his side, sending him into Cardin, making the boys tumble and almost fall back down. "The fuck was that!?"
Something clinks to the ground as Jaune lifts his gambeson to see a nasty bruise on his side. Bending over he picks up a large caliber round, and thanks to his best friend he knew what it meant, "Move!"
A chunk of the building was taken out right after they started moving, "We got a sniper! They were waiting for us and what they're packing won't kill us, but it'll put us down!"
Cardin looks down over a ledge only to see some Spiders waiting for them, "Shit." Backing up he leaps over the gap and Jaune quickly follows. They keep running and jumping from building to building while dodging gun fire, more people are shooting at them, but they listen for the crack of the rifle.
"Jaune, go! I know you can move faster!"
"Would if I could!"
"What!?"
"Yea, the sniper really did a number on me. I'm focused on healing right now and the running isn't helping!" He explains while violently throwing himself out of the way of another sniper round.
"If anyone else took that they would be down! You can still take a beating!" Cardin jest a little, "At least we know they aren't trying to kill us!"
"Agreed!" Jaune thinks for a second. "We gotta jump the next group! They can fire openly at us up here. I know the chance to get swarmed is bad, but the hazards up here outweigh the ones down there."
Without waiting for more, Cardin jumps down into one of the alleys below, Jaune right behind him. Both boys make sure they land on somebody, the ginger knight managing to take out two. After that, it quickly turned into a one-sided fist fight, and they managed to clear the group before moving on, trying to find somewhere safe.
On the move, both boys pull out their scrolls trying to reach out to a teacher or their team, their screens appear blank. "Shit, the scrolls aren't even turning on!" Jaune exclaims looking at his and Cardin's black screens.
"Must be a semblance, something that disables electronics," Cardin reasons, his aura flashing from gunfire.
"Clearly, they don't want us calling for help, just like in the mountains but worse. Can't even turn them on for the radio function," Jaune throws more trash around after taking a tight turn. He's rewarded with yells as people crash into the boxes, bags, and other things.
"This shit again! These things are way too vulnerable!" Responds the ginger knight.
"I'm buying us military dust powered radios when we get out of this," Jaune comments.
"No arguments here man," the larger boy responds through haggard breaths. Stopping he turns and launches a large trash bin down the alley. Bullets continue to tear into the buildings around them, some pinging off their aura others frightening some of the nosier people.
Taking out a few more groups, the boys look around not seeing any more of their pursuers as they continue running, bursting out of the narrow passage they come to a stop in a vacant lot. Looking up they see Spiders lining the tops of the buildings, riffles pointing down into the kill box the students find themselves cornered in. The alleyways leading into the lot quickly fill with more, and before they can mount a defense, the crack of a rifle rings out. Next to him Jaune is thrown off his feet and into the wall but not before he manages to grab Cardin's arm, pumping a shot of aura into him. "Jaun-" another crack rings out and the larger boy passes out before he even hits the wall.
"Wow the guys sure ordered a lot of stuff," Reese says, looking over the inventory sheet and double checking, only pausing once she spots the oxtail. She smiles and whispers to herself, "Big softy."
"If you like him that much you should have that talk. I know you wanted to wait till after the mission, it's been a few weeks now," Arslan says, lifting and examining the portable grill. Shaking her head with a light smile, "Jaune must've bought this."
"Why do you say that?"
"Has a note saying for the harshest haggler he's ever met, 'Fuck You, I thought I was the thief.'"
Both girls laugh before Reese's scroll goes off with a ding, pulling it out; she's expecting a message from one of the boys, only for a familiar tattoo to populate her screen. Soon it switches to a video and footfalls could be heard as the bottom of a purple and white dress enters the screen, and soon she stands in the room, fan moving back and forth to keep her round face cool.
"Hello, I'm sure you know who I am but just in case," snapping the fan shut she lazily points it at the camera. "I'm Lil' Miss Malachite, I was the proprietor of a prestigious all-girls school and well-known headwoman of the Spiders. Now don't go ending this video, I've got something you'll want to see."
She walks forward and points the camera at two chairs, and in them are Jaune and Cardin. She struts over as a knife slides out the bottom of the fan, she runs it along Cardin's face, and he bleeds as she takes it away. She tries the same with Jaune only for his aura to sputter like a dying light. "Oh, this one ain't done. Girls if you would."
Some women dressed in dark clothing with various weapons walk up to Jaune and begin to beat him, but instead of the weapons, each uses something on their knuckles that sparks when they strike. Jaune wakes up but doesn't scream, yell, or beg, too stubborn to give them the satisfaction. Sadly, his aura gives before his spirit and the last hit leaves his mouth bloody.
"I tell you what, these boys are good. Took out quite a few of my schoolgirls and they ain't no slouches. Hell, the blonde one even took a couple of these," and she holds up a massive rifle round with a rounded tip. "South Vacuan NTW-20. Nickname the Aura Buster. And he took two, sure the tip was rounded but might need to keep him round for," Lil' Miss eyes her girls with a deranged and thoughtful expression, the lust on their faces highlighted as the young women lick the blood off the knuckles. "Stock."
She flips the fan open and saunters away, so the boys are out of sight, "Now little girl, listen and listen well. Despite all my trying I can't find your mother, Lemon. I want what she has left, and I want her business under my thumb, you're gonna help me get it, and every day you don't is another day of," she motions back over to the boys only for the sounds of strikes hitting flesh to sound out, "That. Here's my number. And for your friends' sake, don't make me wait." With that the video cuts to black.