Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. I wish I did. All characters, terms, and settings are property of Rooster Teeth. This is just a Fan creation. No profits are had. So enjoy this detour into my odd fascination with irrational Ships. It was either this or Knightfall(Jaune/Cinder).

Chapter 2

Jaune and Winter briefly looked at each other, knowing that their reinforcements wouldn't arrive in time. They were both tremendously low on Aura, but they were the only line of defence for the foreseeable future. They were all that was standing between the Ancient Megoliath and the peoples of Mantle.

With a deep breath Winter closed her eyes and steeled herself. "See to getting the workers to safety. I will attempt to slow down the Megoliath from a distance." Winter said to Jaune firmly but with a hint of uncertainty at the end. The task in front of them, to say daunting was a critical understatement.

There was a brief moment before springing into action that Jaune looked into the barren wastes, to the charging Megoliath. He gave Winter one last look before vaulting off the top of the wall to the ground below. "Let's go! We're evacuating now!" Jaune shouted. As confident as he had become, he was still unsure of himself when issuing orders to people he didn't know. This was a moment in which Jaune forced himself to be confident. A moment of 'Fake it til you make it'. "Drop everything and head towards the nearest Emergency Shelter, three blocks east, one block south. Go!"

To his surprise there wasn't a second of doubt or disregard to his orders. All of the Repair Team just listened and did as he ordered. As soon as they were out of sight Jaune returned his attention to Winter atop the wall. Struggling to conjure her glyphs at such a range that would be difficult even in the best of situations. Her black repulsion glyphs only proved to further infuriate the Megoliath and barely slow it down.

Jaune quickly assessed the state of repairs on the wall. The key support beam was still several feet away on a skit. The wall looked up to snuff, but without that central beam actually reinforcing the large plates, they'd give way with little effort from the Grimm. The Megoliath would have no problem what so ever breaking through it.

Jaune, in a stroke of brilliance started eyeballing the measurements of the wall and affixed his Disc Grenades to the interior of the wall and activated their Hard Light planes. While it wasn't anything else then a short term solution to the very problem they were there to remedy, hopefully it would do something.

Winter felt her Aura struggling to keep making her repulsion glyphs as fast as she needed them. The Megoliath would be on them soon. The strain was taking its toll. She dropped to a knee but kept her glyphs coming. "Arc, I'm ordering you to retreat and await reinforcements. I'll do what I can to keep the Megoliath occupied as long as I can." Winter shouted but never took her eyes off the rampaging Grimm.

Jaune ran up the attached ramp and stood next to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and attempted to bolster her Aura further. While it had the desired effect, it didn't last very long. Jaune checked his Scroll. His own Aura was just teetering in the yellow, just above red, while Winter's was halfway into the red. "I'm not leaving." Jaune said before pushing harder and getting more Aura into her. Her glyphs responded to his Semblance and started to appear more quickly and lasted just slightly longer.

"I gave you an order!" Winter shouted at him as she gripped the handle of her sword, using it prop her up. "You will retreat back to the safe zone to await for air support and reinforcements. I will stay here to hold it off as long as possible." She clenched her jaw and forced more glyphs before the Megoliath.

Jaune shook his head. "Not happening. I'm not leaving people behind anymore. Never again." He said with an amount of resolve that Winter was not expecting. She going to relent and allow him to stay but never had the chance. The Megoliath had reach the wall.

They never had a chance to react as they were both thrown though the air as the Megoliath barrel through the wall completely destroying the incomplete section. Jaune and Winter crashed against the hard, cold ground. Their Auras all but broken. Winter attempted to shake off the daze and regain her wits. When she tried to move an immense pain shot up her left leg. She reluctantly looked down to her her shin bent in a direction that it should not.

She staved off the lightheadedness and focused on the pain instead of the reality of her injury. A triumphant trumpeting snapped her attention back to the Megoliath. There it was, standing barley more then a dozen feet from her. Easily the largest of its kind she had ever seen. Her hand sprang to her waist but found no sword.

There she was, laying on the ground, defenceless, broken, and just hoping that this massive Grimm either ignored her or didn't notice her presence. It did neither and immediately turned its gaze upon her. Slowly it walked towards her, stopping directly in front of her. Towering over her, there was an odd moment of calm. It was clearly assessing her and her situation. The Megoliath locked eyes with Winter and scowled. It trumpeted at her. Rage, Hatred, and Death incarnate.

Winter, not for a moment allowing pitiful acceptance or fear to overtake her did the only thing she could in the situation and screamed back at it. The Megoliath reared up on its hind legs, preparing to come crashing down on her with its front two feet. Winter could only think of Weiss. Hoping she'd be okay, that she'd succeed in life, she'd flourish and surround herself with good people. She closed her eyes and waited.

The moment seemed to stretch out. She was plagued with memories of her childhood. Her father's demanding expectations. Her mother's distance. The coldness of Schnee Manor. Then it seemed warmer then she saw a baby Weiss for the first time, who reached out and with her tiny hand grabbed at Winter's finger. She was so small, so frail. She needed protecting.

Then there were memories of Weiss' recitals. How proud of her she was. When Weiss proclaimed she wanted to take up Ballet. Their father seemed to dismiss the idea out of hand. There was no point to it, she was already garnering clout with her singing, any other "hobby" would just detract from that. But Weiss wouldn't be taking no in that instance. She smiled as for the first time in her life, Weiss stood up to their father and demanded something.

Then she remembered the day that word of Weiss' intention to Beacon had reached their Father. Winter had only been present to collect some of her personal belongings from Klein when the news had reached them. She allowed herself the guilty pleasure of seeing her father writhe in frustration. Shouting and cursing Weiss' independence.

Weiss' would be fine. Winter relaxed in the conclusion that Weiss was strong and independent enough that she wouldn't need her big sister. Winter prepared to the impact and only hoped that it would be swift.

The impact came, but there she still was. Had the Megoliath missed? She opened her eyes and looked up. There, standing between her and the Grimm was Jaune Arc. He was shimmering in his own faltering Aura, bracing himself, holding his shield up, holding the Megoliath back. The ground beneath him cracked under the impact. His Aura was patchy and spotty. He was burning through all that remained to hold back the Megoliath.

Winter could only watch in awe as Jaune remained stationary against the might of the Megoliath's stomp. She had never seen an Aura as bright. Jaune was expending the last remains of his already vast stores to hold back an attack that would have crumpled any other Huntsman. There he stood, bright and shinning.

She could only watch as the Megoliath recoiled and readied for a second attack. Jaune dropped to his knees as his Aura broke and scattered in the wind. He looked back to her and smiled. "Did my best." Was all he said. Winter could only look at him in shock. He looked, peaceful, serene in a sense.

As the Megoliath reared up again it was suddenly assaulted with several explosions. Jaune and Winter looked up at the Megoliath as it feel backwards. Suddenly a trio of Mantas flew overhead. They swung back around and unleashed another volley of missile on the Megoliath before swooping in low. Low enough for Team FNKI to jump out.

The same Manta that previously housed FNKI landed behind Jaune and Winter. "Go! We got this!" Flint shouted before propelling Neon at the Megoliath with his Dust infused Trumpet.

Winter watched in awe as Jaune, clearly exhausted, scrambled to his feet and rushed over to her. "Survival takes precedence." He said as he unceremoniously scooped her up bridal style and ran for the manta. Her leg did not take the transition lightly, causing her pain enough to almost lose consciousness. As he got her onboard and strapped in, he approached the pilots and started shouting at them to get her back to the academy for medical care. As her vision started to wain, she saw him rush back to her.

"Hey, stay with me. It'll be alright." Jaune said kneeling next to her. "Come on, we just gotta get back to Atlas and it'll all be okay."

And there's Chapter 2. A bit shorter then I intended but this felt like the organic end to this portion of the story. This one came out much faster then I promised. I was just feeling this story so I immediately started working on the next instalment. As soon as I've gotten this posted I'll be working on the next chapter. Enjoy, Like, Subscribe, etc. You do you.