Okay, the prologue ends with this chapter. And you all have to wait a week or two before the next one. Just think of this as the series premiere special. To clarify some things, Ruby, Ren, and Nora don't hate Jaune like Weiss and Yang do. Ruby is disappointed yes, but she's too kind to hate him. As you saw the last chapter, she sees him as a danger to himself and his team. That's why she wants him to leave. Ren and Nora are neutral about the whole thing. They don't hate him but they're not happy with him. More on that will be revealed here. Anyway, disclaimer time.
I don't own RWBY. Rooster Teeth does.
Aurbis was not what one would expect when hearing the word military. The R and Y of RWBY, as well as team CRDL, looked out the window upon arriving.
Aurbis was situated in a densely forested region in which was surrounded by perpetual snowfall. Aurbis was a fairly decent-sized city. Large buildings dotted the metropolitan area which gave way the smaller establishments and homes as you strayed further from the downtown. A network of roads and highways made their way across the entire town. A CCT tower stood proudly, defended by the ever-present Atlas military.
If one had to describe the town, they would compare it to Argus, the undisputed territory between Mistral and Atlas.
Jaune looked out the window, for once not motion sick. The sight of the city reminded him of the times he visited his older sister after she got married. He smiled at the thought. He and Alice were selected to be ring bearers at the wedding. It was a fun time.
"You look happy?" he was brought out of his thoughts as soon as Pyrrha spoke. She sent him a small smile.
"What were you thinking about?" Pyrrha asked.
"My older sister. She lives in Argus. Being here in Aurbis reminds me of her," Jaune said.
"You never really talk about your sisters," Pyrrha said.
"Well, I have seven. Two older, five younger," Jaune said. "I'm the third oldest child and the eldest son."
"What are their names?"
"In order, their names are Saphron, Vert, Alice, Catherine, Petra, Jacinthe, and Jade," Jaune said, counting them off.
"It must be hard being one of the only males in a family of eight," Pyrrha said. She could never imagine. She was an only child after all.
"Yeah, I had to step up and help run the Tavern and look after everyone after Vert left and moved to Patch. She's a writer," Jaune said.
"We shall be landing at Aurbis Military Base in 5 minutes."
The two stopped talking upon hearing the announcement.
"Alright, I assume that the present squad leaders have read the reports?" Glynda said.
Jaune, Ruby, and Cardin nodded.
"Very well. Once we get there, be on your best behavior. We are meeting with General Talos Aether," Glynda said as the bullhead landed.
The Beacon Teams and Glynda all exited the Bullhead and was greeted by a squadron of Atlesian Troops. One of them stepped forward and saluted Glynda.
"Are you Glynda Goodwitch?" the soldier asked.
"Yes, I am and these are the teams Headmaster Ozpin sent to assist you with your search and destroy," Glynda said.
The soldier nodded. "Follow me, ma'am! General Talos is waiting for you and your teams in the main conference room!"
The Beacon Group was lead through the base to its upper echelons. They were escorted to a large room with a circular table and a floating projector orb in the middle of the room. The room had white walls and looked like your average lecture hall only much smaller. In the room, waiting for them, was a tall burly man. He wore a general's outfit decorated with various military awards and badges. His eyes were green and had short russet hair accompanied by a massive beard.
"Glynda," he greeted.
"Talos," she returned in kind. Glynda gestured to JNPR, CRDL, and RWBY. "These are the teams Ozpin sent to assist you. I can assure you that they are currently the best on-site teams Beacon Academy has to offer."
"I can only hope. If you would all kindly take a seat, I shall go over the briefing that Ozpin explained to you all once more," Talos said
The teams took a seat while Glynda stood off to the side.
Talos turned off all the lights and activated the projector. A holographic image of the region was projected into the air. Talos walked over and tapped on the location of Aurbis.
"Here is the fortress city of Aurbis where we are right now. This series of roads leading out from the eastern gate of the town is a critical communication line between Aurbis and the neighboring settlements. At 0500 hours on September 20, we lost control of the road. Many troops were lost trying to secure the location but the Grimm there have grown beyond our means.
"Your mission," Talos said, zooming in on the route east of Aurbis. "You will find and destroy the Alpha within that location. We will send a detachment of troops to assist you in your endeavor. I also implore all of you to bundle up. In addition to the Grimm, winter starts early here in Mantle."
Jaune raised his hand.
"Yes, son," Talos said.
"Do you know happen to know which species of Grimm were dealing with?" he asked.
"We believe they are Beowolves due to the presence of an Alpha but the latest intelligence suggests the presence of a several Yeti in the area as well as a Goliath," Talos said.
Jaune nodded and began to formulate several plans in his head. A Yeti. The one day he decided to pay attention in Port's class, they were going over Yetis. Yetis were the Atlas variant of the Beringel, except much larger in size and stronger. While they lack the distinctive bony plates of their cousins, Yeti made up for it in their sheer strength.
"You will all leave tomorrow. For now, get some rest. We have prepared rooms for each team and lunch and dinner will be served at 1200 and 1800," Talos said, dismissing them from the room.
The teams left and decided to go to their rooms. CRDL and the yellow and white themed members of RWBY kept shooting Jaune distasteful glances as they made their way to the rooms. Upon arriving, Jaune immediately opened the door and went inside. The room was decent in size. A bit smaller than their dorm rooms but felt roomier due to the presence of bunk beds. Actual bunk beds. Not the death traps Team RWBY made on their first day.
"So, who gets top and who gets bottom?" Jaune asked.
"I call top!" Nora said, climbing up to the top of the bunk bed on the right.
"I guess I got bottom then," Ren said.
"What about you Pyr? Do you want to be on the top or the bottom?" Jaune asked.
"Hmm, I can be either Jaune," Pyrrha replied. I'll be bottom or I can be on top and ride y- Bad Nikos! Lewd thoughts are unbecoming of you!
"Alright, I got top bunk then," Jaune said. He set Crocea Mors down on the ground and climbed up to the top. A buzzing sound came from his pocket and he pulled out his scroll.
Alice
"Why now?" he muttered under his breath. He answered the call. On his screen was a girl, who looked like a female version of himself right down to the eyes. She had sparkling blue eyes and golden sunny hair. Her bangs framed the side of her face and a long braid running down her back. On her head was a white lace the encircled her forehead.
"Hey, Jaune," she chirped.
"Hey Alice," Jaune said.
"Whatcha doing?" she asked.
"You're bored aren't you?"
"I guess we really are twins, aren't we? But seriously, where are you?"
"I'm in Aurbis with my team and two others. We're on a mission right now," Jaune said.
"Jaune? Who are you talking to?" Pyrrha said, peeking out from the bottom bunk.
"Is that you're partner Jaune?" Alice asked upon hearing Pyrrha's voice.
"Yeah," Jaune said, moving his scroll to show Pyrrha's face.
"Hey! You're the Pumpkin Pete Girl!" Alice said.
"Umm, yes. Hello, I'm Pyrrha Nikos. You are?" she asked.
"Alice. Jaune-Jaune's twin sister. I'm the Sun to his Moon!" Alice said. "Are you his girlfriend by any chance?"
Jaune and Pyrrha sputtered at her words. Jaune almost dropped the scroll and in an attempt to catch it, fell off the bunk and onto the floor.
"Ow," he said, groaning.
"Jaune, are you okay?" Pyrrha asked. She had caught his scroll once he dropped it.
"Yeah. And no, Alice, we're not dating," Jaune said. Pyrrha nodded but one could see disappointment hidden deep within her eyes.
"Aww, you two looked cute together. Just imagine all the red-haired blue-eyed children or blonde-haired green-eyed children running around," Alice said.
"I know right!" Nora chimed in.
"Oh, you must be Nora then. Jaune's told me about you," Alice said, upon hearing the voice. Her apathy to her leader forgotten, Nora shoved Pyrrha and Jaune out of the way and began to talk to Alice.
"What does he say about us?" Nora fired off.
"Mostly about how you remind him of Catherine and Jade," Alice said. "Now that I look at you. You do kind of remind us of our little sisters," she said.
Nora felt her heart swell at the comment which was followed by soul-crushing guilt. Jaune thought of her as a sister and she abandoned him to his fate. What kind of friend was she?
Ren noticed a drop in Nora's mood and decided to ask Jaune's sister a question. Perhaps, she could shed some light on the situation. In the past few months that Ren knew him, he knew that Jaune wouldn't do anything without reason. The two knew about Jaune's want to help others and that to him, being a hunter was the way to do that. Yes, they were mad that he cheated his way in but at the same time, even though the two practically ignored him, they did worry about his safety. The two did not approve of how the students reacted to the revelation of his falsified transcripts. The level of their reaction was uncalled for and completely unnecessary. Anger was understandable but emotional and physical abuse, in Ren's eyes, was taking it too far. So, they discreetly let Pyrrha and the staff know when Jaune was being harassed despite the P and the J of JNPR not knowing it. Years as an orphan on the streets allowed one to develop their subtlety to the level near that of expert-level subterfuge.
"Hey, Alice," Ren said. Alice turned her head to Ren.
"Yes?"
"Do y-
"All Beacon Students! Please come down to the Mess Hall!" the voice announced.
"Hey, Ally. We have to go. I'll text you later, 'kay?" Jaune said, gently taking the scroll from Nora.
"Sure Jaune Jaune! See ya!" Alice said, cutting the link.
"C'mon, let's go," Jaune said.
"Jaune," Ren called. The Knight froze in his tracks.
"When we get back to Beacon, let's talk. Clear this up. Tell us why you did what you did," Ren said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Jaune was trembling at Ren's words. Was he finally being accepted? To be one of them again.
"Jaune?" Nora said, worried once she saw him shaking.
"I'm fine," Jaune said, wiping a few tears from his eyes.
"Yeah. Let's talk," he said, turning around and giving them the first genuine smile he had given at Beacon since this all started.
To the side, Pyrrha smiled slightly. Perhaps… perhaps this was the beginning of Jaune's reintegration into Beacon. Yes, things were looking up.
The team walked down to the mess hall, making idle small talk. Jaune had an air of happiness around him for the first time in a month. Nora and Ren were talking to him. It wasn't much but it was a start. They were finally becoming a team again.
As they stepped foot into the mess hall, a mashed potato made contact with Jaune's face. Jaune wiped it off and saw Yang and Sky laughing at him. The two high fived while Blake shook her head in disapproval. She looked over and shot Jaune an apologetic glance.
Team JNPR decided to sit at another table. Jaune began to eat the sub-par food that they served at the base. It made Beacon's lunch look like Heaven.
"So, mind explaining to me why you decided to sit elsewhere?" Glynda said, sitting down next to them.
"Jaune was being harassed, Professor. As a team, we decided to sit elsewhere," Ren said.
"I see," Glynda said. Inside, she was happy that Ren and Nora were at least giving Jaune a chance.
"Next time, inform me," she said.
"Oh, Professor," Jaune said.
"Hmm," Glynda said.
"Alice called. I think she wanted to know if you wanted to come home to Domremy for old time's sake for the Festival of Israfil," Jaune said.
"I'd love to. I'll see if I can ask Ozpin for a break," she said.
"What's the Festival of Israfil?" Nora asked, swallowing her food.
"It's a yearly festival dedicated to the Goddess of Life and Healing, Israfil. She's also the patron deity of my hometown," Jaune said.
"Hmm, if it's alright with you. Can Nora and I accompany you and Pyrrha?" Ren asked.
Jaune visibly brightened at his words. "Of course!" he said.
Glynda found herself smiling. Perhaps, things were looking up for the young Arc.
Teams RWBY, JNPR, and CRDL all stood behind Glynda Goodwitch, who was conversing with Talos. Behind Talos was a rather large detachment of Atlesian troops and androids.
"Are you sure that you can spare this many troops?" Glynda asked.
"Of course. That network of routes is a crucial communications point to settlements that do not possess a CCT tower. Reclaiming this route is of the utmost importance. Don't worry, we have several more troops here that we received from General Ironwood. Aurbis will be fine in their absence," Talos said.
"I can't thank you enough for these reinforcements," Glynda said.
"Anything to ensure the success of this mission," he said.
Glynda nodded.
"You will be using the Dreadnaught. It is a massive Atlesian ship specifically designed for transporting personnel and equipment. The ship can withstand attacks from chimeras and nevermore so you do not have to worry about that. However, there have been sightings of Griffon and Drakes roaming the area so please do be careful. I am not like the other generals who will blindly put my faith into a ship. Nothing is indestructible after all," Talos said.
Jaune found himself vomiting over the railings of the deck of the ship. Pyrrha stood next to him rubbing his back, making soothing circular motions as her partner emptied the contents of his stomach.
"Oh, Israfil, I hope no one gets hit by a load of projectile vomit," Jaune groaned. "HURK! BLEEEGGGHHH!"
"We're almost there," Ren said, looking at his team leader with some sympathy.
"Oh, Israfil, Mikhael, Jibril, Uriel, Samael, Anael, and all the Gods, why did I forget to bring fucking pills!" Jaune wailed.
After several more minutes of pure gastric torture, the ship finally landed and everyone vacated the vehicle and made their way down into the clearing. Glynda walked up and stood in front of the teams and the detachment.
"Okay, our objective is to clear the entire area of Grimm and hunt down the Alpha in the area. Team RWBY, you will take the east, JNPR will take the west, and CRDL will take the North. A third of the troops and I shall take the south while the rest will remain here to safeguard the landing point. Once you're done, we shall meet back here. Understood!" Glynda said, looking every bit the strict huntress she was.
"Yes, Ma'am!"
Teams RWBY, JNPR, and CRDL all walked off into the woods. Jaune was feeling uneasy about the whole thing. How could a pack of Beowolves overcome an entire Atlesian detachment?
"Let's split up here and meet back in the clearing," Ruby said, her grip on Crescent Rose tightening. Everyone nodded.
Suddenly, Blake froze. Her ears twitched as she picked up several sounds all closing in around them.
"We have company," Blake said, transforming Gambol Shroud into its katana form.
Several Beowolves leaped from the bushes, causing the teams to scatter. Ruby swung her scythe, decapitating one of the wolves.
Yang ducked underneath the claws of a Beowulf and punched it, firing Ember Celica upon impact and creating a massive hole in its torso.
Weiss summoned her glyphs and created several ice spikes directing them with Myrtenaster, impaling another Beowulf.
While everyone else was fighting, Jaune raised his shield and blocked an attack from a Beowulf. He thrust Crocea Mors into its chest killing it.
An unholy roar ripped through the entire area. Jaune turned and saw a Yeti heading their way.
"We have more Beowolves incoming!" Weiss yelled as she used her glyphs to summon a massive pillar of ice.
We also have a yeti coming in and Israfil knows what! Jaune thought as he dodged another Beowulf.
"Damnit! We have to lead them away from the ship!" Jaune yelled. Forgetting their hatred for the Arc just for a moment, Weiss nodded agreeing with him.
"Alright Arc, what's your plan?" she said.
"I need you and Ruby to act as bait and distract the Yeti. Pyrrha, use your control over metals to sense out all metal reserves in the ground," Jaune said, decapitating a Beowulf.
"But Jaune, my control isn't to that po-!"
"Still, you have to try because at this rate, we'll be lunch!" he said.
"Anyone have lightning dust!?" Nora yelled.
Dove nodded and thew it to her. Nora crushed it in her palm, feeling the electricity course through her. Transforming Magnahild into a hammer, Nora swung it at full force, sending a Beowulf flying through the trees and the shockwave sending all the others back.
"NOW!" Jaune yelled.
Ruby nodded and grabbed Weiss and the two took off towards the Yeti. The massive apeman roared and tried to grab the two but they were too quick. Ruby and Weiss reappeared down several feet from it. The Yeti took off towards them and Ruby and Weiss took off.
"What about the Beowolves!?" Blake yelled.
"There's a ravine near here. We can use that to our advantage like we did when we fought the deathstalker!" Jaune yelled.
Pyrrha nodded and slammed her palm into the ground, concentrating with her utmost effort. She felt it. Metal. Pyrrha raised her palm and black spikes of iron sand came out of the ground, impaling every Beowulf within a 10-foot radius.
She panted. That took more out of her than she thought it would.
"Let's go!" Jaune said, taking off. The rest followed after him. Jaune picked up his scroll and called Weiss.
"Yeah!"
"Head to the ravine. It's a few thousand feet west of your location and lead the Yeti there!" he said.
"Will do!"
The group ran, killing all the Grimm that had tried to ambush them on the way. They burst through the trees to see Ruby and Weiss appear in front of them. Behind them, a 15-foot tall apeman with black fur and crimson eyes was making a break for them.
"What now Arc? You didn't just lead us here to die did you?" Weiss snapped.
"Are you really fucking doing this right now Ice Bitch!? We're in the middle of a fucking life or death situation here!?" Pyrrha yelled.
"I'm sorry. I didn't expect to come here on what was a simple mission with my back literally against a cliff while a horde of Grimm is surrounding me. So forgive me if I'm mad at that pathetic sack of flesh you call your leader!" Weiss yelled.
Pyrrha restrained herself from grabbing Weisse and throwing her off the ravine.
"Fight later! We got company!" Ruby said.
"Maybe if we're lucky, they'll get Jaune and it'll buy us time to escape," Cardin sneered as he tightened his grip on his mace.
Jaune ignored the feeling of despair building up in his heart in favor of steeling his nerves. His eyes flew to Nora and he nodded.
Nora switched Magnahild to Grenade Launcher Mode and Pyrrha raised her shield. Nora walked away from the group.
"Nora, where are you going!?" Yang yelled as she heard the Beowolves and Yeti getting closer. Suddenly, Nora turned around and ran towards Pyrrha, who kept her shield raised. Nora jumped and landed on the shield as Pyrrha launched her into the air.
Seeing the Beowolves, Nora unleashed a salvo of fire-dust and lightning-dust enhanced grenades. A series of explosions shook the entire as the plant life and ground were torn apart.
Next to them, the Yeti was only several feet away. Jaune began to run through several scenarios in his head. All of them involved dropping the Yeti into the ravine either due to baiting and switching or Ruby flying across the gap.
"Ruby!"
"Yeah!" the reaper responded.
"Can you clear that gap?" Jaune asked.
"Child's play!" she said.
"I need you to bait the Yeti to the edge so we can knock it into the ravine," Jaune said. Ruby nodded and transformed Crescent Rose into sniper mode. She fired a well-aimed bullet, striking through the Yeti's shoulder, causing it to howl in pain. The Yeti roared and picked up its pace. Ruby ran forward to meet it and just as the Yeti made to grab her, she ducked and activated her semblance turning into a streak of rose petals that flew across the gap. The Yeti made to follow allowing it to reach the edge.
Behind it, Yang punched its back with Ember Celica, sending the Yeti flying down into the ravine.
"Okay, that's taken care of what about the-"
"Ruby, behind you!"
Ruby reacted instinctively using her semblance to jump the ravine back to their end. She looked and saw it. An Alpha Beowulf only it was different.
"What the?"
The Beowulf was larger than any Alpha they had ever encountered. It was even larger than that Yeti they encountered. Its bony skull housed two small beady eyes and bone plating covered its back.
"That's not a beowolf," Weiss said, looking in horror and fear.
"A Garm," Pyrrha said.
Garms were the cousins of Beowolves. They were smarter, faster, and much larger than even the Alphas. Garms possessed the ability to command Alpha Beowolves and even regular ones, with them following its commands as a bee does to its hive queen. Some even theorized that the Garm could control other lesser Grimm much like a Dragon would.
The Garm unleashed a roar akin to that of a scream. Everyone was forced to cover their ears as it did. When they uncovered them, they heard the response call of several other beowolves.
"I think we just found what's drawing them here," Yang said, cocking Ember Celica.
"No shit Sherlock," Lark said.
"We need to go and tell Goodwitch what we found," Ren said.
"Easier said than done," Weiss said, gesturing to the horde of Beowolves that just burst through the treeline.
"We have no choice," Ruby said.
Jaune tightened his grip on Crocea Mors. He looked to Pyrrha, who gave him a reassuring smile, though it looked like she didn't believe it herself.
Jaune looked back to the Garm across the ravine.
"We have to take the Garm out of we want to break their formation," Jaune said. Everyone looked towards him with a confused look.
"That Garm is controlling their every movement. It's using them like chess pieces and right now, we're in a checkmate position. We need to take out the king," Jaune said.
"Oh, and how do you propose we do that? If you were paying attention in class, Garms are strong enough to defeat even licensed Hunters. Only veteran hunters are strong enough to take one out," Weiss said.
"That's what Professor Port said about the Yeti but we managed to kill it. Nora, how much ammo do you have left?" Jaune asked.
"Enough," she said, checking Magnahild.
"We don't have much time before that thing sics all those Beowolves on us so we need to do it now," Jaune said.
"What's the plan then?" Ren asked.
"Here's what we have to do," Jaune said.
After he was done, the Garm roared once more and the Beowolves all came charging at them. It kept roaring, calling more and more.
"NOW!" Jaune yelled above its screams. Nora fired a canister at the Garm. Pyrrha used her semblance to guide and propel the grenade.
The Garm, seeing a projectile, caught it in its mouth. It looked at them mockingly but heard a beeping noise. Its eyes drifted down to the flashing light on the canister and roared but it was too late.
The canister exploded, ripping the Garm's head to pieces. Grimm brain matter and skull fragments flew everywhere as the Garm's headless corpse collapsed onto the ground.
The beowolves stopped their charge, seemingly disoriented.
"Now's our chance!" Jaune said. "GO!"
Everyone ran and took off, breaking through the horde. As they broke through the other side, a howl came from one of the Alpha's and then another, and another. They all looked back and saw the Beowolvs charging towards them.
"The fucking Alphas!" Yang cursed as she killed a Beowolf with a punch.
"Shit, what now!?" Weiss yelled as she sliced apart two of them.
"We fight!" Ruby said, launching Blake into the air.
The Faunus unleashed a deluge of bullets, killing several of them.
"Take out the Alphas!" Jaune said. He held up his shield.
"White Light!" he yelled. Pyrrha ran over and responded with her call.
"Sanguine Flash!" she yelled as she vaulted herself off Jaune's shield. She used her shield and her semblance to slam her shield on the ground, creating a shockwave that sent several wolves flying.
"FLOWER POWER!" Jaune yelled.
Nora transformed Magnahild into a hammer and charged herself. Ren killed several beowolves before running to Nora and jumping on the hammer of Magnahild. Nora spun around before swinging Magnahild, launching Ren like a dart to the nearest Alpha. Ren dug the blades of Stormflower right into the Alpha's throat before slicing its neck open killing it.
The students fought for their lives as Beowolf after Beowolf fell to their weapons. However, they couldn't fight forever. The Grimm came in endless waves as the Alphas rallied seemingly every beowolf within the area to fight for them.
To make matters worse, the large accumulation of negative energy attracted other Grimm to the area.
"NEVERMORE!" Dove yelled.
Everyone ran to cover as several black feathers with the durability of steel came raining down from the sky. Massive black ravens circled the area as they screeched seemingly for the death of all the students present within the area.
"Nora!" Jaune called.
"No can do! I'm almost out!" she yelled as she caved in a Beowolf's skull.
"Damnit! I thought that killing the Garm was supposed to help us escape Arc!" Cardin yelled as he killed another Beowolf.
Jaune didn't pay attention as he killed the Beowolf that was attempting to kill Ren. Ren turned around and shot the Beowolf behind Jaune.
"Duck!" Blake yelled as everyone dodged a diving Nevermore.
Ruby, using her semblance, hooked herself onto the Nevermore's neck. She pulled the trigger, causing her to fly back due to recoil and allowing the blade to decapitate the avian Grimm.
"There's too many! Someone call for backup!" Jaune said.
"Cover me!" Pyrrha yelled as she pulled out her scroll. Ren and Jaune immediately ran to cover Pyrrha as she contacted Goodwitch.
Glynda found it odd that they haven't encountered any Grimm as of yet. There should be some.
"Miss Goodwitch, the area is all clear. The outpost has been vacated and there are no signs of any Grimm anywhere," a soldier reported. Glynda nodded and her green eyes scanned the area.
She caught sight of large claw marks.
These are too big to be from a Beowolf, she thought as her hand ran over the gashes. Her eyes widened in recognition when she realized what was here.
"Return to the ship and call Talos immediately!" she ordered. The soldier nodded and ran back.
Glynda pulled out her scroll and took off into the woods with the rest of the troops.
Damnit! A Garm! Here of all places! She thought as she ran.
As she ran, Glynda felt her scroll vibrate. The blonde professor pulled the scroll out and seeing that it was Pyrrha, answered it.
"Yes?"
"Miss Goodwitch! We need help now!"
"Give me a sitrep!"
"We found out what was drawing all the Beowolves here! A Garm! We managed to kill it but the beowolves, there are too many of them!"
"Pyrrha, I need you all to return to the ship immediately! I'm going to fire a flare that uses specialized dust that attracts Grimm!"
"R-right!"
"When you see the flare, run. It'll buy you thirty seconds!"
"O- Okay!"
Glynda cut the call and stopped running. She pulled a flare gun out of her pack. She fished around in her bag for dust. Upon finding it, she loaded the black dust into the flare.
Black dust was a special type of dust found in the Land of the Grimm or Land of Darkness. The dust attracted Grimm like there was no tomorrow for unknown reasons. She pointed the gun to the air and fired it.
The flare traveled high into the sky before bursting into a cloud of black and violet smoke.
Pyrrha put her scroll away. As she was about to speak, a Beowolf snuck up from behind and swiped its paw at her, shattering what was left of her aura and sending her crashing into a tree. The red-headed champion slid to the ground unconscious.
"PYRRHA!" Jaune yelled. He ran over and decapitated the Beowolf. Seeing a few more surround his unconscious partner, Jaune snapped. His eyes flickered to violet for a split second, causing the Beowolves to freeze momentarily.
Taking advantage of their brief lapse, Jaune slaughtered all three Grimm. Kneeling next to her, he sighed in relief when he found a pulse.
"Nora! Ren! Anyone! Grab Pyrrha and get her back to the ship!" Jaune yelled. Ruby appeared next to him along with Ren and Nora.
"Ruby, get Pyrrha back onto the ship! We'll buy you time!" Jaune said.
The rose-themed reaper nodded as Jaune handed her Pyrrha's prone form. A beowolf lunged at them but was blocked by Jaune. He turned and stared Ruby in the eye.
"GO!" he roared.
"We'll come back with backup!" Ruby said before she and Pyrrha disappeared in a flurry of rose petals. Ren and Nora looked at Jaune with worry in their eyes.
Turning his head, Jaune smiled a little and bashed the Beowolf and disemboweled it with Crocea Mors.
The two nodded and took off to make sure Ruby got back to the ship safely.
Suddenly, all the Grimm turned their heads simultaneously. In the distance was a violet light that emitted a black mist.
"They're distracted! Let's g-!" unfortunately, no one heard Jaune as an Alpha slashed him across his chest. The only downside of Black Dust was it only worked against weak Grimm. Stronger Grimm required larger quantities for it to have any effect.
As he flew into a tree, he caught sight of everyone running off. They must have seen it too.
"Wait!" he yelled, trying to get their attention. However, his cry for help was seemingly ignored.
He stood to his feet and found himself surrounded by Grimm. "Tch!" he said as Jaune charged towards the hoard intending to break past them. He made a promise to them. A promise to her. And he had no intention of breaking it.
Ren and Nora gave him a chance to clear things up.
He needed to go back to Domremy to see his family.
He needed to go to the Festival with Pyrrha!
"Come get some motherfuckers!" Jaune yelled as he drove his sword through a Beowolf. The Grimm snarled and pounced on the knight.
Ruby arrived at the ship with an unconscious Pyrrha. She collapsed at the ramp and Ren and Nora arrived shortly after.
The captain came down and saw her.
"We need to leave now!" he said. "Goodwitch reported that you guys saw a horde of Beos along with a Garm."
The three nodded.
"Then let's go!"
"Wait. We need to go back for Jaune," Nora protested.
"No time, we sighted some Drakes and Griffons heading here as well," he said. A rustling from the trees alerted the three hunters-in-training and they trained their weapons on the new arrivals.
"GO GO GO!" Yang yelled as she ran up the ramp, followed by Blake, Weiss, and CRDL. Goodwitch and the troops also came out of the foliage and entered the ship.
Noticing an unconscious Pyrrha and assuming Jaune was inside, Glynda used her semblance and carried her inside and made her way to the ship's med bay.
"C'mon kid!" the man said. Ruby glared.
"But Jaune!" she yelled. Yang ran down the ramp and grabbed a protesting and struggling Ruby, while Cardin and Russell dragged a tired but struggling Ren and Nora into the ship's hangar.
"NO!" Ruby screamed as she watched them lift the ramp. The Dreadnaught's engines roared to life as it took off and sped back to Aurbis.
Jaune was panting heavily as he killed another. His body was littered with cuts and bruises. Across his chest, his armor was torn and slashed by one of the Alphas leaving three deep lacerations as blood seeped out of them. To top it all off, his back was against the wall and by the wall, it was the edge of the ravine.
Like fucking normal wolves. Cornering their prey, he thought bitterly.
The sound of a ship's engines caught his attention and his heart sank as he saw the Dreadnaught take off and leave.
They left me? He thought with wide eyes.
A sharp pain brought him out of his thoughts as a Beowolf delivered an upwards slash, sending him into the air and over the edge of the ravine.
Jaune watched the opening of the ravine as he fell. His life flashed before his eyes as he remembered the time she spent with his family. With his team and Team RWBY before the transcripts. The time he spent with Pyrrha. He apologized for forging his transcripts as he fell. For being such a failure.
I'm sorry Pyrrha. Looks like I won't be able to take you to the festival.
This was Jaune's last thought before he hit the river at the bottom and then everything went black.
I hope this chapter cleared up how Ruby, Nora, and Ren felt about Jaune even though they were angry with him. In every Jaune fic where his transcripts are found out and involve him being abandoned by everyone, other than Pyrrha, I doubt that Ruby, Ren, and Nora would truly abandon him. Would they be mad? Yes. Anyone would. After all, how would you feel if you worked all your life to enter the university of your dreams and found out someone faked their way into the same school. You'd be pissed right? What if it was your closest friend? You'd still be pissed, maybe the cold shoulder for a while but in the end, you'll forgive them eventually. Or not depending on what kind of person you are. Anyway, review to let me know how I can make it better. Rav. Follow. You know the drill. Remember, have a great day/night or not, the choice is yours!~