Hey, hey and welcome to the new chapter. I have decided to try and fit this story into the week so I'm thinking of doing alternating updates with this and my other story, Beyond the Gap. Anyway, welcome to the first arc. Heh, get it. It takes place right after the fall of Jaune so, no time-skipping until a few chapters later. Anyway, let's get on with the chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. Teeth Rooster does.
A young fox faunus about the age of seven ran from a group of bullies. It was always like this for her every time she left the old lady's house. Every kid picked on her, even her fellow faunus. Now, you might be thinking. Why would her fellow faunus bully her? It's simple.
It's all simple. Little Mae was different from other faunus. Rather than being born with a single anima feature. She was born with two. Mae had a pair of fluffy ears atop her head which was covered in messy, shoulder-length pink hair and a bushy tail.
Mae expertly weaved through crowds of people as she made to outrun the people chasing her. She turned the corner into a maze of stands she knew like the very back of her hand. Like a ninja, she vaulted, climbed, and overall parkoured her way through the shopping district. She arrived at a familiar area and immediately climbed over the fence before sliding down a bridge. She ran to some bushes in the woods and hid.
Above her, the sound of kids could be heard.
"Where'd the freak go!?"
"I don't know."
"She probably went into the woods."
"Good riddance."
Seeing that they could not find her, the bullies left. In the bushes, Mae's ears twitched as she listened for any sign of them. After confirming that they were long gone, Mae began to cry underneath the tree.
Why did the other kids hate her? Was it her tail? Her ears?
Maybe… maybe if I don't have a tail and ears… people will like me, the young girl thought. She stood up and began to walk alongside the river. She loved the river. The river calmed her down and the snow around it made the area prettier.
As she walked, she noticed that the water was red. Raising her eyebrow at the sight, she followed the trail. The further she walked, the darker the shade of red the water had become. Upon coming at the small waterfall at the head of the river, she saw it. Her eyes grew wide. A boy. Older than her by the looks of it. He was hurt. Bruises littered his body. His armor was severely damaged and he had minor cuts. Parts of his jacket was torn to shreds. The oddest part wasn't the fact that the boy only had minor wounds but looked as if he had bled an entire river. No, it was the Grimm. Beowolf. A young one. It was circling him.
Mae hid behind a rock. Expecting to hear the sounds of flesh tearing and bones crunching, what she heard as completely unexpected.
Whines? She peeked from her place behind the rock and saw one of the Beowolves nudging the boy's prone form with its snout. The wolf Grimm let out a sad whine as it kept nudging him.
What should I do? She thought. As she was looking, the Beowolf looked up and spotted her. It growled as it stood over the boy protectively.
Steeling herself, Mae calmly approached the Grimm and the boy. The beowolf snarled and snapped at her. Mae yelped and back away.
"Maybe I should get help…," she muttered. However, her mind produced another thought. If she went back, she'll have to go through them again. Honestly, she'd rather deal with the Grimm but the boy needed help.
"L-look!" she began to speak. The Grimm kept growling at her.
"I'm going to go get help. Can you keep him safe?" she asked, slapping herself internally for thinking that a beowolf could understand her.
The beowolf looked between its ward and her and sat down. It bobbed its head up and down as if imitating a nod.
"Okay!" she said and ran off.
C' mon old lady! You better be there when I get back and not skip town! Mae thought as she pushed her small body to run across the snow and back to the village.
Dreadnaught
Glynda gently carried Pyrrha through the halls of the Dreadnaught and to their medical bay. After handing her over to the medical staff, she stood off to the side and watched them work until one of the medics came over and assured her that the girl was fine. Just some minor bruising. Whatever was left of her aura would have taken most of the damage but to be safe, they were going to keep an eye on her in the event of a possible head injury.
Glynda nodded and went to go check on the other students. As she walked, she found it odd that she didn't see or hear Jaune the entire time they were aboard and the ship was in flight.
As she walked, her heels clicking across the hard metal floor, she came upon her other students. The teams were in the hanger of the ship. They were in the middle of a heated argument and it was drawing everyone's attention. The oddest thing was one of the crew members was involved.
"HOW COULD YOU JUST LEAVE HIM BEHIND!?" Ruby yelled, her silver eyes boring holes into the crew member's skull.
"It was us or him! There were too many Grimm in the area and the possibility of a Ga-"
"The Garm was dead," Ren said in a cool voice.
"Still," he said.
"And what about you!? There were six of you!" Ruby said, glaring at her sister and Weiss.
"We needed to get Blake over here to get medical treatment!" Yang said.
"She has a minor cut! A MINOR CUT! It could've easily been healed!" Ruby screamed.
"Ruby, calm down. Arc is probably still alive. Likely clinging to a tree branch," Weiss said, blowing her off.
"Did you forget who got us out of there in the first place!?" she screamed.
"Of course not! Arc may have planned everything out but in the end, it was a combined effort," Weiss said.
"It was because of Jaune's plans that we're still here Weiss," Blake said as her arm was being bandaged up.
"Yes, but we did all the work," Cardin said.
"Quiet Winchester," Blake growled. Cardin huffed and backed off.
Ruby nodded in thanks to Blake and turned her glare back to the others.
"Why did you keep us from going back for him!?"
"I'm not going to let you go out there and risk your life!" Yang argued.
"You seemed to have no problem letting me enter an academy where I risk my life every day! What's the difference between now and then!?"
"The difference is you're risking your life for nothing. We don't even know if Jaune is even alive! And even if you went back down there, with his nonexistent skills, you'd be dead! Both of you! I'm not going to put his life over yours! Your life is worth more than his!" Yang said.
Ruby's eyes grew wide, incapable of believing what her sister had just said.
"What's going on here?" Glynda said, having grown tired of the noise.
"Professor! Oh, thank goodness you're here!" Ruby said.
"What happened Ms. Rose? And where is Mr. Arc?" Glynda asked.
Everyone froze. She didn't know? Ruby gulped as she moved to tell her.
Glynda's green eyes widened in complete and utter horror. No, this had to be some sort of sick joke. Jaune was going to jump out from one of the crates and surprise her. She looked down at Ruby who had a genuine look of fear and concern on her face.
"Very funny. Now tell Mr. Arc to come out from one of the crates," she said. "I should tell you that pranking Beacon Staff can land you in detention."
Ruby's eyes widened. She thought she was lying?
"I'M NOT KIDDING! JAUNE IS STILL DOWN THERE! LOOK!" Ruby said, shoving her scroll in Glynda's face.
This time, she felt her heart drop into her stomach. Jaune's signal wasn't here. This either meant his scroll was dead which was impossible since it had 24-hour battery life, he was too far for the signal, or the scroll was destroyed.
Glynda whirled on one of the crew members.
"YOU LEFT ONE OF MY STUDENTS!" she screeched.
The other crew members began backing away as Glynda slowly approached the man. She grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off the ground.
"W- We're sorry! But we had to think fo everyone's safety! We won't risk everything for one boy!" the crew members said as he struggled in her grasp.
Glynda dropped him and turned to the other students.
"Ms. Rose, why was Mr. Arc still there in the first place?" she asked.
"Pyrrha was knocked out so he had me, Nora, and Ruby take her back while he and the others stayed behind to buy us time," Ren said.
"Really? And who stated behind?" she asked.
"The remaining members of RWBY and CRDL," Nora answered.
Glynda turned her gaze to them. The seven gulped as Glynda's eyes pinned them to their spots.
"We will speak of this later," she said. "I need you to tell the captain to keep this ship here in the air until we get back."
"But ma'am-"
"Now!" she roared.
"Yes ma'am!" the soldier said, running off.
"Take me to your nearest bullhead," Glynda said. A soldier nodded and ran off.
"Ms. Rose, Mr. Lie, Ms. Valkyrie. On me. The rest of you, stay here and look after Ms. Nikos," Glynda said.
"Yes Professor!" they chorused.
Please be safe Jaune. Just hand on until we get there, Glynda thought as she commandeered a bullhead. She sat in the pilot seat and turned to Ruby.
"Ms. Rose, do you remember the location where you fought the Garm?"
"Yes, Ms. Goodwitch," she nodded.
"Good, you'll lead us there," Glynda punched several buttons. In front of them, the hangar bay of the Dreadnaught opened and the bullhead sped out back to the location of the mission.
As they flew, several thoughts, some of them disturbing, flew through their heads. All relvoed around a certain blonde knight. The worry and fear that permeated the atmosphere of the ship were thick. It was so thick that one could grab the blade of Crescent Rose and cut a perfect circle out of it. In an attempt to keep her worries at bay, Glynda began to speak.
"Killing a Garm. A rather impressive feat for a couple of freshmen," she said, focusing on the sky ahead.
The others looked down. The mere mention of the fight reminded them of Jaune.
"It was all because of Jaune," Ren said. "He came up with the strategy to take down the Garm. It's the only reason we're still alive in the first place."
Glynda's green eyes traveled to the reflection within the windshield in the Bullhead. The three looked extremely depressed and that confused her. They ignored Jaune's plight during his time of suffering at Beacon. Why were they so… sad?
"If I may ask, I was under the impression that you hated Mr. Arc alongside the rest of the student body. The only ones that didn't hate him or stuck by him were Ms. Nikos and as of recently, Ms. Belladonna. So, why so glum?" she asked.
The three looked taken aback by her question. Nora started to fume and was about to deliver a slew of snappy remarks when Ren spoke up for the two of them.
"We never hated Jaune, Professor," he said.
Glynda raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, then why did you leave him to his fate?"
"The way Jaune got into the Academy… It was like a spit in our face. We worked hard, trained underneath a huntsman we came across on our journeys. He… He cheated his way into Beacon. We had to work," Ren said.
"And to top it all off, he was made leader without any skill at all. The only thing he had to show for was tactics. A leader is supposed to be able to direct the battlefield and at the same time, be able to be there with the people he's leading," Ruby said.
Glynda sighed. She understood where they were coming from. Jaune was unskilled in combat, only having started his training when he snuck in. But, if she had to find a reason as to why he tried to get in, it was the pressure. Jaune's parents were no laughing matter among the older huntsman and huntresses. To everyone else, they were Sieg and Jeanne Arc, owners of the Sleeping Dragon Tavern in Domremy. To the older hunters, they were Sieg, the Dragoon Knight, and Jeanne, the Crimson Saint. Two of the most powerful hunters to ever exist. Stronger than the members of Team STRQ. Stronger than even Summer herself. People speculated that they could rival Ozpin in power. And so, she understood why Jaune was the way he was.
"Mr. Lie, has Jaune ever talked to any of you about his life at home?" she said.
"He talks to Pyrrha but I've never heard him mention anything beyond his sisters before. The way he talks about his parents, he idolizes them but at the same time, everytime he talks about them, he loses a little light in his eyes," Ren said.
"That is understandable. It's common for a child to want to live up to the expectations of their parents. To become worthy of their legacy. It was only fate that brought Jaune to Beacon," Glynda said.
"Professor… who are Jaune's parents?" Ruby asked.
"Tell me, have any of you three heard of the Dragoon Knight and the Crimson Saint?" Glynda asked.
"Yeah! They're some of the most badass and strongest hunters alive!" Nora exclaimed. She was a big fan. Especially of the Crimson Saint.
"I see their epithets have lived on especially after retirement. That's how you know them. To Jaune, they can be referred as two titles. Two titles that brought happiness to their face that I've only seen since the two fell in love," Glynda remarked.
Ren's eyes widened at her implication. It made so much sense. The comment about escaping his parents' shadows. Jaune's drive to become stronger. His need to protect others. The refusal to ask for help.
"They're Jaune's parents aren't they?" he said.
"Yes. To live up to the legacy of his parents and protect others like they once did. That is Jaune's goal," Glynda said.
"However, Sieg and Jeanne didn't want their kids to live the lives they had led. Luckily for them, their two eldest became something else but little Jaune and Alice always wanted to be hunters. To become the greatest tag team in all of Remnant, just like their parents had been. The two refused them until eventually, they gave in and began to train them. The rest you know. With only one year of basic training, Jaune got ahold of false transcripts and ran off to Beacon. Imagine Sieg and Jeanne's surprise when they heard Jaune got in. Actually, they weren't surprised at all. It was like they knew," Glynda said.
"Jaune has training!?" they all yelled.
"Of course. The only reason all of you see him as unskilled is because compare to you, Jaune only has one year whereas you've all had your entire lives. If Jaune didn't have basic training, he would have died out there during Initiation," Glynda said.
The three looked down. The guilt was welling up inside them. This whole time, Ruby pushed Pyrrha to expel Jaune due to him being unskilled. Due to him being the weak link. As she reflected on Goodwitch's words, her mind remembered the fight they just had against the Garm and the Grimm Horde. Jaune had held his own and killed nearly as much Grimm as any of them had. Her heart clenched in worry at what they would find.
Next to her, Nora was crying silently, staring at the floor while Ren rubbed her back, clenching his fists to the point that they drew blood.
Glynda drove the Bullhead silently as her three passengers stewed in their own guilt behind her.
"We're almost there. Get ready," she said as she began to descend to their landing area.
After landing the bullhead, Glynda led them out of the ship. She drew her riding crop and looked to Ruby.
"Ms. Rose, lead the way," she said.
Ruby nodded and took off, running without her semblance with Glynda, Ren, and Nora following after her.
After running for a few minutes, the four arrived at the edge of the ravine. The grimm had left long ago but they kept themselves tense and ready. Glynda walked to the ravine's edge and knelt. Before her, was a trail of blood that led off the edge. Her worst fears were coming true before her.
"Ms. Goodwitch…," Ruby stared in horror at the blood trail. There was just so much blood.
"There's a chance he might be alive down in the ravine but we're running out of time. We need to get down there, Professor," Ren said, looking over the edge.
"I know that Mr. Ren. Please stand close to me," Glynda said. The three stood close to her as Glynda flicked her riding crop. The entire piece of ground that they stood on began to glow violet as she began to completely carve it out of the cliff. She waved it and began to lower the piece of ground down to the bottom of the cliff.
The three students stood nervously at what they would find. Images of Jaune's mutilated corpse flew through their minds. His lifeless blue eyes, bloody blonde hair, his entrails spilled out of his torso, or perhaps even a half-eaten corpse awaited them down there. Glynda set the chunk fo earth down gently and the four Beacon residents hopped off the platform.
"Spread out and search along the riverside," she said.
"Roger!" the three scattered and began to search. Ren had taken the upstream of the river just in case Jaune had swum while Nora had decided to stay with Glynda to investigate the area where they had descended for any clues as to where Jaune would have gone off to. Ruby volunteered to head downstream.
Ruby walked along the riverside, scanning both the shoreline and the river for any sign of Jaune. Unfortunately, all she found was a faded pool of red. After several minutes of walking and killing a few stray Grimm who she found… she guessed the right word was mourning since the wolves were howling a sad howl, she spotted something white and glinting in the sunlight. Feeling a sinking feeling in her gut, she began to approach the glinting object.
Her silver eyes widened in horror as she screamed. Glynda, Ren, and Nora had run over when they heard her.
"Ms. Rose! What happened!? What did you find!?" Glynda said as she saw a hysterical Ruby on her knees, holding something close to her chest. She tried to comfort the sobbing girl as well as grab whatever she was holding. However, Ruby was putting up a fight. Every struggle the girl made was making Glynda's sense of foreboding growing more and more.
After a few minutes of struggle, Ruby had calmed down enough to speak coherent words.
"P-... Professor! J- Jaune! H- He's!" Ruby said as she revealed Crocea Mors to Glynda. The weapon had fresh bloodstains on the grip meaning that Jaune had dropped it.
"Where did you find this Ms. Rose!?" Glynda asked frantically.
Ruby pointed to a nearby bush. Glynda and Ren walked over and their hearts dropped. Pieces of Jaune's armor and the shield of Crocea Mors lay there damaged. The shield was broken and the pieces that were left look like they had been torn off.
"R- Ren? Jaune, h- he's still…," Nora asked, trailing off as soon as she saw the armor and shield after walking over.
"I- I don't know," Ren said.
"H- Hey guys! Jaune's scroll! I have a signal!" Ruby said, sparking new hope inside of them.
The group crowded around Ruby as she began to walk in the direction that the signal was strongest. As they got closer, the anticipation at what they might find grew. Expecting to see Jaune or at least his corpse, they only found a cracked, bloody scroll and pieces of his clothing.
Ruby dropped to her knees and began crying. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she repeated over and over between sobs.
Nora began to cry onto Ren's arms while Ren was staring at the ground angrily. Tears flowed freely from his eyes.
Glynda wanted to cry but she had to stay strong. Remnant had lost one of her defenders today and she had to make sure that he was honored and remembered. Taking Crocea Mors from Ruby and grabbing the shield and armor fragments from their location on the shoreline, Glynda walked back to where they descended followed by three grieving Beacon Students.
Pyrrha sat next to Jaune, leaning her head on his shoulder. They were at the local park in Domremy. A silver ring with a violet amethyst sat on her left ring finger while a silver ring with a green emerald sat on Jaune's. The two smiled happily as a blonde-haired girl with green eyes ran around, screaming joyously.
"Hey, Pyrrha?"
"Yes, Jaune?"
"You know that I'll always be there for you right?"
Pyrrha was confused by his question but answered nonetheless.
"Y- Yeah! Of course, I know," she said.
"And will you always be there for me?" he asked.
"Jaune, why are you asking me this? We made a vow to always be there for each other. It was even in our vows. No matter what, as long as we're together," she said, quoting their wedding vows.
"Then why weren't you there?"
"There for what?"
"When I was bleeding out and getting mauled by Grimm and our friends?"
"Jaune what are you ta-" she turned to scold him when her words died in her throat. There, sitting next to her was Jaune. Half of his face was burned off. His arm exhibited puncture wounds akin to that of a rapier. His chest and abdominal area were covered in bullet wounds and slash marks while his left arm was broken with his ulna and radius sticking out. A Beowolf was gnawing on his throat, blood spilling all over his hoodie.
"Why did you let me die Pyrrha?" he asked as his voice warped.
"N- No! Jaune!" she said, reaching out to him. However, she couldn't move. Pyrrha's eyes widened when the Beowolf pulled on Jaune's throat, ripping it off before howling. Grimmified versions of her friends all appeared from the shadows, grinning sadistically.
She began to scream and beg for them to stop as they all took turns mutilating Jaune's body. Her anguish only made them laugh harder before a Grimm Ruby brought Jaune before her. His eyes looked at her asking why.
"J- Jaune… Ruby… please… let him go," she begged.
"I'm sorry. What was that?" "Ruby" asked, cupping her hand around her ear.
"Please let him go!" Pyrrha pleaded.
"Why didn't you say so?" "Ruby" said, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "Ruby" dropped Jaune and Pyrrha sighed in relief. However, her relief turned to horror as "Ruby" hooked Crescent Rose around Jaune's throat and fired, the recoil causing the scythe to cut through what remained of Jaune's throat, decapitating him.
His head rolled over to her as his lifeless blue eyes looked up into her own.
"JAAUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEE!" she screamed, finally being able to move. She grabbed his head and hugged it close to her as she screamed and sobbed. Her agonized screams being heard throughout the village.
"Pyrrha…," she looked down and saw Jaune's head talking.
"You did this," it said.
"N- No!" she dropped the head and backpedaled away.
"You're the reason I died," the head said before "Ruby" came back and brought her foot down, squashing Jaune's head like a grape.
"NOOOOOOOO! JAUNNNNE!"
"WOAH! PYRRHA, CALM DOWN!" Blake said, running over to the champion as she began to fight against her, sobbing like she had just seen something horrible.
"Yang! Come help me with this!" Blake yelled at her partner. Yang ran over and the two held the distraught champion down as she struggled, screaming for Jaune.
"Dammit! Someone get a medic or something to calm her down!" Yang yelled as she watched a black glow envelop every metal object in the room.
Sky ran out and came back a few minutes later with a medical officer, who took out a syringe that he inserted into Pyrrha's neck, causing her struggling to weaken until eventually, she passed out.
"What did you do?" Blake asked, her ears twitching in worry as she saw Pyrrha pass out.
"A minor sleeping agent. It'll only work for a few minutes since her aura is back too full," the medic said. "She should be fine when she wakes up."
The medic left, leaving the group alone with a sleeping Pyrrha Nikos. True to his words, Pyrrha did wake up about six minutes later. This time, she didn't scream, she just rubbed her head as a slight headache came about due to the sedative.
"Wha- How did I?" she asked as she recognized the metallic walls of the Dreadnaught.
"Hey, you're finally awake," Blake said, sitting in a chair next to her.
"Blake? What are you-"
"It's okay. We're on the Dreadnaught. Jaune had Ruby take you back after a Beowulf sucker punched you," she said.
"Oh," Pyrrha looked down at her bedsheets. "Where's Professor Goodwitch?"
A beeping sound was heard through the intercom as an announcement came in that a bullhead had just landed in the hangar of the Dreadnaught.
"She just got back," Yang said.
"Oh, did she not come back with us?" Pyrrha said.
The others looked away while Blake sent them slight glares. She had seen Jaune get slashed by that Alpha and was about to help when Yang and Weiss grabbed her, taking her back to the ship with them. However, Blake knew that they didn't abandon Jaune on purpose. It was the chaos of the battle that prevented them from noticing that they had left him behind.
"Umm, Jaune's no-"
"Excuse me, all of you. Your professor's coming here and I thought you'd like to know," an Atlesian soldier said, peeking into their room.
"Yeah, just let her know we're all in here," Weiss said.
"Yes, Ma'am," the soldier said as she ran off.
"Right so, Jaune. He's…" Blake began but couldn't find it in herself to say anything.
"He's what?" Pyrrha pressed.
"Ah, Ms. Nikos. You're awake," Glynda remarked, walking into the room with a series of objects wrapped in white cloth floating behind her. Her forest green eyes darted to each and every occupant in the room.
"Please leave. Except for you Miss Belladonna," Glynda said.
"Wait! Why does Blake get to-"
"I'll tell you when we get back to the academy. I'm merely here to check up on these two," Glynda said smoothly and evenly as to not betray the sorrow and rage she was currently feeling.
The others filed out of the room and Nora, Ren, and Ruby walked in. The three looked horrible and Ruby's eyes were red from what seemed like crying as was Nora's and Ren's.
"Now, I'm telling you two this because you two defended Mr. Arc in his time of need," Glynda said.
"What? Where's Jaune Professor?" Pyrrha asked worried about the wellbeing of her partner.
Glynda bit her lip. This was never easy. Telling the surviving partner the fate of their partner's. She felt bad for the girl. She had honest, pure, and genuine feelings for the blonde knight and Glynda could tell Jaune was developing similar feelings for the redhead as well. And now, it seemed that fate was cruel to rob them of a possible future together.
"Ms. Nikos. I regret to inform you that Mr. Arc is no longer with us," Glynda said.
Blake's eyes widened as she stared at Glynda disbelievingly. Her amber eyes darted to Ren, Nora, and Ruby who all refused to look at her. Her heart dropped. Jaune was dead? One of the kindest people at Beacon who also stood up for faunus was dead? Blake felt something wet run down her cheeks and her hand went up to wipe them away. She was crying.
As Glynda said those words, Pyrrha's soul shattered. Her face went through a series of emotions before falling on one of nothing.
"Please don't joke around Professor. I know that Jaune's behind that door," Pyrrha said as a small smile made it sway to her face. "You can come out now Jaune. That's really funny," Pyrrha said, leaning to the side to see the doorway, expecting Jaune to come out only to find no one.
"Miss Nikos, I know this may seem hard to process but just know that we shall help you get throu-"
"HE'S NOT DEAD DAMNIT! He made a promise to our team. We made a promise to each other to go to Domremy during the break! He can't di-"
"Denial will not make him come back," Glynda said, causing Pyrrha to freeze. Glynda sighed and willed one of the cloth-covered objects to come to her. She grabbed it and held it in her hands waiting slightly before handing it to Pyrrha.
"I'm sorry, Miss Nik- Pyrrha. I knew how much he meant to all of us. To you, especially," Glynda said, handing Pyrrha to object.
Pyrrha shakily held the object in her hand. It felt like… no, that was impossible. If this was here, then that meant that…
She hesitantly unwrapped the cloth and saw the familiar white tint of Jaune's signature weapon. Pyrrha immediately began to shake her head as the stark reality hit her.
"No, no, no, no. Not him. Please, Jibril. Please not him," Pyrrha said as she fully unwrapped the object. In her hands was Crocea Mors only the scabbard was damaged, revealing some of the blade underneath. "Jaune…," she whispered as she looked at the shield.
"You promised," she said. "JAUUUNE!" she sobbed as she clutched the weapon like a lifeline.
Everyone looked away as Pyrrha began to sob like a wife who just received news that her husband had died in the war.
"Jaune," Pyrrha whispered as she held onto the blade tightly.
Blue eyes opened to see the ceiling of a log cabin above him. Jaune groaned as he tried to sit up only to fail due to the sudden surge of pain that came from the right side of his chest.
"Hey, you. You're finally awake. I was worried that you died in your sleep but then again we all die anyway," an unfamiliar voice called out.
"W-What? Where am I?" Jaune said, pushing himself against the pain into sitting position.
"You're in my cabin. This young lady on your left brought me to you," the voice said. Jaune's eyes trailed down to the mop of pink hair with two fox ears that twitched every so often sleeping with her head on his bed.
"Care for something to drink?" Jaune looked and saw an elderly woman with a tan complexion sitting on his right. She had a walking stick with a skull as the handle. She wore a navy blue tabasco style dress with long sleeves. She had a long cloak that was held together by silver shoulder pauldrons and a beaded necklace. But her most distinguishing features were her mechanical blue eyes.
"Um, sure. Water, please," Jaune asked politely. The elderly woman reached over and poured him a glass before handing it to him.
"Your aura seems to have done most of the work, healing you though by all means, you should be dead. No one loses that much blood and lives," the lady said.
"I didn't bleed that mucb did I?"
"Kid, you turned half the river red with your blood," she said dryly. "Between that and the Grimm, you're a very weird kid."
"Grimm? How'd you get me away from them?" Jaune asked as he sipped his glass of water.
"By asking."
Jaune spit his water and choked.
"I'm sorry. Asking?" he said, looking at her like she was insane. Grimm can't be reasoned with. They were mindless soulless beasts!
"Yup. That Beowolf outside had you locked down. It was protecting you like how it would protect its Alpha," the woman said.
"W- What!?"
"Yup," she said, nonchalantly. "Want me to let it in?"
"What? No!"
"Too late," the lady walked over and opened the door and a beowolf the size of a chair ran into Jaune. Jaune raised his arms, fully expecting for some teeth to rip them off only to find himself feeling nothing. Instead, he felt a smooth object nudging his forearm.
He lowered them and saw the Beowolf sitting on the floor next to him, wagging its tail like a dog happy to see its owner again. To be honest, it was one of the weirdest things Jaune had ever had the privilege of witnessing.
"Umm, good boy?" he said, rubbing its head. Its fur was pleasantly soft.
Upon hearing the boy, the Beo growled.
"Okay, a girl then?" he said, scratching behind her ears.
The Beo barked like a demonic hound alerting the other person who was sleeping.
Mae woke up to see the blonde man that she had brought the old lady to petting Grimm. Mae shrieked and ran behind the old lady.
The Beowolf growled at her for the sudden interruption of her head pats. Noticing its suddenly hostile behavior, Jaune increased the intensity, stroking its black fur. The Beowolf calmed down and eventually removed herself from Jaune's hand and laid down on the floor to sleep.
"Are you crazy old lady!? That's a Grimm!" she said, pointing at the sleeping Beowolf.
"Yes, but it's not attacking us at the moment and from what I can tell, it listens to the kid so," the old lady said, sitting down on her chair next to Jaune.
"Still though," the girl said, eyeing the slumbering Beo warily.
"So, who are you guys anyway," Jaune asked, looking between the two.
"Oh silly me, how can I forget? Names! Well for starters, the child over there next to you is Mae. Mae Tamao. She's a fox faunus with a few extra attributes as you can see," the old lady said, pointing her walking stick at Mae.
"Nice to meet you," Jaune said, extending his bandaged hand.
"You too," she said, shaking his.
"And what about you?" Jaune asked, turning to the old woman.
"Maria. My name is Maria Cavalera."
Hohoho! Didn't see that coming did you! Hehehehe. I don't know why I'm laughing. And what is Jaune's weird affinity with the Grimm? Who is Maria Cavalera? Will Jaune and Pyrrha ever see each other again? Next time on Dragon Ball Z- I mean D'Arc Is Not Evil. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed. Please leave a review for this story. It gets lonely here sometimes. Also, fav/follow if you enjoyed and remember, have a great day/night or not! The choice is yours.