Author's Headnote: Well, I'm gonna say this, the Jaune chapter will not soley focus on Jaune's perspective. As per say, given the diversity of characters, it's moreso of a "JNPR" chapter. Well, JN_R chapter. Pyrrha's dead, remember? Well, without further ado, let's hop into the Jaune chapter (I'm still it calling that anyway.) And no, I did not abandon my other fanfic, my computer just decided to throw away the work I had already worked on so I had to start over on that chapter.
RWBY: Festival of Blood: Picking Up the Pieces
Jaune Arc:
Aura Status: 100%
Semblance: Aura Boosting
Weapons: None (Milo and Akouo were returned to Pyrrha's family), (Crocea Mors is out of reach right now)
Team Relations:
-Nora Valkyrie: She's taking the destruction of Vale very well, Violet needed her for something.
-Pyrrha Nikos: DECEASED
-Lie Ren: He's been more twitchy and fidgety since the Destruction of Vale, Violet needed him for something.
End of major character status report.
Island of Patch, December 13, Saturday, 12:00 PM, Vale Refugee Tents
Jaune was checking up on Weiss. She's still in comatose. He's grateful that he saved her life, but if she was affected by this dust so badly, her assailant must have a serious grudge against her... or her family. He was sitting in a folded chair, holding Weiss' hand. Hoping that she'll wake up. He also feels sorry for Weiss, disowned for something out of her reach, and she couldn't defend herself, or even know that it happened. He still grieves Pyrrha's death, and he admits he feels bad for Penny's destruction... Cinder, he did not care for much. However, it was the news of Ruby that shocked him. And the rest of team JN_R and SSSN. Yang too, she's still upset about it, she was given Ruby's cloak, which was the only thing that Mr. Branwen found that belonged to Ruby.
According to the news, Ruby, Penny, and Cinder were fighting off the Wyvern, it flew off once all of them have died in the fight. With Ruby getting mostly incinerated, Penny self-destructing to try and kill the wyvern, and Cinder being mauled and bled out. However, Mr. Branwen claims that Ruby might still be out there. Jaune wondered how, and he responded by stating that Crescent Rose was not at the sight, nor any scrap metal that can be traced back to it, he said that Ruby would never leave Crescent Rose behind. Meaning that she might still be out there... but the main question is, how did she get out of there? Why would she leave her cloak behind?
And there are people speculating that Cinder actually caused this mess, however... there's little evidence to back the claim other than an announcement on a red screen, which people said the two sounded similar.
Yang was holding onto Ruby's cloak. She's feeling pretty much in a depressed mood right now. So, she really isn't in the mood for talk... or anything for that matter. As she's using the cloak as a blanket. She was in tears when the news came out. Jaune would cry too if her sister ended up in the strange 'missing or dead' status too.
Mr. Branwen said that her mother was placed under that same status the day she never came back too, after a year, she was declared dead. Ruby and Yang's father had shut down and went drinking for a whole year, which is likely what he's doing now. As for him, he said that tends to blame himself for what happens to those he cares about. After that he told Jaune to go away.
But now he's checking up on Weiss, she's still in comatose, but he hopes that she'll wake up.
"Still checking up on Ms. Schnee?" Professor Goodwitch asked.
"Yes. I hope that she'll wake up, soon." Jaune said.
"No one recovers from a coma in six days."
"I know, but I wish she would recover."
"I see... the geologists are concluding that the dust is a concoction called 'Entropy Dust'."
"Entropy Dust?"
"Although many people seem to question the appropriateness of the name. Entropy Dust is considered illegal because it's purpose. Death."
"Death?"
"That's the primary purpose of the dust. Although not effective against grimm, it can damage humans and faunas irreversibly, since the dust itself can break down and enter through wounds as the aura is healing them, damaging their muscular system to a possibly irreversible point. It's a slow killer."
"Meaning?"
"It doesn't effect grimm much, but tends to screw with human and faunas severely. Either way, the longer the dust stays in there... the more their bodies are breaking down... the weaker Ms. Schnee and Ms. Xiao Long will become."
"Is there a cure or treatment?"
"Well, I'm afraid we can't do any treatments to the dust right now, all we can hope for is that the immune system fights it off."
"I see..."
"It's best we let them have the room to themselves, there's a good reason why visit times are limited to five minutes."
"Of course, I'll be here, tomorrow Weiss." Jaune said leaving, he also waved at Yang, who only squinted at Jaune. The nurses removed her contact lenses to avoid any eye damage. She doesn't have a backup pair of glasses so she can't really see anything.
He left the tent, letting what's left of team RWBY to heal. However, he wonders what Violet needed his team are up to...
Character Change: Jaune Arc - Nora Valkyrie
Vale Ruins, December 13, Saturday, 12:00 PM, Industrial District Ruins
Despite it only being six days since the destruction of Vale... it has not aged well, with addition of the robots running amok shooting any survivors left behind, the grimm are making way to destroy the architecture of Vale. It would be suicide going back here.
But here Nora is, with Ren, Sun, and Violet. Looking for stuff... Nora doesn't know what exactly, Violet didn't explain yet. They arrived by sea; hence they are at the industrial district... or what's left of it.
"So... remind me, why are we going back to Vale?" Nora asked
"It doesn't seem to be a good idea, given that Sage barely made it out here alive. Not to mention that it was a struggle with just four academies worth of students, it would be impossible to navigate through and back Mistral fighting a constantly re-enforced army of grimm!" Sun stated.
"Which is why I selected you three, since your covert skills are on average higher than the rest of the students available. With the rest of the Beacon Students at Atlas, I am grateful that you have convinced your team to stay here, Sun. The dockyards and industrial district have far less grimm compared to the rest of the city, which is why we are arriving at the docks." Violet explained.
"So... why us three?" Ren asked.
"I know that I can't ask the veteran huntsmen or professor Goodwitch, since they would not only strike down the proposal, but bar me from leaving the island, which just left the students. Ren's semblance can mask his presence from grimm, even than, he's a master ninja. Sun is an expert thief, so his sneaking skills should go without saying. Nora although is the oddball, she is typically associated with Ren when it comes to fighting. Jaune and the rest of SSSN are more skilled in direct combat than avoiding and stealth. Weiss and Yang are being inhibited by a dust concoction, even if healing the condition, we can't expect someone to fight with just one arm." Violet stated.
"Aaand yourself?" Nora asked.
"My passive semblance allows me to detect aura and grimm. That would mean I can see them coming and plan to avoid them ahead of time. I've been training at Beacon Academy two years longer than you have, Nora. I would know how to avoid an impossible battle." Violet stated.
"So... why the trip to Vale?"
"First, we need some dust: Earth, Lightning, and Water dust specifically. Second, we need an O- blood sample. O- can be transferred to all blood types regardless of recipient. A, B, and AB. Third, we need to get weapons for Weiss, Yang, Jaune, and myself. Finally, we need a map and a way of transport. We can't go by air since it's too conspicuous."
"Crocea Mors is still in the locker in Beacon. I think Myrtenaster is still at campas grounds, too." Nora stated.
"Although risky, both of those weapons would still be familiar to fight with Jaune and Weiss. The former wouldn't need much training, and the latter would get back up to speed quicker with a familiar weapon." Violet said, professionally.
"What do you mean?"
"Weiss is in comatose, when she wakes up, chances are her strength and muscles would have declined. So, she would have to rebuild her strength training to get back to her pre-comatose state. Similar case with Yang, whether going by my solution or finding a prosthetic arm... she would still need to regain her strength."
"Regain her strength."
"Naturally, when muscles remain unused, they soften and become weak. But the dust... it appears to be decaying the muscles, so if we don't act quick to treat it..."
"They're going to be irreversibly frail."
"Precisely. That's the thing about Entropy Dust, it's only available in Mistral."
"What's entropy dust?" Sun asked.
"The dust that's inside Weiss and Yang. The recipe to make it not only unknown, but it's creation and use is illegal because of it's effects." Violet responded.
"So... what's the dust we need to collect for?"
"A hypothetical cure, I've tested it before. But for now, we need to get the dust first."
"So... what's the plan?" Nora asked.
"Nora and Ren will be getting the earth dust. Sun will be getting the water dust. I, will be getting the lightning dust. Each has to be a minimum of one quart, but a maximum of one gallon. You have to raid the abandoned dust shops. If you can rescue any survivors here fighting for their lives, get them out of Vale safely, we'll meet at the observatory at dusk." Violet stated.
"Why are we camping in the first place?" Ren asked.
"I plan on returning all the required assets at once. In addition, we'll also have to find a laboratory to make the dust concoction." Violet said.
"Oooh... so we're gonna be here for awhile." Nora said, in realization.
"Well, the sooner we get the dust, the sooner we can start phase two. Also, where are going to find O- blood?" Sun asked.
"Ren, what is your blood type?" Violet asked.
"B+" Ren responded.
"Sun?" Violet asked.
"AB-" Sun responded.
"Nora?" Violet asked.
"O-" Nora responded.
Violet than points to Nora.
"Are you seriously going to harvest my blood?" Nora asked.
"I only need a small amount, fret not." Violet stated.
"Well... okay. Can we get the dust now?"
"That is the primary priority, yes."
As soon as that. Sun, Violet, and ReNora had split up in three groups to get a quart of dust. With Nora and Ren assigned to get Earth Dust. The first place to look? Warehouses. The White Fang likely has abandoned warehouses chalked fuill of dust.
Thankfully Ren's semblance allows them to just hide in plain sight from the grimm, the robots will be another issue altogether. So... it's best to not use Ren's semblance until they get deaper into Vale. Or in Beacon.
And speak of the devil, a couple of beowulves and atlassian knights have shown up. Nothing Nora and Ren could handle. Nora went in and fired a couple of knockback grenades to launch them in the air, whilst Ren swoops in and slices them mid air, using the grimm and robots as platforms to jump and attack each of the enemies. They were than knocked down and thrown toward Nora in which she follows by swinging her hammer toward all of them as if it was a baseball bat. In which then they were knocked out into the ocean.
"Home Run!" Nora yelled in excitement.
"Nora, now's not the time for celebration. We need to get the dust." Ren stated.
"We could try the warehouses, pretty sure there's news that White Fang had been keeping them in the warehouses."
"Where did you hear that?"
"mmm... I forgot, but it was from someone I talked to around November."
"I see..."
"Off to the warehouses, let's start with that one!" Nora said, pointing down to the one that looks burnt down.
"Nora, there's likely not any dust in there." Ren commented.
"Well, it's better we check to be sure."
Ren sighs. "Very well, we'll check the burnt warehouse first." he said in defeat.
"YAY!" Nora exclaimed, as she tugs Ren and ran toward the burnt down warehouse.
Although there wasn't that much to look at... save for the SDC boxes. Which clearly contain boxes. The Schnees wouldn't let a housefire ruin their dust, so their boxes are extra-durable... and re-usable. She knows about that last place... since Nora and Ren lived in one of those whilst breaking into an abandoned SDC facility back when they were kids. Best hiding spot from the grimm too.
As she went and opened the box, aaaand... It's fire dust. Well, she takes some fire dust. Incinedary Grenades are on her to-do list anyway. She than closes it and moves it to the other side of the room. And opens the box below it... it's Ice dust... she takes some and puts in the same pouch as her fire dust. She has a special dust pouch... like all huntresses have. May never know. Besides, Ice-grenades would always come in handy. She than closes and moves that one over... in which she opens the third one... aaand it's gravity dust! She is definitely keeping that one. Gravity grenades are gonna be more convenient for Renny!
She than moves that across and opens the final box... finally... the Earth Dust. Although she wants to take some for herself... she needs two quarts of the stuff... how is she gonna lung around two quarts of earth dust... and than... she sees it...
A metal bucket consisting of poorly mixed paint. There's some sort of mix of green and blue in there... why is the White Fang trying to make teal paint? No matter, she grabbed the bucket and dumped the contents on the floor... well, tried too. The paint of course is dry... she looked around to find some water dust. The water dust, of course was in the restroom. She grabbed it, and than smashed the water dust crystal onto the bucket, which creates water, that moistens up the bucket. She than dumps the contents of the bucket onto the floor.
The paint than slid out of the bucket. The warehouse floor is now covered in blue and green paint... however, the bucket still has some paint left on it... so Nora went to one of the docks and climbed down the ladder and filled the bucket with water... in which she than shook around and let the water absorb the paint, and than dumped it back in the ocean. The bucket still had a tiny bit of paint left on it... so she picked it off with her finger... it's incredibly sticky. And she got the dry paint off and than flicked it off with her fingers.
Now that all the paint is off... she now has to dry the bucket... so she gets back on the docks, into the burnt warehouse, and looks for a towel. Ren looked confused and disturbed from the actions that Nora has done. It's just getting paint out of a bucket.
She went and found a dry towel in the restroom. And used it to dry the bucket. After the bucket was dry, she went in and scooped up a bunch of earth dust powder. After that, she found a makeshift lid and placed it on the bucket. Time to head to the observatory.
Character Change: Nora Valkyrie - Jaune Arc
Island of Patch, December 13, Saturday, 3:07 PM, Vale Refugee Tents
Jaune was at his tent, with a weighted wooden stick, trying to improve his fighting on his own. He doesn't have a proper weapon, so he just resorts to this stick he found. He can't seem to find his teammates anywhere. Or Violet. And irrelevant to the topic, he can't find Sun. Violet said that he needed Nora and Ren for something, but he didn't say what. Given that no one is allowed back to Vale for awhile... and with the council dead, no one is really sure what to do... the royal family was never found... so they can't really help, either. So various former Valean residents, taking refuge in the former settlements in the Kingdom of Vale. With no idea to re-organize or take back Vale.
To make matters worse, is that General Ironwood ordered a transfer of all four-member teams that attended Beacon to be transferred to Atlas. Although some came willingly, others like CVFY had been stubborn, but Weiss' elder sister intimidated them into complying. He never thought he'd see Coco scared of anything. So, Vale is left with marginalized trainees, with the staff of Beacon Academy seemingly taking fatal casualties. As records show that Doctor Oobleck and Professor Port never left Vale. What seems interesting in this is that Bloodshire takes this opportunity to declare independence as the 'Duchy of Bloodshire'. They even planned out a government and everything and is claiming to take some of Northeast Vale.
Meanwhile, Atlas has taken control and annexed the northern port city of Scorpio, Vale's Argus, as Sun likes to call it. Jaune is surprised that he wasn't discharged for letting Vale fall. But how would they fire someone who holds two seats on the Atlassian council? Either way, he's most likely pressing authority to compensate for his humiliation.
As for the rest of former Kingdom. Except for Vale and it's nearby territory. Various warlords and regimes have risen up from the more major areas around the kingdom. Sure, like all of Remnant, it's not all urban and filled with grimm infested wilderness with no actual way to back the claim, but the warlords are insistent. Any borders they set up are those met with by other warlords.
Really, Vale is kind of in a... grey area, with no official government, people have taken to themselves to try and establish one. Well, it's a change in politics, that's for sure. The people here only now just learned of this... and Jaune really doesn't care about the politics, he became a huntsman to help people, not squabble about the political status of the kingdoms.
Travelling through Vale will be certainly harder, especially for those who are unaware of the sudden change in status quo.
But no matter, thinking all of this tends to be on his mind while he's banging a potato bag with a stick. He needs to get a weapon somehow, if there is a quartermaster or if someone were to somehow reunite Jaune Arc with Crocea Mors, it would be great. Being that JN_R, SSSN, and _W_Y are the only student huntsmen here, and the only professional huntsmen here are Mr. Branwen, Professor Goodwitch, and Mr. Xiaolong, the third being in a state of dread and grief over the loss of Ruby.
All and all, being that Sun and Jaune are the only team leaders here, the other able trainee huntsmen look up to them. The exception being Violet, who doesn't seem to look at Jaune much. Maybe Ruby could handle all this stress and responsibility. But it's quite burdening toward Jaune. Of course, Yang just stopped caring and Weiss is in comatose trapped inside her own subconscious.
He's just lucky that team SSSN elected to stay around, otherwise it would be pretty much even more of a downer here... being that people across all aspects in Vale are gathered around the tents. All of them grieving and panicking over the loss of their homes, family, friends, etc. They are all in grief. And the remaining Kingdoms can't just take all the refugees and stuff their vacant homes. Being that given Remnants stratum, chances are... the vacancy will not be enough to cover Vale's populace. Even Scorpio is packed with Refugees.
But the tents around the beach, not on the sand itself is fine.
He sighed as he broke the potato bag. If he is going to pick up the pieces that broke at the Vytal Tournament, he needs to work with what he has. That voice on the red screen said that she was from Mistral, likewise... Violet his classmates all vanished there two years ago around there too, seems all arrows are pointing towards the city of Mistral.
Jaune sighs. "I guess I'll go see what team SSSN is up to. They're most likely at the town doing something." He said, heading for the town.
Island of Patch, December 13, Saturday, 3:22 PM, Town of Patch
Since the Destruction of Vale... Patch has been flooded with refugees from the industrial district and downtown... combining people who live in rural communities with people live in urban sprawl... ya... this is result of what happens. A bunch of shanty towns filled with people who have no regard for the locals. This is why there were so many tents close to the beach.
Jaune was looking around town, seeing people eye him, as he is technically a refugee, since he's not a full huntsman. He was looking for team SSN. So, he asked one of the locals. He approached one of them to ask.
"Excuse me, but have you seen a monkey faunas or a bunch of differently haired folk from Haven Academy?" Jaune asked.
"The Haven students? The Monkey decided to take a boat somewhere... don't know where though, the rest of 'em are over there." the local said, pointing behind him.
Jaune followed the directions and came across Scarlet, Sage, and Neptune. So, he figured he'd hang out with them for a bit. He figures that he may as well spend time with them. Because why not? They can only get to anima by sea and they need to save the boats for the refugees. Especially since Patch is crowded enough. A small island isn't meant to hold all these people, with non-urban infrastructure, no less.
Character Change: Jaune Arc - Nora Valkyrie
Vale Ruins, December 13, Saturday, 8:00 PM, Central Park
Nora arrived with the bucket of earth dust roughly around four hours ago. Violet was right about meeting at the observatory. Violet made sure and well to fortify this place. He also managed to gather three sleeping bags, and a makeshift laboratory in the large area where the observatory open area is. In addition, he managed to gather the lightning dust.
"Did everyone else gather the assigned dust?" Violet asked.
"Right here!" Nora said, holding the bucket.
"The dust is in the bucket, isn't it?"
"You expect me to carry the dust powder in my arms?"
"I expected you to carry it in a bag, like I did." Violet said, presenting his bag of lightning dust.
"There wasn't any dust where I searched." Sun said.
"Where did you search?" Violet asked.
"I searched the agricultural district, and Old Town."
"Of course, there wouldn't be any dust there, Old Town has no dust reliant technology. And all of the water dust in the agricultural district is in the boiler room." Violet stated.
"The boiler room?"
"The entire district has a boiler room for it's entire plumbing."
"A single room for an entire district?"
"Yes. The agricultural district is... well... different from the other districts since it uses weather manipulation to create rain, hence, the dust."
"Using dust to change the weather?" Nora asked.
"Miracle of technology." Violet responded.
"So... what if a grimm sneaks up on us in our sleep?" Nora asked.
"We sleep in shifts, hence why I only brought three sleeping bags. We need to make sure we keep alert at all hours." Violet stated. "Ren will take the first shift, then Sun, then Nora, finally, myself. Now let's start the shifts."
As soon she she heard that, Nora just went on her sleeping bag and fell asleep. She may as well need the rest, sleeping in a fortified observatory while someone is on the lookout. Guess Violet has some sort of paranoid issues, pretty sure if grimm broke through the fortification, everyone would have heard it. But no less, Nora wants to sleep the night off. And given her insomnia, it's going to be hard, Ren than does his thing and Nora sleeps like a rock.
Several hours later, Sun was nudging on Nora.
"Hey, your turn on the watch." Sun stated.
"Alright alright, just make some room." Nora said, getting up.
After she got up, Sun layed down on the sleeping bag Nora was sleeping on. Nora than went up to the lookout post. It was pitch black at night, so she really couldn't see anything, why did Violet give her this shift instead of Sun? She can tell it's pitch black because it was a new moon. Meaning the dark side of the moon was fully displayed, meaning nothing is seen. So... Nora is careful not to bump into anything, so this is what Yang feels like when her contacts broke, she can't see anything.
She than stroked a match and lit it. She has them incase of situations like this. She than used the light from the fire to guide her upstairs. Why didn't Violet give any lighting? Is it because lights would attract the grimm? He's incredibly paranoid.
No matter. Nora got upstairs and looked at the various telescopes Violet had set up as looking points. She looked through most of them... the grimm don't know about the observatory yet. So far, nothing out of the ordinary, just grimm, robots, and more grimm. With the Wyvern flying around Vale, of course.
Well, they'll have to keep mobile... they need to get this stuff back to patch before anyone notices they are gone... don't need to bring the rest of the skilled combatants to Vale, the four of them have so far been sneaking through it. An army is needed to take back Vale. And an army, they do not have.
Character Change: Nora Valkyrie - Jaune Arc
Island of Patch December 14, Sunday, 2:00 AM, Vale Refugee Tents
Jaune was asleep, although he did get woken up by something. No, it wasn't he scroll... global communications have been cut off, so no internet either... and no phone calls. He was in his tent, so he may as well look outside. He sees well, nothing out of the ordinary. Well, that is until he realised it was raining, which means it was just the thunder. Jaune went back and put on some noise surpressors and went back to sleep, since nothing was out of the...
Nora and Ren are absent. Well, they must have slept through whatever they're doing, they'll be back when the sun rises. Otherwise, he's going to have to search high and low for them. So, there's nothing to worry about for now. Jaune had decided to head back to sleep.
Author's Footnote: Well, that's the Jaune chapter. If you payed attention, they're going to be collecting dust, weapons, and a vehicle. For weapons, I have two possible cases, they'll either risk going back to Beacon and retrieve Crocea Mors and Myrtenaster, with some placeholder gauntlets for Yang. or they'll have to find new weapons or find a quartermaster to make new weapons for the crew, this would spice things up... so far, it's split even/even there. If you have any feedback like questions, comments, suggestions, criticisms, let me know. The next chapter will be the Ruby chapter, so we'll see where our favorite vampire is up to there.