To Be Relentless
Chapter 13
-Jaune-
"Ow." Jaune groaned, eyes fluttering open as he woke up, his body feeling like he got run over by a truck.
"Ow." Another voice repeats as Jaune tiredly turned his head over to see a pair of doctors by his arm which was in some sort of medical apparatus, the one who spoke had their eye twitching "You overworked your aura, making it heat up to the point that it was only your ridiculously advanced healing rate which stopped permanent nerve damage, disfiguring your arm with aura burns that are going to scar…and all you can say is 'ow'?!"
"…Yes?" Jaune gulped, hoping he wouldn't get 'concussed by irritated doctor' added to that list of injuries.
"Apologies." The other doctor, who was thankfully making sure first irritated doctor stayed back, gave Jaune a sheepish look "They're General Ironwood's personal physician…and after having replaced around forty five percent of the General's body with cybernetics they have an admitted lack of patience when it comes to Huntsmen and Soldiers."
"I don't need a teenage boy ruining his hand to get a robot one like an Ironwood Mini-Me." The first Doctor grumbled, giving Jaune a serious look.
"I promise to do my best to keep my hand." Jaune assured them, wincing as his burnt arm, the one in the apparatus, twinged "I'm rather attached to it."
"…Make a pun like that and I'll let them hit you." Doctor two deadpanned.
"Understood, won't happen again." Jaune gulped, hearing the door open.
"Ah, good to see you awake." The voice of the General sounded, the man sounding completely calm, the decimation of the Grimm Horde likely been done for a good bit. The fact that the man's uniform was pristine and clean helped confirm that.
"Were there any casualties?" Jaune winced, trying to sit up only for the Apparatus to make that impossible, "Did any of the Horde get through."
"The Horde didn't make it through, you and Mr. Amin managed to hold them in place long enough for the artillery and gunners to take out the Stymphalians." Ironwood gave a nod, "However…there were still some casualties." The man's expression tightened, eyes darkening "Most were lost before we arrived at the ramparts…but Arthur Watts perished when he tried activating a prototype machine to send as aide against the Horde." As he spoke, Ironwood let out a sigh, sitting down in a chair beside his bed.
"The Doctor…is dead?" Jaune's body felt heavier as he got that bit of news, having grown to respect the mind of the, admittedly arrogant, man. The man had encouraged him, respected Jaune's ideas and even if he didn't think they would work gave his professional critique on how to alter them without talking to Jaune like he was an inferior.
"He left you some things." Ironwood set down a briefcase by his bed, "Apparently after that first meeting of yours, he started working on a couple things for you. The case has what he finished constructing as well as his notes so they can be finished or improved on. Honor his legacy young man, and use what he made for you with pride." With that, the General gave his shoulder a squeeze and rose up "Your friends will be along shortly to check on you now that you're awake." Giving a nod to the Doctor's, the General turned and departed, the white-haired woman from the ramparts that Jaune hadn't noticed till now turning to follow him.
-Alexander-
"How's she?" Alexander grunted, idly poking at the fire with a stick as Roman exited the tent where Neo was hopefully asleep.
"Passed out." Roman grunted, dropping down while pulling out a hip flask "She's at least able to turn off the flaming eyeballs now at least." Roman took a deep pull from the flask before tossing it over to Alexander "Don't have a damn idea what that shit was though."
"If I had to guess, it's part of that secret society shit that Ozpin is running." Alexander shook himself before his thoughts could go back to his wife's death "Raven used to be one of his favorite little soldiers before she went back to being a bandit. Neo didn't show that power till the moment she killed that girl in Raven's camp, someone Raven clearly trusted. If she'd never shown anything like that before," he paused to look at Roman who shook his head "then it was something she likely got from that redhead girl."
"You think it has to do with….her?" Roman stilled, eyes flitting about as they were both very careful to not say the name in question, unsure if there would be anyone listening in or if the bitch had someone with a semblance that would alert her if known, let alone that shit the saw from Neo which could only have been considered magic. Most would call them paranoid but with what the knew and suspected then he didn't give a damn about that label.
"We know there are abilities outside aura and semblances that Ozpin and his toadies are hiding from the general populace." Alexander finished his share of the booze, tossing the flask back to Roman "So yes, I do think it has to do with her. Question is, what are you and Neo going to do now? I want to help you Roman, but if Neo keeps throwing random bolts of lightning like she did earlier then my village isn't a good place to figure it out."
"I don't blame you, Alex." Roman thankfully wasn't upset, finishing off the flask "I have a few safe houses in Mistral. I'll tell Little Miss that Neo and I are patching ourselves up and I'll report in after a bit. Should give us enough time for Neo to get a passable grasp on this shit while I look for more information."
"I'll check the family library when I get home." Alexander nodded, "Most of my ancestors kept Journals and if we're lucky there will be some sort of mention." Not to mention all the old texts and records he'd acquired over the years, looking for any signs or proof of the conspiracy he knew was afoot in the world.
AN: Sorry for the length, was having writers block on this one but the transition was necessary for setting up other things later. I promise next chapter will be longer.