Chapter 40 – Arkos

Jaune wailed whilst the wind and his own momentum carried him across Runeterra extremely quickly. A prominent flashback of his rather sloppy initiation into Beacon Academy gnawed on his head. The launchpad that tossed him into the Emerald Forest had seemed like an unnecessarily harsh entry level at the time. This was mere child's play however compared to what he was undergoing now. The force that had been required to send him this far was tremendous. He wasn't even thinking about what was below him, or how he was going to break his fall; panic had completely consumed him.

'Jaune!' a voice shouted at him. 'Jaune! Calm down!'

The wind bellowed in his ears preventing all other sound from reaching his attention.

Almost two hundred metres behind him, Pyrrha had assumed a gliding position, with her arms outstretched and her legs and feet pressed together. It wasn't as graceful or effective as Scarlet's own Semblance, but it was enough to give Pyrrha some slight control over how she moved through the air. Never mind her own safety however, she saw how gravely Jaune was in trouble. Pyrrha knew that he still hadn't learned the basics of aerial bodily control in accordance with aerodynamics, let alone mastered it. She yelled his name again, pleading to herself that he would be able to hear and listen to her for advice, or even better: to get close enough so she could grab hold of him.

Looking beneath her, Pyrrha could discern a barren landscape, or at least it seemed like that from her perspective. It looked like grass and not much else. She had no clue how long it had been since whatever it had been that demolished their flight to Ionia. It had also taken her some time to adjust herself to these perilous conditions. Only once she had gained control, had she seen Jaune in front her, truthfully too far out of reach.

They passed an extremely tall mountain that stood to their right. Thank goodness their trajectory had not been sent any further. It didn't look like that it would have been any kind of saving grace though. At long last the descent began. The grass below was running out and Pyrrha became alarmed at the sight of it being replaced with mountainous terrain, which was slightly higher in altitude. 'I could have dealt with grass, but rocky mountains are a bit too much! How can I cushion this impact…?'

If she had been ahead of him, Pyrrha knew that she could have recovered in time to save Jaune. Unfortunately though, Jaune was the bullet that had been shot before her. He began to slow down and plummet.

Suddenly, a body of water came into view. Pyrrha's eyes widened at the sight of sea now encroaching upon them. It wasn't mountainous, but water was still water. Pyrrha had no choice other than to watch Jaune hit the surface, directly on his back! Her own muscles winced at both the sight of how painful it looked, and the sound he had made. The waves washed over him and pulled his body below.

'Jaune!' Pyrrha screamed. She had to rescue him, at any cost! Almost without even thinking of the plan that her instincts were devising, she assumed the pose of a diving falcon: ready to go in nose first. She broke the surface and dove in search of her partner.


Perhaps this was what it felt like to be hit full force by Nora's hammer, with her Semblance in effect as well. Jaune's aura attempted to safeguard him and absorb as much of the force that was sent through his body, however Jaune still felt the impact like the sole of a boot against an ant. All of his muscles convulsed awkwardly. He continued to sink further and further down, eyes closed and barely conscious of where he was. One reflexive inhale through the mouth and accidental swallowing of seawater though was enough to make him splutter and open his eyes. The salt stung so much that he shrieked and swallowed another mouthful of water, and his vision went white…


'Hey, stop it Saph!' Jaune said, swatting his older sister Saphron's hands away from his head.

Saphron giggled. "Why don't you like us playing with your hair?" she asked teasingly.

"Because it's annoying!"

"Aww, you're such a cute baby brother." Saphron cooed.

"I am not a baby!" Jaune protested.

Jaune rubbed his stomach, still feeling sick but grateful that the actual vomit had all been regurgitated into the trashcan, which he now wished he had known about sooner, that had been situated at the entrance of the airship. He looked around at the courtyard, in awe of its grandiose presentation.

A girl with white hair and a white dress strutted past him with a look of disgust on her face. Jaune looked at her perplexedly, then gazing back to where they had all been dropped off by the airship. Everyone had already passed him, with the exception of another girl, dressed in red, who had just dropped to her knees and flopped on her back.

Jaune started walking back to where she lay. "Hey." he said, prompting the girl to open her eyes and see that Jaune was offering his hand for her. "I'm Jaune."

"Ruby." the red-haired girl introduced herself as. She took his hand and stood up. "Aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?"

"The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as… Team JNPR. Led by, Jaune Arc!" Ozpin announced.

"H-huh? L-lead by…?" Jaune stuttered bewilderedly.

"Congratulations young man."

Pyrrha gave Jaune a friendly punch on the arm. It caught him off guard and he fell to the floor. Everyone in the hall laughed.

"This is the part where you lose." Cardin gloated as he loomed over Jaune. He had the handle of his mace pressed against Jaune's sword.

"Over my dead- oww…" Jaune groaned before he could say "body."

Cardin kneed him in the stomach and Jaune collapsed. With an arrogant smile, Cardin raised his mace above his head and prepared to bring it thundering down.

"Um, b-binoculars!" Jaune responded to Dr Oobleck's question, which he hadn't even heard, attempting to sound as confident in his answer as he could. The subsequent laughter in the classroom though suggested that he had not hit the mark.

"No." Jaune said sternly.

"What did you say?" Cardin asked aggressively.

'I said… No!' Jaune repeated with a shout and threw the jar of sap directly as Cardin.

A nasty grin etched its way onto Cardin's face. "Oh-ho-ho. You've done it now."

Jaune gulped. Cardin kicked him directly on his chest, sending him to the ground, then picked him up and punched him directly in the face. "You know that wasn't very smart, Jaune-y Boy." Cardin lifted him off the floor again. "I'm gonna make sure they send you back to mommy in teeny, tiny pieces."

"I don't care what you do to me. But you are not messing with my team."

"What? You think talk like that makes you tough? You think you're a big, strong man now?!"

Jaune gave a faint smile.

Cardin growled and punched Jaune squarely in the face.

A flash of white light exploded from Jaune, and Cardin dropped him. He clutched his wrist as his hand throbbed painfully.

Jaune knocked on Team RWBY's dorm room door, with a guitar in hand.

Weiss opened the door, and her mouth immediately went agape.

"Weeeiiisssss!" Jaune sang as he played the guitar and then winked. Somewhat predictably, Weiss closed the door.

Jaune knocked on the door again. "Oh come on. Open the door. I promise not to sing."

Reluctantly, Weiss opened the door again.

'I liiieeed!'

Weiss brought the palm of her right hand to her face. Had she really expected anything different?

"Weiss Schnee, will you accompany me, to the daaaance on… Sunday?"

Weiss did not look impressed. "Are you done?"

"Yes?" Jaune replied, giving a hopeful smile.

"No." Weiss said dismissively and threw the door shut again.

"Okay, who's first." Jaune panted. Something landed with a mighty crash on the pavement directly behind him. He turned around to see a large Ursa looked down at him and roared.

"O-oh-oh-okay. You're first huh, huh? Ha-ha okay. No, that's-that's fine." He backed away at the same time in which the Ursa advanced towards him. "Totally fine, done this before. Done this before." He only hesitated for a moment before releasing a heroic scream and proceeded to slash it multiple times! Once he had finished, the Ursa became rigid before falling backwards.

Nora released an extremely loud and gross burp.

Jaune held his right hand over his mouth and his head dropped down onto the stall counter. "Ughhh, if I barf I'm blaming you." he groaned.

"Oh! Aim it at the enemy!" Nora joked menacingly.

"Nora. That's disgusting." Ren said disapprovingly. "But if you do feel the urge…"

"This is it guys! Let's finish 'em with team attacks! Ren, Nora, Flower Power!"

"Wait… what?" Nora asked.

In an instant, Jaune's awesome feeling of being a leader who was about to taste victory was replaced with disappointment. "F-Flower Power. That's your team attack name."

"Since when?" Ren questioned.

"Guys, we went over this! Flower Power is Ren and Nora. Ren brings the flower. Nora brings the power."

"How do I bring a flower?" Ren questioned further.

"No silly! Not 'a flower'. Flour, like in baking!"

"Why would I bring that?"

"I am a DARKIN!"

"I am AATROX!"

"I AM THE WORLD-ENDER!"

"EVERYTHING WILL DIE!"

"Pyrrha!" Jaune cried out with overwhelming relief. He ran towards Pyrrha with his arms outstretched. Pyrrha did the same and they embraced. "Are you okay?"

"I'm… alright." Pyrrha whispered.

Their lips met. Time paused itself, and the sensation of both love and gratitude wove around their souls.

Jaune opened his eyes and realised with embarrassment that Pyrrha's very own guardian angel was still watching them behind his mask and glowing white eyes.

"Depraved technology! You shall pay for your transgression of the natural harmony!" The dragon grabbed the ship with its outstretched fingers. It built up lightning in its fingertips and let go. The engine of the ship exploded. "Be discharged, then scatter!"

A black cloud formed above the dragon, and it threw the ship into the cloud, which tore the ship to shreds. Jaune was caught in the storm and was blown away, all the while screaming at the top of his lungs in terror…

Then black.


Pyrrha opened her eyelids once she was beneath the surface. Immediately the salt of the seawater stung unbearably. She kept her mouth sealed, gritted her teeth and ignored the pain though. Pyrrha paddled her arms and kicked her legs, swimming in the direction in which she presumed Jaune had hit the roof of the sea. The water itself wasn't particularly murky, but not crystal-clear either, and from where they had ended up in Runeterra, the morning sun had not fully emerged. There still was no sign of him. Maybe he was much further away than Pyrrha anticipated? Or what if he had already sunk further down?!

She was almost halfway through her single breath. Pyrrha dared not resurface though, in case she missed him. She would stay until the very last millisecond before needing to get some new air in her lungs. Pyrrha used breaststroke to swim diagonally downwards. Several small, yellow and luminescent fish came into view. They swam casually past her leftwards. Is she hadn't been in such a dire predicament, Pyrrha would no doubt have remarked at how cute they were. 'Where's Jaune?! Where is he!?'

The water pressure was already increasing rapidly, with what limited sunlight there already was simultaneously diminishing. Pyrrha's body was encapsulated in a shell that became progressively tighter. Her head began to hurt, and the salt was proving to be more and more irritant. She swam for ten more seconds, stubbornly refusing to give up, though futility seemed inevitable with every passing second. At some point she would have to surrender to nature and swim back to the surface, or die trying…

After what felt like fifteen whole minutes of heart stopping fear and tremendous discomfort, Pyrrha spotted something in the distance. She frantically swam towards it and instantly recognised what it was.

The sole of a shoe! In fact, there were two and they were both connected to the legs of a completely limp body, which was laying horizontally and gradually sinking. 'Jaune!' Pyrrha exclaimed out loud, accidentally gulping a mouthful of seawater and letting go of her remaining air. She spat the water out of her mouth, but realised her mistake. Pyrrha's mind screamed at her to save him, but she could practically feel her lungs kicking her from the inside, protesting that she leave Jaune and save herself. There was no way that she could carry him to the surface fast enough without losing consciousness herself.

It was no use. Pyrrha began to kick upwards, looking down despairingly at Jaune's body one last time. Judging by how motionless he was, it was unfortunately safe to assume that she had already been too late. It was over…

Before she could begin to properly focus on ascending however, Pyrrha noticed a shadow from the depths swimming upwards towards Jaune. She could not discern any features, other than its shape. It had a long-finned tail, which was propelling it through the water. It had two horn-like appendages sticking out of what was presumably its head. It also had arms and was holding some kind of staff in its hands. The creature stopped directly beneath Jaune and flicked its staff upwards. A bubble formed around him. Pyrrha couldn't figure out its intentions. Was it trying to help or harm him?

The creature then began to quickly spin its staff in circles above its head. Before Pyrrha could even register what was going on, a pillar of water erupted from below her feet and violently propelled her upwards. She scrunched her eyes and kept her lips tightly closed to prevent herself from screaming in fright. Surely this was the end? It felt like it.

Without any time to register what had happened, the water geyser spat her out of the sea, projecting her onto the rocky shores. Landing on the back of her shield cushioned the fall slightly, but Pyrrha still winced at the pain. At last though, she could breath in air and took several deep breathes of relief before sitting up and scrambling to the edge of the shore. What had happened to Jaune? 'Oh no, no no… Come on, Jaune!' Pyrrha shouted.

An agonising nine seconds rode by before the bubble, which had been created around Jaune, breached the waves and levitated slowly up and towards the shore, directly next to Pyrrha. It popped when it touched down on the rocks and placed Jaune gently on the ground. 'Oh, Jaune!' Without even thinking about it or bothering to check and find out if he had a pulse or was still breathing, Pyrrha got on her knees and proceeded to pound the palms of her hands against his chest. 'Please Jaune, please! Stay with me!' she begged.

The light of life was seemingly fading, but after fifty consecutive, almost mindless, compressions, it was relit. Jaune opened his eyes and spat out a stream of water. He coughed and spluttered the rest of it out of his body. Pyrrha got him up into a sitting position and immediately embraced him in a tight hug, and pressed her lips against his.

'Oh, thank goodness! You're alive!' Pyrrha cried. She sobbed into his left shoulder. 'I thought I'd lost you!'

Jaune took slow and deep breaths. 'I… what happened?' he asked, sounding more confused than traumatised or shocked.

'You almost drowned! We both fell from the sky into the sea, and I tried to save you, but I wasn't able to in time…'

'Oh yeah.' Jaune remembered and began to shiver from not just the recollection, but the cold as well. His clothes, consisting of his hoodie and jeans, were soaked and the area wasn't at all warm. 'B-but how are we alive then?'

Pyrrha thought about the question, not at all sure of what exactly it was that had saved them from the abyss. She turned her head back to the sea and almost jumped in fright. The creature from the sea was looking at them keenly. Half of its body, including the staff were above the water. It looked like a large kind of fish but with an almost uncanny, humanoid aspect to it. Its body was predominantly covered in green fishy scales. Its face had a human nose and lips, but its eyes were red and the skin a very light green. The creature wore a helmet on top of its head, with two long points and a blue gem planted in the centre. Long, blonde hair flowed behind its head and back. Very interestingly, it had a surface of smooth skin on its front, with a pendant of three separate blue gems hanging from its neck and resting in the crevice of what could only be described as formally as possible as fish breasts. The anatomy was peculiar to say the least, but its overall profile very much implied that this creature was female.

'Good thing that I noticed you from below. Are you two humans okay?' it asked.

Yep, Pyrrha's assumption was confirmed. Her voice was cute and distinctly humanlike. Had she spoken with no body or face associated with it, Pyrrha would have immediately figured that it belonged to a teenager or young woman. 'We are, thanks to you!' Pyrrha gave her a look of upmost gratefulness. 'Were you the one who put Jaune in a bubble and sent both of us back up here?'

'That's correct. It was me.' the creature said with a cheery smile and tapped her staff proudly. 'My Tidecaller Staff here can do wondrous things with water and the seas. I must ask though, why were you swimming so deep? Humans cannot survive underwater, after all.'

'That's a long story, and one that I don't think we have the time to explain in detail.'

'Just to clarify though: we definitely did not go swimming for pleasure.' Jaune added.

The creature nodded. 'I see. Well as long as you two are fine, then that's what matters.'

'Yeah. Definitely so.' Pyrrha agreed.

'My name is Nami. What are your names? Jaune and?'

'Pyrrha.'

'Jaune and Pyrrha. Those are lovely names. It's nice to meet you.'

'You too.' said Jaune.

'Can I ask you two a question?' Nami requested.

'Please go for it.' Pyrrha smiled.

'Thank you. I have doubts that you will know an answer, but I will ask, nonetheless. Do you know who the current Aspect of the Moon is?'

Pyrrha and Jaune looked at each other.

"Aspect?" Pyrrha repeated. "Of the Moon?"

"Wait. Didn't Atreus talk about these godly beings called "Aspects" when we were all sitting together yesterday?' Jaune recounted.

"Yes, and he was possessed at some point by the war one.' Pyrrha added. 'So there's an Aspect of the Moon as well.'
She addressed Nami again. 'We have a very basic idea of what Aspects are, but we don't know who the Moon Aspect is.' she answered.

'That's okay. I only asked just in case you might know something.' Nami returned. 'My people engage in a ritual with the Aspect of the Moon around every one-hundred years, where we exchange a pearl for a moonstone. We need the moonstone in order to keep our home lit up and deter sea monsters from the abyss away from us. But I was told that the Aspect had recently fled to a continent called Ionia, so my people are in a dilemma and at risk. I attempted to travel on land to Ionia but soon realised that it is too far away for me, so I returned home and we are thinking of a way to fulfil my quest. The recent earthquake has also forced us to remain in the sea for the time being, but the appearance of that new, broken moon in the sky at night suggests to me that the Aspect is at work. Perhaps he or she has returned to Targon. That is why I asked.' Nami finished.

Targon. So this was Pantheon's homeland.

'I see. That certainly is very interesting, but unfortunately we can't stick around and chat.' Pyrrha said to Nami. 'I think that Jaune and I need to be on our way now. Once again thank you so much for saving us from drowning, and best of luck to you in getting your moonstone!'

'You're very welcome, and good luck to you two as well!'

Pyrrha got to her feet and offered to help Jaune up, but before he could even attempt to stand up straight, he cried out and sat back down on his bottom. His clenched his teeth and seethed through them. 'Jaune?! What's wrong?!'

'My back. It hurts…' Jaune struggled to say. 'I can't walk.'

'Oh, of course! You landed in the sea directly on your back! Good thing that you had your aura to protect you, but this isn't good. You're going to need some sort of help and treatment. What are the chances though that we'll find any out here?'

'Is Jaune in pain?' Nami asked.

Pyrrha turned her head back to Nami again. 'Yes. He might have seriously fractured something.'

'Allow me to help again.' Nami offered. She suddenly rose out of the water, revealing the rest of her body, including her tail. She hovered less than a foot above the rocks, with only a little, floating puddle of water around the base of her tail. Nami waved her staff in front of her, and a stream of water rose from the sea. It travelled through the fork at the top of the staff, causing the water to turn light blue, and redirected itself straight at Jaune's chest. The stream split into four separate ones, which all weaved around his body like snakes. They converged at the centre of his back and then were absorbed into Jaune's body, as if he was a sponge. The water ran up and down his spine several times before exiting his back and lapsing across the rocks.

A look of ecstasy crept onto Jaune's face whilst the water was giving his spine a good scrub. He stood up afterwards with ease and stretched his arms. 'Woah. That felt good!' he declared enthusiastically. 'I don't know what it is that you just did, Nami, but whatever it was, it worked! Thanks a lot!'

'No need to thank me.' Nami gave a little giggle.

'You're truly a miracle worker!' Pyrrha remarked.

'Kind blessings and take care.' Nami said. She jumped up and dove backwards, headfirst into the sea, making almost no splash whatsoever.

'What a nice, umm, person.' Jaune commented.

'I couldn't agree more.' Pyrrha said, holding Jaune's right hand a bit too tightly.

'Well anyway, you said that we needed to get going, but I have to ask where exactly our destination is?' Jaune pointed out. 'We were all supposed to be in Ionia by now, but it looks like we're in Targon instead.'

'That's a good point. Nami said that Ionia was very far away, and she probably wasn't exaggerating it either, considering how long we were in the air for, and the way in which Shen and Atreus described their backgrounds as being extraordinarily different. Shen even referred to Ionia as a separate continent, if I'm not mistaken.'

'Yeah, talk about going off course. Also, speaking of us all heading to a destination, where is everyone else?'

Pyrrha gave no answer for five seconds. 'Hmm… Let's get off this shoreline and see if we can spot anything from up there with better elevation.' she suggested, indicating the rocky slope directly behind them. They climbed it and stood at the top, now presented with a landscape of rocks, followed by grassy hills directly following. To their left in the distance stood what had to be Mount Targon itself. The mountain seemed quite thin at first glance, but only because of how ludicrously tall it was. It penetrated the sheet of clouds above, making it impossible to see the peak. Pantheon definitely hadn't overstated its sheer size. The area was stunningly beautiful, but it also presented another problem.

'Looks like we're the only ones here as well.' said Jaune.

'Yeah. It was difficult to tell in all of that chaos, but since we were launched in this direction, it's more than possible that the others have ended up in different places.'

'That's not good then…' Jaune gulped. 'They might not have been as fortunate as us to survive the landing.'

'Don't panic. Let's focus on trying to see if we can get help from someone, and if not that, then survival. If Atreus is from here, then surely we can find shelter, food and water.'

'I hope so. Personally, I want the luxury of a change of clothes. It's awkward to walk around in these now.'

'Me too. Pyrrha concurred. 'I care for all of them, but I do especially hope that Ren and Nora are okay.'


Had their circumstances not been so serious, the walk across the hillsides could have easily been a pleasant hike. It was hilly, but breath-taking, although with a worrying lack of people as far as the eye could see thus far. The sun was now high in the sky, but Pyrrha and Jaune had been awake for probably at least ten hours since a morning, which had begun on the other side of the world.

'I think we're gonna have to settle down somewhere soon.' Jaune said.

'Atreus said that most settlements in Targon resided near the mountain, and we're not too far away from it now.'

'Yeah, that's good, because I really could do with a bite to eat. You can practically hear my stomach rumbling.'

'We both could do with it, and drinking water and a bed to sleep on. Things aren't looking great by any means, and I'm very worried about our friends, but remember that we're fortunate to be standing here at all.' Pyrrha reminded him. 'If it weren't for Nami we would still be sinking to the bottom of the sea.'

'Very true, and I'm just as thankful.'

'You know, it just occurred to me: this is the second time so far that someone from Runeterra has directly saved us from certain death. There was Shen who protected me from that woman's arrow, and her teammates; and now Nami prevented us from drowning. We may be unlucky in a lot of ways to be in this situation, but we're also exceptionally lucky at the same time.'

'Definitely. Oh, that reminds me…'

'What is it?' asked Pyrrha after Jaune faltered in continuing.

'Umm, when I was sinking because I couldn't swim, at some point I had a whole bunch of memories, kinda like, replay in my head as if I was reliving them again. I saw my sisters playing with my hair again; me meeting Ruby again for the first time; you, me, Ren and Nora when we were all made a part of Team JNPR; me killing a Grimm in Vale after Team RWBY came back from Mountain Glenn; all of us fighting against Team BRNZ in the tournament; Aatrox screaming; the moment after Shen saved you; and I think the last one was us seeing that dragon when we were aboard the ship. I even had flashbacks of Cardin and Weiss.'

Pyrrha stopped walking, forcing Jaune to halt as well. 'It sounds like you had a life review.'

'A "life review"?' Jaune repeated.

'You know the saying: "my life flashed before my eyes"? It's said that someone people have a vivid flashback of their entire life play before them in a near-death experience. You truly were on death's doorstep…' Pyrrha sniffed and fought to hold back tears.

'Hey… it's okay.' Jaune put his right hand on Pyrrha's left shoulder. 'Like you said, we're super lucky, and help is probably almost here. That's the best we can ask for.' he said reassuringly and with a smile.

Pyrrha wiped her eyes and reciprocated his smile.

They resumed walking and began to scale a large hill. As they came close to the top, they could smell smoke, as well as hear noise on the other side.

Reaching the top presented them with the most promising sight far since Nami herself. A small gathering of people, including four children, were at the foot of the hill. They had five separate wooden shacks and three grey tents pitched around them, forming a perimeter. Two individual fires in the centre were dancing beneath a cooking grill, both of which were being maintained by two individuals, and a delicious aroma scurried from both. To the left of their campsite, a wooden pen had been made, which contained four sheep.

Jaune and Pyrrha slowly headed down the hill, hoping to come across as friendly and not intrusive, or anything worse.

A middle-aged man who was sitting on a stack of hay, positioned opposite of those who had their backs turned to Jaune and Pyrrha, saw them approaching and pointed at them to warn everyone else. 'What are you doing here, strangers?' he questioned. His tone of voice wasn't hostile, but it certainly wasn't friendly either: protective was a more appropriate term.

'Hello.' Pyrrha waved. 'We're travellers from Ionia and no longer have any food or water to sustain ourselves, so we're looking for a place to stay.' she improvised.

'Targon is hardly a place for casual pilgrims.' said an older woman, who was sitting in a wooden chair on the far-right side of the group. 'Why would you endeavour to come here?'

'We travel for the simple joy of seeing more of the world and its wonders, and Targon is one place we wanted to come and see at some point.' Pyrrha continued. Both she and Jaune noticed how much they were scrutinising their clothes, rather than their faces.

The man who had alerted his camp of Jaune and Pyrrha's arrival spoke again. 'I can't speak for others, but at the moment we don't really want to be involved with other people's affairs. That earthquake has caused everyone in Targon some great setbacks. If you're looking for residence though, you'll have a better chance finding room with the Rakkor, whom usually dwell at the very base of the mountain. Go there are ask for the attention of Leona, who is the leader of the Solari. Although I would err on the side of caution with her, the Solari is bound of have room for you. They're effectively always begging for people to join them in their worship of the sun.'

'Well we're pretty desperate, since we've been awake for so long and could do with some sleep.'

'In that case, go further onwards and on the east side of the mountain, you'll find the very conspicuous entranceway to the Solari's main temple. If you stick close to the mountain, you can't possibly miss it.'

'We'll give that a try. Thank you.' Pyrrha said.

'Yeah, thanks.' Jaune also said. They both waved at the settlement and left by walking around it.


The final stretch to the bottom of the mountain was much longer than they had anticipated. The height of Mount Targon seemed to have given them the impression that it was closer than it actually was, exhausting them even further. Their eventual arrival at the temple felt like the first proper checkpoint since they touched down on Runeterra itself. That man had not been kidding about how ostentatious the entrance was. The slopes and stairs simply leading up to it were carved out of golden marble. Lots of people were gathered here too, all wearing similar uniforms of bright red and yellow clothes and armour.

'Who are you two?' a particularly large Solari member asked, who stopped them before they had quite reached the stairs themselves.

Pyrrha repeated the same story she had made up to the camp they had passed earlier.

'We certainly have space, but we can't let just anyone walk in here and stay for free. You have to show us first if you're willing to commit yourselves to our faith – our way of life. It's best if you wait until our leader comes back and see what she has to say about it. Besides, you shouldn't be sleeping through the day: not when the sun is in the sky and providing you with its grace.'

Jaune stepped forward. 'Please. Both of us nearly died on our way here. We're internally injured have been travelling for over ten hours now.'

'I'm sorry, but that's just how it is.'

'Come now.' butted in another Solari, who was a bit shorter than the one who stopped them. 'We're in a… transitional phase with the Aspect of the Moon coming back. Leona is busy at the moment, and I think we have a place that will suffice for you for now. Follow me.' He went to the steps and began to stride up them, ushering Jaune and Pyrrha to come as well.

'Nice persuasion skills.' Pyrrha whispered to Jaune.

'Yeah. Hey, he mentioned the Aspect of the Moon?' Jaune whispered back. 'That's the person Nami is looking for, right?'

'Yes. So it looks she now has the opportunity to complete her ritual of getting that moonstone.'

The three of them walked past four large pillars and went through the tall, stone door entrance. 'This is the Temple of the Solstice'.
Inside was a huge space with marbles walls and flooring. A giant emblem of the sun was engraved in a giant circle in the centre of the floor. A large hole in the ceiling allowed for sunlight to shine in (from the looks of it, the emblem was the intended area that it was supposed to cover). Various tapestries ran along the whole room, depicting people and events, which they knew nothing of. At the back was an altar, with five people kneeling before it.

The Solari took them to a door on the right side of the temple, which led to a relatively small room. More tapestries covered these walls on all sides. A block of dark wood lay in the centre. It had a pillow on it, but no blanket. Similarly to the main room, an aperture had been made to allow light to shine directly onto the bed. At the back of the room stood a tall, dark wardrobe made of wood. On the right side of the room was a pool of water carved into the floor, which also had a hole in the roof above it, and on the left was a table with a chair, a book, a pencil and a jug of water on top.

'This is the Room of Provision.' the Solari member explained. The bed isn't intended necessarily for a nap, but rather a way to receive gifts and blessings from the sun. Laying in the sunlight is often prescribed to provide the individual with sustenance, wisdom and healing as they rest and close their eyes. The pool over there is for cleansing you of any recent transgressions you may have committed; looking at the two of you though, you both could probably do with one just for the sake of physically getting clean. The table on the left is there so that you can write down any visions that you may have had or experience, plus some drinking water; and the wardrobe contains robes, which you can use to get a change of clothes. I'll leave you here for now. Leona will probably be back later today, so get some rest and get clean whilst you have some privacy. If she questions who you are and what you're doing here, tell her that Jhark let you in here.'

'We will do! Thank you so much for your kindness!' Pyrrha expressed.

'Yeah! It's nice that you showed us mercy.' Jaune said.

Jhark smiled but did not say anything else. He left the room and closed the door behind him.

Well they didn't have any food yet, but this was still fantastic. Water, a bath, clean clothes to change into, and the opportunity to finally get some sleep.

'At last…' Jaune sighed. 'So… who's getting washed first?'

'Why do we need to take turns?' Pyrrha asked. An affectionate smile was being etched onto her face.

'I was just thinking of… privacy.'

'At this point I don't think that's necessary.'

These were definitely not the kind of words that Jaune would expect to hear from Pyrrha, but Jaune didn't object in the slightest. He reciprocated her smile. 'I guess you're right.'

Jaune and Pyrrha both removed their still wet clothes, as well as their weapons, at the same time and tossed them next to the wardrobe. They then both got into the pool simultaneously; Jaune took the left side, and Pyrrha sat on the right. The water was pleasantly warm, and the feeling of the sun shining down on their heads was also nice.

They both stared at one another euphorically. Another feeling however was starting to take over.

Jaune took the opportunity. 'So, um… I'm feel like there's something more to us than just being good teammates and friends.' he said, although unsure of how to phrase it smoothly.

'I think so too.' Pyrrha replied.

'Do it. Do it!' his gut urged him.

Jaune took a deep breath. 'In that case, do you want to go out?'

'Of course I do!'