Practicing out in the field, Jaune really felt like… a Huntsman.
"Ren!" he barked, "Circle around and pick off the little ones on the flank!"
"On it," Ren said, his voice a whisper on the wind as he seemed to almost melt into the shadows.
"Pyrrha!" she nodded to him with an eager grin, "I'll tie up the Alpha, you start taking down the big ones!"
"Whattya need me to do, Fearless Leader?" Nora asked with a salute.
"Nora!" he pointed to her with a grin, "Smash!"
And they set to it.
The power that Aunt Salem had granted him, his Semblance, always left Jaune feeling a little awed in using it. He felt nothing, no surge of power or energy or… anything, but as his teammates pulsed with aura and set to annihilating whatever they were up against… Jaune felt like a king.
Sure, he might be an underwhelming fighter in the one-on-ones, but he was getting better at them—Pyrrha was certainly seeing to that! As his aching muscles could attest to every morning after practice—not that Jaune complained. Really, he had seven amazing tutors he was racking up an incredible debt towards—Pyrrha was training him as only a champion could, Weiss was not only his incredibly supportive girlfriend, but a master dust technician, Nora was getting him to put some serious time in the gym, and Ren was teaching Jaune all about aura control. Then he had Ruby, not only being his bestie he could just hang out with, but also sharing her encyclopedic knowledge of weapons and the finer mechanisms in modern weapon tech, Blake, teaching him history with her passionate commitment to truth and unvarnished honesty (reminding Jaune a lot of his Aunt's stories), and Yang was… okay, Yang had only proposed "teaching him how to kiss" before Blake and Ruby physically ejected her from the room, but Yang was cool!
Between them, he was becoming something… something like a real Huntsman. And he owed them dearly—perhaps he could ask his Aunt if there was something she could do to help repay them? Auntie was an influential woman, and while her... strange and undeniable powers weren't something for Jaune to frivolously abuse, Jaune knew she'd be delighted that Jaune had made so many good friends!
Ah, but even if he still had work to do as an individual, in a team operation, Jaune really shined, Team JNPR was ripping right through this Grimm pack, and even if he was mostly just directing his team and shoving his shield in the biggest Ursa's face, well, he was doing his job as well as he could!
Really, Jaune was shocked at how good Team JNPR was. Jaune had never really seen a Grimm before Initiation, but from news reports and his Aunt's stories, he knew they were a terrible force that taxed even the bravest men and women across Remnant. He'd watched reports from the news on Grimm incursions, seeing more than once the warnings to evacuate creeping closer and closer to his family homestead, only to break away and spare them just by the skin of their teeth. He remembered one summer when he was 12, when they'd really looked like they'd be under attack, and his mom had gathered up him and his sisters to head to the shelter. Only time he'd ever seen anyone try to contradict his Aunt when his mother tried to insist that she take shelter with them. But Auntie had only shook her head and told them to have faith.
And… she was right. It had been like a miracle as the Grimm pack simply... never showed up. Vanished without a trace. The newscast that night had said it was almost like a Maiden had stepped from out of the fairy tales to save the day.
But Jaune was seeing, as Pyrrha sent an Ursa's head arcing through the air, that ordinary Huntresses were capable of achieving what Jaune had only thought was the realm of fantasy. Well, he felt a little self-conscious as he did his best to keep up with his sword and shield as the rest of his team shredded the pack like they were paper. But he was getting better, and really, Pyrrha was always telling him his Semblance made a huge difference in what they could do.
Squaring his shoulders behind his shield, just like Pyrrha had taught him to, Jaune slammed it forward, right into the Ursa Major. It was a big monster, with wicked claws and horrible bony protrusions, but Jaune knew… it was the one in danger right now. Especially because, distracted by Jaune, it was wholly unaware as Nora brought Magnhild down with an earth-shattering crash. With him down, the last of the Ursa were dispatched.
"Alright team!" Jaune cheered, not missing how everyone seemed to brighten from his praise. Being not much of a fighter didn't let Jaune off the hook for being responsible for his team, and he wasn't going to rest on the laurels of his Semblance. So he readily took to the task of being his team's morale officer, keeping them all in good spirits. "Let's get to, uh, carrying out the mission!"
Now that the action was over, Jaune had to remind himself that the real reason they were in Forever Fall wasn't to be cool Grimm fighters, but to… collect sap.
But heroism wasn't all glory. This work was important, and even if it was a little tedious, Jaune felt a small surge of pride as he unpacked the jars and passed them out to his teammates. He wasn't going to let any of the anticlimax he felt show—after all, he hadn't been that much of a part of the actual fight. It was their glory, not his, and Jaune cautioned himself not to feel entitled to their successes.
And really—even ordinary tasks done as a Huntsman-in-training had a certain… bombast to them. They had to fight their way through a pack of monsters to collect sap for Professor Peach who would do… something with it. Jaune actually wasn't entirely sure what they were doing this for, but he was sure it had a very good-
KA-PWING
Jaune's jaw dropped. So did the jar in his hands, shattering on the ground without him even noticing. It took- he didn't- he was not entirely sure if he saw or...
Inches from his face, Pyrrha had blocked a bullet. With her sword.
He saw the bullet flash in the sunlight as it spiraled in the air. Jaune stammered in surprise, half that someone could do that, half that he was being shot at, practically tumbling backwards on legs that suddenly didn't quite have bones in them, as his brain, the one asset he could claim to bring to a fight, was stumbling over the impossibilities of how a Grimm could have a gun.
But the rest of his team wasn't as stunned by the suddenness of the attack.
It was like a switch had been flipped, and suddenly, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora were moving like… like they were still under the effects of his Semblance, even though the glow had faded. Ren and Pyrrha were firing quick bursts into the forest, their shots darting from place to place, seeing foes Jaune could scarcely even realize were there, as Nora arced grenades to blast away trees and obstructions and-
That was when Jaune saw their attackers and realized just how many there were. Dozens of them, just… emerging from the forest, practically melting in and out of the trees. They surged forward like a tide, roaring savage battle cries, pushed back as Ren and Pyrrha focused their fire—still, more kept coming!
"What-" Jaune gasped out, words still failing him, "What's happen-"
"Branwen Clan," Nora said with a growl, "A tribe of bandits led by Raven Branwen of Mistral. They're after Sauvignon!"
"Wait, how do you know- who's Sauvignon?"
Jaune's thoughts rolled in a mad panic, between the sudden ambush and his teammates… apparent familiarity with getting ambushed, and then there was something about grapes!
"Victory!" Ren declared, and Jaune pieced together that he was talking to Pyrrha! "We'll hold them off, get him back to the teachers! They won't attempt anything there!"
Before Jaune could say anything, could assert that he was leader of Team JNPR, Pyrrha had grabbed him by the arm and sprinted away, leaving Jaune hurtling through the underbrush, his teammates vanishing into the distance while he called for Pyrrha to go back!
Disobedience to the Divine was unthinkable. Contemptible. Blasphemous.
But Pyrrha had to protect him, before anything else.
"Pyrrha, wait, wait! We can't leave Ren and Nora behind!" Jaune pleaded with her, each word a dagger in Pyrrha's heart.
"They'll be fine!" she yelled, "We need to get you to safety!"
Ren and Nora were trained killers, while Jaune was… was too precious to risk in a combat situation. His orders meant everything to Pyrrha, but even as she might be his Prophet, Pyrrha… was a Salemist. And the orders of his mother superseded his own. Protecting Jaune came first before all other things, and she prayed he might forgive her for this one day. Because she also didn't know how to explain this to him, not when she was forbidden from teaching him of the Faith! Keeping him in the dark about the truth she knew in her heart every time she looked at him was her deepest anguish, and she knew it was going to get worse.
Breaking into a clearing, Pyrrha suddenly stopped. Jaune crashed into her back, and an irresponsible part of Pyrrha's mind was momentarily distracted by the sensation of Jaune's body pressing into hers, but only for a moment. There was a reason Pyrrha had stopped.
Sitting on a fallen log, casually sharpening her odachi, was a woman in an unmistakable mask. Pyrrha felt a growl in her soul at the Grimm's head-mask, a mockery of Queen Salem's divine rulership over the Grimm, a blasphemous act of claiming Salem's scourge of righteousness as her own sign. She was as hateful to Pyrrha as she was known: the legendary Raven Branwen, the Bandit Queen of Mistral. Sitting as calm and collected as someone who knew they'd all, unwittingly, played into her hands. Here, running away was not an option.
Well, she might have ambushed them, but Pyrrha wasn't going to yield so easily. Raven was a famously dangerous woman, but so was Pyrrha. Placing herself squarely between Raven and Jaune, she readied herself to-
"Uh… hi?" Jaune said before Pyrrha had a chance, "That's an… interesting mask?"
"It is, isn't it?" Raven laughed, removing the mask and revealing her- holy shit how was- she was a dead ringer for Yang! How… how did that even happen? But as Pyrrha gawked, Raven continued, "I'm Raven Branwen, though I suspect your partner knows of me… but that makes me wonder, what do you know about her..."
"What do you want?" Pyrrha snapped, not liking where Raven was taking this conversation.
"Perhaps I just wanted to talk," she said airly, sheathing her sword before narrowing her eyes, "After all, we all have had such interesting experiences with Salem..."
Even the creatures of the forest were silent as she said the name—not a bird chirping, not a squirrel moving through the branches.
"Wait," Jaune cut in, shattering the silence, "Wait, you all- you know my aunt?"
Aunt? That was-
Well, Pyrrha had been close, she figured. Still a demigod, just… a more complicated theology than she had anticipated.
"She's your aunt?" Raven asked, amused, "That's what you think of her? The Queen of the Grimm having a nephew… well, that answers my first question: why she cares so much about you and your family."
Pyrrha felt her blood boil at the sacrilege of what this filthy heretic was saying in Jaune's presence. But looking to Jaune, she saw shock and… dismay. And Pyrrha's heart sank to see it—she knew, she knew that Jaune wasn't enlightened, but surely he- he wouldn't-
He wouldn't reject Pyrrha, would he?
"Wait, my aunt's the… the Queen of the Grimm?" he asked Raven in horror, Pyrrha's heart sinking to see Jaune's revelation come to him so horribly. He should have learned any other way than this!
Then he turned to face her.
There were a thousand deaths Pyrrha could have suffered in that moment that were better than the look on his face.
"Pyrrha..." he whispered, "Is this… Did you know?"
"The problem with keeping people in the dark to keep them safe," the bandit said through her smirk, "is that when you really need to protect them… they no longer trust you. And when you need them most to trust you, well..."
Pyrrha's eyes snapped back to Jaune, and, to her horror, she could see that Raven was right. Jaune seemed… bewildered, overwhelmed, and… and frightened.
Horror bloomed in her heart. All her fears were coming true and they were infinitely worse than she imagined. He knew she was a liar now, that she wasn't true to him, and to know that she was the source of his anguish... If he- if he despised her, Pyrrha knew she would hurl herself from the Beacon tower, there was no forgiveness for-
"Wait, hold on…" Jaune said, his gaze suddenly shooting back to Raven, "if that's true, that… my aunt is some kind of… whatever, why are you trying to attack me? You're going to, what, try to ambush the nephew of the Queen of the Grimm?"
"I was planning on holding you for ransom," the bandit queen answered with a shrug.
"But that's- that's stupid! She's- they're- If she's in charge of the Grimm, the Grimm are the dominant species on the planet, and I don't even know who you are!"
Raven laughed, an arrogant, blasphemous sound that made Pyrrha wish Jaune would just give her the command to remove the bitch's head from her shoulders. "Please," she said in that aggravating voice of hers, "I've been thumbing the nose of every authority figure in my life, from Ozpin to the Mistralian government to my ex-husband's alimony payments. Messing with an immortal witch is just the logical next step."
Jaune just blinked at her. "That doesn't make any sense!" he cried.
"Maybe to you it doesn't," Raven scowled, but then her lips curved upwards into a wicked smile, "because unlike you, I'm a messy bitch who lives for drama. Before you dropped into my lap, I was just going to travel to Vale to visit the daughter I abandoned and be mysterious and distant to her! Maybe I'll still do it—even promise her some 'answers' and then ghost her for another decade!"
"But why!" Jaune cried in pure, innocent dismay.
Raven laughed, "I told you, because I feed on this shit. When the Queen of the Grimm gets a ransom note about her favorite nephew, she'll never doubt that Raven Branwen is Queen Bitch of Remnant!"
"Why are you like this, you-" but Jaune's exasperation died on his lips, realizing the futility of trying to reason with why someone's the biggest asshole alive. So he switched tactics, "Pyrrha..." Jaune said, his eyes flashing with righteous, divine anger! "Make her eat her words."
Yes.
Godlike power coursed through her veins as her soul, ignited by Jaune's holy command, sang a song of victory. Streaking forward like a crimson bolt of lightning, every joule of potential energy unleashed all at once, she became Divine Wrath incarnate. It was his power alongside her newfound purpose, both alight within her, an invincible tide. The bandit queen had never faced an assault like this, Pyrrha being more of a magnetically accelerated missile than a fighter as she slammed into her opponent, smashing her backwards before her sword could even get an inch from its sheath. Not that Pyrrha really cared about her iaijutsu, or any other aspect of this fight. Jaune knew who she was! Her fist connected with Raven's jaw. And he accepted her! Her knee collided with her foe's stomach. And he blessed her with his command! Another punch in the throat. And maybe he'd accept everything else about her!
With a primal scream of victory or joy or some combination of every emotion Pyrrha had at once, knowing that she was now free to openly worship her beloved, she loosed her inner Nora and forced the older woman to submit to her with a headbutt that dropped Raven like a stone, crumpling to the ground. Woo! YEAH! VIOLENCE!
Breathing heavily, more from the adrenaline than the exertion, Pyrrha gave a war whoop to celebrate her dominance. "How… how was that, my Lord?" she asked, dropping to her knee in reverence, only to realize that Jaune was just staring at her, his jaw hanging open. Oh, she… might have overdone it, and-
Wait, did she call him "MY LORD?"
Jaune was about to say something but then he suddenly pointed behind Pyrrha, at Raven! Pyrrha whirled, just in time to see her foe get right back up.
"You are good, aren't you," she growled and then… rose into the air. "But… what do you know about the Maidens, little girl?"
Yet Pyrrha wasn't deterred, even as a cold wind gathered around her, magical stormclouds forming above their heads. "Only that I've been training to kill one since I was seven!" she shot back, gripping Milo and Akuou, readying for whatever this hell-bitch had in her arsenal.
With a crackle of lightning she-
She dashed past Pyrrha, swooping like a witch at Jaune and snatching him up! Pyrrha flung Milo with all the force she was capable of, accelerating it with her Semblance, but even as her javelin flattened the forest behind her target… she missed.
Because Raven had opened a portal that she tumbled through with Jaune, a portal that closed before Pyrrha's strike could reach it, leaving her in the forest, alone, with nothing more to accompany her than the sound of her anguished cry, still echoing in the distance.
Being back at Beacon was usually a pretty good time for Qrow. It meant a good bed, actual food, beer that wasn't watered down, and not having to deal with all the lovely parts of being a field agent. Like dust, bugs, mud, the sun beating down on you, all that lovely, horrible bullshit. And this was going to be a long term visit, providing assistance to Ozpin, Glynda, and Jimmy as they worked to protect the festival and tournament from the mysterious Queen. A good chance to go visit Yang and Ruby, too, tease them a little, kick their asses in video games, just fun times all around…
Unfortunately, about to be cut very short.
He'd been summoned to Qrow's office for an "emergency meeting" which was obviously code for "we're shipping your ass back into the field." And to make it worse, when Qrow arrived, there was the Ice Queen herself, all primed and ready to just ruin everyone's day by finding fault in everything.
But she, mercifully, wasn't going to get the first word in this.
"Qrow," Glynda said with a curt nod, "We don't have time for much of a debriefing, but the situation at hand is urgent and critical: bandits led by your sister have kidnapped a student."
A feather could have knocked Qrow right on his ass when he heard your sister. Raven was- Raven was here? In Vale? And now she was… he had a dark feeling in the pit of his stomach as he realized exactly which student she might target. "It's not," he choked out, "it's not..."
"No," Glynda shook her head, giving some relief to Qrow's panic, "It was a student we have no reason to suspect had any connection to Raven Branwen or her tribe. A student named Jaune Arc of-"
Her words were cut off by a sudden gasp.
"You… know this John kid?" Qrow asked Winter.
She blushed, which Qrow initially believed to be an sobriety-fuelled hallucination rather than anything that actually happened.
"He… happens to be dating my sister," she said in a frosty tone that suggested she did not want to discuss this.
"Oh?" Qrow asked, delighted to ignore her clear signals, "How long they been together? Cause isn't my niece on a team with your sis? She'd mentioned that her partner had a boyfriend and that they'd been moving fast!" he laughed, "Sounds to me like your baby sister's really letting her hair down now that she's out of the nest!"
The way Winter's eyes narrowed as she willed some way to kill him with a glance was the kind of spite that Qrow lived for. And after all this panic about his sister and his niece… fuck he needed this antagonism!
"So you both already have a connection, excellent!" Ozpin cut in, obliviously. "Which leads me to my next point—rescuing this boy is our top priority, and I want you both to head to Mistral and retrieve our student."
Qrow and Winter both looked at each other, their faces a mirror of surprise, dismay, and disgust.
"That's a terrible idea!"/"I do not see the wisdom in this plan," both of them said at once.
But Oz just shook his head. "Qrow, you're our best bet to track down your sister," he patiently explained, "but you're going to need help. Help we are very short on as we still need to uphold security in Vale for the festival while also figuring out what this silence from the Queen could possibly mean! Specialist Schnee brings the firepower and the discretion we desperately need in this operation. Plus," he grinned, "you two traveling together is the sort of mismatched pair that can only lead to heartwarming-"
"We're desperately short on hands," Glynda interrupted, "and you two are our best operatives for this mission."
"And what'll you two be doing?" Qrow asked with a raised eyebrow.
"The most dangerous mission of all," Ozpin answered dramatically, "We'll be speaking with Beacon's Board of Governors… after this kidnapping our insurance premiums are about to become murder."
Thanks to Renarde for feedback on this chapter!
So Jaune's been kidnapped. But you can assume the Cult won't take this lying down! Nor will the other cult that Velvet founded, plus Weiss isn't the kind to let her boyfriend be taken without a fight. Plus Winter and Qrow are on the case, Cinder's under orders to protect Jaune, and altogether, Raven's stirred up a whole mess of trouble that's headed right for her in Mistral. She wouldn't have it any other way.