RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and created by the late Monty Oum.
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RWBY: Destiny of Remnant
Chapter 35: Goals and Tests
Great progress had been made with pushing back the Grimm away from Vale and Beacon. The city of Vale was almost entirely repaired and it had been deemed safe for the citizens to return so people were beginning to move back in, overcome with joy to finally return home. There were still a few buildings that needed fixing up, and a good number of civilians had insisted on the Hunters and Atlas soldiers staying for protection just in case, but all things considered it looked like the capital of Vale would finally be back to normal in a matter of weeks as many of the businesses had reopened. The same went for Beacon Academy, while it was a bit harder to work on it seemed that it would be up and running again for the next semester when the time came.
However, not all of the Grimm were out yet. Out in the forests that surrounded the town in the school a small quartet of young Hunters worked together against a group of Ursa that were trying to get back into the city. Sage blocked a strike of an Ursa's claws before surging forward and slicing its arm off, then impaled it with his sword.
"Sage, behind you!" Ren called.
Sage whipped around and impaled another, larger Ursa that had tried to attack him from behind. "Shoot it!" Sage yelled.
Ren nodded and unloaded a barrage of bullets into the back of the large Ursa, finishing it off. As it fell disintegrating Sage gave the green clad ninja a smile and said "Thanks for the heads up man."
Ren simply nodded before his attention went over to Nora and Fox who were busy killing more of the bear Grimm.
Fox thrusted his arm blade through a young one's head, brought it forward, and sliced its underbelly open. As it died Fox back-flipped high into the air and landed on the back of a large, elder Ursa and slammed both of his arm-mounted blades down its back before finishing it off by cutting off its legs from underneath it then whipped around to eviscerate and decapitate another Ursa that had tried to charge him from the side.
"Sometimes that guy can be scary." Sage muttered as he cut an Ursa in half.
Right after he said that Nora jumped down from a tree and slammed Magnhild down on an Ursa, killing it one blow before twirling around and firing three grenades into three Ursa, blowing up each one of them before smashing her hammer into a charging Ursa, knocking towards Ren who finished it off with a few slashes of the StormFlowers' blades. Nora ran towards a young Ursa which was trying to jump on Fox and slammed her war-hammer into it so hard it went sailing into the sky and out of view. "It's going! Going! Going..." there was the sound of a crash "It's gone! It's outta here! Nora Valkyrie has just broken the world record for Ursa throwing distance!" she declared.
"But not nearly as scary as her." Sage finished as he cut another Ursa in half.
Ren finished off the last Ursa with the guns of the StormFlowers and said "I believe that was the last one, we might be done here for today."
"Let's hope so." Sage agreed with a nod.
"Oh bring 'em on! I could go for another round with some Grimm! I hope its a Goliath!" Nora said eagerly.
"There are going to be times where I regret agreeing to be transferred to Beacon, aren't there?" Sage asked rhetorically.
"Probably." Fox deadpanned.
"Oh come on you grumpy guys! Where's your sense of fun? Don't pretend you didn't enjoy that battle." Nora said cheerfully.
"Well it was good practice, and nowhere near as dangerous as that ancient Vampire we found the other day." Sage said, before shuddering. The old, and gigantic, flying Grimm that they had encountered yesterday had been so hard to deal with that Jaune and Pyrrha had to leave their training to come help them, along with Professor Port. Jaune had attempted to control it but the beast's age made it very smart so it was able to resist him, but not Pyrrha who had controlled it long enough for Nora, Ren, and Port to shoot it down before it could get any closer to the town.
"Well I thought it was fun." Nora muttered.
"You tried to ride it after it picked me up!" Sage cried.
"I was gonna wham it on the head to get it to let you go but it threw me off!" Nora defended.
"Maybe it wouldn't have it you hadn't held on to it shouting 'Whee, this is so awesome! Ren take a picture!'" Sage scolded.
"Don't deny the awesomeness of the picture Ren took!" Nora cried.
As their little argument continued Ren and Fox both looked to each other before sighing and rolling their eyes.
Jaune stood still in the pit arena before a group five Beowolves, all of which glared at him but made no move to attack. Jaune had made some decent progress in the last few days but controlling five Grimm at once was probably the biggest challenge he had faced thus far in his training, though at least these Grimm were young and inexperienced unlike that giant Vampire he had failed to control the other day. His bond with the five Grimm was holding up steadily as they stood still and aside from the occasional growl they didn't do anything threatening. He mentally thought that if a year ago someone had told him he would be in a relationship with one of the most beautiful, strongest girls in Remnant after nearly losing her, as well as being half Grimm, nearly dying, being the leader of an entire team and the guardian to a mystical relic from the past he would have thought them certifiably insane. And yet here he was.
Pyrrha stood off to the side in case something went wrong so she could step in and help out but so far Jaune seemed to have a decent handel on thing as all five of the Beowolves held their heads up, then down, and then got on all fours with their tails high in the air.
"You're doing well Jaune." she said.
"Thanks, I..." he was cut off by one of the Beowolves snarling and trying to break out of his control. "Hey! No! Don't give me that." he barked as he tightened his 'grip' on the rogue but as he did that he loosed the 'grip' on two others, who began to prowl towards him. He noticed this and quickly reasserted his control over them just as Pyrrha moved forward. "No, I got this!" he called to her.
Pyrrha nodded but kept watching, ready to help him at any moment. He had been able to control a single Grimm perfectly and had, with a great amount of effort, had managed to control two Grimm at once, then three. While Pyrrha was proud of his progress she felt he was rushing through it, he had just gotten a firm hold of controlling three Grimm the other night and he hadn't perfected controlling four Grimm at all and he had just barely controlled the five at once. She had objected to him rushing through the training but he urged her that he needed to do this, something Pyrrha was unsure of.
Jaune grunted and mentally ordered the Beowolves to run to the other side of the arena and come up to him slowly and non-threateningly. The large Grimm ran to the other side before coming back to him. They did so calmly at first but after the first three reached him the fourth and fifth growled and snarled at him.
"No." he said before he tried to assert control over them again, only for one of them to pounce on top of him and make him lose his concentration; thereby making him lose control of all of them. "Ah!" Jaune cried as he used his Semblance to keep the Grimm from biting him. He threw it off of his body and jumped out of the way of another one's charge. He quickly began to regain control over them and managed to get a hold on three of them but the fourth tried to attack him.
Before anything else could happen Pyrrha quickly jumped over and kicked the Beowolf down and took control of the other two Beowolves, now all five of them had stopped and kneeled down to them. "Ready the cages." Pyrrha called to the guards.
Jaune got up and said "No, I can still do some more training."
"Jaune, we've been at this for over three hours and you've been working yourself too hard. We're stopping for today before you make a mistake and get hurt." she said firmly.
He sighed and gave her a nod. "Why do you have to be so right all the time? Then again you are the master and I'm the student." he said with a small smile, which made her blush slightly.
They worked together to usher the five Grimm back into the cages and as they were being pulled out of the pit Jaune went over to sit on one of the benches and said "I'm sorry I rushed through it, I just want to know what you know. Someone has to be there for you."
"You already are." Pyrrha said as she sat next to him and placed her hand on top of his.
"I know, but I need to be better at this. Someday, in some battle, you'll turn the Grimm around and you'll need someone to be there with you. I can't help you if I don't get better at this." Jaune said as buried his face in his hands.
Pyrrha's heart ached to see the boy she loved like this so she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. "I know how you feel but this is something you can't rush. You'll get it soon, I know it. For now you have a good grasp on three so we'll train with four and fave later this week after the test tomorrow." she said.
He visibly winced at the mention of the test; Dr. Polendina had gotten a few of the Grimm Knights recovered from Haven up and running again and it was decided that they could be used to safely determine Jaune's skills as a Grimm commander in a combat situation. It would be Jaune and three Beowolves against five Grimm Knights.
Pyrrha felt bad for her boyfriend and remembered some of the difficulties she had when she was beginning her training with the Wyvewrn.
Seven Months Ago
Fotia had been training with the magnificent, but young, Grimm known as the Wyvern and while it seemed to be accepting her presence and close proximity it got a bit annoyed when she tried to take control of it.
"Whoa-a!" she cried as it threw her off its head and into the wall before huffing at her with a puff of smoke. "Ugh..." she moaned as she got up.
"It's late Fotia, you have been at this all day. You should give up for tonight and start again in the morning." Cinder said from the catwalks that flanked the arena.
"No Miss Cinder! I can do this! I just need to try harder, he's warming up to me, he just needs to get used to me riding him." Fotia argued as she charged the adolescent Grimm again, only for its large tail to trip her up. She growled as she rubbed the dust and dirt off her face, gripping her shield and weapon tight. The Wyvern could sense her anger and frustration so it looked at her and growled in interest .
Fotia got up and roared at the Wyvern and ran towards it in a brave, but foolhardy, charge.
The Wyvern's wings shot out and while it still couldn't fly very well yet, and was kept in the arena by powerful fire-proof steel bars, but it could still use them in a fight. It waited for its commander to get close enough and despite feeling her mental grip on its mind it resisted enough to swat her down and let out a blast of flame from its mouth at her. "Ah!" she screamed as she braced herself for the pain, only for Cinder to quickly drop down through the bars and use her Semblance to control the flames and keep Fotia safe.
"You're lucky child, it wouldn't have killed you but it would have left you a very nasty scar." Cinder said. "And it wouldn't do to scar such a pretty face." she added, rubbing Fotia's face with faux affection. "I appreciate your dedication Fotia and so will Mistress Salem but pushing yourself like this is just making your body more and more tired, weak, and even a young Grimm can sense weakness."
She nodded to Matilda and the rest of the Grimm Keepers and they quickly came in through the pit's door and began driving the Wyvern back towards the pins by roping up its muzzle, putting weights on its wings, and forcing it forward with cattle prods.
"What if I can't do it? What if I get burned?" Fotia asked the older woman.
"My master has told me that if a Wyvern bonds with someone and obeys them then its flames will only be warm, not burning. It might sound impossible but I believe in our master. Do you?" Cinder inquired.
"Y-yes, I do. Tomorrow I will try a little harder." Fotia said before yawning.
"That is good to hear, now get some rest." Cinder encouraged.
Pyrrha sighed sadly at memory and while she was secretly worried for the Wyvern and what became of it she decided that the love of her life was a bit more important so she squeezed him tighter and said "Don't worry, you'll do fine. We'll get in some more training early tomorrow, okay?"
Jaune nodded and said "Okay."
"Once Ren and the others come back their shift will be over, you think we can go about the town?" Pyrrha asked.
"I don't see why not. We'll have to ask Professor Goodwitch first though." he said with a smile before adding "We should probably shower first though." Pyrrha returned the smile and nodded.
A few minutes later they hit the arena's shower/restroom building that had been untouched by the Grimm invasion and had been fully attended to by the cleanup crews.
As she rubbed the soap and body lotion on her toned body she mentally began to think of ways that could help Jaune's training. Maybe if he bonded with one particular Grimm like she had with the Wyvern but knew he would be more than a little hesitant at the idea. She knew that she was going to help him out as much as she could and tomorrow morning they would practice a little more with just three Beowolves to make sure he had gotten that down and if he managed to pass the test then they'd try four or five again.
At the thought of the Wyvern Pyrrha couldn't help but let out a sad sigh and wonder what became of her Grimm. Considering the fact that Wyverns were an incredible rarity Salem most likely had it taken off site in that large vessel of theirs but Pyrrha somehow knew it had resisted them, she was the only one it ever cooperated with willingly and without fight. No doubt that Salem and Cinder were taking control of it, planning to use it for horrible things she'd rather not think about.
Cinder...
Pyrrha hugged her body and shivered at the thought of that insane woman, the one who nearly murdered her, the one who destroyed her life. Thoughts of hatred and revenge flooded her mind as her eyes turned red. The last time she had seen that woman was when she had buried her under a giant pile of ruined Grimm Knights and she had hoped that when Qrow and Goodwitch returned from the site they would report finding her broken body either dead or just barely alive, she hadn't cared which. Maybe if she had succeeded in killing her Ashe would still be alive or if she had merely crippled her she would face justice and be imprisoned in some remote citadel where no one would ever be hurt by her ever again.
Cinder had caused so much damage to Pyrrha's life and the lives of her friends and family, especially Jaune, Ren, Nora, and her parents. She could still remember her father taking her out to the grave site they had made for her.
5 Months Ago
Pyrrha and her father got out of the car, the teenage girl walking slowly towards the small shrine that had been erected for her when they thought her dead. Zeus Nikos had already talked to the managers of the illustrious cemetery to ether have the shrine changed to note that she was still alive or tear it down altogether.
Pyrrha arrived at the shrine, a small but beautifully crafted with stone covered with pictures of her and flowers from fans, family members, and admirers. She looked at the words carved into the stone: 'In Loving Memory of Pyrrha Nikos, a true champion and a kind spirit of strength. She was a beloved daughter, friend, partner, and idol. Wherever she is we wish for her to find happiness and know that she was loved. Rest in Peace, Champion.'
"Your mother didn't want you to see this. I... I wasn't sure but you said you deserved to see it." her father said from behind you.
Pyrrha turned around and looked at her father with sad, sorrowful eyes before tackling him in a hug.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." she said over and over to him as he hugged her back.
Pyrrha shivered as she thought of the pain she had caused her parents when she went up the tower, how they hurt in the months she was Salem's tool. Them, Jaune, Ren, Nora, Ruby...
She would never let it happen again.
She finished showering and once she was dried off she dressed herself in her civilian clothes; a simplistic outfit consisting of a black T-shirt, a blue skirt that went down to her knees, and some old tennis shoes that she used for her morning jogs, she also let her hair hang down, since she wondered if Jaune found it a bit more attractive that way.
When she came out of the ladies' showers she saw Jaune sitting on a bench dressed in a dark red T-shirt and jeans with his hoodie slung over his back. He looked to her and asked "Is something wrong?"
"What do you mean?" she asked, a little confused.
"I could sense your emotions while we were showering. I guess that's just a little extra feature from being part Grimm." Jaune remarked.
Pyrrha sighed, she knew what he was talking about; ever since becoming a Grimm hybrid she had been able to sense people's emotions with ease but the strange thing was it never seemed to happen when they were happy, just negative emotions like sadness, fear, anger, etc... It had gotten awkward a few times like when her parents would talk about how they dealt with losing her or when Jaune got a little too depressed but she managed to deal with it.
"I was thinking about Cinder, again." she admitted.
Jaune sighed and got up to hug his girlfriend. "If you ever need to talk about it..."
"I know who to talk to." She finished before kissing him.
They went out to wait and a short amount of time later Fox came walking out of the forest with Ren, Nora, and Sage in tow.
"Hey guys, fight any Grimm?" Jaune asked.
"You know it! A group of Ursa, a couple of Death Stalkers..." Nora began to list off.
"We think the Grimm have been pushed back to the Emerald Forest and the Forever Fall. A few of them are brave enough to try and venture back to Beacon but they've been taken care of." Fox stated as a Bullhead landed and other Hunters disembarked to take over for them.
"Good, the sooner the Grimm get the picture the better. Pyr and me were thinking about going out on the town now that the people have come back, you guys wanna come?" Jaune asked.
"Do we?! Heck yeah!" Nora answered.
"It does sound nice." Ren agreed.
"I'm for it, you Fox?" Sage inquired.
"Nah, I'll just go to my hotel room, I got a book to read." the dark skinned teen said.
"Okay then man." Jaune said with a nod, "So let's get back to the hotel so we can report to Professor Goodwitch and spend the rest of the day out on the town."
Team JNPR and Sage walked down the crowded city streets as Vale was once again filled with people, celebrating the liberation of their town. A band and a few street performers played music or did stunts to entertain the crowds while people sat at outside restaurants eating and chatting while all around them friends were reunited. Pyrrha couldn't help but smile at the sight of the rebuilt town seemingly coming back to life as the citizens, and a few off duty Hunters, celebrated.
With stands of games, food, and other such things it was almost like a carnival.
"Man, too bad the others aren't here, I know Ruby would have loved this." Jaune commented.
"So would my team, that 'Simple Wok' stand is selling noodles half of! You guys want some?" Sage asked.
"Nah, we're good." Jaune declined with Pyrrha nodding.
Sage nodded and went off on his own to get some noodles from the old man's stand before Nora noticed something.
"Oh my gods! Stuffed animal prizes! Will you win one for me Renny?" Nora pleaded.
"Nora..." Ren began before he saw her adorable aqua eyes quivering like a puppy's. "Alright, I'll win you one... or two... or three." he relented.
"Yay! I love you!" Nora said as she hugged Ren, squeezing him tight and nuzzling him like a kitten before grabbing his hand and rushing off, dragging the magenta eyed ninja by the hand along. Ren looked at Jaune and Pyrrha as if to ask for help but didn't say anything as his energetic girlfriend took him away.
"As odd as it may seem I think those two are perfect for each other." Pyrrha commented.
"Yeah, I guess opposites attract, like you and me." Jaune agreed.
Pyrrha glanced at him and asked "What do you mean?"
"Well I used to be a total wimp and you've always been a... a total goddess who could kick everyone's butt!" he explained, making her giggle. "You want one of those stuffed toys? I used to suck at them but maybe I..."
"No, it's okay. You're all I need to cuddle with at night." Pyrrha joked, blushing a bit and causing him to blush too.
The couple went about the town, seeing the sights, watching children play, or listening to the bands play their music. They had a few run ins with some of Pyrrha's fans, causing them to stop so she could sign autographs and talk to some of the children who looked up to her and had to personally answer their questions about how she hadn't really been killed and had been teleported by Cinder and simply said that Jaune and her friends came to rescue her, which was basically true.
After a while they arrived at a public park and were currently sitting down on a park bench eating some snacks Pyrrha had bought them while watching people go by or enjoying the park while children played on the playground. Jaune excused himself to go use the public restroom but once he was gone a rather tall and muscular teen about their age sat down next to her.
"Hey, you're Pyrrha Nikos!" he said.
"Um, yes I am. Can I help you?" she asked.
"I heard about how you weren't really dead and all that, which is good 'cause I've always found you really hot." the guy said.
Pyrrha gave him a look but thanked him and asked "So are you happy to be back in Vale?"
"Yeah, it's sweet to be home but I just wanna know something." he said.
"Um... okay?" she said.
"What are you doing with a pathetic loser like that Arc guy? I mean I saw that little runt in the tournament, talk about pathetic, sorry you got saddled with him." the teen said, only to receive a furious glare from the usually kind Spartan. "Okay, bad choice of words. Maybe he's a nice guy, I mean I think he helped save you and all but whatever. So would you like to go get a..." Suddenly Pyrrha grabbed his hand and squeezed hard, making him cry out in pain. "Ow! What the hell...?!"
"That 'pathetic loser', as you called him, is my partner, best friend, and the man I love." she said angrily.
"You... you're kiddin', right? He doesn't deserve someone as hot as you." the guy said, which only made Pyrrha angrier.
"He was the first true friend I had after years of being placed on a pedestal put me in social isolation, he nearly died for me, and fought and worked harder than anyone else ever has and I love him like no one else. No one, not you or anyone else, can ever take his place. Now please go away." she said sternly with a dark look in her eye.
The guy, getting the picture, nervously nodded and ran off as Jaune came back and asked "Who was that?"
"Another admirer." Pyrrha answered with an annoyed tone of voice, she could also feel a slight anger radiating off of Jaune as he watched the guy run off.
"At least you didn't have to punch this one to make him get the picture." Jaune remarked, reminding Pyrrha of the several obnoxious 'admirers' who had made moves on her in Cadia, which often resulted in the couple forcing them to back off but Pyrrha wasn't the only one as Jaune now found himself being crushed on by a few local girls from Cadia, only for Pyrrha to scare them off. Jaune smiled and that got Pyrrha to smile as well as he sat next to her and kissed her on the cheek before his scroll rang.
"Who is it?" Pyrrha asked as he looked at the caller I.D. and smiled. He answered it and a familiar blonde head with blue eyes appeared on the small screen of the scroll.
"Hey Bianca." he said to his oldest sister.
"Hey little bro, how are things over in Vale?" she asked.
"Pretty good, the training is coming along as we expected it to." Jaune stated, careful not to mention the specifics of his training in public.
"Let's hope it stays that way. The others are eager for you to come home soon." Bianca reported.
"I know, I got a call from Azure this morning and one from Shani last night and another from Olivia yesterday afternoon. How's work been?' Jaune asked.
"Pretty good, got commissioned to do some art for a children's book and I'll get to work on it later but I wanted to check up on you. How's Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora?" she asked.
"I'm doing just fine Bianca, hello." the Spartan, who then swallowed down some fried dough.
"Good to know, have you gotten any word from Ruby and the others?" Bianca asked.
"Yeah, the left Hondyama a couple of days ago and they're nearly at their drop off." Jaune told her, deciding not to tell her about the clash with the White Fang for now.
Bianca nodded and then her eyes snapped wide open and she said "Oh man I nearly forgot! You wanna see the portrait of Ashe I'm making?"
Pyrrha looked to Jaune as he nodded and said "Sure, go ahead." From where she was sitting Pyrrha could see Bianca moving on Jaune scroll before turning her own scroll around and pointing it at a canvas on a stand that was a halfway finished portrait of Ashe Kasai. While the background was blank white the Ashe part of the painting looked dead on, the face, eyes, and hair all looked right. The painting Bianca was making had the now dead warrior giving off a sad but triumphant smile and as Pyrrha looked at the unfinished painting she couldn't help but wince, something Jaune noticed.
"It probably looks bad from here but it'll look better in person and when it's finished." Bianca stared.
"No, it looks pretty good so far. I bet it will amazing when its done." Jaune said encouragingly.
"Thanks Jaune, hope you two lovebirds are having a good time."
"Oh we are." Pyrrha assured her.
"Good to know, love you Jaune, bye!" the eldest Arc daughter bid as she ended the call.
Jaune looked at Pyrrha and asked "What's wrong?"
Pyrrha attempted a smile and said "Why nothing, Jaune. I'm fine."
"When she showed us the portrait you felt sad, guilty. What's wrong?" He asked. She didn't answer at first, she just looked down to the ground until he placed a gentle hand on top of her own and said "Please, tell me."
The Invincible Girl sighed and knew there was no point in trying to put it off or lie to him so she said "It's Ashe... there's a part of me that feels guilty over his death."
"Why? What happened to Ashe wasn't your fault." Jaune said firmly.
"But if I had killed Cinder when I slammed down all those Grimm Knights, or if I had managed to cripple her a bit more then she wouldn't have been able to kill him." she said to him.
Jaune sighed and said "I know what it's like to feel guilty over someone's death, believe me."
Pyrrha looked at him and remembered how he blamed himself for her death and she quickly said "Sorry!"
"No, it's okay. Ashe went because it was his choice, I think he knew he was gonna die and even if Cinder didn't kill him... would he have made it? From what we know she only punched the hole in his chest and everything else was that scumbag Jude's doing. Heck, maybe Ante would have killed him but just because you didn't kill Cinder doesn't mean you're responsible for Ashe's death in the slightest." he said as he hugged her.
He let out a small smile as he noticed how they would have to comfort each other over their own respective fears, guilt, and insecurities and how they helped each other out in more ways than one. Nora had openly said that it was just another bit of proof as to how perfect they were for each other.
Pyrrha, however, wasn't done with her anxieties. "But what if Cinder does something worse? What if more people die becasue of her? I could have ended her right then and there but I..."
Jaune silenced her with a passionate kiss that took her by surprise but she quickly got over it and returned the kiss. As they parted lips Jaune said to her "We all tried to take her down, so when she comes back the burden won't be yours alone. We're in this together Pyr, now and forever."
Pyrrha smiled as buried her face in his neck and whispered "I love you."
"And I love you. You want to spend some time meditating with the crystal tonight?" he asked. They had been working with the Aura Crystal on and off over the months but so far they hadn't made any real progress.
"That would be fine by me, but right now I just want to stay like this." Pyrrha said as she snuggled into him.
He smiled at her and whispered "Me too."
Ozpin sat as his desk going over the reports of fights with Grimm and how progress on rebuilding Beacon was coming along and altogether things seemed to be just fine. Despite the calm they were enjoying Ozpin found sitting at his desk and looking over reports and requests quite dull, knowing that Glynda, Taiyang, and Port were all out there helping with reconstruction or keeping the Grimm at bay, he couldn't help but wish that he was with them. He knew that Bartholomew felt this way too, as the younger teacher had been cooped up on the Atlesian science vessel for the last two weeks or so.
Just then a button on his desk began to light up and a ringing sound went off. Ozpin pressed a button and a hologram of General Ironwood appeared in front of his desk.
"James, good to see you." Ozpin greeted.
"And you, how are things at Beacon?" the general inquired.
"Swimmingly, the Grimm are mostly staying away and those that do venture forth are being dealt with and the reconstruction process is keeping up with the schedule, we should be ready for the next semester on time. Have you made any progress with the White Fang operatives that Team Beacon captured?" Ozpin asked.
Ironwood shook his head and answered "Not so good, I'm afraid. We've made very little progress on interrogating them as they have proved resistant to every technique we have at our disposal. We tried using truth serum on one of the higher ranking captive, unconstitutional I know but we're desperate, and it appears that this Adam Taurus prepared for that. When we fed him the truth serum he died. The autopsy revealed that he had been given a drug that is only poisonous when combined with a certain element of the truth serum."
Ozpin cupped his hands and brought them up underneath his chin. "It appears Adam Taurus is far more devious than we realized. From what Qrow and Winter told us in their report we may have an ally of sorts in the form of the White Fang's Elite Guard. If we could somehow get proof that Adam tried to murder a child and poisoned his own soldiers than we might be able to convince them to betray him." he said.
"Not a bad strategy, we've heard rumors about this Elite Guard saving Faunus, and a few humans, from slavers or illegal labor camps throughout the kingdoms. Any news of Cinder Fall on your end?" Ironwood asked.
Ozpin sighed, Cinder was still a raw nerve for him, she had been the weapon Salem used against him, the one responsible for the fall of Beacon. He personally blamed himself for not being able to recognize her during the Vytal Festival but he had thought that a girl who had Cinder's first name and looked like her being that young when in reality Cinder Kasai would be in her mid-thirties so he just brushed it off as a mere coincidence, an idiotic mistake that he would probably never really forgive himself over.
"Nothing. Yours?"
Ironwood shook his head, "On a brighter note our friends at Future Technologies have finalized their design for the Hyperion One, would you like to see it?"
Ozpin nodded and Ironwood leaned over to push a button on his end, causing his hologram to expand and include another, smaller hologram of an impressive looking ship design; The Hyperion One was (as the name implied) going to be the first of its type of ships, the Mobile Airborne Command Ships (or MACS for short), others would be used a smaller command ships for situations that didn't call for the massive airships Atlas was normally associated with. It looked like a cross between a stealth fighter and a mobile airborne command plane, clad completely in matte black armor plating with grey highlights, and powered by four main large VTOL engines. It's close to three hundred feet in length, with a wingspan of a hundred feet on each side. In addition to its VTOL engines, there were also a substantial number of thrusters on its underside to assist with taking off or landing or dealing with certain battle situation whenever necessary. The Hyperion One had the impression of a triangular giant bird of prey from the air, except with enough armaments to defend several reasonably-sized city blocks on its own.
"Most impressive I must say, I think we'll be very happy with it." Ozpin said.
"Good, the engineers at Future Technologies will be happy to know you said that. I've had some of our Specialists from S.W.O.R.D. go over it and they think they added on some of the turrets currently on the design. It'l take them a few months but it'll get made. I'll be appearing at the demonstration tonight, even though I'll have to stay up a little later than I usually do to see it. Have a good day Ozpin." Ironwood said.
"You too James and don't forget about Jaune's test tomorrow." Ozpin reminded him before he ended the call, remembering that Dr. Oobleck and the others were ready to show off the potential of harvesting silver energy and were given a chance to demonstrate it tonight. Just then he noticed he had a new mail notification on his computer. He opened it up and it was from the head councilman Jonathan Henry. He opened it up and was surprised to see that it was a rather short, and very blunt, message that read: 'Hello William, I've been in contact with my friends and they want to know if you'd agree to a meeting with them.'
Ozpin thought about his answer and then hyped up his response; 'I am more open to a meeting with a few of them, yes. Who do they want to send and when?'
He waited for a few minutes before receiving Henry's response which was 'I am sure that they will only send one but I do not know when they will come, tough it will most likely be at night, which helps them go unnoticed. I will contact them and tell them of your answer. Good day old friend.'
He sent the message and then leaned back in his chair, muttering to himself "So they finally want to get in contact with me. About time."
The sun had set and the moon was rising by the time Team JNPR and Sage returned to the hotel. Nora was carrying the eleven stuffed animal toys Ren had won for her while Ren carried one of his own that she won for him. When Team RWBY left for the rescue mission they let Ren and Nora take their room which meant Jaune and Pyrrha had a room all to themselves.
Sage went down to the hotel's gym to get in a workout before watching some TV and hitting the hay while Team JNPR decided to simply retire for the night. Ren and Nora were going to watch a movie.
"Nora, I still don't think watching this movie you rented is a good idea." he said to her as he looked at the dark cover to the movie while the group walked down the hall.
"Why not?" she asked.
"Well its a horror movie and the last time we watched a horror movie you couldn't go to sleep unless you were using me as a teddy bear all night." Ren reminded her.
"That's the idea!" she said as she skipped into their room with their new collection of stuffed toys in her arms.
Ren turned around to give Jaune and Pyrrha a look before smiling and saying "She's more than a handful, and yet I wouldn't have her any other way."
"Aw." Pyrrha cooed as Ren went inside their room.
After that the second half of JNPR went into their own room and quickly locked the doors and closed the curtains to make sure their mediation with the Aura Crystal would not be observed.
Jaune reached under the bed as Pyrrha handed him the second key needed to unlock a small compartment hidden under the bed where the case containing the Aura Crystal was kept. He had the first one, so he unlocked it, opened it up and lifted out the case Ashe had kept the crystal in and was thankful that Ozpin himself paid the hotel staff to install it for them.
Jaune and Pyrrha pressed their fingers against the print-lock and opened the case and Jaune activated its levitation or anti-gravity or whatever it was that let the Aura Crystal float in the air. Ashe had told them that it would be a while before they really made a connection with the Aura Crystal, reminding them that it took him years to really communicate with it so as far as they could tell the relic would only connect with them when it felt like it but it wouldn't hurt to try.
"Okay, let's get started." Jaune said.
They sat down across from one another, Jaune in front of the crystal and Pyrrha behind it but both facing each other as they began to meditate in silence. It was always a nice, calming experience whenever they did this together, their arms reaching out to touch the crystal to try and communicate with it, somehow. Despite being its guardians for over five months now but they really hadn't had any real vision or connection with the crystal or the souls within it since the night of the Battle of Haven when Ashe traded places with them. The books he had given them were a bit too vague and while Jaune could remember some of the chants and meditation tricks Ashe had taught him via the memory spell he was not ready to try some of it yet, since he wanted to be in control of his Grimm side first.
They continued meditating together for about forty-five minutes, but nothing happened as usual.
Jaune sighed and said "I think that's enough for tonight."
"Are you sure? We can keep going." Pyrrha said.
"No, I think I'm done for now." Jaune said, and Pyrrha couldn't help but notice that he sounded a bit down so she decided to agree with him.
They put away the Aura Crystal again, firmly locking it away before Pyrrha asked "Jaune, I can tell that something is bothering you. What is it?"
Jaune looked at her and asked "Pyrrha, do you have any goals for the future?"
Pyrrha was a bit taken aback by the question but answered "Yes, to help defeat Salem, Cinder, and those who help them, save Remnant, protect people, and be a good person." She was a bit to bashful about the topics so left out a few things like 'marry you and have children'.
"Those are a lot like mine but another goal of mine but I have other goals, like to improve and be as strong as I can possibly be and to have full control over my Grimm powers." he explained to her.
Pyrrha nodded and said "I know it's not coming along perfectly but we need to take time with this, okay? Remember it took me two weeks to pull it off before they allowed me to work with the Wyvern."
"I know but... I just don't want you to be alone." he said, "What if a herd of Grimm attack and you need help controlling them? I wouldn't be much help, would I?"
"Not now, but in time you will be. All you need is more training, more patience, and to relax because I doubt that a herd of Grimm will try coming here after how hard we fought to drive them away and with how happy people are to be back. I promise you will get better Jaune, you just have to try." she told him as she sat on the bed next to him.
He smiled at her and said "Thank you, I know you're right. I just need more practice and more patience."
Pyrrha smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek before he got up and went over to the small fridge the room had to get a water bottle only to find them gone.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you I drank the last one this morning, sorry!" Pyrrha said as she opened the curtains.
"It's okay Pyrrha, I'll go down to the vending machines and buy a few for tonight." Jaune said to her before he grabbed his wallet and left.
He walked down to the floor's 'living room' area where the vending machines, as well as a TV, a couch, and a few chairs were kept for people to sit around and entertain themselves for whatever reason. Jaune walked to the vending machine and placed in a lien and ordered a water bottle, only for a voice to speak up from behind him.
"Hey Jaune."
The youngest Arc child jumped in surprised and whirled around to see Fox relaxing on the couch reading a novel.
"Ah, hi Fox, didn't see you there." Jaune said as he took a breath.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. How was the town?" the dark skinned teen inquired.
"Pretty good, some guy tried to hit on Pyrrha but she scared him off easily." Jaune told him.
"I'll bet. You're lucky to have a girl like her." Fox said.
"Like you wouldn't believe. How's your book?"
"Pretty good." Fox stated before looking at his temporary leader and asking "Is something bothering you?"
Jaune sighed and asked "How can you tell?"
"When you're around as many... memorable people as I have been you tend to notice someone's emotions, even when they try to hide them." Fox explained before repeating "So what's wrong?"
Jaune sat down next to him and made sure they were alone before beginning in a hushed voice "It's just that I... there are a few things bugging me really; first of all I'm worried what if I can never be a good guardian for the Aura Crystal? I mean Ashe had his doubts and look at all he pulled off."
Fox sighed and said "I didn't know Ashe very well and I know even less about this Aura Crystal even after he explained it to us but Jaune, I think you're a better person than he was." He could see Jaune getting angry at that statement so quickly added "I think he was a good man in the end, but he had a lot of flaws and a real dark side to him but considering all that had happened to him in the past I'm amazed he was still a functioning person. I mean I saw Ashe break down when your sister pointed a gun at him and he just lost it, practically begging her to end him, and yet... he got over it. He got his act together and helped us save you, Ruby, Pyrrha, and all those kids and teachers in that school so I think that in the end he was a good man, but I think that you could be better Jaune because you have all of your friends."
Jaune looked at him and nodded, "I understand."
"So if he could be a decent guardian you could be just as good." Fox told him.
"Thanks. The other thing that's bugging me is my..." Jaune looked around before whispering "Grimm side, what if I can't control it? I mean I can feel negative emotions! Earlier today when we were in town a little girl lost her balloon and I could feel her sadness and her mom's frustration and embarrassment so what if... what if I lose control in a battle and I hurt someone?"
Fox nodded, "That is a possibility, but I think that won't happen as long as you have your friends. You might lose control but the others, especially your team, will be there to help you regain control."
Jaune smiled and said "I know you're right, I know they'll be there for me but that doesn't mean my anxieties will magically go away. I... I just don't want to be anything like Cinder."
"Jaune, you resisted their torture and manipulation for days and you managed to survive everything Cinder threw at you, you won't be like her. Trust me."
"Thank you. The last thing bothering me is something I don't really think I can talk to Pyrrha about because I don't want her to get annoyed with me."
"What is it?" Fox asked.
"Despite everything we've been through together there's still a part of me that wonders if I am worthy of her." Jaune admitted.
Fox sighed before forcing Jaune to look him in the eye and say "You ran off to avenge her, endured Cinder's torture, fought her while she was brainwashed and managed to defeat her, risked everything to save her from being frozen, and were a mere inch from dying because you took an arrow meant for her. Trust me, if you are not worthy of her no one is. You deserve her just as she deserves you. I know she loves you very much, everyone does but do you love her?"
"Yes."
"Then get back to your room and show her how much you love her." Fox said firmly.
Jaune smiled and said "You... you're right! Thanks Fox!"
He quickly bought some more water bottles and ran back to his room. Fox smirked, closed up his book, and muttered "Romantics. I've been hanging around Coco too much."
Jaune returned to their room and smiled at Pyrrha, who had changed her clothes to a dark red tank-top and black shorts, as she sat on a chair in front of a table polishing Milo.
"What took so long?" she asked.
"Ran into Fox, talked to him, he helped me out with a few things and he helped me realize something I need to do." Jaune said as he finished stocking the fridge.
"And what is that?" Pyrrha asked as she placed Milo down on the table and walked over to him.
"This." he said before he reached forward, grabbed her, pulled her towards him and kissed her as hard and as passionately as he could, making her eyes widen in surprise but she did not object in the slightest. She returned the kiss very eagerly and he wrapped his arms around her waist.
Pyrrha was mentally spinning around in pure bliss as the kiss continued on, she didn't know what had gotten into Jaune but she liked it. Then all of a sudden she felt his hand travel down to her shapely rear and squeeze, making her cry out in surprise and pleasure as she blushed madly.
Jaune stopped kissing her and pulled back to them both get some air. He was blushing too but he was also incredibly nervous now. "Oh god, I'm so sorry! I went too far. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm..."
Pyrrha shut him up by quickly kissing him again. "It's okay Jaune! I'm not angry or offended, just a little surprised, that's all. It actually felt... nice." she said.
"Oh... good." he said as she wrapped her arms around his chest.
"What brought this up?" she asked.
"Well when I talked to Fox I told him about how there's a part of me that still doesn't feel worthy of you." he told her. She opened her mouth to object but he quickly stopped her with "But he talked some sense into me, he said that I am worthy of you after everything I did and everything I went through in Haven. So I'm going to try and ignore the insecurities I feel about our relationship. I wanted to show you just how much I love you." he said.
Pyrrha gave him a mischievous smile and without warning yanked off Jaune's shirt before tackling him to the bed, kissing him like there was no tomorrow. She lifted herself up and used her Semblance to close the curtains before looking at the shirtless Jaune and admiring his body. "You want to show me how much you love me? Not a bad idea." she said before she took off her tank-top to reveal a sports-bra that was straining a little to contain her large breasts.
Jaune marveled at the sight before she crawled on top of him, kissing his body until she met his lips in another kiss.
They spent all night making out and expressing their love for each other, and while it never got overly sexual it was a magical night to both of them, even as they fell asleep in each other's arms.
Meanwhile in the Atlesian science vessel that hovered over the recovering Beacon an important presentation was about to be underway. Ozpin, Glynda, and Port stood with the Vale Council along with holograms of General Ironwood, Admiral Nemo, several experts in the field of sciences dealing with Grimm, and at least a few members from all councils of the Kingdoms of Atlas, Mistral, and Vacuo were all there to witness and judge the test for the possibility of harvesting left over energy from the powers of the silver eyes.
Dr. Oobleck, Dr. Crane, and Dr. Tremain and a team of scientists and assistants all worked in the test area behind a strong pane of glass as containment crews brought in a cage with an Ursa inside.
"So how goes the patrols on ocean, admiral?" asked a Mistral councilwoman.
"Acceptable, stopping Grimm and arresting pirates, same as always." the muscular woman stated.
"I've been meaning to ask you if you could send a small ship to Kipton, one of the specialists from S.W.O.R.D. reported she heard rumors of Krakens around the area. I had some airships scout the area but no luck so far." Ironwood said to her.
Nemo nodded and said "I'll dispatch a crew to deal with it."
Councilor Henry approached Ozpin and whispered "I contacted them, they'll send someone soon."
"Good. Will you be appearing at Jaune's test tomorrow afternoon?"Ozpin inquired.
"Yes, I'll make it. I want to see something like that firsthand." Henry confirmed before Oobleck's voice came over the PA.
"Excuse me everyone, may I have your attention? We are about to begin." he said.
Everyone stopped talking and turned to attention as Oobleck handed the microphone over to Dr. Tremain as the containment crew parked the large cage inside the testing area.
"Good evening everyone and thank you all for coming tonight, be it in person or by hologram. In case any of you aren't caught up with the details allow me to indulge you. I am Dr. Linda Tremain and to my left is Dr. Bartholomew Oobleck and to my right is Dr. Nicolas Crane, nearly a week ago we discovered that the Grimm defeated by the mystical power of Ruby Rose's silver eyes were, in face, not entirely killed but placed in a state of suspended animation. Take for example this Saber..." she said as two assistants brought up the dead Saber Oobleck and Crane had been studying before they discovered the energy. "As Dr. Crane observed it has healthy teeth, claws, fur, and a body in top physical shape, one could call it a prime example of a deadly Grimm but when Miss Rose's eyes began to shine out of fear for the lives of her friends this Grimm and a few dozen others all just stopped living. Why? According to legend; warriors with eyes of silver are beings that all the Grimm fear but why? We think we have found the answer; the energy radiated by these eyes is harmless to humans and Faunus and animals but why is that? Dr. Oobleck."
Oobleck took over for her and said "I believe that the energy emitted by the silver eyes doesn't affect those that possess aura but to the Grimm, that have no aura to speak of, it is a deadly poison that puts one in suspended animation which is why their bodies didn't disintegrate. The reason our report on the Wyvern was so unsure is because it hadn't yet died when Miss Rose defeated it so months of being trapped atop the tower caused it to rot inside and out while it was still alive until we came along and cut it open, mercy killing it.
A few looked put off by that information while others simply nodded or watched and listened with interest.
"So, we now know what happens to a Grimm is hit by the powers of the silver eyes but what if they were concentrated, refined? We don't know much about these powers but Dr. Crane has theorized that the silver energy might be aura in its purest form. Now, while we didn't have access to the bodies Miss Rose left behind at Haven during the battle there, we do have some bodies Miss Rose left in her wake during the retaking of Beacon. With some effort we and the rest of the hard working scientists on this ship managed to harvest the energy covering the bodies and place them into Dust bullets. Observe." Tremain finished as she handed a loaded assault rifle to a guard.
The guard stepped away from the cage to a safe distance and waited to get a good shot and then fired into the cage, hitting its flank which made the Ursa roar in pain and thrash around before falling to the ground, seemingly dead but it was not disintegrating, which amazed many of the people there as they had never seen such a thing.
Tremain ordered the cage opened so Oobleck and a few guards went inside. The guards kept their guns aimed at the Ursa as Oobleck examined it. After a few minutes he said "From what I can tell its exactly like the rest that were defeated by Miss Rose, there will have to be further testing of course, but upon first glance it appears to have worked."
"Excellent." Ozpin said in approval.
"How many of these bullets were you able to make?" Ironwood asked.
"Aside from the one we just used about twenty-four." stated Tremain.
"Hmm, we still have the Grimm corpses stored at a secure warehouse outside of Haven, I can talk to the leader of our council and see if he can transfer them to you but I am very impressed with the potential of this." said the Mistral Councilwoman.
"All well and good my lady, but where are we going to get more silver eye energy after we harvest those Grimm? Force it out of the child?" Benedict asked "Because if so I must object. Need I remind you that these silver eyes only shine when she is under great emotional..."
"Calm yourself Mr. Benedict, we have already agreed that Miss Rose will not come to harm." Ozpin told the councilman.
"Yes, we have decided to only take what little of the silver energy there is available from the Grimm bodies we have now and the ones we will have in the future. It will be a limited supply but we cannot force it out of Ruby Rose, to do so would be monstrous and inhumane." Ironwood stated.
"Agreed." voiced Glynda.
"So what does this mean for our project?" Crane inquired.
"Well you will need to give us all a few days to collect our thoughts, all of the councils need to deliberate before we give a final verdict on this endeavor but if you want my honest opinion I think these things, with some testing and in the right hands, could be very effective at protecting the common people from the menace of the Grimm despite limited numbers." Henry said to the scientists.
"I concur." agreed Ozpin before stating "That is all ladies and gentlemen, report to your councils in the morning, may you all have pleasant nights."
As the holograms began to deactivate Glynda moved to Ozpin and whispered "We need to make sure that no matter what these council members understand that Ruby Rose's eyes are not a resource to be strip-mined."
"Trust me Glynda, we will make sure they are aware of that fact. No matter what." Ozpin said to her, "And if we can't, Qrow and Taiyang can."
The next day Jaune and Pyrrha stood by the trees a few meters away from the arena while Ozpin, Glynda, Port, Oobleck, Taiyang, Henry, Benedict, and a few other members of the Vale council sat on some steel bleachers with a hologram of General Ironwood among them while Ren, Nora, Fox, and Sage stood nearby to cheer Jaune on while some Atlas guards helped Dr. Polendina with the five Grimm Knights in the pit. On the other side of the pit were three cages that contained one Beowolf each.
Jaune and Pyrrha had practiced all morning with the three Beowolves to make sure Jaune had complete control over them and it appeared that their hours of hard work had paid off because the trio of Grimm had obeyed every order or command Jaune had given them be it something simple like roll over or complex like back-flipping and even fighting Ren, Sage, and Fox without hurting them. He had also worked on how quickly he could take control of all three of them and found he could do it within five seconds. Jaune was happy with another step of his training complete but was still a little nervous as to how they would preform in battle, it would call for him to jump into the pit, quickly take control of the three Grimm, battle all five Grimm Knights, and defeat them, all while not getting hit and making sure none of the Beowolves got hit too bad either even though the blasts would be on low power.
Jaune looked over to the various adults on the bleachers and sighed, "I hope I don't mess this up."
"You won't, we've been practicing all day and nearly an entire week before today. You will do fine." Pyrrha said to him before planting a kiss on his cheek.
He smiled and said "Thanks, let's just hope I can pull it off."
"I know you can. I believe in you." she told him.
"And we do too." Agreed Ren as he and the others came up.
"Good luck down there man." Sage said as he shook Jaune's hand.
"Don't worry, the Grimm Knights went down with a little effort at Haven and I assume someone who can control Grimm can take five recently repaired ones down just as easily." Fox encouraged.
"Make us proud fearless leader and kick some robo-butt." Nora cheered.
Jaune smiled and said "Thanks guys, I'll do my best."
"You always do." Ren remarked with a slight smile.
Glynda walked over to them and asked "Are you ready to begin, Mr. Arc?"
"As ready as I'll ever be Professor." he stated.
"Good. Get in position." she said before she walked back in front of the bleachers to address the people gathered. "Hello everyone, you all know why we are here; to witness the progress and potential of having two Grimm hybrids on our side. You all know what happened to Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc so there is no point of repeating that information but what you might not know is that the possibility of simply curing them of this condition is highly unlikely. We know little to nothing about the science of it as the one behind it, Victor Giger, was killed by his own creation in the Battle of Haven and even the mythical powers of the Aura Crystal said it couldn't undo what had been done to them, merely restore their appearances. We all know that Pyrrha Nikos is an incredibly talented young woman and in the hands of the enemy she learned how to control the Grimm..."
Pyrrha sighed at that and remembered the Wyvern yet again, how the magnificent, but at times difficult Grimm, really warmed up to her.
Seven Months Ago
Fotia cried out in frustration as she jumped to avoid a swing of the Wyvern's tail. She landed on her feet and quickly ran towards the large Grimm and jumped to land on its back which made it thrash around to try and get her off.
"Whoa! Wait... ugh!" Fotia cried and grunted as she held on to the beast for dear life as it struggled. She didn't understand what had happened to the Wyvern, after the first night it seemed to be going so well and then a few days later it just started acting up, she knew it was young but still couldn't figure out why it was acting like this after seemingly accepting her.
Fotia lost her grip and went sailing across the arena and landed on her back with a grunt and a thud. As she got up the Wyvern roared at her and slammed its tail down, warning her to keep away.
"I don't understand! I thought you were okay with me, why are you acting like this?!" she cried but her only answer was a roar.
She remembered the first night, the way she got it to calm down and accept her was when she sensed its emotions, something a Grimm should not possess. She remembered Cinder's advice, to be firm and swift. While it was easier said than done that didn't mean she would give up, even if she felt exhausted.
"Please, don't fight me. We need to work together if we're to help make Mistress Salem's new world a reality." she said as she placed her weapon down. "No weapon, I won't hurt you, I promise. No one will hurt you as long as I can help it."
After she said that she could feel the Wyvern calm slightly, its emotions (still an odd thing for a Grimm to possess) softened a bit.
She smiled a little as she slowly and carefully approached the Wyvern, listening to its nervous growls as she got closer to it.
Soon enough she was right in front of it, she could feel its nervousness and decided to calm by placing a gentle hand on its face, letting it know she had no intentions of harming it. It seemed to calm down and pressed its head into her, nuzzling her a bit. Fotia smiled and rubbed its head before she gently climbed atop its head to ride it like she had before but the Wyvern made no move to throw her off as it was now assured of her intentions.
Fotia beamed happily before jumping off and walking back to her weapon. When she picked it up it growled a bit but she placed it behind her back into the scabbard and approached it again. "I'm not going to hurt you, I'll never hurt you. I will not break that promise." she swore as it calmed down.
She once again got on its back and it raised on with her, making her appear to anyone else that she was an all powerful dragon rider who could lay waste to a whole army.
Fotia, tired but happy, grinned as she held up her weapon and swore "We will make this world a better place."
Later that night Cinder and the keepers found her asleep with the Wyvern curled up around her, as if it was protecting her now.
Pyrrha was snapped out of the memory by Jaune placing his hand on her shoulder. "Well here goes nothing." he said to her before he approached the pit.
"Now, I would not send fully repaired Grimm Knights into battle with this boy, they have been reprogrammed to follow our commands and are at half power. We haven't been able to fully repair one without the proper schematics for their design so we can't send one to infiltrate out enemy's command but we've fixed them up decently enough to put up a fight. Mr. Arc, I would advise you not to hold back, they may be weakened but their blasts can still harm you and we have more in the ship so don't worry about setting our work back. Good luck Mr. Arc." Dr. Polendina said.
"Thank you sir." Jaune said as he stood over the pit.
"Remember Mr. Arc, no worries, this is merely a test run." Glynda reminded him.
Jaune nodded and said "I'm ready."
Glynda nodded to Dr. Polendina who activated the Grimm Knights and all five of them got into battle poses. "Go." she said to Jaune.
Jaune jumped down into the pit and landed in front of the cages and used his Semblance to create a shield of aura to protect himself and the Beowolves from the blasts while Pyrrha used her Semblance to quickly open the cages and let them out.
The trio of Grimm dashed out of their cages towards Jaune who quickly took firm control of all three of them with a bit of effort, made harder by keeping up the Aura Shield. Once he was sure they were under control and wouldn't attack him he whipped around and saw the five Grimm Knights were approaching him.
He mentally instructed the eldest Beowolf to go after the Grimm Knight furthest to the left and the second Beowolf would take out the Knight next to it. He would attack the Grimm Knight in the center while the third Beowolf would take on the second robot on the right, leaving the first one on the right surrounded by Jaune and a Beowolf.
The three Beowolves hissed and snarled at the robots, so they knew who their enemies were and they didn't count Jaune as one. Good.
Jaune dropped his shield and let out a furious yell as he unsheathed his sword and led the Beowolves into battle. The eldest one leapt ahead of Jaune and slammed down into its assigned Grimm Knight, using its arm spikes to tear into the robot's torso before using its powerful arms to grab those of the robot and keep them from shooting the others.
The Grimm Knight next to it moved to blast the elder Beowolf only for the second one to slam into it, knocking it down. The second Beowolf jumped up onto the chest of the Grimm Knight, its claws digging into the metal exterior before it used the skull mask on its face to absorb the hit of an energy blast. It then brought down its head and used its powerful jaws and began to rip off the head of the robot while using its arms to keep the blasters of the Knight pinned down to the ground.
Jaune jumped up and slashed the lead Knight across the chest in what would have been a devastating killing blow had the robot not jumped backwards just in time. A blade came out of its wrist and met Jaune's strike with a parry while the Grimm Knight beside them tried to blast Jaune while his back was turned only for the third Beowolf to slam into both Knights on the right side, knocking them down.
Jaune smirked, so far his strategy was working, but he was ripped away from that thought when a blast from the Grimm Knight he was dueling hit him in the stomach.
"Ah!" he cried as he ducked a swing from the robot's blade. He glanced back to see the third Beowolf outnumbered by the two Grimm Knights and was running as fast as it could to avoid their attacks.
Jaune knew he needed to win this and quickly so he used his Semblance to power him up, he shouted out furiously as he surged forward and swung Crocea Mors rapidly, cutting off the lead Grimm Knight's legs and arms before cutting of the head, sending it slamming into the wall.
He could see that the first two Beowolves had finished off their appointed Knights, the elder had ripped off the arms of the furthest to the left and had impaled it with its back spikes while the second Beowolf had decapitated its Knights while tearing up its chest area.
Jaune smirked proudly but then quickly turned his attention to the third Beowolf which had been injured by the two remaining Knights. They were about to finish it off but then Jaune jumped up from behind and impaled one of them through the chest and then ripped his sword up, cutting the upper half of the Knight in half length-ways while the injured Beowolf used its claws to attack the legs of the third Grimm Knight, while the other two Beowolves jumped on it from behind and ripped it to pieces.
Jaune let the devastated Grimm Knight fall to the ground as a heap of scrap and took a breath as the Beowolves finished off the final Knight. Once they were done the trio of Grimm looked up to the spectators and began to growl until Jaune mentally ordered them to stop. The three got on all fours and bowed to him before he instructed them to go back to the cages where Pyrrha locked them in again.
Jaune sighed in relief that the test was finally done and it had gone over pretty decently.
"Well done Mr. Arc, your performance was astounding." said Henry.
"It was far from perfect but that is to be expected. Congratulations Jaune." Glynda voiced as Ozpin, Fox, Sage, Port, Oobleck, Polendina, Benedict, and the others began applauding him. Pyrrha had proven to them that the idea of using the Grimm against their own was possible but today was his own turn to test his abilities and he had succeeded.
"Most impressive Mr. Arc, I look forward to seeing this in action one day." General Ironwood's hologram said.
Jaune smiled and said "Thanks, but I..." suddenly he was lifted up out of the pit by his chest armor via Pyrrha's Semblance. She placed him gently on the ground where Nora grabbed in and squeezed him tight.
"Way to go Jaune-Jaune! I knew you could pull it off!" she said.
"You were fantastic." Ren complimented.
"You did wonderful Jaune." Pyrrha said as Nora let him go, only for the Spartan to grab him and capture his lips in another kiss.
"Awww." cooed Nora.
"Uh... let us take our leave and discuss things somewhere else, give the young lovers some privacy." suggested Oobleck.
"A sensible idea if ever there was one, come along everyone." Ozpin stated as the hologram of Ironwood shut off and the adults began to leave.
Jaune parted from the kiss to get some air, smiled and said "Pyrrha! Everyone is watching! Not that I mind but..."
She placed a finger on his lips to shush in and said "I'm just showing you how much I love you. And I don't care if everyone knows it."
Jaune's only answer to that was to grin and quickly kissed her back.
Nora meanwhile, grinned and said "Not a bad idea..." she looked at Ren and added "Come here lover boy."
"Yes dear." Ren said as she grabbed him and began wildly kissing him.
"What have I started?" Fox mused out loud.
Sage could only mutter "I have got to get into a relationship, looks pretty nice."
Next Time: Hunting the White Fang
Updates won't be so frequent October because of my obsession with horror during that month and tomorrow... it begins.
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