We're now reaching the end of the journey on patch. So sad it has to end but never fear for the story will continue.
This shouldn't have been possible with the kind of injuries he sustained the night before and yet here he was training like nothing had happened. Saphron watched in amazement as jaune dodged a simultaneous attack from Coco and velvet before back flipping away. "Alright, I think we should stop here so the two of you can take a break" jaune instructed.
Coco hated when he treated her like he was better but even she had to admit that jaunes stamina was completely absurd. Jaune barely looked like he broke a sweat while they felt like they were about to die, was there really that big a difference between them?
Jaune took his shirt off and began to stretch his muscles "man it's been a long time since pushed my limits, I think I've gotten a little rusty". He could only imagine how cinder and vernal would react if they found out he was slacking in his training. Vernal would probably try to take him down in a straight up fight but cinder would probably scold him for his negligence. Just thinking about those two brought a smile to his face, he hadn't realized it til now but he missed them dearly.
"You may think your tough just because you beat them but how about you take on someone who actually knows how to fight". Jaune turned to see that yang had taken her stance in the yard where they had been practicing. Jaune looked left and right before turning back to yang "you mean Saphron right"? Coco began to laugh from the sidelines and that only aggravated yang all the more "ha ha, you should be a comedian".
Jaune gave her a light shrug "I guess some people just got the gift" his eyes narrowed on her "anyways, give me your best shot". The commotion outside drew the attention of Yangs mother, her daughter was gonna give the arc boy a good trouncing huh, this ought to be amusing she thought.
As soon as jaune said to start, yang charged forward like a wild boar and attacked like a professional boxer. Each of her blows was precise and aimed at vital points along the body but the only problem was that jaune had settled into his guard which cut the damage down by half. His guard was tight and he tanked each of her strikes so she decided to put more force into her punches in the hopes of breaking his guard.
While yang focused on delivering as much damage as possible to her opponent, jaune had taken the time to use this opportunity to read her movements. When yang put more power behind her right hook and moved to deliver her blow, jaune met her head on delivering a counter punch with a left straight. Yang realized her mistake a little to late and that led to her head being knocked back. She took a few steps back to regain what sense was knocked out of her but jaune had other plans.
Closing the distance between them, jaune performed a jump kick that yang didn't have time to block. She hit the floor hard but quickly rolled to her feet and threw up her guard as jaune delivered a combination of punches that were aimed at her face. Realizing that he was making a fool of her caused yang to unleash her semblance. Jaune was taken aback by the flames that now covered Yangs hair but as soon as he saw her eye's he knew that there was more to her semblance than just a new look.
Yang pushed forward just as jaune did and they traded there first blow, the difference in their strength was overwhelming. Jaune staggered backwards feeling like a part of his brain had just been blown out the back of his head. Yang continued her assault and gave a devastating right hook just as jaune tried to guard himself, his guard didn't stand a chance and that left him open for her left hook to the solar plexus.
All the air in his lungs took a u-turn and forced it's way out his mouth as he was launched across the yard before his body was buried into the ground and caused the dirt to form a seat made of soil. Raven couldn't help but feel proud that her daughter was becoming such a force of nature. Yang took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, now calm she looked at her now defeated opponent with satisfaction "now you know how good I am".
Yang had been so busy with the fight that she didn't know her uncle, aunt, ruby, neo and her father had came to watch. Ruby hopped in place while cheering happily that her cousin was the best. Saphron was about to get to her feet to go check on her brother when the dirt he was buried under was pushed apart by jaune himself.
Everyone watched with shocked expressions on their faces as jaune stood up like nothing happened. Jaune took a few seconds to dust himself off before facing yang again "Alright, you won the first round but on to round two". Yangs hair flared up as she got ready to fight again "you should've just stayed down" she said but jaune shrugged once more "where's the fun in that" he countered.
Jaune turned slightly to look at neo just before yang charged at him to deliver the final blow. Yang threw a flurry of powerful punches but jaune redirected each of them with minimal effort as he kept enough space between them. Borrowing a little of neo's fighting style, he allowed yang to fuel her semblance with her anger because it caused her attacks to become more wild and predictable.
"Duck, side step, back step" he chanted as he effectively dodged each of her attacks until he found small openings in her stance. Each new opening came with it's own pain and now it felt completely like a one-sided fight. Yang was running on fumes and none of her attacks were working "why can't I hit you" she asked between gasps of air.
"I had to change the way I fight because of you so I decided to use your greatest weakness against you" yang raised a brow "what weakness"? Jaune smiled at her "your anger" with those final words he moved on the offense and broke her down while she could barely raise her arms to block. After ten minutes of continuous attacks, she finally fell to her knees exhausted and without aura to defend her.
"Looks like it's my win" he said as he reached over to help her up. Yang accepted the assistance as anyone would if they too had lost to the one giving it, very reluctantly. On the sideline, Ravens mind ran through several moments during the fight where jaune changed his way of fighting compared to when he fought the two other girls.
The boy had an uncanny ability to adapt to his opponents fighting style and produce counter measures when necessary. It usually takes years for a fully trained huntsmen to be able to adapt on the fly like this boy had done. Even with that knowledge, she wasn't really surprised since she knew who his master was. The only real surprised was how the boy could even stand after taking a direct hit from Yangs semblance enhanced punch.
Now that she thought about it the boy did receive grievous wounds or so her daughter informed her "something I'll investigate later". Raven watched the boy for a few moments longer before taking her leave to survey the area, just in case the white fang were close by.
/
Adam entered his room, completely drained of any emotion "another failure for the fang and all because of him". His hands clench together so hard that his nails made tiny cuts in his palm before he roared with anger and began throwing anything that could be thrown. His fury last for a good fifteen minutes before he eventually calmed down and slumped on his bed, once the high leader heard of this failure he was sure to be demoted.
Blake remained out on the deck reflecting on the current events that transpired, ilia was gone and they resorted to torture. Her emotions were fried but with the little clarity she gained, she began to question what the white fang was now that they resorted to terrorism. They fought the good fight but now they were starting to treat every human like they were the cause of their misfortune.
Blake didn't really grasp the need for such hate and wondered if all battles up to now even made humans respect them as intended. If not then that would make those that died and even ilia's death mean absolutely nothing. She thought long and hard about it as the ship sailed away from patch and back to mistral.
/
Mistral
A bear of a man sat at the bar and down his sorrow with a fifth glass of bourbon "not enough" he grumbled. "Bartender another glass of the same" the bartender stared at the man "lien first" he said to the customer. The man grunted before reaching into his pocket, no lien, he reached into the others only to realize he didn't have anymore "put it on a tab". The bartender stared at the man for a good moment before answering "I'm sorry but I think not".
"Then how about a few drinks on me and yes, here's the lien for it" the newcomer tossed a stack of different colored lien in front of the bartender. The man turned to the newcomer before his eyes widened "SQUALL" he yelled as he tried to stand only to teeter on his feet before falling over. Squall looked over to the man who had fallen over "good to see you too hazel, glad to see Ozpin doing his best to help you after what happened to your sister".
Hazel struggled to get to his feet, now wishing he hadn't been drinking before he came to this bar "don't talk about her, you have no right" he spat. Squall let out a tired sigh "despite are employers and are differences, you know I tried to save her, if you want to be angry at anyone right now it should be Ozpin". Hazel still struggled to stay standing so squall tried to help him take a seat but he refused and pushed squall away "you, Ozpin and your damn war can all go to hell" he hissed
Tears trailed down his face as he fell to his knees, anger changed to sadness a he wept "just give me back my sister". Hazel was a broken man, a shadow of the former huntsmen he used to be. "I can not return the dead but I can give you the closure you deserve" squall knelt down in front of the burly man "I can give you the truth".
Hazel looked up to the man that was across from him "the truth, what good is that to me"? Squall placed a hand on the other mans shoulder "it would do you good but it'll also make you suffer" hazel stared into the man's eye's trying to see if there was even a hint that he was lying. After a long moment, hazel nodded for the man to continue, squall spared no expense and spilt the reason behind the war, the maidens, the relics, the truth of the gods and of Ozpins little ordeal.
"Your lying, you've got to be lying" hazel angrily punched the floor boards "my sister, all of it, it can't be true" he denied it with everything he had. "You don't have to believe me but if you come with me I'll be able to show you the evidence to back up my claim". Hazel thought long and hard for a good minute before giving his answer "I'll go with you". Squall stood up straight and took count of all the people in the bar "just three huh" without a moment's notice, he pulled out two hand pistols and shot down the civilians and the bartender to silence them.
"Did you really have to do that"? Squall put his guns away before turning to hazel "they heard too much and besides it's better to be safe than sorry". Leaning over the counter, squall opened the cash register and emptied out the lien "never did give me my drink and it'd be a waste to leave all this lien behind". Once he was done with the register he turned back to hazel to help him up "in case your wondering, yes this was a recruitment offer".
Hazel leaned heavily against squall "if what you told me is true, then I'll serve her if it let's me get back at that parasite" squall nodded as they made for the exit. "Oh and by the way, I go by a different name these days, call me Alec from now on".
A lot of ups and downs with this chapter.