Definitely would have had this up sooner but my internet got cut off and my phone lost it's service. Got hit with that double whammy and now I gotta go to McDonald's to up load. Feel like I got that Qrow semblance going on.
Warmth and a sense of safety Blake hadn't known since her first few years with Adam is what she felt when she began to regain consciousness. Her ears twitched in reaction to the warm breath that felt almost soothing against her cat like features. These little things only made her want to stay asleep and enjoy this moment even longer but the cherry on top were the strong arms that held her tight as if promising to never let her go.
Strong arms?
Memories of the night before came like a tidal wave and she remembered going to jaunes room to demand answers only to break down after receiving them. She remembered jaune embracing her so she wouldn't hurt herself when her knees gave way under her despair. All those moments were trivial compared to when he let her cry into his shoulder and held her for so long that she finally felt safe enough to fall asleep.
Blake's eyes opened enough so she could see what was happening and where she was. Her eye's took in the site of jaunes chest as her head rested against it and she could feel each time his heart beated. Blake noticed her fingers held the cloth of his shirt tightly so she loosened her grip to free him before looking up at his face.
The first thing she noticed was the dark rings under jaunes eyes which indicated he hadn't gotten as much sleep as she had. Blake lowered her head and quietly listened to jaunes heartbeat as she contemplated on what she should do to get out of this situation. After quietly thinking about it for a while Blake's focus began to faulter when she continued to listen to jaunes rhythmic breathing.
She was still tired and even though sleeping with jaune was embarrassing she had already done it before so who would complain if she continued where she left off? Blake's eyes began to sag and before long she was out and off to dream land from once she came. How long she slept after that was anyone's guess but apparently it was long enough that jaune had awoken and with more skill than she realized he had gotten away without her noticing.
Blake rolled over the sheets searching for any source of heat that she could grab on to but to no avail. After a few minutes of searching she finally got fed up with not being able to grasp any warmth and sat up in bed. Her hair was a mess but she felt well rested which meant she'd been asleep longer than she thought.
Blake felt her stomach grumble and figured maybe it was time to get up and get some food. Before she could pull the sheets away there was a knock on the door before jaune poked his head in "oh your awake, good". The door opened and jaune brought in a tray of food that had Blake involuntarily salivating just from the smell.
She hadn't really eaten yesterday due to the loss of appetite from the job they had and remembering it now felt like it was going to do the same. Jaune placed the tray in front of the cat faunus before taking a seat on the bed. Blake stared at the carefully prepared meal of fish, soup and rice for several seconds before turning away.
She wasn't in the mood and thinking of what she did last night only made it worse. Jaune watched his friend as she turned away from a fish dish she probably would have beaten him up for at any other time. He had expected something like this to happen but even still, seeing her torment herself with the memories of what happened would ruin her if she let it.
Jaune reached over and cut a piece of the fishes meat before hold it up to his friend "Blake you need to eat something". She shook her head "thanks jaune but I don't feel hungry right now". Jaune didn't move from his spot nor did he put the food on the fork down "you barely ate anything last night and you've been asleep for more than nine hours so don't tell me your not hungry".
His persistence only made Blake angry so she retaliated by smacking the fork out of his hand with her own "I told you I'm not hungry" she said angrily. It took her a second to realize what she had done and the anger within turned to regret "I'm sorry". Jaune picked up the tray and placed it on a nearby dresser before returning to his spot on the bed.
There was a long silence between them and with each passing second Blake's hands gripped the sheets tighter. Jaune placed his hands on his lap and let out a small sigh "I know what your going through you know" he said after a moment. Blake gritted her teeth in anger "how could you know what I'm going through when you kill people without so much as batting an eye?! How you can sleep peacefully after everything you do like their lives don't matter" she said angrily.
Angry tears formed in her eyes as each word spoken was one born of anger, grief and regret. "I wasn't always like this you know, a killer I mean" jaunes face softened as he spoke. Blake looked to the blonde as he continued "my training growing up was to teach me to do what was necessary to survive even if it meant others weren't allowed to".
"Who would teach a child to be like that" Blake asked.
Jaune was silent for a second as he wondered if it was alright to be telling her anything from his true past. His smile vanished when he reached a decision "Alec Mercer my master".
He had never really spoke of the cruel training he had been through or the sort of things he had to do to reach the level he was at so finding someone he could share that with was nice. "I told you I wasn't always like this and that was the truth, much like every ordinary child I grew up happy and really didn't want anything to do with violence but reasons changed that for me. Their was someone I wanted to protect but in order to do that I needed to be strong and with strength there must be sacrifices".
Jaune closed his eyes "one of those sacrifices was the normal frame of mind that most people have about life. Fighting is all well and good but how do stop a man or woman who would rather kill someone you care about just to go free"?
The question always had a simple answer like bind them or knocking them out but for his situation it was completely different.
/
11 years ago
Jaune waited in a open field that Alec took him to for a new bit of training that his master said was important. It had been 15 minutes since his master told him to wait there so he could set up what was needed. Jaune kicked a small rock with his foot out of sheer boredom just before the sound of footsteps could be heard approaching.
Alec walked into the clearing with 2 sacks in his possession each a different size to the other. The gray haired man dropped the first sack on the floor "jaune do me a favor and open that up but don't untie the person inside". Jaune felt a little nervous but did as he was told and opened the sack to see a man probably in his late teens who was a little gangly for his age with brown hair.
The teens muffled cries had jaune taking a step back before turning to his master. Alec had opened the second sack and dumped out the person within revealing vernal tied up with a gag in her mouth. Jaune didn't know what was going on and from the look of things he probably wasn't going to like it much.
Vernal struggled to get her bindings off when Alec returned to jaune and the brown haired man. Alec pulled out a knife and used it to cut the man's binding "Don't run or you'll die before you leave the clearing, understand" he said as he cut the last piece of rope tied around the man's legs. The man complied obviously knowing that Alec was not playing games with him.
Alec twirled the knife between his fingers before tossing it into the ground in front of him "all right listen up I'm sure your wondering why I brought you both here so I'll explain. I want something just like the two of you and I'm willing to let people die to get what I want. Today I'm going to get what I want and if I don't she dies" he said before pointing to the tied up vernal.
"You each have an objective to fulfill" Alec turned and pointed to the brown haired man "yours is to kill the girl for your freedom". Alec turned to jaune "and yours is to kill this man to ensure that vernal lives a longer life after today". With his explanation out of the way Alec left the two to begin their fight.
Nobody moved a muscle until Alec shouted from a distance to begin the survival test. Jaune and the brown haired man both exchanged looks with one another before rushing off to the only weapon in their vicinity. The knife that Alec left behind was picked up by the brown haired man since he had a longer reached and was taller than jaune.
While close to the ground the brown haired man took a handful of dirt with his free hand and tossed it at jaunes face hoping to blind him. The blonde had already known about these types of cheap moves so he closed his eyes and held his breath before the dust hit his face. Jaune pushed passed the feeling of wanting to wipe his face and threw a punch forward with all his weight behind it.
The brown haired man didn't have time to block when jaunes fist collided with his jaw. Blood fell from the busted lip that the brown haired man received thanks to jaunes punch. Jaune quickly wiped his face and noticed that the downed man he was fighting was bleeding "no aura"?!
Alec smiled at the confused expression jaune had. The boy could never understand the difference between people with aura and those without because he'd already had his unlocked at a young age. This little test had many little learning experiences littered through it that would make jaune stronger if he could actually remember them.
The brown haired man took jaunes confusion as a chance to make a run for the goal. He rolled to his feet and tried to run but jaune move first to try and leg sweep him only to miss when the man jumped over his leg and continued on. Jaune cursed in anger and reached for a stone on the ground, he took aim for a split second before throwing the stone.
Vernals eye's widened in fear as the man was not even a few inches from her. Before the man could even bend down to stab the small girl a rock smashed against the back of the man's head throwing him off balance. Vernal saw her chance and rolled towards the man using her body to trip the brown haired man to the ground.
The brown haired man tried to push himself up but before he could jaune dropped down on his back knee first. The man cried out in pain but jaune didn't care not after the man had nearly gotten his hands on his friend. Jaune used his strength to hold the man down as he began to pummel the back of his head with his fist.
The man thrashed on the ground until he got his chance to turn around. There was a flash of silver before jaune felt a pain in his neck, luckily he had been using his aura or the man could have killed him. The man swung the knife again but this time jaune forced his aura into his hand and caught the knife by its blade.
Jaune winced from the pain but held it strongly when the man's other hand came up and tried to strike him. The blonde caught the man's hand before it could strike his face. They both struggled to overpower each other before jaune headbutted the man with enough force to break his nose. The man's hands flew to his face and the knife he had was dropped within reach of jaune.
When the man realized he dropped his weapon he reached for it only to find that jaune had already taken hold of it. The thought that this man was willing to kill someone precious to him played in jaunes mind and the adrenaline from the situation carried him forward. The knife came up and with all of jaunes strength he brought it down on his foe.
The man used his forearm to block jaunes stopping the knife from striking it's intended target. Jaune leaned on his arm and tried to push the knife down but the man wouldn't give up. With his free hand the man punched jaune in the face hoping to get him to back off but the blonde was equally determined.
They continue to struggle on the floor until jaunes hand slipped from the one holding the knife and smashed the man's broken nose. The man scream and jaune had his chance, he pushed with all his strength and the blade sunk into the man's chest. The man scream in more pain but was still far from dead so jaune pulled the knife out and repeatedly stabbed him.
There was resistance at first but with each successful stabbed it became less and less. Jaune didn't know how many times he had stabbed the man but by the time he was done there was barley any skin holding the man's chest together.
Jaune stared at the gaping wound on the man's chest for a long moment before standing up. He looked at the blood soaked knife in his hand and decided he still needed it.
Vernal laid on the ground and watched jaune walk over to her with the knife still in his hand. This was the second time he saved her but more than that this was the first time he took another's life because hers was more precious. She didn't know what to think but as soon as he cut her ropes and greeted her with a warm smile she threw her arms around him and held him tightly.
Jaune rubbed vernals back to soothe her while she thanked him, completely forgetting that his hands was still slick with blood. The moment didn't last long when Alec showed up to congratulate him and his first kill. Jaune glared at the man with all the hate a six year old could muster but apparently it didn't even faze his master.
All jaune knew was that this was something he could never forgive his master for.
/
Present Day
As jaune finished his story he didn't notice the wide eyed look his faunus friend was giving him. Jaune made sure to change some of the things from his story around especially since vernal was apparently here in the city for some reason.
Blake didn't know what to say, what could she say to someone who's lived with this for most of their life? Before she truly realized what she was doing she leaned her shoulder against jaunes back as a way to comfort him. A small smile came to his face "it's alright Blake I've learned to deal with it".
Even still she didn't move from her spot and continued to lean against him. There was a bang on the door that broke their silence "hey jaune you gonna make breakfast for us or what" junior called from the other side of the door. Jaune chuckled before standing up "make sure you eat your food, don't need a partner who can't guard my back because she's hungry" he said as he walked to the door.
He came to a stop and looked back when Blake called out to him. She seemed a little nervous but push on anyway "how did you get through it, the guilt I mean"? Jaune thought about it for a long second before answering "you share it with someone you know so your not carrying the burden all alone"
Blake's eyes fell to the sheets "there's no one I can share this with". Jaune raised a brow "if that's so then you can share it with me since I already know all about it". Blake looked up to see jaune give her a warm smile before he left out the door.
Just a follow up to the last chapter with a small flash back at the type of training jaune was subjected to.