RWBY: Shadow Company
Chapter 21
There was no time. Jaune had to act fast.
"Arc! Move it, Go!"
He could hear the gunfire all around him. His breathing was shaking as he held his rifle tight in his hands, running from cover to cover. The sweat under his visor was making it harder to see.
The grass beneath his boots as he hugged his back close to the wall.
Out of nowhere, he hears a grenade going off behind him. He jerks at the sound of it.
Come on, Jaune. Keep it together. He thought to himself. He brings his rifle up and leans out of cover. Jaune needed to take out his targets before it was too late.
He aims at his first target. He steadies himself and takes the first two shots.
Direct hit. So far, so good.
He moves up to his next position and crouches down. There are still more targets to kill.
He braces himself and aims. Jaune fires his rifle from one target to the next.
When he is out of rounds, he reloads. He fumbles at it but manages to get it in his rifle. He moves into the trees and takes cover behind them.
He moves to shoot the next but hears a loud click coming from his rifle. He tilts his weapon to see that it has jammed on him.
With no time to spare, he pulls out his pistol and finishes the target with two shots.
Jaune runs out of the trees while clearing the jam.
He was almost there. Jaune reloads his rifle with a fresh one.
But at the very last second, he trips on his feet and slams to the ground. Jaune catches his breath as he turns to look at his final target.
He missed. Again.
And the timer finally stops.
All the shooting that was happening in the background had stopped firing.
Jaune's body slumps as he feels the fatigue.
"Come on, Arc. Let's get up and do it again. We're not going to stop until you get this right." Said Greyhound.
Today the recruits are out in the forest doing shooting drills. And Jaune was doing a solo round by himself.
A shadow needs to know the terrain and how to fight in it.
Jaune stood up and dusted himself off. The fall didn't hurt much. At least his aura took most of the impact.
"And you, who told you to use your grenade! We're doing rifle drills! Did I say explosives? Did I!?" Wolf shouted.
The recruit trembles in fear, "N-no, sir."
He sighs, "I swear, you Atlas boys are too trigger-happy. I do not want to deal with this. Do that again, and you're out of my course. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir."
"You're lucky no one got hurt." Wolf pointed at him.
"On second thought, maybe you should sit by the benches. Break time is coming soon. You can rest and wait till then." Said Grey.
"You did good, Arc. But your aim could use some work. And your reloads are slow, but good job clearing that jam on your rifle." Grey commented.
Jaune nods and makes his way over.
It's been a whole week since the incident with Weiss happened. It was making him worried. Why hasn't she called him back yet? They said she was fine, so where was she?
Did those terrorists take her!? No, no. Clam down, Jaune. Don't think irrationally here. There's hope that she might still be alright. He thought.
He sits down with the others as he continues to contemplate.
He watches Will, Knoc, and Milo, who have yet to finish their training.
Jaune had to admit that Will was a crack shot with a gun. As expected, he looked like he was born to do it, with no missed shots and near-perfect aim. And it was not a problem for him as far as Jaune could see it.
He wished that he could be as good as Will someday.
Right now, he is nowhere near his level.
He had to slip up at the very moment. He had only five targets. And he had used almost half of his ammo to do it.
Knox wasn't doing so well, either. He looked scared. I mean, of course, he would be. He's never fired a gun before.
Most Faunus don't.
But Milo was surprisingly good at it, though. He even kept a smile on his face when they stepped into the field. I guess everyone has a different view of it.
"Cease fire. That's enough. Unload your rifles and take a break by the benches. Break time's now shadows." Wolf instructed.
Jaune could see them coming over to him. Milo and Will looked very pleased with themselves. But Knox was still shaking from the shooting.
"That was fun! I never knew shooting a gun could be so exciting! And we get to do this all the time." Milo said as he sat down next to Jaune. He is beaming with joy.
"Well, at least you were having fun in all this. I was trying to keep myself together from all that." Knox whined. "I'd rather be at melee training than here."
"But shadows must learn how to use firearms. You can't use raw strength forever." Will countered.
"I don't need your comment on this, Ironwood," Knox grumbled.
Will puts up his hands, "Hey, I'm just saying. No need to get offended."
"Whatever." Knox crossed his arms and looked away from him.
"Hey, what about you, Jaune? You've been quiet today. Are you still feeling tired? I did tell you to put down your scroll and get some sleep." Said Will.
Knox and Milo looked at Jaune. Milo placed his hand on his shoulder, "Are you still worried about her?" Milo asked.
Shit, his face might have been showing it. He needs to change the subject, "No, it's not about Weiss, alright. I couldn't get my shots right. My aim was off, and my footing was terrible. I'm nowhere near as good as you guys. At least Knox's shots were consistent." Jaune said.
He wouldn't lie if he said he was still worried about Weiss.
Knox lifts his eyebrow at the compliment. But he chose to keep quiet, not wanting to say that he was too scared to move while shooting.
"Hey, it's only, like what, the first month? We still got a long way ahead of us." Milo said.
Will nods.
"He's right, Arc. No need to look down on yourself now." Knox agreed.
Milo pats Jaune on his shoulder and smiles, "Cheer up, Jaune. I'm sure you'll get better later on."
"Yeah, stop being so sad. At least you didn't shoot yourself like that other guy." Said Will.
Jaune manages to make a smile, "Thanks, guys."
"Oh, I still have to attend my helicopter training after this," Milo said.
Jaune, Will, and Knox blinked.
"Wait, what!?" The three of them said.
"Yeah, I got pilot training. They even gave me a cool pilot uniform and helmet." Milo said.
"You're a pilot!?"
"No, not yet. I said I'm going for training to be a pilot."
"Since when?" Knox asked.
"When they offered to give me pilot license training a few days ago." Milo shrugged.
"Why did you? And why didn't you ask me about this first?" Knox replied.
"Because I can? By the way, you think we get to jump out of a moving helicopter?"
"Hey, cut him some slack, Knox. No need to watch him like a child." Will said.
"You stay out of this, Ironwood."
Jaune and Milo quickly separated the two.
"What are you doing?" Will asked Jaune.
"Stopping you two from fighting."
Knox rolled his eyes, "We're not fighting. We'll get in trouble for that."
"Well, you look like you were going to do so," Milo said.
"We're not going to fight. So let us go." Will said.
Wolf began to whistle for everyone's attention.
"Alright, shadows. Listen up. It looks like most of you can shoot a gun without trouble. But for all you civilians, you need to step up your game. But for now, we're going to stop with rifles," Wolf pauses as he brings out his favorite weapon, "And start with my weapon of choice, shotguns."
There were cheers from the crowd.
"That's what I like to hear. But we're not only using this now." Wolf grabs a sniper rifle with a round the size of a soda can.
The crowd began to 'ooh' at the size of the caliber.
"Now, as you can see. We have shotguns and large caliber rifles to shoot. I hope you all like the kick coming from these two. Because, trust me, they kick, and they kick hard." Wolf only smiles and laughs in delight. Greyhound rolls his eyes at him.
Knox looked like he was about to cry.
Jaune felt discouraged, knowing he would probably suck at it. Will and Knox looked on with excitement.
/-/
Two students decided to spectate the shadows.
"Look at them. It's hilarious. Who needs all that heavy equipment when you got pure muscle and one good weapon in your hand?" Said a student.
The other smirks.
"Yeah, it's a shame they have to run around with all that gear. Good luck trying to run away a Boarbatusk." He laughs.
"What's so special about them anyway? Just because the Headmaster owns them? Aren't we here for that?"
"Honestly, I think they are not even good enough. I've never seen these losers in action before."
"And no girls? How boring can it be?"
"Ahem."
They turned around and saw none other than Glynda Goodwitch standing behind them.
"Students are not allowed near the shadow's training ground. I suggest you leave or else." Said Glynda.
They scram, leaving Glynda alone at the fence.
She looks inside, knowing Will is enjoying his time with his friends.
A/N: Finally, some training with Jaune and friends. And some family with Will and Glynda. I don't know, Milo, and Knox is growing on me. I really like their friendship with Jaune and Will.
So just to point things out, since a shadow doesn't have the strength of a huntsman to kill a Grimm. They make up for it in heavy firepower. Like the mentioned comically large sniper round. It's RWBY, so anything could be laughably possible.
Next chapter, maybe back to Blake :D? Who knows.
Also, early update too.
Thank you for reading.