Alright. So, don't hate me. This was my first EVER attempt at Arkos; I'm not even a real fan of it. This was more for a friend who I felt like writing for. So I did. Anyhow, I did enjoy writing this and kind of like how it turned out. I hope you Arkos fans don't come looking for my head! As always, do enjoy!
A oneshot about Arkos. Jaune has some grief and it leads to a difficult time for them both while they go to replace some guards in a new town named Chapel just outside of Vale's borders.
Pyrrha grinned excitedly as the small town of Chapel came into view, offering her a new sight other than the identical trees that lined the path her and Jaune rode on. It had been founded by a small community comprised of a group of people looking to further expand the land humans controlled, a cause which they were succeeding at. "Jaune, look! We're almost there!"
Her companion, tired and aching from the long ride, smiled in return. "Yeah, I saw." Pyrrha continued to happily beam as they approached the budding town, looking forward to seeing more of the place.
As their horses passed the colorful 'Welcome to Chapel!' sign, Jaune stretched and groaned. It had been a fourteen hour trek from Vale to here, and he was absolutely done. Or at least he would be if he had the choice. "Pyrrha, do you think we could maybe schedule this mission for another time?" He wondered hopefully, his mind playfully reminding him of the nasties out in the wilderness.
"Mm-mm." She replied, shaking her head no. "These people are doing their job, we have to do ours. As Huntresses!"
Jaune pouted, the insult flying right over his head. "Jobs are hard, though." He grumbled.
"Unlike you." Pyrrha stated quickly, wondering if that made any sense afterwards.
"Pyrrha, really?." He asked, his face a dark crimson. Recently he had had problems in the bedroom. It wasn't due to a medical issue; he was just terrified of the surroundings. Sex in the middle of a Grimm infested canyon wasn't really his idea of a 'Good time'. In fact it was a rather bad time.
"Really. You need to loosen up, eh?" Pyrrha grinned, pleased with herself. She was on a rather nice roll right now. Despite her current insult tirade against Jaune, she was still keeping an interested eye on the town. It was still pretty small, despite existing for about two years now. Trying to build itself so far away from Vale was certainly a difficult task though.
As she looked upon the buildings lining the straight street mostly devoid of people, she couldn't help but admire it all. It took a lot of determination to get this far.
"Hey, how bad do you think it is out there?" Jaune asked her, referring to the Chapel's surrounding forest. The two were here to go guard the border for a few weeks while the normal defenders were busy recovering in the residential infirmary. It couldn't really be called a hospital, after all.
Pyrrha thought for a moment, remembering all she had heard about it while researching the place. "It probably won't be too bad. I mean, you know. All that happened to the other guys was the-"
"Grimm. Grimm happened to them." Jaune finished darkly, and Pyrrha shot him a reassuring glance. Her soon-to-be-husband had recently lost his father to the Grimm. She still couldn't tell how he felt about them, other than the expected hatred.
"It'll be alright, Jaune." She spoke softly, sensing the unvoiced feelings that her partner was dealing with.
Jaune sighed, hoping she was right. "Yeah, I'm sure it will be." Silence then fell between the two, Pyrrha worrying for the wellbeing of her lover and Jaune occupied by thoughts of fear and anger.
Nightfall had fallen quickly. Out here in the woods on the outskirts of Chapel, the eerie darkness was both exciting and slightly upsetting for Pyrrha Nikos, who was busy watching the shadows as Jaune went around setting up their sleeping arrangements for the night. She gazed out into the vast and seemingly endless range of trees, her sensitive side beginning to influence her thoughts.
A forlorn hoot sounded off in the distance, quickly followed by the howl of what she assumed was either a wolf, or more likely, a beowulf. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as more of these lonely, desperate calls joined in, a chorus of depression and something else. Still, she was eager to hear more. The moon shining overhead only aided to the almost mystical scene as it cast a pale blue light on the canopy of trees, illuminating them from above and making their shadows seem ever darker.
Pyrrha found herself admittedly saddened. It was at times like this when she felt her emotions more clearly, felt the need to express them. Her grief, her worry, her slight excitement… And her love. It was now that she wished Jaune wasn't already bearing his own burden, something he refused to let her help with. As much as she understood, it bothered her quite a lot.
She furrowed her brow and sighed, her emerald eyes glossing as moisture built up.
The owl hooted once more, a long, decisive note riddled with distraught.
Jaune was tired. His back was sore and his, for lack of a better word, ass was riddled with blisters after riding bareback all day. In hindsight it was a stupid idea, but it had been to impress Pyrrha. He regretted it. Sitting on his bedroll and yawning rather loudly, Jaune found himself once again thinking about his deceased father.
He didn't know the big details, nor did he want to. All he knew was that he had a newfound hatred for Grimm, specifically Beowulves. 'Ruby would be proud of me.' He thought to himself, grinning despite the dark thoughts pervading his head. He would never be able to kill enough of those forsaken creatures to avenge his father, much like it was with Ruby and her mother
And yet he had a newfound fear for them, too. Reasonably so.
"Meh." He grunted, dismissing his brooding thoughts. It was time to sleep, but first he needed to find his betrothed. Looking up from his place on the bottom floor he could see Pyrrha's form silhouetted in the doorway that lead to a balcony on the stone tower they were stationed in.
"Pyrrha, you coming to bed?" He called to her, fully expecting an answer.
Pyrrha had a different idea, though. She was upset and worried over Jaune and she had had enough. His mood was hardly the way she remembered it to be; it was rare to even see him crack a smile. She understood why he was this way and had tried to keep her own feelings out of the way, but this had gone on long enough. Four months of a broodful Jaune was too much, even for her.
And so she stood silently, leaning against the balcony. A faint, sad smile played across her face as she realized that she had once been in the same position with similar feelings many years before. The feelings were caused by different reasons of course, but still.
She missed those days, the days that weren't nearly as complicated. She missed Ren and Nora, two dear friends she hadn't seen since they graduated. She missed the trouble that team RWBY used to get them all into, and even though her and Jaune still kept in touch with them, it wasn't the same. She shook her head, sighing. There was a long tale about why team RWBY could hardly be called a team anymore.
"Pyrrha?" Jaune approached her from behind, his voice soft. There was an uncertainty to it the redhead noticed.
"Jaune, hi!" Her voice was more high pitched than she had planned it to be. Still facing the vast, Grimm infested woods, she felt her lover's hand come to rest on her shoulder. It was firm and strong, and she wished that gave her some sort of solace.
"Pyrrha, I'm not the best at observing things, but something is wrong, isn't it?" This time his voice was certain, but still soft. Concerned, too.
Pyrrha's emotions flared inside of her, itching to come crashing to the surface. But that really wasn't how she wanted to do things, and so she settled for a VERY deep breath. "Jaune, why won't let me help you?" There was so much more she wanted to say and do, but she couldn't. If Jaune could see her face, it would have been one of utter anguish that he saw.
This was one of the reasons she kept her back turned to him.
"Pyrrha… I do. You're being silly! Come on, lets go to bed before the entire night passes." He urged her. Pyrrha gripped the railing in defiance, biting her bottom lip as she held back her feelings still. Just a little longer.
"You're lying, Jaune. I care for you, I'm there for you, I understand for you. And yet you're still obsessing over something you couldn't help!" She glared furiously into the dark, a better alternative to crying. She had let slip more than she meant to.
Jaune removed his hand to let it hang at his side. Pyrrha wondered what that meant; was he already fed up with her? Was he angry, ready to burst at the seams? Had she pushed too far on the subject? All her insecurities that she had felt when she started dating him eight years prior began to all flood back in a torrent of chaos.
"Pyrrha…" Jaune paused, seemingly at a loss for words. The crimson haired woman was breaking. She missed the man she had learned to rely on. "Pyrrha," Jaune echoed, trying again, "I'm not obsessing over it."
Pyrrha wanted to scream at him. How could he be so dense as to not realize it? He had been wrapped up in some illusion that what had happened to his father was his fault. And now…
"I know you're right, Pyrrha. I just…" The words cut off, leaving the rest unspoken. Pyrrha assumed they were done and sighed, prepared to finally submit and go to sleep.
"I just can't stop thinking about it." Jaune finally finished, just Pyrrha turned around. In the low light she could see he was pained, more so than she had originally believed.
"Why not, Jaune?" She asked quietly, trying to keep the quiver out of her voice. Despite how she felt, she didn't want to upset any Grimm. "Why can't you just get over it and realize that now I need you?"
Jaune half smiled, a half assed one at that. "Come on down and I'll tell you." He cast a weary yet distant glance to the woods. "I don't like being out here in the open, you know?"
Pyrrha felt an odd sense of calm wash over her, and it only took her a moment to realize it was Jaune's aura. It was one of his ways of soothing her. It was both an unconscious and conscious act at the same time, and Pyrrha couldn't tell if she was angry or glad that he was doing it.
"Fine. But Jaune, we're talking about this and resolving it. Tonight." There was no room for negotiation, no other options to choose from.
Jaune was fine with this.
Inside it was simply… Nicer. The black, threatening woods that loomed outside were no longer before her, and the fire in the wood stove sent dancing lights all across the room. Jaune had somehow coaxed her into settling down and sitting by the warmth the flames were giving off, the two cuddled together.
She felt almost content. But the issue hadn't been taken care of yet. Jaune still had to tell her what it was he wanted to say. And so she waited expectantly while her partner gathered himself and prepared for the retelling of an old childhood memory.
Jaune coughed, clearing his throat.
Finally. This is it. We finally take care of this business. Pyrrha thought to herself, relieved. Jaune opened his mouth and Pyrrha silenced her thoughts.
"I mean, I guess my father was the kind of guy who was just really damn cool. You met him at Ruby's wedding and all. Even after my mum fell ill and passed away he still stayed awesome." Jaune's eyes were glistening as he stared deep into the embers of the fire behind the soot stained glass door of the wood stove. Pyrrha imagined that was what his emotions must have been like for so long now; raging fires burning him up inside, eager to be let out into the open while he hid them mostly behind a solid wall. Her heart ached for him.
"One day me and him were out on a basic mission of his. I was sixteen, and well, he still held onto the belief I would somehow become a hunter." Jaune chuckled, though there was no mirth in it. "Look at me now, huh."
Pyrrha nuzzled closer, resting her head against his shoulder as she followed his gaze into the fire.
"But yeah. Here we were, a full fledged hunter and his son, out in the plain of Vale searching for a very small group of beowulves. I was admittedly terrified. We only had to go out a little from the border until we found them, running seemingly aimlessly yet directly towards the city. I think there were maybe six of them; dad wasn't impressed by that. He thought he was going up against something much more entertaining, as he put it." Jaune started to smile, remembering the once fond memory for every little detail.
Pyrrha found herself sinking lower and lower until she was using his lap as a pillow, her body stretched out on the sleeping bags laid out across the floor. She was still listening intently, but drowsiness was starting to come into play.
"So yeah. He was still eager to fight, don't get me wrong. He kind of just rushed them. Took them head on. I watched from not too far away, scared yet excited as I watched him go at 'em, cutting through them with his sword like they were butter. I was tasked with holding the shield." Jaune snorted, though now his face took on a troubled look as he drew closer to the point.
Pyrrha was slowly drifting off into a numb state of half sleep while she continued to pay attention to Jaune's story.
"I uh… I had some sort of idea at one point. You know, when I thought about why I was out there. Only two Grimm were left standing, so yeah. As my dad went after the second last, I charged the other. Shield out and some random battlecry later I was being swatted away like a fly by the damn creature." Jaune cursed bitterly, remembering how the wind had been knocked out of him. "It had sucked."
Pyrrha was slightly more awake after his swearing, and she could almost sense what he was getting to.
"Anyhow, I kind of just sat there and moaned about on the ground until dad took care of the last one. He then asked me what the hell I was doing." Jaune smirked. "Oh, you know, just distracting the other one before it got you, I told him. He didn't believe me, I could tell, but he humored my anyhow. For the rest of that year I accompanied him on every mission, always carrying the shield. We were to protect each other. We promised it." He stopped, right there, unable to go on.
Pyrrha watched in dismay as tears began to fall from his blue eyes. She sat up slowly, her face riddled with concern and understanding. "I get it now. Jaune, I'm so sorry…"
The young man shook his head slowly, a look of grim determination on his face. "I'm sorry too, Pyrrha. I made a promise to him, but I also made a promise to you. When I asked you to be my wife."
Pyrrha found his hand with hers and their fingers intertwined, sealing their hands together. "Jaune. I love you, so much. I don't want to ever lose you. Don't hold anything back, don't try and forget it. Move on from it. Come to terms with it." Pyrrha leaned up and planted a soft, loving kiss on his tear stained cheek.
"I'll be alright now if you still need time to deal with this." She told him, urging him to lie down by pushing down on his chest. He quietly complied, beyond the point of exhaustion. Pyrrha knew this and appreciated him doing all of this with every ounce of her being. "But come on, lets go to bed, huh?" She smiled warmly, nuzzling herself against his solid form as her hand remained with his.
Jaune closed his eyes and thought about everything. "Pyrrha… I love you… Too.."
His voice quickly died down as his brain died for the night.
Pyrrha smiled, content, as her and Jaune's auras danced around in a giddy kind of celabration. As she lay beside him, drifting off into a sleep of her own, she dared any Grimm to attempt to try and take him from her.
Any.
Prev: White Rose fluff) (Next: Christmas themed White Rose: still under construction
Leave a review, if you would be so kind. I love hearing from you guys and knowing what you think. It especially matters here, as I tried some things with this I've never attempted before.
