Chapter 5: Way Down We Go
Reviews!
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Robbeeyy: Thank you! Also, the double-barrel Shotgun might happen~, and here's the next chapter!
Kaze: Here's the Reunion!
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And so begins the Chapter you've all been waiting for! The Reunion!
I hope you all really enjoy this chapter! Because trust me, it's gonna get a lot better from here on out!
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Currently, it was almost 11:00 in the afternoon, and right now, Ruby and the others were preparing to head into the Canyon, to meet Ilia either on the other side or in the middle of it. Due to the attack last night, they were preparing a fight with Bandits should they try and attack again.
"Ren, we good on ammunition?" Ruby asked
Ren looked over at her and nodded, "Yeah, we should have enough in the back of the truck," Ren told her
"Good," Ruby said, she then looked to Penny, "Penny, any bandits at the Canyon entrance?"
Penny shook her head before looking at the silver-eyed girl, "Nothing, we appear to be safe to enter from the looks of it,"
"But don't let them fool you," Emerald said "The Bandits here are tricky and the moment they see weakness, they will exploit it," She told them
Ruby nodded, "Right, so we gotta keep an eye out," she said "and be careful, we don't know what kind of Weapons they have,"
"Right," Penny said
With that said, they all got into their respective vehicles and began driving into the Canyon. As they did, in the front of the Lenco, both Ren and Nora looked at each other and held each other's hands.
They shared a look, a look that said:
'We can do this, Together'
With that look shared, they looked to the road ahead and hoped that today, that just today, one thing would go ok.
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Meanwhile, on the other end of the Canyon Trifa had just finished collecting their ammo and spare guns into the jeep as Ilia had asked her to whole she check the car, while Yuma was taking watch of the Canyon to make sure it was safe and Jaune was in the Jeep with Furiosa.
After she got done taking inventory, she sighed as she realized what they had and how screwed they were.
"What do we got?" Jaune asked as he walked over to her
"four dust pistols all Glock-17, two dust AK-47s, one Winchester 30-30, and a few explosives," Trifa said, "We don't have much, which means we gotta be careful," Trifa finished
"What about the turret?" Jaune asked
"Out of ammo for it," Trifa said with a sigh. She looked at Jaune, "Take your pick,"
Jaune looked over the weapons, and he quickly picked up the Winchester and saw the ammo for it and he began to load it.
"Anything else?" Trifa asked
Jaune shook his head, "No, this is all I need," He said as he pocketed the rest of the ammo.
"You sure?"
Jaune nodded.
"Alright then big boy, I'll give the others their weapons, you know what to do?" Trifa asked
"Protect Furiosa at all costs," Jaune said "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to her"
Trifa nodded, "I know," She said with a smile, "Jaune... What are you gonna do when we return to the city?" she asked
Jaune looked at her, "I don't know..." Jaune said
"You could always come with us you know, we could use a fourth," she said
Jaune looked at her, and he thought about it. He enjoyed the time he had spent with Trifa as well as Ilia and Yuma, they helped him and Furiosa escape. When he was with them, he felt like he was back at Beacon, with Ren, with Nora, and with... with her. He looked at Trifa in her pale blue eyes and she looked into his cobalt blue.
"I'll think about it Trifa..." he told her "I'll think about it," Jaune said
Trifa smiled, "That's all I'll ask you to do, but promise me, You'll give me an answer as soon as we get back to Vacuo, ok?" Trifa asked
Jaune nodded, "Yeah," He said
"Hey, You two!" Ilia cried "It's clear for now, so let's go!" Ilia said
"Got it, but first, you and Yuma need to pick out some secondary weapons, before we head into the Canyon" Trifa replied back
With that said, Jaune went back in the jeep as Ilia and Yuma went over to Trifa to pick out secondary weapons. As Jaune sat in the back seat, he looked over to Furiosa who was lying on the seat, still asleep, a few strands of hair on her face as she snored peacefully. Jaune moved the strands of hair from her face and looked at her sleeping form.
'I promised you that I'd keep you safe... I won't break that promise, Furiosa' Jaune thought to himself
With that final thought, Jaune prepared himself for when they entered the Canyon, knowing that it wasn't going to be smooth sailing.
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With Ruby's group, Yang was in the front of her motorcycle and she saw a black jeep just a mile ahead of them, that was coming in their direction. the blonde-brawler slowly let go of the gas and stopped her bike, raised her fist in the air and Emerald stopped the truck while Ren stopped the Lenco.
noticing they weren't moving anymore, Ruby opened the slider and looked at Ren, "Why'd we stop?" Ruby asked
Ren shrugged, "Yang saw something," Ren replied
In the truck, Oscar rolled down his window and looked over at yang, "What is it, Yang?" Oscar yelled out to her
"Lone Jeep, just a mile ahead," Yang replied not looking back, instead she kept her eyes on the jeep in front of her.
Hearing this, Emerald, Nora, and Ren went for their weapons, ready to shoot, while Yang activated Ember Cecilia.
Oscar looked at Emerald, "Think they're a threat?" Oscar asked as he saw Emerald reach for Thief's Respite
"Don't know, but I'm not letting them get a chance to catch us off guard" Emerald said as she looked at him, "Can't take chances out here, Oscar, they don't give chances here..." she said coldly.
The jeep was getting closer and when it finally arrived and there was only a good few feet between them, the jeep stopped and Yang looked at the vehicle with peered eyes.
The passenger door opened and stepping out of the jeep, was none other than Ilia, who had a bit of a nervous smirk on her face, she closed the door and then gave Yang a little node, "Hey, Blondie," Ilia said
"Ilia!" Yang said with a smile, she deactivated Ember Cecilia, "You're ok!" Yang cried
Ilia nodded, "I am, but not without the help of a few friends," She said, "Is everyone else with you?" Ilia asked as she walked a bit forward toward Yang.
"Yeah, We're all here," Yang said
"Hey, Ilia!" Nora cried from her window with a wave,
Ilia waved back at Nora and then looked back at Yang, "Anyway, What's the pla-"
HONK! HONK! HONK!
Hearing the extreme loud honking of a vehicle, which had the loudest horn they had ever heard, they all turned to look in the direction of where the sound came from, which was behind Ilia. Not only did they hear the honking of the vehicle, but they also heard the loud cheering of people.
"What-" Yang Began
"The-" Ilia continued
HHHOOONNNKKK!
Down the road of the canyon, a good but not so good, few miles behind them, was a Bandit War-Rig, a largely modified semi-truck that was adorned with spikes around it as well an arsenal of Weaponry that could take out an Atlas patrol group. Attached to it was a round fuel tanker, however, it didn't hold dust, it held weapons, ammo, or other bandits, inside of it.
In the jeep, Jaune had been taking a little nap with Furiosa, however, when he heard the loud honking which awoke him like an alarm clock, he realized they had stopped. He heard another long honk and then he turned around and looked out the back of the jeep and saw the War-Rig, however, it wasn't alone.
With it was four other vehicles were with it, two of them had polecats, which were vehicles with large poles that were in the air, and at the top was a person attached to it, while at the bottom, another person helped lower the pole. the other two vehicles had a lot of Lancers who were holding Thunderspears, which were spears but with a canister of fire dust at the end, which when the tip hit something, would cause an explosion.
"Shit!" Jaune cried
"What is it!?" Yuma asked
"J-Jaune? What's going on?" Furiosa asked as she began to wake up
"It's alright Furiosa! just stay low," He told her, Jaune turned to Yuma with a worried expression, "We need to go, now!" Jaune cried
Yuma opened his door but didn't get out, "Ilia!" Yuma called out
"I know!" Ilia said, Ilia turned back to Yang, "Turn around and drive back! We'll be right behind you!" Ilia said
Yang nodded as Ilia raced back to the jeep. Yang signaled for them to turn around and Emerald and Ren started the truck and Lenco quickly backed up and turned around. Yang revved up the bike and began driving just as Yuma started the jeep and drove off with them.
In the jeep, still focusing on the road, Yuma looked to Jaune in the rearview mirror, "What the hell is that thing?" he asked
"A War-Rig," Jaune stated, "A semi-truck with a few modifications, they use them when attacking Atlas Convoys, a few bandits and even the White-Fang here have one,"
"Do you know what bandit group this is!?" Trifa asked
"If I had to guess, the Rock-Riders," Jaune said "Heard about them from a few of the White-Fang when they had to transport supplies through the Canyon, had to make deals for safe passage,"
"Damn it! They must know who we are and about Bane-saw's bounty on us!" Ilia cried
Jaune nodded in agreement, "Yeah,"
"You know anything about their firepower?" Ilia asked
"They got pole-cats and Lancers throwing Thunderspears" Jaune said, "The pole-cats will try and land on the top of the jeep and the other vehicles and try to rip the roofs off, as for the lancers, we have to watch out for them, I've seen what those Thunderspears can do..." Jaune said
Outside of the jeep, one of the Rock Riders was cheering as his vehicle was getting closer to the jeep and to the Motorcycle, "Whoo! Let's show 'em boys! That bounty is as good as ours!"
He then threw a Thunderspear near the jeep, however, it missed and hit a nearby boulder, causing the explosion near the tail end of the jeep. Ilia and everyone inside the jeep jerked a bit as the force caused the jeep to shake.
Jaune quickly looked in the back window to see the lancers and pole-cats were gaining on them, as was the War-Rig. He saw the War-Rig and an idea popped into his head, a stupid and very dangerous idea that had a very slim chance of succeeding, but an Idea nonetheless.
Jaune looked to the front seat and to Yuma, "Yuma! Get me close to one of the pole-cats!" Jaune said
"What!?" Yua cried in disbelief "Are you insane!?"
"Just do it!" Jaune said
Jaune then grabbed the Winchester and made sure he had the ammo with him and he headed for the turret, and Yuma did as Jaune instructed and drove near one of the Pole-cats.
"Jaune!" Trifa cried out to him
Jaune looked back at her before he full got out
She gave him a worried look, "Be careful," she said
Jaune gave her a nod and grunt as he got out of the jeep and to the roof through the turret hole.
Once on the roof, he steadied himself and he looked to his left only to see a Lancer on the back of a car giving him a crazed look as he grabbed a Thunderspear. Jaune acted quickly and he grabbed the Winchester and shot the Lancer and the Lancer fell off the back of the car.
He cocked the Winchester again and aimed for the remaining Thunderspears near the Lancer's perch. He shot one, causing a chain reaction as it exploded and then caused the rest to explode along with it, thus blowing the back of the car and causing it to flip forward and turn upside down.
Meanwhile, in the Lenco, Ren, and Nora saw the explosion in their side-view mirrors, wondering what was happening back there.
"Ren! Nora! What's going on out there!?" Blake asked through the slider.
"I have no idea!" Nora said
"Was that Ilia!?" Blake asked
Ren checked his side-view mirror to see if it was Ilia's jeep that exploded, when he looked he saw that the Jeep was perfectly safe. "It wasn't Ilia! She's ok!" Ren said
Back with the Jeep, Jaune's aura thankfully protected him from any pieces of the car flying after the explosion. He looked to his right only to see a bandit on a Pole-cat about to descend on him, Jaune quickly cocked the gun and shot the Bandit but he also grabbed onto the bandit, unhooked him from the pole, and let his body fall fully onto the roof of the jeep.
Jaune held onto the pole-cat as he was raised back up into the air. He hooked himself on and he looked down to see that the other Lancer Vehicle was aiming for the truck, seeing this, Jaune cocked his gun and then quickly pushed his weight onto one side of the pole, which made the pole fall to its left and near the Lancer's perch.
When he was close to the perch, he shot the Lancer in the back, causing him to fall and slump against the Car's back. Jaune grabbed two Thunderspears from the Lancer's perch and then he was raised back up as he strapped the Winchester to his back, only to be nearly shot by the lower bandit, who controlled the bottom of the pole.
'Now he notices!' Jaune thought to himself in frustration.
Jaune looked away from the bottom only to see the other pole-Cat coming at him. Jaune and the bandit on the pole-cat collided and the Bandit tried to grab the Thunderspears, but Jaune held onto them with all his might.
"Come here!" cried the Bandit
They were both holding onto the Thunderspears, however, Jaune removed one of his hands from the spears and slugged the Bandit in the face before pushing himself away and both of the poles went in the opposite direction with Jaune still holding tightly onto the Thunderspears.
Jaune looked to see the other pole-cat reagin itself, however, before they could collide again, the War-Rig got in between them. Seeing this, Jaune knew this was the best opportunity to get on the War-Rig.
He grabbed the Winchester off his back and shot the Bandit at the bottom of the pole, which caused the bandit to let go of it and Jaune put his weight onto the left. He quickly unhooked himself and grabbed the Thunderspears as the Pole lowered onto the tanker of the War-Rig. Once the Pole landed on the Tanker, Jaune got off of the pole with the Thunderspears and his Winchester. He quickly gained his footing and stood on the Tanker, however when he looked ahead of him, he saw four Rock Riders get on the Tanker.
Jaune groaned harshly as he saw this and he went for his Winchester, he knew he only had three shots left in the chamber and he wouldn't get time to reload. He quickly cocked the Winchester and aimed at the Riders as they charged. Jaune shot one and he fell off the side of the Tanker, he cocked the gun again and shot at the second, which hit him in the shoulder and the force sent him off the side and he fell under the wheels of the Rig. The other two ran faster and charged at him with a wrench and a metal bat. Jaune quickly cocked the Winchester and shot at the third, however, it only grazed the third across the rib.
The third charged at him and tried to bring the wrench down on his head, however, Jaune used the bottom of the gun to block the wrench, he then kneed him in the gut and the third dropped the wrench and Jaune then threw him into the fourth, but the fourth pushed him aside and thus threw him off the tanker.
Jaune ducked and grabbed the wrench just as the fourth swung the bat at him, Jaune hit him in the side with the wrench before he swung it across the fourth Rider's face, which caused him to stagger off the other side of the Tanker. After that, Jaune had to take a bit of a breather and after a few deep breaths, he grabbed one of the Thunderspears, and he first aimed it at the Pole-cat to his left and he threw it, hitting the side of the car, causing it to slam right in the wall of the Canyon, he then quickly grabbed the second and turned to the right at the other Pole-Cat. He aimed it at the back, and threw it, hitting the pole stand and causing it to flip forward a few spins before finally crashing completely.
With that, Jaune went for the ammo in his pockets and loaded the Winchester as he would now have to fight the driver for control of the War-Rig. Jaune made his way to the car portion of the War-Rig and he jumped onto the roof, however, once he did, the apparent sunroof of the Rig opened and the barrel of a shotgun stared up at him.
Acting quickly, Jaune backed up as the shot fired at him, but he nearly fell off the roof. He put all of his weight forward, only to stumble forward and land stomach first on the roof. Another shot was fired through the roof and was a mere few inches from hitting him. Jaune quickly pulled out the Winchester and he climbed down the side of the Rig to the passenger side door. When he made it to the passenger side, he was once again met with the barrel of the Shotgun and he moved his head quickly to the side just as the shot was unleashed. It left a ringing in his ear and he felt a little dizzy, but he quickly opened the door and grabbed the barrel of the shotgun, and pulled it and its wielder right out of the passenger seat and right onto the dirt road, where they fell under the wheels of the Rig.
Jaune got in and closed the door as he got in, he looked at the driver and saw he was reaching for a weapon but Jaune punched him in the face and grabbed the weapon instead, which it turned out to be a pistol, and shot the Bandit in the throat. Jaune took ahold of the steering wheel and kept it steady as he also opened the driver's door and then shoved him out of it, where he landed right on a large boulder.
Jaune sat in the driver's seat and then closed the door as he set the Winchester between the seats and set the pistol on the dashboard.
Jaune then drive to the jeep's right side and he honked the Rigs horn just as Ilia, Trifa, and Furiosa looked out the windows to see him in the driver's seat of the rig giving them a small smile, a nod, and a thumbs up. Ilia gave him a thumbs up, Trifa a smile, and Furiosa a big smile and a large wave. With that, the group continued to drive out of the Canyon without any more trouble.
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Finally, after a short ride and a good distance away from the Canyon, they all began to slow down before coming to a complete stop and then turning off their vehicles. Yang hopped off the motorcycle, as Emerald and Oscar got out of the truck, and Ren, Nora, Ruby, Weiss, Penny, Blake, and Neo got out of the Lenco. Ilia, Yuma, as well as Trifa, and Furiosa got out of the Jeep.
When Ilia saw Blake, she ran over to her as the other three joined her. Blake gave Ilia a hug and Ilia gave one back. They broke the hug and blake looked at Ilia.
"It's good to see you again, Ilia," Blake said
"Same here," Ilia said "By the way, like the new hair," Ilia said
Blake chuckled, "Thanks," she said, Blake then looked over to see Trifa and Yuma, "Good to see the two again," She said
"Same here Blake," Trifa said
Yuma nodded with a smile
Blake then spotted Furiosa, "Is that...?" Blake began
"The summer maiden?" Ruby butted in
Ilia looked at Blake and Ruby and gave them a nod, "Her name is Furiosa," Ilia told them
"Look at her... She's just a little girl..." Nora said
She then felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Ren at her side, and he looked at her and gave her a comforting look before they turned back to the others.
Yang then joined the conversation, "Hey, who was it that got rid of the bandits?" Yang asked
"Yeah, I saw a few explosion's in the back and I almost thought it was you guys," Ren said
"Oh, that?" Yuma asked with a smile, "That was our new friend," Yuma said
"New friend?" Ruby asked with a confused look
Trifa nodded, "Yeah, he helped Furiosa escape and saved Ilia's life on the way here,"
Ilia nodded, "She's right, If it wasn't for him, I would've been useless the whole ride here," Ilia said, she then turned toward the War-Rig "Hey! Come out and meet everyone!" she called out
Everyone looked over to the War-Rig which was behind the Jeep, as they saw the driver's side door open and they heard someone climbing out, then the driver's door was shut and when they saw who Ilia's new friend was, Nora gasped while Ruby and Ren were shocked the most, but the others who knew who it was, were still speechless.
Jaune Arc stood before them, and he too looked at all of them with wide eyes and a stunned expression on his face, as if he was seeing ghosts.
"J-Jaune...? Is that really you?" Nora asked, her voice sounded like it was on the verge of breaking
"Nora...? Ren...?" Jaune asked
He walked toward them and then gained speed and ran at them and they ran at him as well. they embraced each other tightly as Nora cried as did Ren and of course, Jaune.
Ilia looked at the scene and then at Blake, and seeing her expression, Ilia quickly figured out that she knew Jaune, "You know Jaune?" Ilia asked,
Blake nodded, "He was our friend back during Beacon," Blake said, "Didn't he tell you who he was?" Blake asked
Ilia shook her head, "Not at first, in fact, didn't tell us his real name, only gave us the name Max, then when he trusted us enough, he told us he went to Beacon and told us he lost his partner during the attack and then got captured by the White-Fang since," Ilia said "Never really went into detail, about who he knew and I didn't want to push it either... he's had it hard Blake... you know or may have heard about what the White-Fang did to some human prisoners,"
Blake nodded, "I've heard... and for Jaune to go through that... I- he doesn't deserve it,"
"I-I can't believe you're here! I-I don't k-know if I'm dr-dreaming or if this is really real! I-I-I missed you, we both did,"
Jaune sobbed a little, "I'm here, I'm really here Nora" Jaune said
Jaune, Ren, and Nora broke the group hug and he just looked at them with a happy yet sad smile as tears continued to fall from his eyes, "Look at you two," He began with a chuckle "You look great!" He said
Nora chuckled and Ren smiled as he wiped the tears away.
"You don't look so bad yourself," Ren said with a smile, his voice still sounding a little choked up
Jaune chuckled again with a sad tone, "Thanks I guess," He said
Jaune then looked passed them only to see Ruby looking at him with a disbelief look. Jaune walked over to her but Ruby ran over to him and nearly tackled him. She held him tight and Jaune held her just as tight.
"I-I thought y-y-you were d-dead!" She sobbed
"I thought the same about all of you..." Jaune said, "But you're here... I'm just... I'm happy to see here... alive and well," Jaune said
"I missed you... so much Jaune," Ruby sobbed out
Jaune nodded, "I did to... I did too, Ruby," he told her
Jaune looked around more before his eyes fell on Emerald and Neo. Seeing two of the people responsible for the end of Beacon here, he quickly grabbed the Pistol from his pants and pushed Ruby behind him, and aimed the gun at Emerald and Neo.
"What the hell are you two doing here!?" Jaune cried
Seeing what was Happening, Nora cried out to Jaune, "Jaune! Don't!" Nora cried
"Answer before I start shooting!"
"Easy! We're with them!" Emerald said as she raised her hands up in the air as did Neo
"Bullshit!" Jaune cried, he then pulled the hammer back,
"Jaune, it's ok! We can trust them!" Ruby cried
"She's right, Neo and Emerald are on our side," Ren said
"How can we trust them!? After all the shit they did! Beacon is gone because of them! Pyrrha is gone because of them! How can you stand here telling me to trust them!?" Jaune cried
Emerald stepped forward and Jaune pointed the Pistol in her direction, "Listen, I-I know you have every right to be angry with us, but please listen to them, we've changed, I- We are just looking for a little redemption," Emerald said
Jaune looked at Emerald in the eyes as he still had the gun trained on her, she looked back at him. Both didn't look away or back away as they stared at each other for a good minute before Jaune slowly pushed the hammer back slowly and put the gun back in his pants line.
Seeing this, everyone became relieved that nothing started. "It'll be dark soon, we better get a fire going," Jaune said as he walked back to the War-Rig as Nora and Ren Followed behind him as did Furiosa and Trifa.
"I've never seen him like that, he looked like he was ready to kill her on the spot, no hesitation," Weiss chimed in
"Yeah... that was a little bit worrying," Yang said
"I can't blame him if he did shoot," Emerald said, "He's been through Hell," Emerald said
Ruby looked at her with a confused yet worried look, "How do you know?" Ruby asked
Emerald look back at her, "You can see it in his eyes," Emerald said "He isn't the same person he was back in Beacon... none of us are," Emerald finished
Ruby looked away from Emerald and over to Jaune, a worried and more saddened look his way. Emerald was right, they had all changed since the fall of Beacon, they had all learned new things and their views on things changed. They weren't the same as they were before.
Jaune changed.
The question now was if that change was good or bad...
