Disclaimer: Don't own RWBY or anything associated

MY LIFE AS A TEENAGE CONDUIT

ACT I - THE FORMATION

CHAPTER TWO: ALL THE KING'S MEN [Part One]

"Not even close," Jaune grunted, gripping the handle of his sword more tightly, his glare focused entirely on the Beowulf. He'd barely even registered the arrival of the other beyond her voice. He pushed himself back to full height and though panting heavily, he lifted the sword back up. The new arrival, now revealed to be Ruby's older sister, Yang, rushed up on his side, "Well, looks like the two of us are partners so I'm jumping in whether you like it or not."

"O-okay," Jaune's voice broke, revealing that he may have only been acting tough to anyone who listened closely enough and he hoped to god that Yang didn't pick up on it. But for the time being it didn't seem to be an issue because a second later she yelled, "Dodge!" Jaune instinctively forced his body to the side, but this time the lightning did not come, and he narrowly avoided a swipe from the Grimm's claws.

"Not bad, Arc," Yang complimented, she punched all of her knuckles together and then rushed in. Jaune felt another rush, this time in his feet and without considering too much what might happen if he diid so, Jaune kicked off and the next charge of lightning propelled him across the battlefield hot on Yang's heels.

"Hyah!" The Brawler threw a punch at the Beowulf closest to her, the full swing's strength was enough to take the Beast's head off completely and if he were a betting man, Jaune would've wagered that she hadn't even needed to use any of her ammunition. It was one solid punch. Jaune's eyes filled with panic, oh no, the next one had a lock on Jaune and didn't seem to be shifting focus any time soon. But, once again, Jaune's semblance kicked in against his will and like a bullet he streaked across the battlefield encased in the strange electrical energy he'd been working with for the duration of this fight. He was like a cannon suddenly fired from a ship, then all at once he landed across the clearing, behind the Beowulf, a Beowulf who'd just been cleaved clean in half.

"You've got to be nearly as fast as Rubes, that's some semblance," Yang whistled.

Jaune was back on one knee, his hand tightly curled around the handle of his sword. Thankfully, it looked like between the two of them, Yang and Jaune had managed to thin the numbers of Beowulves until there was none left and this would give the Knight the time he needed to recuperate from whatever his new semblance was doing to him.

"I-I bet hers doesn't have this much of a drawback though," Jaune managed to say through heavy panting, "I need a second before we can get moving again."

A second was likely an understatement and maybe he'd need a little bit longer than that. Using that much aura had taken quite the toll. He felt so exhausted. Yang looked over her new partner, wondering if he would be alright going forward. She didn't think he'd entirely be dead weight but in this state the potential for it to happen was right there and it could quickly become a point of concern. Better that they take some extra time now for Jaune to recuperate a little bit. "Take it the semblance is a new discovery? Weird for you to find it so late."

"Yeah, weird," he agreed, his heavy breathing having evened out a little, much to Yang's shock the boy's aura seemed to be replenishing at an alarmingly quick rate like the lightning semblance hadn't burned through nearly all of it a few seconds prior. Whatever it was, it felt like some kind of incredible marvel.

And just like that, Jaune was back on his feet and returned his sword to a readied position, the look on his face lacking any of the previous exhaustion he'd had after using his semblance. He thought he could a comment about it from Yang, but since he didn't hear it properly, he decided it was probably for the better that he didn't dwell on it. They still had a mission to complete after all.

"We'd better keep moving," he advised her, "No telling what else is out here."

"Good idea," She agreed, "Which way do you propose we go, VB?"

"Well, the cliff we were launched from was in the south, so it would make sense if we headed north, but then again this is a forest and it might not be the most direct path we should take because it seems so…so easy in comparison to what you might expect."

"Which is exactly why we're going to go that way," Yang cut him off, "Because that's what they'd expect us to think and overlook the possibility of it being in the most obvious spot because it just seems too simple."

"And if not, we can always double back."

"Let's move."

The pace they'd chosen wasn't more than a walk, but this was a chance to give Jaune a chance to fully recover his stamina so that he'd be ready by the time they encountered another enemy. In theory, the process of walking and recharging would be faster because he wasn't exerting himself too much, but he figured that question would be answered in time too. He didn't know much about this new power that had only manifested itself, but he knew that he'd be relying on it to get himself out of the Emerald Forest with his body in-tact. He had no intention of forcing himself to admit but - Without that power, he was completely useless.

End Chapter

I am so sorry this one is so short, but it's been a very long time since I've written this story and wanted to be sure I could still write these characters in the spirit of the story when it first started. The chapters will be longer going forward but I just needed a little buffer to get me back into the swing of things so to speak. I hope you enjoyed this chapter despite the short length and I shall hope to have the next installment in place soon. Until next time!