A/N: And here we finally hit the Aura scene. I'd love to hear from you all what you think his Semblance is :)
Also- over 100 people following this story?! Holy guacamole. That's wild. Thanks for the support!
Laws of Attraction
The atmosphere was light between the two, despite the tension they both felt among the dark trees of the forest. Jaune liked to make commentary, Pyrrha found- for every cool creature or plant he laid his eyes upon, he would animatedly explain exactly what it was. Or, at least, what he thought it was.
"Aw, Pyrrha, those are red currants! Can we eat them?"
"Those are poisonous, Jaune," she responded mildly.
"Dang it," he pouted, following her meekly. Barely a second passed by, though, as he perked up and said, "Ooh, squirrels! They're so cute and fluffy, aren't they?"
She bit her lip, but her smile grew anyways. "Indeed they are," she answered. "But make sure you're looking at the path, too- I don't want you to fall."
"Oh. Right. Will do!" Jaune replied brightly, turning his eyes back to the trail Pyrrha was cutting through the undergrowth for him. She shook her head in amusement. He was so obedient- it wasn't helping his little boy image whatsoever.
And yet, she didn't mind at all. In fact, amidst Jaune's nonsensical babbling and his entertaining reactions, she was having fun walking with her partner.
Partner. That word felt so, so right to her, although she couldn't put her finger on just why.
Out of the blue, a sharp bang echoed through the forest. It was a distance away yet, but Pyrrha still flexed her arms, ready to swing Miló at a moment's notice. Jaune jumped at the sound, cowering just a little. "Did you hear that?" he asked nervously.
She turned back to look at him, analyzing the sound quickly. "Gunfire. It seems some of our comrades have encountered the enemy." It was a good thing I found you so fast, she added mentally. If others have already encountered Grimm, then you would've been next.
It was time to put as much distance between the offending creatures and them as possible. So, for a few minutes, they quickly made their way through the forest, trying to cover as much ground as they could.
Pyrrha pressed onwards, pushing away a branch in her path. Her focus was nowhere near the branch, however, and she absentmindedly let it go as she passed, ears still trained upon the distant sound of clashing steel and the low moans of Grimm.
As she released it, Jaune squealed, and a thud drew Pyrrha's attention back towards her partner. The girl turned, immediately rushing over to the blond's side as he moaned from the forest floor, clutching his cheek. "I'm sorry!" she cried.
He laughed, bringing his hand away from his face to reveal a small wound from where the branch had struck him. "It's okay. Just a scratch!" he replied cheerily, getting up and dusting himself off.
Pyrrha watched him momentarily, brows furrowed. The gash wasn't disappearing, even as he straightened his armour and walked towards her- but why? Small wounds never lasted on Pyrrha's body for more than a blink due to her Aura's protection, so why would they show up on Jaune?
But the wound still didn't heal on its own. Perplexed, she asked, "Why didn't you activate your Aura?"
"Huh?"
"Your Aura," she insisted.
With a completely straight face, Jaune said, "Gesundheit."
You can't be serious. But his expression was so blissfully blank that she knew that he was indeed serious. With a wry smile, she asked, "Jaune, do you... know what Aura is?"
Jaune rolled his eyes, snorting as if the question was utterly ludicrous. "Psch! Of course I do!" Pointing at her accusingly, he asked, "Do you know what Aura is?"
They definitely should've taught you this in combat school… but you also didn't know what Sanctum was, so why am I surprised? Well, it's better now than never, she thought to herself, noticing a distinct lack of gunfire in the distance. The battle must have ended- and since there were no more calls from the Grimm resonating through the area, they had a little time to spare. Smiling at him gently, Pyrrha began to explain the concept.
"Aura is the manifestation of our soul," she recited, the lines flowing out of her mouth like a mantra. From a very young age, she had studied all the texts, everything there was to know about Auras and Semblances. After all, when her powers had begun manifesting, her mother had demanded a reason as to why all the silver cutlery in their house kept sticking to her constantly as a child. It had taken a fair bit of research to realize her control of polarity, and ever since then, she had taken that knowledge to heart.
Continuing on, she said, "It bears our burdens and shields our hearts. Have you ever felt you were being watched without knowing that someone was there?"
Jaune paused, clearly caught off-guard by the miniature lesson she was giving him out of the blue. "Uh... yeah."
Pyrrha circled around Jaune slowly, smile growing as he turned to follow her, clearly transfixed on the tale she was spinning before him. "With practice, our Aura can be our shield. Everyone has it, even animals."
Quickly, Jaune questioned, "What about monsters?"
She shook her head gravely. "No. The monsters we fight lack a soul. They are creatures of Grimm, the manifestation of anonymity. They are the darkness, and we are the light." The words had been repeated by her mentors, teachers, and parents for so long, it was practically written onto the back of her eyelids whenever she blinked.
Jaune clapped his hands, following along excitedly. "Right, that's why we fight them!"
Thinking back to her reoccurring dream, the image of slaying Grimm in Mistral forests filled her mind. But it wasn't the Grimm that mattered- it was about the people who she saved, the people who she protected… the people who welcomed her home afterwards. "It's not about why; it's about knowing," she insisted. "Understanding dark and light helps us manifest our Aura. Everyone has some of both." She looked at her open hand, eyes tracing the edge of her gloves, before clenching it into a fist. "By baring your soul outward as a force, you can deflect harm. All of our tools and equipment are conduits for Aura. You protect yourself and your soul when fighting."
As if experiencing a revelation, Jaune cried, "It's like a force field!"
Pyrrha chuckled and turned back to see his joyous expression, the image of the towel-caped boy nearly permanently overlaid upon Jaune's figure in her mind. "Yes, if you want to look at it that way."
He's taking this fairly well, she mused.
Back in Sanctum, one of her old professors had told them the way to ignite someone's Aura if they were in need of assistance. It was a trick used on the battlefield to aid comrades, one that reinitiated one's Aura when it had been depleted to critical levels. Theoretically, all they had to do was pour a little bit of their own power into a willing recipient. That power would act as the spark which would help drive a wounded soldier's body to regenerate their Aura more quickly.
That was the theory behind it, anyway. They never said anything about triggering the use of one's Aura with connection, but… why not give it a try? Walking towards him, she reached out a hand, cupping his injured cheek with gentle fingers. "Now, close your eyes and concentrate," she instructed in a soothing voice.
He was clearly confused, but Jaune complied anyways. "Uhh... Okay." In the corner of her eye, she saw a leaf begin its descent from a tree, lazily floating down in the serene clearing they stood in.
She smiled at the idyllic scene before her, so peaceful, so calm. Okay Pyrrha. Time to do this.
Bringing her attention back onto Jaune, she closed her own eyes. She breathed out, in, out, and let her body drift away, her mind retreating deep into herself, sinking into a pool of darkness where no sound could enter. In her heart, she could sense the pulsating core of her soul, could see it with her mind's eye, glowing red and bright as the fiery sun peeking over the horizon, warming her from head to toe. This was the pull she had always known since she was a child- the pull she had always loved, cherished, and nurtured.
This was her Aura.
The glowing ball in front of her reached out a spindly thread, touching her fingertips and spreading that warmth like a blaze throughout every fiber of her being. At the contact, her eyes shot open, pupils shrinking as her mind's eye filled with the glow of her Aura, shining as bright as ever- nearly too bright to touch.
And then, she felt it- the pull she had been warned about. Closing her eyes once more, she channeled her inner self through her hand and into Jaune's cheek, feeling his spirit's darkness open up, welcoming her inside. She smiled softly, sending tendrils of her Aura through this connection. Although it was dark, there was a faint white light glowing up ahead- she could feel it.
For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death, she chanted internally, the words flowing into her mind without hesitation. She placed her right hand on his breastplate, allowing the second connection to add another route of power between the two. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee.
Confidence growing, she pushed her Aura a bit more aggressively until it was able to reach the light-
And suddenly, bright white flooded her vision, every fiber of her being standing on edge as she felt a foreign power- Jaune's power- flushing her system. It was like a floodgate had opened, and suddenly the brilliant river was free to occupy her heart and soul, mingling with her own Aura.
How in the world does he have this much strength? How has he not noticed? she wondered in awe, immediately pulling her Aura back so that she could release the connection.
But as her Aura passed the threshold of her fingertips and swam back into her soul, she found herself in an odd situation.
She was… stuck. Her hand was glued to his cheek, her Aura interlocked with his pure white glow so strongly that she couldn't move. Dammit, it's the spoons all over again. In a panic, she quickly steeled herself and tore her arms away, fatigue immediately hitting her muscles as her Aura rushed back into her core, the bright red ball burning brightly in the center of her soul.
She hunched over, panting lightly. What in the world was that? she wondered, regaining her breath quickly. Just as fast as it had occurred, the pull ceased, no trace of it remaining in her fingers as she flexed them.
The glow which had covered Jaune began to fade away as well, the boy leaning towards her in concern. "Pyrrha?" he asked, unsure of what to do.
She straightened herself up. Over Jaune's shoulder, she could see the leaf she had seen earlier finally hitting the ground. With its gentle landing, she knew that their contact must've lasted for only a heartbeat for the rest of the world.
"It's all right," she explained. "I used my Aura to unlock yours, but the energy that protects you now is your own." She leaned forward, grinning widely as the wound on his cheek immediately stitched itself together and closed, leaving not a single scar in its wake. His Aura retreated completely back within him, and Pyrrha could no longer feel the immense presence she had felt earlier- however, it was still present, still glowing under his skin. She was successful in triggering it. "You have a lot of it." How you didn't realize this baffles me, Jaune.
Jaune's smile grew in awe, watching the glow fade from his hands. "Wow..." he said simply, eyes wide with wonder. Seeing that boyish innocence in him made Pyrrha's smile grow even wider as she realized what had just happened for her partner.
He had not even known about Auras, let alone his own. He had somehow never even known about his true inner strength. That meant that he didn't know his own Semblance, either.
That realization shook Pyrrha. Not knowing about Auras- did that mean that he had spent his entire life watching Huntsmen and Huntresses fight Grimm, looking as if they never even received a scratch? Had he believed that his other peers, Pyrrha included, were just better because they had never sustained a visible injury?
Because that wasn't true- not at all. Even Pyrrha got scratched from time to time, albeit less than most people. It was just that her Aura healed her before the wounds could even manifest. No one was perfect.
But Jaune had never known that. And as his shining eyes lifted to meet her own, filled with gratitude and amazement, she knew that she had just changed everything for him.