Thank you everyone who read and reviewed. I'd like to thank Firefly25 for giving me some things to think about. And I'd live to give an extra big thank you to MidKnightMoonglow99, you helped bring form to my rough ideas and lent me some of your own. Discussing this fic with you have been a pleasure and I look forward to hearing your input as I continue to write.
Sometimes Penny was happy that she was not a human. She did not need to worry about staying fit and exercising, going to the bathroom seemed like it would get annoying and sleep just seemed like a hassle to deal with.
Watching Jaune spew up his last meal and spit it out the apparently awful taste certainly counted as one of those times.
"I can taste that awful candy bar again," Jane said spitting into the snow one last time before standing up.
"We should get moving," she advised, "it will be dark in sixteen hundred hours, you are not equipped to deal with the temperature drop."
Jaune nodded brushing the snow off of him. "Right… which direction?" He asked her looking around the expanse of white around them.
"This way," Penny pointes, "Mantle is currently seventy six kilometers to the southwest bearing two sixteen."
Jaune nodded as he started to walk the ice crunching beneath him. "I really wish I hadn't left my bag in the truck," he sighed regretfully. He looked to Penny keeping pace with him, her eyes scanning the landscape. "Is your leg alright?" He asked her.
"It is damaged," she explained to him, "I can no longer operate my rocket boot but I still have full mobility, it will not slow me."
Jaune nodded, "ok… did you get a look at the shooter?" He asked trying to take stock of their situation.
"I did," Penny confirmed turning to him, a holo display projected from her eye showing the image. A man dressed head to toe in white gazing down the scope of a long barreled rifle, a white balaclava concealing his face as he laid prone partially buried in the snow. "I have not been able to identify him but that rifle is not any model in my database, it is custom built and it shattered through my aura."
"I'm glad he kept hitting my shield," Jaune sighed inspecting the dents on his shield, "is your aura healing?"
She nodded, "slowly, and my power levels are at seventy three percent, how is your aura Jaune?"
Jaune stopped and fished into his pocket for his scroll to check his own aura levels. He frowned, "my scroll is fried," he groaned in frustration dropping it back into his pocket.
"Here I can connect to your aura," Penny explained looking to him linking up to his unique aura signature connecting to it as his scroll would, "you're at eighty six percent," she explained to him.
"Good," Jaune said stepping close to her.
"Jaune?" She asked questioning his sudden closeness.
He set his hand upon her shoulder and she felt her aura pulse with power glowing white. It felt… interesting to her, his semblance connecting to her own aura giving it a jump start as he funneled his aura into her, connecting his soul to hers. Penny did not know what it felt like to be warm, not as real people do, but with Jaune's earlier description she wondered if it felt anything like this.
"That should help," Jaune said pulling his hand away, "if we get into another fight you'll be better prepared."
She looked into his eyes, he gave her a smile and seemed to show he was at ease. "Your aura is protecting you from the elements, you should save it for yourself."
"If we get into another fight I'm going to need you," Jaune told her, "your my best chance of survival Penny."
She nodded to him hearing the sincerity of his voice, he was trusting her to help him through this. Penny smiled at him, "thank you Jaune."
Jaune's eyes widened suddenly at her, "Blake!" He said shock coloring his features.
"Blake?" She asked, "What about her?"
"I was supposed to be doing this escort mission with Blake!" Jaune explained to her, "you switched places with her so she could do a huntress contract with Yang… that sniper knew, he planted that magnet mine or whatever that was for you!"
"That… yeah," Penny agreed connecting the dots, "they had to know our route too."
Jaune nodded, "someone had to relay that information to our shooter somehow," he said pulling away from her to walk again. "Someone is feeding information directly to… whoever it is doing this. Not that knowing this helps us much out here."
"It is another reason to get back to Atlas," she said, "the General will need to know there is a traitor leaking information."
They quickly fell into silence as they hiked, the snowy hills before them looked simple to her but after an hour or so Jaune's pace slowed if only slightly. He voiced no complaints but his breathing was heavy and the cold was clearly affecting him, his aura was keeping him from developing frostbite or hypothermia but it did little to spare him from the discomfort.
"Maybe we should take a break," Penny suggested stopping to scan the area for immediate threats.
"We… don't have... a lot of time," Jaune said stopping to pant despite his protests taking a knee in the snow, "Night is coming and I can't take a break every hour or so."
Penny looked away at the horizon to the spiky haired blonde and frowned, "just five minute... it should help you keep an efficient pace."
Jaune nodded at her, "be honest with me," he said looking back the way they came seeing their footprints fading with the falling snow, "can we make it back in time?"
"We can," she assured him with a smile, "if we can maintain our current pace and keep rest to a minimum I am sure we can get within range of a CCT tower and call for help with several hours of daylight left."
"That's encouraging," Jaune said cracking a grin, "I wouldn't last five minutes out here if it wasn't for you."
"You have been doing well Jaune," she assured him, offering him a hand to help him stand that he took.
"For a human," he sighed.
"I… no I did not mean it like that Jaune," she stammered awkwardly.
"I know," he said giving her a goofy looking smile followed by an awkward chuckle, "I'm just very aware of my limits right now… you haven't even broken a sweat this entire time."
"I don't need to sweat remember? I can expel excess heat directly through my exterior." She explained to him realizing that he'd simply used an idiom.
Jaune laughed, a hearty honest laugh, not a nervous chuckle like she'd heard from him before. "I meant… you're holding up very well, I'm sorry you're stuck dragging my ass through the snow."
"Do not apologize Jaune, you are far from the worst person to share this predicament with, you boosted my aura and now I'm back to being combat ready. You are probably the second best person for this scenario." She explained to him, "Your naturally high aura levels mean you can survive out here for a much longer than most."
"Second huh?" He asked, "who's number one?" He asked curious.
"Winter," Penny explained, "or Weiss, either of them could summon something to fly us out or ride on."
Jaune smirked, "Yeah that'd be nice right now."
Penny nodded in agreement as they continued on their way. Talk was scarce as Jaune focused on his hike as they climbed up and down snowy hills, the flakes falling upon them piled up and occasionally they stopped to brush themselves off of the ice building upon them.
She turned to scan the landscape every five minutes to check for grimm or whoever had attacked them.
"Penny?" He asked seeing that she had stopped after checking.
"Target spotted!" Penny announced her back opening to deploy Floating Array, the blades separated as one morphed into the laser gun firing a single energy burst. Penny watched as the green lasted shot across the landscape striking her target. It exploded, a simple flash in the distance. "Target destroyed." She said simply.
"What was that?" Jaune asked gripping Crocea Mors ready to draw the blade.
"A drone," she explained to him reaching for his hand, "it was watching us, we are being tracked."
"Great," Jaune groaned sarcastically, "I was hoping they just wanted whatever was in the truck."
"We need to move!" Penny urged earning a nod from Jaune as he turned back and ran jogging up the incline. Penny followed behind keeping pace as she kept covering their rear and keeping an eye out.
Her sensors scanned the overcast skies and the horizon as they moved hustling up the side of a hill. Her targeting system marked another drone to the northeast as they crested the hill, another small reconnaissance drone kilometers away. Another laser blast shattered it to pieces.
"Watch out!" Jaune cried as a rapid burst of gunfire echoed through the air.
Penny turned as the knight drew Crocea Mors. Steel claws scraped against Jaune's shield. Canine shaped drones sprinted across the snow appearing from the other side of the hill, white and grey painted mechanical hunters, a parody hounds on the hunt. They didn't bark or howl, they simply charged and attacked with claws and fangs. The rear ranks unleashed bursts of gunfire from shoulder mounted guns as the front ranks closed in for the close kill.
Jaune pushed the mechanical beast off with his shield and thrust the tip of Crocea Mors stabbing the robotic predator between its mechanical eyes. Penny's blades lashed out cutting down several of the drones slicing them into sparking pieces of scrap.
"So mechanical dogs, that's new," Jaune said slicing the head off another and kicking the body away to roll down the snowy hill, copper wires sparking from its neck. "They're not very tough," he commented bringing his shield up as one of the drones fired a burst of submachine gun fire, Jaune blocked the shots as Penny's Floating Array finished it off.
"Come on," she urged him moving down the hill, a fountain of snow erupting behind them as they disappeared behind the hill.
"Looks like our sniper still has it out for us," Jaune panted as they sprinted down the hill together. His boot stuck a rock beneath the snow, he yelled as he tripped and rolled down the hill.
"Jaune!" Penny cried watching him roll down the snowy slope. She sprinted after him her enhanced speed kicking in as she reached him helping him stop.
"Uh," He groaned moving to stand.
"Jaune, let me carry you," Penny insisted turning back to see another flying drone that she quickly shot down with another laser blast.
Jaune shook his head getting the snow off of his hair and eyes. "I'm fine," he insisted, "I'm not hurt, I can still move."
"I know Jaune," she explained, "but we must move faster, I am faster and strong enough to carry you for a little bit."
Jaune hesitated looking up to where the drone she destroyed had been, the smoke already scattered by the cold winds. "Alright," He nodded.
Penny gathered him into her arms and he put his arms around her neck holding on as she sprinted off, leaping forward to clear a several meters of snowy ground before touching down to leap forward again clearing more ground. She clutched Jaune to her as she moved forward speeding across the landscape.
"This is getting old," Jaune grumbled deflecting a claw off his shield and thrusting Crocea Mors into the side of the drone sending it down, "how many of these things are there?"
"We have dispatched twenty so far, not including six aerial reconnaissance drones," Penny informed him scanning the skies and spotting another reconnaissance drone in the sky, another simple blast of the laser destroying it easily enough.
"Stop!" Jaune told her.
Penny turned to him with an inquisitive eye, "Why? Those drones are tracking us and leading these drones to us, we can not let continue to do so."
"Yes, Jaune agreed. "But that's just it, every time we destroy one we run and try eventually fight more, these drones aren't trying to kill us they're trying to soften us up. How's our aura looking? How's your power level?"
"Your aura is at fifty seven percent, mine is at sixty two percent, my power however is at fifty four percent. I have been expending energy in these fights as well as carrying you." She explained.
"Exactly!" Jaune commented, "our auras keeps getting lower and you're losing power, whoever's hunting us is trying to slow and down and wear us out, we're playing into his plan, he has to know where we're heading, if we keep heading straight for Mantle he'll keep ambushing us."
Penny nodded, "so what do you suggest?"
"We're too exposed out here, we need to hide, we need to give whoever's tracking us the slip before trying to make a break for rescue." He explained looking around the landscape seeing little more than ice, snow and rocky hills and mountains. "I just… where can we hide? There's no trees or anything."
Penny smiled, "I saw a cave," she explained, "several kilometers back in the distance, I'm pretty sure it was an Ursai den."
Jaune returned her smile, "sounds perfect, lead the way!l
"Let me carry you again, it'll be faster," she insisted.
Jaune nodded, "alright… just one more time, you need to conserve your power," he stepped close and let her pick him up once more putting his arms around her neck as she turned back in the direction they came and sprinted back.
Jaune couldn't complain too much being carried. The mild wound to his pride from being a literal burden for Penny to carry was nothing compared to the comfort from spending some time off his feet, to rest and admittedly it was warm in Penny's arms. It was still cold and the added speed didn't help but it was indeed an improvement to trudging through the snow.
They cleared the distance in little time before Penny turned them due south towards one of the rocky hills. It took him awhile to spot the cave, it blended well into the landscape and it was a testament to Penny's eyesight that she saw it. It was practically a black dot in the distance but coming closer Jaune looked into the pitch black.
"I do not think we were spotted," Penny said stepping into the cave deploying Floating Array, ice clung to the walls like crystals, faint daylight filtered in through the entrance and Jaune looked down into the dark tunnel.
"Let's stay in the light," Jaune suggested taking a knee to sit on the icy ground, "at least we're out of the wind."
"It is actually slightly warmer in here," Penny informed him, "It should be safe for you to deactivate your aura, let it replenish."
Jaune nodded cupping his hands and breathing into them. They were completely numb and red and he flexed his fingers trying to return feeling into them. "I would pay so much lien just for a mug of hot chocolate right now," he shivered.
Penny turned away from the black of the cave and moved, she knelt down and took his hands in hers holding them. Her hands were warm and he gasped feeling sensation return to his fingers, if felt like thousands of needles stabbing him but he didn't pull away. "What else would you like?" She asked him running his fingers over his hands, helping to return feeling into them.
"Lets see," Jaune said thinking, "I mean… I'd eat those horrible candy bars I had in my backpack… I really wish I'd been able to grab it."
Penny smiled, he had to be starving after hiking far after emptying his last meal into the snow. "If you could eat anything you want, right now, what would it be?"
"Anything I want?"
"Yes anything," Penny said, giving him a warm smile.
"My mom's tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches," he sighed affectionately, "she usually made them when it snowed, my sisters and I would come in after a day of building snowmen and forts and snowball fights, it would warm us right up and we'd be ready to go back outside to play in the snow."
"You would play in the snow?" She asked him curiously.
Jaune grinned releasing a smoky breath between them. He met her green eyes. "Yeah… we had snow coats and mittens and hats my mom knit for us, we didn't get very cold. Snow was special, school was usually canceled for a day or two, everything around home looked different and there were so many things to do in the snow."
She squeezed his hands, the feeling of pins receded as normal feeling returned. "I would like to hear about them," she told him as she continued to hold his hands.
"Their was sledding, where we slide down snowy hills, there was a great hill in a park nearby, kids flocked there with their sleds, we'd build forts and have snowball fights, we'd pack the snow into barriers or dig trenches and make balls we'd throw at each other." He explained unable to keep himself from smiling at the memories. "We didn't even have rules for who won the snowball fight, we just teamed up with our friends and threw them at one another. I had terrible aim, I couldn't hit anything but my older sister Saphron, she was a natural. My sisters would make snow angels, dozens of them, they'd litter our front yard with snow angels."
"What are snow angels?" Penny asked, listening to every detail.
"It's where you lay on your back in the snow and move your arms up and down and legs side to side, it leaves an imprint in the snow that kind of looks like an angel." He explained realizing he'd been gazing into Penny's eyes.
She looked away from him breaking their eye contact to inspect his hand. It wasn't red anymore and he had complete feeling in his fingers. He flexed them pleased with the result. "Thank you," Penny said, giving him another warm smile.
"For what?" He asked.
"For telling me about your mom's tomato soup and grilled cheese, and about playing in the snow… it sounds quite wonderful." Penny explained.
"Well thank you for taking my mind of my worries," Jaune said returning her thanks with thanks. "And for bringing feeling back into my hand."
"Here," Penny said grabbing a corner of her skirt tearing a long strip of cloth off, "this could help keep your hands warm," she explained wrapping his fingers with the cloth.
"Uh, thanks," Jaune said watching her as she carefully wrapped his fingers, "I hope you weren't too attached to that skirt."
Penny shook her head, "I have others just like it, you need this more."
He nodded accepting her response as she wrapped his hands to defend them from the cold once they ventured out hopefully without this hunter on their tail.
"You should get some sleep," Penny suggested, "we will not be here long, but now would be a good time to rest."
"What about you?" Jaune asked her.
"I do not sleep Jaune," Penny reminded him, moving to sit next to his left,"not like you do, I will keep watch while we wait to head back out."
Jaune sighed seeing her point, he was exhausted, he hadn't had anything to eat or drink in hours and his legs felt like they were on fire. "Thank you," he whispered, letting his eyes relax.
"You are most welcome Jaune Arc," He heard Penny say as he leaned against her shoulders feeling her warmth on his left side. His eyelids were heavy and closed as he offered no resistance. His vision went black and his fatigue took hold sending him into a deep dreamless rest.
Hope everyone enjoyed the second chapter. I'll be trying to update every week or so I hope to at least be somewhat consistent. Getting back to writing fanfiction has been nice but I'm a little rusty. I'm going to try to find a beta reader so I can have my work smoothed out. Hope you all enjoyed this and I look forward to updating again soon.