Welcome to another chapter of TPA. As always edited by JJD.
Jaune ended call and looked over the photos he had received again. There was not much left of corpse - both arms and the right leg were gone, along with a good part of the upper torso.
That's… far more than 40% I'd say…
After a few more questions, Ozpin put him in contact with the Hunter who fought the beast. An older man with boisterous voice, that was more than happy to give Jaune any information he wanted. According to him, the first 'fatal' wound he delivered was a shot to the chest. Harrowed fell, then returned to its feet and continued to attack.
Next was a diagonal cut from its left shoulder to right side of its chest. The blow separated its head, right arm, and a good portion of the upper torso from rest of body. The strange thing was that according to the Hunter, the beast seemed to have no problem locating him, even when its head was no longer attached to its body. Even when he was clearly out of its line of sight.
What sealed the deal was the third attack - a shot to right side of the pelvis that ripped off its right leg, followed by a cut that separated its remaining arm from the rest of its body.
Strange… If it could spot him without a head, it would mean it has some other way of perceiving its surroundings… But it still had trouble with reacting to my attacks in that cave… was it because it was dark in there?
Jaune shook his head. There was no point thinking about it now. Instead, he focused on task at hand - finding a partner, locating the relics, and passing initiation.
Blake watched the blond boy run off in the vague direction of north. She spotted him landing not long after her own touchdown, and decided to take a look. She recognized the boy instantly - messy, blond hair, heavy armor, two swords. She recalled that the Headmaster had referred to him as.. Arc?
Now, what to do… Should I just walk out? I would prefer to see him fight first, but that landing wasn't half bad.
A sudden ringing interrupted her thoughts. The boy in front of her took out his scroll and started speaking with someone. He was too far away, and talked too quietly for her to hear clearly, but she could still pick out a few words.
Is he talking with… Headmaster Ozpin?
Blake's eyes narrowed. She knew she could be paranoid, but this situation wasn't normal. A Hunter-in-training shouldn't be receiving calls from the Headmaster of the academy he is joining - especially not during initiation.
She watched the boy end the call, then make another and talk with someone else for a few minutes. Then he ran off north.
After a second of contemplation, Blake followed him. Something was not right here - and she was going to find out what.
Ruby Rose was in distress. This was bad.
Really, really bad.
What does he mean by "first person you make eye contact with"?! How am I supposed to 'choose' my partner when all it takes is to look at each other? Ahhhhhhhh, it's so stupid!
Others might be fine with it - but not socially awkward Ruby.
Ok, calm down. All you need to do is not make eye contact with anyone until you find Yang. It will be fine, if you meet someone you can just close your eyes and run past them with your semblance. No eye-contact - no partners.
She ignored the little voice in the back of her head asking what she would do if Yang already found a partner. She wouldn't just leave her little sister like that, right?
.
.
.
She totally would.
Ahhh this is bad. What will I do if she abandons me again? I don't know… anybody… Jaune!
Ruby paused… yes, Jaune Arc looked like a nice guy. She wasn't sure if they could be called friends yet - they only talked two times. But he didn't look put off when she started nerding out about his armor and weapons and he didn't try to get rid of her so he could talk with Yang more.
Plus, he said he had done some contracting work, and for SDC no less. That means he is almost like pro Hunter!
Ok, change of plan. Look for Yang OR Jaune.
Ruby smiled at her brilliant plan - two people meant twice as many chances she would partner up with someone she knew.
Yes, this is perfect. Now all I need to do is to not look into anyone else's...
She barely managed to stop before running into the person in front of her. Said person turned around, looking her straight in the...
...eyes.
"Oh, it's you," said Weiss Schnee.
Jaune looked at the new photo he just received. In the span of the thirty or so minutes since his talk with Ozpin, there were ten encounters with a Harrowed. Most of them were students surprised by a sudden attack from an enemy they thought they had just killed - or one they didn't even notice was there. Thankfully, no one had suffered any serious injury. Yet.
That's why, after brief talk with the Headmaster, Jaune decided to focus on taking down the threat.
Thankfully, the increased encounter rate meant more information could be gathered. He now was receiving regular updates on where the Harrowed was encountered, how the fight went, and, in the case it was taken down, a photo of corpse. This allowed Jaune to make some… educated guesses.
It can fight even with a severely damaged body, but will abandon it the moment it can no longer move, or attack. It will rely on 'normal' sense as long as possible, but if it loses its head it will start to use some other way to perceive it surrounding - though I have no idea what it might be.
It looks like it will try to pretend to be normal Grimm for as long as possible… but why?
Jaune shook his head. That wasn't what was important now. He had to locate it before someone was seriously wounded, or worse.
It always appears in places where a fight against Grimm took place. Why? It often runs away, or even plays dead, and waits for people to leave so it's not like it's looking for victims.
Jaune scrolled through the photos he received, stopping on one that caught his interest. It was the last registered encounter with Harrowed - about six minutes ago. And the only one where it took different shape - an Ursa instead of Beowolf.
Why? Why did it take different shape there, but nowhere else? Maybe it decided this one would mask it more effectively? Is it that intelligent?
Just when he was about to put his scroll away, it ringed. Jaune recognized the number - it was the same Hunter that encountered the Harrowed this morning.
"Jaune, my boy! I looked around the clearing where last encounter took place, and I found something interesting."
Oh?
"I'm listening."
"Whoever fought there, fought Ursas."
It took Jaune a few moments to figure out why this information was important.
It was always Beowolf… In every place it "spawned" people fought Beowolves.
"So it took the shape of Ursa… to blend in?"
"It might… but why do so after the fight?"
Now that was good question, wasn't it? Usually the Harrowed appeared shortly after a fight ended, and either tried to run after a surprise attack, or played dead after it was "killed" by students unaware what they were dealing with. Thanks to the cameras, teachers from Beacon could easily locate it, but so far every attempt to put it down for good failed. Another mystery was how it went from its 'ghost' form to material one.
Damn you Doggy, you are just determined to ruin my day, aren't you?
Now the big question was - where would it spawn next? A sudden explosion, followed by gunshots, caught his attention. He looked to the source of noise - north-east form his current location, and not too far away.
Well, as good place to check as any. He thought, running towards the rising plume of smoke.
Blake was getting nervous. This Arc boy cleary was up to something. She saw him check his scroll multiple times, usually looking over something, but also making few calls. She didn't know what they were about - the one time she dared to try to sneak any closer, she was almost spotted.
Who are you? And why are you here?
Rustling of bushes behind her put her on guard. She briefly considered trying to run away - she really didn't want to fight anything now. That was bound to catch the blond boy's attention, ruining her chances of spying on him.
However, before she could make decision, the source of the noise appeared.
It wasn't Grimm, but a person. A very noisy person.
"Oh, hello there." She said with grin
"Hi." Answered Blake.
The blond haired girl in front of her put one hand on her hip and flashed a cocky grin.
"Guess we're partners, huh? Name's Yang Xiao Long," she said extending her hand.
The fanus girl spared a quick glance behind her. The boy was gone.
With an internal sigh she took the offered hand.
"Blake Belladonna."
It looked like her investigation would have to wait
When Jaune finally reached his destination, the fight was already over. Corpses of five Beowolves laid all over the small clearing, slowly turning into smoke.
Literally all over.
A forearm with half of its paw still attached was probably biggest piece of Grimm left behind.
Well, that looks… messy. But I guess none of them will be getting back up anytime soon.
Just as he was about to leave, he noticed something strange. There was much more of this black smoke there than there should have been, and it was concentrating in a single spot. With morbid fascination, Jaune observed as the remains of the dead Grimm gathered near the forearm he noticed earlier - and began to take shape. It was vague at first, but after not even a minute, a full-fledged Beowolf stood before him.
Ok… So it gathers remains of dead Grimm to make body for itself. Sure, why not.
He snapped his scroll shut, after sending recording of what he saw to Ozpin.
Hiding behind a nearby tree, he pulled two bottles from his belt. Drinking two elixirs at once wasn't something he liked to do - the risk of backslash was much greater, and side effects were amplified too, but this was not time to play around.
Jaune closed his eyes and started applying his Semblance. The first thing that kicked in was a dull headache. Soon after, his hearing strengthened - he could now cleary hear the monster in clearing behind him. He started picking up scents with much more intensity, but after a few seconds turned it down. A few seconds more, and he slowly opened his eyes - to see the grey world.
He first realized what his Semblance was about two years ago - but was probably using it subconsciously for longer. It allowed him to strengthen Aura - allowing him to block stronger hits and heal faster than other Hunters.
After some experimenting, he discovered he could use it to help manipulate effects of his elixirs. Usually he limited it to lowering their side effects, but in the case of more complicated elixirs - it gave him a few more options.
Take Dawn for example. It was something he created shortly after he come back to experimenting with Dusk. He wanted to create weaker version that would allow him to fight for longer, and with milder drawbacks. He technically failed - Dawn had none of the properties of Dusk. Instead, it greatly boosted his five senses. While that sounded nice - and was useful in some situations - it was a double edged sword. Boosted hearing meant he was more vulnerable to loud noises, boosted vision made it easy to be blinded by any source of light. Worst was touch - when boosted it made him capable of feeling even slightest movements of air around him. Very useful when he had to fought hard to see enemy.
If not for the fact it also greatly lowered his pain threshold - to the point where a simple pat on the back could knock him out from the pain.
However, thanks to his Semblance, he could choose what he wanted to boost, and how much. For example - he could boost his hearing, but keep other senses at a normal level. Or he could turn off his ability to see colors - and boost his ability to perceive movements.
With the addition of the Perception Enhancer, he could also simulate Dusk Aura-vision. The effect was weaker, but since the only real drawback was small headache, and increased Aura consumption when he was using his Semblance, he could keep it up much longer.
Jaune took a few more seconds to stabilize the effects of both elixirs, and making sure he wasn't about to get hit by sudden nausea attack.
Then, black sword in hand, and a smile on his lips, he walked out of his hiding spot.
"Hi there Doggy." He said as the beast turned towards him. "Ready for round two?"
The Ursa's roar was cut short by the spear that pierced its skull. The second beast tried to get her from behind, but was too slow. Pyrrha spun to the left, switching her spear to its sword form and cutting off Grimm hand in one, fluid motion. Before it could even think about how to retaliate, Milo - again in spear form - pierced through the back of its head. Freeing her weapon, Pyrrha scanned the battlefield.
The corpses of five Ursa laid around, a few almost gone already. She sighed, and started walking north again. Catching the blond boy provided far harder than she thought. At first, she wanted to… help the odds a bit. But just as she lined up for a perfect throw that would let her pin him to the tree - and didn't that bring a few… interesting images in her mind - the boy suddenly lost his momentum and disappeared in the forest.
That left her with only one option - track him down. Well, she was a Huntress (in training), tracking down her prey was basically in the job description. Unfortunately, her private instructors somehow omitted this little detail in her lessons. She made it to the spot she thought he landed without any problems - the few Grimm she encountered were nothing more than a distraction. But then the real problem started - even if she was in the right place, it turned out her partner-to-be didn't see fit to wait for her.
With no clue what to do, she decided to just run north - where relics were supposed to be. All the time looking for a mop of messy blond hair.
Pyrrha knew she was probably being unfair. It was normal for people to be in awe when they met someone they admired. It's just that she was really tired of being The Champion - she wanted to be just Pyrrha again. And while she was sure anyone she was partnered with would understood it - eventually - she preferred to not take any chances.
Jaune Arc never heard of her - something she was dreading was not possible. Not only that - he seemed to genuinely not care. They talked briefly, on the way to the cliffs - and while he asked many of the questions she usually received, they lacked the… awe her fans had. He expressed his admiration for her skill - but he wasn't gushing about it.
Yes, Jaune Arc proved nice, friendly, funny. He didn't care about her fame, and saw her as a person. That was all she ever really wanted - and more than she dared to hope she would ever find. But now that it was right in front of her - she was ready to fight tooth and nail to get what she wanted.
She smiled.
I wonder what he is doing right now…
Jaune Arc was currently running through forest, sword in hand, and murder in his eyes.
That fucking son of Vacuan whore! That flea-ridden mutt! Just you wait, you stinking piece of Grimm shit, when I get you…
The reason for Jaune rage was simple.
His second encounter with 'Doggy', as he named his mark, went rather well - it was nowhere near as strong as during their first fight.
Jaune was sure he would be able to finish it then and there - but Doggy suddenly threw some soil mixed with leaves at him. It was just a brief distraction - one that the beast used to run away. It only briefly paused when it found some dead Grimm to "eat up" and continued running.
This was the beginning of cat-and-mouse game, where Jaune was chasing the damn thing around, and 'Doggy' was entertaining him by throwing whatever it could at him whenever he got close.
The Harrowed proved to be extremely light on its feet - easily outrunning Beowolves. This provided to be a challenge for Jaune, who was not fastest person around.
To make matters worse, it was killed twice by some students - forcing Jaune to waste even more time trying to find it again.
At least I learned few things...
The Harrowed was capable of gathering remains of dead Grimm to build himself a body. He usually made one resembling Grimm it "collected" - but was by no means limited to a single form. After its body was complete it couldn't abandon it until it was either heavily damaged - or it lost its head. It could remain in the same body for as long as it wanted - but would usually abandon one when it was no longer capable of fighting.
Freshly after reforming, it was much weaker than normal Grimm - but could gather more material to strengthen itself.
After being killed, its "essence" - how Jaune like to call it would leave the body and drift away, but no more than ten meters. Then it would start gathering a bit of material from its previous body - and fly off in the direction of highest Grimm concentration in around a 200 meter radius. If it didn't find any - it would just wander around until it stumbled onto some. Then it would attach itself to a Grimm, and wait for it to die, then take over its body. Or, if the Grimm were already dead, it would stick to the biggest peace it could find, and build a new one.
Jaune paused for a moment to listen, and catch his breath. Then he continued running.
The sound of gunfire from the direction he was heading to stopped about ten minutes ago. That meant there would be dead Grimm there - and his mark would stop to feed again.
Jaune "lost" the Harrowed a bit earlier. He hoped giving it some space would cause it to drop its guard and let him make some preparations.
It payed off - he could now see a small clearing with several Grimm corpses, and his mark in the middle gathering black smoke.
Another thing he discovered was that the Harrowed had rather poor senses. When its head was destroyed, it would start emitting black smoke - and could use it to locate moving objects around it, but only in a very limited area.
So now, when his prey stopped running, and was discrated, Jaune decided to act.
He ran out of the woods, straight at Harrowed. He managed to cover half the distance before it noticed him.
It roared and hesitated on whether to run or fight.
It cost it, when the black blade tore through its left arm, cutting it cleanly.
Its true form is invulnerable as long as it remains in the body.
Jaune recalled what he learned, dodging the Harrowed's right arm.
"It's smart, would fight for as long as it thinks it has chance, but will try to run when it takes heavy damage."
A swift counter left, cut deep into the beast's torso. Jaune took a few steps back, and looked his opponent over. Its eyes - still red - locked onto his.
Jaune took a deep breath. He had already formed plan, and made all the preparations he could in such limited time. Now it was time to put it in motion.
The beast was furious. The intruder has returned - and he was relentless. It chased it for a long time, not giving it the chance to eat and get stronger. It wanted to kill him, for all the pain he caused, but the Beast knew better.
The intruder was strong. If it wanted to kill him, it had to eat - a lot. Eat and grow stronger. Right now the Beast knew it couldn't win - so it would just bide its time and look for a chance to escape. The intruder was fast and strong, but it could outrun him.
It already lost one arm, but it could be regrown - now all it needed was a chance.
The Beast jumped back, avoiding a slash to its neck. It could just abandon this body - but then it would go back to being blind.
Blind, and deaf. Cold and hot - both and neither at the same time. It didn't want to do it - even all pain it was feeling was better than that.
It gathered some earth, threw it at the intruder - and ran as fast as it could. The lack of one hand hindered its speed, but it was sure it could still outrun him.
Jaune ran after the retreating monster.
Just a bit more…
Despite losing an arm, it was still very fast - faster than him. It was steadily gaining distance. And it was still accelerating.
Jaune smiled.
It should be around…
The Harrowed let out surprised squeal when it tripped, fell and slammed into nearby tree.
Here.
After few encounters he learned of Beast habits - it would try to distract him, then run straight ahead for about 300 meters. Then it start waving, trying to lose pursuers.
That's why Jaune put up some tripwires, and circled around to make sure the Beast would run in the right direction.
Step one, place traps.
Step two, lure Harrowed into them.
So far his plan was working.
Time for step three - force the real body out.
The Beast was still dazed from the impact, and Jaune didn't give it time to recover. His black sword rose and fell, taking the Beast head off its shoulders.
Step three done, time for step four - finish the job. He thought, observing with his Aura vision as... something was emerging from the Grimm's neck. It was shapeless, and swirling around. After a short time, taking a shape that looked like… well something. But it quickly returned to it shapeless form.
Jaune took a deep breath and poured Aura into his sword. It started vibrating, letting off a low buzzing sound. After just a moment, black mist started to raise from the blade, settling around his hand, coloring it in the same pitch-black color. It spread up to elbow before stopping.
The blade itself looked liquid. A wisp of black and white swirled together making complex, constantly changing designs.
Awakening of black swords was one of its most powerful abilities. Unfortunately it also drained Aura like crazy, and sometime there were... other side-effects. But it was the only way to deal with Harrowed that didn't have a material body.
I can't afford to awaken it fully. Even then I probably have only two minutes… if I really push it. But I still need to complete this initiation, so…
He let out his breath and looked up - the Harrowed was now fully visible. It appeared as a ball floating about one meter above its body. Four to six tentacle-like things connected the ball with it severed neck.
A sudden gust of wind broke withered out branch.
The Witcher dashed.
The Grimm body did the same - but the Harrowed stayed in the same place.
I can't destroy the connection between it and its body - it will run away.
He ducked under a swipe of the Grimm's arm and tried to run past it towards the main body.
The decapitated body made a move like it wanted to bite him - but the lack of head made it a wasted effort. It instead half-lunged, half-tackled him.
Jaune sidestepped it, and when it fell over slashed at its leg - not enough to cut it off, but enough to hinder its movement.
It rose and tried to chase him - but it was too late. Jaune pumped Aura into his legs and jumped.
A broken branch hit the forest floor with a dull thud.
A black sword hit the Harrowed's body. It struggled for a moment, then gave up.
Pain. That was all Beast could feel, all it knew. The intruder destroyed its strong body - leaving it deaf and blind yet again. It could still feel pain - and the movement around it's now useless body. It needed to get rid of it - but couldn't do it on its own. Now it needed to wait for this body to disappear - then feed until it could create new one. Then it could be… it could be again.
Suddenly a new sensation hit it. It was strange - familiar, yet alien. Was it pain? It was only thing it could ever feel in this state. But it was already in so much pain! There was so much of it. Pain was always there, pain was only thing the Beast knew, pain was…. disaspering?
The Beast wasn't sure what was happening. The pain was disappearing - only thing it knew was disappearing. If it were to disappear - what would happen to the Beast? What would it become... Would it even be anymore?
It started to feel something else - something not pleasant. But then it heard a voice. It was strange - it shouldn't be able to hear anything. But it didn't heard it as much as… felt it.
It couldn't understand it at first - but it was a nice voice. The Beast liked it.
..ase yours...
What was that? The Beast couldn't really understand, but voice was nice, so it must have said something nice, right?
...cut chains…pain... bind you.
Chains? Bind? Pain? Yes, pain was what bound the Beast to this world. It let it be. If there was no pain, then there would be no Beast… the Beast didn't want to disappear… it wanted to just… to be.
But maybe, it was better that way? If all Beast was, was pain, was it really worth it to be? It didn't want to disappear, but maybe…
..peace.
Peace? Beast didn't know what this meant… did it? It stirred something in it… something nice. It would be nice to not feel pain… It wouldn't be the Beast anymore, it wasn't sure if it would be anything… but maybe that was for the best.
So it decided to listen to this nice voice. It let go of the pain, left it behind. The Beast… no... it was not the Beast anymore - it was left behind with the pain. So what was it now?
Nothing.
It was nothing.
It made it sad - a welcome change.
And then it understood.
It was nothing now.
So maybe it could become something new…
Jaune was kneeling, trying to catch his breath. Thankfully, he managed to deactivated his black sword. Now if only he could do something about the pain…
Feedback from Harrowed was a rare thing - it happened only when it was conscious enough to actually recognize what it saw, and felt, ment. Usually, what was transferred was some of the feelings, sometimes a bit of memory.
All Jaune felt in the instant he made connection with the Harrowed was pain.
It held onto it… It held onto the pain, because it was the only thing that let it remain self-conscious… and it got twisted by it.
Jaune slowly stood up, and looked up to where the Harrowed's body was just a moment ago. There was only a few traces left, floating in the air and disappearing - like little fireflies.
You poor bastard… you were so afraid, you preferred to live in pain, than to move on?
He smiled.
See you my friend. I hope you will do well, wherever you went.
Jaune shook his head - both to get rid of these thoughts, and clear his head a bit. He still felt dizzy, and some of the phantom pain remained, but he was mostly fine now. He took a deep breath, then slowly let it go.
Jaune send a quick message to Ozpin informing him job was done. Then he headed north.
Bonus objective completed. Now onto the main one - find the relics and complete initiation.
Pyrrha Nikos took few deep breaths and steeled her resolve. After running around for nearly two hours she almost gave up hope of finding Jaune Arc. He probably already had partner. Maybe it was Weiss? Or that blond girl she noticed talking to him just before they were launched? They seemed to know each other...
It was with these heavy thoughts, and a heavier heart, that she come upon a small clearing - with blond boy kneeling near tree and near the decaying corpse of a Beowolf.
For a few seconds she just stood there, staring at his back. Then she hid behind a tree. Her mind raced.
OK, calm down Pyrrha. Just walk out there and talk to him. It's nothing hard, people make friends all the time.
But what do I say?
Well… I could ask him if he is alright.. He seemed a bit off. Maybe he got scared in his first real fight.
She nodded. That could work. She will walk out there, show concern, be nice and supportive…
NO! Are you idiot? Men are fragile creatures, if you imply he got scared by a single Grimm, you could break him!
Yeah, that's right. So maybe I should compliment him? Say how skillfully he took that Beowolf down…
Yeah, but I didn't saw him fight. What if I say something wrong…
…
…
I could go back to plan A and just pin him to the tree…
But using a spear to pin him down, is a bit extreme… he could get scared...
I don't have to use a spear to pin him down…
Hmm, he does look pretty winded… probably won't be able to resist…
I can make him not want to resist…
Hmm….
Pyrrha slapped herself.
Get your act together! If you delay any longer someone will snatch him away, or you lose him again. Just walk out there, say 'hi' and ask if he is alright. If he says he is ok, just talk about anything…
Taking few deep breaths, she walked out into the clearing. She made to speak… And realised there was no one there.
Pyrrha just stood there for a few seconds, smile on her lips, and hand raised in greeting.
Her eyebrow started twitching.
She looked towards the north.
She lowered her hand.
Her smile was much more… predatory now.
Pyrrha Nikos took a deep breath, and dashed in the direction she was sure the blond boy went.
Her prey was close - and she would be damned if she let it escape.
Jaune shuddered, and looked around. He suddenly felt as if he was prey being hunted by very vicious predator. This wasn't exactly an alien feeling for him - but one that he hadn't felt in quite a while. Usually, it was him doing hunting - even if his usual prey didn't realize it.
Must have been my imagination. Focus on the task at hand.
He sighed and looked around. Everything was glowing. Jaune was a bit torn on whether or not to use his Aura vision. Sure, it would help him spot danger sooner, but using it constantly consumed his own Aura. Not much - but every bit counted when in a hostile environment.
Sometimes he caught brighter flashes - signs of other students.
He noticed a bigger concentration of light in one direction - which probably meant there were more people gathered there.
But he also noticed a few shadows in the way - which meant there were Grimm between them.
When he first shared his discovery of Aura vision with his teacher, he was rather impressed, and instantly asked why Jaune wasn't using it to track Grimm.
"But Grimm don't have Aura." Was his answer.
"Yeah, but if everything around you is glowing - just look for spots where the glow is weaker. It's like looking for the darkness between the stars." Was his teacher response.
That proved to be true - he couldn't see Grimm - they were just black shapes. But he could make out spots where light of Aura was dimed - and this told him where Grimm might be. It wasn't perfect - sometimes what he found were just some inanimate objects like rocks, or boulders, and it didn't work too well if there was no life around, like in desert.
Still, it had its uses, so he wasn't complaining.
I could just circle around… but it's not big group. It's better to take them down now, on my terms, than to get ambushed later.
He nodded to himself and rushed towards the Grimm. They weren't far, and when he came closer - he noticed it was only five Beowolves. One was bigger, and had more plating than others - but it wasn't an Alpha.
Good. thought Jaune.
I needed to blow off some steam anyway.
Pyrrha come to halt near a tree. She noticed Jaune walking towards a group of five Beowolves. It didn't take long for the Grimm to notice the lone human walking towards them. They fanned out and started growling menacingly.
At first, she wanted to jump in and help him, but something stopped her. If she intervened now, wouldn't it look like she didn't believe in his skill? It was only five Beowolves - something every half-decent Hunter could easily take care of. And Jaune trained for four years in the Wilds - he was bound to be more than half-decent. If he did get in trouble - she could easily help him from afar.
Ok, let's see what is he's made of…
Jaune continued walking towards Grimm. Three Beawolves charged straight at him, two started flanking. The only reaction from him was to raise his shield.
Three of the Grimm were almost upon him. They jumped high, maws open wide, and arms raised to crush the foolish human who challenged them.
Pyrrha tightened her grip on her weapon, ready to rush in if her partner-to-be got in trouble.
She needn't have worried - suddenly Jaune charged in, slamming shield-first into the beast at the center, shoving it to the left. At the same time, he lashed out with his sword at the one on his right. All three fell over, one of them missing a limb.
Jaune didn't even spare a look at them, but instead ran to the right.
Not bad… but he should have killed the one he bashed intead…
Jaune collided with the next Grimm. She couldn't see exactly what happened, but the Beowolf was pushed back and fell over. It didn't made any attempt to get up - probably because it was now missing its head.
Ok, four more to go…
Jaune turned around to face the remaining Grimm that were… not attacking him. Instead, they grouped up, then fanned out again.
The one Jaune bashed was again in the center - Pyrrha recognized it since it was bigger and had more bone plating that rest. It was now standing on its hind legs, howling. The other two Grimm were on all fours - well one was on all fours, the other on all threes - letting out low growls. Jaune, shield up and sword at the ready, was slowly moving towards them.
Why they don't attack… she though. Then her eyes widened. Wait, where is forth one?
She spotted it easily - it started to circle behind Jaune.
He must have got distracted and missed it! She changed Milo into rifle and aimed at the lone Grimm. But didn't fire. It still hadn't gotten bad - but if she fired, it could distract him. And if all Grimm attacked at that moment...
She took a few deep breaths to relax, and took her finger off trigger. But she didn't lower her weapon.
If she decided that it got too risky - she would help, whether he asked for it or not.
The rest of the Grimm still didn't attack - they were howling, growling, shuffling around, and overtly making as much noise they could. From time to time, one would move few steps ahead, causing Jaune to pause, but they would soon move back.
What are they doing? Why are they not attacking? They should… the realisation struck her like lighting.
They are distracting him… so the other one can attack from behind.
This was… worrying. Not because they posed any real threat - she was sure she could easily dispatch such a small group. But this was clearly intended behavior - something requiring intelligence.
Pyrrha swallowed. Was Jaune surprised by this unusual behavior?
The lone Beowolf was now directly behind the blond boy. The three Grimm in front of him fanned out and charged.
Jaune charged too.
Pyrrha took aim and prepared to shoot. It was clear what would happen - the beast behind the young Hunter was closer than the other three so it would reach him first. The sudden attack from behind would either knock him over - or at least distract him long enough for the others to close in.
Jaune was heavy armored, so he would probably survive. Probably - and even then there was still the possibility of injury.
So Pyrrha decided to wait till the last moment - and if the he didn't show any indication he noticed the threat behind him - she would intervene.
Then a few things happened very quickly.
Jaune changed the direction of his charge and collided with Grimm to his left.
Behind him, two Beowolves - the one in middle of pack and the one who was behind the young Hunter, tried to change direction too - but didn't made it in time, and slammed into each other.
Well that's lucky…
The last beast - the one on the right, that Jaune crippled at the very beginning - had to stop its own charge, lest it would collide with them. It jumped over the tangled mass of limbs and bodies that its packmebers had become. It fell over, got up, then awkwardly jumped a few steps before lunging at the blond boy.
Its headless body fell not far from bisected corpse of the other Grimm.
Not even looking behind him, Jaune charged at remaining two Beowolves, that were slowly starting to get up.
He didn't even slow down when he collided with smaller one and carried it with him. The bigger Grimm didn't try to attack - instead, yet again showing a surprising amount of intelligence, jumped back, narrowly avoiding the sword that lashed at its leg.
Jaune pushed a bit further, then turned himself and the Grimm he was carrying. The tip of Crocea Mors erupted from the Beowolf's back.
The last remaining Grimm stood on its hind legs and let out a loud howl.
Jaune stepped over the decaying corpse.
The Grimm charged.
The human did the same.
The Grimm raised its arm and slashed at the human.
The human raised his sword and slashed at the Grimm.
A black arm fell to the ground.
The Grimm howled and lashed with its other arm.
The human took the blow on its shield, and pushed, pinning the limb to the Beowolf's body.
The Grimm tried to bite at him - but the shield made it impossible to reach the young hunter.
The human's sword pressed against the Beowolf's side.
The Grimm howled.
Pyrrha watched as Jaune slashed the Grimm at the waist, its legs falling forward, its upper body pushed backwards by the shield.
She grinned. He is good…
Jaune continued with the momentum of his last cut, turning around, shield raised and sword at the ready. He spent a few seconds scanning the battlefield,
Pyrrha left her hiding spot and walked towards Jaune, who just now started to relax.
Ok, keep it cool. Say hi, compliment his fight. Throw a joke. It wil...
She could feel power of the blow reverberating through her arm, even as Akouo blocked the sword aimed at her throat.
She stared at him over the rim of her shield.
He stared at her along blade of his sword.
A few seconds passed in silence. Neither moved, or made sound.
"Hi there." She said, smiling.
"Hi," he answered with a smile mirroring hers.
"Looks like we're partners, Mr Arc?" She said, lowering Akouo, just as he lowered his sword.
"It would appear so, Miss Nikos." She pulled back Milo from where it collided with his sheath.
He sheathed his sword.
Wait, where did his shield go?
She shook his hand. The smile that adored his face was the same one she always wore when fighting strong opponents.
She wore it now too.
His grip on her hand tightened.
"I believe this might be beginning of beautiful friendship; don't you think Miss Nikos?"
Her grip tightened as well.
"I couldn't agree more Mr. Arc."
They walked for few minutes, talking along the way. Jaune proved to be as good companion as she hoped. He didn't talk about her tournament career when he noticed she wasn't comfortable with the topic. Instead, they talked about their weapons, what training they had, and about Grimm.
She learned that his sword was called Crocea Mors, and was a family heirloom. Its sheath could transform into a shield - and that was it. No other transformations, no guns, no nothing. Just a solid piece of steel.
His other sword was called Eclipse - and that was all she learned. Any further attempts to get some more information were met with a half-smile and the simple answer that, "it's a trade secret."
"So, what do you think? Is humble old me skilled enough to be the partner of the great Pyrrha Nikos?"
He quipped. She looked up to notice him looking back at her with a half-smile. His eyes were glowing - probably an effect of his Semblance. Through the few minutes they were together, Jaune proved capable of spotting people - and Grimm - from quite some distance. Even if trees or bushes were in the way.
Pyrrha tilted her head in confusion.
"You were watching me fight that pack earlier. So I wondered if my performance was satisfactory." He elaborated.
She could feel her cheeks heat up.
He noticed me? But how… right it must be his Semblance. If he can detect people from hundreds of meters in the forest, he for sure was able to notice me.
Pyrrha hummed, tapping her cheek with one finger.
"Your performance was… passable. We shall allow you to accompany us." She said with a haughty voice.
Jaune looked at her for a moment then laughed.
She laughed too.
"But seriously, that was quite impressive Jaune. Though you scared me a little bit there."
He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"When you let that one Beowolf behind you. I know it was small group but…"
"Pack." He interrupted her. Pyrrha looked at his quizzically.
"It was a pack, not a group." He elaborated.
"What's the difference?"
"A group is just a few Grimm that happened to be in the same place. A pack has a leader"
Grimm have leaders? I never heard of it. But this… pack certainly seemed to work together quite well.
"So, the big one was the leader?"
"Yeah"
"So why didn't you kill it first? I'm sure you could have done it when you two collided." After watching the whole fight, Pyrrha had no doubt that Jaune could have easily killed the pack leader when he first collided with it. Which begged the question - why didn't he take it down.
"I could." He admitted easily.
"Then why…"
"Because as long as leader is alive, it will use the tactics that I know - and can counter."
Grimm… used tactics?
Pyrrha snorted. Yeah, right. Her partner was making fun of her, for sure.
Well, I can play along for a while. Let's see where this goes.
"And what tactic would that be?" She asked.
She expected some ridiculous answer. She didn't expect her partner to start a full lecture.
"When any Grimm from a pack spots you, they will get into formation. In smaller packs - up to around twelve – the leader will always be in the center. It will be flanked by the two most experienced members of pack - these are his "guards." They will always stick close to the leader, and will sometimes take hits for him. That's why, if possible, you want to take them down first. The rest of the pack are attackers - they will flank the guards, splitting evenly on both sides." He paused for a moment, and then continued.
"The leader and his guards will attack head-on. The attackers will try to flank you. If there are six or more attackers, the pair closest to the guards will attack head-on with them. If there is an odd number of attackers, and there are more than four of them, the spare one will try to circle behind you."
"If you kill a guard, the closest attacker will take its place. If one side has twice as many attackers as the other, the pack will fall back towards leader and try to regroup. If only one attacker is left, then the leader and his guards will try to distract you, while the attacker circles behind. The leader will stand on its hind legs, the guards will do whatever they want, but usually won't attack. Attacking, or trying to retreat will cause whole pack to rush you.
"Bigger packs have a bit different tactics, and different formations. There are more guards for example, and instead of fanning out, the attackers tend to surround the leader."
He paused for a moment, then shot her a half-smile.
"Of course this how they act against single, slow moving opponent with no ranged weapons like me. Tactics will change depending on number of people involved, and their weapons. For example - if you open the fight with explosives, pack will try to spread out, if you shoot them, they will charge head on, and try to lock you in melee.
Pyrrha was shocked.
Ok, so maybe he wasn't joking...
She shook her head.
I guess four years in the field can teach you things combat prep school won't.
"But if leaders are so smart, wouldn't it be better to take it down? A disorganized enemy is easier to take down than organized one."
"True." He agreed again. "Most people would probably prefer to take leader out ASAP. It all depends on the person - what weapon they use, the terrain, the size of the pack etc. I prefer to keep the leader alive. Like I said, I know what tactics they will use if I'll fight in certain way. Of course there are variations, but I can predict them. And if I know how they react to certain situations - I can control the fight to certain degree."
"The other reason is that if leader dies, a part of the pack tends to run away. I don't use guns, and even though I can run for a long time, I'm not fast enough to catch a Beowolf. But as long as leader is alive, the rest of pack will stick around - so I can get them all."
"Then why not use a gun?"
"Well, I was practicing with Crocea Mors for most of my life, so I decided it wouldn't make much sense to change weapons. Plus there are few problems with guns - they are loud, can jam, and you need to carry ammo."
"Is it really that big deal? If you do maintenance properly they won't jam, and ammo is easily accessible."
"Oh sure. In civilized parts. But out in the Wilds? Sometimes you might spend weeks without seeing another person, let alone shop. Not only that - you already need to carry food, drink and medicine. If I used guns I would have to give up some of it for ammo." He paused for a moment then added much quieter. "It also might be because I'm terrible with them."
She laughed.
"So, any more questions Miss Nikos?"
Yes, where have you been my whole life? She thought.
"Why yes, professor. Do other Grimm have leaders too, or only Beowolves? And when would you say it's better to keep leader alive, rather than kill it?" She asked.
He hummed.
"Depends on the type of Grimm. As a rule of thumb - if they act in packs, there usually is a leader. Sometimes stronger Grimm of different types can act as leaders for lesser Grimm - for example Goliaths leading a pack of Beowolves, but this is extremely rare."
"As for your other question - there are many different factors, so it's hard to say, but generally speaking - if the leader is an Alpha, you most of the time want it dead ASAP - they are just too dangerous to keep alive. If you rely on speed and dodging, or tactics and disorienting your enemy, you want leader dead sooner than later too - otherwise it can figure out way to counter you."
"But if you are more of a brute force fighter - then you might want to leave the leader for last. Especially if you are not very mobile - like me. That way you can ensure the whole pack stays in place, and even control them if you know what you are doing. For example - crippling the leader leg will let you drag attackers away from it and its guards - so about one fifth, to one fourth of pack will be out of the fight. "
Pyrrha nodded.
So, divide and conquer, huh?
She recalled Jaune's fight - and realized this was what he had done. He didn't kill the leader - because this would turn a coordinated - and predictable - pack into wild beasts. Not only that – but shoving the leader into one of its guards, and crippling the other, caused a brief time when he had to worry about only two Grimm. Then he started to pick them off one by one.
This was all planned. From start to finish, the whole fight was planned.
Pyrrha couldn't help but smile. Her partner was turning out to be an interesting person indeed.
They soon come upon a small clearing with three Ursa - one of them being a major.
An idea struck her.
"Hey Jaune?"
He looked back to her.
"How about I take this group on my own?"
He didn't look convinced.
"I'll be fine. I have fought Ursa before - and in bigger groups too. Besides - I saw you fight, it's only fair if you see me in action too."
Jaune hummed.
Well, she's not an amateur, that's for sure… And I kinda do want to see what she can do…
This was risky idea… but fighting Grimm was always risky. His partner was no pushover tho…
He looked around - there were no other Grimm in the vicinity. After a moment of hesitation, he nodded.
"Ok, but if I get even the slightest impression that you are in trouble, I'm moving in."
Pyrrha smiled and nodded
He showed me something really nice. She thought, Milo extending into spear form with a flourish.
Guess I have to respond in kind.
She lunged at the first Ursa.
You gotta be kidding me…. Thought Jaune watching his partner .
Pyrrha ripped her spear from the Ursa's belly, spinning around and backhanding it with her shield.
She made a pirouette, and slammed the back of her spear into the Ursa's mask, knocking it down. Immediately, she thrust forward, stabbing, and forcing back Ursa Major.
How can someone move like that...
The Ursa that recovered from the blow to its head, raised its paw to swat away the red-haired Huntress.
Pyrrha jumped, and spun, shifting Milo into sword form. Its sharp blade easily cut off the Grimm's arm.
She landed in a low crouch behind the beast, spun again, cutting it along the waist. It fell over, and didn't get up back up.
..and make it work?
Pyrrha continued her spin, and threw her shield. It bounced off the Ursa Major's head, knocking it off balance.
A gunshot rang out, and the bullet from Milo hit beast in the knee, causing it to fall. It tried to get up.
Pyrrha was already in the air. She spun again, throwing her shield - it hit the Grimm in the head, bringing it to the ground again.
The Huntress followed soon after. She grabbed Milo - now in spear form - with both hands and plunged it into the massive Grimm's chest. She pulled it free, and faced the last Ursa. It moved clumsily towards her - it left knee shattered at very beginning of the fight.
Pyrrha shifted her weapon into rifle form, and shot Grimm in its front leg. It stumbled, and began to fall.
A red spear pierced through its eye socket. It was dead before it even hit the ground.
Jaune shook his head. The calm and practical part of him had started to count Pyrrha "mistakes" as soon as the fight started. She was doing so many acrobatics - spins, jumps, and the like. Something his teacher thoroughly drilled into him to not do. After all, a full piruet in a fight would leave moment when you have your back to enemy - an opening that could easily be exploited.
Unless you are Pyrrha Nikos, apparently. She was just too fast, too strong, too precise for any of these little "mistakes" to matter.
When she twirled her weapon to change form - it was but a moment.
When she spun - she was just blur, the movement over in the blink of the eye.
When she was in the air - she never gave her opponent a chance to exploit it.
So all Jaune could do, was to stare in awe, while she fought.. no, danced. Fighting was too crude of a word to describe what he was witnessing.
Guess she's not four-time champion for nothing.
He was expecting her to be good - but this went beyond being 'good'.
Pyrrha walked up to him, a smile on her lips.
"So, what do you think? Is humble old me worthy to accompany the great Hunter, Jaune Arc?"
He snorted.
"You know, when Weiss told me you were a four-time tournament champion, I expected you to be good. But not that good." He said, shaking his head. "Four years in the Wilds - I thought I learned something, but now I feel like useless baggage here," he added, turning away from her in fake despair.
To his surprise, he heard a gasp coming from Pyrrha.
He looked back.
His partner looked at him with wide, apologetic eyes. One hand covered her mouth, the other clutched her stomach.
"I-I'm sorry. I didn't want to…"
Jaune gulped.
Aaaand I'm feeling like ass right now. She looks like a kicked puppy.
He shot her a smile.
"Relax, I was just kidding."
Ok, note to self - don't bring up her skill and fame. Even in jokes.
She laughed - but it was forced.
Jaune sighed. Now, he had to somehow deal with this mess.
Pyrrha was bashing herself mentally.
Stupid, stupid, stupid! I'm so stupid! It was going fine, but of course I had to go and show off.
Really, what was she thinking? It's not like it's the first time this happened - people distancing themselves from her because they thought she was too good for them. What if she just alienated her partner?
Sure, he said it was only a joke - but what if it wasn't? She recalled some of her childhood friends. They too said her fame did not bother them. But with each success they hung out less, they looked at her more and more like an idol, and less like person. Eventually, they drifted apart. When she went to combat school, she had hoped it would be better.
It was - for a short while. Most people looked at her in awe, as champion, some with spite, jealous of her skill and fame. And each win put more and more distance between her and her peers. Hell, there were a few who got their spirit crushed by her. They lost faith in their skills, and eventually gave…
She gasped. What if she did the same to her partner? They were supposed to work together, but if he thought himself unworthy of her, that he was just a hindrance? He was training in the Wilds - no doubt often risking his life. What if she made him think it was all for naught?
She spared a glance at him. They were walking for few minutes now, not a single word exchanged. Gone were the easy banters and laughs from before – only the tense silence remained.
Her head dropped again.
What do I do? I have to fix it somehow. But how? Offer to train with him? He will just think I'm looking down on him. Ask for a spar and lose on purpose? No, he will notice and think I did it out of pity. What should I do? What CAN I do?
Her thoughts were interrupted by her partner.
"Hey, Pyrrha…"
She looked up. He was looking at her feet, eyebrows furrowed.
"You dropped something…"
Huh?
She looked down - but saw only dirt, leaves and some small branches.
"It's over there"
She took step back - but still saw nothing that could be hers.
"Careful, you almost stepped on it."
She took step to the side.
"What…"
He flicked her in the forehead.
She looked up, surprised.
"It was your smile"
She couldn't help but snicker
"There it is. Be careful to not lose it again - it looks much better when you wear it." He said, turning around, and resuming his march.
Pyrrha looked at him for few seconds, then started walking too.
Looks like I was worried for nothing.
"I'll keep it in mind." She said.
They walked in silence for few moments when Pyrrha suddenly asked.
"Hey, Jaune?"
"Hmm?"
"If I lose it again, will you help me find it?"
He stopped and turned to look at her. Then he smiled and nodded.
"Sure thing. What are friends for?"
Pyrrha smiled, and nodded too. She noticed his eyes were glowing again.
"See any more Grimm?"
He looked around.
"No, but I think there is large group of people that way." He said.
"You think it's where the relics are?"
"Dunno. Only one way to find out." He turned around, and started moving forward.
She followed.
Cr00cy: Well some action in this chapter. I decided to not change partners, or teams - mostly because I didn't want to try and come up with team names.
Also - I made Grimm smarter. It always bothered me in the show that for all (or at least most) of first three seasons Grimm never appeared as too much of a threat - maybe beside Breach. So I want to make them at least a bit more dangerous.
Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Here is another Samantha short (brought to you by JJD):
Dancer
They sat together along the old wooden bridge spanning the town's river, an ice cream in their hands, leisurely tossing bread into the water and watching the fish take the morsels under. It was becoming something of tradition of them, meeting like this and talking about…anything really...family, school, life in general. Always here, on the old wooden bridge just outside town. It was their place.
He looked over to her. "Hey Sam."
She eyed him over her cone. "What's up?"
"You ever think about what you're going to do, you know, when you grow up?"
He watched as she considered for a moment, tossing bits of bread into the moving water.
"What brought this on?" She asked.
He sighed and broke off some more bread. "Well, we always talk about me becoming a Hunter. Me getting out of here." He shrugged. "So, I wanted to know what your plans are."
She took a few more licks of her cone. "You promise not to laugh?"
He barked a laugh. "Sam, I'm about the furthest thing away from a Hunter as can be, and we still talk about it non-stop. What could you possibly want to do that's more ridiculous than that?"
She mumbled something almost inaudible.
"What?"
"Wannabanncer." She rushed out.
He shook his head. "What?"
"I want to be a dancer!" She shouted.
That sat in silence, with Sam dutifully studying the remains of her ice cream.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"What made you decide on that?" He asked.
She looked towards the sky and kicked her feet hanging over the rail. "I just want to do something different you know? To get out, to travel the world." She smiled at him, her confidence building. "I could go from inn to inn, singing and dancing, never living the same day twice."
He smiled back. "That sounds like fun."
"I know, right!?" She paused for a moment, then cocked her head at him. "You still trying to learn the guitar?"
He laughed. "Trying is the key word there."
She stared out into the flowing water once more. "Maybe...maybe one day, we can perform together." She looked at him over her shoulder. "Will you play for me Jaune, when I dance?"
He grinned. "I'd love to."
AN: Well I think I should mention few things about Samantha. She initially appeared only in one omake - but then I decided to put her in prologue too, and then decided she turned out to be too interesting character to just forget about her. This shorts happens in roughly chronological order - so far everyone happened before prologue. There will be two, maybe three more form before Jaune left with leon. Then few more before rest of the cast meets her.
She is important character for story, because she had big impact on Jaune. Even initially, when she was supposed to appear only in single omake she helped him take important step forward. Well that's it for now. Please consider leaving a review.
See ya next week.