Welcome to ch 6 of TPA. Edited like always by JJD.
CH 6
Jaune looked around, let out a tired sigh, and shook his head.
Nope. No way. It's too early, and I'm too sober to deal with THAT.
He thought, turning away.
His partner looked at him with surprise.
"Jaune, where are you going?"
"As far away from this," he motioned to the scene behind him, "as I can."
Pyrrha looked shocked.
"But… shouldn't we help them?"
Jaune turned and spared a quick glance at what was happening behind him. Two words came to mind.
'Chaos', and 'Madness'.
Following the high concentration of Aura he spotted earlier, they had come upon a large clearing. There they found four other students - which was good news. They also noticed some ruins - probably where relic were hidden. This was also good news.
The bad news was that there was also a gigantic Deathstalker. It was currently chasing two girls - a brunette dressed in black and white Jaune thought he recognized from somewhere. The other had long mane of blond hair that Jaune had no problem recognizing. Yang turned, fired a few shots at the scorpion-like Grimm, and continued running.
The beast hissed and screeched, trying to catch the annoying humans.
A short girl, dressed in pink and white, swirled her warhammer over her head. She was currently sitting at the Deathstalker stinger, laughing maniacally, and from time to time shouting something Jaune couldn't quite hear - but he thought he heard the words 'queen', and 'castle'.
Chasing the Deathstalker - or the girl riding it - was a boy dressed in green.
He shot his partner a deadpan glare.
She coughed. "I-I mean… I really think we should…"
A loud screech echoed somewhere above them. Jaune and Pyrrha looked up to see a giant Nevermore. It was flying in zigzags, rising, and dropping, making sharp turns, barrel rolls and other acrobatics that he was sure it shouldn't be doing. It was either drunk - or trying to shake off someone riding it. Jaune wasn't sure which idea was crazier.
He looked at his partner and raised an eyebrow.
She made to speak, but was interrupted by a loud scream.
"TREASON! HOW DARE YOU DISOBEY YOUR PANCAKE QUEEN?!"
Pyrrha turned to see the Deathstalker chasing the black and yellow girls and the boy dressed in green. It apparently succeeded in shaking off the pink girl that was riding it. She was now chasing after the Grimm, swinging her weapon around wildly. It morphed, turning from warhammer to…
Is that...
...a grenade launcher. She fired a few shots, causing a few pink explosions to erupt near the scorpion Grimm.
Pyrrha stared at them for few seconds, then looked up to see the Nevermore start a steep climb and roll.
She looked back at Jaune with a determined expression. She opened her mouth to speak, but was again interrupted by a loud scream - this one getting louder by the second.
"Heeeeeeeads upppppppppppppp!"
Jaune turned. Before he could even think about doing something, Yang slammed into him. They both fell, skidded for a few meters, and stopped when Jaune's back hit a tree.
He looked into lilac eyes and smiled.
"Hi, Yang."
She grinned.
"Hi there Ladykiller. Nice catch."
"Think so?"
A few seconds passed.
"Yang?"
"Yes?"
"Would you mind getting off me?"
She pouted.
"You sure? We're having a moment. I think there's something between us…"
"The only thing between us right now is my armor, and some clothing."
She grinned at him.
"We can fix that…"
A startled gasp sounded behind them. Pyrrha stood there, face almost as red as her hair, mouth opening and closing wordlessly.
"Wow, a celebrity. You know her Ladykiller?"
"Yeah, kinda? She's my partner…"
Yang sat up, resting slightly below his waist. She placed both hands over her heart in mock hurt.
"You're already replacing me? After everything we have been through?"
Does she realize where she is sitting?!
Judging by her smirk - she did.
"Yang… we met like two days ago, and have talked like, two times."
It was then that Pyrrha finally managed to regain her composure. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then looked directly at the… woman, currently sitting on her partner and made to speak.
Only to be interrupted by a scream for the third time in the span of five minutes. All three of them looked up to the source of the loud screech.
The Nevermore, apparently desperate to get rid of its unwanted passengers, decided to dive bomb toward the ground. At some point, something white and something red, fell off the giant bird Grimm's back. Two silhouettes started growing rapidly, as they closed to earth. Both turned out to be girls - and Jaune recognized both of them.
Is that Weiss? And…
"Ruby!" Shouted Yang, getting up and sprinting towards where her sister would be landing.
Jaune sighed, got up, and walked towards his partner. For a moment, he hoped the Nevermore would hit the ground and kill itself, but it managed to pull up at last second. He stared at the scene for a few seconds and gave a tired sigh.
"I really hope this isn't a preview of how my life at Beacon will go." He said pinching the bridge of his nose.
He shook his head and walked forward.
"Come on," he said to Pyrrha, "I guess we have no choice but get involved now."
Both Ruby and Weiss reached the ground safely. The former was caught by her sister, the latter slowed her descent using her glyphs, and landed gracefully. The Witcher and his partner jogged up to three girls.
A total of eight people, against two giant Grimm. It's going to be rough. He analyzed their current situation.
At least we have some heavy hitters. Now, how we should play this out? Split up, or focus on one? Damn, I've never fought a Deathstalker… what were their weak points? Eyes… and I think their belly is less armored.
He looked around. They had a lot of open space, and the terrain was relatively even. That meant it would be easier to maneuver - perfect scenario for taking on a hulking beast like the Deathstalker.
Or rather it would be, if not for the Nevermore. Open terrain meant it had a clear view of them, and they had nowhere to hide from its spear-like feathers. This made fighting the Deathstalker much harder.
Probably would be best to retreat to the forest. But that's easier said than done…
His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden shout.
"Jaune!" A very excited Ruby appeared before him in a flurry of rose petals.
"What's up Ruby?" He nodded at her, but didn't take his eyes off the Grimm.
She smiled brightly at him, and started waving her hands and speaking excitedly.
"It's awesome! Listen, when I landed I wanted to find Yang, or you, but I found Weiss instead. I thought she would be angry at me because I ran into her luggage and exploded…"
She did what?
"Then we fought together, and she said I'm good, and that my baby is impressive…"
Her WHAT? He shook his head. Focus. This is not a time for small talk.
"Ruby." He interrupted her when she started her tale of how she and her partner rode the giant Nevermore.
She looked at him and tilted her head quizzically.
"Not now. Let's leave this for after we finish initiation, ok?"
She blushed a little, and nodded.
They walked towards Yang and Weiss. He spared a single nod towards the heiress and continued walking towards the three people still fighting the Deathstalker.
Jaune closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Look. See. Understand. Plan.
The Witcher opened his eyes, and started to run towards the giant Grimm. His companions followed him.
There will be time for chat later. Now was time to kill some monsters.
Ruby bit her lower lip as she followed Jaune towards the Deathstalker.
Focus Ruby! You can't get over excited like that!
The young Huntress shook her head. Here she was, acting like a kid again. She really needed to get a hold of herself.
She spared a glance at her partner. Weiss was walking slightly behind Jaune, eyes focused on the Nevermore. Ruby was frankly a little afraid of her - and their little incident from day before hadn't helped. Thankfully, the heiress didn't seemed to mind - all she said was to be more careful in the future.
Ruby looked at Jaune again - more precisely at his weapons: a simple sword and shield. They didn't seemed to have any cool transformations - but she was ok with that. Classics had their own charm too, and not many people could appreciate it.
She looked over their small group, and a thought struck her.
Jaune was in the center. On his left was Weiss and on his right Pyrrha Nikos - the Pyrrha Nikos! Her sister was next to her, talking about something.
Ruby smiled and ran up to walk beside her partner.
Heh, we look like superhero team walking to fight giant monsters! This is so cool!
"So you got a plan Ladykiller?" The blond brawler asked.
The Witcher just shrugged.
"Kill Grimm. Grab relics. Finish Initiation. Don't die or suffer crippling injuries in the process."
Yang just shook her head, and Ruby smiled.
Heh, that sounded like something uncle Qrow would say. Ruby thought. Of course her new friend wasn't as awesome as her uncle - no one was - but he was closer than anyone Ruby knew.
After a second of thought, he started speaking.
"Guess we focus on Deathstalker first. It's heavily armored, but still easier to take down than a Nevermore that size."
"But we don't have to fight them at all, do we?" Someone said.
Only when everyone focused on her, Ruby realised it was her. She squirmed under the sudden attention.
"I-I mean we just need to get relics right?"
They continued to stare, so she continued to speak.
"So...we could just run in, grab the relics, and kinda run away?" She started poking her index fingers together. "I-it's just idea. I mean, if we don't have to fight them…" she trailed off, looking at her feet.
"And a good one." She looked up, to see the sole male in they group giving her a smile and nod.
"Ok, Pyrrha, me and Yang will join with those three. Weiss, you try to keep Nevermore off us. Ruby, you…" He paused for a moment, then opened his mouth to speak again. He didn't get a chance.
Suddenly, Ruby pulled out what he assumed was her weapon. It shifted, and morphed, and moment later the massive blade of scythe impaled itself into ground. The clearly visible barrel confirmed that yes, it was also a gun.
The red Huntress dropped to one knee, finger at the trigger.
The Witcher did the same, turning around and raising his shield - to both give the sniper behind him better view on target, and cover her from any attack.
Before he even touched ground, the first shot rang out, followed shortly by two more. The giant Nevermore that was about to rain feathers on the three teens fighting Deathstalker, recoiled, let out an angry squawk, and flew away.
Three shots in less than three seconds after deploying her weapon. All three hit moving target around three hundreds meters away. The Witcher smiled. She is good.
"Ruby, you have AP ammo? Or Dust?"
"No, only standard."
Yeah, it would be too easy, wouldn't it?
"Ok, then focus on distracting the Nevermore. Don't waste ammo trying to kill it, you would need something bigger for that. Weiss cover her."
He looked around "Everyone ready?"
They nodded.
"Ok, let's go!"
Damn, I wish I knew what I'm doing.
The young Witcher winced.
It was usually Leon who was doing the planning… and we almost never worked with so many people…
The people fighting Deathstalker noticed incoming reinforcements and started backing off, trying to join with them.
Ok, focus. You know the basics of group combat, and Leon always said you got knack for this strategy stuff.
He could hear the Nevermore screech - that turned into a surprised squawk when one of Ruby's bullets hit it.
All six teens finally joined and faced the giant scorpion-like Grimm.
Hey, maybe someone else will take charge? There are six people here, and one of them is a celebrity…
"So we joined them. What's next Ladykiller?"
Damn it Yang.
He spared a quick glance at his companions. All eyes were focused at him. He sighed.
Ok, let's do it. Six people, five with range. But only Hammer-girl and maybe Yang have enough punch to really damage this thing.
The Deathstalker was almost upon them.
The blond Witcher took a deep breath and spoke.
"Pyrrha with me, we go from the front. Focus on defending, we will try to lock it in place." His partner nodded, raising her shield and reading her spear.
"Yang, Hammer-girl - flank it and try to break it legs." Yang winked at him and dashed right. The other girl smiled brightly, and with far more enthusiasm than the situation warranted, dashed left.
"Green, Black - see if you can disable its stinger. If not, just keep shooting at it, keep it distracted."
They nodded, and started to circle around the beast, peppering it with shots.
Ok, let's hope this will work. And that we won't kill each other.
He nodded to his partner, and they both charged at Grimm. It screeched, and swang its pincers at them.
The Witcher let it slide off his shield, wincing at the force of blow. He tried to cut the thing off, but his sword just skidded off the creature's armor. His partner lashed out too - and with much better results. Pyrrha's spear reached one of its eyes, causing creature to screech again - but this time in pain.
More of this followed when Yang slammed her fist into its right middle leg. She didn't manage to break it off - but a loud crack and the way Grimm staggered indicated it was damaged. Soon after, a hammer slammed into left hind leg - breaking it off.
It wobbled, trying to regain its balance.
The hammer slammed into the joint of its front left leg, breaking it.
It tried to turn around and crush the offender in its pincers.
A kite shield stopped its movement. A moment later, a sharp blade bit into the joint connecting its arm. It didn't cut the pincers off - but they were no longer usable.
Grimm tried to grab the culprit in its other pincers.
Another shield stopped it, and a red spear buried itself into its eye.
It screeched in pain, and swung its healthy pincer, knocking the attacker away.
A gauntlet slammed into the joint of its right front leg, breaking it.
It reared its tail, ready to stab.
A black ribbon wrapped around it holding it in place. Moments later, the black haired boy jumped at the Deathstalker's stinger, shooting and slashing it, knocking the appendage off.
"Back off!"
At the Witcher's, command everyone jumped back a few steps. The Grimm tried to regain its balance - and failed. It staggered from side to side, eventually crashing down. It tried to stand up again - but its remaining legs couldn't support its weight.
I guess we could just leave it like that…
His eyes narrowed.
But leaving a live Grimm behind is never a good idea.
He opened his mouth to speak - but a loud screech interrupted him.
"Watch out!" Ruby screamed. They all spread out. A moment later, spear-like feathers rained down on them. Apparently the Nevermore realized that two annoying humans can't hurt it too much - so it decided to focus on the bigger group.
Damn, forget about that one. Guess I'll have to come up with plan to deal with Birdy too…
Seconds after the Nevermore finished its attack, Ruby appeared in front of him.
"You ok Jaune?"
"Yeah. But I think we will have to take that thing down after all." He said nodding towards the flying Grimm, who was now circling back, preparing for another attack. Ruby smiled at him.
"Don't worry, I have a plan!"
He looked at her, one eyebrow raised.
"Mind sharing it? From what I saw no one here has a gun big enough to take down that damn bird,"
Ruby smiled in way that almost made her look vicious. Almost. She looked more adorable than anything.
"Well, let's just say I found something bigger to shoot the Nevermore with. But I'll need few people to help me."
"Who?"
"Weiss, Yang, and the girl with the bow."
He looked at her for a few seconds, then just shrugged and nodded.
"Ok. Rest of us will be able to deal with Deathstalker.."
She cheered and ran off to her sister.
Heh, adorable.
He looked up at the Nevermore who was still circling around. Then a thought struck him.
Hmm.. I find girl with a giant sniper-scythe talking about killing giant Grimm adorable… I think there is something wrong with me…
He shook his head. Then jumped to the side, and rolled to avoid another rain of feathers.
Now what to do? We could try to grab the relic and run, but grouping when that thing is on us is dangerous. Spread out? No, this…"
His thought were interrupted when a decently sized boulder flew through air, narrowly missing the flying Grimm. Two more quickly followed, a third one catching beast's tail, eliciting a loud screech. It turned toward the source of this sudden assault - the ruins where the relics were hidden. And the place where Ruby ran off with the three girls she mentioned.
Jaune could see her now. Standing on top of a broken pillar ponting at Nevermore. A moment later, the next boulder flew out, just barely missing the Grimm. The beast reared, preparing to rain its feathers on the humans below.
The next boulder caught it straight in the chest. It tried to regain its balance, but more shots soon followed. The beast fell, hitting the ground hard. It somehow managed to stand up and let out a loud screech. It was cut short when another boulder hit it right in the head. It crawled up again and tried to fly off - but cleary had trouble catching its balance.
The next thing that flew out of ruins was not a boulder. It was smaller, red, and much more deadly. Ruby traveled the hundred meters that separated her from the bird Grimm in less than a second. Her scythe wrapped around creatures neck, dragging it back. There was a moment of suspension, when the young Huntress was just hung in the air - and then the Nevermore's head was separated from its body.
The Witcher took a deep breath, and slowly let it go.
Cool. But too dangerous. This is not damn circus to be showing off like that.
He took another deep breath, held it and let go.
Well, I guess it worked out. He looked back to Deathstalker - which was still trying to get up. And to remove Pyrrha's spear, still lodged into its eye.
He motioned to his partner to follow, and walked towards the hammer wielding girl and green clad boy. They were talking… well more like the girl was talking, and boy only nodded from time to time.
"You saw that Renny? It was. SO. COOL!"
"Yes Nora."
"She just flew at that Nevermore and took it's head off!"
"Yes Nora."
"You think we could do something like that too? If I hit you with Magnhild REALLY hard, I'm sure you could fly even faster!"
"I don't think that is a good idea Nora."
She paused for a moment, looked lost in thought.
"You sure?" She finally asked.
The boy just nodded. The girl, apparently named Nora, stared at him for few seconds, then just shrugged.
"Oh, well. What kind of pancakes will you be making today? I want blackberry. Or maybe strawberry? Oh, banana ones!"
The black haired boy just sighed. Jaune blinked.
That was...random.
He and his partner approached the other pair. He coughed to get their attention.
"Hey, how about we wrap things up here, and finish initiation? I don't know about you, but I could really use shower and meal."
He extended his hand towards the boy. "I'm Jaune Arc by the way."
"Lie Ren." He said
"I'm Nora!" Hammer-girl exclaimed.
He nodded, and after Pyrrha introduced herself - not that it was needed - they walked back towards the Deathstalker - who managed to pull off Pyrrha's spear and toss it aside.
"So how are we doing this?" Asked Ren.
"Take out the rest of its legs, should be easy now. I'll pin down its tail. It's not too dangerous now that stinger is gone, but it can still hurt."
"Isn't that a bit.., excessive? It's not dangerous anymore - I mean it can't even stand." Said Pyrrha. She ran off moment earlier to retrieve her weapon, and now was staring at her partner with a complicated expression.
The Witcher just sighed.
"It's a Grimm. A big one. It stops being dangerous when it's dead - not a second earlier. We managed to almost take it out with no casualties. I'm not taking any chances."
She started at him for a few moments, then nodded.
"Pyrrha, when we immobilize it, you get on top of it, and try to finish it off. Nora - help her."
A few moments later, Pyrrha's spear slammed into the now completely immobilized Grimm head. Its armor provided too thick to be pierced so easily - but one solid hit from Nora's hammer fixed that.
Then they joined four girls in the ruins and grabbed their relics.
Now the only thing left to do is get the hell out of this forest. Preferably without running into any more giant Grimm.
Jaune fell on his bed and looked around the dorm room. It wasn't too big, but not really small either. Certainly big enough to house their four person team. Team JNPR. His team.
So… team leader, huh? Not sure how I feel about that.
He looked around. His teammates were unpacking, chatting all the while. He just laid there for few moments looking at them. Slowly, a small smile crept up on his face.
I did it. I got into Beacon.
"Jaune? Why aren't you unpacking?" Asked Pyrrha.
He sat up and shrugged.
"Most of my stuff still hasn't been delivered yet." When he noticed her questioning gaze, he continued. "My admission was a bit… sudden. Since I didn't go to combat school, I had to take a special entrance exam and… well it was all very last-minute. Didn't get a chance to grab my stuff from where I was staying."
"I see."
"So who was training you?" Asked Nora, bouncing on her bed.
"A Hunter named Leon. We met by accident, one thing kind of led to another, and he agreed to take me under his wing. We traveled together for almost four years. About six months ago, he decided I was good enough to go on my own and we separated."
"Was it hard?" asked Pyrrha.
"Are you refer to training or traveling?"
She mused for a moment.
"Both."
"Well training was hell. I thought I was going to die more than once. Leon is not one to pull his punches, and believes the best teacher is experience. He once led me into the middle of nowhere and left me there for four weeks."
Pyrrha gasped.
"That sounds...irresponsible. What if something happened to you?"
Jaune just shrugged. "Then it would mean I wasn't good enough." Seeing his partner's shocked expression, he continued.
"It's not like he just dumped me there without any preparation. It was about a year after we started traveling together. He taught me many things - not only how to kill Grimm, but also how to survive in the Wilds."
He paused for a moment then added.
"You can say it was my end-of-year exam. And he didn't actually abandoned me - he was in the area the whole time. Found a few traces of him camping there." Jaune smiled at the memory.
"Leon always played this tough, uncaring type, but he has a soft heart, and a protective streak a mile wide. We once chased one guy all the way to Mistral and back to Vale just because he stole from one of Leon's friends."
"Did you break their legs?" Nora asked.
Pyrrha raised an eyebrow, and Ren waived her off.
"He sounds like an interesting person." Said Ren.
Jaune chuckled. "Oh he is."
"Maybe you can introduce us one day." Pyrrha said with a small smile.
"I would love to. But I doubt it will happen anytime soon. He travels a lot, and he hates big cities. He only comes to one when he really has to."
"So how was traveling with him? It must have been sooooooo exciting!" Nora shouted.
Jaune laughed.
"Oh yeah, it was. We traveled all over Remnant. At first it was rough, but before I knew it I was hooked on this traveling stuff. I got it so bad I couldn't even sleep well if we stayed in one place for more than a week."
He looked over his team.
"So, how about you guys? I shared a bit of my story, now it's your turn."
Nora bounced to her feet and started to talk, waving her hands around.
"Well, Me and Renny are together - but not together-together, that would be weird - for like forever now. We're travelers too! Grew up in an orphanage with Sister Martha, haven't had a home-home for a long time now. There was an old Huntsman that lived nearby, he taught us how to fight, and helped us get our weapons." She made explosion noises with her mouth and fired imaginary guns. She smiled wistfully. "Sister Martha hated that last part. And then we came to Beacon, because, well Beacon! Soon we'll start our own business selling Ursa skin rugs." She finished with a flourish of her arms.
Ren sighed. "Nora, we've been through this, you can't sell Grimm pelts."
Jaune smiled. "Hey man, don't crush her dreams."
"Yeah Renny!" Nora cried out.
Ren shot him a smirk. "You'll soon learn the dangers of encouraging her. That dream is your problem now."
Jaune laughed nervously.
Nora ignored them both, tapping her finger against her lip. "What else?" She considered as she continued her perpetual bouncing.
"Oh! Renny makes best pancakes in the world. And I like sloths...a lot." She added, then nodded to herself and sat back on her bed, bouncing up and down.
Pyrrha stared at her for few moments, trying to figure out what to do with this random information.
Ren just shook his head and mouthed 'let it go.'
"Nora and I have been lucky enough to benefit from the kindness of strangers, much like yourself Jaune. Sister Martha and Butch helped us get to where we are."
Jaune smiled at the green clad boy. "Hey, my mom always says that strangers are just friends that you haven't met yet." He considered the boy for a moment. "Did you say Butch? As in a Hunter named Butch? Guy with a beard that he was way too proud of?"
"Renny, he knows Butchy! Our meeting has been foretold in the stars!" Nora jumped in.
"Nora, I'm fairly certain that stars don't work that way." He stared at Jaune, daring him to contradict him this time. "I can't believe you've met Butch, small world. Where at?"
"We worked a job together when I was still training under Leon. He lost the beard by the way, said he shaved it for a woman."
Pyrrha made an 'awww' noise in the background.
Ren smiled. "Yes, Sister Martha. I'm afraid Nora is to blame for that one."
"Cause I'm cupid! Spreading love with my grenade launcher!" Nora exclaimed as she covered the room in imaginary grenades.
"Nora, I don't think that…" Pyrrha started before Jaune placed a warning hand on her shoulder, much to Ren's amusement.
He sighed.
This is the girl that rode on stinger of giant Deathstalker… honestly, 'normal' is not something I should be expecting from her.
"So, how about you Pyrrha?" He asked his partner.
She shuffled nervously. "Well, I'm from Mistral. And it looks like I'm only one here who went to combat prep school."
"How was it?"
"Well… normal. No one would dump us in middle of the forest for four weeks. It was mostly a normal school, but with combat and Grimm-related classes. In the third year, it became more combat focused. In the middle of third year, a few of the best students were taken out to assist veteran hunters on some routine mission. It wasn't anything big - we encountered a few Beowolves, and that was it."
Nora stopped bouncing for a moment. "Waaaaiiiittttt. Aren't you that really famous champion chick?"
Pyrrha stared at the floor. "I suppose I am."
Jaune readied himself to steer the conversation away from the subject when Nora beat him to it.
"Cool! We should fight to the death sometime!"
"Nora, we're not fighting anyone to the death, especially our teammates." Ren corrected.
"What about to the pain?"
"Still no." He confirmed.
She let out an exasperated sigh, and fell back on the bed.
The suddenly sat up with shy smile.
"Then.. how about to the pancake?"
Ren shook his head as Pyrrha burst out laughing.
Jaune made to speak, but a sharp pain in his right hand stopped him. He could also feel a dull pounding in his head - a sign of an oncoming migraine.
Oh well, he though wincing, it was bound to happen sooner or later.
"Jaune? What's wrong?" His partner asked.
He shot her a smile and shrugged.
"Just a little headache. Happens from time to time when I overdo it with my Semblance."
Seeing her worried expression, he quickly added.
"I'll be fine. Just need to sleep it off. Speaking of which - it's getting late, so I think we should call it a day. We have lessons tomorrow after all."
They all agreed. Since the girls already took a shower, and Ren was busy explaining to Nora why they couldn't go to Vale zoo to steal a sloth and make it their team mascot, Jaune went to the bathroom. He closed the door, and carefully took off an armored glove and started examining his right hand.
Well, it could be worse. He thought. Most of it was pitch black - like the blade his longsword. Or Harrowed skin.
He looked over the limb, flexing his fingers, noticing several black veins that pulsated in rhythm with his heart. He didn't lie to Pyrrha - this was an effect of overusing his semblance. More precisely - mixing a few elixirs, and activating Eclipse - even if it wasn't a full awakening.
He would be fine the next morning - partial corruption like that wasn't dangerous as long as he had his Aura. All he needed was some rest and to not to do anything too crazy.
Jaune shrugged and undressed. He took quick shower, and after he was done, applied a bit of special salve on his right hand. It would ease the pain, and quicken healing.
When he returned to the room. Nora was already in her bed. He walked over to his, and after brief consideration, took off his jeans and went in. After a few moments Ren walked out of bathroom. Four 'good nights' sounded off, lights were turned off, and team JNPR fell fast asleep. Thankfully, no one asked their team leader why he chose to sleep with a glove on his right hand.
AN: And that wraps up initiation. We start… 'normal' Beacon days now. Just a word of warning - I may or may not mess up with timing of events here.
I initially wanted to skip fight vs Deathstalker and Nevermore. But then I realized I would be missing out on a perfect scene for introducing Nora and Ren to story. Turns out writing our female Thor is much easier than I thought - just come up with bunch of insane things and you are set.
JJD: I think that one think Cr00cy and I have both been adamant about is capturing the family dynamic of JNPR. It's one of the things that makes the show, and so we've been careful (read spent hours debating about it) to try to make sure we do it justice.
Anyway - here is another Samantha short, written by JJD:
JJD: Sam is my new favorite character.
Stole the song 'Spanish Lady' from Celtic Woman. It's good, give it a listen.
"Sam, I don't know about this." Jaune started nervously.
"You want to go to the fair right?" She questioned.
"Well, yeah."
"But we don't have any cash." She continued.
"True."
"And you play the guitar."
"A little." He admitted.
"And I dance." She proclaimed proudly.
"So you do."
Her eyes narrowed. "I dance well, don't I Jaune?"
He waived his hands excitedly, "Very well! The best!"
She smiled. "The we don't have a problem! We'll play in the town square and rake in the cash!"
"I just don't know how well that's going to work. We're not exactly pros."
"You're being a downer Jaune." She chastised him. "Everybody starts somewhere, and you promised me!"
He hung his head in defeat. "So I did."
"Then let's rock this place!" She exclaimed.
He sighed. "When do we start?"
"As soon as you grab that damn guitar."
"Language!"
Jaune tuned his guitar from his place on the fountain in the town square, as he watched Sam slowly walk her way through the steps, prepping for the performance.
People had started to slow their walks, looking on in curiosity as the couple set their stage.
He strummed his guitar once more, nodding in appreciation of the sound.
"You ready Sam?"
She huffed. "I was born ready."
He chuckled as he launched into the song, watching Sam start the familiar steps of the dance.
She began to sing.
As I came down through Vacuo City
At the hour of twelve at night
Who should I see but the Sanus Lady
Washing her feet by candlelight
First she washed them, then she dried them
Over a fire of amber coal
In all my life I never did see
A maid so sweet about the soul
He nodded along, watching as Sam increased her pace, spinning in place.
Whack for the toora loora laddy
Whack for the toora loora lay
Whack for the toora loora laddy
Whack for the toora loora lay
People had started to gather now, some beginning to clap in time with the music.
As I came back through Vacuo City,
At the hour of half past eight
Who should I spy but the Sanus Lady
Brushing her hair in the broad daylight
First she tossed it, then she brushed it
On her lap was a silver comb
In all my life I never did see
A maid so fair since I did roam
Sam had completely abandoned the normal steps, starting in on her own version of the dance. Jaune strummed faster, struggling to keep up with her.
Whack for the toora loora laddy
Whack for the toora loora lay
Whack for the toora loora laddy
Whack for the toora loora lay
The crowd had grown exponentially, the townsfolk stomping in time with the music, smiles wide on their faces.
As I went back through Vacuo City
As the sun began to set
Who should I spy but the Sanus Lady
Catching a moth in a golden net
When she saw me, then she fled me
Lifting her petticoat over her knee
In all my life I never did see
A maid so shy as the Sanus Lady
Sam's feet were a blur, barely seeming to touch the ground. It was amazing. She was amazing.
Whack for the toora loora laddy
Whack for the toora loora lay
Whack for the toora loora laddy
Whack for the toora loora lay
Whack for the toora loora laddy
Whack for the toora loora lay
Whack for the toora loora laddy
Whack for the toora loora lay
His hand dropped from the guitar, feeling strangely exhausted. He looked up at to see Sam give a long bow to the crowd that had gathered.
He shook his head. God she was arrogant.
Coins began raining down on them, more than they could possibly need.
Well...maybe not so arrogant.
She turned and grinned at him.
"You totally owe me ice-cream."