Welcome to Ch 37 of TPA
"So, that's what happened?" Ozpin hummed, tapping his desk. Jaune just nodded, and took a sip of the tea he was given at the beginning of the meeting. It was cold by now, but still pretty good.
"This is certainly troubling news. It's a shame Torchwick managed to escape, but at least we have confirmation he is indeed working with the White Fang."
Jaune raised an eyebrow at that.
"You suspected it before?"
Ozpin nodded.
"Leon was able to acquire intel suggesting as much. We knew they were working with a human, or humans, form Vale underworld, but we weren't sure with whom. Though I must say I'm surprised. Roman Torchwick is not someone I would picture as a faunus sympathizer."
Jaune chuckled.
"He is most definitely not. From what I saw, they weren't exactly friendly with each other. It might have been just nerves, but I somehow doubt it."
"I see." Ozpin remained silent for a few moments, then sighed. "Now, onto another matter. The job you took in Dragon's Maw. Is there any chance it was connected to what happened in Spring Valley?"
Jaune remained silent for a long while, considering his answer. Finally, he slowly shook his head.
"I don't think so. It appeared that Rias was a regular Parasite-type Harrowed. The test me and Regis ran didn't show the presence of the toxin used before in her, or any of the victims' bodies. Even if she was his creation, he must have used a different method."
"I see. Well, thank you for your time, Mr. Arc. You are free to go."
Jaune smiled and got up.
"Thank you. Good night, sir."
"Good night to you too." Ozpin said with nod, checking something on the terminal on his desk. Judging by his frown, it wasn't anything good.
Well, not my business. Jaune thought, stepping into elevator. And hopefully it will stay that way.
"So?" Ruby asked, arms crossed, glaring down at her teammates. "What do you have to say for yourselves?"
"I…" Blake began, but was quickly interrupted.
"No excuses." Ruby demanded. "I want you to give me one, just one good reason to run away from your team. And Brothers help me, if you say you thought we wouldn't accept you because you're a faunus, you will regret it."
"I said the same thing…" Weiss muttered, but paused under her team leader's glare. Just when did she learn to do that?
"Well.." Blake began, trying to figure out a good answer. She vaguely recalled having a lot of good reasons just two days ago. Somehow, none of them looked so good now.
Ruby stared at her for a few moments, the sighed and shook her head.
"Really, what were you thinking? I get you might have been angry, or scared, or something, but running away? And then-" she waved her hands in the air, looking for words, then paused, let out a long, tired sigh, and, to everyone's surprise, hugged the black haired girl. "I was so scared, Blake. When I heard that you ran away, and then when we found you at the docks, and Torchwick was aiming at you, I thought you were a goner…" her breath hitched, and the young girl bit back a sob. "Please, Blake, don't ever do that again. You are my friend. Our friend. And losing friends hurts."
Blake remained motionless for a few moments, then slowly, carefully, hugged her team leader back.
"I'm sorry, Ruby," she said finally. "I just got angry. And scared." She chuckled. " I guess it's one of my bad habits. Running away from my problems."
"It's ok." Ruby said, pulling back. "Just remember that we are a team. Whatever we do, we do it together. There might be times we argue, but that doesn't mean we hate each other."
The black haired girl chuckled.
"I guess. When we started arguing, I didn't even try to understand Weiss' points, I just got angry, and overreacted." She looked up at the heiress. "Sorry about that."
Weiss nodded.
"Apology accepted. I guess I owe you one too. What I said was too harsh. I apologize."
Blake slumped.
"Well, it turned it wasn't untrue."
"Still, I could have handled it better."
Ruby breathed a sigh of relief, and jumped to her feet.
"All right, team RWBY is back on track! Now, if you will excuse me, I have to take care of my baby." She paused in front of the doors, considered something for a few moments and turned to her team.
"If any of you try to run away when I'm gone, I will shoot you with Crescent Rose. And I'm gonna use explosive ammo."
Ruby wasn't too surprised when someone walked into the Beacon foundry. She was only one here, the technician that usually supervised place knew her well enough already that he let her in despite the late hour.
She wasn't surprised as this newcomer sat next to her either. Yang always could find her, though she hadn't tried to hide this time.
Well, not too hard.
She didn't do, or say anything for nearly thirty minutes, allowing Ruby to work in peace. Only when younger girl put away all her tools, cleaned her hands and let out a long, tired breath, did Yang get up from her seat, walk up to her younger sister and hug her from behind. She didn't ask anything, just held her like that.
Well, Yang always could read Ruby's mood. The young huntress knew her sister would always be there for her, always supporting her. And she absolutely would find out what was bothering her younger sister, no matter how much Ruby tried to pretend everything was ok.
That's why she didn't even bothered trying to hold back, and let her tears flow freely, all the while clinging to her older sister.
"So, that's what happened, huh?" Yang mused, gently stroking her sister's hair. She felt her nod, head still pressed against her chest.
"So, it turned out that the Harrowed was possessing this Rias girl? Something like that is possible?"
Ruby pulled back, and sent her a sad smile.
"Form what Jaune said, there are types of Aberrations that can do things like that. But they can't just mind-control people, they just… find a fresh corpse, and… use it." her breath hitched a bit at the end, and Yang pulled her back into a hug.
"I see. I'm sorry sis, that I wasn't there with you."
Ruby shook her head.
"Nah, it's ok. I dread to imagine what would have happened if Weiss and Blake were left alone. Turns out you were the only responsible person here." Ruby sighed "That's kinda sad…"
Yang stared at her sister for a few moments, then grinned.
"Oh, what was that, dearest sister of my?" She asked with a sweet voice, pinching Ruby's cheeks.
"I'mmmmmm soorry! Yuuuuo are the beeeest!" The young Huntress cried out.
"Of course I am." She patted her sister's head. "So, how are you holding up? I saw you freeze back at the dock. I honestly freaked out. Good thing Penny showed up when she did. "
Ruby slumped.
"Sorry about that. I guess I just got scared."
Yang blinked.
"Scared? You? Ruby you took out a whole gang robbing a shop, all by yourself! You kill Grimm like no one's business, and you want me to believe you got scared by one White Fang goon? Sure, they might be a bit stronger, but come on!"
Ruby chuckled nervously.
"No, I wasn't scared of him."
"Then what happened?"
Ruby shuffled nervously, not being able to meet her sister's eyes. Finally, she mumbled something quietly.
"Sorry, I didn't catch that. What did you say?"
"Blood. He surprised me, and I slashed him, and he started bleeding. For a moment, I thought I killed him, and then I remembered Rias, and… I panicked."
Yang sighed, and hugged her sister again.
"Well, you are safe, so it's fine as far as i'm concerned." She chuckled darkly. "Guess we have to thank Jaune and Penny for that. But damn, you make the weirdest friends, Ruby. Jaune, I wasn't expecting him to kill those guys just like that, but I can understand. Four years in the Wilds, he had to see some pretty dark stuff. But Penny?" Yang shook her head. "I was surprised she could fight, let alone like that."
Ruby winced at the memory. She still wasn't sure how she felt about the fact that both Jaune and Penny were ready to kill another person like that. Sure, the White Fang were bad guys, and they wouldn't hesitate to harm, or even kill any of them if given the chance, but still, it shocked her. More so the fact that neither Jaune, nor Penny, looked actually angry, or furious. She always thought people killed others only when they were really bad people, or if they got so angry they lost control.
But both of her friends looked calm, and completely unbothered by the corpses they left behind.
And the blood.
Jaune had quite a bit of it on him, and acted like he didn't even notice it until Yang pointed it out. He just shrugged, and said he was used to it.
"I guess. But I'm fine now Yang." She got up, and stretched. "Anyway, let's go back. We have class tomorrow."
Yang watched her sister for a few moments, then let a small smile show on her lips. Ruby might not be fine just now, but her sister was strong. She would pull through this.
"I guess." Yang sighed dramatically. "It's late, and I need my beauty sleep."
Jaune massaged his chin, lost in thought. When Yang approached him this morning, he half expected her to punch him in the face for putting Ruby trough all of this drama. But she just stared him in the eyes for a few moments, before lightly tapping his chin with her fist.
"Next time." She said, and walked off.
Jaune stared at her for a few moments, then just shrugged. He did let Ruby get hurt afterall. Not physically, but an older siblings had certain privileges.
Sucker punching someone responsible for their little sibling getting hurt was among them. As an older brother Jaune knew, and accepted it.
Surprisingly, the little red Huntress didn't seem to appreciate her older sister's concerns, and was glaring at the blond bombshell through the whole breakfast.
"Ruby, just let it go already."
"It doesn't matter! You can't go around punching people like that for no reason!" Ruby whined.
Yang just shook her head.
"But I didn't punch him. And beside, you had a bad time because of him. That's a good reason."
"It's not! I bet Jaune wouldn't punch people for no reason like that. Right?"
Jaune paused, mouth open and sandwich mere millimeters away. He considered the question for a moment, then shrugged.
"I wouldn't punch them." He confirmed and went back to his breakfast.
"You see? You should take his example." Ruby pouted, and Yang grinned.
"Hmmm, maybe next time I will." She said winking at her fellow blond, who for whatever reason just choked on his food.
Well, Yang could hardly blame him. They did exchanged notes on how to deal with people that hurts your siblings. And she must admit, she was impressed.
"A-anyway, you guys have anything planned for after class?"
"I have a session with Miss Goodwitch." Ruby said.
"Well, I think I will just stay in the dorm. Catch up on some reading, study a bit." Yang said with a shrug, taking a bite of her apple.
A few moments passed in utter silence.
The blonde brawler sighed and looked over at the seven people staring at her as if she had just grown horns, or kitty ears.
"What?"
"You.. want to study? Of your own free will?" Ruby asked carefully.
"Well, yeah. Gotta keep my scores up. Beside, Weiss-cream would force me to do it anyway." She said with a shrug.
The heiress sniffed, wiping a fake tear from her eye.
"They grow up so fast…"
"Hey!"
Ruby mirrored her partner.
"I know right? Our little girl is growing big and responsible. Soon she might not need us anymore."
"Not you too, sis!"
Weiss shook her head.
"Now, let's not go too far. I'm afraid we're stuck with her for the rest of our lives."
"You bet you are!" Yang grinned, eyeing her sister subtly. She wasn't as tense as she was yesterday. Her laughter was a bit more natural, smile a bit honest. It looked like her sister would pull through this after all.
Good. Otherwise she might have to really take a page or two from Jaune's book. She was sure she still had it hidden somewhere.
"So, that's what happened, huh…" Leon nodded to himself, lost in thought.
Jaune was fairly sure that his teacher shouldn't be wondering school halls like this.
Then again, no one seemed to care. At least, no one important.
"So yeah, I was wondering what that was about. Is it possible that Eclipse… I don't know, changed somehow?"
Leon shrugged.
"It didn't changed at all. It's you who changed."
Jaune blinked.
"Me?"
"Yeah. To be more precise, you synchronized yourself with it. Or got used to it, whatever you prefer. The point is, you stopped rejecting it."
Jaune just stared at his teacher.
"What do you mean by rejecting?"
Leon sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"What about the drain? You can still feel the pull on your Aura, but it's not bothering you anymore, right?"
Jaune considered his teacher's words for a few moments, then nodded.
"Yes. I can still feel it, but.. well, it's still there but…" Jaune pause for a moment, then smiled. "I guess it's like that time when I crafted it, and started carrying it around. I was conscious about it being there, it's weight on my belt, it bumping against my legs. But over time, I just get used to it. Carrying it become normal. Natural."
Leon smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, it's like that. You get used to it pulling on your Aura, so now the flow can go both ways. This means that any rebound you get might be stronger, but also will end faster. And it will warn you about Harrowed."
"Wait, what? How?"
Leon shrugged.
"Not sure about the details, but it's something you will recognize when it happens. If you go near a place with a high concentration of corrupted Aura, it will start acting out. It might, for example, heat up, or cool down, or any number of other things."
"Like vibrating?"
"Yeah. So, that's how you figured something was off? It started acting out on the job in Dragon's Maw?"
Jaune shook his head.
"No. When I was at the docks. It was weak at first, but got really noticeable when those reinforcements came in."
Leon remained silent for a few moments, then sighed.
"Ok, I probably shouldn't be telling you this… Well scratch that, I definitely shouldn't be telling you this, but I was running around the city lately, busting the Fang's hideouts, and I found a few…I guess you could call them laboratories."
Jaune could feel the hair stand on his head. He had a very bad feeling about this.
"Laboratories?" He asked, dreading what he might hear next.
"Yeah. And… I think they got ahold of his notes."
Jaune didn't ask who Leon meant. He didn't have to.
Instead, he took a deep breath, and slowly let it go. Then repeated this two more times, and finally forced himself to relax his tense muscles.
"I see. Thank you for telling me."
"Sure. But Jaune?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't do anything reckless. You're student now, live your life a bit. Leave the dirty stuff to old timers like me."
The blond smiled and shook his head.
"How can you call yourself an old-timer if you don't even know how old you are?"
Leon shrugged.
"I'm older than you, that's for sure. But seriously, Jaune. Don't let vengeance ruin what you have."
Jaune sighed.
"What, you telling me to forget and forgive?"
Leon choked.
"What? Hell no. If you ever meet the bastard, murderize him. But call me first, I want to take a few stabs myself, if possible. No, what I'm trying to say, is to not let the bastard control your life. Don't chase after him, live your life. I have a feeling he will show up in front of you sooner or later."
Jaune smiled.
"I guess." The blond got up from his seat, and stretched." So, what are you gonna to do now? My team and I planned to do some training, if you want you could…"
Leon sighed.
"I would love to, but I still need to visit Oz. And shower. And hit the cafeteria. And the bedroom. Not necessary in that order." Leon's eyes narrowed and he looked Jaune over, his expression serious. "One more thing. Since you synced with your sword, you should be able to perform a full awakening."
"A full awakening? I think you mentioned that once, but I don't remember the details."
"Well, it's not that different from a normal awakening, it's just that it's… Tell me, have you ever killed a person with Eclipse before?"
Jaune shook his head.
"No, yesterday was the first time."
"And what did you feel?"
Jaune considered his answer for a few seconds.
"I don't think there was anything special. I kinda expected to get flooded by their emotions, but it didn't happen."
Leon hummed and nodded.
"So, you haven't achieve it yet. Listen, it's hard to property explain, but a full awakening basically allows you to cut through Aura. Any Aura, not only corrupted."
"That sounds… powerful. What's the price?"
Leon smiled.
"It eats your own Aura like crazy. At most, you can maintain it for only a few seconds. Enough for one, two good hits."
"So how do I learn to do it? Besides lots of practice?"
"Balance."
Jaune blinked, surprised.
"What?"
"You have to be in balance. Mostly mentally, but also physically. Strong mind and strong body. You have to be determined, dedicated. Have a clear, single goal in mind. And most importantly - you have to know yourself. Fully realize, and accept, the person known as Jaune Arc. With all his virtues and vices."
The blond Witcher considered his words, then smiled and nodded. That sounded like something pulled out of some cheap heroic story, but hey, if Leon of all people said he had to find balance? Yeah, Jaune was willing to take his old teacher's word for it.
"Well, I guess I know what I'll be doing in my free time. Thanks for the talk, Leon."
"Anytime."
Jaune's back slammed into the tree. The blond wished nothing more than to just curl up in a ball, and lay there for approximately eternity.
Alas, a massive warhammer sailing towards his face forced him to move his battered body. He somehow managed to slip under the swing, but before he could even think about attacking, a bronze shield slammed into his side, throwing him back to the ground.
"You ok there, Jaune?" Asked Pyrrha with a sweet smile.
"I.. hate.. you.. all." He managed to choke out, between labored gasps.
"Ooooow, you hear that Renny? He said he loves us!" Nora cooed.
"...really… hate… you."
Jaune tried to get up, but decided it was too much of a effort, and just collapsed again.
"What's the point of this training anyway? Besides you getting to take your stress out on me?"
Nora tapped a finger against her lips, thinking carefully for a few moments.
"I mean… do we need any? Helping his team by providing an effective way to release stress sound like something a good leader would do. And our Jaune is the best leader ever!"
"Speaking seriously." Said Ren, handing the blond hunter bottle of water. "We really need to work on your Semblance. All of us have a pretty good grasp of what we can do, since our Semblances are rather one dimensional. Yours however, has multiple potential uses."
Jaune sighed. He knew that, and really was thankful that his team was helping him with his training.
He just wished they at least tried to pretend they weren't enjoying knocking him around.
This must be revenge for all the times I ran off to work without telling them. I just know it is.
"So? We find anything new?" He asked aloud, sitting up.
Ren nodded.
"It seems like the time you are able to hold up…"
"Aura Mail!" Nora happily interjected.
".. has gone up by almost one minute."
The blond sighed. One one hand, he was happy. Aura Mail, as Nora dubbed it, was a protective technique his team had helped him develop for some time now. The idea had come from the fact that his Aura wall was too impractical to use most of the time. Sure, it could block just about any attack, but most of the time he actually used up more Aura on forging it, than what he would lose if he got hit. So, they proposed the idea of not forming a solid wall, just enhancing his Aura's toughness. And what better way to let him test it, than to beat the living hell out of hm?
Jaune sighed. It wasn't pleasant, but he couldn't deny there were results. It was looking good.
"I think we should change our training a bit." Pyrrha said, watching her leader carefully.
"Really? What do you have in mind?"
"Why don't you try to fight without your armor?"
Jaune stared at his partner, eyes wide. Was this it? Did she finally decide to take over the leader position? And such a perfect scheme she had come up with. A training accident, that would put him out of commission, probably permanently. He could almost hear them saying how it was his idea, how they tried to stop him, but he insisted.
Pyrrha blushed and looked away, barely restrained the smile on her lips..
He looks like a puppy…
"Jaune, don't stare at me like that."
"Why, Pyrrha? I thought we were friends!"
"But… we are! I'm just trying to help you."
"Be sentencing me to death?! I'm barely surviving three of you beating me with my armor. Without it, I'm dead meat."
"First of all, you have a lot of Aura, you'll survive. Somehow."
"That wasn't very convincing…"
"And second - I thought about a one-on-one fight this time."
"Against Ren?" Jaune asked hopefully
Pyrrha's smile crushed this hope instantly.
"I thought so." With a groan, Jaune got up, and started working on taking off his Armor.
This is going to suck. This is going to suck SO much.
Somewhere in Vale, an older man walked into a nicely done room, and sat on a comfortable looking sofa. The woman in front of him smiled and offered him a glass of wine. He accepted and took a sip, sighing with pleasure. His host really had good taste when it came to wines.
"How is your research going?"
He put his glass down, and considered his answer.
"Pretty well. Thanks to your support, I could afford to perform several experiments I did not dare to attempt before. Even now, I'm adjusting the formula according to what I learned."
"I'm glad to hear it." She purred, crossing her legs and taking a sip of wine. Her amber eyes didn't leave his for a moment.
The fact he didn't flinch, or react to her not very subtle provocations, seem to please her.
Well, if he was two, three decades younger, he might have tried his luck. She was beautiful after all. But now? Now he had other things on his mind.
"But I hope these...adjustments will not delay the project? We are on a schedule after all."
Alchemist laughed.
"I do admit that I was tempted to scrap everything and start anew, but don't worry. You will get what you asked for, this I can promise. And with a bit of luck, and a lot of hard work? Well, I think I will be able to deliver some nice bonuses."
"Oh?"She smiled, and leaned forward, her amber eyes flickering in the dim light. "Please, do tell me more."
"Well, I wouldn't like to bore you with unnecessary details…"
"Nonsense. I greatly enjoy talking with you. Unfortunately, our current acquaintances are rather … narrow minded."
Alchemist laughed. Yes, that was one way of putting it. He took another sip and started talking, his… boss? She didn't really pay him, but it was clear to him where he stood in this relationship.
Anyway, she looked pleased with what he had to say. So much so, that she promised he would get additional resources to 'play around with.'
He was thankful, really. It surprised him to find someone so understanding of his mission. Where was she when he was starting over? They could achieve so much together…
Well, she probably wasn't even born yet.
He shook his head. It didn't matter now. He chatted idly with his employer for almost an hour, before politely excusing himself. He didn't want to impose, and besides, he had so much work to do.
He smiled. Ah, how he missed it.
Cinder Fall relaxed in her seat. She was pleased, something rare lately. It seems like every one of her henchmen decided to cause her trouble.
Expect this one. She had her doubts at first, but this... Alchemist proved more than worth all the effort she put into finding him.
"Ok, I've seen, and done some pretty messed up shit in my life, but this guy? He really gives me creeps. Why do we even work with him?"
Cinder simled. Of course her two little minions were right beside her. She wasn't sure if her guest didn't notice them, or didn't care.
It didn't matter in the end, she supposed. He was useful, and even a bit entertaining. It was nice to talk with someone intelligent from time to time.
"He is useful." She said aloud. This was all poor Mercury would get - and everything he needed.
Cinder leaned back and raised her almost empty glass. Emerald, always eager to please, hurried to refill it. Such a sweet little minion she was.
All her plans were coming together nicely. The fiasco at the docks was disappointing, but didn't matter in the end.
Cinder smiled and took a sip of wine. It tasted delicious.
Like victory.
Now that wraps it up. A lot of talking and the plot thickens while Jaune is continuing his training. Leon spilling secrets he probably shouldn't (not that he cares) and Ruby dealing with her own trauma.
So, will our blond Witcher find his balance? Will he be able to grasp the full power of his black sword? And what will it mean for him if he does?
Only the future will tell.
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See you all next week.