Welcome to Ch 38 of TPA
Jaune ducked under a swipe, sidestepped a kick, and parried a thrust coming towards his face. His counter was easily deflected, and Pyrrha's shield caught him in the head, pushing him back. Fortunately, he had enough presence of mind to raise his own, and catch the follow up slash on the metal surface instead of his face.
Ok, this is not working.
His little armor-less sparring was going about as well as he expected - which is to say absolutely terrible. Pyrrha had him on defence the whole time, and without the added protection, he was losing fast. He knew he had to do something to change flow of fight. The problem was that he couldn't figure out what.
Pyrrha was faster, and much more mobile than he was. She was also used to fighting other Aura users - something he had little to no experience with prior joining Beacon. Sure, he and Leon faced bandits multiple times, but they usually didn't have their Aura unlocked. And if they met rogue Hunter, it was his teacher who dealt with it.
Think. What advantages I have?
Endurance, Aura, and pure physical strength. Jaune knew he could overpower his partner if she decided to meet him head-on. Unfortunately, she was far too experienced to make such a stupid mistake.
Jaune grit his teeth, doing his best to withstand Pyrrha's onslaught. But he knew full well it wouldn't be long before she broke his guard. She was just too damn good. He knew that he at least as physically strong as she was - they had tested it on Nora's demand. The problem was that Pyrrha was just too fast, to nimble.
Too damn good.
Jaune winced when another hit caught him in the stomach. Not strong enough to knock the air out of him, but painful nonetheless.
It would be so much better if I had my armor…
Yes, his armor. Why Pyrrha insisted he removed it, he had no idea. What he did know, however, was that he was losing, and losing fast. Sure, his new technique helped, but it was too hard to focus on keeping it up and fighting with his monster of a partner.
Jaune grunted, catching the spear head on his shield, and pushed on, trying to close the distance. Pyrrha forced him to reconsider with a solid kick to stomach, followed by two quick stabs. One he parried, the second marked his cheek. Jaune growled and jumped back, desperate to create some space between them, to maybe catch a breath, form a plan…
The first bullet caught him in the shin, two more pinged off his shield when he desperately covered behind it. Pyrrha was on him a second later, her shield slamming into his. With momentum alone, she pushed him back, stabbing around and under both shields. Jaune cursed and twisted, letting Pyrrha run past him. The red haired champion didn't stumble, like Jaune hoped, she just spun around, knocking his sword away with her shield, and countering with a slash to his stomach.
Jaune grit his teeth, trying to find an opening he could use to turn it around. Each second that passed without him finding anything, each blow he received made the feeling in his chest grow stronger and stronger.
In some strange way it was familiar. He'd often felt it when he traveled with Leon. He'd felt it when they hunted Grimm and Harrowed in thick forests, or dark, damp caves.
When they stood on shoddy walls of some frontier village, watching the approaching horde of monsters.
Or when he was ushering terrified civilians to bullheads, while Leon and other, more experienced Hunters were holding off the black tide after said walls were breached.
Or when they were rushing towards a plume of dark smoke, hoping to reach the attacked village in time.
Or when they were tracking the bandits that were responsible for an attack they were too late to stop.
This feeling followed him to Beacon, thought it was nowhere near as intense. The last time he truly felt it was in Spring Valley.
Desperation.
He wasn't sure why it came back so strong now, during a friendly spar with his partner. Maybe it was exhaustion, maybe Leon's warring, or maybe the fact Pyrrha just kept hitting him in the head with her shield, always wearing this strange frown, like he had done something wrong.
Jaune stumbled, and then bent over, when Pyrrha's spear slammed into his stomach. He dropped on one knee, fighting to catch his breath. The next shield bash to the head almost knocked him out. In this brief moment, when he was falling down, and stared at his partner's gleaming blade raised to finish him off, he recalled something.
It was a memory from over two years ago. Hidden in some small cave somewhere south of Mistral, surrounded by pitch-black night, and a monsterous thunderstorm. He and Leon were licking their wounds after a fight with a bandit tribe that was much harder than it had any right to be. They'd gotten separated, and even though the bandits weren't strong, there were a lot of them. Jaune had gotten badly beaten up, and they had had to retreat.
It was then that he asked a very important question. What to do when you are surrounded by so many enemies? What do you do when the situation is so hopeless?
Leon just watched him for a few moments. And then he smiled, with this wild, feral, smile that looked more like a wild beast showing off they teeth, than an actual smile, and gave his answer.
"Listen Jaune, if your back's against a wall, and your enemy is bleeding you dry, there is only one appropriate answer."
Jaune's hand shot forward, throwing a few pebbles at his partner's face. She easily dodged them, not that they would do any significant damage even if they hit. But this moment of distraction was enough for Jaune to get up and lunge at Pyrrha. She let out a surprised yelp when he slammed into her, almost knocking her over.
"Pure, unadulterated, overwhelming violence."
The blond Witcher grinned, and with a roar, charged at his opponent. Afterall, if he was going down anyway, he could at least make his opponent work for it.
"Wow. What's gotten into Ladykiller?"
Nora grinned at the blonde Huntress.
"Well, he either got bored of being Pyrrha's punching bag, or she hit him in the head too hard and he snapped. Take your pick."
"I must say, I'm surprised as well. Jaune was always a very composed warrior, I never imagined he could fight like that." Said Ren.
Weiss hummed, but didn't commnet. She knew her blond friend could be aggressive when he wanted to, their numerous spars taught her that.
But not like this.
He usually preferred to wait on his opponents, let them tire out trying to go past his defense, and only when exhaustion and irritation caused them to start making mistakes - he would go on the offensive, crushing them in one go.
But this? He was fighting like a wild animal - constantly on the offensive, always attacking. Not only with his sword - his shield, his legs, even his head - everything was a weapon. Something like that fit Yang more. But the heiress doubted even her teammate could be so... feral. Jaune fought like his life depended on it, attacking mercilessly, and using every trick he could to keep his momentum going.
And judging by her smile, Pyrrha was enjoying every second of it.
Still, even though he had the initiative now, it was clear to everyone watching that Jaune wasn't winning. Pyrrha wasn't four time champion for nothing after all. After the initial surprise, she was slowly, but surely regaining control of the fight. With each passing second, she got better and better at reading her partner's attack. She blocked more of them, and counterd more often.
Jaune's response was to push harder. It might have seemed reckless, desperate attempt to gain some advantage, but to those watching, his intent was clear. He was slowly pushing Pyrrha back towards a small bolder, no doubt hoping to trip her over it. If Pyrrha fell, and he managed to get on top of her, he should be able to win.
They all winced when Jaune took a nasty hit to the head that almost knocked him over, but the blond Hunter just roared and pushed on. They were close, very close now. Everyone watching the fight tensed. Could it be? Would Jaune be the one to finally break the Invincible Girl's winning streak?
They watched in excitement as Jaune pushed Pyrrha closer and closer to the obstacle she couldn't see. Only five more steps, four, three…
Two...
Three very intense seconds passed, after which complete silence fell over the small clearing they were using as a training spot. They just stared at the blond boy lying flat on his stomach, with the red haired Huntress pressing her spear against his back.
"What… just happened?" Asked Blake, cleary shocked.
They all thought that it was over, that Jaune had the fight. But then, at the last possible moment, Pyrrha somehow managed to slip past her partner and trip him over the rock that he wanted to use to secure his victory.
"Hacks. I call hacks. What the hell are the devs doing?" Yang cried out, throwing her hands in the air. "This is some serious bullshit. No one should be this good."
"I agree!" Jaune shouted, slowly getting up. He sighed and glanced at his partner.
"So, mind telling what that was for? And I'm not talking just about the fact you wanted me to fight without my armor."
For some reason, Pyrrha become very interested in one of the nearby trees.
"Whatever could you be talking about?"
Jaune sighed.
"Pyr. You could have ended that fight much faster. You should have ended it when I fell over."
"Well, you did throw something at me. I had to back off, since I could have gotten blinded."
The blond Hunter sent her flat stare.
"Sure. And you totally didn't wait for me to get up. And of course you didn't let me push you back. And most certainly you didn't know exactly what I was planning, and only decided to finish me off at last second."
Pyrrha blushed, and mumbled some apology. Jaune just sighed and shook his head.
"So, what was that about? You know I won't get mad."
Pyrrha shrugged and sent him a small smile.
"Well. you remember when I said I had some business to attend to this weekend?"
"Yeah."
"I met my old instructor there. We talked a bit, and she gave me few tips on how to fix some of your bad habits."
Jaune blinked.
"My… bad habits? Like what?"
"The fact that you are too dependant on your defence. You tend to become very passive, waiting for your opponent to make a move, adapting to the rhythm, rather than trying to force your own on them. She said this happens often among young Hunters who spend most of their time fighting Grimm. Afterall, you don't have to chase them - they will usually come to you without asking."
Jaune hummed, and nodded. That sounds about right.
"I described your fighting style to her, and she agreed that you might rely on your armor a bit too much. You got used to thinking that if everything else fails, you can just turtle up behind your shield, and tank hits until you come up with a solution."
"Well, it worked for me so far. Why change something that's been tested?" He said, a bit annoyed.
"Because you might find something better." Weiss countered. "No one's saying you should change your entire fighting style, but you really should be a bit more greedy."
Jaune blinked, surprised.
"Greedy?"
Weiss nodded.
"You tend to get too.. I guess you could say comfortable with what you've got. As soon as you find something that works, you stick to it, not trying to change or improve it too much. Like your Semblance - you found out it helps you with your Elixirs, but why haven't you tried to test what else you can do with it?"
Jaune chuckled nervously. He really didn't had answer for that.
"And your fighting style. You got so used to just turtling up, that you rarely even try to go on the offensive. There were a few times in Miss Goodwitch class, and in… Ring…" Weiss shot a nervous glance towards Nora when she mentioned her little cult, but ginger girl apparently didn't mind it being mentioned. They were all in the know afterall. "That you could end the fight much faster if you just attacked, but you always sit back, trying to wait your opponent out."
"I just prefer to play it safe." Jaune mumbled.
"But your playing safe often makes you take more damage than you would if you just rushed in and crushed your opponent quickly. If someone is clearly weaker than you, why give them more time to attack you?" Yang interjected.
Jaune shrugged.
"It works."
Judging by their stares, the weren't impressed by his answer. Jaune sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He knew he was being stubborn, but this style just… worked for him. He knew they wanted to help, but none of them seen what he had seen, and experienced what he had.
He somehow doubted any of them had looked death in the eye as often as he did.
Crushing your opponent quickly sounds nice, until you a face creature that can easily kill you in one hit if you make a single mistake. Taking unnecessary risk, any risks really, became much less appeal.
"It might be against Grimm. But how often have you fought trained Aura users? Like rogue Hunters?"
Jaune opened his mouth to answer, then clicked it shut. He met several, but he'd actually only fought two and both times he was just support, part of a bigger party.
"Jaune we're not saying you should totally change your fighting style. Just… try something different from time to time. Who knows, you might find something that works for you even better. And even if you don't, it's always good to have options." Said Pyrrha, patting his shoulder.
Jaune sighed, and smiled. He knew they just wanted to help him. He wasn't sure why he was so defensive about it. Maybe it was seemingly misplaced pride? His own ego, refusing to take opinions from people who didn't train in the Wilds like him? Whatever it was, it wasn't helping.
No, in fact it was hindering him. He knew he needed to keep improving. Jaune never thought about himself as particularly talented. In fact, for longest time he thought he was just a pathetic weakling. But after years of training, he had gained not only skills, but also confidence. He still didn't think of himself as the best, it was hard to with Pyrrha as his partner, but he felt like he was slightly above average.
He sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"I… I guess you are right." He said finally. Like Weiss said, he shouldn't get satisfied with where he was now. He could - and should - keep improving.
So, he took a deep breath, mercilessly murdered this little voice telling him to ignore the advice of his friends, and smiled.
"Ok, I guess there are a few things I need to work on." He glanced at his partner "If I promise I will not just turtle up, can I wear my armor again? Taking bullets on my bare chest kinda hurts…"
"Well. you could always rush in and force them into melee." Ruby chipped in.
Jaune just laughed.
"That would be prefered, yes, but if you didn't notice, I'm not the fasted guy around…"
Weiss smirked.
"Funny you mention that…"
Jaune paused, starting at the smirking heiress for a moment. Then he looked over the rest of his friends. Some were smirking, some looked at him with pity. He noticed Ren attaching something that looked like a mattress to a nearby tree.
"You are not going to force me to do some speed training now, are you?"
Weiss' smile grew even larger.
Jaune sighed.
"Fuck me."
"Maybe later, if you will be good boy. Now let's get started."
Jaune fell on his bed face first. He was tired, bruised all over, covered in dirt and sweet, and tired.
Very, very tired.
"Get up, Jaune. You can't sleep like that." Said Pyrrha, shaking him lightly.
Jaune was fairly sure he could, and would gladly prove it, if only his partner left him alone.
"Come on. You will feel much better after you wash yourself up."
Jaune wanted to argue, but that would require energy. Something he was lacking right now.
Eventually, Pyrrha's persistence forced him to get up and go to the bathroom. Jaune sighed when hot water washed over him, taking not only dirt, but some of the exhaustion and pain he felt away. Weiss proved to be a merciless teacher, forcing him to perform various exercises over and over again. Apparently, she'd deducted that he should be able to use his Semblance to boost his speed enough to catch at least some of the faster people. He probably would never be able to match the likes of Ruby, or Weiss, but at least he wouldn't be a sitting duck for most other Hunters.
He had to admit that the idea was appealing, but after almost an hour long lecture from Weiss, and lots of practice, the only thing he managed to do was to completely drain himself out of Aura and stamina.
Weiss was not impressed, not capable of understanding how he could fail to understand her detailed explanation of what, and how, to do.
Jaune sighed again, turned water off, and walked out of the shower cabin. The only silver lining was that, after he collapsed from exhaustion, his two female teammates teamed up to lead the training for rest of his friends.
Cardio with Nora, or 'serious' combat training with Pyrrha.
Jaune smirked. Just this once, he might have gotten better deal out of it.
The blond Hunter paused before the mirror, studying his reflection. He was exhausted, true, but there was no denying the smile on his lips. He had fun, spending time with his friends, training and laughing. He wondered how Leon would react to all of this. He kinda wished he could have properly introduced the man he owed everything to his new friends. Maybe even let them experience the joys of training with his old mentor?
His smile grew wicked, but soon fell when Jaune recalled their last conversation. Things were looking good on the surface, but he could tell that it probably wouldn't last. The White Fang, Torchwick, Master… They all seemed to be somehow connected. And that couldn't be good.
Be safe Leon. Whatever you are doing. Jaune thought, then chuckled. Leon could take care of himself. There was no need to be worried about him.
An armored fist slammed into the face of the young looking man, throwing it to the side. Another blow come from the opposite side, and then another.
"Enough." A calm voice sounded in dim room.
The burly lizard faunus grunted, and stepped away from the man tied to the chair.
"You have a lot of guts to come here alone and unarmed, human. I respect that. Or rather I would if you weren't just dumb, human scum." The owner of the calm voice stepped into the light. He was much smaller than his companion, and judging by the curved horns on his head, he was a goat faunus.
"Now, what should we do with you?" He said, humming to himself. "Where did you find him again?"
"He was sniffing around near the entrance to lab no 5. He disguised himself as one of us, was asking around about Alchemist, and a few other things no one should be asking about."
"I see. I trust he didn't learn anything from our brothers and sisters?"
The lizard fanus chuckled darkly.
"Like anyone would talk. Between the fire bitch, and the Alchemist's experiments, everyone's too scared to say anything."
His companion shot him an annoyed glare, but the larger man just shrugged.
"What? It's true. You either get incinerated, or end up in the tube. And we all saw how people who walked out of his labs looked like. If they walk out at all."
"Stop it you moron!" The goat faunus growled, but the larger man just shrugged again.
"Why? You said the same thing. And this guy?" He kicked the chair with the tied man. "He won't live long enough to make use of anything he learns."
"I guess that's true. Anyway, who are you? Who are you working for?"
"Wrong questions my friend. Who I am is not important. Who I work for?" The tied man hummed, considering his answer. "Not really important either."
"I guess. Then tell us, how does your employer already know about our little operation?"
The tied man just chuckled.
"You really like to ask dumb questions, don't you?"
The goat faunus growled and nodded to his friend. He grinned and started hitting the tied man again. After he paused to catch a breath, his smaller friend walked forward, and looked their victim in the eyes.
He didn't like what he saw. There was no fear, no hatred, no desperation. Not even resignation.
If he dared to guess, the man in front of him was… amused.
"Answer my question." He growled.
"And what answer do you expect? Even if I knew anything, why do you assume I'd tell you, when you just admitted you will kill me anyway?"
"Because you have only two choices. You can talk. Then my friend will not hit you anymore, and we will kill you quickly. Or you can resist, it will last much longer. In the end, you will talk anyway. So, why not save yourself the pain?"
The tied man considered his words for a moment, then nodded.
"Ok, seems legit."
"You will talk?" Both faunus asked at once. One of them surprised, the other disappointed.
"Sure. I don't owe them that much to try and keep their secrets. Just bring me the black pouch you took from me, there is something in it that I need. It would make explaining things easier." He added when he noticed their suspicious glares.
The goat faunus shrugged, and walked to the table in the corner of the room, where they put the things they took from their prisoner. He spotted the pouch easy enough. He picked it up, and weighed in his hand. It was rather heavy, probably around one or two kilograms. The faunus opened it, revealing its contents. It looked like some kind of powdered rock, maybe sand. Why would their prisoner want this in his last moments? He carefully picked up a bit of dark powder, examining it carefully in the dim light. It looked to be just ordinary sand, with a few small pieces of metal mixed in.
He walked to the tied man, and presented his pouch. Of course he don't actually give it to him, that would be too dangerous.
"Just spill the sand. What I want is hidden inside."
The faunus did as asked. It turned out that besides the sand, there were a few metal pieces inside - but nothing that looked even remotely interesting.
"Crap, must have put it somewhere else. Oh, well, doesn't matter. What do you want to know?"
The goat faunus coughed, waving his hand around to dispel the cloud of dust that surrounded them.
"Who are you work for? And how much do they know already? How many others are there? I want names, locations, everything."
Their prisoner answered every question, but unfortunately didn't know much. He was hired by Beacon, but that was to be expected. He knew there were at least four more people hired, but didn't know who. Most of the information he provided was useless, except for the last bit.
"Oh, and we know you are planning something big. Something for the Festival."
Both faunus looked at each other, expressions serious. If the humans caught wind of their operation… the higher ups needed to know.
"Allright pal, that will be all. As promised, we will make it quick."
"Wait. One more thing."
"Yeah?" Said lizard faunus, picking up a long, thin wire and standing behind human.c"What's that?"
"Do you want to know what is real reason I told you all of this?"
"Yes?"
"None of you will live long enough to make any use of this info." He said with a grin
The goat faunus just shook his head. Here comes the false bravado. Well, not that it mattered, the human would die now, and they would…
His arm exploded.
He stared at it for a moment, not even registering the blood and pieces of his own flesh that covered his face. Shock and fear came first. Pain hit soon after.
He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound come out. He'd fallen into a fast growing pool of his own blood. HIs whole body was on fire, he felt as if he is being ripped apart from the inside. Judging by the amount of his own blood and flesh he was seeing, it might be true.
He stared ahead, into the eyes of his friend.
Or rather eye. Half of his face was missing. He could make out splinters of skull, and parts of brain lying on floor.
The last thing he saw was their prisoner walking past him, a cloud of this black sand whirling around him. He could hear the sound of doors opening and closing loud and clear. The screams, he didn't hear.
He was already dead.
And that wraps it up. Very Jaune-centric chapter, our blond WItcher making some progress in his training. WIth the help of his friends of course. Who definitely didn't enjoy beating the hell out of him.
And of course Leon doing Leon's things.
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See you all next week.