Time slowed to a crawl for Jaune.
The knight could hear his heavy breathing and his heart beating quickly. All colour seemed to seep from his vision, and everything seemed to move as if underwater.
The stag Faunus' blade slowly flew towards Pyrrha, plotting its fatal course into her heart. The expression on his partner's face was defiant but for her eyes.
The same emerald eyes flickered with determination in battle, lit up when she was happy and looked as weary as a woman far older when she pondered a life that Jaune had yet to even know. They were wide with fear, with desperation. They said more than any words she could cry out in that final moment.
There was so much he never got to say to Pyrrha. So much he never got to do with her. So much he didn't know about her. About his friend. About his lover. About his partner.
And she was about to be taken away from him. Just as had happened in another life- but at least he had the 'benefit' of not having to witness her death with his own eyes then.
Now the nightmare that had haunted him- that of Pyrrha's dying gasps, clutching at the fatal wound in her chest- would happen for real. And Jaune Arc, as always, was powerless to stop it. He looked away, trying in vain to ignore it.
'I'm useless. Absolutely useless. I couldn't even….I couldn't even save the one I care about the most…..' Jaune uttered, his eyes dimmed with the failure of his determination. '…..I can't even….
I'm sorry, Pyrrha.'
"You've got to be a man of spirit! A paragon of total masculinity!"
His father's words echoed in his mind. Jaune looked up. He felt….odd now.
"Kick destiny to the curb! Pick yourself up and quit moping and start doing! When some dimwit tries to hurt her, you'll grab them by the balls and tell them this!"
"…just who the hell….."
Jaune's hand clenched around the handle of Crocea Mors. He could feel his strength returning. His will was coming back.
This was it. He was resolved.
'You're right, dad. I…I'm sorry, Pyrrha.
I'll stop being a fool. I'll always protect you.'
"…..do you think I AM?!"
And time resumed, and Jaune ran.
...
For Pyrrha, of course, this all happened in a split second.
One moment before, she saw an armor-piercing blade fly in the air towards her, and she knew her death was before her, at the hands of a vengeful man she'd put to prison. She wanted to close her eyes, to look away as if it would change anything, but she felt inexorably drawn to watch it happen, watch her life be taken from her with the flash of a blade.
'I'm sorry…..Jaune. I guess…..I'll see you in the next life. I…..I never got to do so many things with you.
I suppose I was an idiot. It doesn't matter now.
I love you. Please, remember that.'
Then….
"Just who the hell do you think I AM?!"
A blur of brown, white and gold was in front of her suddenly, and Jaune's shield clashed with the blade. Pyrrha gasped in surprise, as the knight's Aura flickered white and green at the spot where the blade had made contact.
The stag Faunus stared at him in shock. "What the….this blade should pierce your Aura! Who the hell are-ACH!"
Jaune delivered a swift, brutal kick to the man's stomach, knocking the red knife from his hands and him aside, groaning. He stood between him and his partner, glaring down fiercely at the man, before looking back to his partner.
"Pyrrha, get out of here. Quickly. You need to leave. You can't keep fighting." The knight implored her, his voice trembling.
"N-no, J-Jaune!" Pyrrha cried desperately. "I-If you die because of me….I-I'll never-"
"NO!" The knight snapped, taking her aback. "I saw you die once. Never. AGAIN!"
The spearmaiden shook her head hurriedly. "P-please…..y-you need to go….these men-"
"Dust damn it, Pyrrha, I don't want to lose you! I want you more than anything else and there's not one thing that can ever replace you!" Jaune declared, tears raining down his cheeks out of desperation and anguish, as he poured out his feelings. "I…..all I've been thinking about, for the past few weeks….i-is losing you. Ever since we watched it happen, ever since Professor Faust told me…..that's all that's been on my mind."
His partner was silent. She shivered; whether it was the emotion of the moment or the rain, she didn't know.
The knight shook his head slowly. "I've had enough. I won't let you go! Not here, not while I can save you!
I love you, Pyrrha. I don't know how many times I've said this, and I'm sorry I haven't said it enough, but I love you!
That's why I can't let some bastard like him take you away! If the world wants you dead, that's fine with me. But…..it's going to have to get through me first!"
The stag Faunus recovered, wiping the blood from his mouth and staring bemusedly at the boy.
"Oh. You're her boyfriend, then, are you? How sweet. The champion and her beau, together here." He let out a harsh chuckle. "Fine then, I guess I'll take you both down! You can go to the gates of hell together!"
"If you think that's how this is going to end, I don't think you know just WHO THE HELL I AM!" Jaune roared defiantly, before he ran at the man, bashing his shield into the man's face. The stag Faunus grunted and pulled out his whipsword, flicking it at the knight, who deflected the blow with his shield. Jaune retaliated with a forward thrust with his sword, which the poacher parried with the red knife, before he slashed wildly at the knight's stomach, attempting to cut him. Jaune pushed him back by shoving his knee into his forehead, causing the stag Faunus to clutch his head and scream in pain.
"Damn brat!" He snapped before pulling himself clumsily to his feet and running at the knight with his swords. Jaune huffed before parrying the red knife from the left with his sword, the crimson edge clashing with the white blade, and twisting his sword to knock the knife from the Faunus' hand, sending it skittering into the mud. He felt the whipsword slash at his side, hissing as a sharp jolt of pain burned and just as quickly disappeared across his side, his Aura absorbing most of the damage. The knight retaliated by swiping his sword across the man's face, forcing him backwards onto the ground as his opponent growled, the bloody cut fading away with his Aura.
"NOW!" He barked, as the skull-masked man pointed his gun at Jaune's back. The knight's eyes widened as he heard the sound of a hammer being cocked and a trigger being pulled. However, instead of feeling the shot slash against his Aura, he instead heard it clang off metal.
"What the-"
He turned his head to see Pyrrha at his back, Akouo in her hand having deflected the shot, Milo at her side in spear form. She turned her head to face him.
"I have your back, Jaune."
"P-Pyrrha, it's dangerous! You're sick! You can't-" The knight replied, but Pyrrha's determined glare silenced him.
"I don't care if it's dangerous! I don't care if I'm sick! I won't stand by and let you get hurt for my sake!"
"I can't let you die-"
"And I refuse to let you die either! I love you too much for that!" The spearmaiden declared defiantly. "We're partners, Jaune! You protect me, I protect you! It's just that simple!"
"…I see then. So that's how it's going to be." Jaune sighed, smiling at her. "Let's do it, then, as partners.
Let's show them what happens when they mess with us both."
"As partners," Pyrrha repeated, smiling back. "Let's begin."
They shared a short gaze, before they turned away, facing their opponents as the poachers circled them, waiting for an opportune moment to strike.
Winter breathed heavily as she pulled Frauenmantel from another Grimm's head, watching the Nevermore fade away underneath her feet. Rook breathed heavily, shaking his head as the Grimm seemed to retreat, fleeing from the anguished Huntress. The cowboy looked up at her, awed.
"…ya did it." He huffed, wincing at his wounds. "You chased 'em away. I….I owe ya."
"Do not thank me yet, Mister Rook." The lady flicked off the last remains of the Grimm's innards from her spear's head with a white cloth. "I still need to get you to someone who can treat you."
"S'alright. I'll be fine."
"No, that will not do!" Winter replied snappily as she pulled out her scroll. "Alright…..let's see if anyone else is free-"
Before she could call anyone, her scroll beeped. It was Yang. Winter blinked.
"Huh? Miss Xiao Long?" The lady looked confused as she answered the call. "Hell-"
"Winter! Have you seen my sister?!" The brawler sounded distressed. "Have you seen Weiss?!"
"Weiss?" Winter felt a chill down her spine. "Why, what happened?"
"We heard Ruby screaming her name a few minutes ago and suddenly all the Grimm left!" Yang explained. "D-dammit, Winter, this isn't the time! Have you seen them or not?!"
"N-no, I haven't." Winter swallowed slowly. "I'll look for them now-"
"T-tell me if you find them!" The brawler implored desperately, hanging up. Rook looked up, frowning.
"Miss Xiao Long sounded all worried. Somethin' wrong, Miss Winter?" The cowboy groaned as he felt his Aura return to him. Winter looked gravely at him.
"Miss Rose and my sister are…..in danger. We haven't seen them since we left the camp and…..Miss Xiao Long says she heard Miss Rose scream my sister's name." The lady explained. "We have to find them immediately-"
"Winter! Rook! Is that you?"
The pair looked towards the forest to see Nora sitting on top of an Ursa she was controlling via two tufts of hair in the neck and Ren running behind her, looking around. Winter blinked.
"Mister Ren, Miss Valkyrie, what-"
"You haven't seen Jaune, have you? We heard him scream. We've tried and we can't find Torchwick or Jaune anywhere." The gunslinger explained, breathing heavily as he caught his breath. Nora frowned as she looked at her scroll, holding it out with a hand she wasn't using to mount the Ursa.
"And Pyrrha's not answering her scroll, either!"
"First Ruby and Weiss, then Torchwick and now Jaune and Pyrrha….." Rook groaned. "This ain't good. We should split up."
"Mister Rook and I will attempt to locate Miss Xiao Long and then take a group to find the professor." Winter commanded, before turning to the gunslinger and the berserker. "You two, locate Jaune and Miss Nikos.
I have a feeling whatever he's involved in, she is as well."
…..
Meanwhile…
Jaune collapsed onto his knee, holding up his shield to keep the stag Faunus' red knife away from his face. Crocea Mors bore the weight of his arms, as the knight's opponent attempted to force the knife into Jaune's head.
"Come on, you little brat! Just die already!"
"Ggghh…." The knight grunted, his leg being pushed deeper and deeper into the mud. He felt his strength begin to give out-
"NOW!"
He instinctively ducked, closing his eyes as Pyrrha swivelled around, smashing the edge of Akouo into the face of the stag Faunus, causing him to stagger backwards. Jaune stood up and whirled around to thrust his sword into the gut of the approaching gunman behind the spearmaiden, thrusting him backwards with a flare of Aura. The skull-masked poacher fell backwards into the mud with a grunt, his weapon skittering from his grasp.
"Thanks for the save." Jaune nodded, smiling at her. Pyrrha shook her head.
"I should say the same to you. That was nice work with your sword. Your footwork's improved."
"Seeing your girlfriend in danger really tends to do that to you."
The spearmaiden's cheeks reddened. "I…..I'm worth that much to you?"
"I wouldn't have come for you if I thought you weren't."
"…..w-we should talk about this later. Behind you!" The spearmaiden yelped as Jaune shifted out of the way, allowing Pyrrha to smash her foot into the stag Faunus' gut, forcing him back with a pained hiss. Jaune shook his head, recovering to leap in the way of a shot aimed for his partner's back with his shield. The skull-masked man roared and charged at him with his knife, releasing a berserker cry as he flailed with the knife frantically, but the knight was ready for him.
'He's slashing wildly, he's not using his gun and he looks exhausted. He has to be out of Aura and out of options.
I can take him easy.'
He ducked underneath the man's waist, smashing his shield upwards to cut his knife off. Before the man could react, Jaune headbutted him in the gut, shoving his opponent backwards and sending him staggering. He stood up straight, raising his sword.
"Here goes NOTHING!" The knight yelled, before swinging the sword into the man from the side with all the strength he could muster.
A flare of cyan Aura shot out before shattering at the point of contact, and the man flew aside, slumping into the mud with a final groan before slipping into unconsciousness. Jaune sighed, breathing heavily before shaking his head.
"One down."
He turned behind him to see Pyrrha and the stag Faunus duelling, the poacher's whipsword being deflected by Akouo as the spearmaiden spun around to slash him in the side.
"One more to go."
Breathing in deeply, the knight roared and charged towards the stag Faunus, smashing into him with Crocea Mors' shield and knocking him back staggering. He looked to Pyrrha, nodding.
"Let's end this."
"Right!" The spearmaiden nodded firmly before turning back to her opponent and bracing herself to run. The stag Faunus wiped his face again, shaking his head as he glared down at his opponents.
"Bring it, you brats. I can take you all day long."
Pyrrha didn't respond. She never really was one for snarky one-liners.
Instead, she ran towards him, Akouo up to block his desperate attempts to slash at her with his whipsword. The stag Faunus' smug glare faded as he saw her determined expression. His expression faded into a feeling that he'd not felt for years, ever since his first hunt against the Goliaths, when he was a young man, who knew nothing of hardship or pain.
Fear.
'What the….what is this girl….'
With a yell, Pyrrha smashed his sword out of the way with her shield, before jumping upwards and stabbing her sword downwards into the stag Faunus' shoulder.
He shrieked as his Aura barely held the strike back, but the spearmaiden wasn't done. She transformed Milo into spear form, thrusting its head into the ground, forcing it through the back of his clothes and trapping him. He squirmed, reaching vainly at the spear's shaft as Pyrrha nodded at her partner.
"Jaune!"
"On it!" The knight huffed, before glaring at his opponent.
"You hurt my partner. I guess I don't have to tell you that's unforgivable." He raised his sword, as white and green began to swirl around it. "Now…to pull a trick from my friend's book.
Aura…BREAKER!"
He charged at the stag Faunus, gripping the sword with both hands and thrusting it into the man's chest, to which he responded by attempting his whipsword to deflect the attack. A drill-like projection generated around the sword, flashing with immense power.
'From now on….nobody will hurt Pyrrha. I'll make sure of that myself!'
The knight leapt up, releasing a loud yell before thrusting the sword down, consuming the area in light.
"I think I saw them down here!"
"Lead the way, Y-Yang! Oh, no, please be okay…."
"I should have gone with them, Miss Blake."
"You think you should've? I was their teammate, I should've been with them."
Blake, Norn, Yang and Velvet ran into the clearing, spying Ruby's cape lying on the ground and looking around.
"….oh my Dust." The brawler blinked, looking shocked as she witnessed what had happened.
The burned remains of Grimm, rapidly fading away in the dying rain, were all over the ground, like bone-white chalk and jet-black charcoal powder everywhere. In the middle of it all, Ruby was sitting alone with Weiss in her arms, sobbing with tears raining through the mud on her pale cheeks.
The heiress was scratched and bruised everywhere, with blood all over her body and her normally prim and proper hair marred with red and brown from the mud. Her eyes were shut, and she lay limp in Ruby's arms. Yang and Blake's eyes widened as they ran to her side, with Velvet rooted to the spot in shock.
"…W-Weiss….." The bunnygirl uttered, her breath catching in her throat as she saw her lie there. Even if her crush on Weiss was mostly a façade for the sake of others, it still hurt to see her lie there, looking in such a sorry state.
Blake looked up at Ruby. "R-Ruby….what happened here?"
"….I didn't…..I couldn't….." Ruby choked, sniffling as she clutched her partner's body in her hands. "I'm sorry….Weiss…."
"Come on, princess, don't you die on me." Yang shook the heiress' shoulder roughly. "Get up, you idiot! Get up! Don't you dare die on me!"
"Get off of me!"
Yang's cheek was turned away by a fierce slap as the heiress' blue eyes fluttered open, glaring at her.
"You're….b-both idiots….." Weiss uttered. "I'm not d-dead…..I was just…r-resting…..stupid-mmpfh!"
She was silenced as Ruby delivered a desperate kiss to her, pressing her lips on top of hers. Weiss was surprised for a second, before she closed her eyes, falling straight into it.
Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, Ruby pulled away, breathing heavily.
"OhdustWeissIthoughtyouweredeadandIlostyouandIdontknowwhatIwouldvedoneifI-" The reaper uttered breathlessly before the heiress held up her finger to her lips.
"Just…..shut it." Weiss uttered softly. "Just…just be quiet. I need to rest for a bit. Idiot."
"…..If you ever die on us, Weiss….I'm personally going to drag you out of the afterlife myself, you got that?" The brawler declared, before pulling her into a tight hug. The heiress squeaked in shock.
"E-eh?"
"Thank Dust you're alright…." Blake joined in on the hug.
Then Velvet.
Then Norn.
"Ack!" The heiress squealed. "Can't…breath…..too many people hugging at once….."
"I believe this is the accurate response when one is experiencing relief at the survival of a friend." The robot maid explained. "I admit….I too felt…a strange feeling, when I saw you here."
"That's called worry, Norn. Worry and relief." Yang explained, laughing at the absurdity. "…thank Dust it was just that."
The group just sat in the fading rain and hugged.
It was fine now. It was okay.
…
Jaune sat down, exhaling deeply as he and Pyrrha leaned on the other, breathing deeply.
The stag Faunus lay behind them unconscious, his Aura depleted and his whipsword lying in pieces behind him.
"We…..we did it." The spearmaiden uttered, wiping some mud from her face. "…we won."
"I…..am never pulling that off again." The knight admitted, laughing as he closed his eyes. "…Dust, Pyrrha. Never, ever worry me like that again, alright? I thought you were going to die back there."
"….I promise." She smiled at him. "…..and anyway…..if I have you at my side, that's not going to happen again."
"Yeah." Jaune nodded. He moved his hand to grasp hers tightly, causing her to squeak slightly. "I'm…..not letting you go. Ever."
"And I'm never leaving-urk!" Pyrrha raised a hand to her mouth to suppress the wave of nausea that shuddered through her. She swallowed once more, shuddering. "Ugh….."
Jaune put the back of his hand to her forehead. He closed his eyes, sighing. "You're still sick."
"….I know." She chuckled. "This is silly. If I hadn't done this, you wouldn't have had to-"
"Don't worry about it." Jaune reassured her, before turning her face towards his with a soft push.
Her cheeks turned red as she realised what was about to happen. She pushed his hand down softly, frowning. "J-Jaune….I-I'm sick. W-what if y-you….w-what if you catch-"
"I don't care right now." The knight calmly responded. "I…..I want to do this. Please. It'll be worth it, even if I get sick with you."
"…..always so stubborn." The spearmaiden giggled giddly before closing her eyes, her lips opening slightly as she waited for the knight.
Jaune breathed in deeply.
Then he pulled in slowly, turning his head slightly as his lips drew nearer hers-
"SCRAAAAW!"
Both teenagers were shaken out of their reverie as Qrow descended to the back of a Nevermore, his sword planted in the Grimm's skull. They stared as the Hunter dismounted casually, raising an eyebrow at them as he hefted his weapon over his shoulders and took a drink from his flask.
"Well, don't let me stop you." He teased.
They blushed and pulled away from each other, looking down and twiddling their fingers.
"….m-maybe we can get some privacy." Pyrrha whispered. "T-then we could-"
"D-do you….want to go out? To Vale? When you're better?" Jaune asked suddenly. "…n-not as friends. As….boyfriend and girlfriend. T-then maybe we could…..get some privacy."
"Eeh?" The spearmaiden's cheeks reddened. "…..r-really? You and I…."
"I don't care about being worthy for you, as long as I'm with you." The knight uttered. "I've decided. I'm not wasting any more of your time."
"…..J-Jaune…." The spearmaiden gasped happily, before she tightly hugged him, pressing up against him. "…..y-you're such a romantic, you know that?"
"E-eh?!"
Suddenly, the rest of the group trundled in, with Ruby helping Weiss walk via supporting her with her shoulder. The others walked behind them, with Rook using Winter's Frauenmantel as a cane.
Qrow sighed. "Well. You guys are all here now, I see." He gave a special look to Ruby, who seemed…..different.
"…did those two kiss?" Yang pointed at Jaune and Pyrrha. "Please tell me they did!"
"You really are a thirsty girl." Qrow remarked. "No. They didn't. And if you keep doing that, I don't think they ever will, either."
"Ehhhh?!"
"Well…..isn't that a sight for sore eyes?" Weiss pointed up to the sky, as everyone turned to face where she was pointing.
As the storm clouds retreated, a Bullhead could be seen flying towards them.
The trip was over, finally.
"…..I have a feeling we forgot something…." Velvet mused to herself as she watched the transport fly closer. "…..but I can't think about what….."
Later, Ozpin's office….
"Are you certain, Qrow?" Ozpin inquired. The Hunter nodded.
"Positive. Ruby used the power of the silver eyes. I suspected she did after I spied a blast of light from the forest.
Yang and the others confirmed what had happened. Nothing but dust. Exactly what was expected."
"….interesting. Very, very interesting." The headmaster took a drink from his mug. "…..and you, Professor Faust. Your findings?"
"….I had thought we had averted any possible attack on Beacon." The teacher explained. "But…..the prophecy says otherwise.
If Miss Nikos is supposed to be killed before she leaves Beacon, that leaves a timeframe of…..four-five months between now and graduation. That means that sometime before then….there will be an attack on Beacon.
Because I doubt Miss Nikos would be left alone to fight, not after her team witnessed the events of the Prime world. If team JNPR is involved, then most likely team RWBY will be. And if they're involved, then the likelihood of most of the school being so increases exponentially."
Ozpin closed his eyes. "That's…..troubling. We will need to inform the head of the Awakening Initiative.
We'll have to tell them that the Initiative needs to be reactivated and all resources put towards watching potential targets."
"And of course, Lia's not going to be happy to hear about this." Qrow whistled. "And what about you, Cassandra?"
"…I'm less concerned about whatever that prophecy says." The woman replied, adjusting her glasses, her emerald eyes peering at the rest. "You see, I'm less worried that an attack might happen on Beacon. We're fighters, we're Hunters and Huntresses. We can handle an attack, even one similar on the scale of that perpetrated by the Prime Cinder. Theoretically, someone as skilled as Miss Nikos would be near-undefeatable. Certainly, she possesses two or three years more experience than her Prime counterpart and far more power. If our iteration fought Prime Cinder, she would have a much better chance of winning.
What I'm more worried about is….who is supposed to attack Beacon and how. If they kill her, then it implies they've fought their way through ourselves and her friends and are capable of outfighting someone like her.
And I shudder to think who would do such a thing. Indeed, I don't even know who would have such capabilities."
….
Meanwhile, on a Bullhead transport…..
Koschei, the stag Faunus and Rumps sat in the hold, handcuffed together and strapped to chairs. This was it for them.
They were caught for attempting to murder someone, with intent to kidnap people and unleashed a set of Grimm on a bunch of schoolchildren in addition to hijacking a ship and escaping arrest for being poachers. They were going to be lucky if they had only thirty years in prison for that.
"Damn it, boss. I knew we shouldn't have tried to kill that girl. But you just had to have your way." Koschei uttered. "…..damn it all."
"Calm it. I'll figure out something." The stag Faunus muttered. "Even if I have to rip these cuffs to pieces, I'll escape."
"What, like last time? Get over it, they won't fall for the same tricks!" Rumps pointed out. "You're through!"
"Says you. What, don't you believe me?"
"No. I don't."
All three men looked up at the woman's voice coming from a doorway before them. She was hidden in shadow, but from what they could see, she was leaning on the doorframe.
"…..who the hell are you?" Rumps uttered. The woman chuckled.
"You don't need to know that, sweetheart. All you need to know is that you wronged me." Her voice was rather soft and sweet…..but the tone behind it made the grown, hardened criminals shudder any more than any threat of murder would've.
"….wronged you? What did we do?"
"You see, you put some people really close to a relative of mine in danger. And you put her in danger, too.
And for that, the punishment….."
The woman stepped forward into the light, and all three men's eyes widened.
They'd heard stories about her, but never thought they'd ever run into someone close to her nor arouse her wrath.
"….y-you're…." The stag Faunus' eyes widened in fear, as sweat ran down his forehead.
"A very angry old lady, my dear." Demeter Rose gave him a sinister smile. "A very, very angry old lady.
You hurt my granddaughter and her friends. That is a sin I cannot allow. There is a punishment for sins.
And that is death."
END
A/N: Well….wasn't that an ending to an arc? Arkos is FINALLY fully confirmed (too late for canon but who gives a crap), Ruby's silver eyes were revealed, Demeter is doing stuff and there's more plot!
Well, it doesn't matter now. Cheers to Resisting the Borg for assisting with ideas for this arc! Next time, we're reacting to RWBY Chibi!
So, I hope you enjoyed that, leave your ideas, suggestions, comments, criticisms, reviews and thoughts, and I hope you have a GREAT day! Until next-STINGER
Meanwhile…..back at the campsite….
A Griffon descended down onto the ground, sputtering and squawking in agony. It reared up, attempting to hold itself together before a silver knife pierced through its gut.
"Damn ugly bird!" Roman snapped as he wrenched his way out of the Grimm's innards, growling as he brushed off the slime on his chest. The Griffon collapsed behind him, as he groaned. He felt the evening air blow through his bright red hair-
Wait. Wait.
'No. NO!.'
"Oh…..where is my goddamn HAT?!" Roman snapped.
END