Sorry for the long wait.
The Fall Project
From Ashes
All in the Past
Being a student in a prestigious academy such as Beacon had its benefits. Superb schooling, incredible food, state-of-the-art weapon maintenance, and around every corner was a young woman beautiful enough to be a supermodel.
Unfortunately, with the good comes the bad. Training was rigorous and often dangerous, free time was rather rare due to all the work that went into studies, and all said supermodels were monster-slaying warriors more than capable of turning you inside out. Needless to say, sometimes the stress of everyday life can take a toll.
And so, whenever the skies were clear, the sun was shining, and a gentle breeze kept the temperature just right, nearly the entire school would take the time to enjoy the near-perfect weather.
RWBY, JNPR, and CMSN sat together under the shade of a large Oak tree. Everyone had opted to wear their standard combat attire save for Nova, who took the 'perfect day' to relax. He wore a simple black shirt that left little of his muscular frame to the imagination, and baggy pants with a belt that held his swords at either side of his hips.
While everyone seemed to accept Cade, Mike, and Gabe with open arms, both Ren and Blake did not trust Nova. They locked eyes and gave each other a slight nod, making a silent pact. Both would keep a watchful eye on him, and should he give the slightest sign of hostility, they would be the first to act.
Fortunately for them, the first thing the swordsman did was climb up into the tree to take a nap. The rest of his team studied for the time being, trying to decipher the strange teachings of professor Port.
Cade tapped a page of his notebook with a pencil while explaining to Mike and Gabe that Port's lectures actually do have a point to them. "He is teaching us vital weak points in all the different types of Grimm."
Mike groaned, "And where did you get that?"
The team leader turned a few pages and jabbed a finger down once he found the place he was looking for, "Just look, every time he talks about fighting Deathstalkers, he always ends up cutting off or damaging its stinger, and then taking out the joints in its legs and claws. Whenever he is fighting a Nevermore, he goes after the wings and the eyes. If its a Beowolf, he uses his strength and speed, and so on. If you guys paid more attention, I'm certain you would've come to the same conclusion."
Gabe pushed his brother out of the way to see the notes more closely, "Wow, okay lets get to deciphering these stories." They quickly dug into their studies with renewed vigor despite their missing team member.
Jaune and Pyrrha sat next to each other with their backs to the tree. The red-head was listening to a slow-motion recording of Dr. Ooblek's class, hoping to catch all the information that the professor spewed out at an incredible rate.
She glanced at Jaune, who had several writings splayed out at his feet, occasionally referencing them while scribbling in a notebook that he kept in his lap. She reached down and picked one up and after skimming a few lines, saw that it was a detailed analysis of the combat capabilities of Ruby Rose. Taking another glance at each of the other pages, she realized that each person of teams RWBY, JNPR, and CMSN had their own page.
She tapped him on the shoulder and paused the recording, then waved at the collection of information, "What's all this for?"
"Hm? Oh, Professor Ozpin gave me a special assignment yesterday," he said, "He wants me to keep track of all the strengths and weaknesses of each person in our teams and then come up with a strategy to take on a task we may have to do in the future."
She smiled wide and nudged his arm with her elbow, "See, I told you that you are a natural-born leader. Ozpin can see it too." He gave her a warm smile and she shifted ever so slightly closer to him to peek at what he was writing, "Can I help with anything?"
He pulled his notes away to hide them from her prying eyes and grinned, "Actually, I think that would be cheating. Although now that I think about it I don't really have much on you with person-versus-person fighting..."
She leaped on the opportunity to spend some time alone with him, "I could show you a couple videos from the Mistral Regional Tournament. It would be a good chance for me to show you a few tips when fighting other huntsman, as well."
He blinked a few times, surprised by her enthusiasm, "Uh-sure, sounds like fun! We can do that before dinner tonight."
Yang's eye cracked open as she heard what Jaune said, and had an immediate urge to jump in and make the two lovebirds uncomfortable, but she was far too relaxed to even get up at this point. She found the perfect place beneath the oak tree, where she lay on her back, eyes closed beneath her sunglasses as she breathed in the sweet summer air. The soft green grass was cool to the touch, and a root from the tree kept her head elevated at just the right angle. It really was a fantastic day.
Yang opened her eyes, gazing up into the golden rays of sunlight that broke through the mess of leaves and branches. Resting on a thick tree branch with his feet against the trunk of the tree, was Nova. She wondered about him; when he showed up with his team he looked exhausted, and the first thing he did was say he was tired and jump up into the tree to fall asleep.
Blake sat to Yang's left and saw that she was staring at the masked boy. She leaned over to and complained in a hushed voice, "Why did you really invite Nova? He isn't some boy-toy for you to play with, he is dangerous. A mask, cloak, and no background? I don't mind his team but he can't be trusted!"
She sat up and slid her sunglasses to rest on top her head and sneered, "Look at you, trying to eliminate the competition."
"I'm serious!"
Yang rolled her eyes in annoyance, "Look, he has obviously been through some serious crap, so I want to help him make some real friends. Yeah he's a little weird but you can't tell me you aren't at least a tiny bit curious about him."
"Not really," she hissed, and Yang could've sworn she saw that bow on her head twitch.
"Well I want to know," she shrugged and lay back down, "Plus, it will be nice to help someone break out of their shell." She spared a glance up at Nova, wondering if the boy really was asleep or just pretending.
Blake shook her head, "Just... be careful." The blonde waved nonchalantly, not at all concerned.
Yang couldn't come up with a reason that he could be so tired, and asking Nova himself was pretty much useless, so she decided to talk to Cade to figure out what was wrong. Luckily he sat just to her right, so she nudged him in the shoulder, "Will he wake up if we talk too loud?"
Cade laughed, "Actually he hasn't been sleeping well for the past few days. I wouldn't be surprised if he stayed like that for the next few hours. The same thing happened when we all went to Forever Fall. He said he found a perfect spot to have some privacy, and accidentally fell asleep. He ended up jumping at us from the above and nearly scared us all half to death."
She giggled, "Yeah that sounds like something he would do. What do you mean he isn't sleeping well?"
"Well, he's been waking up in the middle of the night because of nightmares. I asked about it and he said they should go away soon."
Yang frowned, knowing that saying that was just a way for Nova to get someone to drop the subject. At the same time, he's not an idiot. If the dreams get bad enough then he will ask for help. She decided to change topics, "Is he opening up at all?"
He shrugged, "Sort of. He is being more considerate as of late. I asked him to teach Gabe the tournament regulations in a team vs. team fight for Glynda's homework and instead of just telling us off like I thought he would, he actually helped."
The blonde shrugged, "Well it's better than nothing."
"Yeah."
The leaves above them rustled as Nova snapped up from his dreams and slashed at his feet, cutting through the top third of the thick tree limb. Everyone looked up as the branch loudly cracked and started to fall.
"Look out!" Ruby yelled, vanishing in a cloud of rose petals, then reappearing a dozen feet away with a terrified-looking Weiss in her arms. Mike grabbed Cade and Gabe and teleported out of the way of the falling branch, while Pyrrha rolled backward and pulled Jaune with a tug of her semblance.
Yang took the most direct approach by jumping to her feet and upper-cutting the branch hard enough to shatter several feet of a freshly broken tree limb. A split-second later Nova hit the ground with a bone-jarring thud.
As he scrambled to his feet one of the branches caught his shirt in several places. With a blur of motion and the ring of steel he whirled around with both swords, tearing his shirt and slashing the branch to pieces. He dropped into an extremely low stance, his gaze snapping from point to point.
Blake and Ren had their weapons at the ready instantly, and stared intently at him, waiting for his move. After a few agonizing moments he relaxed and sheathed his swords as he stood straight. His heart was pounding, and his breath was ragged, "Sorry." He cursed under his breath looked down at his shirt, now a torn mess of fabric that barely held together.
Yang wagged her eyebrows at Blake with a wide grin, knowing exactly what she liked to see. Blake's self control held strong enough to keep her from stealing a glance of the young man's well sculpted abdomen, but the blush on her cheeks told Yang that her imagination had already taken hold. Weiss managed to cover Ruby's eyes, who innocently protested.
Mike gave Nova a concerned glance, "So what was that all about? You cut the limb that you were sleeping on for God's sake."
"My dream got a bit too realistic," Nova stated plainly.
The twins just shrugged and sat down to return to their studies, while Nova knelt to the ground and lifted the heavy tree limb and leaned it up against the trunk of the large tree. He started to gather the broken branches as the rest of the group collected their scattered papers and textbooks.
Once Jaune and Pyrrha gathered all of the pages, the red-head whispered into Jaune's ear. He turned to his teammates, "Hey guys, we're going to the dorm to watch a couple videos." They all waved the duo away, and Nora knowingly smiled wide at Ren.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Mike clapped his hands together, "So when's the wedding?"
"Please," Weiss scoffed, "that boy couldn't take a hint if it threw him off a cliff."
Ruby put a fist on her hip and jabbed a finger at Weiss, "You can't throw Jaune off of a cliff, he's too nice."
"I didn't say I would throw him off a cliff!"
"But you were thinking it!"
Blake rolled her eyes and looked at Yang, expecting the blonde to add her opinion to the mix. Rather than focusing on her team, she frowned and stood cross-armed and switched her gaze back and forth between Cade and Nova.
Yang was irritated. She had been waiting for CMSN team leader to dig deeper into his partner's problems, but they were literally more interested in Professor Port's lectures than trying to help their own teammate.
She growled through her teeth when the silence persisted, then cracked a few of Cade's ribs with a swift elbow, causing him to wince painfully. His head snapped in her direction, giving her a questioning glare.
She cracked her knuckles and nodded in Nova's direction, giving a clear message; talk to your partner, or feel the fury of her infamous shotgun-infused punches. He quietly sighed, then took a step toward his masked partner. "Is there any way we can help? I don't know much about dreams, but maybe we can come up with something to help you sleep."
Nova shook his head, "No, I can... Actually do any of you know the best way to remember a dream?"
Everyone looked up, surprised that the swordsman actually asked for help for the first time. They all looked at each other, unsure of how to answer the odd question.
After a few moments, Blake was the one to come up with an idea, "Well, I've actually heard that writing down your dream as soon as you wake up is a good way of retaining that memory. You can write while it's fresh in your mind, that way you can keep the memory even if you forget."
He tapped a finger on his chin, "I don't think I'm much of a writer but I'll give it a try." He dropped a large bundle of branches at the base of the tree.
"Why are you trying to remember your dreams?" Cade asked.
Nova scratched the back of his head and explained in a hushed voice, "I think there is more to these dreams than I first thought. My dreams are more than emotion and feint images, they are extremely realistic, and include extreme detail, like the senses and even pain. I've never heard that in normal dreams."
Cade's eyebrows rose, "Sounds like you might be getting some memory back."
Nova nodded, "I can only hope so." He walked over to Mike and placed a hand on the twin's shoulder. "I need a new shirt. How many jumps to the room?"
Mike shook his head, "The dorm is at the other side of Beacon, so at least six."
The masked boy let out a chuckle, "Alright, lets get going." Before Yang could stop them, they vanished in a flash of light.
Gabe shook his head with a bewildered look on his face, "The most jumps I ever did with Mike was seven. I threw up for an hour straight and was bedridden for three days. But Nova? I saw him do twelve jumps without even flinching."
Cade chuckled, "Yeah he told me that he enjoyed teleporting because it felt like he was flying."
Yang grinned, "Sounds like he's and adrenaline junkie."
"We're hunters in training, all of us are adrenaline junkies," Gabe quipped, "But flying? How weird can you get?"
"Hey, cut the crap," Cade snapped, "Don't ever talk bad about your teammates, got it?"
Gabriel put up his hands in surrender, "Okay, sorry. Geesh"
Yang took a few steps back to give them some space, and was glad to see the Cadence did show a decent amount of leadership. Earlier that week he had explained a bit of Nova's situation to her; that he had amnesia and was trying to find his place in the world. Cadence may be a stick in the mud at times, but he is a good person. Given time, even Nova might trust him.
Jaune and Pyrrha made their way to their dorm room slowly, the red-head listing off the 'dos' and 'do nots' of tournament fighting. Be ready for anything, look for weaknesses in the other person's fighting style, don't be distracted by the crowd, and so on.
Jaune followed along easily, but grew more and more concerned as the list grew. The school he was in was full of people who already knew all of these basic principles, and he was so far behind that it would take someone as patient as Pyrrha to catch him up.
He was thankful for that.
Ever since day one, Pyrrha had been nothing but kind to him; always helping him in studies, keeping him (mostly) out of trouble, and cheering him up when he was feeling down. She even went so far as to keep his closely guarded secret, that he had cheated his way into Beacon.
He supposed he had a lot to be thankful for.
Once the duo finally arrived at the dorm, Pyrrha suggested they change into something a bit more comfortable. Jaune went first, and was in and out in less than a minute, wearing a white shirt and blue sweatpants. As he walked out of the dorm's shared bathroom, Pyrrha inserted a memory chip into the projector on her desk. The thin metal bar to sprung to life, raising a holographic display large enough to view comfortably from the middle of the room.
"Don't start without me," she said, then took her turn to change. Much to his silent annoyance, she seemed to be taking far more time than he did. After an immensely long ten minutes, Pyrrha finallly opened the bathroom door, her lips curled in a gentle smile. As she sat down on the floor next to Jaune, he caught the light fragrance of lilacs.
He glanced at her, noticing the small amount of recently-applied makeup on her face and around her eyes. He had to tear his gaze away from her red v-neck t-shirt, and very short black shorts. Her long red hair remained in a ponytail, and the small emerald teardrops that hung from the chains of her ever-present bronze circlet brought out the dazzling green in her eyes.
Knowing that his mind was beginning to wander, he tried to prevent seeing his partner in the wrong light by pressing Pyrrha to start the video, "Well we've got alot of ground to cover, why don't we get started?"
Pyrrha frowned, disappointed that her attempt to catch Jaune's attention was, again, failing. "Keep in mind that I have not actually watched these videos. I kept them because I thought that watching myself fight could help me get better, but unfortunately never got around to it," she said and pressed a button on her scroll to begin the video.
An announcer's voice blared from the speakers, as he was practically screaming into his microphone, "Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to the 62nd annual Mistral Regional Tournament! Many challengers from all walks of life have come to claim the title, but who will be our great champion this year?"
The camera panned across the combat floor, presenting around fifty young Mistral fighters. Jaune gave Pyrrha a wide grin as she came into view, and noted her appearance. Her armor and weapons remained the same and her bright red hair remained in a ponytail, though it was only shoulder length rather than her current hip-length hair. He also noted that she was missing the bronze headpiece that she currently wears every passing moment of the day.
What is that thing exactly anyway? Some kind of crown? Is Pyrrha royalty?! Jaune could certainly see that being the case, though Weiss more closely fit the look and attitude you would expect from a princess. Which, of course, is why so many people liked to refer to her as 'Ice Queen.' At the same time, he couldn't help but have a crush on the heiress. She was beautiful, pristine, talented, the list goes on and on.
Pyrrha, though, is completely different. Ever since the start of his year at Beacon, Jaune slowly began to truly see Pyrrha the way she is. Not as a warrior or untouchable goddess of victory, but as a beautiful young woman who is kind, gentle, caring, and supportive beyond all reason. He knew that no matter what was going on, Pyrrha would always have his back.
It was good to know that he could trust someone so implicitly. However, sometimes the things she would do or the looks she gave were confusing. It is as if she is expecting something from him, but at the same time wants nothing in return for the kindness she gives.
He didn't know what to make of it.
Maybe she is looking for something more? It would certainly explain why she felt the need to 'freshen' herself before their little session. If that is the case, then perhaps he should-
"And this is what you wouldn't want to do, see how he let his shield pull behind as he swung?"
Jaune mentally slapped himself as Pyrrha started annotating one of the fights that had just begun, and focused his attention on the task at hand.
Pyrrha gave him all sorts of pointers and tips about fighting; basically anything that she thought he may need to know. Whenever Jaune asked a question, she answered as best she could, and incredibly he absorbed the information like a sponge.
Before long, he was even telling Pyrrha things that she didn't see while fighting. He quickly found people's strengths and weaknesses, and could even tell when they were holding back or giving it everything they had.
At the end of the first tournament Pyrrha faced another young woman who used extendable claws as her weapon. Immediately Jaune pointed out that Pyrrha held the upper hand because of her shield, granting much more range and defense than claws would allow.
"Yes, but she was extremely light on her feet. I took a long time for me to make any kind of contact whatsoever," she said. True to her word, the fight went on for a good five minutes before Pyrrha managed to bash the girl with her shield, turning the tide of the battle. After a few well placed strikes and slashes, the red-head claimed her first championship by forcing her opponent off of the platform.
"Good job," Jaune said, "It looks like you had lots of practice already, even at such a young age."
Pyrrha nodded, "I suppose you could call it practice. Think of it this way, most kids entertain themselves by playing videogames or running around outside making up games of their own, but my way of playing was actually fighting."
He pursed his lips as his head bobbed up and down. He had always dreamed of being the hero as a kid but, until recently, never actually took the steps to go down that path. He pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled down a few notes about Pyrrha's fighting style; very acrobatic, precise, able to act in a moment's notice and take an advantage once it is presented. Stays calm in fights.
Not wanting to waste time, Jaune dove straight into the second tournament, and again the announcer sounded, "Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to the 63rd annual Mistral Regional Tournament! I am pleased to present our returning champion, here to defend the title!" The camera panned over to Pyrrha, who raised her sword to the roaring crowd.
"Yes, our champion has talent indeed, and has grown even stronger since last year, but there IS a contender! I give you the brother of the legendary Dragon of Mistral, Milo Aurelius!" The crowd erupted into a chorus of screams and cheers as the camera panned to a tall boy with black hair. He hoisted a staff tipped with a blade at either end, a weapon that Jaune hadn't yet seen before.
"Well he's no Dragon, but this young boy is the greatest bladestaff wielder this tournament has seen since its founding. THIS is the show you have been waiting for all these years!"
Jaune held his questions, there would be time for random chit-chat about the past later. He continued to study the competition as the night drove on, keeping a close eye on both Pyrrha and this 'Milo' person.
They were both demigods.
Pyrrha had learned how to effectively use her semblance in the middle of fights, making her nearly untouchable. She won all of her preliminary matches without much of an effort.
Milo was ferocious. He usually waited for his opponent to attack first, then he would unleash on them a flurry of attacks that most people couldn't defend against. He could spin his double bladed staff at incredible speeds, helping him intimidate his opponents. To make matters even more stunning, Jaune could see the wide grin on his face. He wasn't just confident, he was enjoying himself!
By the time the tournament went into the finals, neither Pyrrha or Jaune realized exactly how much time had passed, and Jaune's belly let out a menacing growl. Pyrrha leaped to her feet and scrambled over to the clock on her dresser, which read 7:42. "Oh no! I'm so sorry Jaune I completely forgot about dinner!"
Jaune tried to calm her down a bit, and shrugged, "Well if you want to pause the video-"
She waved her hand and grabbed her scroll, "No, no, don't worry I'll go get us some food. You go ahead and keep taking notes." Before he could protest she ran out the door in a hurry, trying to get to the dining hall before it closed at 8:00.
The video continued with Pyrrha against a girl from the southern parts of Mistral, wielding a sword-gun with a dust cartridge embedded in the hilt. She was fast, and the sword could use the dust to deal out unique effects, such as a disc of fire that would swirl toward a target, or a lightning-infused stab. In the end, Pyrrha was able to subdue her because of superior defense and bladework, placing her in the championship fight.
The next fight was between Milo and a ninja that swung around a bladed chain. The ninja was fast, and had range and an abstract attack pattern that would make him a tough opponent, but Jaune knew that Milo was too fast and precise to let a weapon like that do any real damage.
And he was right; the fight started off with Milo deflecting or dodging the chain, then when he had an opening he would dash in and deal some damage to the ninja's aura. He didn't bother trying to knock his opponent off the platform, knowing that with a chain he could just get right back on without a problem. It came down to the ninja with 40% aura, and Milo with 86%. Milo moved in for the final blow, but something went completely wrong.
As he dashed in close to keep inside of the ninja's attacks, the ninja flicked his wrist out of reflex, making the chain wrap around Milo's staff. The ninja leaned backwards and yanked Milo's weapon from his hands, flipping Milo over his head. Before Milo could scramble to his feet, the ninja swiped his blade across the ground, shoving Milo off of the platform.
The crowd stood silent for several seconds before one random person cried out, then an uproar burst from them all at once. It was so loud in the stadium that the crowd nearly drowned out the announcer's own laughter and cheers.
Jaune couldn't shake the feeling that something was off, so he rewound the video to the part where Milo lost his weapon. He played it in slow-motion to see if his assumptions were correct.
Just as the ninja pulled on the weapon, Milo let go. It wasn't pulled from his hand, Milo let go of his weapon. After that he pushed his own body weight forward to flip over the ninja and onto his back, giving his opponent the opportunity to push him off the platform. It was intentional, plain as day if you look in slow-motion.
Jaune couldn't make any sense of it whatsoever. Why in the world would someone throw their chance at winning a tournament like that? Why even enter if you planned to lose intentionally in the first place? He decided to ask Pyrrha about it when she returned, and continued the video.
The tournament moved on to the championship fight between Pyrrha and the ninja who had beaten Milo. The moment the battle began, the red-head switched her sword to a Javelin and threw it, firing the rifle to give it an extra kick in speed. The ninja deftly avoided the attack, causing the javelin to embed itself into the ground several feet behind him.
Before he could attack, Pyrrha charged forward and bashed her opponent to force him back, then rolled to her right and spun to throw her shield at his feet. The ninja jumped over the flying disc, but didn't realize that he had just made the biggest mistake of his young life.
The shield bounced off of the javelin that was still stuck in the ground and careened back the way it came, smacking the ninja hard in the back. He was flung forward, straight into Pyrrha's waiting kick that instantly knocked him unconscious.
In six seconds flat, Pyrrha had won the 63rd annual Mistral Regional Tournament.
Needless to say, the crowd exploded once again. "And there is your champion, folks! Pyrrha Nikos, with a stunningly quick fight to secure the victory! Oh-ho! What do we have here?"
Jaune's brow furrowed in confusion at what the announcer was talking about as the platform was lowered to the ground. He noticed Milo walking to the center of the stage with his back to the camera, holding a small box behind his back so Pyrrha couldn't see it.
He casually walked up to Pyrrha, then held the box out to her. She strapped her weapons to her back and hesitantly took the box. Her lips moved and she shook her head, then he gestured for her to open it. After a few moments, she peeled off the lid.
And suddenly everything made sense.
Milo threw his fight so he wouldn't have to fight Pyrrha.
She pulled a bronze circlet from the box, adorned with small emerald teardrops that hung from thin chains at either side of the headpiece. The same circlet that she always wears everywhere she goes.
The red-head was stunned at the gift, and covered her gaping mouth as she gasped. She quickly put on the circlet, which fit perfectly, and bounced with excitement.
Then Pyrrha reached up to cup Milo's cheeks, and kissed him.
Jaune felt a knife plunge into his heart as the couple shared a passionate kiss, and held it for several seconds. He couldn't look away. He stared, and he realized something. This is Pyrrha Nikos. One of the greatest fighters of his time, and one of the nicest people he has ever met.
Even if he was able to be 'deep relationship' material, what real chance does he have? How long until someone better than him swoops in to steal her heart?
By the look of things he is already too late.
He re-affirmed in himself the fact that Pyrrha is his partner, his best friend. He will always be there for her just as she will be there for him, but pursuing her would almost certainly end in a broken relationship. Better to try and sway Weiss than endanger a cherished friendship.
Jaune shut off the projector and returned the data chip to Pyrrha's desk. Just as he slid the drawer shut, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren all piled into the room, each holding a container of food to eat in the dorm. He told Pyrrha that he was all done with the videos and had enough information to complete Ozpin's assignment.
They quickly set up dinner and Nora started to chatter the night away, when Pyrrha noticed that Jaune was acting rather passive, " Jaune, is something wrong?"
He gave her a gentle smile, "I'm fine, I'm just not as hungry as I thought."
For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest, nor is anything secret except to come to light.
-Mark 4:22