A/N: a shoutout for scouttroop, whom I broke my agreement with. Sorry dude, hope this can make up for it, even if only a little bit.
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A short distance away from the village was where they decided to stop, sitting down on a clear patch of grass. Neither the Cimmerians nor Major Smith got close to the five, the former because of long standing social conventions which claimed a reunion needed space, the latter because of quiet embarrassment at the unexpected encounter. All he did was say "Hold your position" before marching his men off, presumably back to the Stargate.
"I... uh... wow." Jaune dropped his head and shook it, his messy blonde hair tumbling with the action. One hand held his hat, the other grasped air. It had to, Ruby had his arm in a death grip.
"I dunno what to say." Weiss couldn't believe her eyes.
"No kidding." Yang agreed, dumbstruck.
"Me neither." Blake added, thus far the clearest headed of the team.
Ruby said nothing, she was too wrapped up in her glee. She was happy-no, ecstatic.
Jaune Arc. Youngest of eight children. Huntsman in training. Leader of team JNPR. Missing and declared dead. A name on a list of fallen students in the bowels of the academy. Her friend. He was in her grip, warm and breathing and alive. It was a fact she had doubts about, no matter how much she denied it even to herself. Ruby didn't try to restrain her emotions, not now. Perhaps she was being selfish, but this was the first true joy she had experienced in a long time, she didn't want to ruin the moment.
But there were details trying to undermine her happiness, things which could not be denied. It wasn't the physical differences; Ruby knew she was trusting and a tad naive, but she was no fool. Three years was a long time, any dunce could tell such a span changed people. It was a given he or his team wouldn't be exactly like what she remembered. What was disquieting her was how much he changed.
At a glance, he wasn't too removed from the last time she saw him. He was taller for certain, roughly eye level with Yang at this point. His features had a more defined edge to them, maturity shaving away the smoothness youth had. Beyond this he was still mostly the same, down to his messy blond hair and a wide smile.
Jaune took a deep breath. "Alright, I guess I'll get to the obvious. How did you guys get here?"
Blake and Yang shared an uncertain look, turning to a bashful Weiss. Under their gazes was bad enough; factoring in a pair of blue eyes she never expected to see again, and she was rapidly falling into embarrassment.
"I… um… you wouldn't believe me if I told you." she said quickly. The pale girl had no idea what to expect, least of all a small chuckle from a boy who once hit on her every chance he got.
"Try me." Jaune offered.
Several things about him were different, and they were making Ruby uneasy. The first and perhaps most glaring detail were his clothes: Jaune was wearing a dark green jumpsuit; from the feel in her grip, it was made of a coarse fabric she had never encountered before. On his feet were a pair of black boots, simple and utilitarian. A pair of fingerless gloves covered his hands, made of stiffer material than the rest of the outfit. Covering his torso was a vest, colored black. It had numerous pockets, many filled with unidentifiable equipment. The hat he wore at first was on the ground well away from her grasp, but she had little doubt it was like the rest of his outfit.
Then there was a patch on the shoulder of the arm she claimed, stitched fabric showing a blue circle with the same symbols on the gate. In the center was a pyramid shape, with a dot at the tip. A badge of some kind.
"Well, how about you? How did you get here?" Yang stepped in. Jaune flicked his head her way, idly squirming his arm in the girl's hold.
Ruby's old hobby (what some called obsession) drew her gaze to his weapons, there were no mistaking those. Besides a small knife on his belt, there was a weird hand sized weapon inside of a hip holster. It looked like a carved shape of bluish metal, split into three sections with a snake shape poking out the top. What grabbed the majority of her attention however was the gun hanging off a chest strap. It was a small rectangle, appearing to be made of plastic and metal. What looked like sights were on the upper portion, and a pair of circular grips were placed on the opposite side. For some reason, she felt ill at ease just by looking at the weapon; it was simple, unadorned, and impersonal. No sense of familiarity or private care left the gun. It was... cold.
Her inspecting was cut short when a small block on his chest crackled. His head snapped to it in muted alarm, then he glanced back at the girl while all but cringing.
"Ruby, I missed you too, but I please have my arm back? I need to take this." he half pleaded.
The red toned girl frowned, for a moment actually tightening her grip. But in the end she let go, allowing the captured limb to pull away from her. He winced while he flexed his arm, getting blood flowing back before he went to the machine on his torso. A quick tap and the block crackled to life, like an old radio.
"This is Arc." Jaune said in a clipped tone. Ruby blinked; the second he touched the device his entire demeanor shifted.
"About time." answered the gruff voice from the other end. Even heavily distorted by static, she could tell it was Major Smith.
"Just catching up sir." Jaune replied.
"Wonderful. Anyway, just dialed back to Earth. We're moving out, you are to hold your position for thirty minutes, then bring the... travelers... back with you."
"Copy."
"I don't need to give you the whole 'take care' speech do I?"
Jaune huffed, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "No sir. See you in half an hour."
"Good. Smith out."
Jaune tapped the radio once more, looking back to his friends with his expression returning to the friendly state they all fondly remembered. Disquieted looks met him instead.
"What just happened?" Yang asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That? My team is heading back to Earth. Hope you guys don't mind, but we're heading there next." Jaune explained, bringing up the arm the girl clutched to glance at his wrist. A tiny watch was placed there, once he checked the time the hand dropped again. This time Ruby didn't grab it.
Blake raised an eyebrow. "Team?"
"SG-7. I've been assigned to them for a while now." he elaborated.
"What happened to the others?" Ruby pressed, jerking closer to him but not touching.
He looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. "Would have loved to stay with them, but orders are orders." he shrugged off with a weak smile.
The pieces fell in place, and Weiss's mind clicked.
"Y-you're a soldier." she stated flatly, uncomfortable surprise making her wince. The proof was right in front of her, she didn't understand the picture until now. It rippled around the girls, the feeling going to each in turn.
Jaune opened his mouth, but after a second he closed it and sighed. "Yeah. I am." he said quietly, dropping his head.
"How did this happen?" Blake questioned sharply.
"No offense Jaune, but I never had you pegged for the military type." Yang added, roaming her eyes over him.
He sighed again. "A few years ago I would've agreed with you, but things change."
Ruby stared at him, a frown beginning to crease her features. "How did you get like this?"
Jaune took a deep breath, and spoke.
Forever fall, three years earlier...
Jaune Arc took a deep breath, steadying his nerves. He tracked the Beowolf carefully, watching it circle him. This one was large, hinting towards a great age. For a moment he contemplated attacking first; in the grueling training sessions, his new teacher had hammered in the need then move on to the next. But he held still instead, matching the Beowolf. This one was more like the usual brand of Grimm he was familiar with these days rather than the weird berserkers they'd encountered this morning, wary yet cunning. He could only guess how many huntsmen died at its claws. His gut told him a direct attack was a bad idea, which was fine with him. He wasn't supposed to kill this one on his own anyway.
Teamwork payed dividends after all.
Without warning a green blur rushed behind the Beowolf, and two sharp blades pierced its back. The Grimm roared, swiping its massive paws around in an attempt to get the attacker off its back. He didn't oblige, tearing one of his weapons out only to stab in a different location. His face was slightly contorted in effort, making sure it went down. Once the Grimm was good and distracted Jaune rushed it, blocking an errant blow and slashing upwards. The arm was taken clean off, and with it came a fresh roar, reminding him of a scream. He didn't let the thought distract him, putting his attention on the task at hand.
Attack, parry, block, it was a simple yet all encompassing series of actions which had only two real results, his death, or its. This time, its death was assured. Crocea Mors punctured through the thin part of the hide on its neck, severing everything keeping the creature alive, or in the state that counted as alive for Grimm. Another roar was abruptly cut off, the red eyes of the Beowolf ceasing to glow. Jaune yanked his sword out, backing away so when it dissolved into ash none of it was breathed in.
Taking another deep breath, Jaune glanced to his friend and teammate with an easy, "Thanks."
Lie Ren nodded in acknowledgment, as he was wont to do. The student wore his usual garb, the green long sleeved shirt artfully designed compared to Jaune's hoodie. His pants were the same way, a white color to his blue. His weapons, a pair of bladed handguns he called Stormflower, were kept out for the time being, instead of being drawn back into his voluminous sleeves. His purple eyes glanced around the clearing a pack of Grimm tried to ambush them in, slightly faster than his leader. There wasn't many to begin with, perhaps no more than twenty. The number was effectively no problem to team JNPR, as a single glance from them could tell.
Another Beowolf was attempting to attack one of them, only to be met by a large hammer and a cry of joy. A girl the boys's age with short orange hair and rosy cheeks to go with a beaming countenance whipped her white and pink hammer Magnhild around, hitting the Grimm hard enough to take its head off. The jacket and skirt wearing girl let off a whoop of victory before yanking herself around, the weapon collapsing into its second mode: a grenade launcher. Nora Valkryie was her name, to which the monikers bubbly, cheerful, and violent applied in equal measure.
There was one more Grimm, an Ursa, which neither of the boys made a move to deal with. The reason being the last member of the team already had it taken care of, as Nora was just finding out.
The bear roared, the booming sound cut out mid cry from the point of a bronze toned javelin punching through the bottom of its jaw. Its owner waited until the Ursa dissolved into ash before she flipped it away, shaking the remains away from her javelin and shield. She strode through the spot where the monster was a moment ago, surveying the rest of her team.
Pyrrha Nikos. Long red hair, toned skin, green eyes, and and excellent figure described her body, bronze armor with a circular headpiece to go with a red sash around her waist described her outfit. As she rejoined the team, her head swept around them, checking them over just as Jaune had done.
"Everyone good?" Jaune called out, seeing them regroup.
"I'm fine." Pyrrha answered easily.
"Ended just when it was getting good." Nora said unhappily.
"Okay, I think we can cross morning work out off of our to do list." he half joked. Nora giggled, Ren made a small grin, while Pyrrha smiled in the way he tried very hard not to think about, the way which could and did distract him from what mattered. Maybe later he could think about it, but for now there were things to do.
"Lets check over the camp, Oobleck is going to mark us for that." he said, being the first to start heading for their 'camp', really just some sleeping bags with a few boxed supplies and a campfire.
Nevertheless he counted on it being graded for safety, since Bartholomew Oobleck was going to be extra scrutinizing when he arrived in the evening. The teacher who sent them on the surprise assignment was not his usual self; instead of being a hyperactive motormouth, he was dragging himself along and mumbling half of his words. He claimed his coffee machine was broken, an odd excuse if Jaune ever heard one. It was highly unlikely he would be in the same state when he returned however, hence the need to be punctilious. Privately he wondered if the scatterbrained professor would be there when the sun set, since he doubted they were dropped in the right place.
At first glance, the camp wasn't harmed badly. There was a tear in Nora's sleeping bag from a Beowolf stomping through, and one of the monsters trashed through the fire pit Ren made earlier. It was superficial damage though. The pack was too fixated on the students to care about the stuff they brought along. Jaune quietly sighed to himself, in relief instead of the disappointment he expected. He made a mental note to offer the orange haired girl his bag when she saw the damage.
"Did anyone notice something off about the Grimm there?" Pyrrha asked, snapping him back to the present.
"They attacked without putting thought into their actions." Ren noted calmly.
"Now that you mention it..." Nora trailed off in thought. Her wondering came to an abrupt halt when she saw the state of her sleeping bag.
"Its alright. You can use mine tonight if you want." Jaune offered, seeing frown not quite enough to count as a pout. He offered a small smile and turned back to the camp, putting together a list of what had to be done.
From the distance came the faint bellow of a horn. Pyrrha was the first to snap her head to its direction, the others following suit a moment later.
"What was that?" Nora asked.
"Someone's in trouble." Ren said firmly.
Jaune sighed again, unsheathing his sword once more. "Well, what're we waiting for?"
They took off in a run, eating up the ground in the direction of the sound quickly. Not to the extent of their endurance; they needed to keep together, and it wouldn't be good to arrive to a fight exhausted. Over the rough wild ground they jogged, hearing another bellow from the horn. This time it was much closer, allowing them to home in on the location with ease. With Nora leading with her hammer ready, they were as prepared as could be.
Privately however, Jaune was feeling concern. Beacon was the closest settlement to this area, yet it was distant enough to need an old airbus to get there in a timely manner. Whoever was out there was far away from any form of safety. It pointed to one of two options: either they were another team who needed help, or it was illegal activity encountering more Grimm than anticipated. While he ran he yanked out his scroll to check for any nearby student IDs; the only ones for several kilometers were his friends.
A third bellow began tantalizingly close, only to be cut off after a moment. Jaune heard a faint scream before he crested a small hill, and saw what was there.
His guts clenched in anger; the three Beowolves (only three?) were around the fallen bodies of a group of half dozen armored humans. Bodies which were torn apart, mauled by vicious claws. Jaune didn't think, he charged in ahead to avenge the dead. The rest of his team was on his heels, unwilling to let the monsters get away with what they had done.
Blocking a swipe, he beheaded the first Beowolf easily, turning to the next in short order. To his disappointment, they were already dead at his team's hands. A single throw of Pyrrha's treasured weapon impaled one through the chest and piercing its heart, killing it instantly. Nora parried another swipe and swung the business end of her hammer around, hitting it hard enough to send it flying, where a quick burst from Ren finished it off.
Jaune went to the closest of the dead once he was sure the Grimm were dealt with, his expression severe. Kneeling over the man's body, he saw how he was attacked, deep gashes no one could survive. Clenching his fist, he gritted his teeth in anger. He was furious at the Grimm for this, but he was more upset at himself. Logically, he knew they did the best they could under the circumstances. It did nothing to change how he felt.
Pyrrha knelt over the same man as he was, frowning. "This is strange."
"Yeah. Who uses spears like these? No blades at all, and these little clubs couldn't hurt a fly." Nora tapped a discarded staff with her foot, averting her gaze from the bodies.
As Jaune took a deep breath to clear his head, he began to notice details about the half dozen men which puzzled him. Running a hand over the man's armor, he felt the artfully designed yet simplistic iron plate and chain mail. The segmented armor covered most of his body, all save for his head which had a form fitting plate covering his bare scalp. Such armor would work as training gear or town patrol equipment, but not for the deep woods.
Jaune frowned when he noticed a tattoo right above the man's brow, a mark the size of his thumb. The Beowolf's gash had somehow missed it, letting him examine the dark glyph in detail. He wracked his brain for something similar to the mark, but he couldn't think of anything which matched. Out of curiosity he moved to the next corpse, a man which was actually quite large now that he was relatively clear headed, even after what the Grimm did to the body. The same symbol was above his eyes as well.
"They all have the same equipment. And these marks." Ren noted, going to each of the men in turn.
"I haven't seen anything like this before." Pyrrha added.
Jaune stood up, frowning in thought. "Lets call the professor. Even if these guys are just some thugs, we shouldn't just leave them-"
Another horn bellowed, this one close by.
"Never mind, lets go." he said quickly, being the first to take off. Tending to the dead was important, but saving the living was better.
However, his exertions were beginning to catch up to him. A painful stitch formed in his side, and his breath became more ragged. A glance at his team showed them in similar condition, with Ren in particular flushed and panting. An intense fight followed by a sprint may not have been too taxing alone, but with yet another desperate run to what was likely going to be a two sided fight, he was getting close to his limit. He knew they had to be careful next.
Several hundred meters away, he spotted another man, wearing the same armor as the dead behind them. This one was running for his life with an Ursa on his heels. A staff like what the others had was clutched in hand while he ran, why he didn't try to use it was a mystery on its lonesome. Along the rocky path he was running on were a small series of caves, possibly dens for more Grimm.
Jaune didn't need to say anything. Nora took this one, via a leap ending in a powerful downwards swing at the Ursa's back. It collapsed with a snarl, which thanks to a well aimed blow from Pyrrha it was cut off at once. He stopped to catch his breath, spotting the others pausing alongside him. But not the armored man, he seemingly didn't notice his saviors.
"Hey!" Jaune mustered the energy to yell, but the man ignored him to dart inside a cave.
Groaning and out of breath, the blond dropped down with his hands on his hips, heaving for breath. His sword felt oddly heavy now, a fact he did his best to ignore.
"Least he could do was thank us." Pyrrha said with a small frown.
"Rude." Nora commented sourly.
Ren was in worse shape than Jaune, his endurance being the worst among the team often biting him like this. He retained enough sense to glance around the area for any more enemies, unlike his offended friends. When he turned his head around he froze, his purple eyes going wide.
"Uh oh."
Jaune slowed his breathing, craning his neck around to him gravely. The girls snapped their heads to him, matching their leader's look.
"Ren. Did you just say uh oh?" he asked flatly, his expression made of stone.
"I... may have." the sable haired teen admitted.
"Why?" Jaune questioned severely.
"Probably because of that." Pyrrha pointed a finger behind them, her green eyes going unusually large. Another sigh and Jaune looked to the direction she indicated.
At first he didn't see it, spotting just a black log lying on the path some distance away. Jaune felt no surprise when the log moved, slithering away to rise into the air. The tail end of a single massive creature lazily waved in the air before descending, to allow for the boney head of the Grimm rise to stare at the four. Once it was easily twenty meters above the ground, the King Taijitu let out a distinctive reptilian roar.
"Oh." Jaune mumbled. Even for these monsters, this one was enormous. By its flanks more Grimm appeared, a number of Beowolves backed up by two fierce looking Berigels.
"Of course." Nora muttered.
An hour ago and Jaune would have given the order to attack. As they were, tired and out of breath, he decided on a course of action which could be seen as cowardly.
"Into the cave." he ordered carefully, expecting and then receiving the questioning looks from his team. "Bottleneck. It'll be bad for us but worse for them." Jaune finished by slowly taking a step back, doing his upmost to keep eye contact with the Grimm.
"Agreed." Pyrrha said, backing up as well. Ren and Nora said nothing, slowly bringing their weapons to bear. None of the team wanted to make a hasty move, knowing it would trigger the horde in short order. Unfortunately the Grimm were advancing as well, the movement of every one of the monsters as deliberate as theirs.
Until Jaune suddenly yelled, "Run!" and booked it to the cave for all he was worth. The act began a cascade of sprinting, from his team swiftly catching up to him to the sizable pack giving chase. Their combined stomps made the ground shake ominously.
Turning into the ten meter opening, Jaune hoped there was another way out of the cave. Shouts from the inner part of the cave dashed his hope. Over the roars he heard several of the strange men shouting something, nothing he understood. It wasn't something he could afford to pay attention to; fervently he counted Ren and Pyrrha darting in after him, for a second icy fear clenching his gut. When he forced himself to look away, undisguised relief filled him at discovering Nora had gotten past him already.
Sparing a quick loom behind them, he had a second to process the sight of a dozen of the chain mail armored men clustered near the back of the cave, around a circular indentation in the wall. There may have been something else, but his eyes needed time to adjust to the lowered light level, time he didn't have. The pounding of the Grimm reached a crescendo, and he readied Crocea Mors.
A Beowolf was first one to dart inside the cave opening, which he slammed with his shield before slicing its chest. It struggled on, until a sharp crack from Miló hit it between the eyes. While he struggled with the first, another was furiously clawing its way in. Ren stayed back to keep on his triggers, placing bursts of gunfire on any weak point he could get to. A third one got passed the two already there, only to get smacked into a wall by Nora.
For every Grimm felled, another took its place. Were they mortal creatures, the fallen bodies could have made a makeshift barricade to stem the tide. As it was, the rising cloud of ash made Jaune's eyes water, obscuring his vision. He swung wildly to slay one after another, hoping desperately he didn't hit one of his teammates by mistake. It wasn't by choice that he kept taking steps back, the other three matching him.
He wasn't blind to what happened next: an orange bolt of something flew past him, a bizarre whip crack he had never heard before echoing in the cramped cave. It hit a snarling Ursa in the face, scoring a direct hit which made the beast stop to paw at the injury. Several more hit the Grimm at their flanks of the four; whoever the strangers were, they evidently saw the huntsmen were the only thing holding the tide of monsters back.
Just when it seemed like the horde was tapering off, the King Taijitu's malevolent red eyes appeared in the cave opening. Though large, the entrance was wide enough to permit it entry. Jaune stabbed the snake's snout when it was close enough, but other than making it roar loud enough to shake the entire cave, the attack did nothing. Nora had her cue to cut loose, folding out her grenade launcher and firing round after round into the open mouth.
Falling back to the cave floor (mentally asking when he left it), Jaune hoped Nora's attack did the trick. A single look confirmed two facts: the King Taijitu was dead, dissolving into a cloud of ash thicker than the rest of the Grimm combined. The second was there were even more Grimm charging through the mist of their fallen counterpart, jaws snapping and roaring for their blood.
"Oh come on!" Jaune shouted despairingly. Nora had her jaw dropped in frustrated rage, Ren was looking woozy, and even Pyrrha was appearing out of breath.
The wall behind them lit up, the air itself recoiling from a shockwave which buffeted the four. Unwilling to take his eyes off the massing Grimm, but suddenly curious as to what just happened, he glanced around for a peek. He had a second to notice his team was looking too before he saw it, and then his jaw dropped.
The indentation he initially overlooked was now alight, a perfect circle of shimmering blue covering the cave. The light seemed like water, but was held on the side without anything in sight to support it. Around the shining blue were seven orange lights, arranged as if to pin the water in place. It was unlike anything Jaune had ever seen before, and no matter how much he wanted otherwise, he couldn't look away from the wondrous sight. As he watched, the armored men were scrambling into the glowing surface, vanishing from sight.
Just because he was distracted didn't mean everything else was. The powerful roars from the throats of the amassing Grimm were enough to shake the walls of the tiny cave, and reluctantly he had to look away. He faced forward in time for a charging Berigel to attack, hitting a distracted Pyrrha hard enough to send her flying inwards with a pained cry.
Jaune didn't have time to say or do anything to help her, for the Grimm chose the moment to press their attack. He parried a blow, only for a rampaging Ursa to slam into him. What little air in his burning lungs was forced out, slowing his attempts to kill the bear. Without a word Ren and Nora fell back, spraying indiscriminate fire in a desperate attempt to slow the piling monsters.
When he slammed into a wall, Jaune felt his aura weakening. Enough so the the unique feeling of several ribs cracking was not just his imagination. Pain raced out, for a second greater than even the burning of his air deprived lungs. Strangely he felt a moment of clarity, one great enough to allow him to bring Crocea Mors up to stab the Ursa trying to maul him. When he fell, only by throwing his arms out did he avoid dropping completely. The face of his shield hitting the ground helped, giving enough support to keep him off the cave floor. How the sword stayed in his grip, he had no idea.
He sucked in air, every breath a fresh round of agony. When Jaune looked up, he saw just how bad off they were; Pyrrha had gotten back up, switching Miló to the sword form to hack down any Grimm which got too close, using Akoúo to both block and attack. Even so the sheer weight of the monsters charging meant more and more slashes were getting through, weakening her own aura. Magnhild clicked empty, making Nora snarl while she switched to the hammer. Without the extra firepower, the horde was pushing in closer. Ren was wheezing, his flurry of attacks slowing down to the point of struggling to even land a blow. Idly Jaune wondered if every Grimm in Forever Fall was bearing down on them, their numbers seemed unending.
Blinking, he became aware of light in the corner of his eye. Turning his head revealed the glowing water was still there, serene in the face of death. Perhaps it was the despair at the constant attacks, or the worry for his team, or it was simply desperation. But he saw they couldn't last for much longer, and the weird men in armor had vanished to safety into the glowing puddle. Jaune made a split second decision, unaware of the consequences.
Mustering up what remained of his strength, he bellowed, "Into the light!"
His friends snapping their heads to him in bewildered shock would have been hilarious under any other circumstances. He wasn't laughing, no one was.
"Are you crazy!?" Nora yelled, blocking an attack from a Beowolf. One of the Berigels roared, charging into the fray on all four limbs.
"Go!" Jaune shouted, stabbing his sword at the puddle before attacking an Ursa.
Pyrrha cringed while she fought, unwilling to fall back first despite being the closest to the shimmering surface. Ren and Nora exchanged a pained glance, neither willing to be the first to flee from the fight, potentially leaving the others behind. For Jaune, the thought of going through first never crossed his mind.
Ren was the first to give in, slaying one more Beowolf before taking off in a sprint to the glowing puddle. He leapt, clearing the ground and entering the liquid with a wet pop. Nora was the next, keeping up the pressure as long as she could before she turned and darted through the surface as well. Jaune hobbled over to Pyrrha, taking the head off of one about to attack her before blocking another.
"Go!" he yelled.
"You go, I'll cover you!" she yelled back, punctuating the sentence with a stab at a Beowolf. One of the Berigels was almost upon them, its unsettling red eyes blazing with rage.
It was clear she wasn't going to budge until he did, and vice versa. So with a silent breath she told him, "Sorry."
Jaune had no time to process what she said, since in the next second she swung Akoúo around and backhanded him hard enough to send him flying towards the puddle. She turned to chase his airborne form as fast she could, just behind him while the powerful arms of the Berigel were centimeters away. He was a meter off the ground when he fell onto the glowing surface, feeling it envelope him instantaneously.
Then... he...
...moved...
...until he felt himself tumbling through the air, for a moment in free fall. Then he slammed into someone, knocking them both to the ground.
Jaune didn't lose consciousness, but for moment he was simply unaware of anything around him. The only thing registering was the feel of dirt pressing against his face, oddly comfortable dirt. Some dust entered his mouth, coating the interior with crunchy grit. He didn't mind though, he was too busy taking shallow breaths to avoid taxing his broken ribs. For the first time since he woke up, he felt at ease. Then a hand grabbed his shoulder.
He mumbled an incoherent reply, trying to tell whoever it was he was alright, all he needed was a minute or two to recover. They didn't understand him, flipping his body over so his face was pointed upwards. Jaune noticed it was a pretty sky when a hand wrapped around his throat. His meek protesting fell away as lucidity returned, cueing him in to an alarming fact.
Someone was trying to strangle him.
Adrenaline surged through his battered system, for the time being ignoring details like his broken ribs. He yanked his knee up, hitting a plate of metal somewhere on the attacker's torso. As his eyes refocused, he saw the struggling face of whoever was trying to kill him. It was definitely one of the armored men, the forehead mark gave him away. Jaune couldn't think of anything to say to him, all he could do was fling his empty hands at his face to push him away.
Darkness hedged the edge of his vision while he tried to breathe, unable to get the man's strong grip off his throat. Jaune threw a punch at the man's face, knocking him aside but failing to dislodge his hands. Choking, he tried again, putting his reserves of strength into the blow this time.
The grip on his throat loosened some, allowing some air to get in. Not enough, not by far. But enough for him to draw his fist back again, to slam it into the tattooed man's jaw. He hit hard enough to finally flinging the man's bulky form off of him. While there was a chance he brought his leg up and kicked for all he was worth, knocking the attacker onto his own back..
Forcing his aching body up felt like torture, his nerves screaming in pain. Jaune had to do it though, since the tattooed man was already recovering. Blindly he felt for Crocea Mors, pawing fruitlessly at the smoothened dirt. The man was on his knees and rising, his expression tainted by rage. He failed to notice the form of somebody getting behind him, nor did he discover the hard blow to his temple which knocked him out cold.
Jaune slowly comprehended the tattooed man was dealt with, his savior half stumbling towards as she heaved. Blinking, the hazy fog over his vision cleared away. When he saw the bronze toned greave in front of him, he reached up to grasp it. The owner of the hand was tired, yet retained enough strength to easily yank him back onto his rubbery feet.
"Thanks." he panted. Covered by a sheen of sweat and a score of minor injuries, Pyrrha shakily nodded.
At once Jaune moved his head around, taking stock of his surroundings. Relief washed over him when he spotted the others nearby, weakened by their bruised and scuffed forms. Waving a heavy arm, he grabbed their attention to get them closer. Despite how much he was starting to hurt, he pushed the pain aside to check their condition first. Ren especially was looking bad, swaying on his feet as his chest billowed. Nora had a cut above her brow, a tiny scratch trailing a line of blood down her temple.
"You guys alright?" Jaune asked, brushing off the thought of his own state. Glancing at the ground showed where Crocea Mors landed, a meter away from his struggle. Bending over hurt a lot, but having a weapon in hand made up for it.
"I'm... hah... tired." Ren wheezed, stopping to breathe. He was exhausted, struggling to stay on his feet.
"That was rough." Pyrrha agreed. She was in the best condition out of them, though it didn't mean much. Her shield had a large dent in the side, preventing it from folding in properly. The base of her javelin was planted on the ground, too heavy at the moment to lift it properly.
"Yeah. I was going to thank these guys for giving us a way out of there, but..." he looked around the clearing. The armored men were lying on the ground in various poses, all of them clearly unconscious. Questions of who they were or what they wanted could wait.
Nora was looking uncharacteristically down at their rough state. She sighed quietly and looked around, reflexively checking for the Grimm which would soon be upon them. Then she blinked, her expression falling away. "Guys?"
Jaune glanced at her, suppressing a flash of irritation. The feeling died when he saw the wide eyes and dropped jaw of his friend. Never before had he seen a look of utter shock on the bubbly girl's face, with no trace of humor or joy. Like Pyrrha and a suddenly paling Ren, he saw her staring in the direction past them. Then, done so closely to be in sync, the three turned their heads to where Nora was staring wide eyed.
They were in the edge of a valley, with rolling green hills stretching away to block the horizon. Foliage in sight was thick, reminding Jaune of some of the locations to the far south; Beacon was a minimum of a thousand kilometers away from those places. Now that his ears were no longer ringing, he began to hear animals noises coming from the trees. None of them were recognizable. At the far end of the valley, there was a massive gilded structure unlike anything else on Remnant. It was tall, with several rising spires around a massive golden pyramid. Though nothing gave it scale, the pyramid alone was clearly several hundred meters high.
The final straw to cause Jaune's jaw to drop was the sky. It was mid morning when he heard the first horn; the white sun's location was at the noontime peak, shadowed by a red pockmarked moon. On the far horizon another white toned moon was starting to poke above the edge of the hills. Neither appeared shattered, uniquely whole.
Staring with morbid fascination, he unconsciously gulped.
"Not good." was the best he could get out.
"I... don't think we're on Remnant." Ren spoke quietly.
Pyrrha was the first to look away, to great difficulty. Her breathing was picking up, having nothing to do with the exertion she put herself through only minutes ago. Noticing one of the armored men beginning to stir, she quickly step over to smack him with her shield. He fell again, leaving her free to scan her surroundings.
"But how?" Nora blurted out.
"I… don't know." Ren's breathing was picking up, having little to do with his exhaustion.
"I think it was this." Pyrrha said loudly, breaking the spell the unfamiliar sky had them under.
In all the chaos, Jaune supposed it was understandable he had overlooked some things. Such as the seven meter tall statue they were unseemly close to. The enormous ring, a meter wide and looking to be made of black stone, was covered in etched symbols he didn't recognize. A set of granite steps led up to the edge of the statue, giving the impression of a walkway. In the center was nothing but air, showing him a tree line a hundred meters away. The more he thought about it, the more it dawned on him the size of the inside was very close to the glowing water back in the cave.
"Oh... kay. Okay. Let's... let's take stock of what we have." Jaune said loudly, pulling out his scroll to check its battery. Fortunately he charged it before they left, so it was still in the upper nineties. A flashing alert on the screen told him 'no signal' in bold print.
Despite their worry, the three did as he told them to. Ren checked his ammunition first, while Pyrrha and Nora patted pockets or pouches for anything which could be of use. He put a great deal of effort into not thinking about the implications of what happened, knowing if he stopped to realize they were a long, long, long ways from home, he would lose it. Cry, scream, blabber, all of that and more just as the start.
"I got a candy bar, my scroll, and three spare rounds left for Magnhild." Nora reported duly, worry in her tone.
"Scroll and thirty rounds here." Ren answered, giving the closest of the tattooed men a wary look. His breath was getting back to normal, which Jaune decided was good news.
"Scroll too, down to five rounds. I meant to pick up some more later..." Pyrrha shook her head, grimacing.
Jaune nodded, appearing to keep it together. Inwardly he was all but screaming. The full impact was kept at arms length, how they barely had enough to deal with one fight, against foes they knew how to deal with. The armored men were a complete mystery, and he could only put off dealing with them for so long. Sooner or later they would have to let them get up, to find out something. Where they were, how did they get here, and most importantly how go get back. A quiet sigh left him, while he wracked his brain for anything that could help them.
"Okay. First thing we need to do is find some rope. Or rope like stuff, doesn't matter. Something we can tie these guys up with." he gestured to the closest man, lying prone in a pile of limbs.
"Then we interrogate them?" Ren asked dubiously.
"Yeah, I guess. We'll just find out how to get back to Forever Fall, then we go. That simple." Jaune answered cheerfully. His forced smile disintegrated at the sight of his team's uncertain looks, making him take a deep breath. "I'm open to suggestions."
"What if..." Pyrrha began, but she stopped herself. "Never mind."
Jaune quickly moved on. "Its okay. Um, Nora, could you check out around the statue? There might be-"
One part of the statue locked, glowing orange. They all stopped what they were doing to look at the yellowish chevron, second to the top of the ring. When the second locked into place a heartbeat later they leapt into action, switching to guns in order to point at the active object.
Jaune put his shield between him and the thing, ignoring a stab of pain from his broken ribs. He was more preoccupied with regretting for the umpteenth time not getting a firearm of some sort, leaving him useless in situations like these. When the fifth locked in place he glanced at a staff discarded by its unconscious owner. For all of four seconds he considered grabbing the weapon, but when he realized he had no idea what it even was, let alone if it was the type that spat the bolts earlier, he abandoned the idea.
The chevron at the top of the ring locked in place, the edges of the ring sending out a cascade of energetic water which made all of them flinch. The watery bloom only went out a short distance, which they were all well away from. When it shrank back, Jaune noticed the bloom stopped at the edge of the steps. It settled into a flat pool of rippling water, identical to the surface he told his friends to jump into.
Seconds later a single figure left the pool, then another, then another, then one more. Team JNPR tensed up, gripping their weapons tighter while the new arrivals realized there was a hostile welcoming party waiting for them. One who was clearly looking worse for wear.
"Oh." went the first man. Behind him the water, whatever it was, shorted out with an electric crackle.
Jaune saw immediately these people were different. The first was an older man in his forties, clad in a green outfit with a black vest and a billed cap on his head. Equipment was strapped all over him, the weapon he had pointed in their general direction. The others were similar; a blonde woman a little younger yet equipped the same way, a tall dark skinned man who was bald but had a golden emblem on his forehead, and a short haired man in glasses. They regarded the armed huntsmen with puzzled surprise.
Gulping away his nervousness, Jaune said loudly, "Who are you?"
The older man, possibly the one in charge, replied, "You first."
"I'm Jaune Arc, of Team JNPR." he answered without missing a beat, internally proud to have kept a stutter out of his voice.
The man frowned, while his companions exchanged curious glances. When he lowered his gun, Jaune looked to his friends, uncertain at how to proceed. When Pyrrha began to lower Miló, they reluctantly did the same.
"Nice." the woman said noncommittally, keeping her gun down.
"Indeed." the dark skinned man's deep voice agreed, curiously flat. In his hands was a staff just like the tattooed men. He looked over the fallen men without visible emotion.
"So?" Jaune prompted.
"Right. I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill, United States Air Force. This is, uh." he awkwardly hesitated. "This is SG-1. You guys aren't from around here, are you?"
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A/N: this one took a lot longer than I thought it would. Call it a trite excuse, but I have been seriously busy as of late. Thanks to all of you for the interest. I'd ask for a review but eh, it doesn't matter.