First off a colossal thank-you to everyone that has supported this fic from its founding to the present. Today it passed a milestone 10,000 view! which is truly breathtaking, I've gotta be doing something right eh? On top of that it has a following of over 100 with a favourite total numbering in the 60's. once again I cannot thank you all enough for your support and criticisms. I hope you all enjoy the next chapter.
Team JNPR watched with growing fascination and concern as Jaune's face steadily shifted colour, he had worked his way through the spectrum and was currently displaying a tone of green akin to that of his girlfriend's eyes. He had held up relatively well to begin with, but at around ten minutes into their flight he had taken a turn for the worse.
The drop-ship felt as bad as it had looked, the cabin was filled with metallic rattling from the engines and aeronautical equipment as well as the repeated smacking of the spare safety harnesses against their empty chairs. The whole craft shook violently as it flew, so much so that it was a wonder it hadn't shaken itself to a handful of bolts and sheet metal by now. The rushing of wind could be heard loud and clear through the paper thin fuselage but it wasn't quite enough to drown out the labouring turbines that sputtered as though they might cut out any moment.
Pyrrha sighed resignedly, pushing those thoughts out of her head. She ran a hand in wide circles across his back, it was one of the few things that alleviated her partner's airsickness. Though it may not have done much it made her feel better knowing she was doing something. Jaune briefly looked up to her face and smiled meekly before returning casting his gaze back to the compartment floor to glare at one of the rivets.
Ren and Nora sat across from the Champion and her boyfriend and were watching him intently, neither making a sound, which was especially odd for the Valkyrie. Pyrrha eyed them suspiciously and succeeding in catching Ren's eye. She shot him a curious look to which he shrugged and returned to his 'JauneWatch'.
'He's up to something...they both are...'
The red-head's thoughts were interrupted as her boyfriend flailed out for his paper airsickness bag. Having retrieved it he brought it up so it was covering his mouth and nose, after his previous experiences he had learned a valuable lesson.
'Who'd have known you can hurl chunks out of the nose? That air-hostess looked set to kill me.'
He shuddered and repressed the memory once again as fresh waves of nausea flowed throughout his body. He inhaled deeply through the bag doing everything he could to rein-in his unruly body.
Across from him Ren and Nora were watching with renewed interest. He paid them no mind, pouring his full concentration into his internal fight. He felt it coming, in a last ditch effort he focused his aura into his stomach in an effort to stop it from churning. His attempt was futile.
Pyrrha winced empathetically as her boyfriend played meet-and-greet at the reunion for his breakfast. She heard hushed laughter and cast a look up, to her horror it emanated from the other half of her team. Ren retrieved his scroll a slight frown on his face and checked the time. To the Champion's surprise he produced a small roll of Lien, peeling off a few of the notes he handed them over to his childhood friend who held the notes up and kissed them in victory.
"You win this time." The martial-artist nearly shouted to be heard over the cacophony of the aircraft.
"If he'd have gone just thirty seconds earlier id have had it!"
Ren turned his attention back to Jaune but was caught midway by a scathing glare from Pyrrha. Her eyes were full of malice. The Lotus shrivelled under her gaze and retreated as far into his seat as he could, offering a nervous smile.
"You two bet on Jaune being sick?!" she yelled, struggling to be heard over the noise.
"K-kinda, well, not so much on him being sick as when he was sick."
"How could you? Jaune is our leader, our friend!"
"P-Pyrrha, it's OK. Calm down, it was just some harmless fun." Jaune's voice proclaimed weakly, just being heard over the drop-ship.
The team turned in surprise. The knight still looked like death on a hell hot-plate but his face had turned a more...earthly colour. The knight gave his best rendition of a smile but ending up wincing as the craft hit a particularly brutal patch of turbulence. After the shaking had reduced back to its base level he looked back at NR.
"S-so who won? I didn't quite catch it."
Ren shifted uncomfortably, regretting his actions more and more with each passing moment. Pyrrha was right, Jaune was more than their leader. He was their friend.
"U-um, it was Nora. She bet it would take you a half-hour before you broke I said twenty minutes. She was closer. I would have had it I think but Pyrrha rubbing your back worked wonders."
Ren's guilt lifted temporarily as Jaune chuckled. He looked Ren in the eye, a wide smile on his face, it was genuine and Ren saw his friend bore him no ill will.
"I think that's a new record, eh Pyrrha?"
Pyrrha's laughed at her boyfriend's jest just as the final tinges of red from Ren's comments disappeared from her face. She was soon joined by the rest of her team, they laughed until tears streamed down their face, only stopping as they hit more turbulence and had to cling on for dear life.
After a further painfully slow three hours and fifty-five minutes, during which Jaune heaved a great many more times until it felt as though he was an inch away from his stomach imploding, their drop-ship finally touched down on the solid ground again.
The moment it impacted Jaune had heaved the steel door aside and flung himself out onto the ground, he lay there for a good five minutes, splayed out hugging the ground.
"I love you ground, I swear I'll never leave you again! Take me back?"
The remainder of team JNPR laughed as they unloaded their kit and listened to their goofball leader gush to the planet itself for a further five minutes. Once he was done he stood up and dusted himself off. He retrieved his bag from beside his girlfriend and slung it over his shoulder. Wrapping an arm around his partner he glanced at his surroundings.
The drop-ship had touched down in a clearing in a pine wood. The floor was carpeted in a thick mat of needles, the occasional tree lay fallen. It was silent save for the now low hum of the drop-ship's turbine engines.
"I've had to drop you here, landing spots are scarce in these parts. The Town is that way."
The pilot motioned along a small trail as he explained their situation. Once content that his message was understood he powered up the craft and took off once again angling low over the treetops and shooting off back the way it had come.
Jaune wrapped an arm around his partner's waist and motioned towards the trail.
"Well guys, I guess we had better start walking. Be on your guard."
Ren and Nora led the way followed by Pyrrha and Jaune. They walked on in silence, any attempts at conversation had soon fizzled out in the dead silence in between the pine trees. It was an unnatural still, no birds could be seen. A sense of unease befell the members of team Juniper yet still they pressed on.
After what seemed an eternity the team caught sight of buildings ahead, they rushed forward with renewed vigour and emerged into another clearing, this one far larger than that which they had landed in. The town lay nestled in the middle and looked a little worse for wear.
The town was composed of a series of log cabins arrayed in a circle. In the centre stood the town hall, the only stone building in sight. It had a large square tower equipped with a single large iron wrought clock.
The cabins had bore the scars of the recent Grimm problems, many having huge claw marks gouged out of their sides, or indeed entire walls shattered into splinters. Around the very edge of the town were dug a series of ditches in which were stood row upon row of sharpened stakes, many were coated in the black blood of the Grimm. Although the stakes wouldn't do much good against the larger variations of monster like Ursai or Death-stalkers they had seemingly been effective against Boarbatusks and Beowolves.
Jaune released his partner and drew Crocea Mors, his team following suit. His sword gleamed in the rays of the dying sun. He edged forward slowly, signalling for the others to form around him. He led the way, sword drawn and shield held out in front of him. Behind him came Ren and Nora each covering their respective flank, and finally came Pyrrha. The Spartan mirrored her leader holding her shield up to defend their back. It was in this formation that they entered the town.
Not a single window in the town was intact, shards of glass littered the ground, cracking and snapping under their feet. Jaune sighed at seeing the levels of destruction and damage, it wasn't hard to see that the town must have been pleasant before the Grimm attacks began. They entered the little square in the town's centre, it was an open space in front of the town hall. Its edges were lined with quaint little shops, their hanging signs still swinging in the slight breeze and their windows smashed, the little displays utterly destroyed. The middle of the square was divided up into four quadrants. In the centre was what they assumed had been a stone fountain, it was now only a muddy puddle in the midst of crushed masonry. Around the fountain were once well tended flowerbeds, the ground was churned up and the tattered remains of the flora lay scattered about.
Brushing aside their growing rage at the destruction around them they pushed on up to the town hall itself. At a quick glance they noticed a difference, the windows whilst still smashed had been boarded up. The Knight slowly climbed the white steps of the town hall, either side of him the colossal pillars stood bright and defiant against all else. Jaune paused in his climb at the sound of trickling water and soft splashes. He cast his gaze down to find that he was stood in a puddle, only it wasn't water. It was blood, human blood.
Jaune turned to his team and gave them a look of horror. He frantically hurdled up the remaining steps three and a time and sprinted over to the heavy yet ornate wooden doors. They were scratched to hell, chipped and dented from the relentless onslaught of some monster of extra-ordinary size. He pounded his fist against them in the vain hope that someone was still alive inside.
"I don't like this. Whatever did this wasn't a Grimm of ordinary size. Look at those claw marks!"
From behind the door came sounds of movement, the hunters and huntresses dropped into their 'ready' stance and crowded into an all-round defence in preparation for what they were convinced would be a horde of Grimm. The doors to the town hall slid open ever so slightly to reveal an haggard old face, it lit up as he looked at the four. Without saying a word he swung the doors open and motioned for them to get inside.
"Quickly! Quickly!" The old man hissed, his eyes frantically scanning the town around them, and hurriedly closed them in.
The first thing to hit Pyrrha was the smell, the interior of the hall absolutely reeked of a mixture of death and squalor. The hall was once a grand building judging from the ornate painted ceilings and marble floors, but its former glory was now just a distant memory. The once polished marble was besmirched with filth leaving a tainted version behind. She lamented the once great building's fall into disrepair.
"What are you kids doing out there?! It's not safe to be outside!"
The team turned their attention to the old man. His face was craggy and pockmarked, it was clear he had lived a hard life. His clothes were torn and hung loosely about his frame, there was practically nothing of him. The champion noticed with slight shock that his left arm ended abruptly just above where his elbow should have been, it was a recent wound and was wrapped in rough bandages dyed red with gore.
"We were sent here to deal with the Grimm infestation. We're team Juniper from Beacon academy, and if I may ask, who are you?" Jaune spoke with a sense of calm authority.
"I'm Merlyn, I was the town's blacksmith and let me tell ye boy, this ain't your average Grimm problem. Come with me."
The old man led them through the large foyer and up to the higher floors via a series of winding staircases. At last he led them down a long hall and stopped in front of one of the doors. It opened to show a sight that would haunt them all for the remainder of their lives.
The room was massive, one of the elaborate meeting rooms used by the town's mayor for the press releases or open court days on which he addressed the townsfolk and their various issues. Now it was dimly lit with the large oak table shoved off to one side, the chairs all stacked haphazardly on top of it.
Yet the most disturbing thing within the dimly lit meeting room was what seemed to be hundreds of pairs of eyes, gleaming as they reflected what little light was available. Their owners cowered slightly at the sight of the new-comers as they all turned to face them, some with glares of anger and others with glimpses of hope. One of the corners had been cleared out and now served as a small scale makeshift hospital, a number of patients ranging in age from children through to the elderly were laid out on whatever soft materials could be gathered.
Around the room the occasional weapon could be seen indicating a member of the town guard, whilst not as proficient as qualified huntsmen and huntresses these bold men and women served as resident defenders from the creatures of Grimm. It is only once these fighters are outmatched that the hunters are called in. The guards themselves looked worse for wear, many had bandages wrapped around them and a couple had makeshift splints around their limbs.
It was a truly depressed atmosphere, very few of those present had any sign of hope within themselves, their eyes were dark and anger filled. These were people who had little to lose.
"W-what happened here?" Jaune stammered the question that was on the minds of his whole team.
"That would be ol' Ursula..." Merlyn replied, his voice was full of sorrow.
"Ursula?" all four members of JNPR spoke at once, confused glances on their faces.
"Yep. She's a big bugger. An Ursa Major, last time we saw 'er she were the size of an 'ouse"
The four teenagers shivered at the idea.
"She came along bout two weeks ago and well, you've seen the state of the town."
"W-well, we were sent here to do a job... W-what c-can you tell us about...um... 'Ursula'..."
Jaune stammered, his previous air of confidence now diminished in the face of their somewhat daunting task.
The team spent the next two hours discussing 'Ursula' and her strengths and weaknesses along with Jaune contemplating the various tactics that he and his team could employ to bring the monster down. Jaune racked his brain, sifting through his memories of Professor Port's lectures for any hints or tips for bringing down Mega-Grimm.
"-And so young hunters and huntresses, as my dashing younger self looked the Mega-Grimm square in its eyes I felt no fear. For all Grimm of such sheer size have one weakness in common. They are slow. This doesn't mean however that they are easy foes to fell, far from it, for they are tenacious creatures. If you ever face these beasts and I wish that none of you ever will; plan your strategy, attack as one for you will need every member of your respective teams if you should have any hope of success."
Their Grimm-studies lecturer had painted a dark picture, but Jaune knew he was right. Though it may have seemed it, their task wasn't impossible. But one thing was for certain it would be the most difficult they had ever attempted.
The old man led them down the hall and into an empty room, it was an old office judging by the single mahogany desk in the centre but would serve nicely as their quarters and base of operations. They each dumped their kit-bags and set about clearing floor space, laying out their roll-mats and survival bags. Ren and Nora lay theirs out together just under the desk whilst Jaune and Pyrrha both opted for the corner.
"It ain't much, but it should be comfortable enough. Sorry we can't offer yer any better."
"This shall do nicely, thank-you for your hospitality."
Reaching into his rucksack Jaune retrieved a large bar of chocolate he had packed planning to split a piece with his team each night of their mission and handed it over to the aged smith.
"H-here, divide this up between yourselves, I have a feeling it will be better appreciated over with you guys."
Merlyn gave them a smile, his eyes glistening with a film of tears.
"Thank'ee, the kiddies'll love this."
he bid them a goodnight and left them in silence closing the door behind him. The team collapsed on their meagre bedding and sat in silence. From the room next door they heard quiet cheers and gasps of appreciation and shock as Jaune's gift was seemingly shared out amongst the survivors and smiled widely.
"You did a good thing Jaune. Even by such a small act you have made a bigger impact than you know."
It was Ren's voice that rang out in the darkness, his tone appeared to contain a slight trace of admiration for his leader. With his comment the team shuffled about uncomfortably and settled into their survival bags. In the darkness Jaune sat with his back against his rucksack, his partner huddled up against him, the contours of her body fitting perfectly with his own. She nuzzled into him and rested her head on his chest.
Before long Pyrrha was snoring softly, Ren and Nora's breathing had become almost inaudible, but Jaune sat wide awake. He couldn't empty his mind, thoughts of their upcoming battle haunted him and made his gut wrench through fear and anxiety.
'It's not just my team counting on me now, it's this whole town down to the last child.'
His girlfriend stirred against him, and in the pitch black of the room she whispered to him. Her voice calm and soft, it served to both calm him and soothe his nerves.
"Jaune, is everything alright?"
He hung his head and for a moment was silent as he contemplated pouring his heart out.
"No, I'm not ready for this. You saw those people in there, they're relying on us to fix this."
"And we shall, do you remember why you chose to become a hunter Jaune?"
"Y-yeah, I wanted to be like the heroes in the story books..."
"And that is why we're here right now. These people need our help, and you're their Knight in shining armour."
"B-but what if I'm not strong enough?"
She reached up and kissed him ever so sweetly causing warmth to flow from his lips and ease the knot in his stomach.
"You will be, and you have us there fighting alongside you. Just remember Jaune, you're braver than you believe and stronger than you seem."
The knight leant in and kissed her before resting his chin upon the top of her head. He drew her in to a tight hug as they sat there defiant against the world.
"She's right you know. If anyone can lead a team to victory against a Mega-Grimm it'd be you. You have a knack for these things. It's in your blood."
"R-Ren? How long have you been awake?"
The Blonde stammered in his surprise, having thought the martial-artist to be asleep. He could feel his cheeks burning red and was grateful for the cover of darkness.
"I couldn't sleep." came the stoic's explanation.
"Me either!" Nora whined.
"I think we have all been having the same thoughts, but we mustn't forget, this is why we came to Beacon to begin with, to help those who cannot help themselves. And though it seems tough sometimes we must push on through the fear and doubt if we truly wish to be great huntsmen and huntresses, and we will do it together as one."
Ren's words had a profound impact upon his three teammates. Even Nora paused in thought. Her partner was right after all, they had enrolled into Beacon academy with the hopes of helping people and it wouldn't do to back out now just because of a little Mega-Grimm. Content that he had said his peace he settled back into his sleeping bag and drew his childhood friend in closer, an arm wrapped around her shoulders as much for her benefit as his own. Pyrrha also resettled into her position although Ren's words still danced behind her eyes.
Jaune mulled the martial-artist's words over in his mind, his friend was right, a voice of reason to his clouded thoughts. He considered their situation and considered their possible solutions. 'Ursula' had to die, there was no room for doubt there. The issue that he was faced with was exactly how he planned to achieve his goal.
He kicked his tactical brain into gear considering all his options and available resources. The town itself was likely devoid of anything too useful give the path of destruction. Jaune dismissed the town's guard as being of any help, they had been thoroughly trashed already.
Finally he considered the town's layout itself, the town hall served as the focal point in the centre of the settlement, around it were built the log cabins. The rooftops of these cabins would provide an excellent method of manoeuvring about the town, however their angled nature could make them treacherous to use in a combat situation.
'No' he mused 'Our best chance is to out manoeuvre it, we can use the little alleys and side streets in a hit and run pattern to gradually wear it down.'
A smile grew across his face as his plan at last began to take shape. It wasn't perfect and he still had to account for its contingencies, but it was a start and a start was what they needed. The Knight settled in against the wall and drew his girlfriend in close as he closed his eyes allowing his pent up fatigue to wash over him, one last thought crossed his mind before he slipped into his dreams.
'We're coming for you "Ursula".'
This is basically a bit of a build up for what i hope will be an exciting couple of chapters although i wasn't exactly happy with it. please feel free to follow, favourite and review as well as PM me any plot ideas. I'm thinking of starting another Jaune pairing fic on the side, so ill run a bit of a poll, PM me with the ships you would like to see and after 3 chapters of the 'Sword and Spear' i'll follow your decisions.
Thank you all once again for your support and for reading, i hope you enjoyed reading it as much as i did writing it. I'll see you all next time!