Coeur Al'Aran was the beta for the original Auburn and helped me immensely during a period when we were both just getting started. Cover Art drawn by confections101 and a link to it is on my profile page. Jefardi is the one who finally kicked my butt into gear to do something about this story I had almost given up on.
Auburn
Thorns
Jaune groaned and rolled over in his bed. He was having a Hell of a time sleeping and couldn't for the life of him figure out why. Maybe it had something to do with that buzzing noise? What was that anyway? He buried his head under his pillow and tried to block it out. To no avail.
Maybe Weiss would take care of it? Of course, that couldn't exactly happen since he was in this room all by himself. It took him several attempts of repeating that notion to finally get it through his head. The room was, after all, way too small to accommodate more than one person comfortably. A twin-sized bed sat in the corner and in front of it was a small dresser. All his belongings had been set meticulously atop it, where he just left them. Next to the bed was a desk and chair, creating just a small walkway between the two. Other than that, he had about three square feet of entranceway to move around.
He tossed his pillow off and let out a much louder groan as he crawled out of bed to find the source of his ire. Blue eyes came to rest upon a small light sitting on the desk and he ambled over to it, his brain still half-asleep. What freaking time was it? He had to find his scroll. Oh wait, it was his scroll that was making all this racket in the first place. Someone was calling him and a quick glance at the time showed it just past midnight. Who would be calling him at this time?
"Hello?" He mumbled into the receiver.
"Ah, Mister Arc!" Shirou Schnee's chipper voice came over the other end and energy surged through Jaune's body. "How are you doing today?"
"I'm-uhhh... good, I guess?" What was up with this guy? He had already talked to him today. About four hours ago specifically.
"I'm very glad to hear that. I just sent out a message to all the other leaders but I figured I would do you the honor of calling in person. If you're anything like me then you're a naturally deep sleeper." The Hell was this guy on about now? Even though he was more or less awake, he wasn't able to put together why he would be messaging students at midnight. "Don't tell me you forgot?"
"I'm sorry... sir-"
"You can call me Shirou."
"Yeah, okay." He wasn't going to be doing that anytime soon. "I don't remember you saying anything about having to do something at midnight."
"Nonsense, you're just thinking about it all wrong! It's midnight which means that it is fact now tomorrow. You remember what I told you we would be doing tomorrow, don't you?"
Jaune opened and closed his mouth several times as he tried and failed to properly respond. "Y-You mean we're going on that mission right now?"
"So you do remember! Yes, yes, right this moment. Get your gear and come up to my office. The other leaders shall be joining us shortly and we will all depart together." Seriously, why did this guy sound so happy? He was talking about marching out into Grimm territory in the middle of the night! That sounded absolutely terrifying.
And the only response he could give was a resigned sigh and a "I'll be right there." Before the Headmaster had a chance to respond he ended the call. Then he just sat there in silence for several moments, contemplating crawling back into bed and ignoring his mission altogether. Not just this one but the one for Ozpin too. It would be so much easier to stay in bed and never leave. Knowing there was no future in that, he quickly stripped his onesie and dressed in his combat gear before he had a chance to change his mind. After making sure he had absolutely everything he needed he ran out the door and into the hallway.
He stopped immediately outside and just stared at the door across from him. It was Blake's room. She had told him to stop and see her before the mission. She probably hadn't accounted for that mission to start at midnight, however. Then again, no one had. She would surely be asleep and would probably be angry at him for waking her. But he really wanted to see her too. He was about to go fight Grimm and for the first time he had done such a thing he wouldn't have her at his side. What if he wasn't ready to handle this on his own? What if he died out there? Their last conversation had hardly been anything he would call spectacular.
"Jaune?" A new voice pulled him from his thoughts and Pyrrha walked out from her room just down the hall. That was right! She was a leader too. Maybe he wouldn't be with Blake but he would have one of the most accomplished huntresses-in-training in this generation with him. Maybe he wouldn't die after all?
"Hey! You ready for this mission?" He put on the most confident persona he could muster and strut towards her.
"Is it a mission?" Pyrrha tilted her head. "The only thing my message said was that all the leaders are to report to the Headmaster's office immediately." That was right. Shirou had actually mentioned that he was the only one to be called. It seems like he would have at least said more than that in his message to the rest of them though.
"He may have mentioned it to me earlier." Jaune mumbled offhandedly.
Pyrrha nodded in acceptance and gave a polite smile as she indicated towards the elevator. "Shall we go then?"
"Ladies first." Jaune gave a dramatic bow and Pyrrha let out a giggle. He beamed positively at her reaction. It felt great to make such a beautiful girl laugh. They boarded the elevator together and stood side by side as it started to take them to the top floor. None of the other leaders appeared so either they were already at Shirou's office or still getting ready.
He glanced at Pyrrha out of the corner of his eye. She let out a long, tired yawn and stretched her arms far above her head. As she did she happened to accent her more womanly assets and he quickly averted his eyes to keep from staring, a deep blush now on his face. "Do elevators cause your motion sickness to act up too?" Pyrrha leaned forward in concern, her red ponytail dangling over her shoulder and he took a hurried step back.
"Y-yeah, they do." He lied. He would rather she think he was about to throw up then think he was checking her out. One would actually think he'd be used to dealing with beautiful girls by now. He had three of them on his team after all. Maybe it was because they were all on his team he tried really hard not to look at them that way. Weiss would murder him if he did and he had worked real hard to get the little respect she did have for him. He wasn't going to ruin it by flirting with her. Ruby was...well, she was Ruby. She was cute, quirky, and had the ability to act downright adorable on command. She reminded him of his sister. Blake... well, she was his partner.
"Would it help you if I rub your back?" Pyrrha had already entered his personal space yet again and he felt her hand pat him lightly. It took every fibre in his being not to yelp and jump away from the unexpected contact.
"Y-You don't have to do that." Damn that stutter of his. Where the Hell did all the confidence he had shown her at the beginning go? Oh, that was right. He faked it. He always fell apart after the first couple lines. Man, this must look pretty lame from her point of view.
Before he could try to redeem himself, the door opened and they arrived at Shirou's office. Pyrrha was already walking off the elevator and he had to quickly skip forward to keep up with her. The office was much smaller than he had imagined and it looked like every other team leader was already here, the now eight of them all rather cramped in front of a large wooden desk.
"Jaune! My very best friend! It is so wonderful to meet you again so soon!" He had no chance to react as someone sprung forward, wrapped him in a bone-crushing hug and hoisted him into the air.
"Penny!" He wheezed as his feet flailed and he felt his face his turn blue. Seriously, how ridiculously strong was this girl!? He tried glancing to Pyrrha for help but she took a nervous step away in case she received the same type of affection. Once again, he was on his own with this girl. "...Why are you hugging me?" He attempted to no avail to wiggle himself free and Penny tightened her grip a little more in response.
"Is this not how best friends greet one another?" Penny tilted her head and finally set him back on his feet. Jaune took in a huge breath as his lungs filled themselves with air.
"I suppose some friends do hug when they meet one another, yes." Since when did he and Penny become best friends? He had only had one conversation with her and had been relieved when it ended.
"Then why are you confused, Jaune? You can be so strange sometimes." Really now. She was calling him strange?
He barely recovered before two more blondes approached him. The first thing that came to mind with the first one was a single word: Abs. This dude was shredded and he had no problem showing it off. There was also a noticeable monkey tail swinging behind him. A faunus then, cool. The second had dark skin and her hair was more of a platinum blonde than either boys, dressed in some style he thought might be Mistrali.
"What's up, man? Name's Sun." The monkey faunus introduced first, extending out a hand. Jaune mumbled his own name and took it. "We're from Haven, although my original home is in Vacuo." He inclined his head towards the girl who was introducing herself to Pyrrha.
The girl then stepped up to him next. "I am Arslan, leader of team ABRN (Auburn)." Well, this was awkward.
"Uh... I'm Jaune Arc. Also leader of team AWBR (Auburn)." She quirked an eyebrow and Sun doubled over, placing both hands over his abs as he let out a long, probably-not-ironic laugh.
"Oooh... that's a good one, buddy. Seriously, though, what's your team name?" He wiped some stray tears from his eyes, grin still huge and plastered across his face.
"No, seriously. It's also Auburn." Sun's smile faltered and both Haven leaders looked to Pyrrha who nodded and held up her scroll.
"If you look at the database for students, it appears there are two Auburns, albeit with different acronyms." She shrugged as if to say it couldn't be helped.
"Huh, well I'll be damned." Sun shook his head and shrugged before beginning to wander away, apparently already bored of them. Arslan stood close by, now eyeing him as if trying to size him up. He really hoped she wasn't thinking anything ridiculous like determining which Auburn was better, because he would gladly relinquish that title to them. Although, his team might not go for that.
A dark-skinned boy in a classy outfit approached next, tipping his hat and giving Jaune what could only be an award-winning grin. He was pretty sure his teeth even sparkled. "'Sup? Name's Cole. Flynt Cole. I understand you're on the team with the Heiress."
"Weiss?" Jaune didn't know why he asked for clarification. Who else was he talking about? Not like Blake was royalty. "Yeah. I guess I am."
"Cool." Flynt nodded, but Jaune had no idea what to make of it. "I look forward to working with you. I'm from Atlas, like Penny who I see you've already met." He would rather not be reminded, but yeah, they'd met alright.
Then the last two approached. This time a girl with short purple hair and a guy with some pretty nifty looking claw-weapon-things. "I'm Nebula." The girl started and then pointed to the boy. "This here is Brawnz. We're both leaders from Shade." He and Pyrrha both re-introduced themselves, despite having said it multiple times already anyways so they almost certainly knew who they were. Still, it seemed the courteous thing to do at least.
With all the introductions out of the way he then looked past everyone and towards the desk, expecting to see the Headmaster standing behind it. When he didn't see him, he instead turned to ask one of the others to see if they knew.
"I'm glad you could all make it." Jaune let out a girly shriek as Shirou spoke from immediately behind him. As if he hadn't even heard it, Shirou kept right on talking. "We'll be taking an excursion out to a Grimm nest today in order for me to get a better evaluation of your skills. As the leaders of your respective teams, there are many things you must be prepared to face out here. Now if you all are ready, will you follow me?" He patted Jaune lightly on the shoulder and turned him around and back to the elevator.
"You're rather tense Mister Arc." Shirou then noted as they all piled in and began to ride back up to the roof.
Yeah, there was a pretty good reason for that. He would be a lot less tense if this guy would just allow him to go back to his room and go to bed. He didn't exactly care to go Grimm hunting when they were at their most deadly. He, of course, didn't voice any of this aloud.
Moonlight flooded into the tiny compartment as soon as the doors opened and the roar of an airship's engine could be heard as it waited just outside for them. A strong gust of cold wind whipped through the gaps and Jaune turned his head away from the unexpected chill. "Come on now, the ship is docking." He tapped Jaune's shoulder once again and he turned to the see the ship hung off the edge of the tower with its back-hatch open and waiting. The other students were already jogging ahead to board with the exception of Pyrrha, Penny, and Sun. The three of them were waiting for him. He smiled appreciatively at them and they all walked towards the ship together.
With a short jump he boarded the ship and its hatch began to close behind him. As it did, the ship started to move and he was hit all at once by a sense of vertigo. Ah crap. One more thing he had forgotten because he was so swept up in the moment was his motion sickness. He was about to make a complete dunce of himself in front of all the other leaders. There went any credibility he had. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad? They weren't likely going far so maybe it was just a matter of holding out. He could handle that. Probably.
"Excuse me, Mister Headmaster?" Penny extended her palm into the air and stood as high as she could on her toes as if it would make her easier to see then she already was.
"Go ahead Miss Penny." He nodded to her in acknowledgement.
"Yes Sir!" Penny saluted, although Jaune had no idea why. "Where is our destination and what is our objective tonight, Sir?" She at least brought up a couple good questions even if she asked them in a really strange manner. Maybe Ironwood had drilled his military training into her? Must have been rough growing up.
"Ah yes. I suppose you would all appreciate some details on what we'll be doing." He grinned at everyone and they all nodded quickly in agreement; Everyone except for Jaune who was trying to be as still as possible. The less he moved the better.
"We're heading to a location known as Razor Canyon. It is notable for the massive thorny vines that infest the entire gorge. It is also the location of a densely populated Deathstalker nest." Jaune gave a light heave and Shirou paused to look at him. For the first time Jaune had seen, his smile was gone and a disgruntled frown had replaced it.
"Sorry. Go on." Jaune waved for him to continue as he went back to focus on not puking. He also tried not to focus on the fact that he was about to go up against an army of Deathstalkers. He had only ever encountered one and he had no desire to repeat that experience. Hopefully they weren't dwelling in any caves.
Sun slid up to him as discreetly as possible and leaned close to him. "You feeling alright there bud?" He whispered under his breath.
Jaune gave him a thumbs up as he leaned against the wall of the ship. "Peachy. Just some light-headedness. I'll be fine." Hopefully.
"I hate to interrupt-" Then please don't, Jaune thought dryly as Shirou leaned over to them. "-but Mister Arc looks like he may lose the contents of his stomach at any second. If I may ask, why aren't you utilizing your Aura to stabilize yourself?"
Every gear in Jaune's brain ground to halt at what he heard. "You can do that!?" He half-yelled in a mix of shock and anger. If he could do that why hadn't someone felt the need to share that with him before now?
"Normally one's Aura does that automatically for them." Shirou sounded absolutely fascinated as he inspected Jaune up and down. "How did you have your Aura unlocked? Did a teacher at your old school do it or was it perhaps your parents?" Worry flashed across Jaune's face for a second before he reined it in. He couldn't let this guy know that Blake had only done it barely two weeks ago.
"Does it really matter who unlocked it?" He asked a little too defensively.
Shirou paid no mind to his tone. "Of course it matters. When it comes to unlocking your Aura there are many factors to consider. Your age, emotional state, who unlocked it, what chant they used. There is a whole myriad of factors that go into it and can have varying differences on both your Aura and even your Semblance. If done incorrectly, it could be catastrophic for you."
"My Aura works just fine!" Even if he had done it unintentionally he had just insinuated that Blake had messed up when unlocking his Aura. She wouldn't have made a mistake like that and his Aura had saved his life already several times. He knew it worked.
"It surely doesn't make that much difference, does it?" Pyrrha questioned. "Your Aura is the manifestation of your own personal soul. All of those things don't change who you are."
"Don't they?" Shirou seemed… kind of excited when he asked that. It was hard to tell since he was always smiling, but somehow this felt more genuine. "You can't tell me that the you four years ago is the same person you are now. Your opinions, attitudes, sometimes your whole personality changes. Not to mention that when someone unlocks your Aura, they're inserting a part of their soul into your own. That very act leaves residual effects that last the rest of your life."
As fascinating as it all was though, it wasn't helping him feel any less sick. So instead Jaune tune out the world around him and focused inwards as he always did when tapping onto his Aura. He found that little light in himself and called upon it. Almost immediately he felt sweet relief wash over himself as he did. He seriously wished he had known this earlier. He never had to worry about motion sickness again.
"What did you just do?" Sun asked and he realized everyone on the ship was staring at him with wide eyes.
"Uhh... what?" He didn't understand the question.
"You… started glowing all like purple, green, and red for a second and your Aura like pulsed over me." Sun looked to the others for backup and a couple of them nodded.
"Isn't that normal?" He really should have read that book about Aura that Blake had given him. As it stood he knew almost nothing other than a couple off-hand comments by her while she tried to figure out his Semblance.
"Most peculiar." Shirou rubbed his chin and smirked as he studied Jaune up and down once again. That was just great, he had already been on this guy's radar but now he had solidified himself as someone to keep an eye on. "Do you mind if I ask what your Semblance is?"
"My Semblance?" He didn't have the faintest clue what it was. That wasn't necessarily such a big deal. Blake had assured him that sometimes it took years for people to discover it, if they ever did. She had also said it usually reflected the type of person you were when your Aura was unlocked. The only thing he had wanted then and now was to help people. It would make sense if his Aura reflected that. At least he thought so.
Shirou seemed to sense Jaune's discomfort because he immediately amended his last question. "Well, it doesn't matter. This mission should tell us more. Actions speak louder than words, after all." And now he was expecting him to go out there and show him what he was made of. This kept getting better and better.
"Speaking of which, we're almost there." Shirou checked his scroll which was attached to his wrist like a watch. "I suggest you all mentally prepare yourselves. The Grimm out here are numerous and a lot of them grow to be incredibly large." Jaune gulped at his words. "Having said that, we believe this nest to be fresh so there should only be a couple full-grown Deathstalkers."
"Just a couple." Jaune repeated dryly. That sounded like a couple more than he wanted to face. Odds were in his favor that one of the others would take care of them for him. He should probably try to stick as close to Pyrrha as possible and just pick off some of the easier ones. It wasn't the most noble way to fight but it had kept him alive so far. At the very least it felt good to know he had others so it wasn't like he was going to be alone. Thinking that he also turned to Penny. "You ready for this?"
Penny gave him another one of her serious salutes. "I am combat ready!" He would take that as a yes.
The hatch began to open just after she said that. "That's good, because we're here." Shirou gestured out into the air. "Students first." Looks like they were jumping again. What was it with Hunters having to jump out of everything? He got that it was dangerous for the ship to touch down and all but he was seriously getting sick of this.
"Let's do this." Sun didn't even hesitate to sprint full force out the back and jump. With numerous shouts of encouragement the others all followed quickly after him.
Jaune took several deep breaths as everyone ran around him made their way off the ship and into combat. He could do this. He had to do this. Pyrrha spared him a quick backwards glance before she also jumped. The only ones that had yet to move were himself, Penny, and Shirou.
He needed to hurry. If he fell too far behind Pyrrha he wasn't going to be able to stick closely to her. With every ounce of willpower he had, he took his first step forward. Before he could take his next, Penny's arm lock around his neck. "It is time for our grand entrance, Jaune!" She broke into a run and nearly yanked him off his feet to drag him along.
"Wait! Penny! Not like this!" It was too late and she jumped off the ship, throwing them both into free fall. Instinctively he wrapped an arm around her waist as they tumbled, not able to do much else.
The others below him were already fighting, having likely come across Grimm the moment they hit the ground. Speaking of the ground, hearing about where they were heading and actually seeing it were two very different things. They were falling right towards a massive chasm that appeared to split the earth in two for leagues.
On one end, the way they had come from, was an open field of nothing but rocks and dirt. Abandoned or dried up farmland, it looked like. On the other was a lush forest thicker than any he had ever seen, as if the Canyon itself was some kind of divide between the two.
How deep it went was impossible to tell due to the massive network of twisting vines that filled it. Each individual vine was so large it easily held four students fighting side-by-side and had giant thorns protruding all over their surface and if he was looking at it right, they were heading right for one those thorns.
"Penny! Please tell me you have a landing strategy!" They were mere seconds from a very painful death and Penny had yet to do anything to adjust their trajectory or slow their descent.
"Have no fear, Jaune! I have a plan!" He really hoped that plan involved dodging that thorn they were about to crash into. A small hissing noise reached his ears and he could've sworn he saw ten swords fly out of her backpack in the corner of his eye. He disregarded it as ridiculous until those swords flew across his vision and buried themselves in the wall of the canyon. Penny flexed her fingers and like they were attached to a string the swords reeled them in and changed their descent from downwards to sideways.
They flew for several yards until skidding to a stop on a vine that ran a little higher than the rest. Completely unharmed. "That was actually a really good plan."
Jaune patted himself down with his free hand and was relieved to feel he was all there. His other arm was still wrapped around Penny's waist and her own arm still had him in a headlock. The swords detached themselves from the wall and came flying back to her. They stopped behind her back and formed a circle where they hovered in place.
She finally removed her arm and he did the same as they both took in the surroundings. They stood on one of the higher vines and directly beneath them he could hear the other students' shouts of exertion as they clashed against their enemies. He ran to the edge and looked down to see numerous of the green stalks criss-crossing beneath him. A short distance away, he saw Pyrrha and Sun fighting side-by-side as they each took on at least four Deathstalkers.
At least these Deathstalkers weren't nearly as big as the one he and Blake had encountered in the cave. A majority of them were only up to his waist tall and they appeared to be much less durable than the bigger ones as evidence when Pyrrha's sword pierced one in the head and killed it.
"There's a free group for us down there Jaune!" From the darkness below came a small armada of the creepy little bastards, the bulbs of their stingers illuminating them. They were pretty far removed from the others and were scaling their way up the vines with terrifying precision.
"Oh boy. Maybe we should meet up with the others? That looks like a lot for us to take on by ourselves." He took a couple steps back and hoped Penny had the sense to listen to him.
"Just leave this to me!" Or she would completely ignore him and charge forward by herself. That worked too. She jumped down and flew towards the Grimm. He glanced back at everyone else. No one was isolated and they all had a partner by their side. He would be absolute scum to leave Penny on her own. Dammit.
"Here goes nothing." He unhooked Crocea Mors and let out a long sigh. Then he chased after his weirdest friend. Scurrying down the vines wasn't as difficult as he thought, with the thorns acting as footholds for him to quickly and easily plan his route. It still wasn't fast enough to help the girl he was chasing.
Penny did wield ten swords at once though, which had to make her pretty capable, right?
The answer to that question was beyond a shadow of a doubt: Yes. Her swords flew from her back and homed in on the Deathstalkers like missiles. They slashed, pierced, and cut through them like butter before she had even landed on the ground. How was she doing that? Maybe she could teach him to do that with his sword?
As she was preoccupied with the Grimm in front of her though a dozen of them scurried from around the underside of the vines behind her. "Penny!" He shouted in warning as he finally jumped to the vine she was fighting on.
He landed on the back of one of the Deathstalkers and thrust his sword directly into its head. With a sickening crunch he pierced its flesh. It collapsed beneath him not even a second later. A couple of the others turned to him and their beady, red eyes glared angrily at him. The rest continued after Penny.
"Don't ignore me!" He jumped off of the one he was standing on and rushed past the couple that were coming for him. One of the lunged at him with its stinger. Dodging around the side of one of the giant thorns, the stinger struck that in his place.
He ran up on the unsuspecting Grimm and slashed wildly. A wet slop followed by a thunk saw one of the stingers severed right off. The owner of that stinger gave a terrifying screech. It only just started to thrash when he stabbed it again. This time killing it.
So far so good. Two down, only a hundred to go. A flash of orange out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He brought his shield. Just in time to block the stinger strike of one of the couple he had run past. It hissed at him. His response was a thrust of the sword that killed it.
Two more ran up on either side and lunged. He jumped and rolled out of the way but failed to recover properly. His head smashed into one of the thorns. "That hurt." It was a struggle to get back to his knees. As he did another stinger descended on his head. He brought his shield up and barely blocked the strike. Thanks to his awkward stance he was knocked over and onto this back.
Three of them stood over him now. He crawled backwards in an awkward sprawl. A poor attempt to put distance between himself and them. He didn't get far before he ran smack into the same thorn that had interrupted his roll.
Well, this had gone south very quickly. Not that he was really surprised by the sudden turn of events. He didn't exactly have much talent of his own. That was why someone from his team needed to be here to follow-through.
Their stingers poised to strike and his body tensed. All three of them paused. He hoisted himself into a crouch, using the thorn to his back as support. Holding his sword, he flipped it so he held it in the reverse of his usual style.
Penny was still engaging her own set of opponents. He had to do this if he wanted to survive. Blake would be ashamed if he went down like this. He just really hoped it worked.
Their stingers jabbed simultaneously. Jaune swung his sword arm around to intercept. Adrenaline caused time to appear to stop for just a brief second. In that moment of clarity, he knew which stringer was going to hit first. And he knew just where he needed to swing to save his life.
With a loud roar, his sword sliced right where the tail met the stinger of the Deathstalker to his right. It continued through without slowing down and continued until it did the same thing to the two Deathstalker's after.
Their stingers hit the ground and their tails whipped like broken cords. The Grimm continued to hiss at him and struck with their pincers instead. They certainly didn't know when to give up. He kicked off the ground and brought his shield forward. It bashed the left one in the face.
He then loosed his grip on his sword, spinning it around so he could hold it properly. His grip restored, he swung downwards, cutting the middle one open. Then with a rapid backpedal, he got away from the pincers of the last one.
Finally he was able to put some distance between himself and them, not that they posed much threat without their main form of attack. They could certainly still kill him. He just liked his chances of survival much better now.
At least, he did until four more scuttled up behind them. "Oh come on!" One on one was one thing. He could probably handle that all day, but this was ridiculous.
Should he make a run for it? That would probably look pretty pathetic. Which might be fine as long as it kept him alive. Six Deathstalkers, even little ones, were probably a little too much for him. He once again glanced over to Penny, but she was gone. Before he could think much of it though she landed directly in front of him. "Whoa!"
"I told you to leave this to me, Jaune." Despite her words, she didn't sound at all upset. Her swords flew through the air and made short work of the six Deathstalkers Jaune had just been worrying about.
Did she have to abandon the ones she was killing just to save him? That was what he thought must have happened until he glanced around him. He had to double-take as he took in the sight of all the dead Grimm. She had easily killed more than thirty of them on her own! He had killed a whopping four before being forced to retreat. He really could have left it to her.
"I think we have eliminated all of the Deathstalkers in our area. We should move on to assist the others." Penny spun around and the swords returned to her back. They had descended a little farther than the others now and he couldn't see any of them but it sounded like they were doing well. This wasn't turning out to be much of a mission. Not that he was complaining.
"You think you can-" Jaune started to say but cut himself short as a loud crash echoed across the canyon. Following just behind it were several screams of what he thought to be terror. If something could freak these guys out, it was bad news. "Penny! Get us up there!" Jaune ran up to her and wrapped his arm around her waist like before.
"Right!" Penny's sword flew into the air and latched onto a vine just above them. For a brief second, he thought he caught a glimpse of wires thanks to the moonlight. That certainly explained how she was controlling them. It must have been reeling them in too because in only a moment Penny was hoisted into the air, taking Jaune with her.
What he saw when they gained a high enough vantage point was anything but pleasant. Two giant Deathstalker's had arisen from the depths beneath them and had begun their assault. The remaining six students had been broken into teams of three to try and combat them. Pyrrha, Sun, and Brawnz were one team. Nebula, Arslan, and Flynt formed the other.
Brawnz was down. Sun scrambled to drag him backwards and away from the gigantic Grimm, leaving Pyrrha to fight it herself. In the other party, Nebula didn't seem to be fairing much better than her fellow student from Shade but was at least up and fighting, with a noticeable limp. Four versions of Flynt were blasting at the giant Grimm to no effect and Arslan was taking a stance to charge.
"We gotta help them." Jaune's mind kicked into overdrive as he attempted to devise a plan. The one Deathstalker was fairly close to them. If he just jumped a little to the right he would land on a vine that would take him right to it. It was a steep slope down. He'd have trouble maintaining his balance and fighting it at the same time.
If there was a way for him to get beneath it like when he and Blake... wait a second, he had it! "Penny! I'll take care of the one closest to us. Can you help take care of the other one?"
"I certainly can, Captain!" Penny saluted and began swinging from side to side. Once she had enough momentum, Jaune let go and flew towards the vine the others were fighting on. He landed on it more roughly than intended and his feet buckled beneath him. "You okay?"
"I'm fine! Go help the others!" Jaune waved it off and Penny saluted once more before swinging herself off to do as ordered.
He looked down the slope and was relieved to see the Deathstalker had its back turned to him. Pyrrha was still trying to bat it off, but it was a fruitless endeavor, her Dust rounds and weapon unable to penetrate its exterior shell. A collapsed vine had meanwhile cornered the barely conscious Brawnz and Sun who had been attempting to drag him away, leaving them no room to escape.
"Okay, I can do this. I've done this before." Jaune took a couple deep breaths as he slipped his shield off and dropped it on the ground in front of him. Just like when he escaped from the Chimera... only this time he would be charging right towards the giant creature of Grimm instead. It swung its pincer and nearly clipped Pyrrha. Sun roared and fired his weapon, leaving the still stunned Brawnz leaning against the vine.
He couldn't hesitate any longer. With a slight kick and jump he sent his shield sliding down and landed on it. It accelerated immediately and with far more velocity than he had anticipated. Channeling Aura into his feet, he prepared for the swift impact that was going to follow if he pulled this off. If he didn't... well then he would die regardless if he survived this part or not.
"Get out of the way!" He shouted as loud as he could, just short of coming up on the Deathstalker.
"Jaune?" That sounded like Pyrrha, maybe. He was too scared to really try and separate people apart by their voices right now.
"What the Hell are you doing?" Sun quickly hefted Brawnz to his feet and helped him dodge the Deathstalker's stinger.
"Please work. Please work. Please work." Jaune chanted like a mantra and closed his eyes just as he slid under the Deathstalker. Once completely enveloped by its shadow he thrust upwards. The satisfying sound of his sword tearing into flesh reached his ears and the Deathstalker screamed horrendously. Crocea Mors gouged a giant hole into its underside. Blood splattered behind him as the creature's wound gushed heaps of it. In only a second he appeared at the other end and slammed into the collapsed vine.
His legs seized in pain and his whole vision shot white. Thankfully his Aura protected him from any real damage. The Grimm behind him, meanwhile, had already quit yelling. It teetered and collapsed, sliding off the vine. There were then several loud crashes as it bounced further and further into the darkness below.
The other three students stood completely still, probably in shock, as they tried to process what had just happened. "Did you just…" Sun's mouth started working first. "...kill it?"
"Uhh... I think so?" Jaune just lay where he was, partially because he was still too relieved it had worked and partially because his legs still hurt like a bitch.
"Incredible!" Pyrrha whispered breathlessly. "How did you even think to do that?"
"I've done something similar before. Although, last time it nearly took me down with it." Feeling was finally beginning to return to his legs. Thank you, Aura!
He finally managed to get to his knees when Brawnz mumbled in stunned disbelief. "You… just saved our lives."
"Well, I wouldn't go that far." Jaune stopped rising and mumbled while scratching his cheek.
"No you definitely did! We would have died if it wasn't for you!" Sun chimed in and Pyrrha voiced her agreement as well which only served to fluster Jaune further. He hadn't done anything that great. It was just dumb luck that it had worked out after all.
"Come on! Time to get up, Hero." Sun teased and grabbed Jaune gruffly under one of his shoulders.
"You should be more proud of yourself. You did a great thing." Pyrrha beamed at him and assisted Sun in lifting him to his feet.
"No, no. It really wasn't." Jaune continued to try to deny their praises anyways. It wasn't right of him to accept it. He wasn't that great of a student at all. They were all much more talented than him so being praised by them just felt wrong.
A flash of green behind caught all their attention and they turned to see Penny firing a massive Dust beam at her Deathstalker, ripping it into pieces. Now that was how you got things done. Seriously, how did she do that?
"I think you've got some competition." Sun patted Jaune sympathetically on the shoulder. He disagreed, of course, he didn't stand a chance against a girl that could do something like that.
"We should spread out, but not too far." Pyrrha hopped up the vine that was blocking their path. "There might still be some Grimm around. We need to be careful."
"Right!" The other two quickly spread out, Brawnz having apparently recovered enough to return to combat. Jaune hurried to keep up with Pyrrha.
"Did you see where the Headmaster went off to?" He hefted himself up. There hadn't been any sign of him since they jumped. Even if they were expected to be elite students, they hadn't really had any kind of classes out here yet. It seemed like he would be invested in making sure they all remained alive for now.
Pyrrha shook her head. "I haven't seen him." She continued to scan for anyone that was in need of assistance.
"I think everyone is more or less wrapping things up." Arslan landed nimbly next to them. "Watching those two big ones get taken out like they were nothing was a pretty handy morale booster. I thought someone was actually going to die for a minute there."
"There have yet to be any casualties!" Penny yelled from a vine above them. She jumped down and was quickly followed by Nebula and Flynt. Jaune nodded and did a quick head count. It looked like almost everyone was accounted for. He glanced at where Pyrrha was looking to see Brawnz kill off what looked like the last couple Deathstalkers, beating on them like he was trying to get revenge for earlier.
Was that... it?
He had expected this whole thing to be much more dire than what it was. Maybe that was just him being overly pessimistic. Even so, he couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't over. It was apparent he was alone in these thoughts as the others clamored happily amongst one another and talked about how many they had killed. He stared awkwardly at them, not really sure how to join in.
Sun appeared to take notice of this and patted Jaune roughly on the back. "How about some cheers for Jaune and Penny?" He shouted loud enough to get everyone's attention. "Without the two of them one of us might have actually bit the dust to those big bastards! They each killed one of them single-handedly!"
Before Jaune had a chance to protest he was overwhelmed by yells of agreement to Sun's words. Several of them stepped forward and patted him as they gave their thanks. He shrunk back under their attention and gratitude. Penny appeared unfazed as she received similar praise.
"Jaune? You alright?" Pyrrha stepped close to him and whispered into his ear. She was the only one that seemed to realize they were making him uncomfortable.
He nodded and gave her the most confident smile he could which he had no doubt wasn't the least bit so. "I've always wanted to get this kind of praise. Now that I'm actually getting it... I'm just not sure what to do." He mumbled back as quietly as he could.
"That's easy!" Not quietly enough as Sun overheard him. "When we get back to Lambent we're gonna get you a date! Use your achievements to your advantage!" That actually didn't sound too bad. He wouldn't mind a date after all this shit.
A loud ringing pitch interrupted their celebration and everyone's hands flew to their ears and their eyes squinted shut. Then the noise disappeared. "The Hell was that?" Flynt shouted.
"It sounded like microphone feedback." Pyrrha held her hands close to her ears in case it happened again.
As they all tried to figure out what possibly could have caused it, their scrolls started ringing. Everyone shared a confused look as they pulled them out. Jaune immediately recognized the number since it had just called him earlier.
It was Shirou Schnee.
He answered while everyone else was still trying to figure out who it was. All of their scroll's click open in response. "Hello everyone! Sorry about that noise just a second ago! I set the whistle to the wrong frequency."
Whistle? Frequency? What was he talking about?
"I am also sorry to tell you all that I lied to you. Coming out here to clear the nest wasn't your true mission. Your actual training is unfortunately going to be a little more tricky than just that. You see, my scroll is now releasing a signal human's aren't capable of detecting. Grimm on the other-hand, well they can hear it for leagues and let me tell you does it drive them crazy! Odds are they'll be swarming this location in a matter of minutes."
"What!?"
"Are you crazy?!"
"Now, now, don't be like that. I'm not so cruel as to leave you guys stranded. Just before this, I called your teammates and gave them this location. They should be running out here to save you now. Maybe. That or they'll stay where it's safe and leave you all to die." Blake, Ruby and Weiss wouldn't do that! ...Would they? Well, Weiss might.
"Which leaves you all three options." Shirou talked as if he didn't care about his concerns. "You can hold out in this canyon until dawn. If your teammates are stupid enough to come running, that will be your best option. Sure, a few of you will inevitably succumb to death before this is all over but I have good faith that at least half of you will survive. We can reconfigure teams after."
At least half? This guy planned on letting half of them die!? Jaune's breath quickened and became short as fear gripped him.
"You're of course welcome to flee. The signal is coming from my scroll, after all, so I'm the one they're running too. This signal tends to rile Grimm up and they'll probably attack the first thing they see. So be stealthy about it if you choose to do that. I'm not too sure how much your teammates are going to appreciate you abandoning this location though, seeing as they might be running towards this deathtrap specifically to save you. As a precaution, I deactivated your teammate's scrolls so you won't be able to get a hold of them. Ultimately, the choice is yours."
Everyone glanced at one another, his words dangling over their heads. It went without saying they couldn't run. They also couldn't stand here when it was likely half of them were going to die. There had to be something else.
"...One last thing you could do." Shirou's voice cut back in after a half-minute's pause. "I'm currently hidden in the canyon beneath you all. If you could find me and are capable of destroying my scroll, you could end this whole thing before it even has a chance to begin."
That didn't sound so bad. Maybe that was their best option? He couldn't possibly take on the eight of them.
"This is the option I recommend least. I am capable of cutting down most of these Grimm out here with a single stroke and I won't hesitate to use those skills against you if you come after me. I have no need for weak students that are going to attempt the easy way out." Jaune gulped. Well, there went that idea. He wasn't going to be the one going after him, that was for sure.
"Well then, that is all. Good luck." With a click, all their scrolls hung up at once and they could only stare in shock at one another.
If his words were to be believed, half of the students were going to die. All eight of them if their teams didn't get here in time or never came at all.
No one dared moved or say a word. They didn't know what to say.
Finally, a noise permeated through the silence but it wasn't a comforting one.
It was the angry cries of hundreds of Grimm as they zeroed in on their location.
Chapter End
AN: One benefit of redoing this story is I have way more Canon character to use now so I got to put names, faces, and abilities to all the leaders Jaune is fighting alongside with. I didn't do much with them aside from Penny, but just having them there made it feel far less ambiguous than it did the first rendition through, so I'll say it's a major improvement.
Next time, Blake and the others set out and Shirou's past is revealed.