The sounds of crashing waves and winds running through a tropical forest all seemed to focus one one blonde warrior.
"AhHK!", He choked himself back to awareness, spitting up sand, he couldn't even find the strength to lift himself up.
Jaune eventually managed, rubbing his face all over and trying to get rid of the layer of sand that has been built up on his body. He standed up, finally clean of sand to open his eyes and found the light attacking them. Covering his eyes as he fought the urge to wobble back down on the hot sand. Slowly, his eyes adjusted to the light being reflected on the blacked-white sand, facing the sea as he did the best to enjoy it's breeze, trying to collect himself enough to start to figure out where he was.
"Where am I?" He managed to mumble out, his mouth feeling dry as he turned around. "How do I get here?"
What was behind him was trees, tropical treesas he forced his way towards them, letting his body sit under the shade one of them provided, letting out a sigh of relaxation from the cool ground. Pain started to rach all over his skull like a cannon firing inside of it.
He was crying and holding a sword covered with blood with a still body in front of him. His face reflected off the bloodied blade. The corpse was someone he knew, orange hair and green skirt.
PENNY
She was a machine, the most human machine he's seen. She wished to be a real girl, and when she finally was given her dream she asked to die.
He tried to distract himself, wanting the sea to take his mind off the overwhelming PAIN coursing through him.
There was his sword, broken and staining the surrounding sand a decayed RED.
Broken by the woman that killed his partner.
CINDER
Cinder was attacked by a white-haired woman, wielding the same powers as her, at the same time, a younger white-haired woman, the hilt of her steel blade shining with prismatic power on her hips, fell into the black below.
WEISS
He starts to run, his body being devoured by PANIC, the ground shattered underneath him, and he too was swallowed by the black that consumed the former heriess.
"Penny! Weiss!", He stands up, almost falling back on the sand if he wasn't next to a tree.
A cocktail of negative emotions seemed to rush through him as his body become cold in a sudden, awful realization. He had taken someone life, and it wasn't someone he hated or a stranger, it was someone he knew, a FRIEND.
"Oh Oum, I killed Penny." The thought itself make him want to vomit. He glanced at the broken Croceo Mors, finding himself throwing it unconsciously to the shoreline, the foamy water swallowing and spitting it out while he stood at the blood-soaked sand. He stared at the broken blade glumly. That sword was used by his ancestors to protect and save so many and spark hope in them, and now it's just broken, sharpened metal that was used to kill his friend.
He gripped his hands hard, aura triggering to prevent blood from covering them and left only pain. His mind kept repeating that Penny asked him to do it, IT WASN'T HIS FAULT! but he was still the one who rammed a sword through her chest, to see the life drain from her lime-green eyes…
A another flash of memory surged through his already-pained mind. A silver-eyes girl who was smiling happily at him after they met, she had a red hood and black hair with red tips. A girl that make him believe in himself and always lend a hand to everyone.
RUBY
How should he tell Ruby the news. She had to deal with Pyrrha being turned into ash in front of her eyes and Penny's arm being chopped off her to reveal the machine innards before her "shut down", and she was SO happy she found out that Penny was still alive, but now with her death, PEREMENANT death would possibly break her.
He was forced to imagine Ruby's crying and hurt face in his mind, slowly breaking down and tears in her innocent silver eyes. His breathes were heavy, body shaking like a leaf. He lost what remaining strength stayed in his legs as he falls on his hands and knees.
And it's my fault.
He gritted his teeth as he raised his right fist, shining with white aura, and slam it down to the ground, sand erupt from the sheer force alone.
"DAMMIT!!!" He shouted out as he kept slamming the ground with his hands, creating a crater, every hit filled with aura and anger, anger to himself. He stopped his assault and breathed heavily, sand slowly fall down like rain while a single tear landed on his hand.
"Dammit… it's like the FUCKING fall of Beacon all over again…" He sobs to himself as more and more tears fall to the sand.
"I'm still just a weak and useless lovable idiot, stuck in the tree while his friends fight for their lives… I can't do anything beside let the people I care die… Dad was right. I can't be a huntsman and I can't even be a hero that's there for his friends. I got into Beacon with false transcripst… all of my friends were the one who take care everything while I just hiding away like a coward... I'm just a fraud." His eyes continued to spew tears as he curled up on top of the hot sand. His mind become hazy from all the self-hatred and grief, coldness run through him as dark mist suddenly appeared around him, trying enter his very soul and consumed him whole.
Why does he keep going? The cold starts to envelop his legs.
Why does he keep making mistakes? He could no longer feel his limbs.
Why was he so weak? His heart started to feel frozen from the inside.
Why does he keep losing his friends? It felt like ice was being pressed into the back of his neck
He wasn't a hero. A hero was someone that save people, not kill them. But he had taken someone's life… someone who was innocent and kind… a hero wouldn't kill her. A hero would defy the odds, find another way even with so little time. But he couldn't… He wouldn't… He was just a...
I'm a monster.
Jaune though to himself, the spiritual frost threatening to enter his throat, his eyes the last to be enveloped.
He closed his eyes, tired of everything.
Images of His team, team RWBY, friends, family, and grandpa arise in his mind, each of them give a smile. Penny appeared before him with a small but hopeful smile, her chest was already pierced by his sword and looking drained of her orange and green.
Promise me… That Y̴̧͔͖̪̾̊͗́͒̄ȍ̷̠̰̼̳͓͗ǘ̸͕̃͛̓ͅ-
In spite of the memory of Penny's dying wish still a blur, he know that it was important to him. His hand clenched, shivering past the emotions that made him feel so COLD as a renewed vigour sparked inside him
"Not yet..." He growled to himself.
He may not be a hero or someone that can protect other people. However, his friends were still alive and he need to be there for them. He will help them until he died where he stand, even if they despise his very being, he won't give up. He promise, and that was an Arc promise and an Arc never goes back their word.
Slowly he pushes himself up and clean the damp sand on his clothes. His dull eyes see Croceo Mors and a sudden image of Penny lifeless body appeared in his mind, he shake his head to keep it out from his head. For now he will bury all of his emotions because he needed to help his friends. He will deal them after they get out of this place.
He grabbed the broken Croceo Mors and put back it on his waist and slowly walked to the forest to find Weiss. He fell down around the same time as her so maybe she was somewhere nearby.
He tries to search for his friends, remembering he didn't see the rest of team RWBY when he fight Cinder. So maybe they fall down too, he's of course still afraid to tell everyone especially Ruby about Penny, but they need to know, because they deserve the truth. As he walk through the unknown that it's the forest, he found something interesting and weird.
Like a giant white fox with 9 tails and have the ability to create fire, a giant plant that has sharp teeth and can move really fast, a giant wolf-scorpion hybrid, a giant snake, and more fantastical creatures and vegetation.
He of course avoid all of them, sneaking behind any foilage, away from their vision. He didn't really know if they are friendly or not and all of them look like they could kill him with a second.
Not only the creatures and monsters were different from Remmant, the plants and fruits obviously odd. A fruit that was on fire hanging from a red and orange tree that also on fire, however the fire weirdly didn't spread to other places, a small blue and red small sphere that look like a gemstones on bushes, and other weird fruits with weirder textures. Like someone slapped random textures on geometric shapes and placed them on equally oddly-coloured trees.
He finally reached to a open area that near a edge of a mountain in hopes of surveying the entire island he landed on, in awe what he see. A big ass tree he had ever seen in the middle of the island, something straight out of legends in size. A mycellium forest of giant mushrooms, volcanos, giant glimmering crystals, and...
"Is that a candy land?" He asked to himself.
He sees a giant chocolate cake topped with white cream and cherries that look delicious! He had read some story book about candy land when he was a child, at first he tried to search for weeks before his family telling the sad truth, making him depressed for another week at the wasted effort. But now he see a real candy land in front of his eyes. If this was any other situation, he would be happy because he finally found his old childhood dream and he would called his family that the candy land was real like a child.
However, he can't think like a child with how dangerous and how mysterious this place was. He also noticed the sky wasn't only a yellow, there were a different colors like purple, orange, blue, green, and red. Like a rainbow.
"What is this place?" He murmured.
*GRUMBLE*
Looking down, he sighed and starts looking for something edible. He did find some berries and fruit in his journey but wasn't sure if it's poisonous or not, and he was alone so if it was poisonous there were no one can save him. Also he didn't want to get burned by that fire fruit. And even he goes to the candyland, he pretty sure it wasn't healthy to just eat sweet in a survival situation. In the end, he tries to find something recognizable.
After searching for anything that looks like food, he found nothing that's look safe to eat, but he did found a small clearing with one tree already cut down. This could be his safe place for a few days.
He immediately grab the leaf and some tree branches from the ground to create a campfire that he learned when he was younger. He maybe starving but he can survive a day or two without food. Even though it will make it harder for him to find food next day.
He sit down against the tree and thinks of a plan for tomorrow. For now this will be his place to rest and train, he need to head back to the beach find a clue or footprint of his friends or anything that can hopefully help in his search for them. Food and water were the current priority however so that will be his plan in the next day.
He wonder what his friends doing right now. For Weiss and Blake, they will probably searching for a safe place and food to eat, after that they will search for their friend. For Yang and Ruby, they are likely to search for their friend immediately. He hope the two sisters focus on themseves first before they try looking around.
Ren, Nora, Oscar, Qrow, and Winter were probably all worried about all of them. He sighed, hoping they were okay and reached Vacuo without any issue besides sand in their shoes.
As night take over, the sound of wind rustling and some animals howl can be hear in the distance. The icy night would probably make everyone shiver or make it difficult to get sleep, but he has aura and fire to protect him from cold temperature. His eyes slowly get heavier and fatigue settle in, closing his eyes as the darkness fill his vision.
When he opened his eyes, he was not at the last place he sleep but standing in the middle of darkness. Everywhere he glanced at was just more darkness.
"What is this?" He asked but nobody answered, the voice that leaves him echoing around him like some type of recorder.
"Jaune?" A familiar high pitched female voice called him from behind.
He look behind him to see shocked Ruby Rose. Her eyes are wide open as she covering her mouth with her hands, he can see fear and betrayal in her eyes.
"How could you Jaune?" Her voice wass full of heartbroken sorrow and fear as she step away from him like he was a monster.
He was confused at first, not knowing what's going on or why she was so scared, he then feel something manifested in his hand like he's clutching a sword. Looking down to his hand, his blood froze as the oxygen in his body leave him suddenly as if everything just shut down.
Croceo Mors, his family's sword, covered with blood was in his hand and beside him was Penny's lifeless body, a large gash visible around her chest to show that he was the one who kill her.
The sound of a metal hitting the ground filled the surrounding as he let go of the sword in fear. His body trembled uncontrollably as he stared wide eyed at his bloody hand, breathing was becoming erratic.
"Why? Penny is our friend, so why did you kill her?" She asked as tears ran down on her cheeks.
Seeing her crying and heartbroken make his heart ache, it was even worse when he was the one who make her cry.
"Wait Ruby! Let me explain!" He said, hoping she will listen to him.
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!!!" She shouted.
He flinched like she just punched his gut, the seer anguish in her voice just causing his heart break even more, but he keep moving forward with his hand stretch out to her.
"Please just let me explain." He tries to reach for her shoulder, stopping her from moving away from him.
But suddenly team (R)WBY and team (J)N(P)R appear out of nowhere and block him. Every one them show different expressions towards him but they have one common emotion in their eyes, absolutely hatred.
"Stay the hell away from my sister you monster!" Yang yelled as her eyes were bloodshot red, fire smoldering out of her hair.
"No… I didn't mean to… just listen to me!" He desperately asked.
"You say you want to be a hero, but you're just a murderer." Weiss said coldly.
"I-i… I really do want to become a hero… like my ancestors." He weakly said to them as he feel his legs become weak.
"You let everyone die so you can survive in the end, You disgust me!" Blake spat in disgust.
"No… I didn't want for them to die for me… I want them to live." He fell to his knees as he could feel the corners of his eyes begin to tears up.
"Why do you always keep taking our friends away from us?!" Nora cried out.
"You aren't my brother, you are just a monster that always take our friend away." Ren look coldly at him.
"Please… I'm sorry… I didn't want to take your friends away…" He begged as tears now running freely and silently down his face.
Suddenly, faceless beings appear out of nowhere, surrounding him.
"You are a murderer."
"Why didn't you save her."
"It's useless."
"You are weak."
"Everyone hate you."
"Monster."
"Die."
"You just a mistake."
"Just give up."
Every words struck to his core, breaking his defences and struck him in his soul.
Breathing was getting harder and harsher for him as his vision get blurry from the tears that forming in his eyes. His head was in pain like it was splitting apart. He feel his body get crushed by something heavy while the faceless people including his friends keep talking about his failures.
"Please… stop..." He begged but the voice didn't listen.
He put his hand against his ears, hopping the voice doesn't get in to his ears, but he still can hears the voice, tormenting him, like it was in his head. He just want the voice to stop.
"Why Jaune?" A familiar girl voice can be heard.
His heart drop once again as he looked up to see his surrounding had shifted into the tower of Beacon at night and in front of him was Pyrrha Nikos, whose eyes were almost lifeless that stared into his soul and standing there like a statue.
"Pyrrha?" He said in confusion. She was dead before so how was she here.
"Why did you let me die?" She said with those lifeless eyes, staring straight through him which cause a shiver run down his spine.
"What?" That was the only word that come out of his mouth.
Before his mind can process, his eyes caught a figure of Cinder, smiling insanely, behind her as she pulled back her bow, ready to shoot an arrow at Pyrrha.
"No!!!" He cried out.
He tries to stand up and reach out for her but suddenly a chain come out from the ground and hold him down. He fell down onto his face as he keep watching Cinder continuing pull her bow back.
"No no no! let me go!" He struggled with all of his might, pushing his aura to the limit, but it doesn't do anything, he looked back at them as he watched everything in slow motion.
Cinder release the arrow, flying toward Pyrrha and pierced her chest. And slowly, turning into ash right before his eyes while saying.
"It's your fault."
He suddenly lunged forward from his sleep, breathing heavily, he was back where he just fall asleep. His whole body was shaking and covered with cold sweat, he can hear his heart thumbing in his ears as he notices tears has been streaming down his face. He put his hands against the side of his head.
"It's juts a dream, it's just a dream, it's just a dream." He keep repeating like a mantra.
Slowly his breathing get more stable and his body stop trembling. He had a nightmares the first time when the fall of Beacon happen. At first the nightmares was the same. He stuck there and can't do anything to save Pyrrha, watching her die over, over, over again, with her asking him why he didn't save her. The images haunt him every night, making hard to take a rest. So he use most of his sleep time to train, so he won't experience that nightmare again. However, his nightmares did stop after he had a talk to his team in argus.
But now, the nightmares come back and it's even worse than before. To see everyone despise him to the point they called him a monster, even his friends, broke his heart to pieces. What if they doesn't want anything with him or they will try to kill him where he stands or…
Suddenly, the sound of a bush rustling from behind alerted him. Jaune shot to his feet and turning around, facing the danger with a scowl on his face.
A Rabbit with a horn come out from the bushes and lunged toward him with high speed. Its attack hit his stomach but didn't penetrate his aura at all, though its speed and size made up for the lack of its power.
He reach out for his sword. He was about to pull it out but a sudden image of Penny's dead body flashed in his head, his hand halted near the sword, trembling before slowly going back to his sides.
He swings his shield toward it, but the bunny just jump to the left, letting the shield strike the ground. It then leap to his side, hitting right at his rib. It may not causing any physical damage, but the pain was still there.
The rabbit was small and nimble so it's hard to hit it with his fist or shield. Every time he tries to hit it, the bunny just jumps away or he missed thank to his inexperience fighting a small and fast enemy, even more with how sluggish his body felt, as if they were trying to move through a mud water.
An idea comes to his mind. He stand still and wait for the Bunny to attack him, eyes focused on it like a hawk. It didn't realize or notice what he was doing as the small beast charges at him with speed that can cause a lot of people trouble and strikes his right shoulder with its horn, he endured the pain and immediately grabs by its pointy tips to stop it from escaping. He then kills it with his shield with almost no remorse.
With a final dying screech, it slumped lifeless in his hand.
He takes deep breaths, calming his nerve and let the adrenaline leave his body. How unlucky he was, get caught in the middle of a battle after he just wake up. When his mind become back to normal. He realized something that make his heart drop and a pit form in his stomach.
He look back at the dead bunny.
It's not because he kill something, but the empty feeling he was feeling right now. He doesn't feel anything after he take someone life even after he calm down. To be fair, it was a animal that he killed, animal that usually made chicken nugget dinosaur that he like to eat. But, he still take a life.
And he doesn't feel anything, sadness, fear, or guilt. All he was feeling was emptiness. It's just like there was a void in his heart, eating away his emotions and leaving hollowness in his heart. He was scared by this fact, wasn't he supposed to fell anything when he killed a living being? What if he become used to take someone life and don't feel anything when he do it?Will he end up become like Cinder? Take joy of taking someone life? Many questions swirling inside of him like an typhoon.
Promise me…
He suddenly slap both of his cheeks, concentrating his mind and let the question burn away into a crisp.
"Not yet…" He need to survive and find his friends so there's no time for those questions. He won't become the likes of Cinder, he will protect them, even at the cost of his life.
grabbing the beasts, he sit down on the tree and skinned the Bunny fur away with the edge of his shield after he said sorry in his heart in spite of the emptiness in his heart.
He looked at the burn out campfire he had just created at the night.
He begin to gather a few of the leafs and twigs to relight the campfire again, to cook the bunny. Breaking one of the tree branches and skewering the bunny with it, he placed it near the fire and wait 10 minutes until it cook nicely.
He grabbed the cooked bunny and look at it. At first, he was hesitates to eat it despite the delicious smell enter his nose. What if it's poisonous to eat and he died because of it and that would be an embarrassing dead. But the hunger overcome him and he put it in his mouth. After a few seconds of chewing, he devoured the meat until it's gone.
"Hmm… taste like a chicken." He commented as he lick one of his finger.
He make a note in his mind to search formore of these bunnies if he wants to eat. He look at the yellow sky and the white sun. His mind begin to wander to the nightmare, he can feel his heartbeat rising as his mind created thousands of scenarios of everyone hate him, he was scared of course.
However, he make a promise to himself. To protect his friends no matter what, even his friends hate his being. His eyes become more duller as he pushes his emotions even further back.
He get up and walk back to the beach with one goal in his mind, to find his friends and protect them.
Author note: Hey, this is my first story ever and I will probably put all of it for some time being after I got a good amount of it to upload it into different posts. There will be some story idea from other writers that I probably want use, for instance:
"Father Jaune"
By: shadow gumball of death.
So if you see some idea from the story, I know and I want to used it. I just want to tell everyone before they are yelling at me that I stole their idea. I will try to put the reference I got from so you can go there and read their story.
Another thing, to tell an omeka story and main story apart. I will add "Omeka" in the title so you will know. There are likely chances that it is or isn't in the main story. It will happen because my brain already make the scene humor and it's just it will take a long, long time before I reach at that point of the story.
One final thing, you can give me some feedback and reviews of what you think about my story. Though, please gone easy on me because English isn't my first language and I am still horrible. So expect some bad grammar as I try to improve and fix my schedule.
See ya in probably in a 5 day or months, who know.