I (still) don't own Ruby. And to the regret of some, I don't write for it either.
This is my new project for awhile, a self-development project to improve myself as a writer. Unlike my usuau fare, this isn't actually already written out, nor will it be post-a-day. All chapters won't be as long as this one- but the goal is to practice writing on command, with regular updates of each Friday. If I can get that, maybe I'll make actual progress towards other bigger projects. Considering RL changes coming over the next several months, this is a far more feasible goal.
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Dead Man Walking (Or Something)
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"My Partner is a Zombie"
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Pyrrha Nikos knew she didn't have the greatest social exposure, but she was pretty sure even she'd seen this in a movie before.
Pretty maiden? Too humble to brag, but check. Alone in the woods? Check. Monsters in dark? Check. An ominous shuffle in the bushes, always behind her as she briskly walked and tried not to run in terror? Check.
It was still following. It was still following her? Why was it following her?
'Accidentally' letting another branch whiplash back, a pang of guilt made her sigh and look back in concern none the less. She needn't have bothered- unperturbed at breaking brush with his face, there was the vacant, braindead smile of her… of her…
Oum, she wasn't sure what to call him in her mind. Partner? Unwanted tagalong? Guilty secret? Victim?
Jaune gave a brain-dead smile- or was it a dead-brain smile?- and gave her a shaky thumbs up. All good.
Pyrrha forced a shaky smile, turned around, and started walking a little bit faster than before. Lone girl in the woods? Stalked by zombie? Oh yeah, she'd seen this before.
The first branch had been an accident, really. It was just- when he'd fallen down and not gotten up, there'd been a glimmer of hope that he'd stay that way… and considering how long it had taken him to get up, maybe if he 'accidentally' fell down again it'd last long enough for her to 'not notice' and make her escape.
"Well, what happened to your partner, Ms. Nikos?" They'd say.
"Oh, we were separated in the forest. I couldn't find him. I am heartbroken," she say.
"Oh, how tragic. He is certainly dead, then, so no need to look for him. In fact, we should avoid Forever Falls forever from here on out, lest we see the tragic fate with our own eyes. In fact, let's light it all aflame as his funeral pyre, just to be sure. Here's a new partner as a consolation prize, Ms. Nikos," they'd… of course they wouldn't say that. Nor would they give her a dreamy beefcake who was just her type, had never heard of her, and actually had a pulse.
Pyrrha sighed as she came to a stop. This was not what she'd intended when she'd come to Beacon to make new sorts of friends who didn't know her. Granted, this was a new sort of friend, and he hadn't known her, but in all honesty she'd been hoping for something and someone a bit more… lively.
A hand came down on her shoulder. It was probably meant to be encouraging, but the fact that the body had already begun to cool meant it sent a shiver down her spine.
"Earooo?" Jaune said, head tilted in a way that she'd already come to recognize as 'trying not to have it fall off.'
"It's nothing," she answered. "Just trying to figure which way is north. I'm a little… out of it, right now."
"Ugghwaaaah," Jaune groaned, nodding.
"Are you… trying to make me feel better?" Pyrrha asked.
"Ugghwaaaah!" Jaune groaned with emphasis. This time when he nodded, his head tipped too far and fell at that unnatural angle. Pyrrha pretended not to watch him try to put his head on straight.
Pyrrha closed her eyes and breathed deep- and tried to ignore the stench of blood and… other things that happened when a body died.
"Please don't do that," she asked. "Your neck… is not supposed to bend that way. And your mouth is hanging."
Jaune fixed his head and shut his mouth, and Pyrrha felt a little bit of guilt. He was trying… and how galling was that? Concern from the guy whose neck she'd broken…. twice! (And, considering how low in the trachea she'd nailed him, almost his heart as well.)
Her own heart would be beating faster, were it not for the fact that it'd have to be twice as fast for the two of them to average normal.
Seeing her grimace, he flashed her a thumbs up- well, slowly and shakily gave her one, but it was quicker than before. Pyrrha gave a grateful smile, and he gave a double thumbs up. For emphasis.
"We'll work this out," she promised her… alright, her partner. She was a Champion who overcame impossible odds. Who adapted, stayed on her feet, and was going to go from being a Champion to Hero. She wasn't going to abandon her responsibility, or someone she was responsible for.
Though if she happened to find a cave… and if there happened to be an unfortunate, tragic cave-in…
No! Bad partner thoughts! Bad Pyrrha!
"We'll work this out," Pyrrha repeated. "Come on, Jaune. We need to find the relic," she reminded, stepping forth.
"Uhhhwaaa!" Jaune cheered as he lumbered after her, his good mood sounding like nails on chalkboard.
"Without moaning, please," Pyrrha begged.
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"Valkyrie Collects Spirit of Dead Warrior. More at Eleven."
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Were this a combat exercise, she's not sure who would have succeeded- on one hand, Jaune's lumbering was hardly stealthy. Forget stepping over sticks and stones- he broke brush without batting an eye, though she was pretty sure he'd be missing an eye soon enough. Any normal Huntress would have heard him quarter of a mile away, and laid in wait for an ambush.
On the other hand, any Huntress at all would have heard this beast even further.
"Jaune, get down," Pyrrha pushed, in barely a whisper. He complied like a champ, falling to the ground and- Pyrrha finished dragging the unmoving body into the bushes, feeling slightly guilty as she did so and hoping no one was around to see how suspicious it looked.
No one else saw, however, and she too retreated into the bush. In the distance, a lumbering crash resounded- then another, and another. The monster approached ever closer, birds fleeing as a tree fell.
"Stay quiet," Pyrrha whispered, but she needn't have bothered. Jaune was dead silent, not even seeming to breath-
Or on closer inspection, not actually breathing at all…
"If it finds us, play dead," Pyrrha whispered. "I'll run and try to lead it off," she offered. It was a noble, selfless thing, even proper- after all, Jaune was in no state to outrun anything- but it also rested on the assumption that any beast would rather follow her than devour the slower, weaker, still warm feast left behind.
Which be so tragic. If her gambit didn't work, she would need a new partner after all. How… unfortunate.
The creature let out its call once more. A horrible, inhuman sound that chilled the soul…
"I don't think that's what a sloth sounds like either, Nora."
"Shh, Ren!" came the even louder response. "We don't want to give away our position!"
"Then why are you making your call?" the masculine-ish Ren asked. (Two points off masculinity already? His ego would be bruised if he knew.)
"To let people know we're friendly sloths!" Nora explained. "That way, if they're hiding from whatever made those screams earlier, they won't be afraid! Everyone loves sloths!"
Ren let out of sight of time-worn humor, but Pyrrha let out a sigh of disa- of relief. Not enemies, then. She prepared to stand, to make their presence known-
She looked down, and saw Jaune sprawled right where she'd dragged his body. He hadn't moved since.
"Maybe we should just stay here," she whispered. She didn't know how she'd explain this- she didn't know what to explain- but she knew she didn't want to. 'Hey, this is my partner, I killed him, but no big deal he was walking recently but isn't now?' That would-
"Is there someone there?" the male voice called out. Pyrrha stilled- held her breath- and hoped he'd think he was imagining things.
"You see something, Ren?" the girl asked, stepping into view with weapon drawn. "Think we should blow them up and out?"
"Not yet, Nora," Ren answered. "I thought I- never mind," he said. "Is there anyone in those bushes there?" he called out. "Anyone who would mind a grenade in their bush?"
Pyrrha sighed. So much for hiding. "I'd mind," she called, standing, brushing twigs off her clothes. She looked up and-
"Hiiii!" Nora exclaimed, inches from her face. Pyrrha gave started yep- when, how had she-? "Are you the girl who screamed earlier?" the pink-theme girl asked.
"No- no," Pyrrha stuttered, off balance. "That wasn't me."
Nora gave a toothy smile… but her open eyes weren't so cheerful.
"Are you the one that made the girl scream, then?" she asked, the warhammer behind her back balancing and complimenting the predatory gaze that glanced at Pyrrha's knees.
"No!" Pyrrha exclaimed. Which was sort of true. She was the girl who'd made the thing that made the girl scream.
"Oh. Okay," Nora accepted, appeased. "Then why's there a dead body at your feet?" she asked without a hint of malice audible.
"That is an excellent question with a very reasonable answer," Pyrrha replied.
There was a beat.
"And I am trying to think of it," Pyrrha admitted.
The boy in green shifted- but his gaze wasn't on Pyrrha, but a bit too her side, in Jaune's direction. Hammer girl kept her position- hammer behind her back- but Pyrrha knew that the hammer would be swinging even as she drew her own weapon. Pyrrha shot a glance down at Jaune, still still. He couldn't run, and he couldn't hide, and he probably stood no chance in a fight. He'd be destroyed, pulverized beyond recognition in a flash-
-and that would be a bad thing, she reminded herself, relaxing her posture into something less confrontational.
"Jaune, a little help here?" she whispered.
She almost saw the body twitch, a marionette whose strings were being pulled. With a groan- or at least an involuntary decompression of the chest cavity which pushed air through a hole in an approximation of a groan- Jaune stood up.
"And there it is," Pyrrha answered cheerily. "The reason being that he's not dead. Wave to the nice people, Jaune," she instructed.
Jaune waved. The green boy simply stared, mouth open. In a flash of self-conscious by proxy, Pyrrha checked if Jaune's jaw was hanging. Nope, still good.
Nora waved back. "Hi!" she greeted Jaune. "You smell funny. Why were you lying down like that?" she asked.
Jaune carefully looked at Pyrrha, making sure not to tilt his neck.
"He was sleeping," Pyrrha explained as she brushed twigs off him, covering for him- and making sure his hoodie covered the hole.
"He sure looks tired," Nora admitted.
"Dead tired, even," Ren remarked, still giving that odd look at Jaune's direction.
"Er, yes. That. Exactly that," Pyrrha agreed, thinking of Jaune's half-open eyes. "He's had a bad day."
"He's not the only one," Nora claimed. "There was that girl who screamed earlier. We heard her allllll the way that way, and when it happened again we thought we'd better look. Did you find her?"
"I heard her, but I didn't see her," Pyrrha admitted, more honestly than before. "Then I found Jaune, and-" she shrugged.
Nora gave Jaune an examining look. Jaune's head turned to track her… and then Pyrrha gave it a subtle tug as it almost toppled off its base.
"You're really quiet," Nora said to Jaune.
"He's just shy," Pyrrha claimed.
"Oh. Why?" Nora asked.
"I… uh… think he likes you?" Pyrrha said the first thing on her mind- and tried not to slap it soon after.
Nora eeped a little, blushing- and then leaned closer to inspect, then turned her head to Pyrra. "You sure he's not dead?" she asked.
Pyrrha laughed nervously. "Of course not," she lied. "What makes you think that?"
"Well, he's not breathing," Nora said, leaning closer.
"He's just breathless a cute girl is so close."
"He smells like a dead person," Nora said, holding her nose.
Pyrrha saw a bit of brown on the backside that she really, desperately, hoped was dirt or mud.
"He got scared by the scream," she claimed. Saying it was Grimm wouldn't be believable, after all- but that screech? Pyrrha didn't fail to notice that Nora was awkwardly pulling at her pants at the memory... and that Ren had a bit of 'dirt' back there as well.
It was a really scary scream. You could even say- it was a brown note.
Nora touched Jaune's neck.
"And he's got no pulse."
"His heart skipped a beat at seeing you," Pyrrha covered. There was a pause as Nora looked at her. "Still skipping," Pyrrha suggested. Shot through the heart, and you're to blame- you give love, a bad name…
"He's got a hole in his neck."
"It's a neck piercing. They're all the rage back in Sanctum."
"And he's barely on his feet," Nora noted. "Boop!" she demonstrated, giving a light pop on the face.
Jaune tumbled backwards into the bush. The pressure made the air in his lungs escape, a slow wheeeeeeze as the bush lowered him to the ground with the sound of deflating balloon.
"He fainted," Pyrrha hoped. "Like I said, tired."
"Oh. Well. I guess that makes sense," Nora conceded. "I hope he doesn't mind that I'm not interested," she said towards Pyrrha.
"I'm sure he'll survive, Nora," Ren said dryly.
Nora laughed. "Guess so," she said cheerfully. "I hope we can still be friends.I just thought that since someone screamed like they saw a ghost earlier, that they might have actually seen a ghost, and that Jaune might be a ghost."
"You can see him, and you can't see ghosts," Ren reminded his partner.
"Most people can't," Pyrrha muttered.
"But Ren can!" Nora cheered.
Two heads snapped towards Ren. One of them snapped a little too far, a little too fast, and actually snapped. Again.
A look of unease flashed across the stoic boy. "Nora, I-" he tried to wave off… and then sighed. "Ever since I was little, I've… seen things, things that other people can't. Adults never believed me, but-"
"But I do!" Nora proclaimed proudly. "Ren's smart, and knows a lot of cool and kooky stuff, and sometimes does weird things for no clear reason, but who doesn't? We're like two peas in a cobb!"
"Peas in a pod, Nora. Peas in a pod."
"That's what I said!"
Pyrrha looked between them- and didn't laugh. In fact, she almost looked desperate. "Can you really see him?" she asked, hoping.
Ren nodded, and pointed… not at Jaune's body, but right above him. "He's right there. That's how I was able to see you in the bushes- he was just standing over you."
Pyrrha's eyes widened, but Jaune's body startled. The sense of a marionette coming to life came to mind again, and Jaune began to try to get himself out of the bush.
Ren stepped forward to help him. Kneeling down, he reached out for Jaune's flailing limbs. "You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?" he asked kindly, pulling the dead boy out of the bush.
Jaune's body fell on all fours, and then looked up at Ren. His jaw was hanging, and a look of wonder somehow on his face. All that was missing was a tear of-
"Bwaaaain!" Jaune's body cried, grabbing Ren and trying to hug the ghost-seeing boy in desperate relief. Or maybe in desperate need to eat his brains.
Honestly, watching with Nora as the auburn girl smiled and ignored the green boy's pleas for assistance, Pyrrha was too drained to care which.
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"Ghost Whisperer"
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It wasn't much of a surprise that their pairings teams had become a team- he himself was the one to suggest it. They were all going in the same direction, after all, and there was safety in numbers.
He also had a feeling that Jaune would have followed him regardless. At least if the energetic, dare he say lively, gestures from the luminescent boy-above-the-body were any hint.
"Aw, it's like a puppy!" Nora gushed, referring to how Jaune's body lumbered behind Ren- occasionally falling behind when Ren broke brush, but speeding up to lead just a few steps ahead when the terrain was better.
"A giant, two-legged, undead puppy?" Pyrrha asked. She and Nora trailed the group- pulling the rear guard.
"Those are, like, the best kind!" Nora cheered. "Don't you think it's cute?"
"Uh, well- that is, I mean-" Ren couldn't help it, even he snuck a look at the flustered Champion. "I guess? If you're into that sort of thing?" she hazarded.
"Yeah! You're so lucky, Pyrrha," Nora said. "The only thing better would be if he were giant, four-legged undead puppy! That would be-" she gasped. "Jaune? Can you do that?"
Jaune's body didn't respond at first- but Ren saw the ghostly outline above it turn to him.
It was definitely a ghost- a pale glow, like faint aura, but also translucent and see-through. Out of the corner of the eye it would just be an outline, a figure- but when he focused on it, he could make out the beginning of features. A bit of the hair, the nose, and the eyes- and the cock of the head, clearly asking 'should I?'
Ren nodded. "Go ahead, Jaune," he said, giving permission.
The spirit, which had been lazily keeping one hand on the back between the shoulders as if gently pushing, moved the hand to the head. As if holding a remote control- and Ren saw a ghostly flash and flow from the spirit as Jaune seemed to slide into the body- Jaune gave it direction.
Jaune's body sank to all fours, doggy-style. There it was- the sagging jaw with tongue holding up, the slight sway in the rear as if a wagging tail… and then on the back, waiting for the reaction, was the spirit body, using the body as a chair and crossing his legs as if lounging.
Catching Jaune's spirited grin, Ren averted his gaze from the body's backside. Because he did, he saw that Pyrrha was not- caught in an expression of both horror and fascination.
Nora just laughed and applauded. "Can you bark?"
Jaune's spirit looked at Ren, and shook his head.
"He can't," Ren conveyed, even as the body raised back to its feet and began walking again.
"Can you…. are you able to talk with him?" Pyrrha asked, tearing her gaze from Jaune's necrotic bum.
Ren shook his head. "I can see ghosts, but I can't hear them," he claimed.
"Why not?"
"It's just one of those things," he hand-waved. "Some people are born able to see ghosts. Some can hear them. Some just hear certain ghosts. From what I've read, it's all arbitrary," he explained.
"Do you know a lot about ghosts?" Pyrrha asked, polite and curious. From where he hung onto his body, Jaune looked interested as well.
Ren nodded, a bit shyly, unused to honest interest rather than skepticism. "I try," he said. "Since I've been dealing with them most of my life. Most people don't really see ghosts as well as I do- just barely, or out of the corner of their eyes- and those that do… well, we learn to keep it a secret. No one wants to be the kid with the imaginary friends forever."
Pyrrha understood. "Or called crazy," she realized sympathetically. "Did people give you a hard time?"
"Only until I broke their legs," Nora boasted. "Then they thought I was the crazy one." Rather than sad, she sounded proud.
"It was just skinned knees, Nora," Ren reminded, but he had a soft smile on his face all the same.
Pyrrha smiled as well, and even Jaune seemed to glow a soft contentment. "Why did you believe Ren if you couldn't see ghosts, Nora?" she asked, curious.
Ren and Nora traded a look, and shook their head. "It's a bit personal. Sorry, Pyrrha," Nora apologized.
"It's alright," Pyrrha accepted. "So how do you understand what a ghost is trying to say?" Pyrrha said.
"It depends on the ghost," Ren said. "Some are obvious. Some try to show me something, or take me somewhere important. And some…" he shook his heads. "Some aren't interested in talking."
"Bad ghosts," Nora whispered darkly, but then cheered. "But some are good ghosts, and they like charades! Ren is a master at charades!"
"Oh?" Pyrrha asked. "Then what is Jaune trying to say?" she asked, prompting Ren to look forward- and realize that Jaune's body had its hand raised like a student in class. Spirit Jaune had an amused, mock-impatient, look on his face before he started to move his arms.
"C… A… Y… F?" Ren repeated.
"Cayf?" Pyrrha repeated, confused. "An acronym? Does that stand for something?"
"Call All Your Friends?" Nora suggested. "Can't Answer Your Phone? Cold Aardvarks Yodel Fluently?"
"Phone doesn't begin with an 'F', Nora."
Jaune gave himself a face-palm… and deciding that it wasn't enough, had his body do it as well. Double face-palm- for those moments when one face-palm isn't enough. Not looking up, zombie-Jaune pointed in a certain direction.
"Oh," Pyrrha realized, seeing what they were near. "He meant cave."
Jaune's spirit body-language practically screamed in frustration. Oh, come on. It's not his fault body letters are so hard to do when standing!
The unofficial team moved towards the cave… but Ren paused to offer a suggestion as he passed. "Next time, try making the shapes while floating," he whispered.
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"The Light at the End of the Tunnel"
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The four's descent into the cave had been a true tribute to the merits of cutting-edge political theory of democracy.
"Who votes we go into the totally awesome mystery cave of darkness and see if the relics are in there?" Queen Nora proposed to her court.
"I'm not sure that's the wisest choice," her favorite, but occasionally wet, blanket counseled. "These cave drawings are rather ominous."
"I think that's a wonderful idea, Lady Valkerie," her now-favorite blonde Sir Jaune indicated with a raised hand. "I full-heartedly approve of your daring leadership, and wish to break fast with you over pancakes at the earliest opportunity," she translated from the groans and wheezes.
"Thanks, Jaune!" Queen Nora acknowledged, gracious in her informality as she was. Though victory was already assured- surely two bodies and a third spirit body counted as a tie-breaker?- she deigned to solicit her less reputable new friend's opinion as well. "Pyrrha?" she asked the shield maiden, the token-evil teammate of their team of teamliness.
"I don't know," the suspected murderess hemmed-and-hawed. "What's the worst that could happen?" she asked.
"We could meet a terrible beast that kills one of us while the others have no choice but to flee," wet blanket said dryly.
"Or we could find the secret of the totally awesome mystery cave of darkness!" Nora boldly countered. "Then it would be a totally awesome adventure cave of darkness!"
"And we could find the relic," Sir Jaune eloquently reminded in a hideous wheeze.
"And we could find the relic," Nora added as an afterthought.
Pyrrha looked at her… then looked at Ren… and then Jaune… and managed not to rub her blood-flecked hands together shiftily.
"It'd be a shame if we left only to have to come back later," man-eater Pyrrha said with insincere concern. "I'm sure we will survive anything inside," she said with barely a cackle.
And thus the people came to a consensus, and democracy demonstrated the wisdom of the masses when the majority agreed with Queen Nora and an un-convicted murderer.
The Queen's Court continued down the cavern, lighting a torch as they did so. It was Queen Nora, sovereign of all she surveyed, who saw it first.
"Oooh, pretty," she regally declared, looking at the golden shiny.
"Verily," Sir Jaune described in a groan. "Shall I retrieve it, my Queen?" he offered.
"I'm not sure that's the relic," wet blanked poo-pahhed.
"But it's pretty… and shiny…." Queen Nora reasoned in as refined an argument as was ever made while hypnotized by shiny. "Me want…"
"Of course, my Lady," faithful Sir Jaune vowed, stumbling forward.
"Is that-?" Pyrrha asked, a hint of treacherous hope in her voice.
Ren's eyes widened as he saw it as well. "Jaune!" he began to say.
Pyrrha didn't give him a chance. "Shhh!" she hushed, smothering his words with hand, keeping Ren from interfering.
"Come here, stupid relic!" Sir Jaune demanded in a gasp as he reached out for the prize. "Queen Nora demands you be a decoration for her crown!" he moaned.
Queen Nora saw the danger her faithful servant was in moments before it made itself known.
"Jaune, no!" she tried to warn. "Step away from the light! Step away from the light!" Don't go towards the light at the end of the tunnel!
Because if you do, next thing you know the light gets you. Shiny stabbed forward, spearing Jaune in a flash as the Deathstalker struck.
"Oh my god, it killed Jaune!" wet blanket wailed.
"You bastard!" Pyrrha the Untrustworthy screamed in glee. "You magnificent bastard!"
Well, she thought that's what they said. It was admittedly hard to hear over the beast's roar, and Sir Jaune's battle moan as he drew his blade and began to strike at the tail.
"Is he…?" green blanket paused. "Is he trying to cut himself down?" he asked.
"Zombie, remember?" Pyrrha reminded. "But no time- run!" she shouted, leading the retreat back up the slope. Even Nora- de-throned as she was in the fear and need to retreat- followed, and soon took the lead.
They were right behind her- even Jaune, hauled as he was on the monster's stinger.
"It's catching up!" Ren shouted. "Nora, can you bring the cave down on it?" he asked.
Nora was uncharacteristically hesitant. "But- Jaune-"
"Do it!" Pyrrha demanded. "Jaune can't slow it down himself!"
Skidding to a stop, skidding uphill at the entrance of the cave even as she turned around, Nora turned her mighty Warhammer into a grenade launcher and shot the ceiling. Stalactites fell, shattering on the beast's carapace, even as Jaune bravely continued to chop away at the base of the stinger.
The beast screamed as rocks fell on it. Jaune did not. A few more grenades, and it screamed more. More rocks fell, and the beast was buried and disappeared from view.
"That was- too close-" Ren the Wise panted, the fright and sudden chase doing more to wind him than any actual fighting. "Good work, Nora," he praised.
Normally that would have cheered her up. Now, though… "But… Jaune," she said, unhappy. A Queen shouldn't abandon her subjects like that.
"It's alright, Nora," the recently un-partnered Pyrrha the Champion reassured. "You didn't what you needed to- what you had to- and I'm sure Jaune would have understood," she claimed. Selfless, noble Pyrrha put a hand on Nora's shoulder. "He would have wanted us to survive. We may mourn his death, but we will move on and remember him fondly, knowing that he died so that we might live."
"Uh, didn't he die because you-"
"Knowing he died so that we might live," Pyrrha repeated, hand tightening painfully for emphasis.
"I think it's a bit early to move on," Ren weighed in.
Pyrrha shook her head. "We need to- nay, we must- because he would not want us to grieve for him. In fact-"
"No, I mean, his ghost is right there," Ren said, pointing behind Pyrrha.
Pyrrha yelped and spun around, seeing… nothing but the rubble of the cave entrance.
"In fact, he's gesturing kind of frantically," Ren claimed. "Something like- I'm sorry, I don't understand- do you need us to dig your body out? No? Well, what-" Ren began.
The collapsed cave entrance exploded, shrapnel flying in an expression of brute force and strength. The nightstalker roared- or whatever you called it when a scorpion that big made a lot of noise- and made it outside. It was malevolent and furious… and possibly in pain, as the stinger sagged a bit even as the impaled body continued to hack at where the singer met the tail.
"It's not dead and buried!" Nora recognized. "And neither is Jaune!" Nora cheered, all right with the world once more.
"Tch," Pyrrha the no-longer-tragically-un-partnered muttered.
"Girls?" wet blanket asked, stepping backwards slowly. "We should probably step back. And run."
The stinger thrust forward with a tremendous snap, finally shaking off its surprisingly stubborn victim. Jaune's body flew into the sky, cartwheeling all the while, as little bits of guts and gore rained out of it and over the forests.
"I think running would be a marvelous idea," Pyrrha the Suspicious agreed with a nervous smile, one that seemed maniac considering the speckles of blood scattered on them all. "Shall we?"
And so they did, Queen Nora laughing all the while.
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End Week Two