Disclaimer: I (still) don't own RWBY. And if I did, and RWBY were like this, it'd be rated M for gore alone.
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When the Bodies Hit the Floor
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Jaune hit the ground like a watermelon dropped on concrete.
Actually, take that back. Watermelons explode if they hit concrete hard enough or dropped from too high, and the round shape called to mind one's head, which might give the wrong impression.
Jaune's head did not explode like a red water balloon. And the soft, succulent earth that his body ate on impact didn't have the hardness of concrete, even if he lost a tooth to a pebble. Then there was the angle of impact- not a straight drop. It was more of a tumble, really- like skipping a stone on water.
Well, less a stone and more a bending, breaky, not-supposed-to-be-that-flexible red water balloon. Or meat-bag of sausage.
The face hit first, but the back snapped louder, bending the body in half in a way it never should. Great pressure was pressed on the chest- protected as it was by armor- as the innards went whichever way they could. A small amount of bile and the remains of yesterday's dinner were pressed up- but Jaune didn't re-gain the title vomit boy because there were quicker, and easier ways for the bile to escape as his Mistrali neck-piercings became outies and not innies. The rest of his stomach- which is to say, his actual stomach and most of the rest of his guts- were pushed in the other direction, down towards the Deathstinger-shaped cavity of his lower sternum. The bending of the back- right opposite of the tear in his stomach- and the immense pressure of moment led to one predictable result as Jaune ate dirt.
Ever squeezed a sausage? One with a tear? Jaune hitting the ground was kind of like that. Except gushier.
In a lot fewer words- Jaune splattered.
Team RWBY had a front-row view, in the sense that the guts and gizards came for their eyes first. But Team JNPR-to-be wasn't left wanting- Jaune's body skipped, and tumbled, and tackled the three of them in one chaotic tumble that was half-catch of their departed friend, and half bowling ball crashing through the ranks.
The three tumbled- and that might have spelled doom for them with the Deathstalker- were it not so stunned by the earlier brown note scream that the blond body's knocked it back. Little Nevermores flew around each of the beady eyes as it was stunned.
With the moment of breathing space it provided, both teams had time to comprehend and have first impressions.
Yang was the first, and kept her priorities straight. "Gross gross gross, it's on my shoes! And in my hair!" the former blonde, now more of a strawberry, complained. "And I don't even want to know what it is!"
Weiss, after the brown note subsided, quickly shut down her mind and rebooted. All memory files were scrubbed, rationality was restored- and suddenly things didn't seem so bad anymore. Jaune's semblance explained everything. He'd be fine! And if he wasn't… any memories to the contrary, any suggestions that she might have done anything differently, were conveniently edited as appropriate.
Blake was more sincerely catatonic. Not from the sight of the boy's fall, but from what happened when she let instinct take over from shock. Blake nervously licked her lips again- still in shock at the terrifyingly tantalizing taste.
Ruby, the quickest of them, had been the first to brace herself and the first to recover. Lowering her cape, she smiled as she inspected it- no guts on her! Which meant she didn't have to wash her cape either. Ah red capes: they don't get bloody, they just get redder!
Closer towards the Grimm, team JNPR staggered to their feet.
Nora laughed. "Steeer-ike!" she announced. "Way to go, Jaune!" If she noticed, or minded, the red splattered across her maniac face, she gave no indication. It certainly gave her a more menacing appearance when she continued, though. "Maybe next time we bowl, I'll use your head."
"I don't think bowling works that way," Ren muttered. "Anymore, at least." He took note of the splattered blood on his clothes, but dismissed it- easy enough to claim it was just dirt. At least he'd have an excuse if anyone commented on his pink eyes. "Where's Jaune?" he asked, looking around for the aura-glow only he could see.
Jaune was fine- or at least his ghost was. "I've lost my lunch before," the ghost-boy admitted, though only one could hear him. "But never when it was still in my stomach. Is that it over there?" he wondered. "I was never good at human anatomy."
Pyrrha, no stranger to a little blood, paid it no mind. Hers was the most skilled tumble- the quickest back on her feet- and her mind raced as she took in the situation. Analyzing combatants, looking for opportunities, calculating the odds as she checked for threats.
Her eyes widened. "Jaune!" she cried.
Above his corpse, the Deathstalker shook itself alert and roared.
/
Guardian Spirit
/
"Don't let it destroy the body!" the green-robed boy cried. Yang didn't know who he was exactly, but she assumed he was a friend of Jaune's. Same with the pink-haired girl, and… Pyrrha?
"Covering fire!" Ruby called, unloading rounds from Crescent Rose onto the Deathstalker. "We have to distract it!"
Yang didn't know about 'have to', per see- the spread of guts and gore kindof put a damper on any hope that the blonde boy was just playing dead- but she was kind of glad to see Weiss and Blake follow Ruby's command, sending beams and bullets against the beast. Yang threw some shells as well, and while the explosion didn't hurt the monster it certainly distracted it.
"What next?" she asked her sister as the monster made its way towards them. "Fall back, or fight?" She wanted to see how her sister handled this- let her assert herself if she had a plan.
"Keep its attention on us," Ruby directed. "If we can draw it away, then they can get Jaune and-"
What Pyrrha and her two allies were supposed to do wasn't clear, because the three of them began firing as well- into the sky, where a giant bird of murder was circling around.
"Watch out!" Blake warned as feathers rained from the sky. The bird took about as much damage from the other team as the deathstalker took from them- but it broke its position soon enough.
"Leave it to me," Weiss commanded, waving her sword like a conductor's wand. A glow of blue, a sigil, and an iceberg grew from nothing, providing shelter that they were able to hide behind. Yang silently approved- her opinion of the white-dressed girl was low, but she seemed to naturally look out for Ruby when making that cover. Perhaps their time together had done them both some good?
The four of them were safe from the bird, but their initial goal had been lost- the Deathstalker had returned its attention to Jaune's three friends, chasing them away from Jaune's body. Already from the desperate dodging and weaving, Yang could tell that there was serious power behind the claws.
"Fire again!" Ruby directed, urging them to get its attention again. But again the events repeated themselves- they got the Deathstalker's attention, but the Nevermore circled and made an attack run that made them dodge behind Weiss's ice-cover. By the time it passed, the Deathstalker's attention was again on Team Jaune. Even though the three had divided and were flanking it- hitting it from all sides- they still couldn't draw it away.
"I don't think this is working!" Yang exclaimed after the third time. "We're just going to run out of ammo!" As much as she hated the idea of leaving a fallen comrade- well, acquaintance, really- she didn't see much of a choice. Unless Jaune grew wings and flew away…
"Jaune, just run! We'll cover you!" Ruby shouted.
Yang and Blake traded quick glances. Maybe this was too much to ask of Ruby- to leave a fallen friend who-
Yang blinked, and rubbed her eyes. Where was- was that- was that Jaune getting up? "Was he playing dead?" she asked- but started throwing shells with a renewed vigor.
Blake saw it too. "How did he survive the fall?" she asked, taking aim to not waste rounds. She took a second look at the long, blood-stained streak on the ground- and the guts that were here and there.
"Semblance. Knew it!" Weiss crowed from beside them. "It's all quite reasonable, really," Weiss said.
"Er, right," Yang agreed. "It- shit, it saw him!" she called out.
Indeed it had- while Jaune picked himself up and started to move towards them, the Deathstalker once again turned its attention- and saw Jaune. Even from the distance Yang could hear Team Jaune's yells as they tried to get the monster's attention again- saw a pink explosion rock the beast.
Yang wasn't the only one who let loose a breath of relief as the Deathstalker turned once more. "Can't he hurry it up?" she worried. "Why's he stumbling so slow?"
"How fast could you walk after that landing strategy?" Blake asked. "I think I saw a lung pop out."
"Eyes up!" Ruby warned. "Nevermore!"
The bird was back, but Yang noticed it wasn't on the same paths as before. It course was changed, it was- "It's going for Jaune!" she realized.
"Suppresive fire!" Ruby called, but their efforts did no good- the Nevermore let loose another fury of feathers, which speared the ground with murderous intent. Team Jaune managed to duck and weave, somehow- but Jaune did not. First a calf, then the other knee, and then a proliferation of perforations through the chest.
"It got him!" Weiss realized.
Jaune was pinned- but even that didn't stop him. The blond boy drew his sword, and began chopping at the Nevermore feathers- slowly cutting himself free one impalement at a time.
"The Deathstalker's going for him!" With the distraction the Nevermore had provided against Jaune's friends, the Deathstalker turned towards weaker prey. It ignored what little pinpricks they could give- bullets pinging off- and closed in on Jaune.
"I've got to go!" Ruby exclaimed, preparing to run out there.
"Ruby! Wait! It's too dangerous!" Weiss warned in alarm. But Ruby ignored her- ignored all of them- and sprinted out there with a blast from Crescent Rose.
Yang was right behind her- too slow to stop her, but too much of a sister to let her go alone. "Ruby! Don't be reckless!"
But of course she was- she was Ruby, and Ruby wouldn't slow down when someone was in trouble. And in trouble Jaune was- still pinned, the Deathstalker caught him easily and the boy had to defend himself rather than free himself. A blow of the stinger was barely diverted with another pink explosion- and even Yang could see the wobble of damage at the tip- but it was far from a fatal wound.
Ruby accelerated- three more blasts from Crescent Rose propelling her- but she was to be too late. A blow from the claws sent his guard flying. The other set of claws caught him- secured him by the chest-plate- and soon both sets of claws secured him and lifted Jaune from where he had been nailed to the ground. Jaune's weapons clattered to the ground as his body was raised.
With a bestial scream, the Deathstalker raised itself high off the ground ripped Jaune apart. It couldn't break the armor- only crush an arm- but the claw above the waist had no such issue. Body, arms, limbs- blood fell from the sky as both claws did their bloody work.
Ruby screamed. Or maybe it was a roar. There were more gunshots, and more speed, and even Yang could only see the red-caped blur dart beneath the beast. No sooner had it passed than four legs flew off- and in a gunshot and a return blur, the other four as well. Ruby was through and back before the first side could fall.
It was so fast, Yang could barely tell what happened. It was so fast, the Deathstalker didn't even scream in pain until Ruby was done.
Yang was impressed- proud even at the mobility kill- but even more worried. "Ruby, get out of there!" she shouted, still catching up. "There's nothing more you can do!"
Jaune was dead- he had to be after that- but the Deathstalker was still alive. Immobilized or not, if Ruby stayed in range-
"I can still hear him! He's still alive!" Ruby protested- and dashed through the space infront of the Deathstalker. It's tale impaled the ground- too slow, as Ruby plundered a dismembered limb from the pile in front of it. "I'm not leaving him behind!"
"It's just a body!" Yang shouted. "Ruby, this isn't one of your imaginary friends!"
"He's not imaginary!" Ruby shouted back. "He's Jaune!"
"Jaune wouldn't want you hurt!" Yang tried to reason. Ruby paid her sister, any anyone else, no mind- using her semblance to dart in and out of range of the Deathstalker, bring back bits and pieces of Jaune with her.
"Nevermore!" Blake shouted from a distance as it made another pass over the fallen Grimm, right as Ruby made another pass. Feathers bounced off of carapace- meat was speared- and a red blur stopped all too suddenly, right infront of the monster she had so recently immobilized. Ruby was stunned, choked by her own cape in the abrupt stop.
"Ruby!"
Yang was too far away, just outside the rows and rows of impaled feathers. She could see the beady eyes focus on Ruby. She could see the still-wobbling tail prepare to stab forward. She could even see Ruby come to and struggle, only to realize she was trapped by her own pinned cloak.
Please, dust, anyone! Yang begged in her own mind as her heart skipped a beat in fear. Don't let her die!
She stretched out her hand, desperately reaching for her sister. Save her!
There was a rattle- a hint of movement- and the tale impaled in the dirt. But there was no pained scream. A shield- Jaune's shield- hovered against the side of the tail from the air, pushing the massive tail ever so slightly away from the unharmed girl beneath it.
There was a stunned silence- even the Grimm seemed surprised at how it missed- but its tail was too deep, too extended. It struggled to free itself, but before it could Crocea Mors- the sword, the other half of Jaune's weapon- flew through the air. It sliced in an arc, cutting to, cutting through, the base of the already damaged stinger. The tail withdrew in hissing pain- the severed tip remained in the ground.
Sword and shield returned together, and hovered in front of Ruby protectively. No hand held them- but somehow Yang knew that they were as firmly held as any living person could.
"Jaune?"
That was Ruby- not her- but the sound was enough to remind her to stagger her forward. Yang leapt over the feathers to her sister's side, and began to pull her cape free of the ones that pinned her. Out of the side of her vision, she saw a claw come in an overpowering swing. She didn't try to dodge- didn't stop what she was doing- even though the memory of what had happened to Jaune flashed past her eyes.
It didn't matter. She was the big sister. As long as she got Ruby free- as long as Ruby was safe- the rest didn't matter. Those were good last thoughts as she pulled the last feather free. Those were her last thoughts before the movement of metal came into her vision, and the thud as claws impacted and bounced off the shield. Jaune's sword followed the block with a slash- doing no real damage to the claw, but pushing it away and allowing Yang to reach down for Ruby.
There was a deathly chill as she did so- as she passed between sword and shield where a person might be- but Yang didn't care as she grabbed Ruby. The sword and shield remained protectively in front of them all the while.
Ruby- still dazed- seemed to come together as she was dragged to safety. Maybe it was the hair.
"Yang?" Ruby asked, sounding small and weak, wits scattered. "What-?"
"Jaune," she whispered into Ruby's ear as she dragged her sister to safety in a desperate bear hug, "is your best imaginary friend yet."
/
Ruby! Get up!
That's what she heard- or remembered hearing after nearly hanging herself on her own cloak. Not the familiar voice of her sister- filled with fear and worry as the monsters approached- but someone newer. Deeper. And with that tenor- that affect- of being heard as much inside her mind as her ears.
Oh no you don't!
The monster had tried to kill her. The weapons- those classics he hadn't considered heirlooms- they'd… defended her. She's seen them float. She saw them swing. She heard them- not the body she'd been hearing before- and they sounded like-
"Jaune?"
Yang! I'll hold it off- get her out of here!
She couldn't understand why she couldn't move- couldn't figure out why, her wits were so scattered. The monster before her loomed over her, but so did the sword and shield- smaller, safer, between her and it. There were moments of chill- calling to mind a cherished grave in winter- but it was safe. Not scary- even before a familiar warmth grabbed her and blond hair entered her vision.
"Yang?" Ruby managed, mind still swimming. "What-?"
The warmth felt stronger- tighter. "Jaune," Yang's voice cracked in relief, "is your best imaginary friend yet."
I'm not imaginary.
"He's not imaginary," Ruby echoed, and remembered she had already said it, just as she had all the other voices. "He's here."
"She's right," a new voice said. "He's not imaginary, even if he's not alive." It was the boy in green, who was looking at her with distinctive lightish red eyes. "He's a ghost. Are you alright?" he asked Ruby.
"What do you mean, ghost?" Yang asked, before holding Ruby even more protectively. "If you're trying to make fun of my sister-"
Ren knows what he's talking about. He's a good guy.
"You're… Ren, aren't you?" Ruby asked.
Yang loosened her hold. "You know him, Ruby?" she asked.
"No," Ruby denied, shaking her head. "But Jaune does."
"So you can hear him," Ren confirmed. "You must have had a tough time," he said, sympathetic.
"Can you hear them too?" Ruby asked, a bit hopeful.
Ren smiled. "No," he admitted, "but I can see them."
Yang just looked at him. "I'm not sure what's going on," she admitted, she admitted, "but I don't care. Any no-body-"
Hey! That's- fair, actually.
"-who saves Ruby is good in my book. What next?" she asked.
Ruby? Nevermore is circling around. The Crocea Mors clashed against itself in the air, sword scraping on shield before pointing at the giant avian.
"We need to get out of the open, before the Nevermore gets back," Ruby said, getting to her feet with a helpful lift from Yang. "Take cover in the forest."
"And, er, Jaune?" Yang asked, indicating the floating sword and shield. "Can he make it?"
"Bring his body back. As much as you can," Ren said, ignoring the gruesome ground as he picked up the gibbits he could. "The closer a spirit is to its body, the better."
Ruby went for the biggest piece she could- Jaune's upper body. One arm had been crushed and torn off. Everything below the stomach was gone, ripped away. Even the chest piece was crushed in. But it was intact, with one broken arm and an intact head.
She tried- and she probably could have lifted it- but a much stronger arm reached down and pulled Jaune up in one move. With a single shrug, Yang threw the body onto her back behind her- holding the one arm against her chest with her opposite hand, and letting the broken neck rest over her shoulder.
For a moment, Ruby remembered piggyback rides from long ago, when Yang would carry her back home when she was tired.
"Just so you know," Yang told the broken body, "I normally don't let guys bleed on me till the second date. You're just lucky that you saved Ruby." Even so, she gave him a warning glare. "Still- vomit on my hair, and you're dead. Again. Got that?"
Er, Yang? Look down.
Yang didn't, but Ruby did, and blanched. "I don't think you have to worry about that, Yang," she reassured.
"Huh? Why's that?" Yang asked.
"Because I think you're standing on what's left of his stomach."
/
Chasing after Ghosts
/
Jaune led the group as they continued their way north. Well, kinda- not that anyone but Ren could see him, but he was ahead of them. Scouting for Grimm, checking the sky for the Nevermore as they dashed through the trees.
Jaune stepped into the clearing, and looked up. All clear, so he waved Ren forward.
"All clear," Ren passed on, and so it was. The group moved forward- and what a gruesome group it was. Covered in sweat, and grime, and blood. His blood, of course, and his other parts that no one really wanted to think about.
The smaller pieces they'd passed around. Blake- who somehow still had the cleanest fingers of all of them- had volunteered her snack pouches to hold the gorey-er… gore. But the main body parts- well, Yang still carried his torso. And Pyrrha had taken other arm from Ruby. And his legs-
Well his legs were more or less intact. Still together inside his jeans, at least. And they were being carried by Nora. It's just… well, there was no good way to carry a full set of pants, he supposed, but did she have to wrap them around her waist like a fanny pack? Sure, she got to tie his shoe laces together to keep her arms free, but every time this fanny pack bounced it was fanny on fanny…
Wishing he still had the guts to have a libido to appreciate that- or that he still had all of his guts at all- Jaune listened to his friends- if dead people still get to claim that- banter.
"I'm impressed, Yang," Weiss was saying. "I didn't think you'd dirty your hair for… that," she admitted.
"Don't remind me," Yang groused, unhappy. "But he saved Ruby, so I owe him one. I claim first shower when we get back, though."
"You need it," Weiss said without pity. "He's still dripping. How disgusting."
"You know what, Weiss? Maybe you should look at your own face first," Yang suggested.
Weiss immediately brought a still-bloody sleeve to her face to wipe it. "Is there something there? There's still something there, isn't there? I don't want him all over my face!"
"Here, let me look," Yang offered, and Weiss lowered her arm.
"There you go," Yang said, even as she flicked a gore-stained hand towards the Heiress's face.
/
"That sounded like Ms. Schnee again," Glynda Goodwitch noted. "No matter what her records say, I'm not sure she's cut out for this line of work."
"Indeed," Professor Ozpin noted, taking a sip from his ever-present coffee mug. "Hunters must learn to walk bravely with death as a constant companion."
Glynda let a silence follow, before she asked a rather relevant question.
"Have you thought of how you'll alert the Arcs to their son's… condition?" she asked.
"…please let me enjoy my coffee, Glynda," Ozpin dodged.
/
"-it's in my mouth it's in my mouth-"
"Well if you didn't want any Arc inside you, maybe you shouldn't have swallowed!" Yang taunted.
Everyone else- even Jaune- tried to ignore them as they quickly recovered from the brown note.
"Thanks for sharing your snack pouches for Jaune," Ruby thanked Blake. "Are you sure you're not going to get hungry?"
"I, uh, think I'll be fine," Blake reassured with a nervous laugh, licking her lips.
Meanwhile, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren were having their own conversation.
"So how did you and Jaune meet?" Ren asked. "I assume he wasn't alive when you first met him?"
"Huh? Oh- well, he was alive this morning before initiation. But when we met in the woods, he was already, you know-"
"So how did Jaune end up like that?" Nora was asked. "Did you see his killer?"
"No, I didn't see them," Pyrrha laughed weekly as she slowed down somewhat.
"Hm," Ren considered. "That means his killer is still on the loose. That's not good," he said. "We best be careful. We wouldn't want our backs to a murderer within Beacon."
"No, we would not," Pyrrha agreed from behind.
"I wonder if Jaune knows. He could tell Ruby and- wait!" he called, just as Ruby called the same thing. Jaune had signaled them both.
The group crept forward carefully to the edge of the treeline. It wasn't a simple clearing- it was a massive chasm, far, far too large to even think about jumping across.
"Guess we know where we have to cross," Yang said, nodding towards a stone bridge by some ruins.
"We'll have to get past that first," Weiss said, pointing towards the Nevermore perched on the ruins. It hadn't seen them yet- but by way it watched the bridged, it knew there was only one way they could pass. "I doubt there are any other bridges around," she weighed in.
"I think- I think we could rush past," Ruby said. "If we can get to the ruins, we can dodge through them and make it to the woods on the far side."
Yang frowned. "You might make it, sis, but I've running for two here," she said, popping Jaune's body up a bit with a shrug. "Well, one and a half."
"We could sneak closer," Blake suggested. "Shorten the distance."
"We'd still need a diversion," Pyrrha said. "Something to take its attention off the bridge. I could probably make the shot."
"Me too!" Ruby said, patting her collapsible sniper-scythe.
"We'd still have the risk of it destroying the bridge," Ren cautioned. "We can't risk being separated- we all need to cross," he reminded.
The group fell silent.
I could try, Jaune volunteered. Being the distraction.
"Jaune?" Ruby asked.
Rather than explain it to be conveyed, Jaune picked up Crocea Mors... and stepped out and over the chasm.
It didn't fall. He didn't fall. Because he was a ghost, bitches, and ghosts float.
The Nevermore, watching the bridge, never noticed.
Ruby felt a grin came across her face. It was anticipatory, even predatory.
"Who's up for carving a bird?" Ruby asked.
/
"How's he doing, Mr. 'I see dead people'? Can you see Jaune?" Yang asked as they hid in the bushes closest to the bridge.
"He's right there, Yang," Nora said innocently, pointing at Jaune's corpse on Yang's back. There was a touch less playfulness when she continued. "And his name is Ren."
"I meant- never mind. Sorry, Ren," she apologized. She knew how she'd have reacted whenever someone else teased Ruby about her imaginary friends. Who, apparently, weren't.
"He crossed, but he's out of sight now," Ren answered, giving no sign of offense. "He went behind the ruins."
"Good," Pyrrha said from her spot. "If he can cripple it from the start, this will go a whole lot easier."
It was a simple case of reasoning. Birds had to flap their wings to fly. The muscles to do so were important. If you cut just one key muscle- crippled just one wing- then a giant bird of murder became of seething, but grounded collection of murderous intent.
None of them knew if it would work like they'd planned- after all, none of them had taken any Grimm Anatomy classes or anything- but it could work. And if it did, it'd be their victory.
"I think I see him," Ruby called out, straining down the sights of her sniper rifle. "Or his weapon, at least."
"One object or two?" Blake asked.
"Two."
"Good," Blake said. That meant he'd already drawn the sword- less risk of the sound alerting the prey.
Weiss agreed. "If he pulls this off, I'll actually be impressed," she said. "All he has to do now is not screw up."
/
For the record, technically he didn't screw up.
Jaune remembered what they'd talked about. Remembered the plan about wing muscles and what to look for. Remembered the importance of slowing circling around, out of sight as much as possible. Even remembered Blake's worryingly effective murder advice.
Floating was- floating was slow, but manageable as long as he didn't look down as he crossed the chasm. He might get better at it one day, but for now it was enough. He'd crossed the chasm. He'd looped around. He even floated above and behind the Nevermore, spotting the right muscle and slowly approaching, sword raised.
Then the wind turned, and the Nevermore's head pivoted until the masked face stared at him directly.
It must have been the smell of guts on the weapons. It must have been. Even if it didn't see him, it certainly saw the weapons ready to strike. But that wasn't what scared Jaune, though.
The Nevermore stared at him- not the sword and shield he held in his ghostly hands.
"Crud!" Jaune sword, eyes wide, and struck while he still could.
The Nevermore screamed and thrust its wings wide, even before Jaune's blade sun in. It wasn't the point he'd been aiming for, but the bird's scream took a pained sound as it leapt into the sky.
Jaune- as attached to his weapons as he'd be his own body- was dragged along into the sky. At least he had nothing to throw up this time.
/
"It noticed! Run!" Blake was the first to see, jumping to her feet even before it screamed.
"Everyone across the bridge!" Ruby ordered. "Run!"
"Where's Jaune?" Pyrrha asked Ren as they ran.
Ren looked up at the Nevermore, and saw the ghostly glimmer with a metallic shine. "On the Nevermore! I think he got a strike in!"
"Aw, I wanted to ride a giant monster of Grimm," Nora pouted, jealous.
"I can't believe the dolt screwed up!" Weiss complained as they crossed the first stone blocks. "He was so close!"
"For the record," Yang said, keeping a steady pace despite her cargo, "I'm blaming you."
"Me?" Weiss protested. "What did I do?"
"Tempted fate!" almost everyone else answered in unison.
Weiss pouted. "No need to gang up on me," she muttered self-pityingly as she ran.
"Watch out!" Ruby warned- she'd already used her semblance to get far ahead of them and turn around, so she had the best angle to see the Nevermore circle around them from behind. The bridge had become a trap- a single path that it could shoot it's feathers down and catch them all.
"Weiss! Ice shield!" Ruby called out.
"On it!" Weiss followed- another column of ice springing up and protecting the slowest of their group from the storm of feathers. Some, though, were too far forward.
Yang saw the feather with her name on it. Yang braced for an impact- for something that would go through both Jaune's body and her- but red hair flew into her vision and Pyrrha's shield took the blow.
It saved her- but it was a bad angle for Pyrrha, and the momentum of the blocked blow sent her spinning into Yang, who stumbled towards and over the side of the bridge. One hand had a brief, awkward hold on the side.
"Yang!" Ruby cried out, afraid.
Pyrrha was there- secured the hand even as she braced herself and the shield for more feathers- but the cost was Yang swinging into the stonework face-first. She was dazed- her hair simmered with fire as her semblance kicked in- but in that moment her grip involuntarily loosened.
"Jaune!" Yang cried in horror as the body she'd been carrying slipped from her grip and fell behind her.
"Got him!" a voice from above claimed, and a black ribbon flew by Yang's face as Blake's weapon raced downwards. With a grip and a gunshot, Gambol Shroud wrapped around the only part of Jaune it could and secured.
There was an audible snap as Jaune's body- what was left of it- came to a sudden, fatal, stop and swung by the neck.
Yang looked up at Blake with a raised eyebrow. Blake looked down at Yang, and looked a little embarrassed- and not just because stopping the body's fall had dragged her off her feet and almost over the ledge herself. "He was dead like that when I found him?" she claimed.
"Just don't catch me like that," Yang warned, even as she began to pull herself up.
Meanwhile, the defense above was struggling- even as Pyrrha's shield and Ren's aura-projecting hands protected Yang and Blake.
"It's too high! Nora, make it move!" Ren called out, realizing the angle of the Grimm would allow it to shoot over the ice barrier.
Nora took out her weapon in its grenade-launcher mode, firing a salvo of heart-painted grenades towards the bird. The linearity of the bridge worked against her, though- one of the countless feathers pierced the grenade and caused the dust to explode early, sending feathers everywhere but doing nothing to the bird. That clearing of feathers, though- even for just a moment- opened the shot Ruby had been waiting for- a high-velocity round screeched through, and the high-explosive dust struck the Grimm in the mask, stunning it for just a moment.
That pause in midair was enough for the follow-up- Ren saw a flash of ghostly aura, and Jaune's sword freed itself from the Nevermore's wing and stabbed it straight in the back, again and again and again, until the Nevermore screeched and broke position, circling around.
"Come on, we've got to go!" Weiss shouted as she caught up. A simple glyph gave Yang the boost she needed to get up, where she then grabbed Gambol Shroud's tether and helped Blake stand to wind in Jaune.
"Don't let it hit the bridge!" Ruby warned, firing more rounds towards the bird as it began a glide-in charge from the side.
There was something off, though- it was too low if it was intending to tackle them off the bridge. It could only be-
"It's going for Jaune!" Pyrrha realized, even as all of those that could started to unleash their ranged abilities on the monster. It didn't matter- despite the blade still hanging in its shoulder, despite the shield that gave it love taps from behind, the Nevermore flew through their assault and headed towards Jaune's swinging body, like a fish towards a worm on a hook.
"Blake, let go!" Yang warned, foreseeing the problem.
"I can't!" Blake shouted, afraid. "It's wrapped!" And it was- around her arm, so that she wouldn't drop Jaune in the catch if she wanted to. And she didn't want to- that wasn't the sort of person she wanted to be anymore- even as her life flashed before her eyes as she saw what would come next. The bird would grab Jaune. Gambol Shroud would drag her- and if it didn't kill her by ripping her arms out, dragging her into and through the stone certainly would.
One way out occurred to her.
"Weiss! Glyph!" she cried, hoping- trusting- that the Schnee would understand her meaning. That despite their earlier acrimony, that the spoiled girl had something of a Huntress and will to do good inside of her.
Weiss's eyes widened in realization, and nodded. "Got it!" she said. Blake let a sigh of relief as Weiss concentrated. If Weiss put a repulsion glyph under Jaune- bounced him so that the bird would miss-
Weiss summoned a glyph and threw her off instead.
"Blake!" Yang screamed in shock, before spinning around to grab the smaller girl next to her in rage. "Did you just murder my partner?" she screamed at Weiss.
"I-" Weiss began.
"Did you just murder my partner!" Yang yelled again, shaking.
"I saved her!" Weiss claimed. "Look!"
Below, Blake had already spun around and controlled her fall like a cat. Popping out a clone, Blake used it as a jump pad to orient and gain forward momentum- in line with the Nevermore, and safely below the bridge.
"Oh," Yang said, realizing that her partner wasn't about to become paste on cobble stone. "We should probably move before it hits the supports, shouldn't we?"
Four of them did- but one of them didn't. Instead of running towards the safety of Ruby, Pyrrha turned adjacent and ran towards the opposite side of the bridge as the approaching nevermore- and jumped.
"Blake! Clones!" she shouted down below, and a number of things happened.
The Nevermore reached Jaune's body, consuming him in a single bite.
Gambol Shroud was not caught, but trailed out of the Nevermore's mouth and behind it like a fish on a hook.
The Nevermore slammed through the support columns like a fish through reeds, breaking through them with ease. It slowed, but it didn't think it a problem, if it thought at all. The bridge above crumbled just after Pyrrha's leapt- stones below fell towards Blake.
Blake, the fisherwoman in this analogy, was dragged along- but, prepared as she was, able to keep both hands on her ribbon and steer between the stone columns. Not only did she steer between rubble, but ran along and danced between falling debris, gaining control and jumping closer to the Nevermore's body.
As she did, she heard and followed Pyrrha's instruction, making clones- which served as Pyrrha's landing point and jumping blocks, just as Blake had used one earlier. Pyrrha jumped before it could dissipate- and Blake, realizing what was needed, made more even as she dragged herself forward along gambol shroud's line.
So Pyrrha ran up the crumbling staircase of Blake clones, chasing the Nevermore, even as Blake dragged herself forward up along gambol shroud's line. When Blake was close enough to grab the tail feathers- to secure herself like Ruby and Weiss had done much earlier- Pyrrha kept running forward. Momentum that wasn't hers alone countered the wind resistance, and using the ribbon as a guideline she ran up past the wings, and past Jaune's blade and shield that were still holding to the wing.
"Jaune! Get to your body!" Pyrrha called, even as she continued to run forward. The sword stayed where it was, stuck in the Grimm- but the shield stopped it's unnatural gripless hold on the Grimm. It collapsed in a flash, and tumbled behind Pyrrha as she continued forward and jumped onto the Nevermore's mask.
It stared at her for a moment- alien mind uncomprehending the how or why- and Pyrrha took the opportunity to stab an eye out so it would do what she really wanted. It screamed in pain, and in doing so it opened its mouth.
Magnetic semblance pulling her so she could jump backwards just so to get around the beak, Pyrrha jumped into the maw.
Her shield arm braced the roof. Her heels dug deep into its lower jaw. And her hand found Gambol Shroud's tether, and pulled.
Deep inside the Nevermore's gullet, Jaune's body slid forward. A moment leader- and a shriek from the Grimm as an unnatural chill passed through- the one arm of the body began to move. There were spasms as it did so- if Ren was there, he'd swear he saw flickers of pain in Jaune's ghostly face- but even so Jaune's body pulled on its end of the teather, dragging itself out.
Pyrrha pulled, and she pulled, taking the slack given and passing it onto Blake even as she saw Jaune's body draw closer. Its movement came as a relief, not a horror. Above, she could barely hear Blake's shouts as the girl approached.
"Pyrrha!" Blake was calling, having figured out her intent. "Do you have him?"
"Almost!" Pyrrha grunted. He was a bit out of reach. "Do you have his weapon?" she asked in return.
"You mean his shield?" Blake asked. "It almost hit me in the face, but I caught it! The sword's back there, though!"
Damn. She'd been afraid he'd lose one or the other, but it couldn't be helped. Jaune's body was finally in reach- and grabbed her. Despite the deathly strength of the grip, she felt no fear, and carefully unwrapped gambol shroud from his neck. From above, Blake reeled in her line and prepared for their landing strategy- whatever it might be.
"Hang on, Jaune," she whispered. It might be hard, but with the tools they had- she could use her semblance to jump off Jaune's shield and her own, while Blake landed via clone. If she could just drag him out-
The Nevermore wasn't so obliging. A brief shout from Blake was her only warning she had before it lowered its head and rammed… something. Even though it braced itself- and her- the shock stumbled them. Jaune lost his grip, but was still in Pyrrha's free arm.
And then the Nevermore threw its head back and screamed. The sound wave rattled her enough to destroy what was left of her hold. Pyrrha watched in horror as Jaune- body and spirit- slid into the Grimm's gullet.
Another throw of its head, and Pyrrha was thrown up and out of the maw. Blake caught her in their sudden free fall- sinking Gambol Shroud into one of columns of the ruins they happened to be back near- and swinging both of them to the ground inside the ruins that the rest were taking shelter in.
The landed. They tumbled. Pyrrha protected herself and came to her feet, but it was an automatic, mechanical motion.
Their friends came to them- Yang to Blake, Ren and Nora to Pyrrha.
"Pyrrha? Are you alright?" Nora asked, concerned at the defeated expression on the Champion.
"I don't see- I don't see him with you. Where's Jaune?" Ren asked, concern plain in his eyes.
Blake, silently, held forth the empty scabbard of Crocea Mors.
"You mean-" Yang began, a cultural horror evident despite the earlier nonchalance of blood and gore, "it really ate-?"
Flying over them, the Nevermore screamed, triumphant.
But it was nothing to pained screams from beside them.
/
"That… was not Ms. Schnee," Glynda recognized, as any who had heard the brown note so many times would. "That sounded more like Ms. Rose."
"And Lie Ren," Ozpin grunted as he took another sip, but made no other move.
There was an uncomfortable silence that Glynda felt that she must break.
"Do you… do you suppose we should send in a teacher to assist them?" Glynda asked, uncharacteristically concerned. "They have already completed their mission by collecting the relics, after all," she reasoned. "And a Grimm of that level is far beyond what they can be expected to handle."
Ozpin delayed his response by taking another sip of coffee. Possibly to consider a bit further- possible to troll whoever was listening by putting an unnecessary pause before his answer. Anything to build suspense. Like so. An entire paragraph of delay, a joke that only works by casually leaning on the fourth wall.
"No, not yet," Ozpin decided. "I want to see what they choose to do. Hunters must learn to walk bravely with death as a constant companion, after all," he repeated.
Glynda gave him a look. "Are you doing this just so you can tell the Arcs he died to Grimm rather than your landing strategy exam?" she ultimately asked.
"Of course not," Ozpin demurred "What was the saying, Glynda?" he asked, humming a rhythm whose origin had been long forgotten.
"And with strange avians, even the dead may die?"
/
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End Week Four
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Author Note:
Next update: the (actual) resolution of the Initiation!
Before I hit an all-week road trip, I crammed a lot- the entire initiation field arc- in a single weekend of writing. It was just almost as big as the rest of the story to date, so I didn't want to put it all out- especially since I haven't had time to write for the next week's yet. So this one gets broken into a two-fer- and the second post will be posted sooner than normal. Once I'm settled back down and have moved into my new place, I should be back to the usual posting schedule.
This chapter and the next will be giving a lot of hints about Jaune and start developing his powers and gimicks. Some are being spelled out. Others, not so much- developing them is the main part of the story.