Hello everyone! Wow it has been forever since I have updated this story, and I am super sorry! School and just being lazy stopped me from finishing this chapter, but I hope it came out okay! I hope! The end was fun to write, and the next few will be as well! I actually have the planned out so they should go smoothly.
Also, I published my new story! Please go check it out, I will be writing it along side this one if it is successful. just like this one if it doesn't get a lot of attention within the first three chapters I probably stop it, or if I don't get a lot of feed back because I love hearing everyone's thoughts, even if its just a handful of people. But I can always rely on that one guy who gives me very detailed responses which I absolutely love. Anyway I don't know if I should put in the Pyrrha and Jaune fight now or later on in the story. And by fight I mean like swords and stuff, not verbal fighting. I can't do that to Arkos man ;-; But who is hype for Volume 4!?
There will be a AN at the bottom discussing future events, so make sure to check that out.
Chapter 12: The return
Ozpin's office: Night before
Ozpin stared at his scroll, watching the events at the white fang base unfold. His face slowly turning into a scowl as he watched Jaune tear through the white fang base with ease. Not only had he gotten over the wall, but managed to distract nearly the entire base by releasing the locks on the gates, letting the Grimm flood in. He had to admit, it was a perfect plan. The heaviest armor and forces were too focused on keeping the Grimm outside occupied, not thinking about other people sneaking in the back door.
Brown eyes focused intently on Jaune as white flames started to erupt around the base, burning everything in sight. Ozpin let out a sigh and closed his eyes, he hoped that it would not come to this. On the bright side Jaune had unlocked more of his semblance, but it seemed that he was starting to give in to the dark side of it. The sound of heels filled his ears as Glynda walked up to his left side, holding her own scroll with the video feed open. He felt a soft hand rest on his shoulder, a familiar feeling of comfort. One he definitely needed.
"Ozpin, this is starting to get out of hand. We should have Raven intervene." Ozpin slowly opened his eyes to watch the video play out, hoping that Jaune would have changed back to normal magically. To his misfortune, it seemed the influence of his semblance had grown during the small time he had his eyes closed. He sighed and closed his eyes again, rubbing his temples with one hand. "Tell Raven to get him safe, and send her the details on the aura seal. I hope we don't need it, but give it to her regardless." The soft hand left his shoulder as Glynda started to type to type on her scroll. A few seconds later she closed it and sighed, the atmosphere of the room growing into one of stress. "It is done, I hope she can reach him before its too late."
Ozpin nodded and reached for his mug, hoping that it would release some of his stress that had been building for the last few hours. As the warm coffee spilled down his throat he felt no relief. His mug settled down onto the table with a soft clink. "I hope so too Glynda, I hope so too..."
Hours later
A cold breeze brushed across my bare chest as I stared up at the ceiling of the cave. The events of the day before played in my mind, it had some how gone differently then I had imagined. At first, I thought that I would have been able to get to the white fang base easily, then the whole cavern thing happened, which had helped me in some way, but then also introduced a new problem. I slowly turned my head to my right to see Ember sticking out of the hard floor. The light from outside reflecting off of the hilt, casting a hexagon shape to glow on the wall. I noticed that my left eye was back to normal, and in fact wasn't hurting or bleeding any more. That was a huge relief, what ever that mysterious woman did helped.
Speaking of her, I glanced around the cave to notice the cave was empty, except for a smothered fire and my bloodied clothes lying on a nearby rock. With a grunt I sat up, a jolt of pain shooting through my chest causing me to halt my ascent. I grit my teeth and continued to sit up, even if the pain was immense. After a few slow, agonizing seconds I was able to sit up fully, the aches of my muscles now present since I had finally used them. I glanced down to my chest to see different bruises across my torso, my aura most likely healing all of the major cuts and breaks while I was unconscious. I noticed a scar above my heart that looked like a small cog, followed by smaller vein like scars running up my neck. Beyond that I couldn't tell, I couldn't feel them either as I rubbed my fingers over them which surprising.
The sound of rushing wind filled my ears as something appeared behind me out of the blue. I spun on my heel and reached for Ember, but before my fingers could reach the hilt a gloved hand grabbed my wrist, followed by a large red blade resting a centimeter from my Adam's apple. My eyes flicked to the right just in time to see a red portal close as well as a slightly intimidating white mask slowly inch towards my face. Suddenly the grip on my wrist loosened followed by the red blade leaving my throat and sliding into a matching black sheathe. I rubbed my wrist as my eyes met the mysterious ladies red orbs, they seemed cold and focused, void of any emotion. She reached up to her face and pulled the mask away, setting it down on a nearby stone with her sword.
"Thanks for nearly killing me." I glanced to a duffel bag on the floor, a few feet away from where her portal was. My eyes flicked back to her as she sat down facing away from me and towards the entrance of the cave. "There are fresh clothes in the bag for you, hurry and change so we can be on our way." Her voice came out stale and stern, almost robotic and just like her eyes, void of emotion. I decided against arguing and quickly dressed myself in the new clothing, luckily it was similar to what I had on before, jeans, a T-shirt, and a black jacket.
After switching into the new clothing, I walked towards Ember and pulled it from the stone, checking for any chips or breaks. Luckily it was still perfect, minus the dried blood and dirt. "If you try anything against me, I will not hesitate to kill you." I slowly looked to her and shook my head, like I would try anything, I knew she could kill me in a blink of an eye. "Why are listening to me any way? I have never seen you before until last night after you did, what ever you did." Her head turned slightly, most likely thinking on how to react. Instead of speaking she stood up and pulled her sword from its sheathe, swinging it in one wide arc creating a red and black portal out of thin air.
She sheathed her sword and grabbed her mask before nodding towards the portal with a stern expression. I glared back for a second before walking towards it, a cold sensation washing over me as I walked through it. My vision blurred and twisted, the feeling in my limbs going numb before Ozpin's office came into view. I stumbled forward upon feeling my legs suddenly start working again after the transition from the cave all the way to Beacon. The woman came through a few seconds later, soon after the red portal closed revealing Ozpin and Goodwitch behind the large wooden desk. A small grin present on his face.
"Welcome back Jaune, I hope Raven wasn't too harsh on you." I looked to the red themed woman to see her keep a blank expression as she stared at Ozpin. "I did what you instructed, making sure to keep his semblance under control." My eyes flicked between the two older hunter's a silent battle raging between them as their eyes remained locked. Goodwitch apparently decided enough was enough and coughed into her hand before tapping Ozpin's shoulder. He immediately looked away from her and towards me. "There is no need to be so stiff here Raven, this boy is no longer a threat as long as that seal is placed on him." Raven's gaze lingered on him for a little while longer before her crimson eyes looked to me.
"He was close to loosing control by the time I found him, but I was able to stop it in time. Hopefully your seal will keep him in check." I flinched at her words, even if I had little to no idea about what they were talking about. Obviously it involved my semblance, and the thing on my chest probably connected to the dark Jaune in my mind, actually I hadn't even felt his presence since last night. Huh, guess I did kind of understand them..
"-kay Jaune?" I blinked and glanced around the room, apparently I had missed what ever they were talking about while in my thoughts. "Sorry, what did you say?" Raven brought a hand to her face and mumbled something about useless huntsman, she quickly brought her hand down and looked over to a very annoyed Goodwitch who was, to my fortune, was looking at her. "I said how are you feeling? Anything feel out of place?" I bit my lip and shrugged, now that I thought about it nothing felt different, besides a soreness where the brand was. "Nothing really, just a little sore."
Ozpin hummed and looked to a nearby scroll before standing up and walking towards the large window looking over Vale. I glanced down to my hand and realized I was still holding Ember loosely, I sheathed it and reached for my shield only for my fingers to meet thin air. I quickly realized that it was broken in the battle with Hayden, which was kind of bad since I relied on such object. I also don't know any smiths in the area so it seemed I would be stuck with out one. "I won't waste your time with a report, I'm sure I will see the extents of your battle in the coming days, but what I do want is for you to be prepared for what is to come. That attack on the white fang's base will not go unnoticed, so I want you to practice with Raven for the time being."
A pregnant pause filled the room before Raven suddenly gasped, the information just reaching her brain. "No, I am not staying here to train him, I have much more important things to do." She quickly glanced to me before looking back to Ozpin, who was still looking out the window not moving a muscle. His head slowly turned, a single brown eye coming into view. "This is not a discussion Raven, you will train him to help fight the fang, you can still help him while continuing your projects, I'm not telling you to watch over him 24/7." I watched her hands flex as they once again stared into each others eyes. Eventually she gave in and let out a sigh before looking to the ground. "What do I have to teach him?" Ozpin smiled and walked to his desk and sat down, resting his cane against the wood.
"All I ask is that you perfect his fighting abilities, make sure he can survive." She sighed again and glanced towards me, her gaze softening slightly before switching back to being stern. "Fine, but I will not hold back because he is just a student." My eyes widened slightly as I looked to Ozpin to see him smile and nod. "But I don't have a shield any more, I don't think I can fight with just a sword.." Ozpin grabbed his scroll and typed in a buttons before setting it down back onto the desk with a content smile. "You will in a few days, once the metal comes in, you can design it in your own way, there actually is a black smith here at Beacon." I blinked a few times before sighing. How am I not surprised, this place has everything.
"The students are still in class, but I will excuse you from classes until after the dance, which is this Friday, so you have two days to prepare, that is of course if you are going." I only shrugged in response, I had completely forgotten about it actually, with the events that had happened in the last few days, I wasn't too surprised. Raven turned and walked towards the elevators, her crimson eyes flicking towards me before back towards the metal doors. She tapped the button and turned back towards us, a stern expression still on her face. "No one should know of my being here Ozpin, you know that it must be kept a secret. The same goes for you Jaune." She glared at me before looking towards Ozpin. I swallowed hard and shifted my gaze towards the older man hoping to find out some information on why it should be secret.
A sigh escaped my lips as I saw Ozpin smile and nod without a single word. The elevator dinged behind me, followed by the scratching of the doors sliding apart. I sluggishly walked back to the elevator and stepped in next to Raven who was staring directly ahead, her stern expression making me slightly nervous. The doors slid closed without a sound, and as soon as they closed a gloved finger was pointing in my face. I stared at the finger for a moment before looking to the red eyes boring into me. "Listen Jaune, I don't have anything personal against you, but that doesn't mean I won't go hard on you. To survive out in the world, you need to be strong and control your emotions. I saw your fight with Hayden, and you let your feelings control you. You won't let that happen anymore, right?"
I quickly nodded and looked back towards the elevator doors, hoping the growing fear would subside. Before the elevator could reach the ground floor, I felt my limbs go tingly again as red enveloped my vision before white tile came into view. I stumbled forward and spun around quickly to see a red blade come flying towards my throat. My eyes went wide as I dodged the blade and rolled to the side, back peddling to get some distance from Raven. This time I felt the cold gaze fall upon me as she lowered her extended arm and brought it back down to her side. "Good, your reflexes seem to be in order. I know you have been through a lot in the last few hours, but Ozpin is forcing me to do this. I'm sure your aura hasn't fully replenished, but you shouldn't need it after we are done." I nodded and quickly glanced around the room to see that we were now in one of the sparring rooms, an older one it seemed since the tile around me was cracked and chipped.
After looking around the room I settled into a combat stance and slowly drew Ember from its sheathe and placed it in front of me. Raven slid her sword back into its sheathe and inspected my stance with a neutral gaze. After a few moments of silence she shifted her stance and hovered her hand over the hilt of her weapon. "Your stance is good, but not perfect." She quickly closed the distance between us and swiped her leg at my feet, I leaped backwards, narrowly avoid the black heel. Before I could celebrate how ever, she drew her sword and went for a horizontal slash. I blocked with Ember, but I struggled to keep it in place as the red blade dragged across mine. I felt vulnerable without my shield, which was probably what Raven was trying to prove.
I rolled to the side as she swung down in a vertical slice. I quickly gained my footing back and slashed at her, I saw her smirk before she spun on one foot and kicked the back of my knee. As I collapsed I felt the flat of her blade strike my wrist, causing me to drop my blade to the floor. Her other heel came up and slammed into my forehead, launching me back with a loud crack. I tumbled across the tile and slid to a stop. Heels clacked across the floor as Raven walked over to me, Ember in her hand. I opened one eye to look up at her, a small smirk on her lips. "You lasted longer than most people fighting me, then again, you aren't most people." She dropped Ember to the floor and took a few steps away waiting for me to stand up again.
I slowly wrapped my fingers around Embers hilt and stood up to full height. I felt slightly nervous as Raven watched me, her smirk gone. Replaced by a small frown. "Jaune, why are you not using your Semblance?" I stared at her for a moment before also realizing I hadn't activated my Instinct, for what ever reason. "I don't really know actually, I hadn't thought about it all morning, maybe because I was subconsciously scared of doing it after last nights events.." I glanced to the floor, slowly rolling my shoulders to relieve some of the tension building. I heard Raven's heals scrape across the floor then stop, making me tense up slightly.
"Activate it Jaune, I want to test it out myself." I watched as she fiddled with her sheathe, pressing on the dust cylinder as it changed positions. With a sigh I closed my eyes and focused what little aura I had left into my semblance, expecting something noticeable to happen. But as I opened my eyes, I started to feel the effects of Instinct, nothing out of the ordinary. Which I wasn't complaining, better to not have to deal with my dark thoughts while fighting a strong opponent, or rather not deal with them at all. I saw Raven staring at me with interest, her eyes locked with mine as I studied her figure. Her aura gave off a red hue around her body, other than that nothing seemed different then when I had used it before. I nodded before getting into my stance again, leveling out my arm, remembering that I no longer had a shield to protect my left side.
Her heel scrapped across the tile before she sprinted towards me, much faster than before. Her sword came flying out of its sheathe at an unbelievable speed. Well, unbelievable for any other person. I tilted my body to the side and watched as the sword whizzed past me in slow motion, a small grin growing across my face as I spun away from her. I noticed she looked confused for a moment before hardening her gaze and rushing towards me once more. The red blade came at me from all angles, she was very skilled with such a long blade. But that wasn't too surprising, she was a full blown huntress after all. With a small sigh I twisted my sword and blocked one of her strikes, locking us in place. I pushed against her, slightly surprised when she started to get pushed back. My confidence was quickly crushed when the world started to spin as I plummeted towards the tile.
My back crashed against the floor with a muffled thud. My head spun still, but I was forced to refocus my gaze as I saw a blurry red object come flying towards my head. Said object pierced the tile where my head used to be moments ago, small chunks of tile flying out from the impact point. I slowly got to my feet, a wave of drowsiness washing over me as I stood. Knowing that I would most likely not win this match, at least with the amount of aura I had, I quickly decided to at least get one hit off on the indestructible woman standing in front of me. I gripped Ember tight and rushed forward, staying low to the ground just in case I needed to dodge. Our blade crashed into each other, small sparks flying out into the air before disappearing. With each strike against her blade I started to feel the drowsiness more and more, almost to the point of passing out.
It seemed that she noticed too since her attacks started to become stronger and more coordinated, probably trying to put me out of my misery. But in my daze I did start to notice a pattern in her strikes. I smirked before switching Ember into my left hand in a reverse grip, the blocking her next strike. Her eyes went wide slightly as my right fist came barreling towards her unprotected face. But just as my fist was going to hit her, a iron hard object struck my stomach, causing me to double over as the sound of the hit echoed throughout the room. All the air in my lungs left at once as my aura cracked and shattered, my semblance deactivating at the same time. I slid to my knees and placed one hand on the ground to hold my torso off the floor. With a quick glance I realized that the object that struck me was Ravens knee, which probably left a bruise at how hard she hit me.
I watched as she slid her sword into its sheathe and knelled down beside me, a single gloved hand resting on my shoulder as I tried to catch my breath. "Sorry about hitting you so hard, you surprised me with that attack. My reflexes took over." I tried to say something but the only thing that came out was a hoarse groan. She patted my shoulder before standing up and looking down to her scroll. "We will leave of here for today, you should get some rest since you just lost the last bit of aura you had left." I glared at her, trying to look as mad as I could muster. She only shrugged and snapped her fingers, a red portal appearing soon after. "I will contact you soon, but the next time we practice will most likely be after the dance. So as I said before, get some rest and relax. You will need it."
I watched as she walked through her portal and disappeared, the portal closing with a final whoosh before leaving me alone in the room. With a final sigh I lazily wrapped my fingers around Ember and slid it into its sheathe, then stood up, holding my stomach as it ached from not having any aura to heal the growing bruise.
I jumped slightly as the doors to the training room busted open, each metal door slamming against the walls with enough force to nearly crack them. That's when my eyes met the emerald green of a very angry looking red head. Pyrrha's boots clacked against the tile as she nearly stomped toward me, her face twisted into a deep from. As she drew closer I realized her fists were clenched and her beautiful red eyebrows were knitted into a angry expression. I closed my eyes and waited for the pain to hit me, but instead I felt something slam into me, but not in a painful way. I opened my eyes to see a red pony tail in front of my face, as well as the feeling of my jacket slowly becoming damp. I tilted my head slightly to see Pyrrha's head pushed into my shoulder as well as her arms wrapped tightly around my back, pulling me into her.
After a moments hesitation, I wrapped my arms around her back as well, resting my cheek on her head as she continued to cry into my shoulder, he sobs becoming slightly louder as her arms tightened around my midsection. After a few minutes her crying stopped as she pulled away slowly, her arms falling to her sides. Our eyes locked, her beautiful green orbs reddened slightly from her tears. It was a state that I thought I would never see her in. "I-I thought you had died... and I thought I would never see you again." Her head lowered slightly as another tear dropped from her nose onto the tile. I quickly pulled her into another hug, pulling her close as another wave of tears flooded from the invincible girl. I swallowed hard and tilted her head towards mine, a small smile gracing my lips. "I would never leave you, much rather die because I know you would have brought me back just to kill me yourself."
My smile grew as she started to laugh, covering her mouth with her hand and closing her eyes as she giggled. "Yeah, I probably would." I started to laugh with her, a large smile on her face as the tears stopped flowing. After our laughing fit, she wiped her eyes with her hand and became serious once more, our eyes locking as the atmosphere of the room dropped from happy once again. Her voice was soft, but caring. I also realized that as I stared into her eyes, I was able to read her emotions. The most I saw was worry, but another emotion was tucked away behind it, but it was so well hidden I couldn't even tell. "Jaune, promise me I won't lose you. Not again." I smiled and placed my forehead against hers, our noses centimeters from each other. "I promise you won't lose me, not now. Not ever." She smiled and hugged me again much tighter than before.
As she pulled away I wanted to grab her and pull her back, something in my heart had sparked to life, a small flame that had been extinguished for years. But now wasn't the time, I pushed the feeling down for now, until I could think straight and not off of instinct. Her bright smile cheered me up instantly as I started to head towards the exit, the spartan right next to me. "Team RWBY wanted to see you, as well as the rest of my team. Yang was very adamant about talking to you for some reason, but she wouldn't say why, but her and Ruby are stuck in Vale with Professor Oobleck on some delivery mission, so you'll have to wait." I nodded and happily sighed as we walked through the halls of Beacon once more. Even though I was gone for a few days, it had felt like years.
Perhaps... life at Beacon was different from out on the trail. Here I could trust people... And finally have friends.
Chapter end.
Once again, sorry for the huuuuuuuge delay! Most was school, but the rest was just me not wanting to write. Like I had the ideas and everyhting but I just couldn't do it! Don't worry, next chapter I have all planned out and it should be up in the next two weeks. Please please please review and tell me your thoughts! Even if its just to send me angry messages of how it took so long to type this, I just want to hear something from you all!
On another note, go check out my new story! I think its a pretty cool premise, so please give me ya feed back on that if you check it out!
Till next time, Yukas out.