The Emerald Forest. A vast expanse of ancient flora directly adjacent to Beacon Academy, horizontally if not vertically. It was home to a multitude of species such as woodland owls, thrushes, robins and mammals ranging from being as small as field mice to being as large as a deer or the occasional wolf. Of course, they were heavily outnumbered by the forest's Grimm population, which was scaled to the forest's area.
Beowolves and Ursai were by far the most common, being the Grimm most suited to life in the forest. However, it also played home to a few of the more uncommon Grimm varieties; the ones which had grown in size, strength and wisdom over time. Of course, there was nothing in the forest which could prove dangerous to a fully-fledged Huntsman or Huntress; not even to a second year student.
Jaune knew that he had received the training required to understand those creatures, and that in the case of encountering them again, he would be well-equipped to deal with the situation. However, he was rather hoping that they would be able to avoid that, if at all possible. Just because he knew how to deal with a Deathstalker didn't mean that he was particularly excited about tackling one in his current condition, or having his teammates anywhere near one when they were still at the weakest he had ever known them.
Then again, he mused, they're still stronger than I am, so I guess that point's moot. Jaune heard muttering and the sound of vegetation being shifted to his right, and turned his head slightly to see a figure in a white dress moving in his direction. Weiss was almost underneath him before she saw him dangling from Miló, and she just stopped and stared for a moment. Jaune carefully didn't meet her eyes, but he grinned and waved at her anyway.
That did the trick; with a huff, the Schnee heiress turned on her heel for the second time in Jaune's recent memory, and stalked back the way she had come, where Jaune could just see Ruby. He heard a triumphant "You came back!" as the duo moved away, and he chuckled.
He heard more rustling, from his left this time, and he looked over to find Pyrrha Nikos had reached him. "Jaune? Do you have any spots left on your team?" Jaune chuckled as he swung gently.
"I suppose I might be able to fit you in somewhere." Pyrrha smiled at him, a gesture which he returned, before she started to look around, searching for a way to get him down.
"It's alright, Pyrrha; I got this." Jaune's new partner raised an eyebrow at that.
"Oh really? This I have to see." Jaune had learned quite a bit about spear-weapons when training with Pyrrha, and part of that was learning how to deal with being stuck to something. When you could throw a spear with enough force to carry someone several feet, pinning them to surfaces where they had no leverage was a favourite technique, so Pyrrha had taught him a way to deal with it.
Jaune grabbed Miló's shaft with both hands, and pushing off the tree with his feet, managed to cross his ankles over the top of the weapon, so he was hanging from it by his hands and feet. Next, he shuffled along its length until he could remove his hands from the weapon and place them against the tree. Now came the tricky part. Focusing hard, Jaune hit the tree with a double-handed strike, feeling the weapon shift back a bit.
Two more strikes and Miló lost its grip, allowing Jaune to bring himself back to a vertical stance and land in a crouch, Pyrrha's weapon still stuck through his hoodie. He winced at the impact on his feet, knees and hands, but he couldn't roll with a sharp object in such close proximity to him – let alone a sharp object which would move with him. Jaune stood, pulling Miló out of his hoodie and presenting it to the warrior.
"Ta-da!"
Pyrrha laughed and clapped, taking back her weapon. "Very impressive, Jaune. Whichever combat school you attended, they must have had an interesting course; I've never seen that particular move before."
Oops.
When Jaune had first come to beacon, he had stood out due to his lack of skill; though it was unlikely that his advanced knowledge would put him forward beyond the ridiculous combat prowess of his classmates, it could still raise questions, and intense scrutiny would very much be a bad thing. "Oh, it's nothing special. That one...came from my family."
Hopefully that would serve as enough of an explanation for now, and Jaune looked around. Since Weiss had wandered into him, he knew that was in the same place from which he'd started his last visit to the forest – which was a good ways from where he'd wanted to land, and not in accessible view of any landmarks.
And just like that, I'm back to square one. Jaune sighed to himself, then turned back to his companion. "Well, I guess we're partners from now on: your name was Pyrrha, wasn't it?". The red-haired warrior nodded.
"And you're Jaune – Jaune Arc, if I recall." Jaune gave a short bow.
"Indeed, the one and only...to everyone's relief. I didn't catch your last name?"
"Nikos. My name is Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune." She extended a hand, and Jaune took it. He could feel the strength of her hands, her grip far outstripping most men. Pyrrha was the furthest thing from a shrinking violet, and the unfairness of the world taking her way sparked new resolve in Jaune's mind. Not this time.
"Well, I suppose we'd better go in search of this temple. I think North is...that way?" Jaune turned so that the tree had so recently vacated was more or less on his left.
"I'd agree; we were launched northwards, and you were flying in that direction when I..."
"Saved my life?" completed Jaune. "You know you don't have anything to apologize for? I had absolutely no chance of getting out of that situation in one piece. I'd rather sow up my hoodie than my legs." Pyrrha immediately laid a hand on his shoulder for a moment, squeezing slightly in encouragement.
"Oh, Jaune, I'm sure you'd have been fine. You were skilled enough to get down from that tree, so I'm sure that whatever happened would have been light enough for your aura to take care of."
Jaune blushed slightly, looking away. He hadn't expected to be embarrassed...but things weren't the same between he and Pyrrha as they had been once upon a time. Not for him, at least. When he saw Pyrrha as his teacher, he'd had no issue admitting his weakness to her, since it was to get stronger. However, with his new perspective, he didn't really want to seem weak in front of her. But it needed to be done, so he couldn't shy away from it.
"Ah...well, about that. You see...uh...how do I put this..." Jaune scratched the back of his neck, trying to spit the words out.
"Jaune...has your aura not been unlocked yet?" The blonde nodded with a sigh, turning to find green eyes much closer to his own than he had been expecting. He tried to control the blush which was trying valiantly to make its way up his neck and across his face, but he held still as Pyrrha's hand rested on his cheek.
"...No. You see...my father never really approved of my application to Beacon. He didn't believe I had it in me to succeed here, so he refused to unlock my aura for me. He probably thought I'd be forced to come home without it." It wasn't entirely a lie. His family had, in fact, taught him nothing of being a Huntsman, neglecting to even talk about the existence of aura.
Everything he knew had been taught by Pyrrha the teachers of Beacon, but he could hardly come out with that story, so his family it would have to be. Pyrrha seemed to be carrying an internal conversation, which came to a quick conclusion. "All right. Jaune, I'll unlock your aura for you. Just close your eyes and concentrate." Jaune did just that, recalling all the time he had spent training in search of his semblance, all the attacks his aura had nullified, the powerful sensation as the energy moved through him, lending him its strength. Moments later, Pyrrha began the incantation he remembered so well.
"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee."
Jaune had been braced for the moment he knew was coming, but it still rolled over him like a tidal wave. As Pyrrha's aura flowed through him in search of his own, for just a moment, they became completely aware of one another; for less time than the human mind could meaningfully register, both of them knew the other's every thought and feeling, and in doing so created a bond greater even than that of some families.
It stopped almost as soon as it started, not lasting long enough for either Jaune or Pyrrha to interpret what the other was thinking or feeling – but each of them got a sense of the other person. The broad strokes of their character and experience, conveyed on a level far below conscious thought. It was exactly the same as last time; a warrior's strength and honourable grace, shining like the sun. This time, though, Jaune knew what to feel for – and he found it; a deep, aching loneliness, born of the isolation that only the pinnacle can offer.
Jaune felt the familiar power rise up around him, and opened his eyes as the eerie white flames of his aura made themselves seen, blanketing him. Pyrrha was leaning over, taxed by the effort, and Jaune placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Thanks for that, Pyrrha. Are you going to be okay?". The red-head nodded, settling her breathing as she straightened, Jaune removing his hand as she did so. For a moment, Jaune thought he caught a glint in the corner of her eye, but it was gone when she blinked.
"Yes, I'll be fine Jaune. Unlocking someone else's aura is difficult in the best of conditions. However, yours is...interesting.". Jaune blinked; that didn't fit with his memories. Pyrrha hadn't said anything about his aura being unusual, not in all the time she had interacted with it.
"Interesting?" he prompted, wondering what could have precluded such a choice of words.
"Yes," Pyrrha continued, "it's not quite like any I've encountered. Most people's aura has a kind of...definite end to it. It only extends so far from its owner's body, except in special cases like a long range Semblance. But yours... it's almost like it flows through you, rather than from you. A river, instead of a lake.". She shook herself. "I haven't even heard of anything like it before – but from what I can tell, no matter where it's coming from, there's a lot of it.".
Jaune frowned. Like a river... That really was an interesting comparison. He looked to the energy which roiled esoterically around him, but he couldn't identify a difference in its appearance from his previous experiences. "Well...I guess I really am the one and only Jaune Arc, then.".
Pyrrha's thoughtful expression was cracked by a smile, and she nodded. "Yes, indeed. Now then, shall we go?" Jaune nodded and, orienting himself with the direction they'd chosen, he set off, Pyrrha by his side.
The pair walked in silence for several minutes. Jaune was pondering the change which had apparently come over him. It had to be linked to what he had undergone somehow...had Monty sent him back with some kind of gift? Had his Semblance somehow been activated with his aura, and changed how it worked? There were too many possibilities and no way to be sure which were even plausible, let alone correct.
So absorbed was Jaune in his thoughts that when Pyrrha suddenly stopped walking, he took another step forward before following suit. He glanced over; his partner was staring dead ahead, and following her line of sight revealed a familiar rock face, replete with a jagged cave mouth. Jaune immediately dropped low, and after a moment, Pyrrha followed suit. "Jaune...I don't like the look of that cave." Jaune nodded.
"Yeah, me neither. Something about it is giving me a really bad feeling." Jaune wasn't lying; after all, just thinking about that Deathstalker made him shiver, even now. Of course, there was something else too; for some reason, there was a niggling in the back of his head as he stared at the entrance...
"Anyway, Ozpin said we were looking for a temple. That doesn't look like a temple to me; let's just move on." Pyrrha nodded, and the two of them began to move, still hunched over, back into the treeline and on in the direction which they had originally been traveling in. As they moved further and further away, Jaune began to relax – surely they were safe now?
A sudden, ominous creaking disabused him of that motion. Whirling around, Jaune found himself face to face with what he just knew was the same Deathstalker which he had encountered a year in his past. His mind started racing as he tried to put the pieces together and figure out a plan for surviving the next few seconds. A quick analysis of the surrounding area showed Jaune what had been eating at him before; the entrance to the Grimm's lair was already broken open. However, from here, Jaune could see that the rubble was lying more inside the cave than out...someone had actually broken down the entrance from the outside?
That raised a lot more questions, but Jaune's brain was diverting all its power to surviving. The monster was still staring at Jaune and Pyrrha, who was in a stance which allowed her the options of either fleeing or fighting. Memories of tactical combat lessons, training sessions, and even Professor Port's stories, flew together in his mind to formulate a new, potentially suicidal, undeniably stupid plan. "Pyrrha, do as I do!"
With just that warning, Jaune powered to his feet, moving quickly in order to provoke the creature. It responded just as Professor Port had told them it would, using its claws to hem them in while the stinger plunged forward to try and impale them. Here was where Jaune turned the creature's own nature against it. Though he may might be outgunned or outmaneuvered in any fight he might walk into, Jaune had one thing going for him: he'd never met anyone who could out-flinch him. A minor shift of stance and a turn, and the stinger moved straight between them both, Pyrrha also having dodged the projectile.
Somehow finding time to take a deep breath and fire off a quick prayer in his mind, Jaune leaped forward, hanging onto the armoured black appendage. Pyrrha joined him, and both were raised into the air as the creature retracted its tail. They both held on doggedly as they were shaken around, until Jaune saw the creature's legs bend backward in readiness. "Alright, here's our ticket out of here!"
Jaune's partner looked at him like was crazy – he probably was at this point. But even now, she placed her trust in him as a show of faith. So, as the Deathstalker reared back and launched its tail forward, both students released their grips, resulting in a soaring arc above the forest.
Jaune knew he had only seconds to discern where they were going to land and develop a strategy, but as a familiar stone structure come into view, everything clicked. A glance up showed a figure in red falling from the sky on a trajectory just to the right of Jaune's and the left of Pyrrha's.
Jaune managed to throw out his right arm, and Pyrrha mirrored him with her left just in time; as they passed on either side of Ruby, each grabbed hold of her and took her with them. Both their auras flared as they crashed into the upper layer of an unfortunate tree, shearing the top off it. The trio fell to the ground in a clatter of metal, and Jaune found Ruby's elbow seemed to have made a spirited attempt to embed itself in his stomach.
Pyrrha had landed slightly apart from them, and thus was spared any such injuries. Immensely thankful that his aura was up and running, and even more so that he was naturally gifted with large reserves, Jaune wheezed his way onto his feet, Ruby and Pyrrha simply standing. A call of "Ruby?!" made Yang's presence clear, as she ran over to the slightly ruffled group.
"Yang!" replied Ruby, her freefall of moments ago apparently forgotten. Looking past the sisters, Jaune could see Blake standing on the steps of the temple, watching on in bemusement. If he remembered his timing, then about now was when...
A massive crashing from the opposite side of the clearing heralded the appearance of an Ursa, demolishing trees as it seemed to rampage in the party's direction...only to fall moments later, leaving Nora Valkyrie to roll over its back. "Aw...it's broken." As the loosely grouped package of energy, force and leg-breaking enthusiasm which the rest of the world knew as Nora examined her erstwhile transport, Ren finally caught up, breathing heavily.
While he unknowingly made a plea to empty air that it never repeat its actions, Nora happily retrieved a White Tower piece from the selection available. A quick examination of the plinths revealed that only one White Knight piece remained; Blake and Yang must already have retrieved theirs. Jaune looked around, doing a headcount: with himself, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora, team JNPR was present. But only Yang, Blake and Ruby were in the clearing with them – where was...
An angry call of "How could you leave me?!" echoed through the clearing, as the now assembled seven looked upward. Weiss Schnee was dangling from a Nevermore's oversized talon...well, she had been. Now she was divebombing in their direction. Jaune looked around; no time to get himself in a position to slow her down before impact. He looked over to Ruby.
"Hey, think you can catch her?" Ruby shook her head to clear it, before drawing Crescent Rose and leaping into the sky, the remaining six students scattering in order to avoid the bullets which served as Ruby's means of propulsion. Team RWBY's youngest member easily intercepted her falling partner, turning her vertical plummet into a more controllable arc, which Ruby landed by leaving twin furrows of dug earth in her heels' wake. The image of Ruby carrying Weiss bridal-style brought a smile to his face, and he shook his head as Weiss demanded Ruby put her on her feet.
That brought both teams together. Jaune stood back a bit, trying to imprint the memory in his mind. He wanted this one to last a lifetime. Unfortunately, the moment was broken by the arrival of the Deathstalker. If creatures of Grimm could be said to have one positive trait, it would have to be their tenacity. A cry overhead signaled the return of the Nevermore, and Jaune drew Crocea Mors instantly as his mind calculated plans based around the seven people he had available.
All present save Jaune, Pyrrha and Ren yelped something along the lines of "Is that a Deathstalker?! Where the hell did that come from!" Well, Nora was excepted too; she just smiled more than usual.
Jaune remembered this moment well. It was one of the things he'd been debating since last night. Should he change what happened here? Jaune was sure that with the right motivation he could get everyone working together, and he was certain that they could at least disable the Deathstalker eight on one...but in the end, this was a pivotal moment for Ruby and Weiss, where they came to understand one another. It had to remain a fixed point. So, as Ruby took off on her own with a cry, her attack failing to have any impact whatsoever, Jaune kept himself from moving.
He saw Pyrrha beginning to move out of the corner of his eye too, and he placed a single finger surreptitiously on his hand. She turned to face him, angry questioning on her face, and he jerked his head towards Weiss, whose face was cycling through most of the emotional spectrum as Yang sprinted toward her younger sister. Pyrrha looked to the heiress, then over to the now running Ruby, and gritted her teeth as she reached the same conclusion Jaune had – albeit her reasons were more to do with honour and respect between warriors. Whereas Jaune's were due to time travel and a plan which would be a year in the making.
Jaune kept still even as the Nevermore pinned Ruby in place, Yang brought to a halt by the shower of deadly projectiles. He saw the Deathstalker get into range for its tail, and then he felt the sudden rush of air to fill the now empty void where Weiss had stood moments ago. The heiress crossed the distance to Ruby in the blink of an eye, Myrtenaster flashing blue as she drew on the Ice Dust within. A flash of light and the crack of freezing moisture filled the air as an icy wall rose between Weiss, Ruby and the Deathstalker, trapping the monster's tail. Weiss crouched down to Ruby's level, and though Jaune didn't hear their actual words, the meaning passing between them was clear.
The partners returned to the main group with Yang in tow, the blonde probably having done more harm to her sister through hugging than the Deathstalker had managed. "So," Jaune began, "while that was an impressive display, I don't think it'll hold that thing forever. Anyone else in favour of getting what we came for and legging it before that thing gets free?" Weiss nodded.
"I concur. There's no sense in dilly-dallying with our objective right in front of us." Ruby nodded as well.
"Let's just get an artifact each and head to the cliffs; that was what we were told to do in the first place."
Jaune and Ruby moved into the ruined stone structure, reaching for the two remaining artifacts at the same time. Ruby claimed the White Knight, the counterpart to her sister's piece, while Jaune grabbed hold of the White Rook piece, and so the futures of Team JNPR and Team RWBY were cemented. The two grinned at each other as they retrieved their artifacts; they'd made it this far. Things were looking up now.
Jaune and Ruby returned to the group, and Ruby immediately gestured for everyone to follow along as she raced in the direction of the cliffs, their peaks just visible over the rise directly ahead. Jaune happily let her take the spotlight, relieved that things seemed to be back on track, despite the upsets of the day. He jogged alongside Pyrrha near the middle of the group, sheathing Crocea Mors so he could run more effectively. He was beginning to tire and he knew that he needed as much energy as he could muster for what came next.
It took about five minutes to reach the ruined stone constructions which led to the cliffs, and Jaune spotted the Nevermore perched atop the tallest tower even as he draw Crocea Mors and moved to place his back against a nearby pillar. Pyrrha joined him, Miló and Akoúo̱ ready and waiting. The others were also ready for combat, standing one pair to a pillar out of the Nevermore's view. "Well that's great." moaned Yang, and as if on cue, the Deathstalker burst out of the tree line behind them.
The students scattered, running for the stone bridge as Ren called for Nora to distract the Nevermore. Bright pink explosions buffeted the Grimm creature, which banked away to break line-of-sight, and Nora was quickly pulled from the Deathstalker's path by Weiss, while Blake and Ren used their mobility to evade the monster's attacks. Jaune knew that this was when he needed to make a difference...something to even the playing field somewhat.
He racked his brain for a moment, then finally came to a possibility. Once he and Pyrrha reached the bridge, instead of running on, he turned and stood with her as she provided covering fire for Blake and Ren. While he still had time, he faced along the bridge toward the retreating Nora, Weiss, Yang and Ruby. "Incoming on the left!" he yelled, his warning carrying and alerting his allies to the approaching Nevermore.
He couldn't wait to see what they did with it though, as Ren and Blake reached them. Instead of continuing along the bridge, they heeded his warning and after checking for themselves, they stood alongside Jaune and Pyrrha on the bridge, facing the Deathstalker.
Moments later, the whole structure shook as the Nevermore crashed through the bridge, throwing the rest of their allies forward. Jaune knew that Nora would get over to this side of the bridge in order to help Ren, so he turned to Blake. "Blake, Nora's going to be here in a seconds; when she gets here, go help Ruby and the others!" He didn't take the time to check if she believed him or not – she was a skilled warrior, and she would make the best choice when the time came. Until then...
Jaune raised his shield as the Deathstalker's claw slashed at him, setting his stance and pushing as hard as he could at just the right time, stopping the strike in its tracks. Pyrrha and Ren were fending off the other appendage with gunfire and Akoúo̱. Blake dashed in, landing several strikes which failed to penetrate the Deathstalker's armour, before Nora made her entrance. The colossal strike she landed on the Grimm failed to truly harm it, but even as she was moving backward, Blake was using Gambol Shroud to swing her way towards Yang and the others.
Team JNPR faced the Deathstalker, and for a moment Jaune felt like nothing had changed at all. "Pyrrha, we'll get the claws; Ren, go for the tail; Nora, get ready for the final blow!" Jaune led the charge, brandishing his weapons, adrenaline pumping his body to the limit as he absorbed another hit from the monster, before bringing his blade around in an overhead arc, biting into the gap between the Deathstalker's armour plates.
Loud clangs and more fleshy noises beside him spoke to Pyrrha's own assault on the creature, while Ren flipped overhead and managed to swing himself up behind the Deathstalker's stinger, emptying round after round from Stormflower into it.
"Okay, disengage!" Jaune fell back, still guarding with Crocea Mors, while Pyrrha did so as well. The monster's stinger was hanging loose, dangling precariously over the main body.
"Pyrrha!" Jaune called, and she didn't need to be told any more than that. Throwing Akoúo̱ with deadly accuracy, Jaune's partner severed the stinger, its own weight driving it down through the Grimm's armour.
"Okay, Nora! Hit it!" Jaune crouched, shield above his head, Pyrrha following his lead. He felt Nora land on the platform they presented, and they both launched themselves at the same time as Nora fired Magnhild, propelling her in a high but gentle arc through the air as she laughed. Jaune took the opportunity to step back and pull Crocea Mors into a guard position, and just in time; Nora fell from the heavens like a lightning bolt, driving the stinger all the way through the Deathstalker. Numerous chips of armour and stone bouncing off his shield as he charged forward, up and over the corpse. No sooner had he and Pyrrha made it off the bridge than it collapsed into the abyss below.
The four of them panted heavily, trying to catch their breath after the confrontation. Jaune looked up from his crouching position to find that Ren was still on his feet this time. Hah. He didn't get thrown by the Deathstalker. It's a little thing...but it's a start. Finally pulling himself together, Jaune pulled himself together enough to stand, and watching Team RWBY demolish the Nevermore with a flawlessly executed display of teamwork.
As Ruby's scream went higher and higher alongside the Grimm she was dragging, it carried across to the four onlookers, until finally Ruby reached the cliff's peak, and the monster's head flew from its shoulders. As the titanic body collapsed back down the cliff, Jaune looked at the small figure in red whose cloak trailed a red cloud behind her, creating a picture straight out of legend. "Wow.", was all he could manage to say. Even seeing this for the second time, it was a sight to behold.
Jaune shook his head before turning around to face his fellows. "I don't know about you guys, but I really want to outdo that."
"Ooooh, yes." confirmed Nora, as despair consumed Ren's face at the prospect. Pyrrha's gaze lingered on Ruby for a moment longer before she turned to face Jaune.
"I have to admit, I can't help but see that as a kind of challenge...yes, a challenge, and one I'd gladly accept." Jaune grinned as Ren held his face in his hands.
"Then it's settled; we four will grow stronger and stronger until we can outdo those guys. All in favour?" He punched his fist into the air, closely followed by Nora and Pyrrha, while Ren held out for a moment before joining in with a resigned sigh.
"Well, that's all well and good," noted Pyrrha, "but how can you be so sure that we'll be a team?"
Jaune smiled. "Oh come on. How could we not be after all this?"
He turned around again, eyes scanning the vicinity. The bridge was destroyed. A large swathe of the forest was completely wrecked. All four of them here were basically wiped, and from their body language team RWBY weren't at their best either.
"On the bright side, I think we've caused enough damage on the way here to scare away everything on the way back"
Author's Note
Well, this has been quite the experience. I made the decision early on that I was going to write the Emerald Forest as one piece, but I have to admit that I might have underestimated just how much content that actually entailed, even following just from Jaune's point of view. This may well end up being the longest chapter I ever write, depending on whether or not another arc / event is important enough to write uninterrupted.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this even partly as much as I enjoyed writing it, and I hope you'll leave some comments or criticism as a review. Enjoy your day!
EDIT: Thanks to dragoon109, who pointed out that Jaune was definitely stronger than I was portraying him to be. Some edits have been made, so this should have been corrected.