"It's morning, it's morning, it's morning~!" Jaune groaned as Nora's sing-song voice barged into his psyche and got his brain into gear. Something about the sheer amount of energy she projected all the time was definitely infectious. Still, as Jaune cracked his eyes open, he couldn't help but wish it would be a little more infectious. He felt like a wreck; he didn't know how much actual sleep he'd managed to get, but with how he felt, it certainly wasn't enough. Still, as he sat up in the manner normally reserved for the recently resurrected, he forced himself to get out of bed and search blearily for his gear.
Field trip...Forever Fall...clothes...sword...coffee... Jaune made the list into a mantra, cycling around and around in his mind as he dragged his discarded armour into a wardrobe to change. Thus garbed, he re-entered the main room buckling on Crocea Mors. His fingers fumbled slightly, and he frowned. That wasn't normal; his training had instilled movements like deploying his shield and attaching his weapon so deeply into him that they were only marginally more difficult than breathing. He hadn't fumbled like that in months.
I'm more fatigued than I thought... he thought to himself, even as he shook his head in an effort to achieve some kind of awareness. Looking around, he found that his teammates were all missing, though the wardrobe doors were closed. I must have passed Ren walking out... He settled down on his bed to await them, his head resting in his hands. The fatigue was most likely from all the emotional turmoil last night had unearthed. He'd just push through it, like he had when he spent too much time cramming for tests. And it wasn't like this would be a difficult day in any case; he remembered where the Ursa had attacked Cardin and him, so he could just steer his team clear of that particular area.
Nora was, of course, the first of the three to finish changing. Ren joined them moments later, and maybe ten seconds later Pyrrha emerged. With JNPR assembled, Jaune led the charge for breakfast. The dining hall yielded the usual array of cereal, pancakes, fruits and fry-up items, but Jaune found that his appetite didn't allow him to eat his usual fill. His brow furrowed when he barely managed to finish a half-stack of pancakes. I suppose it's my fatigue at work...
Putting the thoughts out of his mind as being largely unimportant in the face of briefing his team, Jaune's eyes swept across his team mates. Ren, as usual, was taking his time eating. Although, when juxtaposed with Nora, who could demolish pancakes as quickly as she could demolish Grimm, his movements appeared almost glacial. Jaune turned a little to check on Pyrrha, who had already finished her meal – not that he'd expected anything else. "Alright team, listen up. Since I've got free reign now, I think I'll make use of it and explain the day ahead."
Ren stopped eating immediately, looking up even as Nora's usual well of breakfast chatter dried up for a moment. Pyrrha also turned to look at him. It was to be expected; after all, Jaune was going to be providing information on the future. It was a momentous occasion...and it's also a chance for them to see if you were really telling the truth, muttered the insidious little voice that Jaune associated with self doubt. He ignored it, a task that his flagging energy made more difficult than usual, and laid out the basics of what was coming.
"Today will be a trip to Forever Fall; it's a heavily forested area not far from the academy, and the trees there produce a particular type of red sap. Collecting jars of that sap will be our assignment, one jar to a person." Inspiration struck, and Jaune added, "The sap, though it smells good, isn't fit for human consumption." Ren looked his leader in the eye, and Jaune thought he did a good job of flashing a fearful micro-expression and glancing at Nora without making it clear to the others. The martial artist interpreted his meaning easily, resolving to keep a close eye on his partner during the process.
"Also, you all need to be on your guard. There are Grimm in the forest; I don't have a figure count of any kind, but I can definitely state that there are Ursa. Of course, these should remain a secondary threat that we can avoid – the primary danger this trip comes in the form of CRDL." His three team-mates all blinked at once. Ren and Pyrrha had the tact not to turn and stare at the aforementioned team, but Nora just turned to bore holes in them with her eyes.
Cardin and his team were eating a few benches across the hall. After the incident with Velvet early on in the term, Cardin had been training in vain to get back at Jaune. In combat training, Jaune's skill was well above Cardin's, so instead of being matched with the great lummox he occasionally traded blows with members of RWBY - though more often with a few of the classmates he'd never got to know very well, but were around the same level of skill as he was. This lack of interaction hadn't stopped the pointed glares that CRDL's leader mass-produced in Jaune's presence, nor had it put an end to his attempts at embarrassing Jaune in day-to-day life.
Those efforts had been futile, of course. The blonde had known every move he would try, and when Cardin had tried to activate his shield in a doorway, he had 'accidentally' turned sideways, so that his weapon's deployment caught the boy right in the chest. He'd flown a good few feet, and Jaune had been inspired to try and work out some technique which could utilise that little trick. Why did I never think of this before? he'd wondered, even as he called out to Cardin, "Sorry about that. I can be ever so clumsy sometimes.". He'd received a low sigh in return - he had expected a growl, but decided that the sentiment was probably the same.
The attempts had been tailing off since the second week, but Jaune knew that the situation was far from resolved. Since Cardin had proven to be one of the most predictable elements he'd encountered since returning to this time, Jaune was willing to bet that he'd gone for the Rapier Wasps again. He remembered those things; vicious creatures, their stinger could move fast enough to perforate a human almost five times a second, pumping in venom with each strike.
Thankfully the miniscule doses were almost harmless on their own, but it only took about five seconds of concentrated assault from one wasp to cause a nasty rash. Jaune had managed to lure them together using syrup from Beacon's kitchens and trap them in a cardboard box back when he was wimpier - he was sure CRDL were capable of managing it too.
"CRDL? They're actually a threat?" asked Ren, who had apparently abandoned his remaining breakfast.
"Not in terms of combat ability – to us, at least. But so long as things haven't changed too dramatically, they plan on attacking us with Rapier Wasps. They're attracted to sweet things, so the sap we'll be gathering will pull them in like a magnet. They'll try to ambush us, so we need to make either avoid them entirely or ensure that we're ready, while staying away from the area where I know there are Grimm." Ren absorbed the information and nodded. He pulled out his scroll, and a quick search revealed a map of Forever Fall.
"There is mention here of sporadic Grimm sightings...the reports all appear to be focussed on the southwest. I suggest we venture in the opposite direction." The blonde nodded his own head in acknowledgement.
"Okay, so the game plan is as so: once we touch down, we stay long enough to collect our jars, and then make our way to the southeast. Ren, we'll rely on you to help us lose CRDL. Once we shake them, we can make our way north to complete the mission, and return to the bullhead, where they can't start anything. Good?"
Pyrrha and Ren both nodded. The martial artist was quite certain that he could maneuver his team away from four bumbling idiots such as team CRDL, even in broad daylight. The red-haired warrior was equally certain in her ability to demolish CRDL with little more than a gesture should the situation demand it – three of them wore heavy armour, after all.
"Or we could go behind door number three." Nora's eyes were glinting evilly, and Jaune felt compelled to ask the obvious question, out of some morbid curiosity.
"And what's that, Nora?"
"We break their legs!" The blonde wasn't sure what he'd expected...but that was along the right lines.
"Break whose legs?" asked a familiar voice, and Jaune turned to find his fellow blonde Yang settling in beside him. The rest of RWBY took seats at the table as well, and the two teams exchanged greetings.
"Oh, Yang, this is perfect! Between us, we can break twice the legs in half the time!" While Ren began explaining to Nora that math didn't work like that, the brawler turned to regard Nora's leader.
"So, spill it Jaune! who're the targets? I haven't broken a leg in almost a month." She cracked her knuckles for emphasis, and even with an extra year of combat experience, Jaune still gulped.
"Oh, it's no one, Yang, we were just...discussing how effective our teams would be if we joined forces at some point!" The patented goofy Arc grin came to life, as Jaune tried to play it off with what he might affectionately call his 'pre-common sense' persona.
Unfortunately, Yang was about as easily deterred in conversation as she was in combat. "Oh, I don't think so. Come on, what's going on? If someone deserves to have their legs broken, I want in on it." Damn. Okay, how can I turn this to my advantage...
"I guess you got me...you know CRDL? I'm pretty sure they're going to try something on the field trip." Yang was a brash fighter, who liked to lead with her fists instead of her head, but she still managed to be more surreptitious than Nora in eying Cardin's team.
"You know, with the looks they're shooting this way, you might just be right." Her lilac eyes flicked away from the three examples of mediocre malevolence that was currently building several benches away, meeting Jaune's blue. The blonde leader couldn't help but notice that CRDL's leader wasn't glaring like his team. In fact, he wasn't looking in their direction at all...he was just staring at the table, chewing his breakfast.
His examination of the hulking figure across the room was interrupted by Yang. "Do you guys want to hang with us while we're out and about? You can take those guys, sure, but as our year's resident prankmaster and detention-related record holder, I can attest to just how trigger-happy Goodwitch is with her punishments. A fight on a field trip will probably end up with you in just as much trouble as them."
Jaune re-ran the plans in his head, adding RWBY to his own team this time around. In each way he approached it, having them around was a boon instead of a disadvantage. He glanced at Ren, who nodded to him. "We'd be glad for the company." Yang grinned, smacking a hand onto Jaune's back around his left shoulder, nearly knocking him into the table.
"Of course you, are it's us!" However, as the blonde sat back up, he realised that his team were looking at him a bit oddly. He understood why - apart from Ren, their team had some pretty exceptional upper-body strength. Strong as he was, without her Semblance active or Ember Celica lending her blows strength, a friendly tap like that from Yang shouldn't have had such a pronounced effect. Fatigue, lack of appetite, and now my strength is fading... Jaune's symptoms were beginning to pile up, but he pushed those thoughts away.
I'll deal with that later. For now, he was more concerned with recreating fight simulations in his head, RWBY and JNPR working in tandem. Between us, we should be more than a match for any of our main opponents – at least, one at a time. I'll have to take this opportunity to bring RWBY closer to being allies.
The bell went a few minutes later, where breakfast had devolved into a simple series of conversations. Ruby and Pyrrha had been talking about some new firearm-related development, with Nora interjecting occasionally as she spoke with Yang. Blake, Weiss, Ren and Jaune had kept to themselves for the most part, content to converse with their own thoughts. The eight students followed the instructions Goodwitch had given them after combat lessons the previous afternoon (was it really less than a day ago? It felt like longer to Jaune) and gathered at one of Beacon's landing pads, where they found an idling Bullhead and...not Professor Goodwitch.
In her stead stood Professor Oobleck, dressed for an adventure and carrying his thermos. "Good morning class as you can see Professor Goodwitch was busy so I will be your teacher on this trip. Please make your way on board the craft and we will take our leave." His speech delivered in under ten seconds, the professor was onboard the aircraft almost before his students registered his words.
"This is different..." muttered Jaune under his breath. Next to him and so the only person close enough to hear, Ren got the meaning behind the blonde's words. He was saying that some aspect of this situation had changed; that meant that other factors might also have changed, and that meant that the knowledge Jaune had may no longer be valid. Ren was going to have to go another setting up on the Paranoia dial.
It was only a quarter hour flight to Forever Fall, but Jaune still had to spend the entire time focussing on keeping his breakfast down. When they finally made land-fall, he was the first out of the ship, leaning over and breathing quickly. Damn...I thought I was getting better at this... His team caught up with him moments later, Pyrrha placing a comforting hand in its usual spot on his shoulder as he got himself under control. He straightened up a few moments later, as the last student left the Bullhead.
"Alright class gather together quickly now. You're here to collect samples of the sap that these trees produce for Professor Peach so please collect a jar each and a spigot between partners. Once this is done you may go and find a suitable tree to draw from. Please do not go more than half a mile from here as we may need to recall you quickly."
JNPR claimed four jars and two spigots before joining and combining with RWBY, who had also received their equipment. CRDL got their own supplies too, but Jaune couldn't help but recognise a cardboard box marked with a large 'W' that Russel was carrying. He wasn't the only one staring at it - Ren had been eyeing it all through their journey, and Cardin didn't seem too pleased as he looked at it either.
What's with that guy...the Wasps were his suggestion, so why's he look like he doesn't even want them here? Jaune tried to think of a reason, but the line of reasoning was too long for him to focus on, and he just let it go.
The Wasps won't be an issue anyway, since we'll be in a group twice their size. CRDL won't dare try anything, he reassured himself, nodding along to his own thoughts. As his focus shifted, he felt the glass jar between his fingers begin to slip, and he was forced to clutch hard and bend his knees a bit in an effort to halt its fall. His team noticed the sudden movement, and Pyrrha frowned as she moved in front of her leader. His skin looked paler than usual, and his eyes were somewhat sunken.
"Jaune, are you all right? You don't look very good..." The blonde met her eyes. He was looking at her through a kind of misty white haze, but he decided that was probably the sun, and nodded happily enough.
"Of course! I'm a little tired, but perfectly fine Pyrrha, don't worry about me." He smiled at her, then turned to the other six members of their group. "So, Ren, which way is northeast?"
The black-haired youth led his companions through the forest in the requested direction, and they stopped once they'd moved around almost half a mile away, presumably because this was the first time they'd been in a natural setting without some part of it trying to kill them in a month - a novel experience.
Jaune found that just putting one foot in front of the other was now a focussed effort, and he struggled to maintain even that level of concentration for such a prolonged period of time as his legs started to feel weaker. Once they reached the point that they estimated was right around the half a mile mark, Jaune turned to his team mates and mumbled something along the lines of "Okay, let's gather this sap."
Ruby issued the same command, if far more effectively, and the four sets of partners each found a tree to their liking. Ren and Nora were both keeping an eye on their leader though, even as Jaune wrapped his fingers around the spigot's main body, took careful aim, and drove the spike at the tree as hard as he could. His foggy brain was shocked, if mutely, when the tool failed to pierce the bark, instead rebounding from the plant.
He looked at his hands, even as Pyrrha did the job instead. She turned back to him, brow furrowed in concern. Her leader had got worse on the walk; he was sweating, despite the chill air, and she had seen his steps grow slower and smaller over time, as if his fatigue grew more and more with each movement. Pyrrha was now seriously worried, and she decided to make that known. "Jaune, what's wrong? And don't tell me nothing, because that's not going to fly."
The blonde turned to her, but he was feeling sluggish – his brain was drowning in cotton wool. "...dunno...feeling really, really...sleepy..." he managed to get out, his acknowledgement of his condition coming far too late – he passed out, and he fell over backwards from the crouched position he had been in.
"Jaune!" cried Pyrrha, who had managed to get her hand behind his head before it could hit the ground. His skin was pale and sallow, his closed eyes were almost black in comparison, and his breathing was irregular. Placing her fingers to his neck, Pyrrha came very close to panicking as she felt that his pulse was well below normal. Cursing herself for not taking action earlier, she laid him down properly, as the rest of the group reached them.
Blake chose not to kneel down beside the blonde, and instead she managed to get into a tree where she could observe the nearby area, Gambol Shroud drawn and ready. Ren had moved to his leader immediately, and he turned his analytical mind loose on Jaune's prone form, hoping to find some indication of what was wrong. It offered a theory, and after a moment's hesitation, he manifested his aura.
As he rested his hand on the blonde's forehead, he concentrated hard. It took a moment but, with a flash of magenta, Jaune's aura also ignited...though that was probably too strong a word. Gone was the normal cloak of white flames; instead, mere wisps of energy floated above Jaune's form. "Oh, Monty..." Ren muttered.
He turned to Yang instantly. "Yang, start firing off Ember Celica. It's the closest we have to a flare, and we need help to come to us." The blonde didn't even question the order, she just began punching toward the sky at regular intervals, the shots blossoming into light with sharp cracks which would be easily visible from the Bullhead's location. Ren knew that Beacon pilots were trained professionals; they would notice the lights quickly, and they would know what it signified.
"Ren, what's wrong with him?" asked Ruby, who was now kneeling on Ren's other side, across from Pyrrha, who had taken Jaune's hand in her own. Nora crouched just beside her, near Jaune's head, and she was whispering in his ear – probably for her own benefit as much for Jaune's. There was nothing she could do here, so she just tried to cope.
Weiss stood above and behind her partner, her normally haughty visage now laced with worry. She had only interacted with Jaune a few times since the locker room, as part of her team. He had managed to heal her opinion of him quickly, demonstrating that his behaviour at that time was simply acting. Weiss hadn't figured out why he had purposefully started off on the wrong foot with her, but she wanted to learn the answer one day, and if Arc died that would be impossible.
"It's his aura; it's almost completely gone. It's obvious now, but it must have been draining all day. He just kept going, and now he's almost completely out..." Magenta eyes met green as Pyrrha read between the lines. The damage done to Jaune's soul must have done more than just stopped him using his aura in combat – it had also stopped him drawing aura from the environment, and now his soul was almost finished with its finite supply.
"We need a way to give him more aura," stated Pyrrha, "ideas?" Ren's mind raced faster and faster as knowledge, training and intuition came together to create one of his flimsiest theories yet.
"Alright. Pyrrha, manifest your aura." The warrior did so without a moment's hesitation, crimson light roiling around her as Ren continued. "You activated Jaune's aura, that means you have a direct link to him that none of us have. I need you to try and use that connection again; if you can manage it, I hope that your aura can keep him going until help arrives."
It went unsaid that this would only work for Jaune - and that was if they understood his ability properly. He'd never told them where he had learned about how his power worked, nor when he had learned about it. It was one of many things he still hadn't shared. Ren had sworn to back off on those topics, but now he wished his leader would open up a bit more.
Pyrrha nodded, mostly calm on the surface, but inwardly she was something of a maelstrom. Jaune was lying in front of her, looking almost dead and getting worse – fear, anger and something she couldn't quite identify were all conjured by that image. She pushed aside as much of it as she could, taking deep breaths. Casting her mind back to the moment when she first unlocked Jaune's aura, she repeated her incantation, as if she were trying to unseal his power for a second time.
"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."
Her aura responded as she had been taught, coursing through her hand and into the blonde lying in front of her. The emotional shock that came with the transfer kicked in instantly...but, unlike before, it stayed. Pyrrha could feel her aura flowing into Jaune at a steady rate, and she would have sighed in relief if not for her mind being otherwise occupied.
Jaune's mental state was currently open to her, whether she wanted it or not. First and foremost in his mind was anger; he had passed out raging at himself for not putting it all together, for heaping this burden on his team. Quick on anger's heels were sadness and frustration – he had thought that he was improving, that he was learning to use his aura in a way that could make a difference, but all he'd managed to do so far was cause trouble for himself and others. Alongside fear and doubt, the grouping of negative emotions circled in his mind like sharks in bloody water. But behind it all something still glowed: two feelings, unbowed by Jaune's situation and the war zone that most of his mind had become.
Resolve burned the brightest; he was refusing to die, refusing to quit fighting, until he achieved his goal. It was a determination born of something much darker, that lurked on the shadowy edges of Jaune's psyche – but despite where it came from, it shone in his mind like a beacon. Beside it was what made Pyrrha really wish that Jaune's life didn't depend on her maintaining contact.
Love glowed softly like a hearth fire in Jaune's mind, and even as she tried to ignore it, the knowledge seeped through; the blonde felt love for his sisters and for his mother; for the members of team RWBY, who he included in that group; for Ren and Nora, the brother he'd never had and the warm presence which had drawn so many smiles from beaten faces. But most of all, Pyrrha felt the love he had for her. It was relatively new - not as ingrained as what he held for his family, friends and team mates...but it was strong and true nonetheless, and fed from his resolve just as his resolve fed from it.
As Pyrrha tried to deal with suddenly knowing her leader's mind as intimately as he did, she felt the sensation of Jaune's open mind retreating. She became more and more aware of herself again, and with a groan, found herself lying in a Bullhead. On the floor beside her, lying on a stretcher, was Jaune. He looked better than he had, but he was still unconscious. The red haired warrior tried to get up, move over and re-link their auras...but her limbs felt like lead, and she just couldn't muster the energy to do more than shift with a pained grunt.
"Good to see you awake, Pyrrha." Jaune's partner traced Ren's voice to the young man himself, who was actually sitting directly opposite where she lay. She realised that she was lying on a stretcher herself, but Ren was making use of a bench. "Jaune's okay now; it turns out that Oobleck brought plenty of Dust supplies with us, and Weiss knows a thing or two in regard to that substance. I have to admit she was impressive - she managed to put together a Dust that's keeping Jaune's soul ticking over while his aura sorts itself out. It's holding him steady, and it should keep him alive until he can start pulling aura from the environment again."
Sighing in relief, Pyrrha ceased her struggles to rise. "Oh, thank Monty." she breathed, the weight which had settled on her chest watching Jaune fall finally dissipating.
Ren leaned forward, his hands clasped. "Since Jaune will be alright, let's talk about you. You were supporting him for almost two hours, while Oobleck got the bullhead over here and Weiss formulated the Dust; during that time, you gave Jaune almost all of your aura reserves, and you seemed to fall into a kind of trance. I'd be very interested to know what you a experienced."
The warrior tried to nod, remembered that was a bad idea, then settled for just speaking. "It was almost exactly like when I first unlocked his aura...but it was protracted. I didn't just connect with him for a split second, I got a full view of his mind. Ren, I don't understand how he's functioning like this in that state. His feelings are all so dark and twisted...and that's just the surface, I feel sure that things are even worse deeper down. He's lived through something soul-destroying Ren...all he has left are his resolve and his...", here Pyrrha couldn't help but cough and blush a little before continuing, "love. Those two things are all that are keeping him going..."
The martial artist read her like an open book. "You finally figured out he's carrying a torch for you then. I suppose we should all be glad that you got this chance, because sooner or later Nora was going to take things into her own hands." The mental images that conjured made the warrior want to simultaneously cringe and laugh.
"I'm not sure I can be thankful that Jaune's ended up like this...but, I suppose knowing that he feels that way is...it makes me feel..." Words were failing her, but Ren held up a hand.
"I know." And like with everything he said, Pyrrha believed him. The martial artist turned to look up toward the Bullhead's cockpit, then turned back to his team mate. "You can just go back to resting; you're being sent to the infirmary alongside Jaune and CRDL when we get back to Beacon, and since you won't be going anywhere under your own power, it's the stretcher for you too."
Pyrrha's interest had been immediately captured. "CRDL? Why are they going to the infirmary?" The martial artist's face didn't betray a single thing he was thinking or feeling.
"It's the damndest thing; they were transporting an improperly secured box of Rapier Wasps, and when they started drawing sap from the trees, the scent set them off. CRDL will live, but it's sure not pretty."
"An improperly secured box, eh? How unfortunate."
"Yes, indeed. A truly cruel act of fate" Act of fate her foot; Pyrrha was sure that, if she had checked, she would have discovered a few choice incisions in the binding of that particular box. Apparently those thoughts were clear to see, as a small smile pulled at the corner of Ren's face.
Where was the point in having such skill as he possessed if it couldn't be put to good use every now and again?
Author's Note
Well, I finished writing this chapter before midnight...so...technically still a chapter a day?
I dunno. Anyway, my study leave has now begun, meaning that my days will be spent studying, sleeping, and resting. Rest will basically be writing this, so productivity may, in fact, increase (but don't take my word for it).
My thanks to dragoon109 once again, for directing me to the story 'Silver' by Imyoshi, which has given me a great many ideas that might make appearances in future chapters.
I hope you enjoyed reading this even partially as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you have any comments or criticism, leave a review and I'll be sure to get back to you. Enjoy your day!
P.S. I am now working as a beta-reader, so anyone who sees this and happens to be looking for one (perhaps for their own RWBY story?) can hit me up, and I'll be more than happy to talk it over with them.