Beneath The Elder Tree Chapter 3
After meeting up with rest of their respective teams and enjoying a rather hearty breakfast, they are now currently in their Aura class giving their findings of practical uses of their Aura in everyday life. Each student presenting their findings and some of the students applications were either ingenious or otherwise.
One note worthy report was Yang giving a practical demonstration by using a metal plate and one thick juicy tenderloin steak, firing up her aura and grilling it on the spot, causing majority of the class to salivate from the scent. She loudly proclaimed with a wide smile, "And ladies and gentlemen, put me in the wild, so long as I can get some meat, I'm good to go!", devouring the meat in mere seconds shortly after.
"Where does all of that even go?... she ate a full breakfast just a couple of hours ago." Jaune thinking out loudly "Her front bumpers silly!.." Nora chimed in Jaune raised his brow, "Her...front...Bumpers..." not surprisingly he blushed a bit at the thought and so did the rest of the males who overheard the conversation while the ladies of the class, excluding Pyrrha, Nora and Blake, were either envious or jealous of Yang's figure despite all she ate, especially a certain ice princess as she was once again releasing an aura of displeasure by said topic due to being one of her more "sensitive" subjects.
Despite being bred and fed well under the guidance of Vale's top chefs and dietitians, as a woman, she loathed to admit that her development seemed to be stunted and wondered if her body would mature or just stay that may... it only irked her more that their team leader, Ruby, had developed more despite being younger than all of them. Pyrrha was already quite well developed and Blake on the other hand was a bit indifferent since she was quite comfortable with her figure. It was perfect for her style of combat and movement. A larger set than what she had would make the laws of physics work against her. And Nora was Nora.
"Jaune Arc, please come to the front and present your findings", Glynda announced the next student to give their report. Jaune went up to the podium, taking two small pouches with him. His friends and teammates all eager to see what he was able to come up with.
"My Aura seems to be a bit more specialized than most, and through some experiments, I was able to find out some things about my aura..." He opened one of the pouches and inside it was a few assorted seeds and he opened the other and inside was a pouch of dirt. He grabbed a fist full of dirt in his right hand and buried a few seeds.
He closed his eyes and began channeling his aura, his body gently glowing with his silver white aura. his fist emanating brightly.
Pyrrha, Ruby, and less noticeably... Blake were entranced with his golden locks gently swaying and a look of pure focus at the task, made him look more attractive. Pyrrha loved every time he made this face, it showed his earnest determination and she loved every second his eyes were only focused on her during their training sessions.
Ruby was proud of her best friend making so much progress and was glad her fellow Leader was shaping up and was becoming very much like the knights in shining armor she adored in her childhood.
Blake gazed at his form; you could feel the warmth and kindness he had emanating from the room. Like the purest light breaking from the darkness. And From his hands the seeds sprouted and emerged roses of vibrant colors like the ones inside the sanctuary.
The class was shocked and Glynda was very interested in what Jaune had to say.
"My aura takes the general ability of auras and takes it to the next step, I call it Life Aegis, It can give vitality, heal wounds, and anything necessary to protect Life. Normally when Aura is given to another person, it is usually to unlock it or as a last resort due to keeping a person alive due to aura exhaustion, or grievous injuries and that's about all it does, semblance or abilities never carry over"
Jaune pulls a knife from one of his pouches and swings as strongly as he could at the roses, the whole class held their breath, then a flash of light came, and the sound of something flying through the air. They all noticed Jaune no longer had the knife. He pointed upwards. They all saw the knife buried into the ceiling up to the hilt. "And it seems I can also safely apply my aura to other living beings, but what makes it different is that they not only get to recover but so long as my aura lingers, it will work to ensure the survival of what its protecting until it fades out. These roses though, will stay alive as my Aura and its inherent life energy have combined thus it will stay alive even if uprooted, but it would still need some light and air, but will wilt if the aura is emptied through repeated physical blows. Apparently it glows in the dark too..." "
"There seems to be more but that's all I know right now..."
"Excellent Findings Mr. Arc. That will definitely be an asset to your future as a hunter. I've also noticed that you have become quite capable of controlling your Aura. If you would like more lesson supplements on Aura control, see me after our classes. And let me tell you Mr. Arc, so many lives could have been saved had we more people with your abilities. Even the most skilled hunters can succumb to wounds and fatigue."
Jaune began to clean up his presentation and walked back to his seat, but before that he had one more thing to do. He moved in front of his teammates and RWBY. "A rose to each of my beautiful companions", He gave a rose to each, receiving varying expressions.
Ruby loved roses and was grateful for one and was thinking where she could keep it.
Weiss was surprised at the gesture and accepted the white rose, blushing ever so slightly
"Oh how sweet of you, Vomit boy" Yang accepting the yellow rose
"They're so beautiful, I'll be sure to treasure it", Pyrrha entrance by the deep crimson color, thinking if she could find a way to keep it on her person.
"It smells so sweet!" Nora said, practically inhaling her pink rose.
"One for you too!" Jaune grinned slyly, presenting a magenta colored rose at Ren
"Don't make me hit you…"Ren deadpanned while Jaune laughed loudly
"But Reeennn, Your beautiful too!", Nora Pouted
"Not now Nora..."Ren face palmed. Touché Jaune, I'll get you back for this.
Last but not the least.
"Thanks...", Blake received the Black rose, enchanted with its deep ebony color and its symbolism. Normally, it would have rather negative connotations but she also knew of a rather romantic meaning that a Black Rose would signify, when given to a loved one, signifiesa commitment so deep and rare. Then she noticed Jaune staring at it too. She tilted her head and met Jaune's gaze
Jaune stared at the black rose, for a moment. "hmmm... now that I think about it, This is the only Black rose I raised, I've tried before but I was never really successful. It's pretty much one of a kind. When I grew the roses it was my original intention to present a rose to each of you, but I never imagined a Black colored one would grow."Jaune mentioned thoughtfully, turning around and returning to his seat. Blake put the Black rose up to her face to conceal her blush, taking in its fragrance, its sweetness inherent from the heart of its creator. He was thinking of all of us fondly when he channeled his aura into them, and that is why his roses seemed to stand out and they grew according to the wish of their caretaker, proudly displaying their beauty.
She knew where she would keep it. This would be her first gift she ever received from the white knight. Blake would remember to put it as a bookmark for her favorite books, as she would read them to sleep, with her books and the rose close to her heart, having dreams or fantasies of a possible future. She quickly popped it in her book replacing her old book mark. The Black rose matching perfectly with the books red and black scheme.
After a few more presentations by the rest of the class, they were dismissed and were sent to Armed Combat and Tactics Classes.
"Good Morning Students, I will personally be handling today's session." Ozpin announced to the class, still holding his mug in its usual position.
"In light of recent events, I am compelled to teach you all how to handle yourselves against dire disadvantageous odds."
"Now I know most of you are very capable of taking small to medium packs of grimm but as hunters, loathingly I admit, that there are elements in human society that have less than noble intentions with their abilities."
"I will make this clear, we are not law enforcers, we are hunters. The purpose of the next few sessions is to increase survivability and learn necessary skills against intelligent and skilled opponents, and improve upon them. Working as a team will always get you far but there are unforeseen moments where you may find yourself alone and you need to live to regroup with your teammates"
"So for this session, we will start slow with random matches of 2 versus 1 or 3 vs 1."
So the class went on its way, explosions and groaning filling the air. Ahhh Youth...
Yang VS Pyrrha and Weiss
"All right you two.. Bring it! Show mama some love" Bashing her fists together, activating Ember Cecilia, with her usual confident smile.
Pyrrha just giving her usual smile before adopting her battle stance with Weiss beside her, adopting her usual fencing stance with her left hand ready.
Yang and Pyrrha clashed head on while Weiss circled the field lunging and stabbing from different angles, using her glyphs to allow her to fight three dimensionally while Pyrrha kept Yang grounded.
Yang always knew that Pyrrha may be her only match in the class. For every combo she would let loose, Pyrrha had an appropriate counter or riposte and before she could get a clean strike in, Weiss would swiftly dash in perfectly without interrupting Pyrrha's movements and trying to singe her with assorted dust, forcing her to dodge and as she retreated, Pyrhha would continue her assault.
Yang's blood was pumping and her grin went feral, as she upped the ante, her blows progressively increasing in power and speed. But first she would need to take care of the ice princess, so she focused on Pyrrha while waiting for a opportunity to take Weiss out.
Pyrrha could feel Yang's blows getting heavier, if her shield arm's strain had anything to do with it. She would try to mix it up by using her semblance to mitigate some of the force to put her out of balance but due to Yang's raw force and will, it only made the blows off center a couple of inches only allowing deflection but she could work with that. Ever vigilant for the crucial moment where Yang would try to snag Weiss and she would have to find a way to stop it. Versatile as Weiss was, her aura barrier would drain quickly once Yang got her.
As Pyrrha deflected a straight cross from Yang skidding a few feet away, Weiss had charged directly behind Yang, this was it.
Yang having successfully put some distance from the spartan themed huntress, and expecting Weiss swift interruption, she spun in place, pivoting using her right foot, letting Myrtenaster's blade pass her and using her right hand she got Weiss' wrist and would follow with a devastating left cross. Weiss' eyes closed and grit her teeth expecting the blow to connect.
Yang almost following through with her left cross suddenly was swept off her feet. Pyrrha had thrown her shield at Yang's legs increasing its force with her semblance, causing Yang's hook to miss Weiss' face by mere centimeters and Weiss ended up face down while casting her freezing Glyph, hoping to trap the fiery Blonde.
Yang had fallen face up, her left half almost encased in ice and saw directly above her Pyrrha about to deliver the finishing blow, her spear poised to end this match. But Yang would not make it so easy. She waited for one more moment.
Pyrrha descended spearhead down, hoping to end the match, at the same time her spear made direct contact, Yang's right arm managed to connect with her gut... direct hit. She was able to instinctively slow the blow down but it really hurt.
It was a tie, Weiss had depleted her Aura, Yang and Pyrrha managed to take each other out.
"Good fight. I wonder what would happen if it was a one on one match". Yang mentioned as she laid on the floor still partially encased in ice.
"That would be interesting." Pyrrha smiled.
Then a brilliant flash of light caught their attention, their eyes drawn to Jaune's current predicament.
"The world hates me doesn't it...",Jaune Arc somehow managed to get a 3 VS 1 match, odds against him.
Jaune Arc vs Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, and Ruby Rose
"It's okay Glorious leader, we won't hold back if that's what you're worrying about!", Nora's pre-battle cheer trying to uplift their leader's spirit but was doing the exact opposite as his shoulders were dropping lower each second.
"I promise, we'll end this quickly", Ruby reassuringly said to Jaune while hefting Crescent Rose its shaft parallel to her shoulders. Jaune was not assured at all and felt his heart drop to his stomach.
He looked at Ren in the eyes, and saw Ren give him a glare of manliness and simply nodded...
What...the…hell… was that REN!? Was that supposed to be encouragement or are you just telling me to resign myself to my fate.
With a deep sigh Jaune got into position, slowly pulling out Crocea Mors and activating his shield. Just remember what Pyrrha taught you, he glanced off to where Pyrrha and Wiess were having a fierce battle with Yang. She can't always be the one carrying me. I owe it to her and my friends. I have to be strong, be the leader they deserve. He braced himself, eyes looking resolutely forward.
His three opponents were surprised by the face Jaune was making. It wasn't one that they have ever seen him wear before. Gone was the clumsy and goofy side of him. He was ready to put up a fight.
In the Sanctuary, Slumbering deep within the Large Elder tree's Life Aura, his strong feelings had awakened something dormant within the Elder Tree.
"*yawn*...now this is a feeling I never expected to feel again. It reminds me of him back then, despite all the odds stacked against him, no matter how afraid he actually was, he still pushed onwards. Elias... You inconsolable fool, you of all people never owed anyone anything, but they had the gall to ask it of you, after everything you've done for them... your end was cruel, and no one ever knew..."
"I'm curious. How much of your idiotic traits did he inherit I wonder."
"...Goddamn... he's almost a clear copy of you... even in death, you manage to never make things easy for me".
"BEGIN!" said the automated referee
Nora led the charge, her hammer swiftly descending overhead to smash Jaune's defenses.
Pyrrha had taught Jaune that just because you had a shield didn't mean you had to block everything your opponents threw at you and he took this to heart since then. He evaded to the left only to be greeted by a furious flourish from crescent rose, which he blocked desperately and tried to slash at its wielder but she quickly jumped backwards letting off a few shots mid air, which Jaune managed to deflect with his shield. Unaware that Ren had gotten behind him and gave him a strong aura-aided shoulder tackle launching him forward and got blindsided by Magnahild and was sent across the field. But despite all this, only a small sliver of his aura was reduced from the on-screen display, and less noticeably is that his aura was regenerating, though too minutely to be noticed.
The match continued on for a few minutes where Jaune would block ,dodge and try to counter but could never catch any of them, only for them to manage to overcome his defense. A little more than a half of his aura was left, but his mind was already losing hope.
"You've definitely become tougher Jaune! Hang in there" Ruby said cheerfully.
"Pyrhha's training has done wonders for you" Ren added, very impressed at his progress.
Nora was slowly inching to the right getting ready to attack again, her manic grin still present. She too wanted to push their leader to his new limits
"They really believe I can't win huh, well logically, i was screwed from the start. Why bother...", Jaune thought to himself. I've run all the tactics I could think of but none of them are working... dammit.
"Hey, were your feelings awhile ago just for show?"a disembodied voice resounded within Jaune
"Huh? Have I gone crazy?" Jaune quickly thought while nearly being turned into powdered mush by Nora's might blows.
"Maybe, I wouldn't blame ya, Your opponents are pretty skilled."
"Oh great, even the mysterious voice decides that I can't win"
"I DIDN"T SAY THAT! I'm actually going to remind you of something, Get down by the way."
Jaune quickly dropped to the ground, almost being cut into two by Crescent Rose and swiftly rolled out of the way nearly getting peppered by Ren's StormFlowers.
"Well!?"Jaune thought desperately
"...oh yeah, Remember how you were channeling your aura to the ground to give some to your garden? Try it now, but just release your aura and focus it around you. And STOP THINKING TO MUCH! I swear, you and him were too smart, always over-thinking things that you guys went back to stupid. That's all for now, Good Luck!"
"Hey wait!" Jaune tried to get the voice to reply again but was met with silence. Well not like I had any better plans. Here goes nothing
Jaune had released his aura into the field. His eye glowed faintly around edges, and was surprised with what he felt, he could feel the slight pull of aura but it didn't seem to really bother him. He now seemed to be able to "see" everything as far as the whole field at least and with nothing left to lose anyway, his shoulders loosened up, his shield slightly lowered, his sword lowered, knees bent, and let his mind empty and finally let his instinct take over.
His three opponents once again continued their onslaught but were almost taken down as Jaune had moved with grace and precision they had never seen before.
As Nora was going for a wide Horizontal swing, Jaune quickly stepped in and charged forward dead center to Nora's centerline and managed to put Nora off balance but she quickly somersaulted away, nearly getting hit by Crocea Mors.
Ruby stepped in once again attacking with her dance of death with Crescent Rose, except Jaune managed to dance with her this time round, the sound of steel hitting each other rhythmically as they exchanged blows, sparks flying. Jaune was still getting nicked but the cuts were only just slightly deep grazes now as Jaune's shield managing to block most Crescent rose's strikes, and Jaune using Crocea Mors' Pommel to counter and thrust it at Ruby's stomach followed by quick strikes managing to get three hits on her. She pulled back using the recoil from pulling Crescent Rose's trigger, shocked as to how Jaune was able to do that. Her enemies would normally wait outside her strike zone then try to look for an opening, not stay in it!
Ren quickly followed after Ruby going to Jaune's blind side while he was focusing on Ruby. He once again unleashed a bullet storm but Jaune somehow knew he was there and deflecting most of the bullets and managed to even dodge some by simply swaying and stepping aside as if he knew the exact trajectory of EACH bullet. Ren dismissed it as luck and went in, like a spinning hurricane, leading with a kick to the head, which Jaune simple leaned backwards, but could not react fast enough to the axe kick that followed and it got him in the shoulder, managing to dislocate his sword arm, but due to training and will he didnt drop his sword.
Jaune grunted and followed by a quick shield thrust aimed at Ren's offending leg and managed to send him flying a little bit but Ren was able to roll off the force and got back on his feet.
His three opponents movements, were being telegraphed to his mind, though his body still instinctively selecting whatever openings he could exploit and those he could not... but Jaune's body was at its limit now. The injuries he received earlier by being a moving punching bag finally taking its toll, his sword arm currently out of commission, his view starting to fade in and out
The three were now more wary of attacking. They looked at each other and decided it would be the best time to end it. The three of them very proud of Jaune and his progress, they honestly didn't expect it, but they also noticed Jaune was pushing himself again, so the three of them attacked together.
Jaune still had enough left in him to see what his friends were going to do, Nora Going for a overhead smash, Ruby to the right going for a horizontal slash preventing escape, And Ren to the left, going low with a spinning back kick to my left. Checkmate. Well At least I put up a better fight...
"No...no more excuses... I'm not running away anymore...", He whispered as he grit his teeth, seeing the ending come slowly.
"So what are you going to do about it?" The disembodied voice chimed in, asking lazily?
"I will move forward!", He shouted with all his might, His body shined brightly, illuminating the whole complex.
"...Of course.. You can't do anything but that…"the voice acknowledged his answer, but if one listened closely enough, there was tinge of sadness.
Jaune's vision slowly faded out to black, sleep giving solace to his tired mind and body.
"Give yourself a pat on the back. You gave em a run for their money... asleep already? *sigh* well you earned it..." The voice slowly fading out, letting Jaune's rest remain undisturbed.
After the light faded, Nora, Ren, and Ruby were on the ground a couple of meters away from Jaune, who was kneeling with his head down.
"THAT...WAS... AWESOME! LET'S DO IT AGAIN!" Nora quickly stood up brushing off the dirt.
"I feel a bit sick", Ruby chimed in, her world still spinning.
"Did anyone catch what just happened?"Ren followed up.
All their eyes looked curiously upon the unconscious knight's form. He was sleeping so peacefully.
"Winner... Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, and Ruby Rose"
It was a given that they won, apparently Jaune's last move pushed him into the red. While they really didn't take as much damage but they were sent to the Yellow zone.
"That was a interesting match, you three can rest now, and when Mr. Arc wakes up tell him he did a splendid job", Ozpin mentioned as he walked over to them and went away to observe the other matches.
The three helped Jaune into the medical tent off to the side and had their minor cuts checked out and as they were leaving, Ren had noticed Jaune crack a grin while he was sleeping. Ren smiled, wondering what other surprises were to come.
Author Notes: This was supposed to have come out yesterday, but ALAS, I was assaulted by the dreaded Migrane. Anywho, I'm keeping with Jaune's strength as Aura based but this is only proportional to his body's physical abilities. If the body cannot handle the flow of Aura, then it would simply stop. But Jaune has a large "Indefinite as of now"Aura and if unleashed on his still somewhat frail body, he would destroy himself. Well that's my take on Aura anyhow as the soul is simply contained by the body but not bounded to it in the strictest sense.
Jaune's Aura: Life Aegis ,The Protector of Life Aspects
*Awareness of the Grand Scheme- See through the eyes of Life, seeing more than mortal eyes ever could. Basic: Consciously activated
*Life's Abundance- Life begets Life, warmth that flows and strengthens the heart. Basic: Consciously Activated
*Repulsion- All with hostile intention be warned as they will be repulsed with extreme prejudice. Basic: Life Threatening Instinctual/ Heavily Draining/ Momentum 20% of attacking force
*Grimm's Natural enemy- More so than the Usual, grimm only containing the forces and impulse of death naturally hate his aura, thus they would naturally try to kill him first or actively hunt him.
*?
*?
So the next chapter would just be a post battle review and then more development for the Black-Moon. PM me some ideas on a interesting date on Vale or Beacon. I am asking for more hands of fate to weave this grand tale to be... I know you guys want me to.
Just a thought... If the moon is black... against a dark sky... How would you ever know it was there?