The radio crackled in the pilot's ear, and he dialed a knob next to his joystick, clearing up the signal.
"You see anything yet?" His co-pilot, who was currently stationed in the holding bay of the dust plane, questioned him.
"Nah, nothing but some dusty old ruins and a boat load of Grimm." He replied, twisting the plane around so that he could look back down at the seething mass of Grimm below them. The sight would have been breathtaking if it had not been so terrifying. He had never seen so many of the creatures in one place at any given time, and he had no idea what they were doing out here in the middle of nowhere. There were no villages or settlements for leagues around the old outpost, so they were not there for hunting or anything of the sort. As far as he could tell, there was no reason for them to be there. He was just thankful that none of them were arial Grimm, or he would have been forced to flee ten minutes ago when he had arrived.
"Let's check by the forest again, maybe they're on the fringe."
"If they aren't in that outpost, there's no way we're ever going to find them. It was supposed to be a pretty simple mission, drop in then get to extraction, no complications. They weren't even given flares or anything. If they're in the forest, they'll have to find another way back to Beacon." Nonetheless, he turned the plane back around, letting them hover back towards the forest line.
"Yeah, that would be fun." The co-pilot's voice crackled through the mic. They hovered over the calm pink and red trees that made up the forest for a few minutes.
"Anything?" He asked, knowing the answer before his partner replied.
"Nah, I don't see the kids anywhere. How much fuel do we have?" He checked the gauge in the centre of the dashboard.
"Damn," He cursed looking into it, then clicked the button that activated his radio. "We've got maybe twenty minutes before we'll run out of fuel. After that, there's nothing we can do."
The radio went quiet for a moment, and he knew his partner was thinking the same thing he was. As experienced pilots, they didn't just shuttle people around the kingdom on established routes. They were the ones called upon to do the dangerous missions, and when they flew people out of the guarded borders of Vale, they didn't always return.
"Let's hope those kids do whatever they're gonna do fast." He said, but there was no conviction in his words. He sighed, spinning the plane back around to the ruins.
Come on, He willed silently. They were still students, and he was hoping against hope that they would make it.
/
Pyrrha looked at her partner, fear snaking its icy fingers around her throat. Jaune looked at her from between the beast's legs, and their eyes locked. He was far away, but Pyrrha knew he was looking at her. She heard him yell in rage and dash at the Deathstalker. Pyrrha's heart jumped into her throat as the beast's massive claw smashed into the ground, sending up a shower of sand that obscured her view. A flicker of movement off to the side caught her eye, and Pyrrha saw Jaune rolling to his feet. He huffed as he stood back up, and then suddenly he was flying backwards into the wall again. The Grimm clacked its pincers in victory, that massive, deadly stinger poised for another strike. Pyrrha's breath caught in her throat as she looked at the motionless body across the room. Her eyes were locked, unable to move from the picture of Jaune motionless on the sand.
"Pyrrha, we need to go now!" Yang grabbed her shoulder, but her voice seemed distant to Pyrrha, like Yang was screaming through water. It was muffled, only a slight distraction, and it did nothing but give Pyrrha the slightest of distraction from the horror in front of her. She felt the other girl pulling on her arm, but Pyrrha didn't turn away from Jaune, willing her partner to twitch, to breath, to give the slightest sign that he was alive. The Grimm reared up, screeching as it brought its stinger down for the final blow. Pyrrha watched the deadly point descend towards her partner, and then she saw it. It was faint, but there was a slight glimmer of aura condensing above Jaune's head. Pyrrha let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding as the stinger bounced off his aura, skittering to the side.
Jaune looked at Pyrrha from his place lying in the sand, and her stomach churned in fear. He looked at her, then his eyes shifted to the Deathstalker above him. His shoulders went from slumped to set, and even from where she was, Pyrrha could see his jaw set. He yelled again, springing to his feet as though he hadn't been touched. A white corona of energy flared up around him, and Jaune dashed directly at the Grimm. It's pincers gnashed as it looked at him. It brought a claw up, bared threateningly over him. It brought the claw down on Jaune, but it connected with a swirling, white bubble of energy before it could hit Jaune. The force of the blow forced him to his knees, but he stood back up and continued charging. Next came the primed stinger, stabbing towards her partner faster than her eyes could follow, but it stopped a few inches from him. He growled in anger, the thin, deadly point pressing him into the ground, trying to break through his aura. The white energy flickered, and the stinger snuck closer to Jaune's throat. He roared, bringing his sword up and smashing into the appendage. He continued moving towards the door, his aura still flaring around him like the flames of a star fallen to Remnant. He dashed under the beast's stomach, sprinting towards his friends, his arms pumping for all they were worth. When he was only twenty paces from them though, she saw the Deathstalker whip around, one of its claws already lashing forward to strike his back.
She screamed. She was vaguely aware of her lips forming his name, but she was not in control of her body. His aura congealed on his back reflexively. The blow landed, and Jaune rocketed through the air, smashing into the ground and sending up a spray of sand. He groaned as he rolled to a stop just outside the door. He got up, then stumbled through the twisted remains of the door, his face covered with grime and sand.
"Thanks for the boost." Jaune grumbled, looking back at the Deathstalker. Pyrrha was overcome with relief as he crossed the threshold to safety. She threw her arms around her partner, ignoring the pain in her shoulder and pressed herself against him tightly.
"Cut it a bit closer next time, Arc." Yang mock challenged.
"Nice moves." Ruby added, giving him a nervous smile, but Jaune's face was dead serious as he stepped away from Pyrrha.
"We need to get the Hell out of here and get Nora help." His voice was cold and unyielding, and everyone nodded immediately.
"Pyrrha, Jaune, you take the front. Keep your shields up. Were not out of this yet, and you can bet someone's going to try and shoot us before this is over." Pyrrha complied, moving to the front of the group and raising her shield. She saw Yang and Ren move to either side of Nora and lift her back to her feet. Pyrrha held her shield up in front of her as they began to walk through the hallways. Red lights were blaring loud alarms around them, and she knew that there was no chance of them escaping stealthily. There would be more fighting before they got out of the scouting outpost.
They heard the Deathstalker raging behind them as the moved slowly through the hallways, hampered by Nora. The hallway seemed to stretch on forever, and with each step she took, Pyrrha felt her shoulder throb. It was getting worse, the pain spreading down to her upper arms and moving into her chest. It made her breaths painful, but Pyrrha ignored it, making sure to put one foot in front of the other. If she failed now, she would leave her friends vulnerable to attack. They rounded the corner, and the Deathstalker's howls became muted by the thick walls around them. At the same time, Pyrrha heard many footsteps falling loudly on the ground. Ahead of them, a squad of Atlesian Knights dashed around the corner.
"Pyrrha!" Jaune yelled. "Get the guns!" He nodded towards the line of drones that was sprinting towards them, each with a very large gun in its hands.
"I can't!" She said quietly. Jaune looked at her with shock.
"What's wrong?" He asked, his eyes skittering from hers to her shoulder, then Milos strapped to her back.
"My polarity, it's not working." Pyrrha said, shifting uneasily under her leader's examination.
"Great," Jaune murmured from beside her.
"Hit the deck!" Ruby commanded from just behind Pyrrha, and she heard the scuffling of fabric as she dropped into a lunge, curling her body behind her shield to minimize the amount of skin she left exposed. She felt dust bullets thumping against her shield a split second before she heard the guns firing off. Pyrrha's shield was smaller than Jaune's, and left her legs exposed, but fortunately Pyrrha's leg armor deflected most of the bullets that were shot low. Still, a few of the dust rounds scraped against the side of her legs, and Pyrrha grunted in pain. She had expected her aura to deflect the shots, but they sliced through her skin. Though there were no deep wounds, Pyrrha had to fight to keep her body locked in position and not drop.
"Ruby, Ren, you're the best shots. Try to pick them off." Jaune yelled as he leaned into his shield, pushing back against the force of the bullets.
"On it." Ren answered curtly, and a moment later she heard the cracking of a gun from just behind her head. Ren's burst of fire was answered by a wave of bullets flying over Pyrrha's shield. Ren was gone by the time they shot though, already ducking behind Pyrrha once more. Ruby poked up and shot once with her rifle. A moment later something crashed to the ground ahead of Pyrrha.
"Keep moving up." Ruby said from behind her, and she and Jaune immediately each took a step forward. Bullets crashed against her shield and ricocheted into the walls around her. A few more grazed against the exposed skin on the outside of her knees, but the pain wasn't too bad. What was really hurting Pyrrha was her torso, the pain from her shoulder had coursed down over her chest, compressing it and making her feel like she had just been slammed into the ground by a Tajitu. Her sword arm was shaking involuntarily now and it felt like someone had taken heated iron and stuck it under her skin, burning all the way into her hands. Her heart pulsed, and was answered by a shock of pain shooting through her whole body. Pyrrha's vision dulled for a moment, and she slumped to he side, falling to her knees, but behind her someone grabbed her under the arms and hoisted her back up. She shook her head, staggering as the pain compressed her chest even more, but righted herself and began moving forward again.
"You alright?" Yang asked from behind her, worry clear in her voice.
"I'm fine," Pyrrha lied with her usual casual tone. Yang didn't answer, and Pyrrha was sure that her friend was not convinced. It didn't make a difference though, they needed to focus on getting out of the building now.
"On my mark, you and Jaune push forward fast. We'll break from behind you and charge the drones. Yang, you and Blake go left. Weiss and I will go right. Ren, stay here and make sure no one touches Nora." The redhead was silent for a moment, and Pyrrha tensed herself as she shuffled forward, ready to spring into action. "Now!" Ruby yelled, and Pyrrha lunged forward. She estimated she was about ten paces from the line of droids, and sure enough after two quick steps, she crashed into one of them. Pain laced through her system at the impact, but Pyrrha pushed past it, slashing out with her shield and cutting the head off one of the droids.
Pyrrha whirled backwards, seeing another of the drones swinging the butt of its gun towards where she had just been. As she spun, she saw another one try to shoot her point blank, and Pyrrha raised her shield with plenty of time to deflect the bullets. After fighting the Deathstalker where she couldn't even follow the beast's motions, this fighting seemed slow and easy. It was much easier, and Pyrrha had plenty of practice against such opponents. She hugged her injured arm against her side as she swung her shield around to block another burst of dust rounds. A drone tried to attack her from behind, but Pyrrha twirled around and hopped off one foot, her foot shooting out and smashing into the Knight's helm, caving the softer metal in. She punched the bot's throat with her shield, beheading it, then dropped to her knees as she spun, catching another blow on her shield. She pushed against the gun that had been on its way to her head, smashing into the droid that was carrying it. She pushed it off her, and it flew into one of its comrades, both crashing into the ground. Another Knight hopped over its downed allies and leveled its gun at her. Pyrrha shifted her weight, about to dive to the side, before she saw Jaune in the corner of her eye. His sword flashed out, cleaving it in two, the sparking halves fell to either side, and Pyrrha spun around, but there was nothing but a pile of broken robots around them.
"We need to move." Ren said as he raised his arms to let his twin guns fall back into his sleeves. He slid his arm around Nora's shoulders and pulled her to her feet. The girl was still conscious, but she was deathly pale, and her arm was pressing against her side. Pyrrha could imagine that the girl was in agonizing pain.
"Here," Jaune said, walking towards his teammates. "Give her to me." Ren pulled Nora's arm off of his shoulder and supported her as Jaune slid in next to the orange haired huntress in training, picking her up bridal style. Ren had always focused more on speed than strength, but Pyrrha knew that Jaune would be able to carry their teammate without much of an issue. It would let them move faster.
"Alright, let's move out." Blake said, her voice tense. Next to her, Weiss and Yang nodded. Ruby moved off at a jog, and Pyrrha ran beside the girl. Each step sent a jolt of heat streaking through her body, and Pyrrha grimaced, a bead of sweat breaking down her brow and stinging her eye.
"Drop to the back, Pyrrha." Ruby said from beside her. "I don't know what's wrong, but you're hurt. You won't do any good when we run into more of them." Pyrrha looked at the younger girl, who met her eyes sternly, then nodded. She stepped to the side, letting Weiss pass her. Pyrrha shuffled back into the line next to Jaune, who was jogging with Nora in his arms. Pyrrha's friend was curled up in the fetal position, her arms tucked against her stomach. She was shivering and sweating profusely, and fear gripped Pyrrha's stomach.
"She'll be fine." Jaune said, not the slightest hint of doubt in his voice, but Pyrrha couldn't help but doubt. "What's wrong with you?" Jaune inquired, interrupting her thoughts.
"It's nothing." She answered tersely.
"Pyrrha, you need to tell me. If you can't fight, I need to know. I don't know what I'd do if both-" Jaune's voice wavered and teetered off. Pyrrha didn't miss his thought though. They were already fighting for Nora's life. Pyrrha would gladly lay her life down to assure that the other girl would get to safety, but Jaune was right. There was still a chance that they would all make it out of here.
"Bad guys!" Yang shouted from in front of them, and the sound of several heavy explosions echoed through the narrow white hallway. Their pace hardly slowed, and a moment later, Pyrrha dashed by several of the White Fang. One was frozen in ice, three had scorch marks on their bodies and were groaning painfully, and the last one was unconscious. Pyrrha assumed the last one was Blake's doing. The shadowy faunus had always been good at silencing opponents in a stealthy manner. Blake's technique for hand to hand combat was heavily based off incapacitating opponents with as little effort as possible.
The alarms around them blared on, their pitches heightening then dropping as the group passed by, making an eery melody. Pyrrha hardly heard it though, the pain from her shoulder intruding her thoughts on every step. It was making its way through her entire body. It was in her legs now, making each short step an eternity, and making the normally ordered pacing of her run chaotic and erratic. She could feel her pulse in her head now, echoing through her skull. It pounded a drum, and her vision was starting to blur. Her breath was coming short now, her lungs filling with fire each time she inhaled and crystalizing into ice when she exhaled. Pyrrha did what she had always done though. She endured. She kept running so that her friends could reach safety, so that they wouldn't need to worry about her.
Pyrrha's world narrowed until there was nothing but her, the pain, and the ground in front of her. One step blurred into the next, and she lost track of how long she had been moving for. The icy fire consumed her body, scorching her mind and boiling her blood, then all the heat would leave, leaving her skin stone cold and covered in goosebumps. It wouldn't last in one state or another though, constantly flushing from one to the next. Pyrrha had no idea if she had been running for a few seconds or days, but she kept moving. She was aware of Jaune next to her, but he seemed like a dream, entirely out of reach and untouchable.
In front of her, Yang slowed down, and Pyrrha stumbled as she tried to stop. There were blurry shapes blocking their path. She forced her eyes to focus, and saw a group of indistinct features. She noticed that they were under the open sky now, and she was curious as to when they had reached the upper level of the tower.
"She doesn't look that great, does she?" A soft voice called from the distance, and Pyrrha began to pick out more distinct details. A slim red dress embroidered with flames. A white coat. The details seemed vaguely familiar, but Pyrrha's mind felt waterlogged, like her thoughts were trying to force their way through the cloudy haze left by the pain.
"Which one? She doesn't look likes she's having fun either."
"Both I suppose. Now, for some reason, this looks vaguely familiar."
The misty shapes in front of her became more distinguished as Pyrrha forced herself to look at them. It was them. Torchwick, Neo, Mercury, Emerald, Neo, and that woman, Cinder.
"Ruby! The plane!" Pyrrha recognized Jaune's voice.
"Yang! Weiss! Flare!" Pyrrha turned sluggishly to see Ruby shouting at her teammates, but she didn't understand what the girl was saying. Weiss pointed two fingers into the air over Yang's head, and three glowing golden glyphs appeared above the blonde's head. Yang shot her gauntlet into it, and the dust round seemed to take on the brilliance of the sun as it shot into the sky.
"Dammit! Stop them!" Torchwick yelled. Pyrrha realized she may be in danger, and looked to Jaune. She wasn't sure what to do, her mind clouded and feeling separate from everything happening around her. It felt almost like she was watching everything happen from far away, but the small part of her mind that retained its sentience was screaming at her to run.
"Jump!" Jaune yelled at her, and Pyrrha heard the word as though it came through water. She saw him running for the edge of the building, and followed to move after him. She felt unbalanced, but managed not to fall as she dashed for the broken windows.
"Get them!" A voice called from behind them. There was a slight banging noise from behind her, and something wrapped around her shin. Pyrrha didn't have the strength to fight as something tugged on her armor. She fell to the ground, rolling, and feeling whatever had tripped her slide off her leg. She came to rest looking at the window. The only person left inside was Ruby, who slammed her foot into the ground, turning to see Pyrrha. Seemingly without moving, Ruby was next to her, and Pyrrha felt arms around her torso. The ground under them cracked as Ruby propelled them out the window, and Pyrrha watched the wall fly past her until they were falling over the ground, nothing but a mass of Grimm below them. She looked ahead as a dust plane appeared. It tilted, and Pyrrha saw an open hangar door come into view. She crashed into it, then rolled to a stop. Ruby let her go, and Pyrrha struggled weakly to her feet, leaning against the wall. On the other side of the small interior, Ren was laying Pyrrha into a chair, pressing his hand against her side.
Thump.
Pain tore through Pyrrha's body.
"Jaune," She gasped, her back sliding down the wall of the airship. She saw him turn to look at her from where he was kneeling next to Nora, and a moment later he was standing over her, one of his hands clasped against hers. Her heart beat, and Pyrrha groaned as the molten pain flared up through her body again. She almost wanted her heart to stop beating so that the pulsing fire would stop.
"Pyrrha? Are you alright?" He asked, but his voice didn't seem to be moving with his lips.
Thump.
Her heart beat again, and this time, the heat was merely scalding. Relief passed through her mind, before another thought grabbed hold. She tried to focus on Jaune, his deep sea blue eyes, his hand calmly stroking her own. None of it felt real though. She worked to push that thought to the back of her mind, not allowing herself to think about it given the ramifications it would have. She desperately clutched at the hand entwined with her own, and she felt him give a reassuring squeeze. Her hand felt numb though, and despite Pyrrha being aware of the pressure, she hardly felt it. The thought shot through her mind once more, demanding to be acknowledge.
Pyrrha had never thought about dying before. She had never pondered how she would die, that was a dangerous road to tread, but this could very well be it. Her vision blurred, but she forced herself to focus again, looking at Jaune. She wanted to live, for him, for her friends, and though it was selfish, for herself. She didn't want to die here. Not now. Not yet.
Thump.
The pain was almost non-existent now, or at least, Pyrrha could hardly feel it. She was afraid of what that might mean, the numbness spreading through her limbs and calming her mind. It brought a certain clarity though, removing the pain and allowing her thoughts to flow freely. One thing became espescially evident. If she was going to die, there was one thing she wanted to say first.
She spoke softly, her lips trying to form words, but she couldn't make them act how she wanted. Jaune leaned in closer, and Pyrrha tried to speak again, worry clutching at her chest. Her vision flickered, and she closed her eyes, focusing. She opened them, determination flaring up inside her. She needed him to know before she went. She had never told him for four years, but she wanted him to know.
"Jaune..." Was all she managed to gasp, trying to convey in that one syllable everything she had ever felt for him. All the pain, all the shared experiences, the friendship and everything else that she had felt which could ill be put into words.
Above her, Jaune's face blurred, his pale skin seeping together with his blue eyes. She saw his mouth moving, but she couldn't hear anything. He leaned her backwards, but Pyrrha couldn't feel the metal grating against her back. Her eyes drifted from Jaune to the metallic roof above her as darkness rimmed the edges of her sight. The black spread, narrowing her vision until it consumed her, and Pyrrha went limp.
/
Pyrrha's body relaxed in his arms as Jaune looked down at her delicate features.
"Pyrrha!" He yelled desperately. "Come on!" He cupped her face, willing her eyes to open. He stuck two of his fingers onto her neck just below her chin, closing his eyes and desperately hoping.
There. He felt it. A pulse. It was weak and faint, but it was definitely there. He stood from next to her and threw open the glass hatch that separated the cockpit from the cargo hold.
"You'd better fly fast." He growled to the pilot. There was no way Jaune was going to lose his partner. He threw a glance over his shoulder to where Nora was slumped against a chair with Ren holding her. He wasn't going to lose either of them. "Get us to Beacon. Now."
/
...
Well, that was an interesting chapter. I'll be honest, I felt tense writing it, but it was one of those chapters that just starts to run away with you as you write. It was fun, and I'm really starting to enjoy this story. In other news, I'm noticing that I'm falling back into the trend of writing from Pyrrha's, Jaune's or Blake's perspective. This story is going to involve arcs for all of the characters, so I'm going to try and force myself to write from different perspectives. This is where I'm going to ask for your help! Let me know which character(s)'s perspective you want to see in the next few chapters. I'm looking forward to exploring writing with all of them, but I also want you guys to enjoy it. So let me know! As always, comments, criticisms, ideas and thoughts are always welcome and encouraged.
Finally, I just want to give my own personal tribute to Monty. Without going too much into my personal life, I've always struggled with two aspects of my personality; the side of me that yearns to break free and be creative to express how I feel and think, and the side of me that has been encouraged to calm down, sit, study and get good marks. Line myself up for a good job. On my own, I never really had the courage to start expressing myself, and Rooster Teeth has been a big part of my life. I don't know why, but all the people there seem so normal and relatable, and them having made RvB made my dreams of being able to write and draw seem so much more realistic and concrete. Even though I was just your average guy, I hoped that maybe someday I would make something of my own. I started brushing off those dusty old ideas I had stowed away in the back corners of my brain, and I let myself think again.
And then they announced the release of RWBY. I watched the trailers, and I was amazed, even in the Red trailer with very little sound fx or voicing, how incredible the world was. It filled me with an inspiration the likes of which I've never really felt before. After watching the first season, I was mesmerized. Seeing what Monty had created was awing, breathtaking. Monty helped us get absorbed into the world of RvB with his stunning action sequences and formidable animation skills, but then he created his own world. RWBY became a colourful, vibrant reality that he brought to life. What had once been an idea inside his mind was now real, and he shared this world with us all. It is testament to his will, creativity and dedication that he was able to do this, and it brought joy to countless people around the world.
I was never blessed with the opportunity to meet Monty Oum, and I suppose the way that he's touched my life and many others is a testament to how expansive his reach has been in this life. He's brought wonder and happiness into my life through his work, and with it came the inspiration I needed to break out of my shell. I don't know if I ever would have started writing and drawing again if it weren't for Monty's work. I hope that someday I'll be able to touch lives the way Monty has. No, I never knew him, but I'll do my part to carry Monty's torch of creativity and wonder. You will be missed, but you will never truly die. You've bettered the lives of too many.