Chapter 5 - Decision
"It would be best… if I choose Qrow. If what you say is true, then we might be able to get information about the people who started the attack much quicker." Jaune stated.
"I see. Very well, you will be helping Qrow gather information and assist in raids. However, you will first need to be trained so that you can handle yourself in serious situations. Qrow, I am counting on you on training the boy to become a proper Huntsman."
"Whatever. I will help the boy get stronger. I do have a few conditions if he intends on being my apprentice."
"What will that be?" Jaune asked the drunk dusty Qrow.
"Until you can handle yourself on the battlefield, you will need to follow my instructions and not question what I ask you to do. The cases that we will be investigating will be risky and can lead to one of us getting possibly killed. In addition to that, some of these cases will need an extra hand."
"What do you mean by extra hand?" Jaune asked raising an eyebrow.
"You will sometimes have a partner to help you during a case. What kind of partner? Well, if I tell you, it will ruin the surprise now wouldn't it?" Qrow said, drinking his flask.
"Can I at least choose who I can take?"
"If you stay in my good side, then maybe I will consider your request. Until then, I will be assigning your teammate."
"Wait a minute… why would I need a teammate if I have you?"
"About that… I hate working in 2 so I will be working solo most of the time, but that's until I can be certain that you can handle yourself."
"Fine. If it means getting faster results to finding the mastermind then I agree."
"Very well, from this day forward you and Qrow will be working together." Ozpin said, as he stood up ready to dismiss the group.
"Ozpin you can't be serious. I think the right choice is for Jaune to come to Atlas with me." Ironwood stated.
"I'm sorry James, but Jaune has already made up his mind. The least I can do is allow you to determine who Jaune can work with during some cases which he will be tasked alone."
"Hmmm… fine, seems reasonable. I have someone in mind that can benefit the investigations." Ironwood stated.
"Very well, you are all dismissed." Ozpin said as he took a drink of his coffee.
"Oh Professor Ozpin, I forgot to ask you something." Jaune said, as he walked out of the elevator.
"What is it Mr. Arc?"
"Can I have permission to leave the school? I left my stuff back at the forest and I really need it back. There is also other stuff there that I need to get."
"Yes… of course. However, you need to take your team, as well as team RWBY with you."
"But why!" Jaune asked, getting upset.
"You aren't the only one who lost a friend now are you? The others should know what exactly happened to Pyrrha and where it happened."
"…yea, I guess you're right." Jaune then walked into the elevator and returned back to his dorm.
Departure
"Hey Jaune where you been? Nora and I were looking everywhere for you." Ren asked.
"I was with Professor Ozpin. I wanted to ask him something."
"What was it?"
"It's better to tell everyone at the same time. Can you get the others and tell them to meet me in front of the school? We are going somewhere." Jaune said. His eyes slowly descended to sadness.
"Yea… okay." Ren then proceeded to get the others and meet him in front of the school.
"Why did Jaunney boy want all of us to gather in front of the school?" Yang asked.
"He said we will be taking a trip somewhere, but he seemed a little depressed when he said that." Ren said as they the group finally reached the front of the school.
"Hey Jaune!" Ruby said as she ran to hug the knight.
"Hey there Ruby, it seems everyone is finally here. You're all probably wondering why I called all of you here. We will be going to a forest a little far from here. There is something I want to talk to you all about, but I want to make sure beforehand that you will not tell anybody."
"Well you can trust me Jaune. You know I will always be there for you." Ruby said, smiling at the knight.
"Well I am your teammate and I would never reveal a secret, especially from a friend. I can also vouch for Nora." Ren said.
"Well, you already know my secret and you haven't told anyone yet, so of course I can keep your secret." Blake said.
"Oh come on Jaunney boy, you know me. I can keep a secret." Yang said, grinning at Jaune.
"I would never reveal any classified information to any other people. You can definitely trust me Jaune." Weiss said, placing her hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Thanks guys, but it would be best to tell you when we reach the destination." Jaune said as he began walking.
Everyone looked at each other confused and simply followed him. They walk through the city that was nearly in rubble. Thanks to Professor Goodwitch and other good Samaritans, the buildings were partially rebuilt. The once bloody streets were now somewhat clean, although evidence of the tragedy still remained. The group finally reached the forest where the black knight was born and there still lay multiple weapons from the blood bath.
"We're here." Jaune said. The others stood still and looked at the sight of the rotting bodies that were lying around Milo and Akuo.
"J…Jaune. What is this?" Weiss asked as she covered her mouth in hopes that it would prevent her from puking.
"We aren't here for the bodies, we're here for this." Jaune said, stepping over the bodies to get to the weapons he came to get.
"That's Pyrrha's weapon and shield." Ren said.
"This is where it happened… this is where she died… in my arms." Jaune said getting onto his knee to pick up his and Pyrrha's stuff.
"Jaune… did Pyrrha really kill all these soldiers of the White Fang?" Blake asked as she walked around the area in shock.
"Just a few…" Jaune said. He picked the weapons up and began walking towards the remaining group members who were still frozen at the sight.
"Then the person who saved you k-killed the others then?" Yang asked. Her body was trembling, no words can describe the feeling she felt.
"More or less yea…"
"Then who was it?"
"I… I don't know. I collapsed before I saw him." Jaune said, slowly reaching his head but stopped a quarter from the way.
"You're lying." Yang said. The trembling sensation was gone and now she was scowling at the knight.
"He is." A voice came out of the woods.
"Who's there!" Ruby yelled. The group quickly took there combat positions.
"Relax. That isn't a great way to say hi to your uncle after the battle now is it?" Qrow jumped off the tree and landed in front of the group.
"UNCLE QROW!" Ruby yelled, running to him.
"Uncle Qrow?" Jaune asked himself silently.
"Oh that's right, I never told you Jaune that I am Ruby and Yang's Uncle huh."
"Yea… you kinda left that small important detail out…"
All the more reason to not let any of them die.
"Wait… you met Qrow?" Yang asked.
"Yea it was back to school."
"Well it seems you did quite a number here kid. I didn't expect you to do this much damage at all." Qrow said, observing the bodies.
"Wait… you did this?" Blake asked. Shocked at the statement.
"QROW!" Jaune yelled at the drunk man.
"What? Oh sorry. This drink really does a number on you, ya know?" Qrow said, taking another drink out of the flask.
"Jaune, how did you manage to do this? You aren't exactly the type of person who knows how to protect themselves from an attack." Weiss told the boy.
"Well it seems you were wrong. Apparently I can protect myself, so be sure to add that to your notes." Jaune said, agitated at what Weiss said.
"Well in any case, I need you to come with me Jaune. There is something that came up and I need you to come along." Qrow said.
"Right now?"
"Right now."
"Wait! What's going on? Where exactly are you going to take him Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked blocking the blonde knight.
"It's something that doesn't concern you Ruby. You should go back to school with your friends and I will explain later when me and Jaune are done."
"No! You will explain to us what is going on and only then will I move."
"Ruby is right, we're his friends and teammates. We deserve to know what is going on." Ren said, joining Ruby to her side. The rest of the team also joined her to know what they were trying to keep secret.
"Tell you what, if all 7 of you can beat me and Jaune, we will tell you everything you want to know." Qrow said, pulling out his Greatsword.
"I'm sure Jaune wants to tell us so he will obviously be on our side. Right Jaune?" Ruby asked.
"… I'm sorry Ruby, but I changed my mind. None of you can never understand the truth." Jaune said, as he slowly walked to Qrow.
If you ever found out, I know for a fact that you will look at me in a different way.
Jaune stared at the fragile rose that stood before him.
Even now that I told you what happened here, the look at your eyes after what you've seen. I can already tell… you are having second thoughts of me… Aren't you Ruby?
"Don't worry Jaune. What's done in the dark will be brought to the light. We will win and the truth will set you free." Ruby said, pulling out Crescent Rose and staring back at him.
Jaune smiled at her and pulled out Crocea Mors.
"Then I will hope you beat us… Ruby."
I guess I was wrong about you Ruby. Thank you for still being there for me, even if I try to push you away.
"Let's go!" Ruby yelled, as both teams attacked.
Ruby, Yang, Blake and Weiss went for Qrow and circled around him. Ren and Nora went straight for Jaune who had his guard ready. Ruby quickly ran towards her Uncle and swung her scythe hoping for Qrow to block her attack. Qrow didn't take the bait and simply took a step back which caused Ruby's attack to miss by mere inches. Yang, Blake, and Weiss circled the old man and began hitting him with a barrage of attacks. This however, was child's play for Qrow. He simply smiled and managed to avoid most of the attacks and quickly pulled out his Greatsword and unleashed a wide ranged attack, hitting its attended targets. Weiss, Ruby, and Yang took the attack, but Blake used her semblance and her shadow took the attack for her.
"Oooh nice semblance you got there kid." Qrow said.
Blake quickly unsheathed Gambol Shroud and used the katana to hit Qrow. He however continued dodging as if it were a dance.
"I would put that away if I were you…"
As the barrage of attack continued, Yang quickly took several shots from her distance to catch the man off guard.
"OH SHI!" Qrow yelled as he kicked Blake away in order for him to block the incoming attack with his Greatsword. Although he managed to block the blast, he was pushed back to a tree.
"Nice try kid but you will need to do a better job than tha…" Qrow was cut off by Ruby who used her semblance to close the gap between them. Ruby used Crescent Rose and went for a diagonal attack that made its mark. Qrow was knocked down but quickly rolled to the right.
"Alright enough games… it's time to get serious." Qrow said as he jumped towards Ruby and swung his Greatsword. Meanwhile, Jaune was at the defensive blocking both Nora's and Ren's combine attacks.
If I don't come up with something quick! Jaune thought.
He quickly saw an opening for him from Nora and took advantage of it.
That's it! Jaune thought.
He quickly sheathed his sword and ran towards the girl. He slid underneath and Nora unleashed a powerful attack with her hammer that barely missed its mark. Rocks came flying out of the ground due to the power behind the attack and Jaune's true attended target was the mastermind who was none other than Ren. He got back to his feet and quickly unsheathed his sword and performed a jump attack on Ren. Ren saw the attack coming and used Stormflower to shoot at the incoming knight. Jaune used his kite shield to block the incoming attacks allowing him to get up close with Ren. Jaune swung his sword but Ren was able to use his Stormflower to block the attack.
"Nora!" Ren yelled
Nora ran towards the 2 and used her large hammer to strike down Jaune from behind.
Jaune quickly did a 180 sweep attack to knock down Ren and block the incoming attack from Nora. Nora's hammer came crashing down towards Jaune's kite shield creating a massive explosion.
"What!" Nora said shocked at the knight who was still standing from the attack.
Jaune quickly pushed her weapon aside and went for a side kick to the chest that sent Nora flying to a nearby tree.
What the! Jaune thought.
Ren performed a leg sweep that made Jaune land on his back and aimed his guns at Jaune.
"Looks like we win" Ren said smiling.
"Look again." Jaune said .
Ren looked underneath him and there was Jaune's sword aimed straight to Ren's stomach.
"I guess it's a tie."
Back with Qrow's battle, he witnessed what was going on even though he was dodging the girls combined attacks. He took a giant step back and put his hands up.
"Okay… I give"
"WHAT!?" Yang said, ready to unleash her semblance.
"We were just getting to the best part!"
"We're going to be late if we keep this up so we might as well tell you now." Qrow said, taking a big swizz of his flask.
"So what was the point of having a match?" Jaune asked.
"The point was for me to see how you fought. I can see why your teammates aren't intimidated by you."
"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby yelled.
"It's true though…" Qrow said.
He's right though. I can barely keep up with Nora and Ren and if I'm going to find the person who is responsible for Pyrrha's death, I need to get stronger. DAMMIT! Jaune thought, clenching his fists.
"Tell them what they want to hear so that we can get going." Jaune said with an angry tone.
"Oh, did I hurt your feelings? Sorry." Qrow said sarcastically.
Qrow began telling them what they wanted to hear. He told him about what happened in the forest, what Jaune has kept secret, the stories about the Dark, and what can happen to him if he doesn't control it. He told the group that Jaune wants to avenge Pyrrha and by doing this he will be able to fulfill that duty.
"Jaune you can't simply carry all this on your shoulders. She was our teammate too and we should be going for the people responsible for it together." Ren said, placing his hand on his shoulder.
"I can't allow that. I don't want to witness another person I care about end up like Pyrrha. What's worse is that I can go insane and end up killing the people I swore to protect. If that happens I wouldn't be able to forgive myself."
"I don't care what you say, I am not letting you carry this burden all by yourself." Ruby said walking towards the knight.
"You aren't the only person who was hurt after Pyrrha's death. If something were to happen to you too, there's no telling what we would do. You were my first friend I had in beacon and you were there to pick me up. If I were to lose you I… I don't know what I would do. We're going after these people together, whether you like it or not." Ruby said, frowning at Jaune.
"She's right. You can't take everything on your own. We are here to become huntsman and huntresses. This will be the first step to becoming one. We all want the same thing, peace in the world right?" Weiss asked.
"Yea… you're right. However, the decision isn't up to me, it's up to Qrow.
Everyone looked at Qrow, he was standing there drinking.
"What? You guys can do whatever you want as long as you stay out of my way. However, you two! Qrow pointing at Yang and Ruby.
"Who? Us? Yang asked
"Yes you two! I'm watching your every move so I would be careful where you tread." Qrow said eyeballing the two.
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean. Anyways, we should get going Jaune."
"Ok. All of you should get back to beacon. We can talk about what we are going to do next when I come back." Jaune said.
"Okay. Be careful Jaune." Ruby said running to hug Jaune.
"Hey! What did I say!?" Qrow said, as he managed to pull Ruby from her hoody and drag her back to her team.
"I'll see you all soon." Jaune replied.
He began walking off with Qrow into the woods from the opposite direction of the school.
"BE CAREFUL FEARLESS LEADER!" Nora yelled, as they began walking back to school.
"What should we do with Pyrrha's stuff?" asked Yang.
"I think it would be best to send it back to her family." Ren stated.
The sun had finally set and both teams were now at Beacon, enjoying their last warm meal for the day.
Warm welcome
Qrow and Jaune traveled further away from the school and ended up in a small town outside from Vale. Their destination was located in a small town called "Victorville" just outside of Vale. Qrow had talked to Jaune about how to go about gathering information to find certain criminals.
"Listen, in order to find what you are looking for you will need to find the worst part of a city. Whatever crime lord you are looking for, it is best to persuade scums with money or if that doesn't work then usually intimidation and threats should get them to talk."
"Yeah… right. Can we go get something to eat first? I'm starving over here." Jaune said, placing his hand on his crying stomach.
"Didn't you eat before you left from school?"
"I haven't even eaten breakfast yet! I was stuck in the infirmary and talking to you and Ozpin all day!"
"Fine fine fine. There is a pretty good place that I heard about on a newspaper not too far from here. We'll relax for a bit there and head towards a club."
"Why a club?"
"The club we will be heading is crawling with scumbags and criminals. They probably have information that we are looking for."
The two finally reached the restaurant and took their seats. The restaurant was a heartwarming place for Jaune. Inside were families having meals together, the structure was made out of logs, as if it were a big cabin, and the waiters were kind. Both began talking to one another, trying to get to know each other's background. Who they were, what made them want to become a huntsman, and talked about their families.
"You should introduce me to one of your sisters one day. I'm sure we will be great friends once we get to know each other." Qrow said, taking a sip out of his flask.
"I'm sure you would like that wouldn't you. My sisters aren't into guys who drink a lot of alcohol you know."
"Not yet she isn't, but once she knows m- *hiccup*e, I'm sure she would love to have me around."
"Yea, I bet. By the way, what made you want to become a huntsman? You don't exactly fit the picture when I think of a Huntsman."
"Well, the reason why I became a Huntsman *Hiccup* is the same reason why you want to become a Huntsman. I've always wanted to do something about this *hiccup* evil that resides in Remnant. I wanted to protect everyone from the creatures of Grimm, that's what the school ever taught us, to fear the Grimm. However, it seems I was fool into believing that was the only evil thing that resides on Remnant. What is truly evil are humans and Faunus. When you watch the news, what do you see? You hardly hear about Grimm attacks, it's mostly crimes in the city, murders, vandalism, and corruption." Qrow looked outside the window that was beside him.
"No matter how much work I put in, it remains the same. However, even that doesn't stop me from doing what I enjoy doing. Saving a life is what drives me to continue this line of work. Sure there might be some incidents where I couldn't save the person, but I learned to deal with that because not everything will go the way you want it to be."
That sounds similar to what Ruby told me back in the infirmary. Jaune thought.
"I think I have rambled enough. I'm starting to sound like an old man." Qrow proceeded to take another sip of his flask.
"Qrow… have you ever lost someone close to you?" Jaune asked, staring at his half eaten meal.
"I've lost a few. I've lost friends, classmates, and my sister, although my sister didn't die. That is something I don't feel like talking about at the moment. We should get going, it's better to start as soon as possible."
"Yea… sure."
The two paid their bills and left the warm restaurant and headed towards the club that held the information they seek.
Hey everyone! Here is another chapter for you to enjoy. I've counted all the votes through the reviews and through the PM's and Qrow won by 2 votes! Sorry for the people who voted Ironwood and Beacon. Also, I would have uploaded this sooner, but I had a few things to take care of before hand. I was also watching the last chapter of RWBY and it got me a little annoyed. Obviously I won't not spoil it but if you didn't know already, my favorite character is Jaune and some things that happened in the final chapter made me a little upset. Anyways I hope you enjoy the newest chapter and if you enjoy it feel free to leave a favorite or follow and if you no longer have interest in it, then thank you for taking the time to read it. Have a wonderful day.