Chapter 4: The Lighthouse
"We HAVE to get to that tower!" Jaune declared.
Pyrrha was somewhere up there, she had to be. She'd indicated as much before saying goodbye. Jaune was not prepared to say goodbye. Not while he still had breath in his lungs. Back in the street, his mind was muddled, his discretion held hostage by despair and self-loathing. Now, after the things he'd seen, returning to Beacon to finish this fight on his own terms was the only path.
"The tower has fallen," Glynda started, "There is no longer any reason to risk lives unnecessarily trying to defend it. Beacon is now under a strict quarant-"
"Unnecessarily!?" Jaune fired back, quite uncharacteristically. "Pyrrha is up there! If you don't want to waste lives, then we have to save her!" He realized that this wasn't his first time making a case to save Pyrrha. "The rest of my team… Weiss… they're all still at the school. Don't you care?"
"Don't be ridiculous," a booming voice rang out from behind Jaune. "The situation requires… a more delicate hand. The time for fists has passed. Your friends are by no means out of harm's way, but they're under the charge of some of the best men we have."
"Thank you, James." Glynda said with an irritated tone, but managed to remain calm. "Mr. Arc, there is no way for me to explain the forces that are at work here to you in a meaningful way. And I'm sure that even if I could, they wouldn't influence your desire to be with your team."
Jaune stood in disbelief of what he was hearing. The holes he was trying to stare through Glynda's head might get her to understand, if he could somehow make that happen. He turned to confront General Ironwood. Jaune was fueled by desperation and hate after what he'd heard,his agreeable nature tucked away neatly in the recesses of his mind. When his head had swung around to plead his case with the general, his resolve was instantly crushed.
The usual hulk of a man that was General Ironwood now looked like something out of an Arnold Schwarzenhazel movie. In that moment, Jaune remembered how he and many of the other students had seen his ship go down outside of Amity Coliseum. "This guy is hardcore. Really, like made of metal." he thought. Ironwood could sense that Jaune was mortified by what he was seeing.
"Jaune, is it? Well… Jaune, I assure you that your friends and teammates are in the best hands we have to offer. Glynda and I are here in the city to oversee the establishment of a safe-zone here in Vale. Our colleague, Qrow is on his way to Beacon as we speak. He will join Professor Port and Dr. Oobleck in their mission to bring everyone in danger to safety. As we can't say for sure what the fate of your Headmaster is, at this time, our orders are to follow certain… protocols established by the most senior members of the staff."
Jaune had cooled off a bit. The general's speech had disarmed some of his fears, but he wasn't satisfied with the lack of attention being given to whatever was happening on top of Beacon Tower. "General Ironwood. Sir. I get that your men are doing their best. But that woman Pyrrha went after… she has power like I've never seen. It's not a semblance. It's like she's magic or something. Pyrrha is strong, but up against that? I just have to help her. I don't care what happens to me anymore. I'll do anything. Just let me help her." By the end of his plea, Jaune was gritting his teeth, eyes closed, trying his hardest not to break down in front of Ironwood.
The general sighed briefly, "Your passion is admirable, Jaune. Really, it is. I was like you once. Reckless, guided blindly by emotion. In time, you'll learn that you must care for yourself. At the end of the day, especially this day, it could be all you have left. I know that will be difficult for you to hear. My men are the best of the best. They will sacrifice everything to bring your teammates and friends home safely. I sent Qrow to Beacon personally. His duties are twofold. First, he will inquire as to the whereabouts of Professor Ozpin. For better or for worse, he will then see to the defense of what's left of the Tower. If Ms. Nikos is up there as you say, then her safety is Qrow's priority."
"So then we just wait? What if Crow can't help?" Jaune rebutted.
"I've known Qrow for a long time. He and I don't always operate on the same moral plateaus, but I can assure you that his greatest priority is always the mission at hand. He will come through for us. I promise." With that, General Ironwood nodded to Jaune and made a motion for Glynda to follow him back into the hospital.
"Qrow is a powerful ally, Mr. Arc." Glynda assured him. "General Ironwood's quarantine of the school and the surrounding area does not permit anyone to return to Beacon. But if you really want to help, there are wounded students, soldiers and civilians being brought here on transport ships from Amity, Beacon and the sectors of Vale that were overrun by Grimm. We're going to need a lot of help facilitating all of them. Head to the clearing across the street, and join some of the other teams assisting the medical staff. I know you just want to help your friends, but right now, you'll have to settle for helping the citizens of Vale. They need you every bit as much."
Glynda turned to follow Ironwood inside. Deep down, Jaune knew that no one needed him as much as Pyrrha did, even if it was against her wishes. It pained him to have that thought. His job was to uphold the peace of the world. Choosing to save one over many… it went against everything he thought it meant to be a huntsman. He couldn't shake the thought of Pyrrha, all alone, against the most powerful force he'd ever seen… but considering he had no way to help her, Jaune would make it his mission to help the people of Vale. He would put his trust… her safety... in the hands of Ironwood's men, this mysterious Crow person, and his friends who were still fighting at Beacon.
He turned away from the Hospital after his talk with Professor Goodwitch. Jaune began to walk across the street towards the makeshift docking area. His pace was initially slow, until he started to sift through the deluge of voices coming from the clearing, "Ere comes anotha one!" Jaune looked up, surprised to see that three quarters of team SSSN was one of the groups assisting the medical staff. The distinctly foreign voice he'd heard must have belonged to Scarlet. "Where is that guy from, anyway?" he thought. After locating some familiar faces, Jaune's pace increased as he jogged toward them. Sage was the first to notice Jaune, his physical acknowledgement must have tipped off Neptune, who was the first to say something.
"Jaune, over here!" he yelled. Neptune didn't have his signature red coat on, and his necktie hung loose around his partially unbuttoned shirt. "Man, it's good to see some familiar faces around here. It was really starting to get kind of scary seeing all of these people coming in hurt like this."
Neptune was right, Jaune hadn't seen a lot of familiar faces. Sure, he'd seen Cardin, Glynda and General Ironwood, but the sheer volume of people condensed in this small area was staggering. "Hey guys," Jaune greeted the whole team, even though he'd never really met Scarlet or Sage. "I'm glad to see you guys all made it out of Beacon. Is Some here sunwhere?"... "Idiot." he thought to himself as the three teammates cracked a smile for probably the first time in hours… "Is Sun here somewhere? Sorry. It's been a rough half hour for me."
Still smiling, Neptune replied, "No, he stayed behind to help the last of the students get out safely. We figured we'd be better off helping out here, so we just kind of split up." Jaune knew a thing or two about being split up.
The transport ship landed in front of them, and the able-bodied students staggered down the ramp and onto the grass. Then it was the turn of Jaune and the Sun-less team SSSN to help everyone who couldn't help themselves to the hospital. Neptune and Jaune carried a stretcher for one injured soldier. Having tried for this long to hide his concern for his teammates, Jaune finally had to ask. "Hey, Neptune… did you see anybody from my team before you headed back here?"
"No... I didn't", he started. Jaune felt himself deflate a little bit. "But I got a call from Sun right before the CCTS went down. He said the last ship was ready to go. Two of your teammates were there, and they were hurt pretty bad. I don't think they could stand on their own." He hesitated, "Sorry, I'm… uh… not good with names. The ninja guy and the hammer girl." His eyes widened, hearing this. Ren and Nora were okay! Maybe General Ironwood was right about being able to save everyone. Jaune caught himself smiling for the first time all night. "Most of team RWBY was there too. I don't think anyone knows where Ruby went, but Sun said the rest of them were looking pretty rough. He didn't really go into details."
A doctor had lead the two to a vacant room inside, where they lowered stretcher, helped transfer the patient to a table, and headed back towards the clearing outside. "All things considered, that's really good news," Jaune began. "I'm glad to hear that Weiss is-" He stopped dead in his tracks.
"Whoa, what about Weiss, Jaune?" Neptune asked, as if any semblance of hope had been sucked out of him. "Jaune? Weiss… IS… okay, isn't she?"
Jaune fumbled his words for a moment, "I… yeah. I mean, I called her about twenty-five minutes ago. She's fine. It's just… Pyrrha's kind of in a tough situation. I asked her if she could help, and she said she would."
Neptune just looked at him for a moment, before putting his hand on Jaune's shoulder.
"Don't do that to me, man. I thought you were gonna say she was in trouble. If she's with Pyrrha, I'm not worried about it." Jaune wasn't sure if it was worth the heartache that it might cause if he tried to explain the actual danger that he might have put Weiss in. Thinking about that call apparently tripped something in his mind, because he remembered something very specifically from his brief conversation with Weiss.
"We will, Are you okay?"
"She's gonna be fine, Neptune. I never heard anybody else speak while I was on the call, but she was with someone. She said 'We will' when I asked her to help Pyrrha." Jaune started to wonder who else could have been able-bodied enough to go with Weiss. The two walked out the door and back into the clearing. Both of them looking towards Beacon Tower. They stood in silence, briefly as they realized that the tip of the Tower was actually visible from the ground, when there were no ships obstructing the view. Jaune found himself unable to look away from the sight.
Neptune broke the silence, "So, who do you think was with-" His instantly burning retinas stopped his speech mid-sentence. A piercing light radiated from Beacon Academy. Jaune remained transfixed on the tower. The beacon of hope. The lighthouse.