Unraveling the Knight
Jaune was asleep in his bed. He had a troubled expression on his face and he was muttering to himself. His body would twitch on occasions. It was clear that he was having a nightmare. A bad one. He was seeing himself killing Blake and then Yang. He was merciless. Not caring who these two were or what they meant to him. It was terrible.
Luckily, he was saved from experiencing the horrors any further, as someone was shaking him by the shoulder. Jaune sat up instantly with a gasp. His eyes were wide and he was just staring across the room to the far wall. His breathing was ragged as he was just processing what he had been seeing. 'That didn't happen.' He thought. He prayed. 'Blake and Yang are fine. They have to be.'
He was brought back to reality when he felt a hand gently grip his shoulder. He turned his head and looked into the concerned but calming emerald eyes of his partner. "Jaune, are you okay?" Pyrrha asked.
He took one more deep breath and closed his eyes. When he was calm, he opened them again to look at her. "Yeah. Just a nightmare. Thank you for waking me." He tried his best to give her a grateful smile but it came out rather weakly.
Pyrrha gave him just a small smile and had a very conflicted look in her eyes. "You're welcome. But, that wasn't the only reason I woke you up."
He raised an eyebrow in confusion before he realized they weren't alone. He turned to the other side of the room and saw Nora and Ren on the latter's bed. Ren was sitting on it while Nora was behind him, hugging him close with her arms and legs. They both had very grim looks on their faces. He turned from them back to his partner. "What's going on?" he asked but was terrified of the answer.
Pyrrha looked away from him, finding herself unable to keep meeting his gaze. "We got a call from Weiss. Something happened last night." She said weakly.
Jaune's eyes widened slightly. 'No.' he thought.
"I guess…Blake and Yang broke curfew last night…"
'No. Please, no.' Jaune's hands were starting to shake from the tension.
Pyrrha's voice was breaking at that point, "They ran into the Grimm. They're gone."
Jaune's eyes started to water. 'Damn it. Damn it!' he repeated in his head as he looked down. A tear almost fell from his eye before a thought occurred to him. Or more precisely, someone came to his mind. Ruby.
With that, he threw the blankets off of himself and jumped out of bed, startling Pyrrha. He ran over to his dresser. He was still shirtless from last night and he knew his hoodie was gone. He grabbed a tight, long sleeve shirt and pulled it over his head. He quickly threw off his pajama bottoms and pulled on a pair of his jeans that were on the floor. He was quickly putting on his shoes when he asked, "Where is Ruby?"
The rest of his team was just staring in shock before Pyrrha shook herself from it. "In the infirmary with Weiss-" before she could finish, Jaune ran to the door and opened with enough force to nearly tear it off the hinges. He ran down the hall as quickly as he could. He needed to get to Ruby. He ran pass many students and nearly knock a few to the ground in the process. He could hear his team yelling for him to slow down. But he didn't. He couldn't.
He finally got to the infirmary and went in. His enhanced hearing quickly picked up the sounds of someone crying. He made his way over to one of the rooms and when he went in, he froze at what he saw. There were two beds next to each other with sheets over them, hiding who was in them. But he knew who they were. He noticed Weiss was standing near one of the beds. She had her hand over her mouth and her eyes were just staring. But what really drew his attention was Ruby. She was on her knees at the foot of both beds. He hands were covering her face and she was openly crying.
No one would be surprised by that. It wasn't just the fact that as team leader, she felt like she failed her team. It wasn't just the fact that she lost one of her closest friends. And it even wasn't the fact that she lost her only sister. It was all of that combined with the reality that she had lost more people she cared deeply about.
And it was because of him.
He slowly started to make his way over to the young reaper. "Ruby." He said, just over a whisper. That got the remaining two members of RWBY to turn to him. They were both shocked, not expecting to see him here. Ruby more so when he dropped to his knees in front of her and pulled her into a tight hug. He held her close and started shaking. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He uttered brokenly.
She looked up at him and saw he was barely holding back tears. Ruby started to tear up more. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her head into his shoulder. "It's okay, Jaune. You didn't do this."
That made his heart just crumble more and that's when he had a silent breakdown. Tears started to pour down his cheeks but not a sound escaped his lips. He didn't deserve to be here, to comfort her. But he had to. He was the only one that could right now. So, that's what he did. He held her close and let her cry in his embrace.
Eventually, the rest of JNPR arrived. As soon as they saw the two leaders, they fully realized why he took off like he did. They stood close by, in case they needed them. But for now. Ruby needed this and by the looks of it, so did Jaune.
They spent an unknown amount of time like that. Ruby exhausted herself and fell asleep holding onto Jaune. He silently wiped away his and her tears before he stood up with her in his arms in a bridal carry. He looked over to his team. "I'm going to bring her back to her room to rest." He said in a weak voice. They just nodded, not sure on what to say. He looked at Weiss. "Would you mind coming along. I won't be able to get into your dorm otherwise." She just looked up to him, still in shock, before she nodded.
With that, he nodded once in silence before walking out with the Heiress a few steps behind him. The two walked in silence as they made their way to RWBY's dorm. Or RW's dorm now. Neither spoke so to not to disturb Ruby. And neither knew what to say anyway. After a few minutes, they arrived and Weiss took out her scroll to unlock the door. She walked in and held it open so he could walk in before closing it behind them.
His eyes landed on the set of homemade bunk beds and he grew sad. They'd never be used by their previous owners again. He shook his head a bit and moved over to the other set of beds. He looked up at Ruby's bunk, wondering how exactly he was going to do this.
"My bed." He heard a near silent voice. He looked over to Weiss, who was looking over at him. She cleared her throat and spoke just a tiny bit louder. "You can put her in my bed."
Jaune nodded before he gently laid the young girl in her partner's bed. He withdrew his arms and just looked at her. She was quietly snoring and looked to be sleeping comfortably. He gently moved a lock of hair behind her ear and gently cupper her cheek. She leant into it a bit with a quite hum. He just looked at her. "I'm sorry." He whispered to her with his voice just filled with guilt and regret.
He took his hand away and started to make his way to the door. He stopped to stand near Weiss and looked at her. "She should sleep soundly for a while. If she starts having a nightmare, try to wake her. Okay?" Weiss nodded in agreeance. He turned towards the door. "If you need a hand. Just call me."
He was reaching for the doorknob when he felt a shaky hand grab his upper arm. He looked over and saw that it was Weiss. She was looking to the side, trying to not make eye contact. "Thank you."
Jaune just looked at her. Her body language just spoke to him, telling him how much turmoil she was actually in. He made the decision without thinking. He turned to her completely and pulled her into a hug. His arms were loose, so she could pull away if she wanted. He felt her go rigid in his arm before she relaxed and returned the light hug. With that, he held her just a bit closer. "Let it go, Weiss. You holding it in isn't going to help anyone."
With those words, Weiss did just that. She started to cry silently but her body started shaking. She held him a bit tighter as she did. He in turn, just gently rubbed her back as he held her. She had cared deeply for Blake and Yang. They may not have been very close but they accepted her and cared for her. And she reciprocated those feelings. To have them just gone from her life, it hurt. It hurt so damn much. She just needed some comfort right now, even if it came from Jaune Arc of all people.
A few minutes later, she finally stopped crying and felt drained. She still held onto him as he gently stroked her back. He just felt so warm and comforting. Eventually, she had to begrudgingly pull away. She looked up at him, "Thank you." She said quietly.
Jaune just nodded before he reached over to the desk next to them and handed her a tissue. She took it and used it to dry her tears and their residue still on her face. She finally pulled away from him completely to throw it away. When she turned back, he had already opened the door and was leaving. He stopped but didn't turn around to look at her. "If you or Ruby need anything, don't hesitate to ask me or my team for help." He closed the door instead of waiting for her response.
Jaune immediately went into his dorm. He was glad that no one from his team was there. He walked into the bathroom and locked the door before he walked over to the sink. He quickly splashed some water on his face before he released an angry sigh. "Why did you do it?" his voice held pure fury in it.
He heard a chuckle and looked up into the mirror. There, he didn't see his reflection, but the Ghoul looking back at him through the mirror. He had that same damned smirk on his face. "Do what?" he asked sarcastically.
"Why did you kill them!?" Jaune shouted, not wanting to play his games.
The Ghoul just gave him an even stare, "To survive."
"CRDL I can understand, as much as it sickens me. But Yang and Blake? What did they do? They did nothing to me." He argued back.
"Exactly." The Ghoul started. "They've done nothing to or for you. Except, just use you and take you for granted." His smirk widened. "And we know what happens when poor little Jauney has too much negativity, don't we?"
"Enough games!" Jaune shouted again. His aura shifting to the surface with his emotions. "What is it that you want?"
The Ghoul became so serious, it sent a chill down his spine. "Survival, that is what I want. I'm sick of you trying to be human when you can never go back. Those seven are the ones that you are giving up everything for. You are gonna get us killed." That's when his face shifted to rage. "And for what?! Them?! All because of some damned 'friendship'." He scoffed and grew serious again. "They are a problem. A cancer. So, I'm gonna remove it. To survive."
Jaune was shocked by that. The sheer fury the Ghoul held was something he had never seen before. And it was all directed at his friends. His eyes gained a steely determination. "I will stop you."
What happened next was one of the most shocking thing he had seen in his life. He reached forward through the mirror and grabbed Jaune by his throat. He was pushed back as the Ghoul came more and more out of the mirror until they was standing in the bathroom together. He lifted Jaune off his feet and pinned him to the wall by his throat. Jaune clawed at the hand holding him to no avail. The Ghoul just looked up at him with that twisted smirk on his face again. "No. You won't."
"I'm too strong to be held down by you now. The cage you pushed me into cannot hold me. You were the one to give me control in the first place. You let me out to take care of CRDL. The first time that wasn't for survival. And from that, I've figured on how to take control from you whenever I like." The smirk stretched in a full smile. "So, I'm going to do what I've had planned since you came here. Kill the ones holding you, holding me back."
That's when he tossed Jaune to the ground. He managed to get back on his knees and stare up at the Ghoul as he tried to regain his breath. He just smirked down at him with that same smirk, "Only thing you could possibly do to stop me is to kill us. But you can't because you're too afraid to. Otherwise, you would've done so after the death of your family. So, enjoy the little time you'll have with them, Jaune."
Jaune didn't know what to say. Not to that. Before he could even find his voice, a knock came from the door and he turned to it. "Jaune?" Pyrrha's voice asked. "Are you okay in there?"
He turned back to the Ghoul but he was gone, again. Jaune gently rubbed his throat as he thought, 'Was that real or was it just in my head?' Jaune slowly stood up and walked to the door. "Yeah. I'm fine, Pyr." He lied.
It was around midnight that night when Jaune looked over the beds of his teammates. The somber day never got better. Weiss and Ruby came down to the cafeteria with JNPR after they told them they needed to eat. They barely got anything down and Ruby decided to sit next to Jaune. She just leant into him and hugged his left arm with her own. No one said anything and Jaune didn't stop her. What right did he have to deny her?
After that, they all decided to call it a night and they all went into the respective dorms. Most of JNPR fell into a restless sleep until they were woken an hour or two later. Jaune got up and opened the door to see Ruby and Weiss standing there in their pajamas. He just looked them over, "Trouble sleeping?" Weiss looked off to the side as Ruby nodded slowly. He then just stepped to the side. "Come on in."
The two looked at each other before they walked in. Jaune closed the door and slowly ushered them to his bed. "You two take my bed. I'll take the floor." He walked away to grab another pillow for himself and Weiss along with a spare blanket. He tossed the pillow to Weiss before he made himself comfortable on the floor. He had his back to them all but could feel all five of there gazes. "I have experience with losing people." Was all he had said and they didn't respond.
He then listened to his team, Ruby and Weiss settling down. He listened to their breathing and when he was sure they were all sleeping, he stood back up. He quietly went to the bathroom and changed back into the clothes from the day. He then walked out and took a small knapsack with a few supplies he set up through the day. He placed his scroll on his desk and went to the door.
He looked them all over one last time before he left. He closed the door silently behind him. He placed his hand on the door and lowered his head. "Goodbye." Was all he said as he turned from the door and made his way out of the dorms and then out of Beacon.
A/N- Shorter chapter this time around but that's the way i felt it had to be. Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh and Jauneforever for being my Betas. Check them out already. That's all I got for this one, so I'll see ya all in the next update!