Unraveling the Knight
Ruby's eyes slowly opened as the early morning light shined through the window near the bed she was in. It took only a few seconds to remember everything that happened the day before. Blake and Yang were gone. That fact still hurt. It was like a hole was in her heart and her life. It wasn't the first time she experienced this kind of pain but that didn't make it hurt any less.
Tears started to form in her eyes so she buried her face into the blankets around her. When she did that, she breathed in the scent lingering in the sheets. A smell she knew and it calmed her. It was Jaune's scent.
Jaune, her best friend. Her first friend at Beacon. Many people would look down on him but yesterday showed off all of his good points. As soon as he found out what happened, he found her. He comforted her. He held her close and became her shoulder to cry on. She didn't even remember when she fell asleep, only waking up in Weiss' bed. Weiss told he that he carried her there and that made her just the tiniest bit happy with her current mind set. The whole day he made sure her and Weiss were okay, all the way up until they went to bed.
Although, she found no peace in sleep. She just had nightmares involving Yang and Blake. Even her mother started to appear in her dreams as the night went on. That's when she woke up and started crying. She just felt so alone. She felt like a complete failure, as a team leader and as a sister.
Before she could drown in her depression, she felt someone jump into her bed and lay a hand on her shoulder. She saw it was Weiss, who looked just as exhausted as she did. Ruby eventually dried her tears and the two had a silent conversation. With a small and maybe bashful nod from Weiss, the two made their way across the hall to JNPR's door. After they knocked, Jaune was the one to open the door. He asked a single question before letting them in and giving them his bed.
She felt terrible about that but the warmth of his bed and the scent on the sheets quickly lulled her exhausted mind and body to sleep. And unlike before, she was at peace. She didn't dream, just slept and was given a brief reprieve from her pain. Even now, she just basked in the warmth and comfort of Jaune's bed. It was like Jaune was holding her again. She had a small blush when she though that she'd really like him to hold her again.
She slowly turned around in the bed to face the rest of the room. The first thing she saw was Weiss asleep next to her. She apparently fell asleep facing her leader, possibly wanting to keep an eye on her. That made Ruby smile the tiniest amount. She looked over her partner to see that Pyrrha was still asleep in her bed. Past her, she notice that Nora had moved from her own bed to sleeping in Ren's. She was holding onto him like a kid would a teddy bear. She finally looked over to where Jaune had laid down for the night, only to see the pillow and blanket with no Jaune.
That confused her. She looked around the room. He wasn't at any of the desks and the bathroom door was open so he wasn't in there. 'Where is he?' she asked herself.
It was around that time that Ruby heard a yawn. She turned back to Pyrrha to see the champion sitting up and rubbing her eyes. She slowly turned to Ruby and gave her a comforting smile, "Good morning, Ruby. Did you sleep well?"
The reaper nodded, "Yeah. I slept like a rock. I was just wondering where Jaune was."
Pyrrha raised an eyebrow before turning to the spot on the floor where he decided to bed for the night. "That is strange. Jaune's usually the last one up out of all of us."
"Think he went down to the cafeteria to get us all breakfast?" Ruby asked.
"Breakfast!" Nora shouted, waking up both Ren and Weiss. Ren sighed at his partner's antics while Weiss grumbled about loud noises.
Pyrrha shook her head. "I don't think so. Yes, Jaune would do something like that but he couldn't carry breakfast for six people, by himself, back here."
"What are you two talking about?" Weiss asked as she finally sat herself up.
Ruby turned to her partner, "We're not sure where Jaune is."
Weiss just looked at her and sighed, "Why don't you just call him?"
The two redheads looked at each other before both looked away, "Well, we did just get up." Ruby replied, embarrassed.
"I'll do it!" Nora said as she grabbed her scroll. A few seconds later they heard a scroll going off. They turned to Jaune's desk and saw his scroll.
Pyrrha got out of her bed and walked over to it. She picked it up and ended the call. "Well, wherever he is, he left his scroll. Strange. Considering what's going on with that Grimm, I was sure he'd keep it on him." The champion was starting to get concerned about her missing partner now.
Ren got out of his bed, much to Nora's annoyance and walked over to where Jaune usually kept his things. He looked around for a bit, "His knapsack is missing, along with some of his things."
Nora started to look just as worried as the rest of her team, "You don't think he left, do you?" She looked at everyone but no one had an answer. "But why would he do that?"
The three teammates looked between each other, holding a silent conversation. Pyrrha then looked down at Jaune's scroll in her hands. She bit her bottom lip as she contemplated what she was going to do next. Even if she was worried about his safety, going through his scroll would be a violation of his privacy. She took a deep breath before deciding that she'd rather him feel betrayed and angry over possibly dead. That's when she started to go through his scroll for any potential clues.
She really didn't find anything that stuck out. That was until she found a map of the Emerald Forest and she paused, "Why does he have this?"
"Why does he have what?" Ruby asked as she appeared next to Pyrrha with her Semblance.
Pyrrha turned to her, "He has a detailed map of the Emerald Forest on his scroll." She looked back to the scroll. "Apparently, he only looked it up a few hours ago." She froze at the insinuation.
Ruby's eyes went wide, "You don't think he went out there in the middle of the night, do you?"
Everyone in the room didn't want to believe it but with all the evidence, that was the only conclusion they could come to. Ruby meanwhile was shaking. Yang and Blake had died out there and now she finds out that Jaune is out there too. Was this really going to happen? Was she going to lose someone else she cared for? Another friend. Someone she loved. Her eyes hardened as she quickly made her way to the door. "Ruby, what are you doing?" Weiss asked her.
She stopped to turn back to her partner and the three members of JNPR. Her eyes were filled with nothing but determination. "I'm going to find Jaune. I'm not going to lose anyone else." The four looked at each other and soon gained the same hard determination as they nodded back to the young leader. Ruby left to go back to her room with Weiss to change, while the remaining members of JNPR did the same in their room, Ren going into the bathroom of course. They were going to find their wayward friend and bring him back.
It was around midday and Jaune was sitting down at the base of one of the thousands of trees in the Emerald Forest. He was currently several miles away from Beacon; having used his increased speed and agility to move easily through the trees since he entered the forest. He had sat down to rest and get a bit of sleep before continuing on.
After leaving Beacon, he snuck into the Forest as a way to get away from Beacon. He did some research and found a small airfield several miles from the edge of the forest. He'd make his way there, using the forest as cover. He would then use what Lien he had left to get a ride to Vacuo. He figured that would be the ideal Kingdom right now. What better place for someone like him to go? He'd be far enough away that no one would know him and his friends would be safe.
Maybe Ozpin would even make them one five-person team. That would seem like the best. Ruby and Weiss would get a new powerhouse and ninja in the form of Nora and Ren. Along with having the extremely skilled fighter like Pyrrha. Meanwhile, his old team would get a better leader along with the skilled and intelligent fighter known as Weiss. They would all help the others heal from the deaths of Yang and Blake. And they would all eventually forget about him. Jaune Arc, the mistake of Beacon. They would be the best team possible, better than anything he could've done.
As Jaune was sleeping, he was beginning to relive the memories of the Ghoul again. He was witnessing the deaths of CRDL, Blake and Yang. And, even if he couldn't prove it, he felt that the Ghoul was also making him experience the death of his family and the hell that Watts and Tyrian put him through. All of these were manifesting as constant nightmares.
A young Beowolf started to stalk over to him after sensing the intense negative emotions coming from the young knight. It sniffed the air, not smelling any other humans. Saliva dripped from its maw as it lunged towards its easy and unsuspecting prey.
Too bad for it that Jaune wasn't prey. Not anymore that was. His hearing easily picked up its breathing and quiet growls. His body instantly reacted when it heard it tear the ground and grass with its claws as it jumped. His eyes snapped open as he was already shifting into a crouch. His eyes locked onto the Grimm as he pushed off the ground, his right hand shooting forward. His hand wrapped around its throat, stopping it from sinking its teeth into him. In response, the beast tried to use its right claws to attack. Jaune's left hand shot up to catch its forearm, stopping it. That was when Jaune whipped his hand to the side, breaking its neck with ease. He dropped the body with that and it started to evaporate. Jaune just gave a tired sigh, "So much for sleeping."
Jaune turned back to his knapsack. He heard a chuckle as he was reaching for it. "Come on, Jaune. Go back to sleep. What harm would it do?"
Jaune ignored him. He threw his knapsack over his shoulder and pulled a compass from his pocket to double check which direction he was supposed to head in. He pocketed it once again and started to walk away. Although, he knew the Ghoul wouldn't just give up with that. He could hear him walking just to his left. "What? Ignoring me now? That's not nearly as fun."
"Just shut up." Jaune said in a monotone voice. "You're just trying to get a rise out of me because I'm ruining your plans."
"Oh, really?" the Ghoul asked and Jaune just knew he had that damned twisted smirk on his face. "And how have you 'ruined my plans', hmm? "
"You don't have as much control over my body as you liked me to think. Otherwise, you would've stopped me from leaving. Or you could've killed the others when they were all in one place. But you didn't. And that's because I need to be feeling a large amount of negative emotions for you to take over. So, until we get far enough away from Beacon, I'm not letting myself feel anything."
There was a silence and Jaune felt relieved. Like he finally got one over on the Ghoul. That was until he started to laugh like a maniac. "So, that's what you think, huh? Man, you're still the same old fool."
"What?" Jaune asked, not able to stop himself.
"True, I don't have complete control, yet, but I have enough. And yes negative emotions do help but they aren't completely necessary." The Ghoul explained. "And the reason I didn't kill them all was because it would be stupid to start a fight surrounded by dozens of Hunters to be. It would be suicide, even for something like us. Besides, what would be the fun in that? I want them to fight back. To try to survive. Killing them in their sleep would be too dull." He stopped talking before he said one last thing that made Jaune pause. "And as for not stopping you. Well, you shouldn't have left your scroll behind."
Jaune whirled around in shock. Before his eyes could land on the Ghoul, he heard the distinct sound of a Bullhead. He looked up and in the air a mile or two away was the Bullhead hovering. A few seconds later, he saw seven figures jump from it. He knew exactly who the first five were and the other two were probably two professors. "How did they find me so quickly!?" he asked out loud.
"I left that map you looked at to find that airfield on your scroll." The Ghoul said smugly. "And they probably guessed how far you had gone since you left. Well, if you were human that is." Jaune felt a hand land on his shoulder. "You've done nothing to stop me, Jaune. In fact, if you hadn't tried to run away, who knows how long it would've taken for another opportunity to come."
Jaune quickly smacked his hand away and he started to run as fast as he could. He had to get away, get as far as possible. He only made it a few hundred feet before his legs seized up and he fell onto his stomach. He raised himself up on his arms and looked to see that he was in a large clearing. He tried to get back up but his legs wouldn't work. That's when he felt a weight settle into the middle of his back and apply pressure. "This should be perfect."
Jaune fought against the weight so he wouldn't be pushed to the ground. He looked over his shoulder and saw the Ghoul over him with his foot on his back. He was just staring down at him. Demonic red stared into frightened blue. Then his smirk grew. "Shouldn't be long before one of them find us here. Time for some more fun."
With those words, Jaune felt his consciousness slipping slightly and a burning sensation start in his right eye. Jaune tried to fight against it, to stay in control. "Stop it. Now." Jaune said in desperation.
The pressure on his back grew and the burning sensation increased with it. "Stop fighting. Just go to sleep." The Ghoul commanded and with it, his world went black.
Jaune's body fell to the ground. After a few seconds, he moved so he was sitting on his knees. He looked up to the sky as his smirk stretched across his face and his right eye was now glowing red. He stood up with that insane chuckling coming from his throat. He shrugged the knapsack off his shoulder and tossed to one of the trees. It smacked into it and laid on the ground. He slowly gained control of his emotions, "I wonder who'll it'll be this time?" He cracked his right index finger and waited.
Ren and Nora were racing through the Emerald Forest. When they arrived, the seven of them split into three teams: Ruby, Weiss and Oobleck went east. Pyrrha went with Port to the west. Leaving Ren and Nora to head north. They all wished each other luck and agreed to call if they found him and check in every ten minutes or so.
They had just checked in a few minutes ago and Ren used his aura sense once again. This time, he was lucky. He had picked up his leader's aura. But something was off about it. He wasn't sure how to explain it but it just wasn't the same compared to all the other time she had sensed it. Before he could call the others, Nora had run off in the direction of their Fearless Leader with him chasing after her.
They ended up in a clearing with Jaune standing in the middle of it. He had his back to them but something didn't feel right to Ren. He narrowed his eyes as Nora ran forward, "Jaune!" she shouted. She was halfway to him when Ren's senses screamed at him. He quickly used his aura to clear the distance and reach Nora. He wrapped his arms around her stomach and jumped back, just in time to be missed by the red tendril that would've impaled her.
When they landed on their feet, they saw the tendril was connected to Jaune's lower back. It pulled itself from the ground and slowly retracted to him. He then slowly turned to them and had a malicious grin on his face, "Damn. Was so close."
That's when Ren noticed a few differences with Jaune's appearance: He had numerous white streaks running through his hair and his right eye was black and red with red 'veins' running through it. Apparently, Nora had picked up on those two, "Jaune? What happened to you? And what is that?" she asked in concern and worry as she pointed at the tail.
'Jaune' chuckled and it made them feel uneasy. "Well, Nora, this…" he moved his tail from behind him to cross in front of himself, so they could see it better, "Is my Kagune. As for 'what happened to me'. Let's just say, I've awoken." With those words, two more identical tails, or Kagune, erupted from the ground towards them. They quickly separated and both jumped to either side, narrowly dodging the attacks. They rolled back to their feet and saw that his Kagune had stopped moving and had wrapped around their scrolls. "And why don't we just keep this between us." He then crushed them.
They turned back to Jaune as he pulled his Kagune from the ground and a fourth one materialized from his back. They started to sway behind him as his grin took on a murderous edge to it. "You better fight seriously. Or you'll just die that much quicker."
A/N- So, here it is. Next chapter will involve the Ghoul battling against the Renora/Flower Power couple. Who will win? Only people who know for sure are myself and my as perusal Betas, Jauneforever and Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh. Again, check these two out if you haven't already. Hope you all enjoy and I'll see ya in the next update!