Now, Shall we begin?
…- A Place To Call Home -…
It was over.
Just like that.
Jaune was currently helping the people of the Bastion through repairing the defenses down the surface area under the light of the morning sky. He was fixing what seems to be part of a wooden spiked wall alongside with a couple of civilians that helped with the middle cliffs during the siege. He grabbed another wooden plank, wiped a sheath of sweat from his head, and hammered it down until the nail was properly dug in with his two working hands.
Speaking of which, he was quite surprised when he woke up earlier and found out that the bandages of his arm where of no longer use and was promptly collected when he informed the local medics for a quick check up to be sure. Well, he supposed that's the miracle of aura and probably because Phyrra informed him of his more than usual reserves back in Beacon helping him recover. Afterwards, the local medic practically ordered him to go outside the heart of the Bastion and proceed to the available job recruitment- which ended up with him back on the surface area fixing walls.
In Jaune's humble opinion, the people of the Bastion where workaholics at heart. Hell. Even the civilians offer no complaints when they were sent off alongside him. Even more, earlier he saw someone with a bandaged arm taking up Jaune's earlier job of delivering wooden material yesterday with no freaking complaints. On the bright side though-
"I know right!? When Renny and I arrived months ago, we were quite surprised as well!" Nora exclaimed as she was in the middle of grabbing a new set of wooden materials from a younger teen that just arrived to refill their batch. After giving thanks to the boy, Jaune watched unsurprisingly as his energetic teammate begun to work like it was her first plank.
"Speaking of which, where is he?" Jaune asked for what seems to be the umpteenth time but every time he tried to turn the topic towards his other teammate, Nora would either ignore him entirely or abruptly change the conversation into something else. It was getting to the point where Jaune himself is beginning (brother gods he hoped Nora would forgive him for this) to be suspicious of her reassurances that Ren is here and safe. Which Jaune hope that his teammate is… but-
"P-probably back in the middle cliffs or something… you know how he is! Always silent and broody almost like you never knew-" She was about to do it again but he had enough and was growing concerned.
"Nora," Jaune begun, cutting her stuttered excuses as he willed himself to continue onwards," Where is Ren?"
"I… He's in… I-I don't know-"
Jaune Arc wasn't able to hear the end of her sentence as the sound of a loud horn went off around them and caused the workers to lift their heads from their current duties as they look at each other, face set in curiosity at the sudden call for meeting, as they then shrugged and left to follow what the higher ups of Bastion has to announce. From the way they walked at a leisurely pace, Jaune was glad that it wasn't another horde arriving at their doorsteps to ruin their day as it seems to be just another regular meeting. However, as Jaune looked back at his teammate- he sighed tiredly when only the presence of a small hammer tool took her place on the ground.
"Damnit, Nora."
With that, he shook his head, then walked off as he followed the growing masses that answer the call of the Bastion.
…- A Place To Call Home -…
Jaune was currently looking ahead over the masses with no one familiar in sight. He noticed that this was the same place where the Founder and the faction leaders made their speech yesterday on a central small cliff-like rock that acted as the platform to whomever relayed their information to the people of the Bastion. And this time, it was Professor Goodwitch making the call. Standing still like a calm lion over the countless masses with a purple cloak draped across her discipline form instead of the usual purple formal dress that he saw back in Beacon.
"People of the Bastion!" She begun, voice strong and undaunted as it immediately enraptured the awaiting crowd to attention. After gazing at them with a hint of satisfaction, his combat professor then continued," We have been attacked last night by a harbinger." Jaune then heard indistinct murmurs arose around him as he felt them utter fearful words and frightened mutterings. However, Jaune only saw Professor Goodwitch remain impassive and disciplined as she further supplied," But. We have survived. We have not fallen. And the Bastion will continue to remain undaunted." Suddenly, the people all over Jaune grew wild and celebrated with each passing word. It went on for a while, until he saw her raised a hand and, not long after, the masses became lucid and silent.
"However, despite the best efforts of our warriors, faction leaders, and the Founder himself, we have suffered casualties..."
Jaune absorbed the notion and, alike the crowds, took a moment to reflect as the light of the morning dew passed over their surrounding shadows.
I guessed that as good things came, bad soon come after.
"Hence, we call for you, the people of Bastion, to those who think they are capable, to embark on an expedition. To a great hunt."
What?
Jaune wasn't the only one caught off-guard by the sudden request, but, as he thought about it more deeply, he supposed that resources are needed after surviving the horde. But… something feels off about it.
"To those brave souls that wish to ensure the future of our home… step forward!"
Should I?
"Be the foundations of our home."
Y-yes… I should…
"… Do not be afraid… "
I'm not afraid… I think.
"For your family."
I have to find my sisters... I have to find them.
"For us all."
With that, he raised his head, then step forwards.
…- A Place To Call Home -…
"YOU DID WHAT!?"
Jaune winced.
"N-nora… it's not going to be today…"
That didn't offer him any solace.
"I know that! It's just… when!?"
He felt that if he tried to bring anything other than the truth, he will surely regret it. So, he told her everything. About how Ms. Goodwitch made a speech before and after the call for embarkment. How said embarkment was going to last to, possibly, more than a month and the number of people that was going to join (He counted about forty, or maybe more, individuals) and that they were all huntsman or at least trained men and women that accepted the call. More importantly, the date of when he was going to leave-
"NEXT WEEK!?"
Jaune winced, again.
"N-nora, quiet it down, were not the only ones here." He tried to placate her as he felt the attention of the entire eatery area on them. However, it was an exercise in futility because it did nothing to dissuade Nora Valkyrie on prying him.
"You're an idiot, Jaune." She stated.
"I have to..." He tried to convey.
"Do you know what happens to those who join? They die, Jaune. They fucking die with absolutely nothing to give to those who live but pain- and it fucking hurts! So, by the brother gods, Jaune, why did you fucking join instead of staying here with me!" By the end of it all, Nora was placing two of her hands on the table across him so close that he could hear her heavy breathing of tiredness enrapturing him with guilt as the silence between them grew chokingly uncomfortable.
"I… I have to find them… Nora, I'm sorry."
"Who!? Who would you leave this fucking fortress for?"
"My family…"
His sisters.
"Jaune… I thought I was your family."
Shit. He fucked up.
Too late. The moment he raised his head, his heart caught cold and gripped itself as the image before him almost broke his entire being. Nora Valkyrie, his teammate, partner, friend, looked at him with hurt in her eyes. Nora and Ren were orphans. They only have each other for so long until they came and arrived at Beacon. Then He, along with Phyrra, came and made their team a family for them all…
"Nora. I'm so sorry." He said as, an instant later, he was now holding her trembling arms as he then continued," You're my family as well. I love you all…"
"B-but?" Nora asked as he made no remark to the shedding tears on her troubled face.
"But I have to find them. Dad and Mom took care of us. I have to take care of them as well."
"O-okay…"
After a moment, Jaune sighed, stood from his chair, and went to her side of the table. He raised an arm over her side and held her close. She was crying. Jaune felt himself drop a tear or two as he watched the aching form of his teammate returning his embrace like a child not letting go of someone that felt the world to them and was crying out at the world for its cruelty.
"I'll be back… besides, you'll have Ren with you."
"…"
"Nora?"
"…"
"Nora? Where is Ren?"
"Jaune…"
"Yes?
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry."
"W-why?"
"He's gone, Jaune."
"… What?"
…- A Place To Call Home -…
"How… how long has it been?" He asked, throat dry and eyes staring empty.
A footstep resonated behind him. Slow and painful. Until it stopped right beside him. He didn't need to know that. In fact, he didn't need to know that both Nora and him were now standing side by side in front of their buried teammate. He did not need to know any of this at all if he wasn't lucky enough to survive the whole half-starved in the supermarket back in the derelict city of Vale… He would be dead as well. But at least he won't be alive to experience this raw emotion of lost and pain.
Hell. It wasn't even the first time that he lost someone he cared about. His mother and father died not even a month before…
Now this.
Of course, he cried. Like any sane person would do. However, after seeing Ren buried six feet under, Jaune walked up in front of his teammate's grave, and just slumped down until his knees hit the soft soil below.
Nora gave no remarks at his still-like state. Perhaps it was for the best. There were tears dripping down on his face. If he dared look at her right now, and seeing her lost expression, it would break him. How could this happen to them? To his team? How could he let this happen? He asked himself and the cruel world as well to those kinds of questions as he stared emptily at Ren's resting place.
"2 months ago… we were on a hunt. A big one. We were so confident…we just arrived a month before and we have already settled in. B-but during the hunt, we encountered Apostasy." Jaune froze as soon as he heard the name of the harbinger being invoked. Nora continued," He… he was… w-we tried our best and we gave it our all. A-and we weren't the only ones too! Iron hides, Sentinels, and those prowlers were with us! A large hunting pack for a chance to get a luminous bloom! … and only I survived because Ren distracted him to buy me some time. H-he said that if I could go now and come back for reinforcements…" It seemed that his teammate, Ren, gave her a false hope so that she could live the other day… He supposed that if his friend didn't, then Nora would have stick by Ren's side to the end.
"Hey…" Jaune begun the only thing he could do.
"You don't understand! I was so furious at myself! A-and I have to spend the rest of my days living without him! It's so fucking… Jaune?" She looked at him, confused on how he was currently in front of her.
"It's okay." He comforted." I understand." Then he embraced her as akin to how she embraced him when he first woke up, injured, and lost within this place. For a moment, Nora was still and unresponsive in his arms, then the shaking begun and, not long after, she was crying… and so was him.
"Jaune… Please don't go."
It was achingly familiar to how he begged his mother to not die as she told him to find a place to call home.
"I have to, Nora."
He has to. His sisters are out there and he has to find them.
"You'll die."
Probably.
"I won't."
He lied. Just like how Ren would say so that she wouldn't come after him and die as well.
"How?"
He didn't have an answer for that one. But he tightened his grip around her and pulled her closer. He was aware that Nora could feel his body shaking as well.
He was, after all, definitely scared.
But he has to.
Because if he doesn't… then his sisters will die.
…- A Place To Call Home -…
The days have gone by faster than Jaune could blink and, before he knew it, it was the day before the embarkment. The repairs were finished. Surprisingly fast. But Kelly did say that this isn't the first time the Bastion has faced a horde before. Maybe the first time with a harbinger on their doorsteps, however he didn't care because he was currently occupied with a problem he has been facing ever since he first woke up here.
"I'm sorry son, but your armor and sword has been taken away to be used while you were injured. Please understand. It's so that even the people of the Bastion get taken down, they can still contribute with their belongings." The weaponsmith, an old muscular bald man, told him, whilst hammering down a heated metal to be forge into weaponry.
"But I'm participating in the hunt tomorrow!" Jaune cried out.
"You are?" The old man looked at him, surprised, before looking at him from down to up, then sighed," You should have stayed, son."
"Why does everyone here say that?" He complained.
"Because the hunt tomorrow is a big one. And you don't look, act, and portray yourself as a true hunter should." The blacksmith said.
"But I attended Beacon!" He reasoned.
"And did you complete it?"
"Well… no." He admitted.
Afterwards, he heard a sigh from the old man before he saw the blacksmith stopped his forging and give him a final look. "I've got a feeling that even without a weapon or an armor, you'll still participate… so get over there and get a starter kit. It's one of my nephews here, before he grew out of it." The man pointed behind him to a table full of scrap and what seems to be used metal, but there was a weapon or two there that Jaune could see from his position.
Giving a quick, "Thank you," He then wasted no time into venturing inside the Blacksmith's forge and examined the 'starter kit' which consisted of only a brown leather chest piece for armor, a small dagger, and a recently forged blade.
"Is this it?" He queried.
"It's not just 'it' son. The leather armor is good for maneuverability and saves you from dealing with a heavy load when on a journey. Most of the abominations here are extremely agile anyways. So, they would run circles around ya if you're not used to heavy armory. The daggers a bonus. Could help you with many things. Trust me on that one. As for the forged blade? Well, you may not be a full hunter, yet, son- but I reckon your still trained with carrying that basic weapon." He is. Kind of. Phyrra did trained him for a while… then the apocalypse happened.
Speaking of which, when he asked Nora about it, she informed him that the women that trained him, saved his ass from Beacon, and trusted friend has returned back to Mistral when she was force to go home and protect her family. Knowing her, Phyrra would survived in this new Remnant. But still…
I hope she's safe there.
After equipping himself with the starter kit, he turned around and walked outside. Well about to walk outside when he accidentally bumped with someone and fell on his backside. He was deep in thought with Pyrrha's whereabouts when that happened. However, the person that knocked him was still a person at heart and offered an olive branch in the form of a hand for a quick lift. Giving a thankful response, Jaune grabbed the hand and he was easily lifted away and back into standing with his two legs. Afterwards, he was about to continue his route outside when the person that lifted him spoke," Jaune… is that you?"
I remember that tone of voice.
Turning around, Jaune then widened his eyes when he found out who it was.
"Cardin?"
"Hah! Surviving the Apocalypse!? Guess, you aren't a noodle after all, Jaune!" Cardin Winchester, his former torment, but also another Beacon student, exclaimed, tone pleasantly surprised at seeing him as Jaune couldn't help but note the black armor that the Iron Hides usually wore. A black solid carapace that hinted of past battles from the dents and scars, as well as the mace he was oh-so-familiar with.
"You're participating in the hunt as well?"
"Fuck yeah I am!"
…- A Place To Call Home -…
Next chapter will be uploaded on Feb. 6
A tad bit late with the update, sorry about that. Spend too much time on my other fic. Anyhow, not much else to say other than this chapter was an emotional rollercoaster anddd I'm currently in a rush for some national test or something that is happening this morning and I'm running late. Fuck. Anyhow, stay safe you lots.