A/N: WEll, I had hoped to get this up for Christmas, but still had to get some editing in. So, happy belated Christmas and/or whatever other holidays you celebrate, and here's to hoping you all have a stellar remainder of the holiday season.
No, not all of my chapters will get titles, but some of the bigger/more important arcs will.
As usual, I dont own RWBY or Highschool DxD, and dont earn a single bit of money from this, just the satisfaction of knowing my story has (hopefully) entertained others.
"Ow, stop it! That hurts!" Velvet cries out as Cardin yanks on her ears. Breakfast had been so peaceful too. Teams RWBY and JNPR do their best to carry on with their meals, hoping their RA or someone else on Velvets team will show up to scare off their fellow freshman. The rules for fighting underclassmen are almost draconian in their brutality, but team CFVY has a reputation for a reason.
When a shriek of what can only be described as agony joins the mild mannered faunus' protests, Jaune has had enough however. He pushes himself to his feet, meal forgotten. "Juniper." He can hear three more chairs sliding back as he crosses the cafeteria.
Cardin and his cronies are too focused on tormenting Velvet to notice the other freshman team arriving behind them, and all four nearly jump out of their skins when Jaune catches Cardins wrist and twists his hand free of Velvets ears. The burly huntsman in training wheels around to snarl at him, though he isn't able to break his right arm free of Jaunes grip. "The hell is your problem Ark?" he sneers, head tilted down to glare at Jaune.
"You." the blond devil answers smoothly. "And I get it, your a bully. Cant feel good about yourself unless your making others miserable." He pauses to squeeze Cardins wrist harder, not that the brute reacts. "I wouldn't be surprised if you have half of the people in our class blackmailed or cowed in one way or another even though we've barely been at Beacon for more than month. But going after the girl who cant stand up for herself without getting expelled if she wanted too? That's a new low."
With a sneer and a glare Cardin shoots back "How can it be bullying if the so-called victim is just an animal?" Jaune continues to glare back at the meat-head, Ren taking a spot directly in front of Russel, while Pyrrha stands angrily behind her partner, arms crossed. "Besides, this is awful big talk coming from the runt of our class."
Ren quirks an eyebrow at that "He seems to be delusional Jaune, are you sure this is a fight we want?"
Russel moves to hit Ren for that, but the black haired teen is able to catch Cardins thuggish looking partners hand before the offending limb closes half of the distance between the two. "Maybe I hit him over the head harder than I thought I did when I beat him in Goodwitches class last week." Jaune quips.
"That was a fluke and we both know it Arc!" Cardin protests, as he moves to wrench his arm free again, to no avail. Worry flashes on his face for a brief instant when the arm remains in Jaunes grasp, but the brutish young man clamps down on it fast.
Jaune keeps his features placid, silently thanking whatever deity that might be listening and not take offense at the praise of devils that today has his supernatural physicality waxing rather than waning. His last spar with Cardin had been a close one. "I remember holding back quite a bit during that fight. Didn't want to hurt the pride of the leader of the team at the bottom of Group One in Combat Class too badly. Life is already rough enough for you."
Cardin goes to try to free his hand from Jaunes grip a third time, and once more Jaune clamps down even harder. Something is definitely up however, as Jaune knows for a fact that he should be pushing the wrist joint apart very painfully with how hard his own hand is squeezing now, aura or not. Cardin is able to square his shoulders off and pull Jaune forwards with his efforts this time. "You know Arc, I'm not one to judge, but if you wanted to hold a boys hand there is a girly-boy on your team who would probably love too, in case you hadn't noticed." The change in tactics is as subtle as Cardins fighting style, and as easily countered.
Ren doesn't rise to the bait, but the slight does get Nora riled, and she flits right into Dove and Skys personal space, a wide grin on her face. "Hey, Sky, ever wondered what its like to have two dislocated shoulders at the same time?" Jaune knows for a fact that Nora hasn't caused any such injuries since they started Beacon, nor has Sky had any joints dislocated to his knowledge. Judging by the way the lanky teen pales and backs away from the diminutive hammer-wielder, he is probably another Signal alum, and has had at least one run-in with the normally chipper ginger.
Noras actions clear just enough space for a mortified Velvet to dart away from the octet of freshmen, her face a deep crimson and eyes watering. At least the book shes clutching like a lifeline keeps most of the now silent cafeteria from noticing that. Jaune doesn't break eye contact with Cardin, and, when he next moves to extricate himself from the shorter blonds grip Jaune releases the wrist he had been holding captive. Cardin tumbles backwards, landing squarely on Velvets barely touched breakfast. And while the more or less finished bacon, sausage and muffin aren't likely to leave much of a mess, the untouched baked beans and eggs probably will stain the bully's uniform jacket at the very least. Jaune glares down at the stunned Cardin. "Friendly reminder, you're nowhere near the strongest in our class, and far from the most moral. Don't forget that the rest of us have limits to what we'll tolerate an ass like you getting up to before we step in next time you're feeling bored or insignificant."
Jaune spins on point and begins to stride towards the cafeterias exit, Professor Ports class is starting soon after all. Nora points two fingers to her eyes before turning them on team CRDL as she moves to follow, as Ren snatches a napkin from the table to 'wipe off' the hand he had caught Russels thwarted punch with. However, it is likely Pyrrhas contribution to his teams chastisement of CRDL that is most cutting, as his partner rather loudly observes that "It has been a while since I took on enough of a handicap for a fight to be fair. Do you think I could best team CRDL using only Akoúo̱?"
Jaune glances down at his now throbbing left hand, which had been holding Cardin in place during the entire exchange, and suppresses a wince. There is now a nasty inflamed blister in the shape of a cross dominating the palm that seems ready to start bleeding if he looks at it wrong. "Just one on four should be plenty Pyrrha. We wouldn't want to cause any permanent psychological trauma." Once the team is clear of the cafeteria and has rounded a few corners, Jaune glances down at his books and fakes a wince. "Ah crap. I grabbed the wrong notebooks for today guys. I gotta run back to the dorm and switch mine out. I'll catch up with you in class."
Pyrrha, who must have just noticed his wounded hand before he got it into his pocket, as hastily adds "I'll make sure he gets the right ones this time." and splits off from the rest of their team to join him. A few dozen paces later she concernedly asks "Jaune, what happened to your hand?"
Face now grim, Jaune replies "I told you about the devils, angels, fallen angels and three way war, right?" Pyrrha nods, apprehension and concern still prominent on her face. "Well, certain religious items and blessed substances are particularly effective on devils, especially the more powerful ones." He explains after the brief jog to their dorm buildings elevator.
When Jaune turns to face Pyrrha as they reach their dorm, the redhead looking back at him in clear confusion. "But if none of this is native to remnant, why would something able to do, that" she gestures at the wounded appendage "be anywhere near Beacon?"
Jaune sighs as he pulls on a pair of fingerless gloves from his dresser, and switches out his notebooks, wincing again when he realizes that he had, in fact, grabbed the wrong ones. "Either an unlucky coincidence, or there is somehow a group of people connected to the forces of Heaven or the Fallen Angels active in Vale. And considering that the former isn't likely to keep concealed something that could harm a devil and threaten the truce, that would be a very bad thing. I haven't exactly been subtle since the semester started."
Injury now concealed and armed with the right notebooks the pair returns to the hallways, now moving at a brisk power-walk to avoid lateness. "How would touching something through fabric be enough to cause you to blister that badly though?"
Jaune shrugs awkwardly, and waits to reply until the pair of upper-classmen, a couple judging by how closely they are leaning into each other as they walk, pass back out of earshot before he answers. "Honestly, I'm lucky it was under at least one layer of cloth or the reaction may have been more obvious than a nasty blister." Pyrrha shoots him a skeptical look, so Jaune elaborates. "I'm just a Mid-class devil leaning close to High Class right now. If that had been direct contact, a lot of people would have been able to smell burning flesh and maybe seen some smoke." Again, Jaune pauses for more students to pass them. "If I was already High Class like someone in my position is supposed to be, I'd have been coughing up blood and trying to put out a burning hand."
Pyrrha shoots him an uncertain look as the duo approaches Ports classroom. "Coughing up blood? Someone in your position?"
Jaune heaves a sigh as he moves his hand to rub at the back of his head "Right, I just gave you more questions than answers, didn't I? Look, I'll explain things more clearly after classes are out for the day. For now, I just need to know if it was a fluke or not, and if it wasn't, get Cardin off our case. I doubt he's gonna take what went down during breakfast well." Pyrrha nods either in agreement or acceptance of his promise for more information later on, and the pair just barely make it to the seats Ren and Nora had been holding for them in time for the bell.
Classes continue as usual for the day, clean through to Ooblecks mind-meltingly hard to follow lecture. During the middle of which a folded triangle of paper bounces off the side of his head. Feeling the need for a break he unthinkingly unfolds the sheet of printer paper 'E nomine Patris et Fil-' Before Jaune can get through the first eight printed words he wails in pain as it feels like someone is driving a spike through his skull. In the blink of an eye Oobleck is standing in front of him, tutting in disapproval. "Passing notes in class Mr. Ark? I'm afraid that's going to be detention for you and..." The professor snaps the sheet of printed words, likely a prayer entirely in Latin, and his face shifts into a disapproving scowl. "It would seem that your friend and you use quite the complex cipher. Rest assured that whomever you were corresponding with will receive detention as well once I have cracked your code."
Oobleck darts away to return to his lecture, and Jaune casts an aside glance in the direction from which he had been hit by the weaponized paper to see a sneering Cardin. Shit. He coasts through the rest of the day on autopilot. Trying to think of a way to de-escalate the budding rivalry with team CRDL, as that would just give them more chances to either out him as a Devil or kill him. Detention with Oobleck is as bad as class with him, though the professor spends the three hours of torment babbling about the 'code' Jaune had received and possible methods to break it.
Intellectually, Jaune knows he could just tell the professor that it was Cardin who had 'passed' him the note. That said, Jaune isn't a snitch, and ratting out the brutish huntsman in training would only give him more reasons to antagonize him, not less. When Jaune finally makes it back to the dorm it is to a confusing sight. Nora, dumping what looks to be melted juice concentrate into a bucket. A stack of empty buckets and slowly defrosting canisters to her side. "Ummm, Nora?" he prompts the energetic girl, truly at a loss for words.
The bright eyed hammer wielder turns to face Jaune, a vindictive grin on her face. "They gave you detention, so I'm gonna give them ants!"
Pyrrha is standing behind her looking sheepish, Ren is reclined on their futon reading. "She bought out a convenience store in Vale of their concentrated fruit juice while you were in detention." he offers, not helping the confusion much.
Blinking and slowly walking into the room and closing the door, hopefully to forestall the wrong people overhearing Noras questionable plan. "How?"
Still grinning from ear to ear she holds up a roll of rope, price tag still on it. "They always leave their window open, and are right under the balcony. So while they're out bullying, I'll just swing a bucket of sticky sweet juice down into their room."
"She, umm, she already dumped a bucket down the side of the wall so the bugs will have a reason to crawl that high up." Pyrrha admits, one hand covering her mouth, despite the concerned look in her eyes."
"And CRDL is out right now, so I'll be right back!" Nora announces, before bounding off with the nearly overfull bucket of concentrate and a length of her rope. Great. Just great.
Normally, being right is a good thing. Jaune, however, would rather have been wrong about things escalating between his team and Cardins. Noras plan worked almost too well, an exterminators van being parked outside the freshman dorm less than two days later. CRDL living out of a guest dorm along with the rest of the third floor while the entire area was fumigated to make sure the infestation didn't spread. A day after that Jaune had nearly been shoved into a rocket locker that he is fairly certain the inside of which had been coated in pages of scripture. Probably would have killed him or left him a gibbering wreck.
Cardins next attempt was a bucket of holy water perched on the door to Professor Ports class. Jaune had managed to only get misted, whereas Ren and Ruby had both ended up soaked. Which had gotten team RWBY involved. No one could prove that the stretch of machines and tools in weapons maintenance constantly breaking was the fault of team CRDL, but they were the ones who had to work with the Shangs to repair the machines seeing as they were the ones trying to use them when the malfunctions were discovered.
From there things had escalated even further, with the entirety of the third and fourth floors of the freshman dormitory engaging in a prank war, that had the upper-classmen stepping lightlty, taking care to stay out of and muttering about the 'nmext great prank war'. Itching powder being snuck into clothes, diuretics tipped into drinks, stink bombs in shower stalls and two AM firecracker barrages all becoming increasingly normal as the week had dragged on.
"At least with all the chaos Cardin isn't getting more chances to kill you." Pyrrha offers as the pair walks the streets of Vale, having decided to spend the evening away from the campus and the insanity.
"I still think he's just trying to prove that I'm a devil and inept or bad at restraint." Jaune counters. "A prank causing another student to spontaneously combust in the halls or get reduced to a gibbering wreck inside a locker would raise an awful lot of questions." Jaune counters, clad in blue jeans and a Pumpkin Petes t-shirt. Pyrrha shakes her head at her partners trusting nature as she steps around a puddle the rainstorm earlier that day had left.
Pyrrhas head snaps to the side when she hears an unfamiliar voice shout her partners name, and suddenly feels underdressed in her uniform skirt and simple gray v-neck blouse. A girl about their age wearing a frilly pink and white dress that can only be custom tailored with how it fits her is the source of the call. Pyrrha stomps down on the irrational flash of... something, and reminds herself that the blonde with the drill-like twin-tails and poofy bangs is actually massively overdressed to be walking the streets of Vale as she and her partner approach the newcomer. "-being so reckless that I can't believe that the local Church or Fallen Angels haven't killed you yet!" The mystery girl exclaims as the redhead tunes back into the pair of blondes conversation.
"Jaune, who is this?" Pyrrha asks, blinking a bit owlishly at the forceful tirade the girl had been unleashing on her partner while waving what looks to be a stack of those tags Jaune has his familiar spreading in his face.
She looks at him strangely, and he nods a bit stiffly before she turns to face Pyrrha, and, with a perfect curtsy answers "Ravel Phenex of the Phenex Clan, Bishop to my brother Riser, and fourth in line of succession to the Phenex Clan. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Lady..."
Pyrrha spends a few seconds blinking in stunned confusion before her training for dealing with high society kicks in and she offers her own, far less telegraphed, curtsy and answers "Pyrrha Nikos, four time consecutive Champion of the Mistral Grand Tournament circuit, and current member of Team Juniper." The girl simply nods at that, and motions at Jaune.
The now trio sets off in the direction Jaune and Pyrrha had been headed, and the now named Ravel presses "Seriously Jaune, what the heck are you thinking with this scheme of yours? Its going to cause a serious political mess, and what is a grimm anyways?"
Jaune holds up a hand to forestall her questions as they get to A Simple Wok, where he orders meals for three to go, and leads them on again. "How much do you know, Ravel?"
Her angry and worried face shifts to confusion "Sairoarg mentioned that you had been promoted to King when Rias and I asked why you weren't present for the last Young Devils Ball, and that you were on assignment for House Bael." her eyes narrow "And why haven't you recruited anyone to your peerage yet? Its been over a month! And Pyrrha clearly knows and has a sacred gear."
"Peerage?"
"Where do you think you are Ravel?" Jaune asks the strange girl, after mouthing 'later' to Pyrrha as the trio reaches an out of the way park team JNPR likes to visit when away from campus, still mostly abandoned from the storm on top of that, and start moving towards an empty picnic table.
Ravel shrugs as they reach the slightly rusted forest-green painted metal table. "Whatever city it is Lord Bael sent you to." As she, and the other teens, brush the water off the benches as best they can before sitting to eat.
Jaune opens his mouth, pauses, closes it, palms his face, then asks "How and why are you here, Ravel?" Knowing the basics of what Jaune is, Pyrrha starts eating.
The young noble shrugs, piercing blue eyes narrowing in suspicion "Riser was ranting about Rias, I think he's going to make a real cad of himself in front of her soon. It was getting annoying to listen too, so I cast a spell to find your home summoning circle and teleported to it. It seemed to be some sort of dorm room, so I cast a disillusionment spell and left the school to avoid any awkward questions."
"Ravel, can you keep a secret?" Jaune prompts, which deepens the look of suspicion on the other girls face.
Jaune starts eating his dinner as Ravel ponders, eventually replying "That's exactly what Sairoarg asked Rias and I when we asked where you are. And I shall reply to you the same. From who?"
"Anyone with ties to the Old Satan Faction, and the sort of nobles who would rather kill reincarnated devils than allow us into society." Jaune counters blithely, though Pyrrha nearly chokes on her dinner at his mention of reincarnation.
Ravel nods "I can do that. The Old Satanists are rebels and dissenters anyways, and most of the stuck in their ways nobles don't have the time for the fourth in line of succession save marriage contracts, which I am safe from thanks to my brothers."
Jaune nods "Your on the world of Remnant, not Earth. This is where Sairoarg found and reincarnated me. Up until the start of this week, we had been almost positive that there were no other supernatural forces at play here."
Ravel blinks silently at that, and starts muttering to herself as she starts eating the food Jaune had bought for her. "Jaune, what did Ravel mean by reincarnated? And whats a peerage?"
He casts a wan smile at her before he answers her questions. "She meant exactly what she said. When I was eleven I got it into my head that I could be the worlds youngest huntsman if I just took my great grandfathers weapon off the mantle and snuck into Forever Fall while my family was asleep and killed a grimm." Pyrrhas eyes shoot wide open in shock. "It went about as well as you would expect. Luckily for me, Sairoarg found my nearly dead self, killed the beowolf and reincarnated me as a devil and member of his peerage."
Her question of 'how' must have been clear on his face, because Ravel picks up the thread "Devils of the High and Ultimate class who are the head of, or towards the front of the line of succession to, noble houses are granted the Rank of King in the Evil Piece system. Through it they are allowed fifteen servants, all styled after the pieces of a chess set. They can use their pieces to reincarnate others as devils and members of their Peerage, which serve both as loyal vassals, members of their household, and soldiers on the battlefield and in competition with other Kings for prestige."
Jaune nods "I have been trying to slowly educate Pyrrha as to how the underworld and afterlife works ever since she found out what I was. Sacred Gears are something I was going to hold off on telling her about if and only if it became necessary for her to know. Humans normally cant use any they may posses as they are, after all, and training to use a semblance is a hard enough challenge already."
Ravel tilts her head as she swallows and sets her plastic fork down "And how did your beau discover that you are a Devil, Jaune?" her tone more than slightly accusatory.
Jaune lets out a nervous, forced chuckle. "Well, you see, I was trying to hold back my strength and skill to what could be expected of a talented huntsman in training." He pauses, his eyes bug out, a light blush colors his cheeks then he speed mumbles "Pyrrhasmypartnernotmygirlfriend."
"But his partner," and why does that feel like the wrong word? "is a four time national champion and could tell he was holding back more than is usual for sparring and training." Pyrrha explains for Jaune.
Ravel levels a gaze across the table that all but screams 'I cant believe the two of you' before cheerily answering "Well, then today is your lucky day Miss Nikos! As an actual member of Underworld High Society, I am in a far better position to answer any questions you may have than the moron there." Pointing at Jaune with her loaded fork before taking a bite of her stir-fry.
_-*R-DxD*_
In theory, the weekends his teams dorm floor is assigned to grimm clearing duty in the Emerald Forest should be a break from the deluge of pranks and drama that has been definitive of the last week, and, more specifically, Cardins attempts to kill him, or reveal him as a devil. Which would likely lead to said teenagers boss, be it an Angel or Fallen Angel, to attack - and likely kill – him. Unfortunately, one of the other teams on their floor is currently in the infirmary enduring a particularly nasty case of food poisoning, leading to Ms. Goodwitch asking for a volunteer team to join weekend duty for extra credit. Of course, it had to be CRDL, and of course they had to end up sharing a Bullhead to the forest with them, teams RWBY and CFVY both on the other transport along with the professor and odd team out.
Which meant that his team and CRDL were sharing a transport, along with two other teams from their floor – both in group three for combat class – and their professional huntress minder. Normally his sisters best friend, maid of honor and teammate Cobalt livens up any occasion, but the older woman looks both hung over and grumpy, and Jaune knows better than to poke that proverbial bear. All of that combined makes for a very awkward, silent, Bullhead ride into certain danger.
Eventually the silence is broken by Tina Schwarts, the S on team FSJC – pronounced Fusion – breaks the silence. "So, what are your backup plans?" The girl is like a dark skinned and haired, less curvy Nora, from what he's seen of her. "I'm thinking VSPRD myself.
The other members of team FSJC and RBDD – Rebound - agree with the hyper girl, save for who Jaune is pretty sure is Verdus Dross, a fairly unassuming tan young man with green hair who simply interjects "Its the VAC for me if things don't pan out here."
Nora, blinking owlishly at the two teams that had answered the question breaks their expectant silence by asking "I'm sorry, our what?" The painted color of the sunrise painting the gingers face in a way that there's no way Ren cant not have noticed. Still, the taciturn teen pays his partner far less attention than some of the other men on the transport are.
Cobalt, eyes half open looks over to the girl who had initially tried to break the silence "Juniper and Cardinal are group one with Goodwitch. They wont even hear her one of her speeches about planning for what job they'll go into unless they get bumped down to twos or threes."
Now its Cardins turn to blink confusedly "What do Vales aura enhanced Police or Spec Ops have to do with washing or dropping out?" he asks as his face shifts from confusion to an ugly sneer.
Pyrrha levels a dry glare at him. "You do realize that there is an entire suite of laws pertaining to citizens with unlocked aura, right?" Jaune pokes his partner and her glare softens slightly. "Many of us, especially those who lack the skill to become full huntsman or huntresses can't always control our enhanced strength properly. The Vale Special Police and Recon Department and Valean Auric Commandos are the two most popular of those official options available here, barring a highly specialized semblance. Mistral, Atlas and Vacuo have their own equivalents."
Cardin spits on the transports floor as the rest of his team darkly chuckles "Pathetic."
About half of the members of the lower ranked teams flinch at that, but Cobalt cuts off the entire exchange. "That's not why we're here kids. Cardinal, sweep everything east of the ravine that ends in this sector. Juniper, take the ravine then sweep west to meet up with Rebound, Fusion and myself."
Russel sputters at that. "That leaves us with almost a quarter of the sector to ourselves!"
"If you weren't such asses I wouldn't have made that call. Learn to work with others better and I might not give you an assignment like that next time." Cobalt spits back, her side ponytails almost twitching as a wolves ears would as she snaps her head to the right to glare at the team of bullies, her tail stiff and twitching with agitation.
Cardin puts a finger in front of his partners mouth as the mohawked teen moves to further protest "Stop arguing with the animal Russ. We're more than capable of clearing half the sector ourselves if the bitch wants us too." Something about the set of his face as he does so sets Jaunes nerves on edge. Well, more on edge than they already are with him sharing a transport with a team of huntsmen with prayers etched into their weapons and armor.
Cobalts eyes narrow dangerously, but the warning light in the passenger compartment switches from red to green, and she sets about readying Rhongomynyad instead. CRDL is the first out, landing just at the eastern edge of their sector, the transport already banking hard to the left as Skys feet clear the transport. Jaune is just able to hear Cobalt instructing the pilot as to where to land as he and his team leap from the transport. By the time they land their scrolls all ping with the location of the rendezvous point roughly in the center of the territory CRDL and JNPR aren't covering.
"Maybe a dried up riverbed?" Ren guesses as the team glances around their assignment and collect themselves. Roughly fifty feet from edge to edge and defined by nearly sheer cliff faces roughly half as high as the ravine is wide. Hardy bushes and scraggly shrubs jutting from the stone, vines trailing down it making the otherwise smooth surfaces seem decently climbable.
Jaune shrugs at Rens guess. "Looks like the pilot got us just about perfectly to the southern edge of our sector of the forest for today." With the bulk of the foliage in the ravine either bushes or shrubs he is able to figure out a plan easily enough. "Loose diamond formation Juniper, I'm on point, Ren and Nora to the sides, Pyrrha run fire support and back up any of us that get in over our heads." He pauses as his team begins to spread out "Keep your eyes open for Creeps and Deathstalkers, if you spot any caves get Nora to put a few grenades in it after calling it out. We'll try to draw the grimm out of those instead of getting lost spelunking."
The team begins to move down the ravine, and Jaunes plan working out quite handily. While the path they end up taking drifts to the left or right, it is still mostly a straight north-south line, which makes things both easier, and nerve-wracking, as more than three quarters of the ravine extends south of their starting point. Mostly they deal with boarbatusk and beowolfs, two alpha variants of the latter being the most dangerous grimm they need to clear for the first three hours of walking.
At that point, they come across their first cave on Rens side of the ravine. The opening is worryingly large, but after more than half an hours wait after the deluge of infuriated creeps began rushing out of the cave after Noras opening barrage Jaune, already recovered from intercepting those grimm that came close to the rest of his teams firing line calls the cave clear and they carry on. The mission continues, a strange mix of boring and nerve wracking. With the team needing to stand too far apart to really talk compounding with the constant fear that a more dangerous grimm would be able to single one of them out before the others can assist leaves the whole team incredibly stressed despite the small amount of combat.
By the time the end of the ravine is in sight, Jaune is sorely wishing he could just fight at his full strength, especially with his still not fully healed or rank appropriate power waxing rather than waning today, his stamina starting to flag under the midday sun from the added strain of his self imposed handicap. On top of that, his shield is both covered in gouges and scrapes thanks to half a days worth of deflecting and stopping boarbatusk charges and creep teeth and stuck in that form for the same reason. Not that Nora is much happier, Magnhild having jammed in its hammer configuration while its wielder was dealing with a small pack of beowolves around an hour ago.
Tactically, that made any further caves they may encounter a lot more dangerous. But as far as the two teens are currently concerned it just means that they will need to stop by the machine shop on Sunday or Monday instead of for their next class there Tuesday. Not the end of the world, but definitely not what – Jaunes thought process grinds to a halt at the distinctive shriek of a deathstalker echoes from behind them.
The entire team wheels around to see the beast bearing down on them. The amount of bone plates on the grimm betraying its youth, though the grimm is still one of the most dangerous they could encounter in the forest. A mighty crash behind the team again causes them to wheel about, where they are greeted with the sight of a beringel far larger and more armored than what Professor Port had said was the norm, a set of vestigial wings jutting from its hunched back. Probably an alpha then, or whatever the technical term for such a beast is. Leaning against the cliff face of the ravine behind it is a smug looking Cardin. After a glance at the gathered teams networked scrolls Jaune can see that his entire team have at most sixty percent of their auras left, and their assignment marked as clear.
Jaune can only see one way to clear the pair of grimm without his team suffering casualties or fatalities, and it will give Cardin much of what he probably wants after the events of the preceding week. Proof. Crap. Jaune takes a steadying breath, and clears the mental block holding his powers in check, and lets his wings unfurl from the small of his back. "You three take the deathstalker, I'm gonna handle the beringel then have a chat with Cardin." With a flash of the tarnished silver patina of his aura and magic, Crocea Mors is no longer the plain arming sword Remnant had thought it to be for generations.
Now he holds the blade been that of the most triumphant third of the triumvirate when he was conquering the barbarian peoples for Rome. Ivory hilt fitted perfectly to his fingers, gold inlaid laurel wreath pommel keeping the razor sharp blade from biting into his own flesh and sealing his fate, an eagle perched on the opposite end of the hilt to form a pommel. The foreboding weight of what his blades true power weighing heavy on his mind even as he kicks off towards the massive simian grimm, leaving a crater where he had stood.
A fist the size of his torso thunders into Jaunes shield, rattling his every bone, even as he pivots on the appendage to plunge his gladius into the grimms flesh. With a bellowing roar that drowns out the sounds of his partner leading the rest of their team against the deathstalker, it swings its right fist at him in retaliation.
Jaune releases his grip on his blade and holds his left arm straight out, palm facing the incoming appendage, a wide, slowly spinning circular pane of circles and runes in the same sheen that had flared when he showed his true nature springs to life. It is a simple spell, but an effective one, and a peel of thunder and the arresting of the bone armored limbs motion is his reward. He drops the spell and darts forward to retrieve his blade, sliding under the grimms left arm as it bellows in rage and prepares to strike him again.
Jaune rolls to his feet with a spin, drawing Crocea Mors across the monsters hunched back with a roar. The cut would see him flogged if he served the Senate and People of Rome as the etched letters along his blades fuller declare, now alight with the tarnished silver patina of his aura and magic. Bellowing in rage at the wounding, the beringel twists about far faster than a beast its size should be able too, backhanding Jaune in his breastplate and rocketing him across the ravine to crater the cliff face.
He is just barely able to dodge the two-fisted smash the monster delivered at the end of its pursuing leap, burying his blade in its ankle, and severing the limb, as he rolls under the grimm again. And he can feel the magic of his legendary blade taking hold of the fight with every strike that pierces his foes skin. Not that the loss of a limb is a true deterrent to the likely centuries old beast, again it spins, this time attempting to smash the bug striking at it with an open palmed swat. Jaune allows the blow to strike his shield and aura, grunting from the exertion before surging to his feet as he drives his blade into the offending hand. Jaune takes three fingers from the beast as he throws the limb away from its place over his head as he steps clear of the palm.
Again the beast roars in pain and rage as it tries to headbutt him, which he sidesteps, burying his blade in the back of the shoulder above the now ruined hand. Without breaking momentum, he drops his shield and crosses behind the beast as it roars in pain again. With unflinching precision he grasps the beasts wrist and forearm and twists his body down as he heaves. The beringels elbow rests on his back, groaning as Jaune continues to pivot, the elbow breaking and dislocating with a sickening popping crack seconds before he has enough momentum built up to slam the grimm face-first into the ground.
Standing tall again, Jaune strides across the stunned beringels back and wrenches Crocea Mors free from the grimms shoulder blade. Just as it begins to growl through a recovery he slams Crocea Mors home into the base of the grimms skull and up into its head. The monster goes still and begins to steam, but Jaune doesn't break his stride, sliding Crocea Mors free as he moves towards the now ashen faced, wide eyed Cardin.
Eyes locked on the bully and would-be exorcist Jaune ignores his shield as he walks. As soon as the young devil is within reach of the bigger student he lashes out with a vicous backhand from his free hand. The bullys aura shatters in one go, and he is thrown across the mouth of the ravine to land in a heap. Still fuming Jaune stomps over to the prone huntsman in training, barely registering that all of the sounds of battle have gone quiet. He levels his blade at Cardin, the tip a hairsbreadth away from touching the bridge of Cardins nose. "You're an exorcist and I'm a devil. I understand the animosity, and going by your age your probably one of many reporting to a Leader type or one so far down the chain of command that your life is worth less than the ink they'd need to write your name." Cardin goes perfectly still, a fresh wave of terror washing over the other youth. Good, he'd been right. A rogue faction of the Fallen means that his report to Lord Bael won't be the sort that leads to a major political incident.
Cardin opens his mouth to say something but Jaune cuts him off. "But even the lowliest of patsys has to be told certain things before being sent into the field. Like how some of the Legendary Blades have powers that rival the Shards of Excalibur. Have you heard of Crocea Mors? The legend, not my families ancestral weapon." Cardin shakes his head. Jaune shrugs. "I'm not surprised. It was thought to be lost for millenia. Burried with King Nenius. Thats where it gets one of its powers. It can hide itself, and when it is hiding itself, its main power is sealed. Do you know what Crocea Mors true power is, Cardin?" Again, the bully shakes his head. Eyes deadly serious "In its true form, once Crocea Mors has tasted a living beings blood, whatever that beings fate was before that instant is no more. With every strike it lands on that being from that moment forward, it brings them closer to their new fate. To die to a blow leveled by Crocea Mors."
Cardin whimpers, and Jaune is vaguely aware of the rest of CRDL drawing near, then freezing in place at the tableau before them. "So long as you are a patsy of the Fallen and I a devil, we are enemies and I can accept that. But I want you to remember this, Cardin Winchester, if you, your teammates or masters harm my friends, or anyone innocent to our conflict in an attempt to get to me, I will give them a new fate."
"You, you wouldn't." he sputters in a half whisper. "You cant."
Jaune jerks his head over his shoulder to the dead beringel. "Can't I, though?" for a moment, the silence is deafening. "Vae victis." he then hides Crocea Mors true form again, and plants a shallow slice along Cardins cheek. The burly bully passes out. Jaunes wings disperse and he turns to glare down the bullies teammates as his own join his side.
Just then all eight scrolls of the present students start blaring an emergency alarm, and a moment later Cobalts angry, strident voice cutting into the clearing. "Juniper, Cardinal, get your asses to my location before we have anymore casualties!"
With a scowl Jaune snaps his scroll to his ear "Cardin is down with a shattered aura, our teams just put down a beringel alpha and a deathstalker. Cardinal will get their wounded to the rendezvous, Juniper will reinforce you with all haste." At that he glares at the conscious members of CRDL, and his team sets off to the southwest and towards the emergency beacon that had been transmitted to them.
They press through the forest at a clipped pace, the entire area eerily devoid of both wildlife and grimm. After what feels like half an hour of running, but is probably closer to half of that they can hear the sounds of battle. Specifically, Cobalt screaming and Rhongomynyad spraying death in its gatling gun form. "Things must be bad." Jaune notes as the trees begin to thin.
"What makes you say that?" Pyrrha asks as the last few trees give way to a largeish clearing. The two teams and professional huntress forming a loose perimeter around a students prone form. Beset on all sides by an impressively large pack of beowolves, with several alphas, the largest of which is simply sitting back, as if directing the rest.
Cobalt is closest to them, team FSJC in a rough half circle opposite her. Inside the outer shell of the preimeter stands two members of team RBDD. The green haired and clad Verdus striking out at any grimm to slip the perimeter with his dust-edged axe, and the tan and orange garbed Sandy keeping the pressure off her partner with her shotgun-maces gun form. The pair are defending the downed huntress as her partner packidely tries to apply first aid. "Because Cobalt is usually happy in fights like this, and she sounds pissed. Ren take cleanup, the rest of us will fight our way through the pack and perimeter to the big alpha on the other side." Jaune orders, again relying on their month of group training to carry the day with minimalistic and flexible orders.
"That's probably what downed the injured huntress." Ren interjects as he switches out for full magazines.
Jaune glances back at the young man and nods. "I know, but between our rush and the thinning of the pack on this side of the clearing Cobalt has managed, we should be able to flip the battle." At that the team bursts into motion. Nora, her weapon stuck in its hammer form, fires a grenade every time she lands a blow. Sometimes sending as many as four grimm flying towards the trees as she spins, bounds and strides forwards. Nearly every step taken by the petite girl is another attack, a living embodiment of the old adage that the best defense is a good attack.
Behind her Pyrrha calmly strides ahead clinically executing any grimm that get near the flanks of her partner or teammate. So brutal is the duos advance that she is able to use only her rifle, shield slung across her back and face placid as the inverted wedge sweeps through the pack. In their wake Ren flits from grimm to grimm. Planting his blades in the eye sockets of a rare healthy grimm before leaping to the side with a spin from the dying grimm. Before he lands he has already slit the throat of one grimm with one of StormFlowers blades as its twin barks three times to execute a beowolf that is trying to drag itself towards the besieged hunters.
As the trio not busy delivering executions and coup de graces to creatures of darkness pass Cobalt she reverts her weapon from its gatling gun form to its lance form. "Going for the big alpha?" she queries, Jaune simply nods and continues his advance, absolutely done with the day. Crimson bolts of electricity arcing off her, the normally cheery girl snarls "Then you kids are lucky, I've done enough damage that my semblance is fully charged, you get to see a pro go all out."
At that she kicks off, launching herself into the seething mass of black flesh and bone plates with a near blinding flash of crimson, lance couched and a snarl on her lips. Not wanting to be outdone, Jaune Nora and Pyrrha follow along the edges of the charred furrow Cobalt had left in the wake of her semblance enhanced rush. A veritable hurricane of crimson and blue, lance spinning and bashing as often as it pierces. "Watch it Flora!" Jaune hears a short blond man bark as he buries a naginata in one of the more wounded alphas, the other young man simply nods at Jaune as he passes the tired huntsman in training.
"Why would I watch grimm when I could be watching your pert ass Louey!" a wildly grinning girl who could pass as Weiss taller, ripped, twin if it weren't for the manic grin and wild hair trailing behind the axe-weilding huntress in a dun and russet combat dress as she charges ahead with the reinforcements. Jaune can't believe that the pair is flirting on the battlefield, but focuses on the task at hand.
For the next few minutes things seem to be going well, with the added support of JNPR and Cobalt no longer having to focus in one direction. Then Jaune notices the tell-tale flash of a shattering aura out of the corner of his eye and hears a startled yelp. Jaune turns just in time to see the girl he had just passed, grin replaced with a shocked, pained gimmace being launched from one beowolf to another.
Both he and Cobalt turn and charge towards the unfolding tragedy, but both are too far away to make it in time. The second beowolf catches her by burying its claws into her midriff, then bites into her neck, arterial spray escaping through its fangs before it rips the throat out. As the girls partner or boyfriend rushes to her limp, empty eyed and mangled form Jaune falls on the beast that had shattered her aura with righteous fury. He is idly aware of the other boy screaming the girls name, his weapon clattering to the ground as it falls from the evaporating form of the beast that had felled her. The rest of the trainees seem to have frozen in place.
"Emerald Bravo, I just had a fatality! Need immediate evac to my location or the forest is going to be worse off than it was when we started by the time whats left of my team makes it back to Beacon!" Cobalt snarls into her scroll before turning and launching her weapon into the skull of the big alpha. Ren is the next to recover, swiftly slaying a grimm that is loping towards the grieving young man and their fallen comrade.
"Juniper!" Jaune barks, startling the rest of his team back into action. The last few minutes of combat are a hectic brawl, but they manage to render the clearing safe by the time their ride home arrives. Team RBDD is quick to help their injured teammate onto the transport. No one really knows what to do with the empty eyed Louis dragging Floras corpse into a back corner of the bullhead to cradle in his arms.
While Cobalt is talking with the transports pilot, Pyrrha spares a glance for the wounded member of team RBDD and suck in a breath before shuffling across the transport to kneel next to her. Opposite the wounded girl is an incredibly worried looking Verdus. The mocha skinned girl is deathly pale, a trio of ragged gashes crossing her toned stomach, exposed by the raven haired girls choice of tube top and cargo pants. Her left arm is simply gone, the socket of her left shoulder blade visible through the blood and tattered tendons hanging unattatched and scraps of skin dangling like ripped drapes.
As the girls team leader applies auric enhancers and boosters, Pyrrha wipes her sweat covered brow and softly coos "Hey, Corvis, stay with us. The next international tourney -" her breath hitches. "Well, it would be awfully boring without you there. I'll even sign your prosthetic once its fit." The young man opposite Pyrrha shoots her a look like she's offended him or intruding somehow, but holds his peace.
That elicits a coughing laugh from the prone girl, who Jaune realizes is probably Pyrrhas height when standing. "You don't do autographs, and hate the tourneys." Either not noticing or caring that the green haired young man at her side has entwined the fingers of her remaining hand with his own.
Pyrrhas face twists a bit at being called out so blatantly, but she doesn't comment. "Gonna give you some painkillers Cor." Her apparent team leader announces into the awkward silence.
"Whatever you say Regum." she replies, voice reedy and strained as she turns to smile up at the young man at her side.
As the girls eyes glaze over with the faraway look of someone well and truly out of it, Pyrrha stands and rejoins her team, barely swaying as the bullhead lifts off and begins to scream back towards Beacon. "You know her?" Nora asks, sounding shell-shocked and glancing more at the dead and mortally wounded huntresses than her teammates.
Pyrrha nods "Corvis Bowyer. She's been top five in our age group for the Valean Tourney Circuit as long as I've been on Mistrals. One of the fighters I actually get along with."
Jaune nods grimly and rests his hand on his partners shoulder, her face flushes a bit at the contact. "We did good today Juniper. Things could have went a lot worse. A lot." he glances over to the other teams, mourning and worried as they are. "We could be on this transport alone save Cardinal and Cobalt." The others nod and perk up a bit, before taking seats near the front of the transport, leaving the other two teams their space, and better access to the exits.
_-*R-DxD*_
"Hey, hey Cardin, you okay man?" Russel asks his leader and best friend as he blearily blinks back to alertness.
Cardin moves to wipe the trace of blood from his cheek, even though his restored aura had already closed the slight wound. "I, yea. When that little shit cut me..."
"Normal sword, your fine." Sky answers.
"Do we actually believe what the devil said?" Dove asks.
Russel shoots the swordsman a glare "Can we afford not to? He already proved half of what he said about that damn sword to be true." He helps his friend off the ground just as a scowling Cobalt stomps her way over to the freshman team.
She glares at the four of them. "Look, I know you lot are having some sort of feud with my best friends baby brothers team. I know that your team pinged a high risk grimm forty five minutes before I called for backup. I tracked your progress having a running battle with it headed west on my scrolls GPS all the way up until that pack of beowolfs left me to busy to keep up with your progress. If I find out that you brought that schoolyard bullshit on a mission there will be hell to pay."
Cardin sneers as he takes shaky steps away from his partner "What do you care, and why should we care if some animal is upset with us?"
The wolf faunus snarls at that "Oh, so the overgrown child thinks he's a racist on top of being stupid." she steps into his personal space.
Cardin takes a half step back "What do you mean, think I'm a racist?"
"Your too young and have been too sheltered to actually believe some of the crap my briefing on your team said you like to regurgitate." She pauses to glower darkly at him "Keep up like you have been though, and I'm sure you'll meet a faunus ready to push back in a way that makes you feel that hatred." She takes a slow breath in through her nose before exhaling through her mouth. "The reason I care about whether or not your petty antics got a rookie killed is because today is the first time I've had one go down on one of these weekend milk runs that I was in charge of."
Russel tilts his head, trying his best to de-escalate the situation. "What do you mean milk run? We're out here fighting grimm, aren't we?"
She pins him with a deeply condescending gaze "The Emerald Forest gets cleared like this every week after Initiation. With large groups and supported by professionals and professors. There shouldn't be any big or rare grimm by the time the freshman get sent out here. The only real risk is of showboating or over-estimating your abilities getting one of you hurt. Unless someone pulled some shady or exceedingly stupid shit."
Still undaunted, and now feeling challenged Cardin bites back "And how is it my problem that your stupid pride got hurt?"
Cobalt snarls at the truly dense student "My pride? One of your classmates is dead, possibly because you couldn't set a grudge aside, my license is going to go under review now, and I'll likely be barred from jobs like this until at least next year. You should care about that because if things go as badly as they can, I will be irate with you lot, at the very least for not calling for the backup you needed sooner, causing things to pile on to the tragedy that happened less than half an hour ago!"
Growling, Sky cuts in "Well, professional or not, there's four of us and only one of you!"
Cobalt slowly turns to impress on Sky just how much of a moron she thinks he is with a glance, before explaining, very slowly. "Professional." pointing to herself. "Half trained egotists." she points in CRDLs direction. "My team is the only one of the six in our graduating class with the same members we had after initiation, and the only one that still hasn't had a roster change since graduation. With your collective skill and mindset I'd be surprised if at least half of Winchesters team isn't different than it is today by the time he gets around to graduating."
Face still a mask of affronted rage, Cardin barks out "Oh, so we're supposed to believe you're Vales version of the Ace Ops?"
Cobalt snorts derisively as the landing Bullhead kicks up dust and waits until the noise dies down before scornfully replying "I'm enough of a realist to know that my team has nothing on Atlas' Pride. But I'm still more than you lot can handle." as she climbs onto the waiting transport. All five of their scrolls ping a notification that the days exercise is under review by the Headmaster and staff, and the transport falls silent for the ride back to Beacon.
Team CRDL doesn't break the silence until they reach their dorm room, and, upon seeing who is waiting for them within, all of them drop to a knee and bow their heads as soon as the door is closed. The fallen angel is tall, head and shoulders above Cardin when both are standing, though all four of the youths are more broad shouldered than their master. His curly black hair is done up into a topknot and ponytail combination, beady golden eyes set in an angular face looking down on the humans over his long, beak-like nose. He flexes his pair of black-feathered wings, and asks in a dry, almost bored tone "Were you successful today?"
Cardin is the only one to look up, the only one Suriel allows to speak on official matters, as he is the only exorcist in training of the group. "We were, Lord Suriel. Arc manifested his wings, and confessed to possessing one of the pagan imitations of Excalibur."
"And his team?" the fallen presses, idly gazing at his black painted nails as if inspecting them for dirt. His nearly black tangzhuang glinting deep purple as the light plays over the likely silk garment, polished bronze buttons, cuffs and trim standing out starkly compared to the fabric.
Cardin takes a steadying breath, being careful to only answer what is asked of him. "Nikkos was not surprised by the transformation, Ren and Valkyrie both seemed shocked."
The fallen angel sighs. "A shame about the tournament fighter, she looked to be good stock. Depending on the cohesiveness of the team tomorrow morn the other two might yet be able to be made contrite and repent for their unwitting collusion." He stands and turns to face away from the quartet of humans. "I have two plans, you will contact me after assessing the state of team Juniper tomorrow so that I can decide on which to enact." With a pulse of magic, the fallen angel is gone from the dorm, and the hunters in training all deflate, utterly exhausted by the days events.
A/N: Yes, this is Jaune going all out, which he hasn't been doing up top this point. Not his maximum output, but not holding back at least.
No, the idea for the VSPRD isn't entirely mine, I got it from Coeur Al'Arans "Captain Dragon". Some things (most notably who's in charge of said group and its makeup) will be different, but that's for later, go ahead and check it out if you haven't though, It'll be another month before I update again anyways.
On Beacon students getting maimed/dying, IMHO Ozpin wouldn't be able to get away with telling students they may die during initiation if it wasn't a realistic possibility, gonna explore that more with background characters as the story progresses. I have a 'redshirt team generator table' and everything!
On Cardin: his current role is antagonistic, but I'm not gonna go the usual route of 'character bash then scrap-heap because bullies are bad' formula. And that's all I have to say on that for meow.
Love it? Hate it? Trying to cope with the soul-crushing ennui of the daily grind and feel the need to vent? Drop me a review! And strap yourselves in, because I have enough pieces on the board now to start moving them, and the ride is gonna get increasingly wild!