Legend of Remnant

Chapter 10: Remnant of Hatred

There was scant time between the Boarbatusk's roar of challenge, and its first move.

No sooner had Jaune steeled himself did the Borbatusk rear up on its hind legs, body rippling with dense muscles, and slam down on the ground, the sheer force of the blow almost knocking Jaune off of his feet. 'Damn it!' Jaune swore, struggling to stay upright. Then, it charged. Blood red eyes and ivory tusks rushed forward with a speed that felt just about unfair to Jaune, hooves pounding the soil beneath. Jaune's eyes widened, and he rushed to the side, leaping at the last moment. Like a freight train made of hate, muscle, and fur, Twrch thundered by, razor sharp tusks impaling the air where Jaune had been just moments before. 'Damn it!' Jaune mentally swore again, gritting his teeth. 'This thing moves so fast!'

Jaune, calm down. Link's voice sounded unshaken and firm.

'I know, I know,' Jaune mentally responded. He had to analyze his foe. 'There's no way I can take that thing on in a frontal assault; even if I got past the tusks, that thing's bone mask is just about impenetrable. Plus I'd get run down after I got even a single hit in.' Jaune mused, watching as the Borbatusk ran over a few smaller trees, the wood snapping and splintering under the inexorable charge. The thing came to a skidding halt on its front legs, kicking up dirt, rocks, and roots into the air. The back end of its body came up into the air and it twisted around to face Jaune. The hind legs came back down with that same earth shaking force, and Jaune grimaced. He had just enough time to bring himself back into a ready position before the Borbatusk's muscles rippled, and the massive beast lunged forward again.

Jaune once more lunged to the side, close enough to nearly get trampled over, but apparently not close enough to trigger the Flurry Rush. 'So much for that idea; if I was any closer, this thing would run me flat! It likes to charge an awful lot though, just like those Helmasaurs-' Jaune's mind was running a mile a minute, even as his body hit the ground, rolling back onto his feet and preparing for another charge. 'Could I use the same tactic? Doubt I could kill it in one pass but…' Blue eyes swept rapidly over his surroundings, taking in everything. 'Those trees are way too small, it'd just trample them into splinters.' Twrch stopped in a skid and like before, its hind legs came up and it pivoted, slamming its massive bulk back to the earth. 'Damn it, this thing isn't giving me much of a chance to think!' Jaune's eyes continued to flicker around the battlefield, his heart pumping like mad in his chest. 'Wait...that tree! The one Ruby and I got the sap from! That thing's massive!'

Jaune grinned, and began to make his way to the side, positioning himself between Twrch and the massive maple. "C'mon pork chops! Come get some!" Jaune crowed, pointing the Master Sword at the beast in a challenge. The beast huffed, and Jaune swore he saw its eyes narrow as though it understood his taunt. It didn't matter if it did or not though; the important part was that Jaune was ready for the charge. It ran a hoof against the ground with a thump, and with a ripple of muscle, Twrch burst forward, thundering forward like living lightning. 'Wait for it…' Jaune set his jaw as the beast came closer. 'Wait for it…'

Jaune watched as the Borbatusk thundered closer and closer, until it was nearly atop him, and pushed off the ground, trying to dodge. As time seemed to slow, Jaune realized with sudden fear that he was too late. Something hit him with the force of an oncoming tractor trailer. His world exploded in white-hot pain, and for a brief moment, he feared it was the end as the beast's tusk drove into his side. The blow sent him sprawling away, hitting the dirt with enough force to drive air and spittle from his lungs. By some miracle, his aura held, keeping him from being impaled by the massive ivory tusk, but it hurt. Despite the screaming protests of his body, Jaune struggled to his feet. If the beast had stopped in time, he'd be a sitting duck.

CRUNCH! WHUMPH!

The ear splitting sound of wood cracking and splintering echoes through the clearing, followed nearly simultaneously by a colossally dull thud. Trying to catch his breath, Jaune turned to where Twrch was, only to find the gargantuan Borbatusk up against the biggest maple in the clearing, seemingly stuck. Its tusks were embedded in the massive maple tree, buried at least a good couple of feet into the old tree. 'It worked!' Jaune grinned through the pain. He quickly reached down to pick up the Master Sword where he'd dropped it after getting struck, and hobbled his way to the beast's flank. A baleful crimson eye followed him as he approached, and Twrch redoubled its efforts to free itself.

Jaune knew he had precious little time. Even as he got within sword striking range, he could see the beast's ivory tusks beginning to wriggle out of the trunk. Jaune didn't hesitate; he summoned every ounce of strength he could muster, and drove the Master Sword into the Grimm's unprotected flank. It was so strange. The Grimm was so muscled, so big, and its oily black hide so thick, that Jaune had figured that he'd need all of his strength to pierce its flesh, much less cause any significant damage. His fears proved groundless, as the Master Sword cut through the beast's hide with terrible ease. Slash after slash, it rent the Grimm's flesh like a razor sharp knife before a steak.

Twrch roared in pain and fury, and Jaune noticed it freeing its tusks just in time to duck under a sudden swing of said tusks. They passed over his head with nearly the same force as when it'd speared him. Jaune grimaced, heart leaping into his throat. That had been too close. Even worse, now that he'd dodged the swing, he found himself in-between the tusks, staring eye to eye with the wrathful Grimm, much too close for comfort. "Crap!" Jaune cried out, mind racing for a way out. 'Fuck, fuck, fuck! What do I do?!'

Jaune, Link's voice sounded firm and unyielding. Don't panic! Remember your lessons!

'Right- environment and arsenal. I'm surrounded by trees, and I've got a sword, shield and Clawshot-' Jaune's eyes widened, even as the Borbatusk's eyes narrowed and it prepared to trample him underfoot. He raised a hand and focused. There was a flash of golden light, and Jaune felt the familiar sensation of the Clawshot gauntlet around his forearm. With his blood pounding in his ears, Jaune quickly turned his eyes upward, hand following his gaze, and fired the Clawshot at a branch above the Grimm. The chain went taut, and Jaune pulled the trigger just as Twrch lunged forward, planning on running the poor boy over.

This time, Jaune's timing was impeccable, and he managed to dodge the Grimm's charge. It thundered away underneath him as Jaune flew upward. He released the trigger, and the claw released, letting Jaune drop to the ground behind the Borbatusk. Hang on a minute… Jaune felt the corners of his mouth twitch upwards in a near hysterical grin. Okay you bastard, round two, let's go!

Twrch continued its charge, hoofbeats shaking the ground with each step. Jaune waited for it to come to its usual screeching halt with baited breath. It did stop, but not like before. Twrch suddenly threw its bulk into a turn and it, for lack of a better term in Jaune's mind, drifted into a sharp turn, throwing up a wave of dirt, sticks and stones as it did. Jaune's jaw fell open as he watched it swing around to face him without pausing its charge. "Oh come on!" Jaune grit his teeth, and took aim with the Clawshot to another branch. Twrch seemed to have even picked up speed in its rage, and it had cleared the ground between them in mere moments. Jaune had just enough time to pull the trigger, sending his body rocketing into the air as the Borbatusk thundered under him.

WHUMPH-CRACK!

The force of its body ramming into the old maple shook the branches, and the branch Jaune hung from snapped. He fell, hit the Borbatusk's back, and rolled off, falling to the dirt ground with a groan. "Owwww…"

Jaune! Foc-

"Yeah, yeah, focus, I got it!" He scrambled to his feet, and turned to face the Borbatusk. His eyes widened. The beast had been moving so fast, trying so hard to run him over, that when it couldn't stop its charge in time, it had run into the tree again, and this time, had actually snapped its tusks off and drove its bone-covered skull into the tree, stunning itself. Jaune wasted no time, and brought the Master Sword once again to bear. The young man carved large furrows through the beast's flank, causing black blood to flow from the large gashes. Jaune didn't care, even as the ichor flowed onto his boots. He only cared about dealing as much damage as he could to the Borbatusk before it recovered its senses.

Finally, the beast managed to shake off it's daze, and gave another, earsplitting roar that had Jaune wincing, recoiling back to cover his ears. The beast reared up, and Jaune, noticing it, quickly turned tail and ran. BOOM! The beast slammed into the earth, its bulk shaking the ground and causing Jaune to lose his footing, falling over to the ground below in mid run. He rolled, turning face up, only to see the Borbatusk already charging him, its wrathful gaze filled with an animalistic, primal fury. It nearly froze him solid in fear, and it took a herculanean burst of willpower to roll his body to the side frantically, managing to dodge the beast's frantic, frenzied rush by the skin of his hoodie. He could feel the beast's hooves beating the earth beneath it, feel its breath rumbling the air around it. It had come so close to his prone form, one broken tusk actually tore at his hoodie, opening up a gash in his side. Jaune got to his feet once more, heart now pounding so hard in his chest that he vaguely wondered if it'd either burst from his ribcage, or explode. Like before, the Borbatusk swung its bulk around, actually picking up a smaller tree and tossing it into the air as it drifted, and continued the charge once more.

'Damn it!' Jaune internally swore, 'This thing is going crazy! It's too fast!'

It means you're wearing it down! Link replied. You're nearly done Jaune, just square those shoulders and calm yourself. You can do this, I know you can!

Link's words of encouragement filled Jaune with just a touch of confidence. Body aching, chest rising and falling with labored breaths, Jaune watched the beast rush towards him, hatred radiating off of the beast. 'Link's right...I'm winning...just a little more…' Jaune knew he didn't have his back to the massive tree, and instead concentrated on dodging the beast. Right as he found himself close enough to have been struck by the boar's tusks normally, he threw himself to the side, hitting the ground in a roll and jumping to his feet with the same motion. On cue, the Borbatusk knew it'd passed its prey, and drifted around again to face Jaune. Its hooves slid on the ground kicking up enough dirt into the air that the entire clearing now seemed to be filled with a light brown fog. 'C'mon! This thing isn't stopping now!'

Don't get impatient. Victory is only a matter of time, just wait for your chance! Link advised.

'Easier said than done,' Jaune countered, 'I can't keep this up for much longer!' The beast rushed forward again, and Jaune barely had enough time to throw himself to the side once more, as Twrch had stopped itself much closer to Jaune, leaving precious few seconds with which to avoid its charge. Jaune clambered to his feet, chest rising and falling as he tried to get in a good breath. Even with all of his Aura, Jaune could feel the exhaustion taking its toll on his body. He had to end this quickly. An idea formed in his head. Insane, crazy, and foolish, but if it worked, victory was assured. Pushing his aching legs, he moved quickly, forcing the Borbatusk to actually pause to turn itself to face him. Once he was between the tree and the Borbatusk, he began to slowly back up until his back was nearly up against the towering maple tree. Twrch continued to pause, as though it knew what Jaune was planning. Its body twitched, and Jaune quickly raised the Clawshot to prepare.

Twrch didn't move again. It continued watching him through furious crimson eyes, and Jaune frowned. 'Yeah. Didn't think it'd fall for that again. Guess I gotta go with Plan B.'

Jaune? Link inquired.

'Yeah, I know, it's insane, but do you have a better idea?'

Link went quiet, which Jaune took as grudging approval. He lowered the Clawshot, aiming it directly at the Borbatusk. Twrch seemingly took this as a challenge, as it let loose a deep bellow, and threw its bulk in another frenetic, frenzied rushdown, intent on crushing Jaune between its bony faceplate and the maple tree. Jaune forced himself to take a deep breath, envisioning his next few moves. He took aim at the beast's back, and fired. 'One one-thousand, two one-thousand-' Jaune counted. The claw hit the beast's back, digging into its flesh. Jaune didn't waste another second. He pulled the trigger, and rocketed towards the beast as it came at him. There was a brief moment of weightlessness for Jaune, as a combination of terror and anticipation filled him completely. He tilted his body in mid flight, pointing his feet at the enemy-

And made contact. The moment he hit the beast's figure, his body cried out in agony and he gritted his teeth as he felt his Aura strain against the sheer force, and something within him snapped. He was without Aura, and his body rolled up the Borbatusk's back, sending him into the air. As he flew upwards, he looked down to see the Borbatusk, caught off guard by Jaune's near suicidal move, rush headlong into the tree.

CR~R~RACK!

The clearing was filled with an ear splitting cracking noise, and Jaune could see the beast's bony mask actually split and fall off, almost split cleanly in two. This was it. This was his one shot. He twisted his body around in mid air, and as gravity began to pull him back down, he drew the Master Sword, and pointed it downward as he plummeted…

"Miss Goodwitch, this way!" Ruby shouted, struggling not to engage her Semblance to rush in ahead of the Headmistress. A few paces behind her, the blond Headmistress followed surprisingly close behind, managing to keep pace with the panicked Ruby.

"Ms. Rose! Please calm yourself! Panic will bring more Grimm. We must have faith in Mr. Arc to hold off the beast long enough for us to arrive." Glynda reminded her student, her expression neutral, but tight.

Ruby nodded, not trusting herself to speak again, but calming herself was far easier said than done. How could she not panic in this situation!? She'd run, leaving her best friend behind! Her partner! Jaune was facing that monster by himself! He sounded confident, but Ruby knew that the beast could easily run him down if he made even the slightest mistake! Her heart beat rapidly in her chest, a flutter that could not, would not be calmed. She glanced down at the scroll clenched tightly in the grip. She opened it up, to see Jaune's Aura level.

Her heart nearly stopped in her chest. Zero percent. Her eyes widened, body shook, and she let out a cry. "JAUNE!"

"Ms. Rose?! What is it?!" Glynda asked.

Ruby didn't respond. She suddenly took off in a burst of rose petals and a burst of speed as terror gripped her. 'No! Not like this! Please, please be okay!' Ruby pleaded internally, the world turning to a blur as she pushed herself. The trees opened up, and Ruby appeared in the clearing, and paused, silver eyes still wide, but now with surprise instead of panic.

Jaune was in the air, his body twisting around, and below him, its head buried in a splintered crater in the side of the biggest maple tree in the clearing was the Borbatusk, not moving. She watched, the world seeming to go into slow motion as Jaune repositioned himself in the air, and plummeted, sword pointed downward. With a squelch, and the surprisingly loud sound of steel scraping against bone, Jaune landed, plunging the blade into the Borbatusk's skull. It drove into the beast's head nearly to the hilt, the creature giving a mighty shudder, then slumping to the ground. Jaune was still for a moment, then pulled the blade from the beast's skull with surprising ease. He took a single, shaky step to the ground, and collapsed onto one knee, sword digging into the ground to keep him up.

"Jaune!" Ruby shouted. Jaune turned to face Ruby, only to be bowled over as the young girl tackled him, throwing her arms around his neck. "You're okay!"

Jaune gave a weak, exhausted chuckle and groaned. "Y...yeah...somehow…" He laid still, Ruby still holding onto him tightly, and he weakly brought up one arm, gently rubbing Ruby's back. "Sorry...sorry to worry you...Crater Face…" He breathed. A spike of guilt ran through him as he felt his neck growing warm and wet as Ruby's tears fell onto him. He glanced down at his other hand, and watched as the Clawshot began to fall apart into motes of glowing light, fading away like campfire sparks as it returned from wherever it'd come from.

"You…" Ruby sniffed, "You're at zero Aura! You-you could have died!" The young girl half admonished, half sobbed into Jaune's shoulder.

"Ms. Rose! Mr. Arc!" Glynda's voice called out, her figure emerging from the trees. "Is he-?!" Glynda began, eyes widening in concern after seeing Ruby clinging to Jaune's prone figure. The area looked like a warzone, with broken trees and deep furrows dug out everywhere.

"I-I'm fine!" Jaune managed to shout out. "Exhausted, but alive."

Glynda's expression softened slightly, and she approached the two, Ruby hesitantly disengaging from Jaune who slowly sat up, wincing. "Mr. Arc, can you stand?"

Jaune rolled his shoulders, taking slow, labored breaths. "Give me a few minutes…" he replied. "I...I did it…" He turned his head to see the massive, black bulk of Twrch Trwyth starting to slowly dissolve into oily black smoke. "Holy crap...I...I beat it…" Jaune breathed. He could scarcely believe it. It felt so unreal.

Glynda pushed her glasses up her face, and let out a sigh of relief. "Mr. Arc, I am glad you're alive. How did this even happen?"

Jaune shook his head. "One minute we were tapping the tree, the next that...thing showed up."

"I was referring more to how you managed to defeat it. This…" Glynda turned back to the beast. "This is a mature Borbatusk, perhaps even a young Elder one. It would have been quite the challenge even for a seasoned Huntsman."

Jaune weakly lifted a hand and pointed to the crater in the tree, two ivory tusks jutting from it. "Was lucky enough to find a way to lure the thing to keep headbutting the tree."

Glynda nodded. "Clever, Mr. Arc. Ms. Rose? Please help your partner to his feet. I would like to remind the two of you this is precisely why I told you all not to wander too far afield. While these forests are normally not particularly dangerous, Grimm still abound, and even beasts like these tend to wander. You are exceedingly lucky to have survived, Mr. Arc."

Jaune nodded as Ruby ducked down, helping put an arm over her shoulder. She helped him to his feet, although the difference in their height meant that once he was fully standing, Ruby could do little to help support him. Instead she kept close to his side, helping keep him stable as the young man began to slowly follow their Headmistress.

As they began, Jaune paused, something glinting in the sunlight above, and he turned his head for a better view. Sitting on the ground where the massive Boarbatusk's body had laid, was a strange, heart-shaped object. It looked like it was a large, heart-shaped crystal, inlaid with gold, and with a ruby red heart gem in the middle of it. "What the…" Jaune asked.

That, Jaune, is a Heart Container. It's...well, the easiest way to describe it is the coalesced power of the beast you just slayed. Link explained. Go grab it.

Jaune paused, turning to Ruby. "Hang on a sec, Ruby."

"Huh?" Ruby turned to see Jaune limp over to the spot where the beast had been, and kneel down, seemingly grasping at the air. "What are you doing?"

Jaune turned to her, then down at his hand. The heart crystal, or Heart Container as Link called it, suddenly vanished in a flash of silvery light. A pleasant sensation suddenly rushed into Jaune's body, filling him from head to toe. His lungs seemingly took in more air, his legs ceased aching, his arms no longer felt like lead weights. If anything, he found much to his shock and amazement that he honestly felt even better than when he'd started the fight with the Borbatusk! Jaune stared at his hands, eyebrows threatening to disappear into his hair with the breadth of his shock. "W-what?!"

That power you feel, Link explained, it's a combination of your strengthened soul from your sojourn into the Memory Dungeon, and the power gained from that battle. Think of it as an additional benefit from having the soul of the Hero. Grand accomplishments such as that will grant you additional strength.

"Jaune?" Ruby called out again. "Are you okay?"

Jaune shook his head to clear it, and turned to Ruby. "Y-yeah. A lot better, actually. Thinking about it...never better."

Ruby blinked in surprise as Jaune stood up taller and- Did he already recover? "How-" Ruby began, but was cut off by the sound of Glynda clearing her throat. Ruby's face turned pink with embarrassment. "S-sorry Ms Goodwitch! Be right there!" She turned back to Jaune, who was now gone from where he'd knelt down, and she turned back to see him already ahead of her, walking as though he hadn't just gone through a grueling, life-or-death fight against something even she wasn't sure she could beat. Just what was going on? She shook her head. There was time for questions and answers later. For now, she just felt relieved that her friend was alive and well, and that was all that mattered…

The return to his friends and classmates was an awkward one. Apparently just about everyone heard Ruby frantically panicking about his predicament, and Jaune would have been lying if it didn't sting to see how many faces looked shocked, as though they'd expected him to have perished. He didn't have much time to dwell on that though, as something or someone crashed into him, pulling him into a hug that threatened to turn his ribs to powder. "Jaune!" Nora cried out holding him tight. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?! I knew we should have been closer to you guys!"

"Nora," Ren's soft voice sounded calm and collected as usual. "I think you should let him breathe."

Nora had the decency to look chastised, releasing Jaune from an embrace that he would have easily compared to an Ursa. After getting in a few good breaths, he spoke, grinning wryly up at Nora. "Man," he chuckled, "I think you did more damage than the Borbatusk!"

Nora grinned widely and flexed an arm. "Duh! I'm way stronger! It was lucky I wasn't around!"

"And you're lucky that Ms Goodwitch was close enough to save your skin!" Another voice spoke up, haughty and chastising. Jaune turned his gaze to meet that of Weiss, standing arms akimbo. Jaune hid a wince, opening his mouth to try and argue the contrary. Before he could utter a syllable, he was cut off as Ruby spoke up instead.

"She didn't! Jaune beat it all by himself!" Ruby protested, stepping forward, pointing an accusatory finger at Weiss.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Jaune? Highly unlikely. With such poor showings in combat class, I very much doubt it." Jaune cringed. She wasn't exactly wrong; even he was still reeling from the fact that he's actually succeeded. To make matters worse, Weiss continued. "And look at him! Aside from that awful hoodie being scratched, he doesn't even look like he was in any sort of fight."

Ruby puffed up her cheeks, and Jaune put a hand on her shoulder. She relaxed, but was still frowning deeply. The sound of Glynda speaking caught their attention, and everyone turned to face her. "Is everyone here? Good. We will be returning to Beacon now. From what I have seen, all of you have passed today. In the future, during exercises like these, I would suggest remaining close to the group in the event of an unexpected emergency." She lectured. While she thankfully didn't turn her gaze to Jaune and Ruby, both of them felt their faces growing warm as their classmates had no such restraint. "Now, please line up by your group order in front of your assigned Bullhead and-" Glynda paused, seeing a hand rise up. "Yes, Ms. Schnee?"

"Did Jaune actually manage to defeat an Elder Borbatusk by himself?" Weiss asked, taking the time to shoot him an aside glower.

Glynda sighed. "Yes, Ms. Schnee. Thus, my warning. Mr. Arc encountered a younger Elder Borbatusk, and managed to succeed in slaying it. He was lucky that the terrain had given him an advantage, but all of you should take this as a warning. Even in situations like these where we believe the setting to be relatively peaceful, the threat of the Grimm is ever present and it is all too easy to be caught off guard."

A murmur of surprise rose up among the classmates, and Jaune suddenly found the ground rather interesting as his embarrassment rose. He heard a huff of indignation, and looked up to see Weiss turning away, her lips drawn into a thin frown. Jaune grimaced. Shouldn't she be...impressed? He sighed and shook his head. What did it take to please that girl? He glanced around, and caught Pyrrha's gaze, which surprised him just as much; a warm, proud smile. He nervously smiled back. Well, at least someone was proud of him, and not just shocked that he was still ambulatory. "Jaune?" Ruby queried.

"Huh?" Jaune blinked and turned quickly back to his partner.

"The Bullheads, remember?"

Jaune looked towards the metal monstrosities and groaned. "Ugh. Can't I just...you know...walk?"

"Jaune Arc. Slayer of Elder Borbatusks. Fears Bullheads." Ren spoke up wryly, a smile flitting about his face as Jaune turned to glower at him.

"I warned you. I'm aiming for you!"

[Beacon Academy]

"And when I got into the clearing, Jaune was up in the air! He did this really cool twist and just- WHAM!" Ruby exclaimed triumphantly.

Team RNJR sat in their dorm rooms, Jaune and Ren sitting on the floor, Nora in her bunk, and Ruby standing triumphantly on a chair as she regaled the rest of their team as to the details of the situation that had occurred in Forever Fall forest. Jaune simply sat silent, looking rather embarrassed at how Ruby seemingly over exaggerated his deeds and actions. He was most certainly not confident when telling her to run away, and had been pretty much accepting what he thought was his inevitable demise.

"What Ruby fails to mention," Jaune spoke up, pausing to clear his throat, "Was that I only won because I had the advantage of terrain. If I was fighting that thing in an open field…" Jaune shivered slightly. "And I only barely won. My Aura broke right before the final blow."

That sobered up the room. Ruby fell silent, Nora frowned, and Ren's expression tightened. After a few moments of awkward silence, it was surprisingly Ren who broke it. "You're still alive, and that's what matters."

"Yeah!" Nora chimed in. "And next time, we're all going together! As a team!"

"Exactly!" Ruby exclaimed.

Jaune smiled warmly, but it fell just as quick as a knot formed in his stomach. There was really no sense in putting it off. They had to know the truth. He'd lucked out this time, but as a team? They'd be relying on him. He took a deep breath, and released it slowly out through his mouth. 'I can do this. I fought a freakin' massive Grimm earlier today. I risked my life to take that thing out. This should be easy...should be.'

You can do this.

Jaune nodded slightly, his heart rate quickening again. "G-guys?" Everyone went quiet once more. "I...I've got something I've got to tell you all. W-well, more like something I have to admit. You guys are my friends, my teammates, so you all have a right to know."

And with that, Jaune told the truth.

A/N: What is it with me and cliffhangers? I promise, not every chapter will end this way. This chapter was...odd to write. It was easier, being an actual fight for most of it, but as soon as I'd finished it, I found myself having difficulties with the aftermath of the fight. How would people react? How long should I make the aftermath? Would people believe Jaune could actually defeat Twrch all on his own? Eventually I just said fuck it and bit the bullet, and here we go. I could have probably taken more time for the ending to really pick it apart, but doing that would probably cause me to take a lot more time, or even just stop writing entirely in frustration. I'm not happy with it, but I think it works for now.

If you need a laugh, it's been so long since I've watched the first few episodes of RWBY that I honestly kinda forgot exactly what happens when. Do they meet Penny next? How far ahead do the Docks happen? I don't plan on doing everything beat for beat, but major events are something I want to touch upon, but it's not easy when you have a piss poor memory. Anyway, I'll stop rambling, and hope this chapter has been up to snuff. Signing off for now, this is LaughingLefou.