Hi again.
I've heard that last chapter was confusing because of all the flashbacks—very fair. If I could go back in time, maybe I could have figured out how to actually do Jaune's backstory. Whether it be a full 10 CHs then Beacon or try implement flashbacks better.
This entire story is just one big pretentious project of mine. Hell, we haven't even made it past V1 and we're like 200k words in! I try to make it enjoyable and easy to read, but unfortunately, the me of a few years ago was definitely the this, this, this, then that! Now this again! Kind of person. Heavy handed and very sensitive.
The last chapter and the next 2 or so have gone through multiple revisions and chronological changes to at least seem coherent in the past few weeks. I hope you can enjoy them.
This is the next chapter.
UWB Chapter 20: Talon and Claw
Plap.
One could have likened the sound of tree sap falling into glass to the sound of steak slabs slapping into one another.
Viscous plops and chunky splats seemed to bounce off from within the jar and into the warming air that could have been felt within Forever Fall. While that aspect of the environment was normally quite comforting, the association of 'warm' and 'slapping meat' sort of made the entire sentiment moot and sent an irrecoverable ick down Ruby's back.
Zwei probably would have another thing to say, though.
Not one to toot her own horn, Ruby Rose still wouldn't have felt guilty about calling herself a gal more chipper than most. Yet, all the excitement that came from the mere prospect of a field trip had all but dribbled away, much like the meaty farts of the sap under her. Once wide, alluring eyes were narrowed into slits; the silver colouring of her irises condensed into simple black dots as she stared, mouth slightly agape, at the gradually filling jar.
"Are we sure that this stuff is supposed to help dust, or something?" Ruby's voice raised in pitch slightly with every word, seemingly unconvinced at the substance that sounded out slapping meats.
Her partner hesitated to respond, only due to the fact that she was removing her tap quite surgically from the bark of the tree she was knelt nearby to. "If you mean 'catalyze the active elemental reaction' of dust, then yes, Ruby." Weiss returned with vain testament. The heiress paused for a moment, lifting the jar to eye-level and scrunched her face in contemplation. "Supposedly, anyway. Professor Peach is a strange one, though we shouldn't let the eccentricity of our teachers sway our trust in their methods."
Feh. Sounded like baloney. Then again, her Uncle Qrow was eccentric as they came, and she came out of his training a scythe-swinging badass. Also with an unhealthy addiction to substance – sure – but her love for milk and cookies had always been somewhere within her. Probably.
Seeing Weiss appraise the sap, Ruby did much the same once her own tap went dry. Features twisted in much less elegance as she analyzed, the red-hooded huntress still managed to come to some realization as she mentioned off-handedly, "Doesn't this stuff look a little like Doctor Oobleck's coffee?"
It was as if the trumpets of Atlas had given out word of the end in Weiss' mind. All mystery became transparent, letting her see the heart of truth beyond the fog. Every enigma, every problem of the millennia, every single thing seemed to draw closer. In that young woman's head, the stars had aligned in a way that never before seemed possible.
"Dear gods," Weiss whispered under her breath, icy-blue eyes trembling with revelation. "Dear gods, you're right…"
There was a sharp, short intake of air – a gasp of sorts – as the white-haired heiress quickly set down the candied jar of tree juice and stormed away towards PYRN. A hand covered her mouth in contemplation as she mumbled something about 'conspiracy' and 'recreational use'.
Strange girl, that Weiss, Ruby would have said.
Strange, strange girl.
Loving your teammates to bits just meant you had to accept them for all their faults. It just came with the package that was friendship.
Now that's something a real team leader would say, the girl thought – a slight bit of pride shining through her impression. The flowery feeling wilted as soon as Ruby scanned the vicinity, and it was apparent that there was nobody that would have heard her if she did say it.
A mellow air entered through her nostrils, before exiting in a wistful sigh. "I wonder where Jaune and Blake are?" she asked quietly. "They've been gone for a while…"
Whatever forlorn expression was on her face was wiped off as Ruby shrugged her shoulders, her regular springy attitude returning with a smile.
"Eh, I'm sure they're fine."
/-/
Blake was mistaken.
Secretly, under all the bluster and bravado, part of her did really want this conflict to end with a few feisty words and heartfelt honors. Sorting out anything deemed as a problem with violent and bloody passing was more Adam's thing. Apparently, it was also Jaune's thing; the two were currently skating down the steep cliff towards the bottom of the auburn valley and onto the train tracks below.
Perhaps Ruby's optimism was rubbing off on her.
The soles of her boots ripped through grass, scarlet blades scattering in the air as Blake snapped her head towards her partner. Much like her, he was on a one-way ticket to the ground below. However, Jaune chose to slide down feet first with his arm outstretched, gripping the scurrying land behind him. Did he lack faith in his balance to stand upright?
There was a silent shake of the head, notion quickly dismissed. You already know the answer to that. Jaune is plotting. He always is.
Refocused, Blake regarded the bow still in hand from her grand gesture of removing it prior. The faunus girl wove it around her bicep and bit down on the other end – tightly tying the fabric around her arm so that it wouldn't impede her. Gambol Shroud hissed to life, finally set free as both halves were drawn to action. Going on an impromptu skiing trip in Forever Fall wasn't exactly on purpose, she'd have you know.
After a tense moment of staring each other down, it became clear to Blake that her partner wasn't going to settle things with only a few cuts and bruises. A bitter blue gaze from underneath a hood tore through the colour of her soul, screaming senselessly of torment, vengeance, and retribution. The very sentiment caused Blake to instinctively seek refuge.
Probably should have looked elsewhere for that. With the added benefit of hindsight, Blake began to realise that what she was doing wasn't exactly helping with her problem. In fact, wasn't she just leading Jaune to a more open area where she couldn't utilize her maneuverability?
Screw this, Blake resolved internally. Control and grace were put into play as she swept a leg to meet Jaune head-on, now turned against the bottom of the incline. She could feel the cold wind rushing against her back and tousling her hair as she fidgeted with the shifting half of her weapon.
Cogs clanked and levers lifted, pushing blade over barrel to reveal the chain-whip she was so proficient with. Unconventional, she knew, but she had a teammate with a farming tool as a weapon – so the outlandishness of such a thing was outshined at times.
Arching her arm backward, Blake shot the appendage forward; the ringing sound of gunfire did much the same. Black ribbon writhed, snaking towards its target with predatory instinct. With instinct of his own, Jaune made to bat away the end of her whip but made the mistake of thinking that he was the target.
With his deflection mistimed and misread, his sword was at the mercy of the ribbon that entwined it. Blake yanked with force, eliciting a frustrated twitch from her opponent as their arm was jerked forward against their will. While Jaune almost certainly possessed the greater strength between the two, the amber-eyed huntress had the added advantage of being below him – allowing her to utilize her weight along with her torque.
The notion that maybe forcing the battle to take place along a steep incline wasn't such a bad idea began to infiltrate Blake's head. Because while their movement was mostly limited to a sixty degree slide downward, the young woman had an advantage that Jaune didn't seem to possess.
And that was the nature of her Semblance.
Aura flooded in around her body, enveloping Blake in a somber embrace that felt all too familiar – as if it was her own shadow. She had to fine-tune that feeling and allow the unity of herself to split apart into two controllable aspects. Through this, Blake was able to conjure a vague image of herself that she could manipulate briefly to work with her high-velocity combat style.
The shadow was her power. That shadow was her Semblance.
Darkness pushed against Blake's body, resulting in an explosive forward movement as a blur of black blazed along her aerial trail. The half of Gambol Shroud wrapped around Jaune's sword would be her anchor, linking them together – at least for now. With a powerful tug, Blake's arm tightened as she began to soar towards her target fervently.
Her bladed-sheathe was drawn back, slicing across outward from her core as she yelled, "Hyah!"
Jaune grimaced as he pulled the arm that he had been using to steady himself forward and let his own sheathe combat Blake's. Through what she could only assume was Aura-based reflex, the silver metal expanded rapidly and received the blow with equal and steadily growing force.
With his own grunt, the huntsman-in-training shed the strike and let sparks fly as he repelled Blake to the side – using her own great momentum to displace her.
Fortunately for Blake, landing strategies had always been a strong suit. Such a fact was never more evident as her boots graced along the scarlet asphalt, tearing through leaf litter and plant alike. As she continued to slide down, Blake gave the connecting ribbon another tug to ensure it was still taught enough to use before letting Aura course through her once more.
When she had first discovered her Semblance, the girl had thought it only a tool used to run away from a fight when things went south. It was very easily used to substitute positions with her own shadow and allow an empty husk of herself to take the assault she faced so that she could flee.
But as time passed, the true application of her ability became apparent. As much as it could be used to run away, her Semblance could be used to dive straight into the jaw of that which she feared and emerge victorious.
Velocity was a value that Blake could alter at a whim. From downward, to sideways; to sideways, to upward – rapidly altering her vectors with both application of her Semblance and the anchor provided by Jaune, the raven-haired runaway began to blitz around her opponent in a whirl of blackened umbral.
Sword being hauled in every direction, Jaune constantly had to pivot himself with his back still grating along the incline to keep up with Blake's shadow-laden flickers. His shield constantly switched back between its forms, revealing the frantically scrambling expression under his furrowed brows as his eyes danced left to right.
At this point in time, it was clear that Blake had the upper hand. With Jaune yet to land even a single blow, he was a glorified mannequin against the wildcat and her polished claws.
But I know you're planning something, Jaune. It was like this with Cardin, wasn't it? I'll prove that to you that I'm serious about staying with this team, even if it means I have to beat the fact into you.
Gambol Shroud's sheathe clashed once more against the wide surface of Jaune's emblazoned shield, the boy behind wincing at the various continual slashes as Blake seemed to pirouette midair and slice at him multiple times. When the storm of dark steel was weathered, his grip on his blade altered while Blake was already back on the offensive.
Yet, when she made to pull on her anchor, the gold in her eyes constricted as her partner had copied the motion – allowing the two weapons to splinter apart and snap back to their users.
Blake clicked her teeth, feeling the push of her Semblance alter her course towards Jaune in absence of the ribbon. So that's what was what all the pivoting was. By continuously spinning himself around and timing the movement of his arm, her partner was able to get his weapon free of the fabric that held it so tight initially.
Winds born of acceleration did their best to push against Blake as she flurried head-first, though they did near nothing to hinder the crackling speeds that the girl was able to carry herself at. Unlike Ruby, the faunus was less prone to the phenomena of 'tunnel-vision' – as it were. She had her nature to thank, she supposed. Feline instinct was useful when dealing with kinetic situations.
The very same instinct appeared to flare, clear by the twitch of her ears and a further narrowing of her pupils, as the arm Jaune was using to steady himself stiffened.
In a single motion, the appendage arced forward to set free dirt and plant matter that was aimed to obscure her vision. Unwilling to give such an advantage to him, Blake let loose her strike early. Body already twisted back, the girl released the elastic buildup with her sword and twirled forward violently – instead settling to continue with the revolution and slice with her sheathe.
Plans rarely worked first time, Blake would eventually realise. A golden-white began to proliferate under the back of her laying partner as the girl continued with her rapid motion. The thought: You can't be serious, echoed along the walls of her head as Jaune burst forward and upright with energy of his own.
What even his Semblance at this point? Blake would have loved to know, if only because the sheer fact would finally put the mystery to rest.
Sheathe lashing forward, it was met perpendicular to Jaune's sword as he parried the blow and reversed the positions of him and Blake with tactical planning. Travelling through the girl, any further attempt at attack was stopped as the dark-haired huntress brought her other hand towards Jaune's midsection and forced him away with a palm. The girl would have sworn she heard the clicking of teeth as she did so.
Jaune now balanced on his own two feet while grinding along the pumpkin descent – facing the peak of the hill. Managing to recover from the drift and swivel around, Blake could only focus harder in the frenzy as she watched her adversary draw his handgun with a tapered look.
Gold met with cerulean over the iron of a sight as Jaune's trigger finger tightened. Repeated explosions ruptured from the barrel, containing elemental destruction capable of tearing apart Grimm and through Aura. That much she was aware of, having seen the blond load combustible dust rounds in his quickdraw.
Where Blake once stood, a cloud of smoke and fire now perforated. She felt the caress of a single bead of sweat as she managed to evade using her Semblance last second. Dashing in a veil of shadow, the girl seemed to phase through the bullets Jaune fired with frightening accuracy. Bitterness was clear on his face as she began to close the distance.
Sharply manoeuvring from left to right, Blake saw telegraphs beyond what any normal person could. Contractions of the shoulder, fluttering of the eye, twitching of the finger, all of it allowed her to predict where and when Jaune was planning to shoot.
A movement of her hand and Gambol Shroud was already shifted back into its chain-whip. However, seeing a short window of opportunity, Blake volleyed a racket of her own shots to rival her partner's. Scowling, the huntsman-in-training pulled his shoulder aside so that a bullet whizzed past his neck. Sideways-on, he managed to directly strike against one or two more with his sword before countering with fire of his own.
Every lead and dust-filled phrase was met with another. Blake avoided with pinpoint precision, dodging into darkness, and letting it shroud her presence. Jaune was less successful, failing to properly evade the occasional bullet and letting it ping off his Aura. Where he could, his blade flashed forward – cutting apart the lead before it could get to him.
Finally within range, Blake grit her teeth as she pivoted in her grind to force Jaune into a deadlock. While she did so with their weapons, her partner's contempt-filled glare did so with their eyes. And despite being the one to engage, the faunus was the first one to buckle. There was a folding of hinge and steel as a second sword came to meet the silver of Jaune's. It was enough to bring the girl back to equal standing with her opponent.
I knew he was strong, but this is insane…! Blake thought in protest to the blond boy's natural power. Even with both weapons now on the table, Jaune was able to ward off an advance with a one-handed guard.
"Jaune, listen to me! I'm not here to hurt anyone – I don't want to fight you!" The strain of muscle and Aura was evident through her growl. "Please!"
Her partner cut through with uncompromising zeal, "Just shut up! You made your choice when you let all those people die!" As if in response, the blade that she was pushing against with all her might seemed to pulse with a colourless glow.
Thrown off-kilter for a split second, Blake shed away the deadlock and made to leap as the two were finally at the bottom of the great valley hidden within Forever Fall. Noticing the raven-haired huntress' sudden disengagement, Jaune craned his neck backward and soon came to the same realisation.
Blake would admit, Jaune certainly was much more acrobatic than one would initially think. As he crouched and coiled, the young man essentially was able to hop over the rougher terrain predating the flatland around the railroad with a flashing flip kick. His feet hitting the floor one after the other, rather than at the same time.
And it wasn't as if Blake was someone less able in comparison. Her natural agility combined with her knack for reading kinetic energy made way for a flamboyant affinity for tricks and flips in her fighting style. From her own crouch, the feline faunus twisted herself a full three-hundred and sixty degrees at a breakneck tempo.
Steel tracks separated the two as the rampaging winds from their descent had disappeared in favour of a gentler breeze that traversed the valley mouth. Landing with a knee, Blake kept low to the ground and continued to hold an apprehensive frown. Jaune, meanwhile, stood upright with his sword arm facing his opponent – intent still as clear as the murderous glower that tarnished his face.
They both seemed to breathe in sync, the colour of their eyes shifting side to side as monstrous hums and snarls began to drag along their eardrums. The creatures of Grimm were afoot, responding to bloodlust and apprehension alike.
Paying slightly more attention than the other, it was Blake who seemed more concerned by the fact that an unwelcome third party had made themselves apparent. Bone-plated beasts blistered down the sides of the valley, drawn to the fighting and mere prospect of bloodshed.
Yet, the cruel blaze that continued to burn in the blue of Jaune's eyes only seemed to be thankful. More fuel to the fire. With her heightened sense, Blake could tell how the blond huntsman-in-training seemed to grip the hilt of his weapon with growing ferment. She had never once seen the shade of his eyes so clear and filled with purpose. He wanted Blake to die.
And that thought made her heart ache. Was there really nothing else going on in his head?
Jaune, is killing me really what you want?
Undoubtedly, such a question was doomed to aimlessly pierce the seemingly infinite space between them. An indisputable fact was that Blake Belladonna could not understand Jaune Arc. They both hid their true natures; one was eternally paranoid by what could come of it, while the other pretended like everything was fine despite it.
Her fingers wrapped themselves further around the two halves of Gambol Shroud. Within her own eyes shined reaffirmation, darting wolfishly across the honey-tinted landscape as dirty splotches of black began to taint her vision.
Ursa and Lancers. Blake stifled a groan; it seems the Rapier Wasps had their older cousins around today.
Heels dug into the ground and boots shifted meticulously. With every passing second, the tension seemed to grow along with the number of Grimm that swarmed around the partners.
I want to understand you, Jaune Arc.
Blake rose from her position, taking a breath as she moved. Metal flowed against metal as she brought her arms together and apart in a with water-like fluctuation, circling her arms entrancingly and with deadly anticipation. Even separated, Gambol Shroud was one, so long as it was in her palms.
And all I ask is that you try to understand me.
Blake was able to feel the ripples of air reverberate across her bare skin as she pounced forward, all the roaring, colossal thumping of paws, repeated beating of insect wings. The hair on her arms seemed to stand at the slightest disruption as her senses locked themselves into biological overdrive.
It was as if the world blurred, sacrificing the acuity of her natural vision in favour of pure animalistic feeling.
A Lancer from beyond her peripheral droned a violent tune as it directed its abdomen towards Blake and shot forth its laced stinger with bullet-like quickness. Puncturing space itself, the boney bolt spiraled stormily and threatened to rip past even the miracle of Aura.
Without even a glance, Blake shifted her stance drastically mere moments before the dart dug into her body. Instead, the projectile went through her hair as she spun – allowing passage at the cost of one or two strands.
She rotated beautifully, night-coloured hair splayed and wrapping around her form as golden eyes pierced the darkness and made their target clear.
Her body had gone from full throttle to complete stillness. The result was an ephemeral floating sensation as she continued to twirl in a manner that inspired awe and grace before her feet once more felt the solid ground beneath them – hastily pushing against it to build even greater velocity.
Jaune was making ground, too. Explosions spawned from the pull of a finger, shards of bone and blackened meat decorating the air as Grimm were torn apart from the brutal force and flame. There was a rhythm to his rampage, cutting down Ursa before they got in his way and causing Lancers to combust in uncontrollable flares of fire.
One Ursa seemed to get past the rest, now acting as a coal-black wall that obscured him from Blake's view. She didn't need a view to know what his expression was however, as he roared, "YOU'RE IN THE WAY!"
Vivid steel sliced through the Ursa in a single stroke, tearing tissue and muscle apart from hip to hip. The Ursa had suffered the full wrath of Jaune, which could have very easily been Blake herself. His fury unrepented, Blake was unable to shake the vision of a mask across her partner's face and his silver blade instead stained scarlet.
But, even so, every single ounce of her energy was poured into moving forward and facing the demon head-on.
Purpose renewed; Gambol Shroud lashed out once – then twice. One stabbed before the other pirouetted into a slash. Black steel blurred as it clashed against its opponent, who managed to meet both strikes.
Jaune chose to whip forward with the butt of his handgun, opting to strike with surprise rather than power. There was a meaty sound, though the weight that he would have felt soon dissipated into shadow. Blake weaved through the very same shadow, dashing through the blond and scoring a cut that sparked the golden swathe of his Aura.
There was no time to celebrate.
Without a second to rest, the faunus had already channeled Aura through herself and redirected her momentum around Jaune as she sprung upward and then back down through her opponent.
Anger was marked across Jaune's face as he had already regained himself, parrying the blow with tremendous strength and shifting his sheathe to fend off a heavy Ursa claw that attempted to carve him in two.
Similarly, Blake already let loose a barrage of bullets that shredded the wings of a couple Lancers that were priming their own shots. They fell to the ground unceremoniously, thrashing in an attempt to simply draw blood before they met their end.
Not only were they fighting each other, but the two huntsmen-in-training were also fighting their environment. While they struck at the other, they also trusted them to make sure that they were the ones solely responsible for their defeat. Blake was surprised that Jaune wasn't taking the opportunity of mutually assured destruction to ensure both their deaths. Self-destructive as he was, it seems deep down he wasn't suicidal.
Blake was able to take some mirth from the fact, all things considered.
What was once a hoard of raving beasts had been mowed down to a sliver of what it once was. During their time at Beacon, Jaune had kept a close eye on Blake. However, Blake had been doing much the same. They had done so out of caution for one another though, quite ironically, the knowledge of each other's movement was currently being used to keep one another safe.
Gambol Shroud stormed in tandem to Blake's twisting as the ballistic chain-whip lacerated the air and cleaved through plated bone and darkened flesh. Her display of dexterity concluded, Blake landed low to the ground and faded through a dust-round fired that would have struck her back as it ignited an Ursa with infernal elements – fating it to cinder, ash, and blood.
Jaune wasn't above the odd cheap shot, she noted.
His attention was scraped back toward another Ursa that was galloping towards him, a bestial cry being blared from its maw. Making the split-second decision, Jaune deployed his shield and bolted towards the monster. Legs collapsing, he slid underneath as an energy seemed to gather on the metal's surface. Pure energy was expelled, forcing it into the air where it was less than helpless.
Helpless – that is – against Blake, who was already suspended freely above her partner due to her own Semblance. Blemishing her blade an even darker shade of black, the girl shot through the Grimm with unprecedented speed, then slammed her shoulder against the floor when she landed.
For only a second, the two locked eyes before brandishing their weapons and launching at each other once again.
I'm in better shape. Blake knew of the vast reserve of Aura Jaune had access to. In spite of it, Jaune had been the one to take the most blows and that massive wall of energy was slowly, but surely, being chipped away at. I can beat him!
And then, there was pain. Piercing, sharp pain.
"Gah!" Her train of thought was cut short as her neck was snapped to the side unwillingly, something sharp having struck against her head and causing her movement to become uncoordinated.
There was no doubt in her mind that Jaune wasn't aware of how her senses were currently tuned. Rather, he had simply employed the perfect counter move on complete accident. The hooded boy hid the disruptions caused by the Lancer's stinger with his own body, due to being closer to her. Timing his evasion, Jaune managed to use something meant to skewer him to hit Blake.
To use a strategy that so perfectly bypassed her heightened senses – all while not knowing he was doing so… Blake wanted nothing more in that instance than to uncharacteristically scream out at how unbelievable that was.
What kind of luck was that?
Like how day followed night, her partner was quick on the uptake. His sword built momentum as he spun to turn his temporary ally into a mess of charred exoskeleton with a dust round.
Sloppy and disorganized, Blake's movement seemed to lag as her arms and legs were scurrying to match the image in her mind. What she could have only assumed was the pommel of Jaune's sword met her cheek, causing a dull ringing sensation that rocked through her bones.
The added sources of disorientation seemed to superpose with one another, amplifying the effects and causing Blake to lose even more sense as the sharped edge of her opponent's blade cut through various sections of her flesh with fiery fluidity. Each point of contact was followed through with ardent viciousness, searing painful sensation into her brain matter.
Phantom pains of her losing various appendages and connections to the rest of her body were soon relieved as Blake activated her Semblance – this time emboldening the darkness with something bright.
Without any warning, Blake had swapped places with her own shadow. However, unlike before, the silhouette held proper form and was the exact image of the conjurer herself. That wasn't the only thing that was new.
The shadow had taken on flame, burning with brilliance, and shuddered with volatile energy.
Jaune might have thought himself good at finding secrets, but this was something that Blake had never showcased before; hell, not even Adam knew she could do this. What better secret was there than a fact you recently discovered by yourself?
This move takes after you.
It wouldn't have been a lie to say Jaune had inspired her when she thought of this tactic.
By the time her partner realised the severity of striking such an apparition, it was too late. A crackle and a boom, and Jaune's uneven expression was consumed in a burst of flame with the rest of his body. Ashy smoke seemed to implode within the golden flames; the two swapped between who was on the surface as the bloom of dust grew.
Cinders flew from the epicenter of the blast, setting chestnut-coloured blades of grass alight as Blake was left to wonder if that was enough to finally break through Jaune's Aura.
She would never get used to the feeling of having your flesh rendered and bones sliced. While the phantom pains Aura swapped fatal damage with was truthfully a blessing, it left Blake wondering how it would truly feel to experience such ruthless injury. Adam's victims surely would know such pain.
And then, there was the feeling of loss.
Blake suddenly felt the urge to gasp as she felt the essence of herself silently shatter. My Aura? Attempting to search for the safety that was once provided to her, the faunus was left with an empty sensation that sent a shiver down her spine. Frozen fingers felt across every nook and cranny as the shiver developed into a foreboding dread that began to infect the void.
But even that was lost, swallowed by the black abyss that so desperately tried to replace what was lost.
Her Aura had all but been used up, protecting her against Jaune's deathly strikes took much more of a toll on it than she would have initially expected. Rigid breaths started their course. Sweat became profuse. Composure was slowly being lost. Fear of death roused cowardly thoughts.
She was going to die, right? It only made sense that she ran away now.
No! Blake shook her head, an action that warded off building sweat and swelling anxiety. There's no running away. Being afraid is one thing but deciding to run away because your scared is something I can't afford to do – not here!
Neck muscles clenched; the girl shot her head up with visibly grit teeth. That's right, this wasn't over. Thumping waves of heat reminded her of the fact. Jaune was still hidden behind the kaleidoscopic cloud of flame, so Blake had yet to bear witness to the fruits of her final play.
Without Aura, there was no more using her own shadow. That meant relying on her natural agility and no more getting out of jail for free. Blake felt her resolve steady once again, shedding her weapons as the smoke and fire cleared.
"You've got to be kidding…" Blake whispered, almost amazed.
No, she was amazed. Because there Jaune stood, amidst the remnants of ash, an arm to his mouth, as his wide-eyed sapphire gaze was unblinking. White and gold flashed – but that was about it. Jaune wiped his face along the back of his forearm, revealing the daggers of a disgusted stare that bore behind it. Quick on his feet, and the constitution of a bullhead. This wasn't fair.
Eyes flashing to his belt for a moment, the young man showed visible annoyance as he noticed that one of his fire-dust magazines had gone missing. Blake had taken one on the incline, when she had pushed Jaune off after he had tried blinding her.
It was pure coincidence that her hand pushed against his belt, and pure coincidence that both their guns used the same caliber rounds. As fortunate as the turn of events was at the time, the end result of such a bounty seemed almost lackluster when put side by side.
Jaune's sword cut through the rest of the smoke. Settling almost maliciously, the boy's eyes seemed to peer over the sharp edge of his weapon as he pointed it towards Blake.
"No more Aura," he said flatly. "Just give up and die."
His words were next to cut. They gouged something deep, scoring a wound beyond what could be seen. Blake bit down on her tongue, regarding her partner with reserved melancholy. Fingers tightened securely around her weapons as the young girl began to contemplate. As to what exactly she was contemplating… well, that was what she was contemplating.
All this time, Jaune had been trying non-stop to end her. Her life was a blight on the world, at least in his eyes, and Blake would have agreed depending on the circumstance. That much, the girl was able to understand.
…Understand?
Once tightly held up to guard her, the weapons in her hands began to tremble. This is a mistake, Blake tensely thought as she brought them down lower. Even lower still. To the point where it was questionable whether or not she was even prepared for the next attack. But in her mind, the decision was still made. Impossible as it, it was still a choice that she had resolved.
Blake Belladonna had to understand Jaune Arc. For better, or for worse.
For a tentative second, the faunus stayed stagnant. With all the Grimm reduced to scattered ash and evaporating blood, the silence created seemed to want to deafen her. Rigidly, the ears atop her clenched – ready to hear the final bell toll as her life was taken.
And yet…
"Jaune…"
The name came out almost hushed, snagging on her throat as they exited. It was incomprehensible. Wrong. Invalid. Everything – absolutely everything – about this didn't seem right. Muscles spasmed, rejecting the idea like a virus. Even her head began to pound intensely, threatening to burst at the temple if she didn't deny the very thought.
And yet:
I'm going to understand you, Jaune Arc. For my sake, and for yours.
Resolutely, Blake stood – eyeing down her partner with building steadiness, "You don't really want to kill me, do you?"
What she said sounded like nonsense, she knew. However, her visual acuity had been restored some time ago. With it, the girl was able to see through her golden glass what could have never been seen with the naked eye. She could perceive the minute and appreciate the most modest detail. They were tools that let her peer into the most inconspicuous and draw out something tangible.
Blake felt the air around her still, the mild temperate of Forever Fall clasp at her shoulders and hold onto her arms.
Because she saw Jaune Arc hesitate.
So imperceptible that it was better off not existing. So infinitesimal that it should have drifted away as soon as it escaped. If she had mentioned it in any other situation, Jaune would have laughed it off and called her crazy – saying that she was just being 'Blake-y', as usual. But Blake was sure.
As sure as night followed day.
Blake saw the boy's chest hitch, as if something had sunk its teeth within and tore something precious out.
"What?"
After noticing how his hand on his weapon loosened a fraction, the fabric of his gloves seemed to crease three-fold as he clenched in a manner that seemed painful.
Ignoring the barely concealed rage that betrayed his quote tone, Blake pushed forward, "You told me to 'give up and die', didn't you? If you said that at the very start, Jaune, I might have listened to you. So aggressive, and so angry… the look on your face said you didn't want anything else." From this distance, she could see how his shoulders began to rise and fall with growing periodicity – like he was afraid of something. "But now my Aura has shattered, and my guard is lowered. So-"
"SHUT UP!"
"-where is the colour in your eyes?!"
Jaune lurched forward, a step that was far too wide and far too telegraphed. With a step of her own, Blake managed to shed the strike with one sword before rocketing her opposite elbow into the boy's chin. It earned a flash of Aura as Jaune's head was forced upward. She could shade of his eyes even clearer from under that hood of his as it did.
As she suspected, they had begun to tremble. Lustre had been replaced by uncertainty.
Her body swirled in the same direction that she had parried her partner's blow, building momentum as she struck out once more with her off-hand. Barely managing to fade out of the way in a backstep, Jaune was forced to fan out his shield and repel a flicker of dark steel that didn't seem to want to leave him time to breathe.
Blake breathed instead; air exiting her mouth harshly as she felt the heat of the sparks kindle her skin, no Aura to get in the way. The feeling would only grow more rampant and intense as she continued to exchange equally with Jaune. Face twisting more desperately, Jaune himself began to visibly shrink as he was losing ground.
Jaune was losing ground.
Pyrrha had mentioned something about him before, she remembered. While he carried an air of confidence in his own ability, Jaune was truthfully lacking in proper skill. When exactly Pyrrha had said this eluded the faunus, but the words were as clear as day:
"Jaune's biggest strength is his competence," she had said at the time, thoughtfulness detailing her eyes. "He plans and he executes with roguish perfection, but in terms of pure swordplay and dueling – he pales in comparison to over half the year."
It was true with Cardin, and it was true now. The two were currently flat at the bottom of a valley, the environment as barren as it was beautiful. Grimm that once threatened to tear their insides out had all but been eviscerated. All that was left was Blake, a girl without her Aura, and Jaune, whose nerves had been struck, unable to concoct a plan neither coherent nor convoluted.
Ears atop her head twitched as they sensed uneven and forced exhalation. Gambol Shroud's shifting half had been morphed into its chain-whip, the blade extended and looped so that the ribbon formed a tangible hole that she could fit a fist into.
Leaving an opening near her left abdomen, Jaune ripped forward with one-handed lunge. Emotions on his sleeve, the shock washed over his features as it was caught in Blake's fabric loop.
Another graceful pivot on her sole, Blake twisted so that her back was pressed against Jaune's stomach and chest, a position that made it impossible for him to properly attack her, and then leveraged herself fully. Jaune was naturally stronger than her, that was unavoidable.
But if it was her entire body pushing against his wrist, or arm?
The answer to such a query was displayed as the silver of Jaune's blade glinted, torn away from his leather grip.
However, that wouldn't stop Jaune from attempting to retrieve it – Blake knew. And because she knew, the girl acknowledged that forsaking her own main weapon to get rid of her opponents was the only way to give her further her advantage. Without a second thought, she tossed one half of Gambol Shroud far behind her and let it drag its metal prey along with it.
Forced to take what was essentially a shoulder bash, Jaune stumbled backward with a lopsided grimace before attempting to fire point-blank at Blake.
She felt fear clog up her throat as she watched Jaune fidget with the trigger. Had she miscalculated? If memory recalled, he still had the explosive dust ammo loaded into his handgun. The frame of time it took for her to recognise such a fact was minuscule, yet it did naught to quell the roiling in her stomach as she watched Jaune shut his eyes and squeeze.
Click.
It was like the world had suddenly begun to move again, every essence of life and sense restored and amplified to one hundred within Blake.
Jammed? Or is he out? Unfortunately for Blake, her body's adrenaline had acted independent of any answers to such questions. She had no Aura to propel herself, but she didn't need that. Relying on the pure cry of muscle fiber and tissue, Blake shot herself forward at speeds that rivaled an animal that truly had nothing left to lose.
Her arm reached out forward, ready to wrap around Jaune's throat and force him to submit as he flashed a look to his gun.
If she could only do that, then-
A brilliant flash of light burnt her retina, the intensity tearing through her optic nerves and leaving Blake with a jumbled sense of self. Her ears told her to duck, though the hairs on her skin said to press onward – all while the whites of her eyes began to boil and melt under the sudden blistering blaze.
Shit! I- I can't see!
Was it his Semblance? Again? With the components of her awareness blending, so too did her memory. Blake was unable to recall the time when he did this, but the underlying truth was that Jaune had done this before.
Staggering, Blake suddenly felt her heel press against something that failed to move backward – fulcruming her entire body down as she felt the pricks of nail and splinters press into her back. She could only barely realise that she fell into the railroad in the middle of the valley. The next thing Blake was able to properly comprehend was something warm, large, and frayed pushing against her throat and crushing her windpipe.
"Ack!" The girl gasped, the spots of light decaying from her vision as drool began to fall out the side of her mouth.
Her arms flailed forward, grasping Jaune by the leather of his breastplate before trailing back down to his wrists in an attempt to remove them from her neck. When she tried to push up, she felt Jaune's weight bolster and force the motion to die out. As she tried to speak, it only served to destroy what little oxygen she had left in her lungs and stab through her diaphragm.
Hands spasmed, the veins and bones popping out from under the skin as they continued to strain against what was strangling her - who was strangling her.
Her father, Ghira. Her mother, Kali. Ilia. Adam. Yang. Pyrrha. Nora. Ren. Ruby. Weiss.
Jaune…
Slowly, her energy began to wane. Thrashings that were once filled with desperate motivation mellowed into a tight grip – as if trying to hold onto something tangible and real. Light behind her eyes began to dim, the gold melting into sombre amber as she stared into the face of her killer.
Ah. I'm dying.
It was a sentiment that was expressed apathetically, at best. For some reason, Blake wasn't too bothered by the fact. Deep-seated hatred of herself, the blissful release to come, erasing the anxiety of something catching up to her; truthfully, the actual reasons were just as good as each other. She had fought knowing that she could die, and now she was dying.
Doing things different, going back, changing things… it all seemed to be a moot point when at Death's door. Regret almost seemed like a funny thought, really. Even if there wasn't really time to think here. Here? Where was she right now? Where had everyone gone?
Coherence was being lost. Colours rushed across the canvas, until the canvas had been torn away in place of a veil. A smooth, long, midnight veil of the most comforting shade – soft like velvet and easy like night. It was still. And safe. Cold, only so much so that it would show her how warm it could be when it was all over.
Though, through the euphoria of deprivation, she felt a knock that rippled through the silence. It tapped at her back, and rapidly began cause waves in the once still lake of her choosing. Urging. Pushing. Warning.
She had long since run out of oxygen, but her fingers unfurled from their tightly wound fists and laid themselves around leather plating. Whether it was natural weight, or unfound strength – Blake pulled Jaune flush against her body, her last conscious thought being the wetness of her shoulder as something rushed above.
/-/
Everything in his body shut down. There wasn't much it could do anymore. Chest against chest, his rapidly beating heart had no company in its misery. Face against shoulder, Jaune felt an overwhelming urge push through his body and into his eyes. Every muscle had lost its will. He could count the seconds as they went by. The object of his ire had pulled him close, and there was nothing he could have done about it.
Wind whipped along his back, lashing through his clothes and Aura alike, as something deadly ran barely an inch above him. He didn't dare look back. He didn't need to. He knew what would have become of him if he wasn't saved.
The tracks rattled dangerously, supporting thousands of tons of metal tearing through the space overhead. Jaune had no option but to stay close to her. Deafened by the sound of mass, he could neither hear nor feel her breath. His own hitched along the top of his throat.
This is what you wanted.
Is it?
You can't regret this.
Couldn't he?
His arm reached out into the void, attempting to get answers out of the Aura that he had grown so accustomed to over the weeks. Soul searched for soul, and there was nothing but emptiness. Of course! Haha! He had been the one to shatter it. He shattered Blake's soul. It was him. This was his fault. But that was the plan! This was what he wanted!
Jaune wasn't able to hear his own sob.
Why did you save me? Why didn't I move out of the way? Vul had told him that living was a necessity, no? It had practically been engraved into him. That was truth. That was fact.
If he didn't know any better, it was almost like he wanted to die. Like he wanted any excuse not to go through with this.
Why was he doing this?
What was he doing?
Help me.
Jaune nestled himself closer to the girl that had saved his life. Rushing torrents of wind threatened to rip apart whatever Aura he had left, but he wouldn't let them touch her. Even after she had received the very worst parts of him, her instinct had been to preserve the life he sought to get rid of, at the cost of her own. What the hell was up with that?!
Fate must have favoured irony, for she loved to remind him of his inadequacy.
Worthless scum could have cost another life. Half-assed effort almost let another soul go. Could he not do anything right?
"I don't understand…" he cried, burying his face deeper into Blake's shoulder. "Why did you have to understand…?" Jaune Arc continued to weep, letting the sound that once drowned out his rampage encompass his suffering.
There were no heroes. Jaune knew this.
But he sometimes forgot that people got much too close.
I had intended to write more, but after I wrote this, I felt like this was perhaps more appropriate. If you can't tell, I come from a combat RP background. Writing emotional scenes was never my forte, but I did love reading them. Replicating how I felt during those moments is what I want to convey.
Wonder if that comes through.