Chapter 13: Too Far Already
"Hatred is nothing but the place where men who can't deal with sadness go." - Godo
NinjaFang1331: Thank you once again!
Robbeeyy: Wise words, but it won't be that simple.
Guest (1/2): I don't think it's dumb, in reality, a single Huntsmen or two can't take on an entire organized gang, not to mention that Jaune and Vernal aren't the best of the best, sure they can take on 15 of Spiders members, but fighting the entire organization is a different story, now that they're also in their home turf. Also, I doubt that there's a type of Witness protection program in Remnant.
Guest (2/2): Completely understand where your coming from, but again, sure Huntsmen are more skilled and more powerful than the average civilian or gangster, but numbers do matter, after all, I doubt RWBY would be able to take on 100 WF grunts all shooting and hitting them, Aura can only do so much and last for so long. Sure RWBY and most huntsmen teams of 4 people are trained to fight large groups due to Grimm hunting in packs, but I think a single Huntsmen and ones in training can take on 8-10 gangsters, and a whole team of 4 can take on 20-30 grunts, but 4 or 8 fighting 50 or 100 grunts at once isn't odds most people would take, even Huntsmen. You don't have to agree, I'm sure we had different opinions on the subject, so let's just agree to disagree. (Actually, if RWBY planned it out well, then yeah, they could take on 100 grunts/gangsters).
TheSlySage: completely true, and Yeah, I could've done that part a lot better~
MollyMcDip: Thank you and I hope you stick around for the future of the story because it's going to keep getting good as it goes on!
blaiseingfire: Indeed, and Maria will be the adult that the group needs
Update 10:
SPOILERS! Nah... with the shit that happened in C6 of Volume 9, I'm extremely freaking worried for Jaune. Not only that but I have a few theories about what happened with Lewis.
The cat said that Alyx made it out, but there are also a lot of theories that it's Lewis as Alyx and Alyx is the Jabberwalker, which makes a bit of sense since we hear Jaune say that Alyx didn't think the rules of the world applied to her and did what she wanted, and the Jabberwalker seems to... Glitch? (I don't think that's the right word), and can seemingly kill something for good and stop the "Ascension".
Turns out the lovely fairy tale wasn't so light and lovely, what a surprise...
Also, If I may share one worry of mine about this story, is that this story is pretty long, and I mean Long. I've planned out 56 chapters and I'm not even close to being done, and that worries me because I feel as if no one will stick around for a story that long.
This makes me wonder if I should cut a few acts out of the story altogether, which will suck because that means cutting a few characters' arcs short.
The only longest RWBY story I can think of is King-Mac-11's "Arcs of the Multiverse" which has 173 chapters and "The Games We Play" By Ryuugi which has 240 chapters.
These stories give me hope but I still worry. I just wanted to share that and let me know what you guys think.
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Vernal's eyes opened slowly, her vision still blurry, and she rubbed her eyes and her vision slowly began to clear, as it did, she looked around the room only to see that Jaune was nowhere to be found, she quickly got up and looked around the room for the blonde only to find a note on her nightstand. She grabbed it and it told her that he had left early to walk the streets just so he could stay clear from the and also to stick to the plan they had come up with the night before.
She kept looking at the note and sighed heavily before she set the note back down on the nightstand and walked over to Oscar to wake him, and once she did, she told him to get ready while he went over to Maria's room, which was just a few doors down the hall. Once she arrived at Maria's room, the older woman was already awake and eating, Vernal told her to get ready because they would be leaving soon.
After waking the old lady, the three prepared themselves for the day. Once finished, the three left the motel and made their way to their destination.
Now, Vernal, Oscar, and Maria stood in front of Widows Tuffet, the Spider's HQ bar. Vernal and Maria were the only two armed, Vernal had her daggers sheathed behind her and it turned out Maria's cane was a small scythe, and Oscar was told to leave his sword in the room where they were staying.
Vernal looked at Oscar, her brow raised, "Can you control yourself?" She asked, more concerned than strict.
Oscar turned to her and Vernal nodded. "Yeah... yeah I can," he replied.
Vernal looked at him, very hesitant to let him come with but he was already here and this was Jaune's plan, and they had to trust him. So she nodded back at him and the three entered the bar, and once they did, they heard every conversation be held quickly shut down and all eyes shot toward them, and all of them felt a little uneasy at first, but they walked into the bar, the door closing behind them and they walked forward before being stopped by one of the gang members.
"Can I help you?" they asked.
Vernal looked at them, "I'm here to see Malachite," Vernal said, "I hear she can perform certain services," She told them.
The gang member examined them and then looked at another member behind them and nodded, and they nodded back and told everyone to go back to what they were doing, and the one in front of them turned back to Vernal.
"Do you have any payment?" they asked.
Vernal nodded, "Yes," she replied, "My grandmother has it,"
The gangster looked away from her and to Maria who just looked at them with a soft smile and looked a little confused but they looked away from her and turned to Oscar, who quickly looked down, and they assumed that the young farmboy was most likely scared.
"Alright, come with me," They said and he turned around and walked, with the three following behind him.
After walking to the other side of the bar, they stopped at a table where Lil Miss, looking over what appeared to be a book and then noticing them approaching, the gang leader looked up from the table and looked at the three, and then to her subordinate, with a blank expression. "Who are they?" she asked.
"People who are looking for your help, Ma'am," They replied.
Lil Miss looked away from him and to Vernal, "Who are you, little lady?" Lil Miss asked her.
Vernal looked at her, "My name is Vernal Calavera, this is my grandmother Maria and my little brother Oscar," Vernal told her.
"Nice to meet you," Lil Miss replied, still looking unfazed, "Now, what can I do for you?" she asked.
"We... we want you to kill someone for us," Vernal said.
Lil Miss's brow rose and a small smile graced her face, "Oh?" She began "What for?" she asked.
Vernal put on her best angry face as she looked at Malachite, which wasn't hard to do, with the woman who had ordered Melissa's death before her. "He stole from us, he nearly ran us out of Money!" Vernal cried. "When we found out he had already skipped town, we managed to track him down here and we want him dead," Vernal said, seething with anger.
Lil Miss's smile grew, "Well then, what is his name?" Lil Miss asked.
"Jaune Arc," Vernal seethed, "He's apparently some Huntsman if you can even call him that..." Vernal said.
Lil Miss nodded, "So, he stole your money and you want him dead? And he's supposedly a huntsman?" She asked.
Vernal nodded, "Yes," She replied, "And I don't think he's actually one, all he had was a sword and a shield and he looked like he barely knew how to use it," She told Malachite.
Lil Miss nodded again and her smile grew, "So if he stole almost all of your money, how much are you thinking of paying me to carry out this little deed?" She asked Vernal.
Vernal looked at Maria and the older woman looked at Vernal and put a hand in her cloak and pulled out a rather large stack of cash, and handed it to Vernal, and she then set in on the table, and looked at Lil Miss. "This is 5,000 lien," Vernal told her, "This was what we were able to gather up to pay you, we'll gather more if you need it, but this is what we can do for now," Vernal lied, but kept the act up.
Lil Miss looked at the money, still smiling before looking at Vernal, "Consider it done," She told Vernal, "I'll gather what I can on him and have my men look around for him in the city, however, I'll need to know where you're staying in order to find you once the job is finished, you know, just in case something comes up," Lil Miss finished with a smile.
Vernal composed herself, and nodded, "We're staying at the Motel called the Black Pearl," Vernal told her, "That's where you can find us," She told Lil Miss.
Lil Miss nodded, "Good, now, I'll look into this, Jaune Arc, and hunt him down, and if you'd like... I'll keep him alive just for you,"
Vernal looked at Lil Miss and appeared to be in deep thought, but on the inside, she couldn't help but think this was a huge bonus to something they didn't plan. She kept her face hardened and nodded, "That sounds... great to me," She seethed.
Lil Miss nodded, "Good," she said, "now then, why don't you run along while I take care of business? I'll be calling you real soon, darlin'," Lil Miss told her.
Vernal nodded and she as well as Maria and Oscar turned around and left. As they left, Oscar couldn't help but feel angry, angry that they didn't kill his aunt's murderer right then and there, it took every ounce of his being not to jump and strangle her or grab Vernal's dagger and plunge it into her neck.
But... he... he trusted Jaune's plan, he trusted Vernal as well. He knew they were just as angry as him, he was sure Vernal felt the same when she was talking to Lil Miss.
He knew that this plan would work, he knew, and he was going to wait, because if anyone was going to kill Lil Miss... it was going to be him.
And when she was dead, everything was going to go back to normal.
Right?
Once they were out of the bar, Vernal looked over at Oscar and could see the confused look on his face and knew it was just his own inner turmoil, and she could help but feel angry at herself, she wanted nothing more than to wipe that smile off of Lil Miss face, she wanted to shoot the old bitch in the face, but that wasn't part of the plan. She hated all of this, but she mostly hated how terribly she spoke lies about Jaune, it hurt to say those things because it reminded her of when she hid behind a false bravado, how cruel she was to him...
She hated this.. she hated everything that had happened because it wasn't fair.
It wasn't fair that Melissa died. It wasn't fair that Oscar lost his last living relative. It wasn't fair that someone like Lil Miss kept living.
But she already knew that fair didn't exist in the world.
Nothing was fair.
The only thing one could do in an unfair world was to keep struggling and surviving.
But even so... she was not going to let that unfairness continue.
Which was why she was going to kill Lil Miss, she would be the one to put a bullet into the woman's head or a dagger to her heart. Vernal wasn't going to let anyone else blacken their soul, not Oscar, not Maria... Not Jaune.
Only she would go deeper into the abyss. Only she would be the one to carry the burden.
That was a promise.
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"There he is! Get him!"
Hearing this, Jaune turned around and saw 5 members of Spider running at him, and the blonde knight quickly turned around and ran through the streets of Mistral, but not too fast.
'Spider work's fast,' Jaune thought as he ran down the street. 'Vernal told me they went this morning and it's only been 2 hours since then,'
Jaune was waiting to be spotted, that was the plan. Have Lil Miss Malachite send her grunts to look for him and any that he encountered he would kill after leading them into secluded areas where he could fight. He had let the hood of his cloak down so that they could spot him as he was sure they would've found a picture of him and shared it with the rest of the gang.
As he ran, Jaune looked for any empty alley he could or an empty building, so that he could do his part of the plan, however, the streets were completely crowded, he cursed to himself before he decided to run through one alleyway but stopped, unsheathed Crocea Mors and waited for one of the gangsters, and one caught up with him and Jaune quickly slashing him across the chest, killing him.
The two were in shock but quickly pulled out their guns, Jaune quickly boosted his aura and ran toward the two who fired at him, but due to his boosted Aura, the barrage of bullets didn't faze him. As he reached the two, Jaune turned to the one on his left and slashed him across the face, before turning around and stabbing the other one in the gut.
"Holy shit!"
Jaune turned to look down the street to see the last two spider members looking at him in shock, Jaune quickly turned and ran back down the alley.
One of the members looked to the other, "Call for some fucking backup! Now!" they cried as they chased after Jaune.
Jaune continued running, exiting the alley, he turned right and ran down the street, and he looked back and saw one of the remaining gangsters from the previous group still following him, he turned back around only to see another group of Spider gangsters ahead of him, this time there was about 10 of them. Jaune glared at them, and when they saw him, they charged at him, Jaune glared and quickly crossed the street, and ran down another alley.
Jaune heard shouting behind him and glanced back to see 11 of them chasing him. He continued to run down the alleyway only for him to nearly get hit by a car, but it passed and he continued running across the street, still being chased by Spider.
Jaune turned left and rand down a street, still glancing back to see how many they were now following, but it was still 11, Jaune then faced forward, only to hear two motorcycles speeding toward him, he saw people jump out of the way and scream until the two cycles were in his line of vision.
'What the hell!? This is what Spider's capable of!?' Jaune thought 'Guess that's what they mean by organized crime...'
they were coming toward him fast and both of the riders had machetes at the ready, he glared and continued to run at them, and he quickly activated his shield.
'Get in between them, block one's attack, and kill the other,' Jaune thought to himself.
He ran into the middle of the road and was in the middle of the two incoming bikers, and he boosted his aura again, in case he didn't hit one of them, however, as he and they were closing in on each other, Jaune saw the biker on his left switch sword hands, and so he quickly raised his shield and pulled his sword back, ready to strike down the biker on his right. The biker on his left swung at him, but it was blocked by his shield, and at the same time, Jaune swung at the biker on his right, who swing at him as well, Jaune was able to cut him, and the biker yelled in pain as they spun out of control and crashed into a nearby booth.
Jaune continued to run down the street, being chased by the 11 members and the Motorcyclist. Jaune quickly ducked into another alley but only found himself in front of an empty building, Jaune stopped in front of it and smiled a bit and then he heard the stampede of steps and turned back to see the Gang members right behind him, Jaune quickly ran in closed the doors behind him. Once inside, he looked for something to keep the doors closed and found a metal bar, he quickly put in between the two door handles, stopping anyone from coming in, and he quickly looked around only to see that there was no window's on the ground, only one high up on the walls.
Jaune turned around and looked at the closed door, he smiled, knowing this was the best chance at killing as many of Spider's members as possible, gather enough here and kill them all.
"He's in here!" came a voice from outside.
The door of the empty building opened abruptly but only opened slightly, a sliver of outside light showed through.
"He barred the doors!"
"Well find another way in!"
Hearing that, Jaune looked around once more for another entrance, and he found one on the other end of the building, and he quickly raced over to it, and looked around for something else to close it with but saw that a few planks of wood and other metal bars were out of the way on his way to the door. He growled and quickly shifted his shield back to its sheath form and placed it between the handles of the door, just as a Spider gangster kicked them open, they only budged a little to the point that fingers could fit through.
"Son of bitch blocked this one off too!"
"Motherfucker!"
Jaune smiled when he heard their anger and smiled, as he hoped they'd bring more of their gang to this empty building so that he could as many as he could.
"Hey, asshole! You must be dumb as rocks!" One of them cried, "You ain't got nowhere to go! Come on out and make this easy!"
Jaune stayed silent and waited to hear what they were saying outside, it was silent out there for a while but Jaune heard muttering, unable to make out what they were saying, and then it stopped.
"Alright asshole, stay in there because soon... we're coming in there and we're filling you with so many bullets you'll be pissing lead!" They told Jaune.
Jaune caught on to the way the gangster outside worded it and knew they were calling for some help, maybe even bringing bigger guns, or drive a car right into the building, or setting it on fire. He didn't care what they did, because he was going to kill them all, no matter what.
'Hehehe! You've become a real killer now~!'
The Beowulf set its paws on Jaune's shoulders and Jaune could feel its weight and turned to the beast inside his head.
Jaune's eyes turned to the Grimm, "Isn't that what you always wanted?" Jaune asked, his tone laced with annoyance
'It is! It is!' The Beowulf cackled, 'Doesn't it feel good? Letting out all that hate? That anger? Doesn't it feel great to hurt and kill all those who've hurt you!? Admit it! it is!'
Jaune would admit that it felt... good to take out his anger and hatred on something. It felt good to get revenge on Spider. And when he killed those gang members out on the street, he felt nothing, he didn't feel an ounce of remorse when he killed them. Was it because he was angry? Because he was hateful? Or was it because he didn't care? That scared him, was killing becoming easy for him? Did killing people become a simple act like squashing a bug?
Jaune was taken out of his thoughts when he heard a bang on the front doors of the empty building and looked forward.
"I hope you're ready punk! We got more of us out here! You're screwed! Come one and make this easy and we won't rough you up too bad!" Came one of the Gangsters.
Jaune got up and walked over to the front door and removed the bar, and then backed away. "If you want to kill me, come inside!" Jaune shouted. He then turned around and grabbed his sheath from the other door and turned it back into a shield. "Come and get me... I'll kill you all before nightfall," he said seriously.
Jaune waited for them to enter and he knew they were hesitant to enter, possibly assuming this was a trap of some sort, but after a minute or so, he heard the back door open and then he saw the front door open and they all walked in. Some had automatic guns, some still had pistols, and some had machetes.
Jaune took a fighting stance and began boosting his Aura for the 3rd time that day, keeping it up for what he knew was going to be a long fight.
"It's all over for ya kiddo," Said one of the thugs.
Jaune shook his head, "No... it's only over for you, all of you," Jaune told them.
All the gangsters with guns aimed at Jaune, and began to fire, but with the boosted Aura, Jaune wasn't completely affected by the bullets. He raised his shield and charged forward, shocking a few of the shooters, and causing them to stop shooting, and Jaune quickly slashed one of them across the face, he then turned around and slashed another across the chest, when the gangster fell, behind him were two other gangsters. Jaune thrust his sword forward and stabbed one in the face, the one next to him tried to hit him with the butt of his gun, but Jaune blocked it with his shield and then Jaune stabbed them in the leg and when he fell to his knees Jaune cut his head off.
One of the gangsters had a shotgun and aimed it at Jaune and quickly pulled the trigger. The blast of the gun managed to send Jaune flying, and the young knight flew across the room and to the ground.
Jaune felt pain, but his Aura didn't break, so he quickly got back to his feet and raised his shield up as more bullets flew at him. Jaune ran up to a few more and quickly slashed at two of them, cutting one across the arm and cutting one across the ribs, Jaune turned around and struck another in the face with the edge of his shield, and then stabbed another in the side.
The gangster with the shotgun aimed at Jaune again but Jaune saw him and raised his shield up, and the blast of the gun struck Jaune's shield, he felt his arm rattle a bit but quickly lowered it and ran at the gunmen with his shield raised.
The gunmen pumped the shotgun again and aimed it at Jaune and shot at him again, but it still struck the shield as the blonde huntsman closed in quicker. Once Jaune was close, Jaune used his shield to strike the shotgun out of the gangster's hand before stabbing him through the stomach and out the back.
Jaune looked to his right to see one of the gangsters with the machetes run at him, Jaune quickly pulled his sword out and blocked the attack with it, and then kicked him away, another ran at him But Jaune used his shield to block the slash and then Jaune slashed back, cutting him downward horizontally, once he fell, Jaune turned back to the first and dodged another attack before stabbing through his left side, underneath his arm.
Jaune was shot in the back, but his Aura protected him and he turned around and saw the gangsters shoot at him again, Jaune raised his shield and charged at them.
'Focus...focus... focus... focus on keeping your aura boosted after every strike and shot and focus on killing them,' Jaune told himself. 'Focus on killing them all!'
From the beams above, the Beowulf watched and wagged its tail. 'Who cares about boosting that Aura of yours! Just kill them all! Slash and cut! Make them bleed! Make them pay! DON'T FORGET WHAT THEY DID TO MELISSA! DON'T FORGET THAT ANGER! THAT HATRED!' The Beowulf cried with a gleeful tone.
Jaune was annoyed by the beast's presence, but anger began to str inside of him, and with each shot he felt, his anger grew.
'They took Melissa way from Oscar! They orphaned him! took everything away from him!' The Beowulf cried. 'ARE YOU GONNA LET THEM GET AWAY WITH EVERYTHING!?'
Jaune's rage increased and newfound strength within him took from, and the young knight charged with a yell and continued to fight the gangsters. From the outside, all that anyone heard were gunshots...
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It was 12:49, nearly 1:00, and Vernal stayed up while Oscar stayed with Maria in her room, waiting for Jaune to return, because he was supposed to call in case something came up, and yet, nothing. No call or even text, nothing came from him, and that worried her.
Vernal then groaned and closed her eyes, 'Ugh! I should be worried about him! He can't take care of himself! You know this!' Vernal told herself. 'Still... he... he hasn't taken this situation well, none of us have,' Vernal thought.
She then thought back to what he had told her back at the tribe, the day after she was shot by Shay and the day he challenged Raven for their freedom...
Vernal was slowly waking up, she felt a little better after she blacked out yesterday, but she didn't know why, but then she heard her tent flap open and she kept her eyes closed, wondering who it was. She waited for a bit but just hear the shuffling of their feet, however, Vernal then heard them sit next to her.
"Vernal I... I'm so s-sorry,"
Hearing that voice, she knew who it was. 'Jaune? Why is he apologizing?' She asked herself. 'Was it because of yesterday? Does he feel like he didn't protect me?' She asked herself once more.
"I... I'm the biggest idiot to ever live!" he cried.
Listening to him calling himself that, Vernal was confused at why he called said such a thing, he saved her yesterday, he was no idiot, but her eyes remained closed.
"You know... I started to hate myself when I was 10," Jaune told her "When I was 10, I ran into the woods to prove to my dad I could be a huntsman, my older sister Saphron chased after me, and we encountered a Beowulf and she got hurt, her upper back is scared because of me, and since then I... I hated myself, I doubted that I could do anything right, I doubted I could get into Beacon the right way, doubted I could live there with my lackluster skill, I even doubted that I could survive this... but I was happy,"
She didn't respond, only continued to listen to him.
"I made friends, I trained hard, I grew, I was happy because I had friends," Jaune said, "I had Ruby, Pyrrha, Ren, Nora... I had you,"
Vernal's breathing remained the same, but when she heard him call her his friend, it made her feel good. It made her feel better about herself.
"But I let them down, and look what being my friend got you, I'm nothing but an idiot who seems to disappoint everyone and if I don't do that, I get them hurt..." Jaune said
Vernal continued to listen to him, but hearing him talk down about himself, irritated her. He's the one who's been talking to her about her past, the only person she really trusted within the tribe, and he wasn't even a member.
She heard him chuckle, but it sounded sad. "Why am I even telling you this? Maybe... Maybe because this might be the last time I see you and talk to you?" He asked.
She didn't respond.
"I'm going to fight Raven so that you and I can leave this place because I don't want you here where Raven might use you again and end up getting you killed for good... If I lose, I leave but without you and that's worse than anything because it means I'm still weak, it means that I'm..." Jaune began, "I'm nothing, and knowing that is the scariest thing," Jaune finished.
She remained silent, wondering what to even say to him.
"I better get changed... Don't wanna keep her waiting," he told her.
She heard him move away and she heard him getting ready and putting on his armor.
"You're not nothing,"
Realizing what she had said, she closed her mouth and remained still. 'Why did I blurt that out!?' She asked herself.
"I-I thought I heard you say something Vernal... But maybe I've just gone crazy," he said as he chuckled sadly "But even so... Thank you," he said.
Vernal then heard him leave and after a few seconds of him being gone, Vernal's eyes slowly opened, and she looked toward the entrance of the tent, before sitting up and bringing her legs close to her chest, feeling all sorts of emotions swirl like a tornado inside of her.
"Don't thank me for just telling the truth Arc..." Vernal said.
She remembered just how much he shared with her, how much he hated himself, how much he put himself down, and she hated it. Worse, she saw how he changed after that, how down he seemed to be, how closed off he kind of was to her, sure he opened up about his nightmares, and revealed how much he had been holding in, and after that, she thought things were going to get better, but then Melissa died and he... he suggested getting revenge.
She wasn't blaming solely him, she agreed with it, and she wanted it as well, but she knew, and she was sure Jaune knew as well, that what they were doing, wasn't good, it wasn't healthy, it wasn't good for their souls.
"Why are you still up?"
Vernal heard the voice from the window and was brought out of her thoughts, she grabbed her dagger and looked at who it was, and when she did, her eyes widened. He was sitting outside, out on the fire escape, and he was not in the best condition. He had bruises and cuts in certain places, his cloak was blood stained as was his shield, and her worry grew.
"What the hell happened to you!?" She cried.
Jaune put his finger to his lips, he then slipped into the room and groaned in pain before standing up straight and looking back at her
"What happened to you?" Vernal asked, her tone much quieter.
Jaune looked at her and smirked, "I-I'm fine... Ver-"
"You're covered in blood!" She seethed, "You are not fine, you're covered in blood for Oum sake!"
Jaune chuckled, "Would... would it make you feel better to know that most of this isn't mine?" he asked.
Vernal glared at him, "Get your ass in the shower, put these clothes in the basket, and put on a new pair, I'll wash them later," She told them, "Ass in the shower, now!" She ordered.
Jaune did as he was told and sets Crocea Mors on the little table, he then walked over to his bag and picked grabbed a fresh pair of clothes, and before he entered, Vernal threw him a towel, and he caught it and went inside the bathroom and took a shower. Once she heard the shower turn on and knew that Jaune was inside, she opened the door and grabbed his clothes, threw them in the laundry, and waited outside.
Her attention turned to his weapon, which lay on the table and she walked over to it and looked it over. She looked over the shield and saw the blood that was on the edges and on the face of it, she then unsheathed the sword from the shield and looked it over and saw the blade and it saw blood, or what remained of it as it appeared to be wiped away but there was still red on the blade, he would have to clean that himself. She sheathed the blade and deactivated the shield, morphing it back into a simple sheath.
She went to her back and pulled out a few things she needed after Jaune finished showering and set them on her bed, once she had everything, she zipped her bag up and set it on the ground.
Eventually, she heard the shower turn off and waited for Jaune to dry off and get dressed. After a minute or so, Jaune came out of the shower, his hair was damp and he wore a dark brown shirt and a pair of light blue jeans.
He then turned to Vernal, "Better?" he asked.
Vernal looked at him, "Almost," She said. "Take off your shirt," she told him.
Jaune looked at her confused, "Why?" He asked, "I just put this on," he told her.
"Yeah, my mistake," She said, "I gotta clean and bandage up those wounds of yours because if you had any Aura, those wounds would've healed themselves already," she said, glaring a bit.
"Right..." he said with a nod. Jaune was looking down like a child caught doing something.
Jaune did as he was told and took off his shirt and Vernal saw the number of cuts and bruises he had all over his upper body and torso. Vernal then pointed him to sit on her bed and he did so as he sat on the edge of the bed, Vernal got onto the bed and sat right behind him, her legs crossed and she grabbed a cloth and dabbed it in disinfectant, and began dabbing the cloth his wounds.
Jaune winced in pain as he felt the slight sting of the disinfectant.
earing him wince, Vernal looked at the back of Jaune's head, "How did this even happen?" She asked him. "Your semblance allows you to boost your aura, how did you get cut?" She asked him
"I... I kinda didn't focus on amping my Aura," He told her, "During the fight, I didn't focus on boosting my aura, I just... I focused on killing them, and so I... I forgot to boost my aura, some of the impacts of the bullets really affected me, that's why I got a few bruises, but I killed the ones with guns before my aura broke, but I kept fighting, and then I kept on fighting, some of them cut me with their Machete's and some picked up a few iron bars and struck me with them," he told her.
Vernal glares hardened and if she had laser vision, she'd burn a hole through the back of his head, "You let your anger get the better of you, didn't you?" She asked, her glare hardening.
Jaune didn't answer right away but then gave her a quick nod. "...Yeah," He told her.
Vernal growled and stopped cleaning his wounds. "How could you be so stupid!?" She asked, "What if they killed you!?" She asked.
Jaune shook his head, "They weren't going to," He told her.
"You don't know that!" She told him, "You aren't invincible Jaune! Just because you're a huntsman doesn't mean you're immortal! For Oum's sake Jaune, look how cutup you are! All because you were more focused on killing them than staying alive!"
"That's not-"
"It's true and you fucking know it!" Vernal yelled. "Don't tell me that isn't the fucking truth! Why can't you just admit it? You are...! You're such an asshole!" She said, her voice breaking.
Hearing her tone change abruptly, Jaune turned his body around and looked at her, worry on his face "Vernal?" He asked.
Vernal still glared at him but he could see tears begin to form in her eyes. "D-Do you have any idea how worried I was? Your out there starting a war against a whole gang! You're outnumbered and outgunned! And you choose to go out there and fight them all and you don't consider how that would make us feel! W-What if you died for fuck sake!? How do you think Oscar would feel!? H-How do you think I would feel!?" She asked.
"Vernal-" Jaune began
Vernal cut him off before he could say more, "Damn it Jaune! Why is it you!? Why does it have to be you out there killing them!?" She asked angrily as tears fell.
"Because it has to be me!" Jaune cried.
Vernal stopped and looked at him with wide eyes, slowly, her shock turned to confusion. "Wh-What...?" She asked him.
Jaune looked at her with a solemn expression, "It has to be me, Vernal," He told her, "I... I need to do this because I can't- I won't let you or Oscar get blood on your hands! I am not letting you or Oscar muddy up your souls for this! Not you two!" Jaune told her, his voice stern and angry.
Vernal glared at him because what she heard pissed her off greatly. "You don't get to decide that Jaune!" Vernal told him, "You and I know I have plenty of blood on my hands as it is! Killing those motherfuckers out there isn't going to change a damn thing!"
"It isn't!?" Jaune asked with a raised brow, his expression then turned to anger, "You know damn well that it is! If Oscar kills Malachite he won't come back from it! If you kill her..." Jaune began but didn't finish.
Vernal looked at him with an angry expression and a raised brow, "If I kill her what!? What Happens Jaune, huh!? Are you afraid I'll go back to being how I was before I talked about my past!?" She asked him, "Because if you are, you have no right to say or even think that! What happens to you if you kill her, huh!? What the fuck happens to you!?" She asked him.
Jaune glared at her, "It doesn't matter what happens to me!" He told her with a furious tone.
Vernal glared back at the blonde, and pointed her finger at him, "That's what you think! Because it doesn't matter what happens to you!" She cried, she then jabbed him with her pointer finger, "But it matters to me! It fucking matters to me! You're my partner! We keep each other safe! We watch each other's backs! Remember!?" She asked him.
Jaune looked at her and he looked back down to the bed, feeling terrible, knowing what she said was true, and because he realized he was being inconsiderate to her feelings about the whole thing.
Vernal's anger died down and her face turned to one of sadness, "We are all going through the same," She told Jaune, "Were are all dealing with Melissa's death, we are all blaming ourselves for what happened, Oscar the most! We all are angry at Spider, we want them to suffer, all three of us, do you know how hard it was for me to meet her and not shoot her in her fat face? But this... this isn't good for us Jaune," Vernal told him, her voice breaking down once more.
Jaune's expression shifted to sadness and he could feel his emotions begin to rise to the surface. Finally, he began to cry, and seeing him do so, so did Vernal. Vernal moved closer to him and hugged him and he hugged her back, both held the other tightly as their tears continued to flow.
Jaune sniffled and tried to compose himself, "We can't stop this, Vernal..." Jaune told her.
Vernal composed herself and nodded, "I know... I know..." She replied with a sniffle.
"We've already started our plan, and with the members of Spider I killed, they won't stop until we kill them all," Jaune told her.
"I know," She replied again. She then broke the hug and looked at him, but he looked at the bed, so she gently grabbed him by the cheek and moved his head to look at her. "But when the time comes, when we finally do that bitch in... we do it together, got it?" She asked.
Jaune nodded slowly, "Got it," he said, his tone still somewhat sad.
"Arc's word?" She asked.
Jaune nodded once again, "Arc's word," He replied.
"Good," She said, "Now turn back around, I gotta finish cleaning the one's on your back," She told him.
Jaune nodded and faced her fully, as she dabbed the cloth with more disinfectant and cleaned his wounds, he winced again as he felt the cloth touch another cut.
Jaune looked to the floor of the room before the front paws of the Beowulf manifested and seeing the paws, Jaune glared in anger as his head slowly looked up and when it did, he was face to face with the Beowulf, the beast's nose was only a few inches away from Jaune's face, and the Grimm looked the young knight in the eyes and it back to cackle.
Jaune glared at the beast and gave it a look, asking what was so funny, but the beast began to laugh louder.
'What have I told you about making promises you can't keep?' It asked him.
Jaune tensed up and his anger grew as he continued to glare at the Grimm.
'Stop making promises you'll never be able to keep... You can promise whatever you want on your name, swear on your life, but they'll be broken, one way or another, they'll be broken,' It told him 'It is easy to make a promise, but it is harder to keep them in this world you now live in,' The Beowulf told Jaune with a chuckle.
Jaune glared at the beast, as it continued to laugh before it disappeared, but Jaune could still hear the faint laughter of the Beowulf, and its words began to weigh heavily on his mind.
"Jaune?"
Jaune stopped thinking of the Beowulf when Vernal called to him and he turned his head, "Yeah?" he asked.
"You ok?" She asked, "You tensed up for a bit there," She told him.
Jaune nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine Vernal, just lost in that is all," He replied.
Vernal accepted his answer and went back to cleaning his wounds, and once she was finished she told him to face her and he did so, but when he did, he felt a little uncomfortable as Vernal cleaned the cuts around his stomach and chest, he knew she wasn't really paying much attention to his body, but he still felt a little bashful and a tinge of pink formed on his cheeks.
Jaune looked at Vernal and saw her concentrate on cleaning his wounds. "Hey, Vernal," he called.
"Yeah?" she asked as she remained focused on the task at hand.
"Thanks, for this," he told her.
Vernal smiled, and nodded, "I-It's no problem," she said as she continued tending to the cuts on the young blonde's chest. Unbeknownst to the knight, Vernal had a light shade of pink on her cheeks as well.
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Man, emotions are running high all over the place, and emotions will amp up as the Act continues, and let me just tell you... if you think this is going to end well, you obviously don't know me. I live to torture these characters and put them through the most gut-wrenching situations, and the biggest emotional damage you can think of!
But how do you guys think this Act will end? Do you think both Vernal and Jaune will be the ones to kill Malachite? Or will Oscar be the one to kill her and be put on a path he may never recover from? Or will Malachite end up living and be able to see another day?
What are your thoughts?