Chapter 23: Redemption
NinjaFang1331: Thank you! Hope you like today's chapter!
Robbeeyy: Yeah, things aren't going to end well for anyone. Ozpin may or may not have some pull that will take Jaune to Patch~
Friend: I'd have to agree, RT didn't handle the Faunus discrimination well as much as I would have liked since it was such a big part of Blake's character. I... I don't even want to get into the 2nd half of you're comment, not being rude, but I feel like that's a whole subject I don't feel like being involved in.
AverageReadingEnjoyer: Eventually, Vernal, Oscar, and Maria will catch up to Jaune and they will be able to help him, but he may get the help he needs before they meet once again.
CriticaofRandomness: I've missed your theories! I can not confirm nor deny the theory that the Hound already exists and is roaming around out there. But I will confirm that it is the "Nosferatu Zodd" of the Story, and unlike the hound in V7, this one is... Perfect ad no longer needs the core AKA the person inside... which I will only say makes it much more dangerous than Canon. As for the Nightmare Act, the Beowulf will gain a more physical/manifested form in the act but not in the real world (Hint Hint).
A Spanish Reader: Who knows what Ciel will do~! Nothing exciting will happen in the caves and won't be the main focus really, (Which I kind of feel bad about but Robyn will have her time to shine in the future. What do you think the "Talking Grimm" is? Jaune has attracted three girls so far, one of them being Vernal, but will there be any more... kind of doubt it due to my plans. Trust me, the clues are important for the future of the story. Thank you and I hope you enjoy today's chapter!
blaiseingfire: I got that line because I found a funny RWBY post on Tumbler that involved Deery, Funny enough, could the assumption that all deer are frozen by headlights be like the assumption that all blondes are dumb?
Fun Facts!:
Some facts about the story!
#1: The story was originally gonna be called "My Atlantis" based on the song and was gonna have Jaune grow up in the Branwen tribe with Vernal. It was originally gonna show them growing up and facing a lot of challenges and also have the two be put on the same mission as Raven and Qrow where they were going to learn to kill Huntsmen.
#2: Originally, the names for the Acts were going to be more extravagant in a sense: Beowulfs & Nevermores, Spiders in Pinetrees, Last Dance of Spiders, A Sister's Tears, and Ballet of Snowflakes. Of course, I changed the names because I felt I was trying too hard.
#3: During the planning of the Pine Act... I was heavily debating on killing off Oscar as well, but decided not to because I wanted to make him his own character and I'm too much of a sucker for the brotherly bond he and Jaune share.
A/N:
So I looked at the height of the Characters and can I just say I had no idea how funny it is in my head!
Jaune is 6'1, Vernal is 5'8, and there's no official height for Oscar and Deery but My height for them is that Oscar is 5'1 and Deery is 5'4 and meanwhile Maria is like 4'0 and Idk why that image is funny to me because I have them grouped and they looked like a weird family.
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Maria was currently with Oscar, Saphron, Terra, and Adrien in the living room of the Cotta-Arc household while Vernal was training alone in the back, the older woman was teaching Oscar about the basics of Aura and how he can manipulate it since he doesn't have his Semblance unlocked yet.
"Tell me what Aura is, Oscar," Maria told him.
Oscar nodded, "It's a representation of our soul and a shield that protects us," He said. "Vernal told me that,"
Maria nodded, "That's the basic understanding of it, but that's not the complete truth," said the older woman
"Huh?"
Maria chuckled, "See, Aura is a shield, but only when it needs to be,"
Oscar raised a brow in confusion, "When it needs to be? What does that mean?" he asked.
"Yes," Maria told him, "See, Aura protects us from being hit, right and it's always on, right?"
the young farmboy nodded.
Suddenly, Maria threw one of Adrien's toys at her and not registering what had happened till it was too late, Oscar was struck in the forehead with the toy.
Oscar winced, and he rubbed his head as he glared at the older woman, Adrien giggled as he watched the scene. "What was that for!?" He asked.
"To prove a point," Maria said with a smile. "The toy hit you and you felt it, correct?"
Jaune nodded, "Yeah! So-"
"The toy didn't hit your aura, it physically touched you're Head," Maria told him.
Oscar was gonna ask what that had to do with what she was discussing but then he's eyes widened with shock. Realizing that he was right, usually, when he felt an attack on his aura, he could feel the force but never really felt the full impact.
Maria could see the shock and smiled, "Think of Aura like wearing a raincoat, you could feel the droplets on the coat but never felt the water itself," Maria said, "However when I just threw that toy at you, I am sure you felt everything, in a sense, you no longer were wearing the "Raincoat" and therefore could feel the "droplets", and do you know why?"
Oscar shook his head.
"Because Aura isn't constantly on, it's on when you're in danger," Maria told him, "That's why sneak attacks on a person with Aura who's not paying attention or distracted can be hit physically,"
Oscar was confused, "But Vernal told me that when Jaune was teaching her about Aura, she needed to learn to turn it off, so was he wrong?"
Maria nodded, "Not really," Maria said, "People who have their Aura unlocked for the first time usually don't know how to control it, so it is constantly on, that is until they learn to turn it off, or in reality, learn to not do it on purpose,"
Oscar sighed, "I'm so confused," he said.
Maria chuckled, "Subconsciously, you're aura is always on because at the beginning that is what you believe to be natural, however, when told to turn it "off" you learn that Aura doesn't need to be constantly on, so when you learn to turn it "off" you're subconsciously realizing that it doesn't need to be on 24/7, which allows the newly awakened aura to realize that it only needed to be on when it truly is needed, such as when you fight or are in danger,"
"I think I get it," Oscar told her
Terra nodded, "So do I, like when you're high-fiving friends or being patted on the back, your aura doesn't register it as an attack since subconsciously you know these aren't attacks, but friendly physical gestures," Terra said, "But a fist flying at you will cause your Aura to activate since in your subconscious, you know that it is an attack and can cause you harm," Terra finished.
Maria smiled, "You pick on pretty quick, despite not having Aura" She told her, "That is true, for you're aura to activate and prepare for an attack, you need to see or even sense an attack coming for your aura to activate,"
Oscar began to understand and saw the logic in what the older woman was telling him, "So since I didn't see nor suspect you to attack me, my aura never activated to take the impact of the toy," Oscar told Maria, "So in reality, it's more of a reflex, right?"
Maria shrugged, "Sort of," she said, "For example, when in a forest full of Grimm or surrounded by people, you know you can be attacked from anywhere, so you're aura protects you from all sides because you can sense that there are incoming attacks from all around," Maria told him.
"Then how can I manipulate my Aura?" Oscar asked.
Maria nodded, "I'll teach you how because you have to bring it out to manipulate it, and while it is a representation of you're soul, it is not easy to manipulate,"
"So when do I begin?" Oscar asked.
"First, let's get something to eat, I'm rather hungry, then I'll teach you how to bring out your aura and manipulate it," Maria said, "What you're feeling up for?"
Oscar smiled at the question, "I could go for anything really," he replied.
"Then how about some Mistralian?" She asked.
"Oh I can so go for some of that," Saphron said.
Terra chuckled, "So can I," she said.
Oscar nodded and got up to get Vernal from the backyard, when he opened the door, he saw Vernal seemed to be shadow-sparing. He noticed how much Vernal was sweating and seemingly had been through a long and tough fight. He watched as Vernal moved to dodge the "attacks" which seemed to be coming in rapid succession, and also the way she moved made it look like she was dodging swings from a sword.
Vernal then blocked a swing from the invisible opponent, pushed their "weapon" away, and then went in for a stab, and seemingly killed her invisible attacker.
"Hey, Vernal," Oscar called out to her.
Her head quickly turned to him, seemingly because she was startled and when she saw that it was Oscar, she let out a sigh of relief. Vernal turned around and looked at the younger teen with a raised brow, "What's up Oscar?" She asked.
"I just wanted to let you know that we're going to get Mistralian food, you wanna come?" He asked.
Vernal nodded as she sheathed her daggers behind her back and walked to grab her cloak, she wrapped it around herself and walked with Oscar inside the house where he grabbed his cloak and followed her out front to meet the others.
"You seemed really caught up in that shadow-spar," He told Vernal, "Who were you fighting?"
Vernal looked at him and in the back of her mind, Raven appeared. "Someone from back in the Branwen tribe," She told him.
Oscar nodded, "Do you always kind of get caught up in shadow-sparing?" he asked.
Vernal nodded, "Sometimes," she said.
The two then got outside to the front of the house and saw the others waiting for them and they smiled and followed them down the street.
As they did, Oscar's mind drifted to Jaune as he wondered how the blonde was doing in Atlas and hoped that he was going to be there long enough for them to get there. He was also hoping to show Jaune just how far he's coming along with his training thanks to Vernal and Maria.
'I'm gonna be strong, I'll carry the same burdens that he and Vernal do,' Oscar thought to himself. 'I'll be strong enough to fight alongside them... I promise I will,'
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Deery sat alone near a bench far away from the now blocked-off crime scene. Jaune was explaining everything to the cops and Ciel walked over to the deer faunus and looked at her with concern, seeing how still shaken up the girl was. However, the Atlas Cadet sat next to her and looked at Deery.
"How are you holding up?" Ciel asked.
Deery looked at her, her blue eyes holding back tears. "I... I'm still processing everything," Deery said, "A part of me... I can't accept what just happened but I... know what's just over there," she told Ciel.
Ciel nodded, "I'm sorry, Deery," She told her, "But I have to ask... are you Ex-Fang?" She asked.
Deery froze up and she wanted to lie, but how could she? Ciel had already figured it out and she couldn't do anything, so she slowly nodded. "Yes..." She replied, and the tears finally broke through, "B-But you have to understand I-I just wanted to start over! I left because everything I believed in was a lie! We were supposed to fight for equality not... not killing innocent people..." Deery sobbed.
Ciel could see the state the peach-haired girl was in and Ciel felt terrible for the girl. Taking a bold move, she brought the fellow girl into a hug and Deery then hugged her back as she continued to sob.
As this happened, Ciel was having a conflict within herself but then Jaune appeared in front of her and looked down at her with a blank expression.
Ciel looked up at him. "What is it?" Ciel asked.
"I need to talk to you," Jaune told her.
Ciel looked at him as if he was being insensitive but she had a feeling she knew what this was about as well and she broke the hug and told Deery to wait for her while she and Jaune talked.
The two walked away from the bench and stood a few feet away from it, and out of earshot of Deery. Jaune looked back at Deery before looking at Ciel, who just looked at him with a confused look.
"What's going on?" Ciel asked.
"I know what you're thinking, but don't do it," He told her.
"What?" Ciel asked.
Jaune sighed, "I know you're thinking about turning her in either because it's your job or to keep her safe, but don't, because in the end, she'll be in prison, and you'll regret it," Jaune told her.
Ciel glared at him and pointed at him, "Are you telling me that you'd rather have her be out here and be hunted by the Fang than somewhere safe?" Ciel asked.
"Out here, we can protect her, but if she goes into prison, where I know for a fact a few known Fang members are, what do you think will happen when they hear she's in there and also a traitor to their cause?" Jaune asked.
Ciel took a second and realized he was right, There were a lot of White-Fang prisoners and a lot were still very loyal to their cause, and if Deery went in and they learned about her, then they would try and kill her for being a traitor. The cadet sighed, "Then what do you propose?" She asked.
"I'll watch over her," He told her.
"That's the best you come up with?" Ciel asked.
"It's all I can think about right now, but I'll come up with a plan later, for now, I'm asking you to keep this a secret from Winter and Penny," He told her.
Ciel looked at him and she was a bit surprised to see this side of him, to see him care for someone else as she thought he was just doing his job and didn't care about anything. Ciel wanted to still be the good soldier she always wanted to be but deep down, she felt and knew this was the right thing to do.
Ciel nodded, "I will," Ciel said, "I'll trust you, but... don't let anything happen to her,"
Jaune nodded, "I won't," he replied.
Ciel nodded and that's when she got a call from Winter, telling her that they needed to meet back at the bar they met at as her side of the operation discovered who was leading the White-Fang here in Atlas and also heard about their situation and Ciel grimaced at those words and knew she expected an explanation but she could think of a story along the way. The Call ended and she informed Jaune and he went to go get Deery as she went ahead.
When he approached the bench and looked at Deery, she stood up and hugged him which shocked him and he was frozen for a moment as Deery broke the hug and looked at him.
"I-I'm sorry, I... I heard the conversation with Ciel and I... I want to thank you,"
Jaune shook his head, "Don't thank me just yet... my promises have been getting broken a lot lately," He said.
Deery sniffled and wiped her tears away, "Still, thank you for convincing Ciel not to turn me in,"
Jaune shrugged, "I know you're looking for redemption, to be better than you were before... It's a bit of the same for me," He told her.
Deery looked at him a bit confused but remembered the conversation she had with him a while ago about what he did before coming to Atlas and only told them it was a long story, and that made her wonder why he was trying to redeem himself.
"Also, we need to tell the other Huntresses," Jaune told her, "They won't tell Winter and I'm sure we can come up with a plan for later and how to deal with the White-Fang, Winter found out who's running the mission here amongst the White-Fang, so once we hear that, we can figure something out,"
Deery nodded, agreeing with his plan for now and she followed Jaune as they quickly ran to join back up with Ciel, as they walked, Jaune was truly hoping to find out who it was that was leading the Fang on this mission so he could take them out before they tried to attack Deery or anyone else.
He would be a monster once again if it meant that no one else was going to get hurt.
In the back of Jaune's head, the Beowulf chuckled knowing that it would once again, finally taste blood.
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A short chapter for sure but hey we finally got to see Vernal, Oscar, and Maria again! Also, trust me when I tell you that the final two chapters of this act are freaking long! In the next two chapters, we'll be seeing Jaune go back down a dark path again and also see the appearance of another Faunus character, and finally get some backstory on Irowood's and Robyn's relationship. Also, Velvet's dad makes an appearance, could that be important? Maybe~!
Also, I should admit that Pietro was supposed to get a cameo during this arc where he's telling Penny about Maria and even remembering some personal things between the two, but I've decided to wait on Pietro entering the story till part 2 since what happens between him and Maria is... Tragic.
Anyway, that's all for now and I hope you're all ready for more Jaune suffering in the next chapters! BYE!