Jaune's ventures with listening without eardrums and seeing without an eye eventually led him to thinking without his brain. It didn't really help much with processing any information, but at least he didn't have any sudden thoughts that could derail his mind. As it was now, he was straddling the line between coherent and demented.

The missing chunk of his head would definitely have taken longer to heal than a few burns. Luckily he had managed to have enough foresight to gather up the large bits of his brain and skull. Of course, he couldn't really do much with them aside from tossing them in his wound and hoping for the best.

It should probably be fine.

There was almost a close call when he was dragged along with the wounded to be examined. Jaune had barely had enough cognition to temporarily revive his body, the doctors were amazed he was still living, but they told him his vitals weren't looking good. They solemnly informed him that his body might give out any minute.

He just nodded his head, relieved he managed to fool them. However, that didn't stop them from forcing him to stay in bed. Unfortunately, that meant he would have to be connected to a machine that read his vitals. For the low price of a splitting headache, he managed to come up with a plan. A large cluster of Aware Aura was implanted into the machine, and it manually tricked it so he didn't have to risk the state of his body.

Now that he was freed up from that matter, he was able to properly take in his surroundings. Jaune was in an infirmary that held seven students on beds.

After arriving back at the cliff-side, his group had been basically thrown into the emergency room. It was only because of how severe three of the students had been that he wasn't also shoved into an operating room, which gave him time to think.

All in all, only Pyrrha was truly unharmed.

The other two girls, who had fought alongside her, both collapsed after relaxing. Snow Angel, Weiss Ssh-omething, fainted and her body temperature dropped dramatically. The orange-haired hammer girl also fainted, but she didn't display any other symptoms. As the doctors rolled them in, they told him not to worry. It was likely just their adrenaline running out.

Ruby and Yang both had mild check ups, mild in comparison at least. They just needed about an hour of surgery before they were tossed into the same infirmary as Jaune. Both were out cold, though, so he couldn't chat with them.

The burnt bow girl took a while before she was placed in the room. Her body was wrapped in bandages, and a dozen tubes and wires were inserted into her body.

Similarly, the boy with a strand of pink hair took a while and was also covered in medical equipment. From what Jaune overheard, they needed to remove most of his blood, organs, and flesh. Apparently, a self-propagating neurotic venom had contaminated his body.

And even though the brown-haired boy also appeared to be suffering from the same thing, he had regained consciousness a lot sooner and had asked to leave. He dropped out of Beacon.

What was even the point of saving him? No. Wait. I saved him because that's what Huntsmen did.

A downside of thinking without his brain was a near complete loss of emotions. He needed to constantly correct any stray thoughts.

"Jaune?" A voice gained his attention.

He looked over to Pyrrha. He didn't know when she had snuck up on him. His attention must have been wavering. "Hello." He greeted her plainly.

"Um, well," she nervously fiddled with the things in her hands, "since we are partners, you should sign this." She avoided looking at him as she shoved the pen and paper towards him.

"What is this?" He asked as he accepted the paper and began skimming it.

"Uh, it's just some paperwork that would legally let me make healthcare decisions for you if you are ever incapacitated."

"Oh, what does that mean?" He had been unfamiliar with the concept.

"It means that if you sign this, I'll become a medical proxy for you. I'll have a legal right to decide what kind of medical treatment you receive if you are unable to communicate. For example," her cheeks flushed as she nervously stared at the ground, "if you were declared braindead, then I could tell them what to do with you."

"Oh." Jaune blinked his remaining eye. "What about these other papers?"

"That's just standard paperwork." She gave a rather flat answer.

"… Am I missing one?"

"Pardon?"

"Well, there doesn't seem to be one about my responsibility."

She blinked.

"I kinda assumed that as partners we would be held accountable for protecting each other, but I guess we aren't legally obligated to do so. I suppose we'll just have to make do with a vow," Jaune decided, as he held out a hand to his partner.

Pyrrha's face flushed a shade of red that nearly matched her hair as she grasped his hand.

"I, Jaune Arc, swear by my family name and by the gods above that I will be your loyal strength and your faithful companion. I pledge my sword and shield to you. Whatever enemies come our way, and whatever cost is asked of me, I will pay it gladly. I will honor your courage and loyalty and be your trustworthy defender."

A beat passed in silence as his partner stared wide eyed into his remaining eye. "I, Pyrrha Nikos, pledge by my soul to be a companion and protector for thee, to strive for greatness and honor, to be an example of glory and virtue. Together, we will achieve limitless immortality, surpassing even the bounds of death, and our bond will be infinite. By my heart, I shall be a paragon and guide thee forth on to eternity."

"Now and forever, through the seasons and years, as long as our hearts beat and until the stars disappear, I vow to stand by your side and protect you with my life."

"I vow to be by your side in life and in death. I will protect you with my life, and in death, follow your soul to its final destination."

As soon as they finished their vows, Jaune felt their Aura's swirl around where their hands had met.

Odd.

And, unfortunately, that was all he thought about that matter; most of his brain power had been used up in coming up with a vow. He finished signing off on the paperwork not long after. Pyrrha had cheerfully taken off to submit their documents to the officials.

"Ugh, muhg, haa." Someone groaned as they stirred awake. They blankly blinked their eyes at the ceiling for moments before shifting up and looking around frantically. They calmed down when they spotted someone in a medical bed near them. "Agh!" They exclaimed as they failed to get out of bed.

"Don't worry, Yang. Ruby's fine." Jaune told the blonde girl.

Her red eyes darted over to him. "Agh!" Again she exclaimed in pain as she had violently twisted her body to face him. As she curled up on herself, she defiantly clawed at her bedding and glared at him. "Flakiu," she blinked, "uhuad?" A second passed before she pawed at her jaw and flinched in more pain.

Jaune saw her try to open her mouth as she realized what was happening. Her eyes blinked some more, her gaze was unfocused for a moment and then she stared at her arms. Large lines of stitches encircled her limbs and littered her entire body.

Even though he hadn't been paying attention, he still overheard what the doctors and nurses had talked about. In Yang's case, she had fractures and cracks that nearly shattered her skeleton. They said she was lucky her bones weren't completely pulverized. And so for her treatment they had implanted metal replacements to fill in the gaps, they used pins and plates to keep up her structure, they even grafted a carbon mesh over her bones.

Likewise, her jaw had been completely busted. They salvaged what they could and filled in the gaps. To ensure everything was set in place, they had to place a brace inside her mouth.

It wasn't all that surprising to learn that I had severely misdiagnosed her.

Yang stared blankly at her hands some more. Her fingers twitched rather erratically.

"I think a counselor is supposed to stop by later." Jaune wondered what she was feeling. It wasn't hard; her life was still fresh in his mind.

Yang had rather secretly held a disdain for prosthetics. She had known she was being silly but she just didn't like anything that she perceived as artificial power. Her natural body was better than anything else the world had to offer.

He knew that it didn't matter what it was, so there was no point in clarifying that it was just her bones, she was uncomfortable having to rely on something inside her body that wasn't herself. From the little knowledge he gained on the subject for her memories, he wondered if her soul would reject her skeleton.

Yang hadn't reacted to his words, she was fixated on her body. She probably would've been like that all day if someone else didn't speak up.

"Yang?" Ruby mumbled as she struggled to sit up. Her arms quivered as she pushed her body up to look for her older sister. She suddenly flinched violently as her eyes went wide. "Yang!" She screamed out.

And then, even though her face scrunched up in pain, Yang hopped out of bed and staggered over to her younger sister. As soon as her feet hit the ground, Ruby jerked her head in her direction and shot out of bed. In what was probably extremely painful, the two sisters collided together and tightly embraced each other.

What's this?

Jaune wondered as fading black and purple rose petals drifted through the room.

The younger sister sobbed for a while before she attempted to back away and look her sister in the eyes. "You're alive, I th-thought you d-ahp!" Ruby interrupted herself by falling backwards.

"Wuah." Yang probably tried to say something. She probably forgot about the brace holding her mouth together.

"It's nothing!" Ruby tried to reassure her sister as she struggled to stand up. She grunted and groaned as she tried to get off her knees, but her legs wouldn't budge more than an inch. She fell silent as she ran her hand down her thighs, calves, and to her feet. "I… can't feel them." She spoke in a hollow tone, then almost mechanically, she looked up to her sister. "I can't feel my legs. Yang, I can't feel them." Her breath sped up, and she began huffing and panting.

Ah, well, another thing I failed to notice at that moment. Her lower spine had been completely severed.

Jaune began doubting his future career as a medic.

As Ruby loudly sobbed and panicked, she awoke two more people.

Almost immediately after she, the orange-haired girl, opened her eyes in a snap, she leapt out of bed. Her electric blue irises appeared to bounce around in her sclera as she scanned the room. And then she scrambled over to the bandage mummy with a strand of pink hair sticking out.

From his angle on his bed, Jaune couldn't see her face, but he could tell by her trembling shoulders that she was crying.

The second girl that had awoken had behaved in an almost completely opposite manner.

Weiss… Schnee, was her name. She opened her eyes as if she was in slow motion. And then she exhaled and a puff of white mist drifted from her mouth. She blinked and slowly rose up. She audibly inhaled and paused for a second before exhaling again. Her mouth released an almost pristine fog. Small snowflakes trailed behind her visible breath.

Judging by the bewilderment on her face, I'd say that she didn't normally do that.

It took some time before the situation calmed down, or rather, it took some time before the counselor arrived and calmed the situation down. She brought a nurse with her and explained to Ruby that her paralyzation wasn't permanent or irreparable. They informed Yang that they could assist with any issues she had.

The orange-haired girl, or Nora as the counselor said, ignored any attempt at communication. They assumed she was still in shock.

When they focused on Weiss, Snow Angel gave them the cold shoulder. She claimed, in a frigid tone, that she didn't need them anymore. As Jaune observed the white-haired girl, he was able to notice that she was completely lacking any signs of stress previously present.

The nurse slowly tightened a valve on one of the IV drips connected to the bandaged girl. "The sedative should wear off quickly." The nurse informed the counselor. He was proven true to his word shortly after.

A dark, and thick, viscous darkness seeped through the white bandages. The semi-solid shadow coalesced and formed a pair of pale hands, as the darkness grew, it formed ribbon clad arms as well.

The hands aimlessly grasped around before they found purchase on the railings or the medical bed, and then they bent and leveraged more darkness out the body. Darkness faded away and revealed a head wearing a bow and a torso wearing a white crop top and a black vest. And, in the dark hollow sockets, amber eyes formed.

She stared blankly at her waist, where her form was still connected to her body. She forced herself up and tossed herself over the railing, a pair of legs wearing black and purple leggings formed quickly and then Jaune heard boots land on the tiled floor.

"Blake," the counselor began as she called out gently, "how are you feeling at the moment?"

"Why?" The girl, Blake, absently voiced a question. "Why did I do this?" Her amber eyes stared at her hands, a faint shimmer of darkness occasionally flashed through her body. "Why would you do this?" Her eyes moved beyond her body and towards the body she climbed out of.

"Are you confused? Is there anything you can't remember?" The nurse spoke up as he pulled up his Scroll.

"No… I…" Blake paused as she stared down at that bandaged girl confined to a medical bed with a myriad of machines connected to her. "I'm trapped, and I'll never be free. My body is a prison I can't run from, only now more than ever." She gently caressed her bandaged body.

The nurse quickly typed something down as the counselor walked over to Blake. "Why don't we take this somewhere more private?" She offered.

"There's no point," Blake refused. And then she looked over her body. "I'm not going to last much longer." Her finger tips had already begun to break down into a hazy shadow. "I guess I was just curious." She caressed her body some more and then she bent over and spoke gently. "You look fine. It probably won't be much longer before you wake up. Please don't create any more of us." Light tears fell from her eyes.

Shortly after she finished speaking, her entire body fell away into wispy darkness.

She died.

Jaune had seen what had constituted a clone in the forest, and at its core rested death. The girl, Blake, formed clones that could only live for a short time before they died. From what he could see, the clones were fully sentient and possessed knowledge from the original, but none of their memories were sent back. They were born and knew they would die, and nothing would remain of their existence.

That probably sucks.

Thanks for reading! I'm always open to feedback, so please leave a review, or reply in my forum, about what you liked or hated about this chapter or the whole story. If anyone wants to be a Beta Reader, then PM me and we'll talk details.

Jaune and Pyrrha made a totally insignificant vow and everyone else is completely fine.

I'm working on getting out some chapters for my other stories, but I felt compelled to write more of this story.

Curse my unbalanced motivation!

('less than' symbol)3 back at ya.

Thanks for always reviewing, I hope you keep reading. I have big plans for the world.