The hardest thing about writing the last few chapters was the fact Jaune's hammock was destroyed. The most important tool of any Huntsman or Huntress. A lot of people wondered if Raven was going to be more involved. Like kidnapping Jaune, sending Vernal to train under Qrow, etc. Honestly, there's routes for most of those, but a lot of them seem far fetched. Raven and Qrow do NOT get along. I do feel Vernal would be fun to mix with Jaune and Ruby. Maybe I'll see if that's possible.
Overall, I feel the story is going the way I envisioned it. The point of this story was to not have a time skip and Jaune instantly badass. He needed to grow up naturally and believably. The last chapter had him do some pretty impressive things, but in a way that showed he wasn't an expert. He just has a lot of potential. Qrow has been hammering the training pretty hard.
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.
"What are you doing here?" Qrow spat out, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
"That's a question I should be asking you," Raven replied coolly, crossing her arms. "I'm here to pick up my apprentice. I'm sure you aren't that dense not to understand something as simple as that. You have your own." Her eyes flickered to Jaune, but she seemed to be ignoring Ruby, who was still staring at her in frozen disbelief.
"You didn't say Raven was the leader of your tribe!" Jaune exclaimed to Vernal.
"It wasn't any of your business, Dumbass." Vernal scoffed before turning to Raven. "I finished my mission. The Queen Arachna is dead."
"I can see that," Raven waved a hand to the halfway-dissolved corpse. "That's not an issue. I don't recall you bringing explosives to use against it."
Vernal stiffened up and looked nervous. Jaune talked with her enough to know what the problem was. Their tribe believed in strength over all else. This mission was supposed to be a solo one for her, but Vernal had received help from an outsider. There might be some leeway there, as she wasn't supposed to get help from a tribe member. Loopholes like that probably wouldn't work on Raven, though. Still, Jaune owed Vernal his life and allowed him to reunite with Ruby and Qrow.
"I brought the explosives," Jaune informed her. "Our mission was to kill the Queen too. She and I just met up when I got separated from the others. I followed her and paid her with a couple of explosives for her to use."
Raven raised an eyebrow while Vernal was glaring at him, thinking he was going to get her into trouble. Jaune wasn't that kind of person, even if she was kind of a bitch to him.
"She took out most of the Grimm," The boy continued quickly. "I just stole the final kill by shoving an explosive into the Queen."
"Is that true?" Raven asked Vernal.
"Er… pretty much." Vernal conceded. "I was low on ammo and took his explosives to use."
"And he's not trying to cover for you?"
"Why would that Dumbass do that!?" Vernal exclaimed.
"Did something happen between you two out here?" Raven's face was unreadable.
"Yeah, I wasn't there, but I can vouch for that story," Qrow smirked, enjoying the situation a little more than he should. "Kid's not at the point where he can take out all the Arachnas around here. Their story actually makes a lot of sense."
"Doesn't matter," Raven dismissed them again with a wave of her hand. "You completed your mission. That's all that matters. How you do it doesn't concern me as long as it gets done." Her eyes fell back on Jaune. "How was Qrow's apprentice?"
"Besides being a Dumbass?" Vernal answered. "He wasn't in the way too much."
"Just like his teacher." Raven scoffed. "Seems like you're raising a soft student, Qrow."
"Maybe, but he still survived out here by himself after less than a month of my training," Qrow countered. "How long have you been training her? A couple of years?"
"You would know if you had stayed instead of abandoning the tribe." Raven hissed.
"I didn't abandon them; you abandoned us," Qrow snapped. "Not that it matters what I say. You'll never seem to understand."
"My loyalty was always to our tribe." Raven reminded him. Jaune was seeing a pattern between those siblings after only seeing them talk two times.
"Didn't you abandon Yang… and our dad?"
Everyone turned to look at Ruby, who finally found her voice.
The girl's voice was a bit timid, though it had an odd amount of strength behind it. Ruby wanted to believe she was speaking for herself and her father, but the first part of her words made her feel that Yang's ire also dwelled within her. Something in her mind hoped that Raven would give a logical response.
"Don't involve yourself in manners that don't concern you." Raven brushed off Ruby's words.
There was no logic or reasoning in those words.
"Doesn't concern me?" Ruby blinked as her face went red. "Doesn't concern ME?! Do you know how much Yang hurt because of you? How much, dad…?"
"Be quiet before you say something you regret," Raven told her.
"Ruby… now's not the time…" Qrow started to tell her.
"Yang's been looking for you!" Ruby blurted out. "For a long time! You need to talk to her! She has so many questions!"
"She'll find me when she's strong enough to," Raven turned away. "I don't have time to discuss matters with children."
"Strong?!" Ruby yelped. "Yang's super strong. She's way stronger than me!"
"Good, then leaving her to grow up worked."
Silence followed Raven's words. Qrow's hands balled into fists as he glared at her. Jaune did not know what was happening, and neither did Vernal. This was a family matter.
"How could you be so heartless?!" Ruby shouted.
"Because someone needed to be," Raven spat out. "Summer wasn't, and that's why she died. She was weak!" Raven's hand shot up and caught a fist. "What are you doing, Qrow?"
"I put up with a lot of shit from you, Raven," Qrow growled. "But don't you dare insult Summer."
"You finally grew some balls, brother." Raven's lips twitched into a smirk. "Are you going to teach me a lesson?" She let go of his fist and pushed him backward.
"If I have to." Qrow cracked his neck and reached for his sword. "You've had this coming for a long time."
"As much as I would enjoy beating you like old times, I have a schedule to keep." Raven yawned. "Vernal, kill the boy."
"Jaune!" Ruby yelled, aiming her rifle and aiming as Vernal lifted her gun and pointed it at Jaune's skull. The boy stiffened up as he gazed into the woman's eyes.
Qrow froze as he took in the situation.
"And this is why you're weak," Raven told him. "All of you. You can't do what has to be done. Vernal, let's go. We wasted enough time here."
"Yes, Raven." Vernal lowered her gun and turned to follow her tribe leader. A red portal opened up as Raven activated her Semblance.
"Try not to forget me!" Jaune yelled at her, part of him wanting to cause some kind of damage, even if it was an embarrassment.
Vernal replied by raising her hand and giving him the finger.
"Really, how was Qrow's apprentice?" Raven asked as they stepped through.
"He's a Dumbass… but his Semblance is pretty useful," Vernal admitted.
"Go on…"
The portal closed behind them.
"I don't believe it…" Ruby fell to her knees as she shook. "Yang's been wondering about her mom for years… and she was right in front of us… but she didn't care at all."
"That's the kind of person Raven is," Qrow growled. "She's not a mom. As Yang has said many times, she's an egg donor. To her, her tribe is her family. Not Yang, not Tai. She barely thinks of me as her brother since I left years ago to support Ozpin."
"And Jaune… you know her?" Ruby blinked, recalling some of the exchanges they had.
"Er… we met…" His eyes flickered to Qrow, who sighed loudly and nodded at him.
"Go ahead and tell her."
Jaune spilled the beans. He talked about their meeting at the bar and his first impression of Raven. Ruby's lips were pressed together tightly as he told her. It was obvious she was upset he kept this from her.
"...I really wanted to tell you, but I was told it had to be a secret." Jaune apologized.
"You can't tell Yang," Qrow continued. "Even if you want to, and Jaune here really wanted to tell you at least. You're smart enough to know why, Squirt."
"Yang would chase her here…" Ruby mumbled.
"Pretty much." Qrow nodded. "It won't be healthy for Yang to meet her now. What you saw was just a glimpse into how big of a bit-... jerk she is."
"I don't feel comfortable hiding this from her." Ruby admitted as she looked at Jaune.
"Felt the same way when I was told I couldn't tell you," Jaune assured her sympathetically. "It's just we both know why we can't tell Yang, right?"
The girl slowly nodded.
"You sure know how to pick them," Qrow turned to Jaune. "Help her one moment and then about to get shot in the back the next."
"She wasn't going to shoot me." Jaune dismissed the worries with a wave of his hand, doing a good imitation of Raven.
"Jaune!" Ruby gasped. "I know you see good in people, but she was literally aiming a gun at your head!"
"Yes, but she had no ammo left," Jaune explained with a shadow of a grin. "If she wanted to kill me, she would have just stabbed me. With her skills and my Aura nearly completely depleted, it would have been easy. Seemed like she knew Raven was just testing us and didn't bother actually trying to kill us. Or that might have been her way of thanking me for sticking up for her. Who knows?"
The boy shrugged and flinched at the pain.
"That doesn't make it right!" Ruby protested.
"Jaune… lift up your shirt," Qrow ordered his voice stern.
"EH!?" Ruby's face turned red, and she covered her eyes with her hands. Though the fingers were separated so she could peak. "U-Uncle Qrow! What are you telling him to do?"
"I don't know if we're at that point in our relationship." Jaune joked.
"I'm serious, kid. Take off that tattered hoodie and lift up your shirt." Qrow crossed his arm, and he was not smiling.
Jaune gulped and removed his outer black bunny hoodie. The thing was torn, burnt, and stained. It was pretty much ruined, but it had so much sentimental value that he didn't want to give it up. Then he lifted up his t-shirt. Qrow walked over and seemed to be looking at his side. Ruby was still hiding her face with her hands, but she was leaning slightly to the side to look around her uncle.
"Does this hurt?" Qrow poked his side.
"GAHHHH!" Jaune's cry of pain echoed in the forest.
"I take that as a yes." Qrow mumbled.
"What's your problem?!" Jaune demanded.
"You have some bruised ribs, but they don't seem to be broken, so that's good," Qrow explained. "Keep your teeth clenched, I'm going to check to be sure, and it's not going to feel like a massage. Ruby. Get the bandages out. We're going to brace him. Take the shirt off, Jaune."
Things ended up with Jaune standing in the middle of the burnt clearing, shirtless, while a red-faced Ruby was tying some bandages. After, of course, he went through another round of hell with Qrow touching each rib in turn, to determine if any were damaged. However, there was another injury Qrow discovered.
"Your arm bone may be injured," Qrow told him, lightly touching the section between his wrist and his elbow. Jaune flinched as a spike of pain ran through him. "The way you're unconsciously cradling it and the pain when it's touched… doesn't seem broken, but it may be cracked. Did you hit it?"
"I had to block an attack by the Queen," Jaune admitted through gritted teeth as Ruby tightened the bandage around his bruised rib cage. "Didn't have any time to think, or I would have tried to parry."
"That's why I warned you about trying to block attacks head-on until you learn how to control your Aura properly," Qrow told him. "The fact it's not broken completely and the size of the Queen is telling me you are still subconsciously doing it. We might have to start working on it earlier than planned."
"Speaking of… I thought you said the Queen wasn't a fighter!" Jaune remembered. "She smacked us around like flies!"
"She's not a combat type, but I never said she wasn't physically strong," Qrow replied, not even looking up as he bandaged Jaune's arm. "Even a deer will lash out with strength against a wolf when cornered. You made it fight when you invaded the nest." He finished the first aid and double-checked what Ruby did. "The fact you can move, even with a little pain, shows it's not too serious. You still have to take it easy. Luckily, with the Queen gone, we don't have to worry about any Grimm for a long time around here."
"I didn't realize I was even doing it." Jaune admitted. Now that it had been brought to his attention, he could feel the stabbing sensations, even without Qrow poking the wounds.
"You still have a lot of adrenaline, which tends to dull pain." Qrow brushed him off. "Okay, first aid's done. Keep amplifying your Aura to help heal it faster."
"Been doing that," Jaune assured him. "Kind of had to learn how to when fighting Arachna's and floating down a river. I don't have time to stand still and focus anymore."
"Learning on the go," Qrow smiled. "You're growing up." He looked up at the sky. "You and Ruby can take a break, and eat some food. I'm going to take a quick look around to make sure nothing else surprises us. Then we'll split up Jaune's gear into our packs and head back."
"Wait, I'm not crippled!" Jaune protested. "I can carry my own stuff."
"Kid, you're injured," Qrow cut him off sharply. "Taking on the Queen and surviving out here took everything you have. Take it easy." His gaze softened. "You deserve it. I'm serious. You did well today."
"Jaune, you need to rest," Ruby agreed. "There are no hospitals out here. A little time to recover is fine. We can eat lunch and take a break. Besides, I'm strong." She flexed one arm. "I can carry half your bag."
"Thanks, Ruby." Jaune smiled, "I'm glad to have such a strong friend."
"You better be." Ruby grinned back.
"Ugh, kids." Qrow rolled his eyes. "I'll be back in a bit."
The man was leaving for two reasons. The first was he didn't want his bad luck to start accumulating when one of the kids was injured. They would be traveling back to the lumberyard soon enough. The second, and more important reason, was it was obvious Ruby wanted to talk to Jaune. He didn't blame her. After losing her friend and then discovering Raven? The girl probably wanted to get things off her chest. It would be easier for her to talk to Jaune about it. Qrow had been serious about not telling Yang about Raven.
"I still don't know why she left so easily." The man muttered to himself. "She would have relished the opportunity to mock me some more."
Meanwhile, Jaune and Ruby took out the trail rations and bit into them, grimacing as the awful-tasting chalk filled their mouths.
"I know Uncle Qrow will want to hear details, but can you tell me how you survived?" Ruby asked, looking up at him. "After you fell… I was terrified I was going to lose you."
"I thought I was a goner too," Jaune admitted, taking a swig of water. "Almost drowned a couple of times."
Jaune told her about surviving in the river, hurting himself, and then using the hammock to get out. After that, it was surviving against Arachne patrols. He would regenerate his Aura, get found out, fight, and then start the entire process over again. Jaune could now go into details how he met Vernal, the army of spider Grimm she slayed, him helping her a tiny bit, and their plan to kill the Queen. Fighting the Queen had been tough and Jaune made sure to describe the battle as best as he could remember.
"Wow…" Ruby gasped. "That's amazing!"
"It was a lot of dumb luck," Jaune admitted. "You would have been able to kill the Queen solo. I had to piggyback off Vernal."
"Don't sell yourself short." Ruby admonished. Part of her was unusually relieved when Jaune emphasized nothing had happened between him and that woman. "If I had been exhausted from the river, I wouldn't have been able to do what you did. Your Semblance is amazing, you have strong determination, and you managed to think of a way out of your situation. You're an amazing Huntsman."
"You sure know how to cheer me up, Ruby." Jaune laughed and then grimaced as the pain in his side stabbed him.
"It's what friends do!" Ruby puffed out her chest and then seemed to deflate. "You didn't tell me about Yang's mom, though."
"I couldn't…" Jaune sobered up really fast. "Qrow made me promise. I wanted to. Really."
"Promise?" Ruby looked up at him.
"I promise, Arc's word." Jaune crossed his heart. "I hate keeping secrets from you… but we both know the importance of doing so."
"It's going to be tough not telling Yang," Ruby admitted, pulling her knees close. "I hate lying."
"I doubt Yang's going to ask you directly if you ever saw Raven," Jaune assured her, patting her shoulder. "Let's focus on the positives instead. We don't want to attract more Grimm. I may be in perfect condition for another round with the Queen, but you seem pretty tired."
A snort escaped Ruby's nose and she covered her face with her hands as she tried not to laugh.
"We just finished a huge mission," Jaune continued. "Think about how many missions we've done compared to everyone else at Beacon."
"Oh yeah, and these helped a lot of people," Ruby realized. "The slave traders, fixing the wall of Atlas, Tyrian, and now the Arachne nest. Our teams are just starting their first mission, shadowing a professional Huntsman."
"We haven't heard how that went, have we?" Jaune asked.
"Nope!" Ruby shook her head. "They were supposed to start it yesterday… or the day before." She was counting on her fingers trying to remember. Jaune understood why. The days out in the field blurred together. "How many days has it been since we left Argus?"
"A couple?" Jaune blinked. "Er…let's say they were doing their mission yesterday." Ruby giggled at him. "I hope it's easier than this one…"
"Our teams are going together," Ruby reminded him. "So six of them. There won't be any problems."
"No problems with Yang and Nora together?"
"...there won't be problems handling anything that comes their way."
"Nice catch there, Rubes." Jaune rolled his eyes, but he was grinning. "I want to get back to town, find a bed, and collapse for a week."
"You have three days before you get stir-crazy." Ruby offered.
"That's probably true." Jaune agreed softly. Atlas taught them adjusting back to city life could be a challenge. The boy glanced up at the sky. "Still, Beacon's our home."
"Yeah, it is." Ruby agreed, looking up too. Her hand moved over and lightly gripped Jaune's. "I'm glad we can go back together."
Ozpin had indeed made Jaune and Ruby's team work together on the first year's mission.
The difference was things were not going well.
"He cut the breaks!"
Those four words summed up the entire situation, as Pyrrha was staring at the control center of a runaway train.
The mission was supposed to be a simple one. Team RWBY and JNPR, minus their leaders who were part of the apprenticeship, were going to do their first mission together. Typically, first years would do it by individual teams, but they had particular circumstances with missing team leaders. Honestly, Pyrrha was a little relieved. While Nora wasn't openly hostile with her and would occasionally make some awkward small talk, the situation was still tense. Ren didn't talk much like Jaune, so Pyrrha didn't chat with them much like old times. With Ren, it was mostly about schoolwork and training.
So being with Team RWBY would hopefully reduce the tension. Weiss talked to her a lot, maybe too much sometimes. Blake was a lot like Ren and just quiet most of the time. Pyrrha wasn't sure how Yang felt about her anymore. They did spar a lot, and Yang was usually eager to do so. A larger group helped prevent any hostility from being directed at anyone. Though, when they met Team RWBY, Pyrrha was surprised at how much comradery they had. Yang was joking with Blake and Weiss like they had been friends for years. Weiss even cracked a smile once.
The champion felt jealousy well up within her stomach.
Weirdly enough, the Huntsman the teams were shadowing was none other than Professor Batholomew Oobleck, their history teacher. Someone with so much energy, Pyrrha was sure he had to be drinking twenty cups of coffee a day minimum. He zipped around at speeds nearly as fast as Ruby did during combat class sparing. He was extremely knowledgeable and was very antiracist, shutting down any remarks made by Cardin and his team during his class. Pyrrha respected him.
Their mission assigned to them was to investigate an area called Mt. Glenn near Vale. Mt. Glenn was the Kingdom of Vale's first serious attempt at expansion. Vale developed an elaborate underground metro system that allowed the settlers to commute to and from the main kingdom and the new territory, thus bypassing the Grimm. An elaborate defensive system was set to protect the new settlement.
Yet eventually, the Grimm took over.
The tall buildings were decaying, broken, and deserted. Grimm wandered around, which the two teams quickly exterminated. When Mt. Glenn had fallen, the civilians hunkered down in the underground settlement, sealing the tunnels to the surface. It worked for a while until an explosion opened a tunnel to subterranean Grimm. The city was defenseless and the civilians were beyond saving. Vale had no choice but to seal off the subway tracks permanently, creating the world's largest tomb.
"The ruins of Mt. Glenn now stands as a reminder for history to reflect upon." Oobleck had told them.
They were investigating the city's ruins to search for signs of any criminal organizations using the abandoned settlement as a potential hideout. There had been reports of some movement there. It could have just been Grimm, but part of being Huntresses and Huntsman was to check it out.
Pyrrha didn't say it out loud, but being out of Beacon was a breath of fresh air. No more people talking about her in hushed voices, staring at her, or outright insulting her when she passed. Even if Nora didn't like her anymore, she didn't do anything childish like that. The change of pace would do some good.
The first day had been pretty boring, if not tiring. Oobleck would be examining the decrepit buildings while the students dealt with the Grimm. There had been a lot of Grimm. So much so, even Yang and Nora soon grew tired. Pyrrha had to admit, there was only so much Girmm killing she could do before her body screamed at her to take a break. She didn't complain once though. This was a mission assigned to them. They knew what they were signing up for.
It wasn't until nightfall they managed to locate a couple members of the White Fang walking around. Stealthily following the scouts led them to the main base. Turns out, the White Fang organization was using the underground base as their hideout. The scouts unknowingly led them to the entrance. There was a huge underground train the White Fang were loading the stolen Dust into.
That was about as far as they got before another guard spotted them.
When the alarm rang out, a huge battle ensued.
Most of the White Fang members were not trained fighters and did not have Aura. They simply had Dust rifles. With Aura protecting them, along with their reflexes and speed, Pyrrha and her teammates quickly took them out with help from Team RWBY. When the train started moving forward, they all jumped on and fought their way to the engine room. While there were numerous White Fang grunts, they didn't pose too much of a challenge for the teens.
Until an explosion from behind them was heard
"They are separating the train cars!" Yang yelled.
"What, why?" Weiss asked, spinning around to see the train car in the back carrying Dust falling away from the rest of the train. "They would lose all the Dust they've been collecting!"
"Then what are they planning with it?" Oobleck wondered, looking into the distance as the train car filled with Dust moved further and further away. "Unless…"
A large shockwave followed by a deafening boom shook the tracks as the cart vanished in a fiery explosion. A large hole in the ceiling collapsed as rock and moonlight flooded the tunnel.
Along with Grimm.
"They are blowing holes in the tunnel to let in Grimm!" Oobleck realized.
"What?" Nora gasped. "Why? That's insane?"
"The tunnel…" Pyrrha's face paled. "This train is on a straight-away toward the sealed off Vale tunnel! They plan to blow it open!"
"Why the hell would they do that?!" Yang yelled back over the roar of the train and the explosion from another train car.
"That needs to be discussed later!" Oobleck told them. "We need to fight to the front of the train and stop it at all costs. That is your assignment. Get going students."
"Yes, sir!" The six teens reported before taking off.
Oobleck handled the top of the train, while Pyrrha and the others fought their way through. Because time was of the essence, they couldn't risk taking any more time than necessary. That meant they had to make tough decisions, including leaving people behind to hold off the enemies. A small pink, white, and brown girl stood in their way, but Yang managed to cut her off as the rest continued on. A large White Fang man stood in their path, wielding a chainsaw. Nora and Ren stayed behind to take him down as the others kept going. Pyrrha hated leaving them behind, but Nora and Yang were strong. Fighting them herself, she knew this.
"Well, well, look who it is." A flamboyant man with bright orange hair and black eyeliner mocked. He was wearing a white suit with black pants and a bowler hat.. "And you brought friends. Here I thought we had something special, Kitty Cat."
"Go on," Blake told them, her eyes falling on the known criminal, Roman Torchwick. "Stop the train. I can handle him."
"Awww, you do care." Roman laughed. "Go ahead and try to stop the train kiddies. Won't be easy anymore." He paused ."I think we're speeding up. Probably only have a few minutes."
"Let's go." Pyrrha said to Weiss, as the two raced by. Roman didn't even try to stop them.
There were only a couple White Fang members between them and the engine room. One shield toss from Pyrrha took several out and Weiss knocked down two others with her rapier. Once inside, they saw the tunnels race by out of the front windows. It really felt like the train was speeding up. Weiss stepped up and tried to initialize the automatic stop function, but the train didn't respond. She then reached for the emergency brake, only to find the metal lever broken off.
"He cut the breaks!"
"Can you override it?" Pyrrha for once was really glad Weiss was present. Being a good fighter was one thing, but the heiress here was one of the smartest students at Beacon.
"No, it looks like we would have to take apart half the electronics here to get to the break line," Weiss reported, looking under the controls. "There's no time." She began to hit buttons in a panic, trying to find something that worked.
Pyrrha had an idea, but it would require revealing her Semblance. Something she kept hidden at Beacon. This was no time to hide that fact though. Lives were at stake.
"What's going on!" Nora burst in. "Why isn't the train stopped?!" Behind her, Ren and Blake were coming in too.
"They cut the breaks!" Weiss repeated in a combination of anger and panic. Her hand pointed toward the broken metal lever on the ground.
"So we're going to crash?" Ren asked.
"Hold onto something." Blake suggested, her teeth clenched in worry.
"I might be able to…" Pyrrha held out her hand as the others turned to her. If Roman just broke the brake lever, the damage would be on the surface. That meant if she could move the mechanisms beneath it, there was a chance she could still initiate the brakes. Pyrrha concentrated as she felt her Semblance well up within her.
Click.
"What was that?" Blake asked, looking around.
Everyone suddenly lurched forward and crashed against the control console along with each other as the train began to screech to a stop.
"We're slowing down?!" Ren stated above the high pitch sound of metal scraping on metal.
"How?!" Nora asked.
Pyrrha would have told them, but her head felt like it was splitting from the screeching brake. Not only that, the barricade that sealed off the tunnel was finally in view. The others noticed it too as they all looked up in panic. However the train was slowing faster and faster before grinding to a halt at last. Right in front of the barricade.
"It… stopped…" Weiss gasped and turned to Pyrrha. "Did… did you do something?"
Slowly, Pyrrha nodded.
"It's my Semblance," The champion answered, aware the others were listening. "Polarity… or magnetism. Since it was only the lever that was broken, I was able to move the switch to set the brakes in motion."
There was silence as this sunk in.
"It's a good thing you were here then," Blake said at last. "I didn't fancy our chances at hitting that wall."
"The bad guys are down and the train is stopped!" Nora declared, punching the air. "We won!"
"We still need to meet up with Yang." Ren reminded her.
"Pssh, Yang's fine. She punches as hard as I do."
A howl echoed down the tunnel.
"Oh, right." Weiss grimaced. "The holes are letting Grimm into the tunnel."
"Who's up for another round of Grimm killing?" Nora asked them.
A very dejected agreement passed through the other students.
Getting back to the lumberyard was actually pretty easy. Compared to being forced down a river and fighting countless giant spiders. With Ruby and Qrow carrying his gear and Jaune only having his sheathed sword on his hip, walking uphill wasn't that bad. Keeping his Aura up was dulling the pain in his chest and arm at least. The pain in his leg was pretty much gone. Once they got up the cliff side, a vehicle pulled up to take them back. With the spiders gone, a quick call by Qrow was all it took to get transportation.
Jaune had collapsed in the back seat next to Ruby.
They were finally able to relax. After the excitement, the near-death experiences, the worry, and the long trek uphill to meet their ride, it felt good to sit down. Back at the base, Qrow led them inside the walls, where Specialist Ash Steele and several other soldiers saluted them.
"Welcome back," Ash stated to them. "I see the mission was a succ-..."
He never finished his sentence when out of nowhere, Qrow pulled his hand back and punched the man squarely in the face. There was enough force to send Ash barreling toward the ground.
"UNCLE QROW!" Ruby yelled out in shock at what she just witnessed.
Click!
Multiple Atlas soldiers raised their Dust rifles and aimed them at Qrow. A couple of the troops to the side pointed their guns at Ruby and Jaune. Instantly, Jaune raised his shield, but neither of them wanted to draw their weapon yet. They were supposed to be on the same side. Why did Qrow do that?
"I've been wanting to do that since our last call." Qrow shook his hand. "Have to say, that felt pretty good."
"I'll have you arrested for that." Ash growled, rubbing his nose as a trail of blood leaked down.
"Good luck with that, asshole." Qrow sneered. "First of all, you deserve a hell of a lot more than that for lying to us about the size of the Arachna nest. "
"I already told you the reason." Ash spat out some blood as he stood up. "Give me a good reason why I shouldn't order my men to arrest you right now."
"Because you're already at limited man power," Qrow answered instantly with nothing but smugness oozing from his voice. "There's the second reason. Trying to beat me without an elite team of Huntsman is suicidal."
"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby shouted again from behind Jaune, who still hadn't lowered his shield. "Stop antagonizing him!"
"After an entire day clearing out an enormous Arachna nest?" Ash raised an eyebrow as his hand reached for the pistol at his hip. "You're going to be exhausted from fighting the thousand of Grimm."
"Wait… you knew it was that big?" Jaune asked, his eyes zooming onto Ash. On the way back, Ruby had informed him the nest had been much larger than they originally realized.
"We needed to exhaust all options before firebombing the forest." The man replied simply.
"I regretfully inform you that you're wrong about us being exhausted," Qrow informed him, sounding the complete opposite of his words. "The boy there? He took out the entire nest by himself. We got separated during some battles with the advanced scouts and that idiot there decided to go and attack the Queen's lair. Blew up the Queen and killed countless guards. Ruby and I barely had to work, so we're perfectly fine after a leisurely hike."
Jaune actually lowered his shield at that.
'What the hell are you telling them!?'
Besides being separated and the fact he blew up the Queen, the rest was unequivocally false. Jaune did not kill 'countless' spiders. A few dozen at best. It was mostly Vernal. He could understand why Qrow didn't mention her, but he could have just said they all worked together. No one would believe Jaune did it all by myself. Glancing over at Ruby, his young friend was looking the same way he felt.
However, the guards around them lowered their guns slightly and gaped at him.
It was a little disconcerting that people thought he was the threat.
"You're bluffing, there's no way a kid could have handled that nest alone." Ash stated, but his eyes also flickered toward Jaune.
"Wondered why his clothes are the only ones burnt and torn?" Qrow gestured with one hand. Yes, Jaune's hoodie was in tatters, along with the t-shirt under it and his pants. He was lucky they held together up to now. "Let me ask you? Are you sure you want to settle this with violence? Or do you want to accept you deserved that punch and we go call Ironwood to report the situation? Let him decide."
Silence followed his questions. For a moment, it looked like Ash was about to tell his men to shoot.
"Very well." The man said instead, causing Jaune to relax slightly as the soldiers lowered their weapons. "We can contact the General. You'll accept any sanctions he decides for your actions without a fight then?"
"Sure, if he gives me any." Qrow laughed and then turned to Jaune and Ruby. "I'll be a little bit. You two rest up, get Jaune checked out at the med bay, and wait in the barracks for me. We'll get you some new clothes tomorrow. Can't have you traveling in those rags."
"Y-Yes!" Both of the kids replied as their mentor followed the Specialist. The other soldiers backed up and started to go back to their posts. None of them knew what was going on either, but their superior had accepted the situation.
"What was that about?" Ruby asked, as the two of them headed to the barracks to drop their stuff off in their rooms and then go to the med bay for Jaune's check up.
"No idea." Jaune shrugged as this was all a shock to him too.
"Uncle Qrow wouldn't do that without a reason… maybe it has something to do with the Arachna nest?" Ruby wrinkled her nose cutely in thought.
"Probably Qrow was just pissed the nest was bigger than we all thought." Jaune remembered what Ash said a few moments earlier, but maybe he misunderstood those words. There was no way Atlas would send them on a mission they couldn't handle.
"Sounds like him." Ruby giggled. "Oh, we should check if your Scroll can be dried out."
"Let's see if they have some rice." Jaune replied. "We'll make sure it's completely dry and then see if it works. If it doesn't, I'll have to get a new one."
"I bet Uncle Qrow won't complain," Ruby smiled. "He was so happy to see you alive."
"He would have to tell Ozpin he lost me."
"Pssh, he would say you decided to be a hermit and stayed behind."
The two best friends shared a laugh. They knew Qrow wouldn't do that. Now that Jaune was found safe and sound, everything was much more relaxed and funny. Humor helped them push the fear and horror they had lived through away. Once they dropped off their supplies, they went to have Jaune checked out.
Turns out Qrow had been pretty accurate in the damage Jaune sustained.
"You're lucky it's healing in place," The doctor in the med bay told him as he sat there shirtless. Ruby found herself secretly glancing at him during the examination. "Three bruised ribs and a cracked Ulna. You know if the bone wasn't still in place and you just let Aura heal it, the bone would have misformed?"
"It would have?" Jaune asked, surprised. "I didn't know. We bound up my arm just in case."
"Yes, that was smart, but remember, Aura isn't a cure all." The doctor warned. "Too often we see young Huntsman fall into that trap. The wound is too big or the rapid healing leads to more troubles down the road when the bone is off slightly. Not much you can do in the field, but remember to always get a check up after any big fight when you return to base."
"Will do." Jaune agreed quickly.
"Did you suffer any injuries?" The doctor asked Ruby.
"Nope!" The girl shook her head. "Jaune handled most of it."
"Okay, keep the bandages on overnight and let me check you in the morning." The doctor handed him a small bottle of pills. "Take two of these tonight and one more if the pain increases."
"Got it." Jaune pocketed the bottle before he and Ruby left the office.
"Uncle Qrow really knew his first aid." Ruby beamed. "He got it pretty much on the nose."
"He was a little more forceful though." Jaune sighed. "I'm going to go to the barracks and lay down a bit. Mind if I use your Scroll to contact my team later tonight? Let them know what happened?"
"Sure, let me talk to my team first though," Ruby smiled. "Weiss gets upset if I call too late."
"Does she have a bedtime?"
"She needs minimum hours of beauty sleep, or so she says."
"Well, whatever her routine is, it works." Jaune looked off into the distance, remembering Weiss. Ruby frowned and punched him in the arm. "Ow! What was that for! I'm injured!"
"It wasn't your injured arm," Ruby huffed. "And it was for imagining filthy things."
"I take offense to that!"
"Good, don't do it then!"
They both laughed and headed to the barracks to have a well-deserved rest. On the way, they ran into some young soldiers. They must have been fresh Atlas recruits, because they couldn't be more than a few years older than Jaune and Ruby. Two of the women noticed him and separated from the rest.
"Hey!" The one with short light brown hair said. "Are you two the Huntsman students that were checking out the Arachna nest?"
"We are," Ruby nodded. "We took care of it too."
Both women looked shocked.
"We were sure they would have to firebomb the quadrant." The second woman with longer black hair muttered.
"You can thank Jaune here." Ruby bragged. "He snuck into the Queen's lair and blew it up after fighting dozens of Grimm."
"Really?" Both women turned toward him.
"If you're free tonight, want to tell us about it?" The woman with black hair slid a strand back behind her ear.
"I'd love to hear it too." The brown haired woman agreed.
"Sorry, we're busy!" Ruby pushed Jaune away. "He's required to get bed rest and we'll be leaving soon anyways. We can't stick around in one place!" The women didn't look pleased and muttered amongst each other as they headed away.
"Woah, there, Rubes." Jaune looked at her as she pushed them along. "What's that about?"
"If you start drinking with them and talking all night, you can't get the rest you need to recover!" Ruby made up on the spot. "Let's go."
Jaune couldn't make out why his friend was acting so weird.
"Hey, team!" Ruby smiled, as she sat in the abandoned lounge. Jaune was sleeping in their room and she didn't want to wake him up. He was supposed to call his team, but the medicine the doctor gave him knocked him right out after dinner. If you could call a flavorless soup dinner. "I have so much to tell you!"
"We got a lot to tell you too, Ruby." Yang admitted.
"What happened?" Ruby asked instantly. Yang looked unusually serious. "Is everyone okay?"
"We just got back from our first mission," Yang replied, setting up the Scroll on the desk so she could show herself, Blake, and Weiss on the screen. "Well, things took a weird turn."
"How weird?" Ruby blinked and tilted her head.
"Turns out Torchwick and the White Fang were planning to use all the Dust they have been stealing to burst open an underground tunnel to let Grimm invade Vale." Weiss stated simply.
Ruby's brain stopped working for a moment as she stared.
"Ruby?" Yang waved her hand in front of the camera. "Sis? Are you still there?"
"Very funny," Ruby crossed her arms as she finished processing things. Her eyes narrowed. "Make fun of Ruby. I'm surprised you got Weiss to play along." She shook her head. "What on Remnant could Torchwick get by trying to destroy Vale with Grimm. I wasn't born yesterday!"
"They are serious, Ruby." Blake stated, looking up, her expression somber. "We managed to capture him after stopping the train."
Ruby's mouth fell open.
"Really?"
"How come you believe her!?" Yang demanded.
"Blake doesn't make bad jokes," Ruby huffed. "And there was a good chance you got Weiss to play along when she didn't want to. That's why she did it in a monotone."
"Clever reasoning," Weiss actually smiled. "It did sound like a joke. Sort of what you did when talking about your battle with that criminal Tyrian."
"Didn't we reach an understanding over that!" Ruby protested.
During their trip to Atlas, Ruby had a chance to call her team again and to her surprise, the first thing they did was apologize for not believing her about Tyrian Callows. They heard it from Nora and Ren and realized they passed it off without listening. Ruby accepted their apology and then promised to try to make sure what she said didn't sound like jokes either. Communication was the key. It was already a challenge with only being able to talk every couple days.
"Anyway, at least Torchwick is in custody," Weiss coughed. "Atlas took him. They will find out why the White Fang wanted to attack Vale."
"Even though the White Fang has been getting more violent, there are plenty of Faunus living in Vale," Blake crossed her arms. "That attack wouldn't do anything but cause countless casualties. It would make all the other kingdoms enact much stricter terrorism laws and make life even worse for Faunus."
"Did they believe that if they showed force like that, it would make the city cave to their demands?" Ruby asked.
"It's possible." Blake shook her head. "Some would. But it's obvious that wouldn't work. A tragedy like a breach would only end up with more deaths and hatred. If you lost a family member in that attack, would you forgive the White Fang?"
Ruby shook her head and didn't say anything.
"It was thanks to Pyrrha stopping the train we managed to prevent that disaster." Blake sighed in relief. "I keep imagining what could have happened."
"Oh, yeah," Yang pounded her fist into her other hand as she remembered something important. This was also a chance to lighten the mood. "When you get back, Ruby. I'm going to need your help."
"Help?" Ruby blinked. "With what?"
"Pyrrha's Semblance is Polarity…"
"She can control poles?" The young leader blurted out and Weiss facepalmed.
"Magnetism, Ruby." The heiress mumbled.
"There were times when we spared that I thought I was about to hit her and it felt like my punches changed slightly to just miss her," Yang continued. "I thought it was just my imagination and Pyrrha was just able to dodge in time. Now I realized she's been manipulating my weapons to pull them to the side so I would always miss." The blonde shook her head. "I'm not taking that lying down. I need my gauntlets made with metal she can't magnetize."
"Oh, I can do that." Ruby grinned. "I still have the blueprints I made. We might even be able to upgrade it if you want."
"You're the best, sis! If you were here, I would hug you!"
"Glad I'm here then." Ruby laughed as Yang stuck out her tongue.
"On a more serious note, if you hear anything about the White Fang in your travels, Ruby." Blake spoke up. "Can you tell us? We want to see if we can piece together their plans."
"And anything we decide to do will be done as a team, right Blake?" Yang glared at her.
"Yes, everything will be discussed ahead of time." Blake nodded.
"Just get some sleep now and then." Yang replied, looking concerned.
"Sleep's important, Blake." Ruby nodded.
"Enough about us," Weiss interjected. "We know these calls can't last forever. What's happening on your end? Anything big in Mistral?"
"We had to take out an Arachna nest that covered miles and miles of mountains." Ruby told them. "That was not fun." She shivered.
"Arachnas?" Yang asked, confusion etched on her face.
"Giant Grimm spiders," Weiss shivered at the thought. "Professor Port has mentioned them once."
"Oh… ewww…" Yang also found herself shivering.
"My condolences." Blake didn't look like she was upset she missed it. "I never had to fight those, but I heard of others fighting them during my time in the White Fang. They are quite resourceful, but weak against fire."
"Did you burn down the forest?" Yang asked instantly. "I would have done that. Kill them all."
"Sort of." Ruby giggled. Everything was funnier in hindsight. "Atlas was planning to do just that, but wanted us to go in and see if we could kill the Queen so they wouldn't have to. The nest was outside a main Lumber Yard that supplied Mistral and Atlas wood."
"Speaking of wood, are you still chopping it?" Yang couldn't resist speaking up.
Ruby glared at her sister and then continued as if she hadn't been interrupted.
"They would have lost a lot of trees which would have hurt both of the kingdom's economy, so we took care of it." The girl puffed her chest up importantly. "Actually… Jaune took care of it mostly. Uncle Qrow and I just killed some of the drone spiders. He blew up the Queen."
"Arc… blew up the queen?" Weiss repeated as if it was the most ludicrous thing in the world. "Like with a bomb or something?"
"Yep!" Ruby beamed. "An incendiary device Uncle Qrow gave him. Since we got separated, he slipped past enemy lines and took out the Queen." She couldn't talk about Vernal with anyone, or Ravan, so she had to leave them out.
"Aw yeah." Yang fist pumped. "Vomit Boy did something cool. Was it noticeable?"
"Yeah, we found him and the Queen was HUGE!" Ruby raised her free hand into the air. "Like the size of a small house! He burnt the nest to the ground and when we arrived, it was already dead."
"Impressive." Blake commented.
"Looks like Vomit Boy is showing he has some skills, eh Weiss?" Yang elbowed Weiss lightly in the side.
"Hmmph!" Weiss crossed her arms. "Arc's problem was he had no combat experience. While part of me still believes he shouldn't have been given this opportunity for cheating into Beacon, since he's getting training and experience, I can't really continue to berate him. When he and Ruby return, I will judge him on his skills, and not his past."
"AWWWW!" Yang pulled the white haired girl into a surprise hug. "Our little Weiss-y is growing up."
"A big change from when we first met." The corner of Blake's mouth twitched.
"Get off of me you lunkhead!" Weiss pushed her off as Ruby burst out laughing.
"Without me there, Yang has no one to hug," Ruby wiped a tear from her eye. "You'll have to put up with it until I come back."
"When will that be?" Weiss wanted to know. "I don't know how long I can stop myself from freezing her into a popsicle."
"You love me too much to do that." Yang told her confidently.
"They haven't killed each other yet, so I doubt they will." Blake addressed Ruby.
"I don't know for sure?" Ruby shrugged at Weiss' question. "At least a month. Uncle Qrow hasn't said anything about returning anytime soon."
"Guess he wants to put in as much training as possible." Yang suggested. "Uncle Qrow's one of the best Huntsman in the world. I bet when you and Vomit Boy return, you'll amaze everyone at how awesome you are now."
"Hehe, yep!" Ruby's gave them a bright smile. "You'll have to stop calling him Vomit Boy too once he beats you."
"Pssh, no way either of you two will beat me." Yang brushed off.
"Just you wait." Ruby pointed at the screen. "We're totally going to beat you in class. Though, we still have to practice for the Vytal Festival. We all have individual skills, but honestly… I've had more experience fighting with Jaune than even my bestie Weiss."
"We've trained together." Weiss pointed out.
"Yeah, but Jaune and I fight side by side most days." Ruby explained. "We even have team attacks. Both of us know how the other will strike so we can support each other. So when I come back, we have a lot of catching up to do."
Weiss went silent for a moment before nodding.
"I'm constantly amazed how much you've grown participating in this program," The heiress admitted. "It really did wonders."
"Hehe, yep!" Ruby agreed. "Anything else I need to know?"
"Nah, not really." Yang looked at the other two and they shook their heads. "Nope. Looks like we covered everything. When you get back, we'll tell you more about Torchwick in detail."
"I'm just glad he's finally arrested."
"Good night Ruby, stay safe."
"You too. I miss you all so much."
The call disconnected and Ruby stood up. Part of her still felt crappy not telling Yang about Raven. Qrow had stressed it the entire way back she couldn't tell Atlas or her team about Vernal and Raven. Officially, everything that happened was purely by her, Qrow, and Jaune. She knew Raven and Vernal were part of a bandit tribe now, but not giving credit where credit was due just felt off to the girl. Still, her uncle had a reason for any order he gave them. After nearly dying because she disobeyed him once before, Ruby wasn't going to do that again.
"Maybe things will make more sense in the morning." Ruby yawned. Her body was feeling a little heavy from the events that day. Pushing the door open to her and Jaune's room, she saw Jaune still passed out on his bed. The girl giggled at the little bit of drool leaking out of his open mouth. Her friend looked so adorable. "I probably shouldn't wake him."
She would lend him her Scroll tomorrow morning to call his team. He deserved his rest. Ruby plopped down on her bed and looked over. Her silver eyes were fixated on the boy.
"You were the hero today, Jaune." The words came out as a whisper. "I knew you could do it."
Turning over, Ruby closed her eyes and eventually let sleep overtake her.
The night was naturally not quiet, as they were in the middle of an Atlas Lumberyard. Vehicles and troops were moving around, even at night. Both of the kids were too tired to let that stop them from getting a good night's sleep. Hours passed like this until things eventually settled down. Turned out even the Atlas military didn't want to work all night. However, once most of the base's lights went out except for security ones, something happened in the kids' room.
A red light appeared on the wall and opened up into a circular portal.
Feel free to leave a review, comment, suggestions, or ideas, I love reading them. If you have a question you wish to ask and would like a quick answer, feel free to message me directly. I try to respond to those within a day or two. Comments, I tend to respond to in the next chapter.
Bet you thought Raven was gone, huh? She left pretty quickly at the beginning because there really wasn't much for her to discuss. I thought about it, but it didn't seem like her to stick around in that situation. It was to pick Vernal up and take her back to their camp. However, once she learned about some interesting information, she was sure to come back.
And some people were interested in Jaune's new clothes. He will be getting some new ones soon. I welcome ideas. Pictures of a cool outfit give bonus points.