Jaune reached for another piece of paperwork when he felt his chest vibrate.
He froze.
That feeling...
His hand dashed towards his neck; his family symbol coated in a thin layer of silver was vibrating.
Jasmine...
He grabbed the necklace before tearing open a secret compartment on the back of it; there, a small chip appeared that was flashing with a red light.
Jaune's hands began shaking as he shoved the small chip into the bottom of his scroll- a holographic map suddenly popped up showing the city, with a flashing red dot appearing near the residential district.
Halfway across town.
Jaune dashed out of his office, snatching his cane and coat on the way.
He sent a quick text to Ozpin, asking him to send backup to the location on his scroll- even if they wouldn't make it in time. Better safe than sorry.
He shoved open the front door to the building and forced his Aura to concentrate on his brace. A series of mechanical whirls sounded out as gears spun and the brace activated.
Jaune flared his Aura and sprinted down the street, dodging several civilians as they passed by.
As Jaune ran, he poured his Aura into his ring and out came several objects. The first being a small golden ball around the size of a bean. Jaune didn't hesitate before he swallowed the object. Immediately, he felt that his muscles seemed to gain much more energy than usual like he had taken a dozen energy drinks all at once.
Jaune took the second object, a glove that had several fancy black designs etched onto the surface. The strange designs glowed faintly against the white cloth. He slipped the glove onto his right hand as he turned the corner.
Jaune dove to the left, just barely avoiding the couple that had been 'having fun' away from the crowds. Jaune heard the man begin to shout at him, but he ignored it.
Jas came first.
Jaune glanced at the scroll he had put away earlier- still not even close. He had to go faster.
Much faster.
Jaune growled as he pushed his Aura to the limit. Immediately, the sidewalk cracked beneath his boots, and he moved.
He ran as hard as he could, passing by countless civilians as they celebrated in the streets- ignoring their cries of alarm as he made his way towards the marker.
Jaune spotted a van blocking the sidewalk ahead- a food truck going by the greasy smell wafting over to him.
He merely jumped- his Aura boosting his legs so much he sailed straight over the truck with room to spare. Several bystanders stared at him with their mouths hanging open, but he moved on.
Jaune continued running and dodging for several minutes; he was gradually getting closer. As he rounded another corner, he skidded to a stop.
In front of him, the entire street, as well as the next several ones, were cordoned off by the VPD- the Vytal Parade was passing through. Several multi-colored floats that bordered on crimes against art with a multitude of mascots and celebrities passed by.
He looked at his scroll, and his eye twitched.
She was there, right across the street. No doubt, something horrible had happened, and he was here, staring at this shit-show of a celebration. He wanted to punch something.
Considering everything nearby would be obliterated if he did so, he compromised by thinking of all the things he would do to the person who hurt Jasmine once he got there.
Jaune stood there, eyeing both the VPD barricade and the street itself. He would no doubt be noticed if he attempted to cross without some distraction- his clothes were unique, but not that unique. His only real option was...
Jaune groaned.
He really hated doing that.
Jaune ran to one of the buildings on his left. Making sure that no one was watching, he threw his cane straight up towards the roof. Jaune's eyes remained glued to the cane as it sailed up and over the edge of the building.
The handle of the cane flashed briefly as it was illuminated by the fireworks above- a silver rose.
Once it began to descend, Jaune used his Aura to activate the glove on his right hand. The dark symbols etched onto the glove's surface seemed to pulse for a brief moment.
The air around Jaune began to twist and compress- his muscles felt like jello, and his brace started to throb.
The screaming of the crowds, the bright fireworks lighting up the dark city, the smell of greasy food- all of it disappeared.
The golden pocket watch that sat in his breast pocket ticked once.
Then, it all came back. The noise of the countless living beings, the fireworks, and the smell of food- it all reappeared. Yet, the spot where Jaune once stood was empty.
Upon the rooftop, Jaune had his cane in one hand, while the other was preventing his stomach from ejecting his dinner.
His motion sickness had evolved since his youth- who knew bending reality to scale buildings like a superhero would cause motion sickness?
Jaune growled and cleared the sarcasm from his head. Now wasn't the time.
He moved towards the edge of the rooftop, overlooking the parade as it passed underneath him.
How little they truly knew, celebrating like this…
Jaune shook his head, clearing his thoughts before gauging the distance between the two streets. Since it was the Main street in the commercial district, it was much larger than a typical street- so much so Jaune doubted he could make the jump in one go. The building opposite of him was also much taller...
He sighed.
It looked like he was in for a pleasant visit to the closest trash can once he got to Jas.
He bent his knees, and at the same time, guiding his Aura to the bottom of his feet- he would need quite a bit of height to get this right.
He took a deep breath and let loose.
He soared into the air, the wind forcing his hair back as the city below him seemed to shrink. The city was beautiful- even though most of the lights were off so people could watch the fireworks- it still shone. He smiled. This is what he was fighting for.
As he looked towards Beacon, he felt a memory stir.
He saw the city during the day- he was staring at the clouds, trying to hold his lunch in as he rode on the massive airship. He wasn't very successful- probably even made things worse. He felt his stomach gurgle, and he bolted towards a trash can. As he ran, he passed by two women. Well, one woman and one girl. The woman had a mane of blonde hair the extended down to her waist and the girl…
Jaune shook himself from the memory- he was doing that a lot lately. He really needed more sleep- or caffeine.
Jaune waited another moment before gripping his cane tightly and throwing it towards the building on the other side. He used some Aura when he threw it, causing it to shoot straight like an arrow.
As Jaune reached the crescendo in his arc, the cane embedded itself into the brick wall across the street.
Jaune groaned again as he activated his glove.
The world seemed to fade away once more.
Jaune rolled as he landed on the sidewalk, hidden by the shadow of the building.
Jaune glanced at his scroll before moving forwards- she was still in the same spot as last time.
Jaune forced down his dread as he made his way forward. The crowds were much thicker on this side, preventing him from moving as fast as he could. The smell of sweat and humans packed together much closer than they should be didn't help with his concentration.
As he was making his way through the crowds, he felt something from up ahead. It was very faint- if he didn't have his Aura enhancing his senses he would have missed the tremor, but he still felt it.
Someone had just hit something very hard, very close to the marker.
Jaune started shoving his way through the crowd, ignoring their cries and protests- they didn't matter. Not while she was in danger.
Jaune continued shoving his way through the crowd until he saw it.
The alley where the marker was.
Where Jasmine was.
Where his only friend was.
Jaune quickly entered the alley and froze.
Directly in front of him, a tall man dressed in green was standing, looking slightly dazed. Opposite of him, another man was half-buried in the wall. One of his arms was dislocated, and he was bleeding profusely. It looked like he would pass out any second.
But, he didn't care.
Sitting in a pool of bright-red liquid, a silver necklace reflected the light coming from the street. The necklace held a pendant which was diamond shaped, resembling a dust crystal in its proportions. Blotches of red were covering the surface of the pendant. It took Jaune a second to realize what that red was-
Blood.
Ba-Bump
Jaune stared at the pool of blood. There was so much of it.
Ba-Bump
Jaune continued to stare- the color captivated him. It seemed so familiar…
Ba-Bump
It reminded him of spring for some reason- of flowers…
Ba-Bump
Which was strange- blood and flowers didn't usually go together…
BA-BUMP
There was only one color that would go with it...
BA-BUMP
Wide, innocent silver eyes stared into his own, while a bright smile blinded him.
BA-BUMP
...Red...
BA-BUMP
...Red like roses….
The two men standing in the alley, the bustling noise of the streets, the light from the lanterns hung in celebration- it all seemed to fade away.
Jaune didn't care; all he could do was stare at that silver necklace as it drowned. Mocking him, taunting him, telling him he couldn't do it.
He could never have saved her.
How could he, when he couldn't save his friends when he was at his best?
His vision swam, and suddenly, he was sitting in front of a broken castle. The sky was dark, and the land was barren- almost as if the apocalypse had happened when he wasn't looking. They were all there, his friends, his companions- except one. She had died so many years ago; it was hard to remember what she looked like at times. He had been so young…
So weak…
Jaune stood up and glanced at the strike team- they were all ready. They had been waiting for this day since the Fall. They were ready to finally end it all- end the suffering and pain.
No matter what it took.
Jaune grabbed his oldest friend and unsheathed her brilliant white blade while bracing her shield counterpart on his forearm. He was ready. Ready to end this war.
Ready to avenge her.
He signaled, and they moved out like they had practiced thousands of times- the only thing different being...
Only two would come back this time.
Jasmine groaned. Her head felt like it wanted to break out of her skull and yell at whoever did this to her. She was inclined to agree with it.
She felt something warm running from the base of her skull- ah, that was blood. She shook her head slightly. It seemed she had lost quite a bit, given the fact her hair seemed to be sticking together in clumps. No doubt her usually immaculate pale-yellow hair had been ruined.
She opened her eyes, and only splotches of color greeted her.
Great. It was just like when she was forced to wear glasses as a kid- except this time it was her life on the line and not her social status.
She moved her arms- nothing felt broken. Next, her legs-
Jasmine tried to scream, but only wet gurgling came out. Something was seriously wrong with her throat.
She slowly turned her head to the side and nearly threw up. Her left leg had twisted to an unnatural degree- she couldn't even begin to comprehend how long it would take to heal.
If it would at all.
Jasmine stopped that thought before she could start panicking. Now wasn't the time.
The last thing she remembered was that man- her savior- tackling that beast who had almost...assaulted her. Then, she was...launched? She couldn't remember exactly what happened- the only sure thing she knew was that she hit something. Hard.
She slowly moved her arms and, barely, managed to push herself up into something that vaguely resembled a sitting position. Her vision was still splotchy, but she could vaguely make out she had been thrown to the very end of the alley- the wall that blocked her escape route had a rather human-sized dent in it but was still standing.
If only…
A sudden scream of pain interrupted her thoughts. An object roughly human-sized came flying in her direction- oh, wait. That was a human. Or a body, at least.
The body landed with a dull smack a good twenty feet from her- a distance as far as the sky was to the ground in her current state. A series of taps began to sound out- she had to strain herself to hear over the groaning the soon-to-be corpse was making.
If only her damn vision weren't so-
Her mind suddenly stalled. She recognized that tapping noise.
A silhouette appeared in front of the body. Jasmine knew it well. She smiled- no doubt it would have looked unnatural to anyone else, but she didn't care.
Jaune was here.
He was right there, in front of her. No doubt wearing his ever-present smile, while he talked in a calm tone-
"What the fuck did you do to her?"
Her mind went blank as she heard him...growl.
Jaune didn't growl. He didn't scream; he didn't yell- he was always calm and collected. He did lose himself to frustration a few times, but this was different.
It was almost like he was a different person.
She tried to call out to him, tried to get his attention- all that came out was a croak.
The silhouette that was Jaune moved closer to the man lying on the pavement, and his figure started to become more apparent. He didn't look in her direction, though. It seemed he was so focused on his target that he didn't notice her sitting in the shadows.
Jasmine focused on his face, trying to find any hint of the previous kindness and aloofness that was usually present- there was none. She moved to his eyes, and she felt her breath hitch in her throat.
The kind, sky blue eyes that always held a hint of mirth within - like he was privy to some secret joke - was gone. In their place, the eyes of a killer emerged. They were squinted in rage, almost to slits. The sky-blue color was replaced with a shade of blue that seemed only one step away from black. When Jasmine looked at those eyes, she felt as if she were looking at an Apex predator- something like the Grimm, but ten times worse.
Jasmine couldn't even begin to imagine how someone could gain a pair of eyes so monstrous.
The man that was once Jaune began to bend down, reaching for the man who he had thrown her way. The man had passed out at this point, and Jasmine finally recognized who he was.
He was her savior.
Jaune looked murder at the man before him.
Jasmine was gone.
They were all gone.
She was gone.
His hopes and dreams- their hopes and dreams. All ashes now.
Because of the man before him.
Oh, he was sure the other man he had knocked out had some hand in this, but the man before him looked like he could handle much less pain than the other one — a quality he needed to find out what happened.
What they did to her.
Jaune went to pick up the man when he heard a strange sound.
It was a croaking noise, sounding very weak. He glanced at the man's face.
He looked out cold, yet he still managed to sound so weak and sympathetic.
Jaune snarled.
This man had the balls to sound pathetic when he attacked a civilian woman with absolutely no combat training?
He would enjoy this.
Just as he picked the man up and flung him around his shoulder, he heard it again.
That croaking noise.
Jaune smacked the man, and he froze.
The man made a noticeably different noise. It was a deep groan, something that would sound more reasonable coming from him than a croak. Jaune's eyes widened.
If the croaking noise wasn't coming from him, then…?
Jaune boosted his senses with Aura and turned.
What he saw froze him.
Instinctively, he knew it wasn't her.
That was just blood dyeing her hair, making it a dark brown - bordering on black.
It was just a trick of the light causing her yellow eyes to change colors.
It was just a coincidence she had that same relieved smile she did.
It was just his imagination that she looked exactly like…
"...Ruby…"
The way her hoped-filled eyes locked onto his own, the way her smile brightened as she realized he noticed her, the way-
Suddenly, Jaune felt his energy drain away- he had run out of time. He dropped the man hanging from his shoulder as he fell to the ground. His vision slowly went black, and he felt his memories stir. He didn't try to stop it; he didn't have the energy to. Besides, in some cruel, twisted fashion-
-it was the only way he could deal with it all.
Jaune was standing in front of a grave. Snow fell around him as he stood still, not caring that the elements wished to bury him.
He honestly thought about letting them. The alternative was almost worse.
To his right, a teenager stood. He was dressed in clothes that screamed he was young- though his demeanor said he was anything but.
"It's time, Jaune."
Jaune's eyes briefly flickered over to the teen, before resting back onto the grave.
The teen waited a few moments before sighing in what sounded like defeat.
"Five minutes. We have an appointment to keep. It wouldn't do to keep Polendina waiting for long- you know how antsy he gets when he has new toys to play with." The teen chuckled for a moment before cutting himself off when Jaune gave no reaction.
The teen sighed again and moved away from the grave after giving a small bow.
It was the least he could do for them.
The least any of them could do.
"Hey, Jaune?"
Jaune moved forward, his oldest companion jingling at his waist. She had taken a lot of damage during the fight- almost to the point where it would be better to retire her altogether.
Jaune stopped when he was a pace away from the grave.
"What is it, Ruby?"
It was simple- made of white granite that wanted to blend in with the snow, almost as if it didn't want to be noticed by others. Not that anyone would.
It was a rather long walk.
"Do you fear death?"
The marker had a few words written in easy-to-read, yet elegant text.
Here Lies Those Who Gave Everything, To Save Everything.
No names, no grandiose descriptions, dates or anything like that. It's what they all agreed on beforehand.
What they all wanted.
"Yes."
He grasped the sword that hung by his waist. It had been with him longer than anyone else- it was a symbol to the start of his journey. To the start of his life of adventure and action- the life of a Hunter.
"Well, I don't. Everything ends eventually, so why should I be scared of it?"
Jaune's hand twitched.
Oh, how naive he had been. To believe the world worked like the stories his parents fed him, not thinking of how it would inspire him down this path.
"You have more courage than I do, Ruby. I'm terrified of the unknown- even if Ozpin's memories imply there is a Heaven, there's the small chance that it doesn't exist, it's shut down, or any number of things that could go wrong."
His memories stirred - He stared down at a pair of silver eyes as they shied away from his awkward own- his hand hanging limply near her face as she reached out to grab it and exit the crater near the cliffs...
"Hmm, Nah. I just as terrified as you are with most things- it's just death that I'm not afraid of. There's just this feeling I have, telling me to believe- that we'll all see each other again up there. Not that I want that to happen anytime soon, of course. Heh."
He sighed.
...Maybe naivety wasn't that bad after all.
He drew his once proud and noble blade- now a mere husk of its former self. The ever-present shine was gone, a dull look replacing its old glory. The first half of the blade was gone- food for a particularly tough Winged Beringel that guarded the inner chambers of the castle.
"Never change, Ruby. Never change."
Jaune stabbed his old companion into the ground into the side of the grave. He took some ice dust from his pocket and used it to freeze the sword in place. In this climate, it would last a very long time.
Jaune took one more look at their resting place before turning around. As he did, however, he felt a hand on his back as it pushed him forwards. He quickly spun and stared at her.
Silver eyes stared into his own with an intensity he thought he'd never see again. After a moment-
She smiled.
When Jaune blinked, she was gone- the only thing marking her presence was the smell of spring on the harsh winter breeze.
Jaune felt something stir within him- something he had thought died with them.
Jaune turned around and met up with the teenager. Without a word spoken between them, they began their long and arduous walk back to Atlas. They moved at a relatively quick pace despite the harsh climate; after all-
They had work to do.
But, as they left the clearing, Jaune failed to notice the speck of red within the storm. Where she last stood, a single rose bloomed in the cold, desolate wastes of winter.
Hello everyone, hope you guys enjoyed this new chapter. I tried something different with my writing style- I got rid of the first person internal thoughts that I had used previously in favor of what you see now. Let me know what you guys think; I'm hoping this new style injects more personality into the characters than before.
Moving on, I dropped a few hints on some future products Jaune will be using and I'm excited to bring those elements into the story Soon^TM. Jaune himself has finally started to reveal more of his character and backstory- something this whole mini-arc has been leading up to and one of the main purposes of it- besides introducing Diam, of course. Speaking of, no Diam is not a bad guy- merely a tad overconfident in being able to deal with any situation, which gets him into trouble as seen with the last chapter.
Speaking of, Jaune will make it up to Diam once he learns of the true nature of the situation next chapter.
Anyways, that's enough from me. Please, as always-
Review, Favorite and Follow if you enjoyed!
See ya next time!