Not dead, just busy.
Teacher's Assistant
Jaune didn't know what he expected when Port dragged him off on what he proclaimed to be a 'Proper Hunt'. Even as a professor, the man had a reputation of being eccentric. Now that he thought about it, everyone at Beacon was one way or another. Oobleck spoke a million miles a minute and could zip around like Ruby, Goodwitch was a hot warden that could eviscerate your soul if you pissed her off enough, Ozpin was speculated to lace whatever drink he had with hard drugs like an addict, and the list for the staff went on and on.
Professor Port liked to tell wild stories that there was no realistic way to validate, torture students with long winded exploits and useless wisdom, and above all get the whole of the female populace to hate him for a myriad of reasons. And as Jaune tried to tune out his latest story about storming a lost fortress taken over by armored Grimm, he couldn't help but agree. If he wasn't putting students to sleep, he was defiantly distracting you.
"What for, young lad! Give'em a good smack!" The portly bastard advised from his lawn chair. Ducking between the swipe of the Ursa, Jaune smashed the edge of his shield underneath it's chin and shoved his blade into its underbelly. Feeling the weight start to give, he desperately ripped the sword out to avoid the falling corpse. Black blood and gore followed, dripping off the blade. "Bravo! Now keep one alive while you do that."
"This isn't easy!" He wheezed, trying to collect himself. That was the fourth Grimm he 'failed to capture'. Port's words, not his.
"Of course not, that's what assistants are for. Now hop to it! I want three live specimens by nightfall, and I believe in you Johnny." He assured him while sipping from his thermos. Jaune glared at him through his sweaty hair and vowed petty vengeance. If he lived that is. "This is meant as a punishment for your actions in the cafeteria. Poor Glynda had to file the paperwork and repair the damage." He sipped from his thermos. "I'm surprised you're still alive."
"That was not my fault." Jaune growled. "Yang attacked me."
"So I hear. Didn't you put food in her hair? You should know that messing with a lady's mane often ends in pain."
"It wasn't on purpose!" Everyone at Beacon knew touching her hair was a one-way ticket to the nurse's office, thanks to Russel fucking around and finding out. "If she learned to keep a level head, none of this would've happened!"
"Ah, yes. She does have a quite a temper. From what I've see, it's tied to her semblance. For her to fight, Yang has to rely on it." The portly man explained from his lawn chair. "Poor girl must feel terrible."
"I seriously doubt that." The bitch can take her feelings and shove it.
"You're new in the profession, so I see why you don't understand. Don't you find it awfully strange that Huntsman are… well strange?" Jaune thought about the statement, not really noticing it before.
"No. I've been busy trying to stay alive."
"And right you are for that!" Port assured him. "Like a pup learning to walk and bark for the first time. Of course, you don't know it yet. But think about it. Have you noticed that there aren't quite people like us in the regular world? Working a regular job or Heaven forbid, accounting." He said with such distain he hadn't heard before. And now that he really did think back, no he didn't.
There were Hunters in training working menial jobs like fast food, labor, or retail, but he never saw older Huntsman working. "Isn't that because the Grimm are a bigger threat?"
"Right and wrong, my boy. Yes, the Grimm are more important than serving sandwiches or crunching numbers, but the main reason why don't commonly interact is because we're quite simply 'Built Different' as the kids call it. And our lives depend on this difference."
"I'm still lost here." Nothing he was saying was making much sense other than stating the obvious. "We depend on Aura to survive, I know that."
"Still only half right young Jonathan. We do, but it also affects us. Take Ruby for example. A free spirit. Jumps from idea to idea and easily excitable. Her semblance reflects that, unrestrained by the world and willing to go wherever she wants. Weiss's rigid nature and adherence to structure is needed to activate her own semblance. Precise glyphs, each with a different power need to be meticulously created for their desire effect."
"Blake is no different. Putting on a façade then disappearing when it suits her. Her shadow clones are quite remarkable to see in action. And Yang follows this same rule, we all do. Anger and pain give her strength to keep fighting, so her personality is reflective of that. The poor woman needs conflict. And I believe she regrets putting you through a window, at least partially. But the point is, you're no different."
"You're saying I'm being influence by my semblance? I thought it was the other way around." Jaune crossed his arms and thought on it, remembering his lesson with Ozpin.
"Eh, still under debate my boy. I find it better if it was a constant struggle against our nature! Fighting for our better selves and all that." Port said, taking a long drink form his thermos. "And it's the reason why people outside of our profession don't understand our little quirks and behaviors. Why, I remember a time twenty odd years ago where I was in the deep south of Vacuo. Following the trail…" Jaune tuned him out, the moment a story started being told.
Thinking back on his behavior, there wasn't anything obvious he could tell.
Dude, I'm right here. Other than that. And how can you really observe yourself? Was he being influenced by his semblance? Jaune liked to think he would have caught that, but how can you really be sure? It was hard to argue against it after unlocking his Aura. He was stronger, faster, and undoubtedly tougher than he was a year ago. The changes were chalked up to training in his mind, but what if it was his semblance shaping him? Or vice versa?
Wasn't his Semblance tied to taking Aura? That's what Ozpin said, and he hadn't steered him wrong yet. How would that affect him? Then again, he did have a talking arm that no one else could hear. He really should ask someone about that.
"Moral of the story lad, don't mix up twins when it comes to a family matter, or you'll be ankle deep in grape sauce." Port finished his story, smacking his lips. "Now that's enough story telling for one day. Back to the hunt, Johnny boy! Those Grimm won't wrestle themselves."
"…following the discovery of the ruins near Crag, researchers became more apprehensive to the widely accepted theory of 'The Sundering'. Evidence from the left behind relics in said ruins give light to a different history all together, suggesting the current moon in orbit over this planet, was at one point whole in human history. How far, however, is still up to debate. The items catalogued were estimated to be between seven to nine thousand years old, with an unfortunately significant margin of error."
"Not to include the ruins, which might even be far older. Another promising…." Professor Oobleck rattled on about something or another as Yang desperately tried to keep pace, writing down everything he said. She thought she'd be grade quizzes with an answer key, filing paperwork maybe. Boring as hell, she knew, and downright mind numbing, but it wouldn't be hard. This though, this frustrated and annoyed her to no end.
Her hand cramped an hour ago, so she was constantly pooling Aura in fucking writing. She was stuck in a god damn desk for the whole time, and he refused to let her go anywhere. Seriously, this whole session was made to piss her off. Yang wanted to fight, needed to vent some steam by either clubbing or going out to the Forest and beat some Grimm, but Oobleck wouldn't let her. At this point, she would've taken Port just to do something.
And most of her mood stemmed from the guilt on calling out Jaune. Thinking back on it, she might've crossed a line. But what can you do? He didn't really belong here. Just some dude with freshly unlocked Aura bumbling around an arguably deadly school. No real training or gear, just a sword and shield and a bionic arm that he lost while trying to be one. Still, she had to apologize. Her conscious just wouldn't let it slide.
"Ms. Xiao-Long, did you write that down?" Oobleck interrupted her inner griping.
"Working on it!" Her frustration was evident in her grip, which broke the pen in half. Ink blotched the paper, wasting the entire page of work. "Oh, for fucks' sake."
"That's unfortunate." Oobleck observed. "Grab another paper and pen and we'll start again."
"Ugh." Kill her already.
"Now where was I? Ah yes, Professor Collenbourgh's findings. Concluding his research on the uncovered tapestries…"
Mud and dirt were tracked through Beacon's halls as he limped back to his dorm. Cuts and bruises littered his body again just like every other day. Training at least left him with a sense of accomplishment. Pointlessly hunting Grimm for live capture was less rewarding. That was where most of his foul mood stemmed from, how utterly senseless all that effort was. They could just go out to Emerald Forest and hunt Grimm there for study, but no. He had to grab a flapping Nevermore that tried to peck his eye out and shove in a cage.
And that was the least problematic one. Corralling a Beowulf into a cage is an actual nightmare, one that he would probably have to repeat again. Problems for future Jaune. Current Jaune wanted some grub. Heading over to the common room to raid its pantry for all the snacks it was worth, he found it was occupied by someone else. Someone who was zoning out by watching the Tv and had an icepack over her hand.
Yang lazily tracked her eyes towards him from the couch, taking a moment to get a good look at him. "You look like shit." Jaune grumbled at the comment, set on ignoring her, and grabbed some food. He did notice she seemed more drained than normal. "What did Port have you do? Wrestle with an Ursa?"
"Beowulf." Jaune sighed, finding out he was too tried to care.
"That sucks. Oobleck had me be his scribe. Write down everything he says in class. I thought my hand was going to fall off after the first hour, but he just wouldn't. Stop. Talking."
"Sounds like someone I know."
"Oh, fuck off." Yang sighed. "I'm sorry, alright?"
"You are?" Jaune turned to look at her to be sure. Tired lilac eyes met his. That and her haggard appearance seemed to agree with the sentiment. All he could really do to respond was raise an eyebrow on account of his brain being fried and nothing else coming to mind.
"Don't look at me like that." Exhaustion and sleep deprivation is a funny thing. He was still angry at her, sure. It wasn't that hard. But being angry takes energy. Energy he didn't have. "I fucked up, okay?"
"Damn right you did. You've got anger issues."
"I know, alright? Oobleck wouldn't shut up about it. Or anything for that matter. Just made me fucking sit there and stew."
"That must be torture for you." Jaune silently thanked the professor for his form of torment.
"Yeah." Yang looked defeated, then she gazed up at him with those polished lilac eyes. "Please forgive me?" They were almost entrancing, begging for understanding. And to a degree, he did. Port told him that semblances often influenced their wielders. But even as his eyes traced the gentle neckline to her ample cleavage, Jaune realized there only really was one choice.
"No." He swallowed as he said it, wrenching his eyes back to hers. Gods, why'd they make her so attractive? "It's not going to be that easy." It might have been easier to forgive and forget, let everyone get along. But being a spiteful bastard was its own reward.
"Fine." She sighed but still held his stare. "I'll just have to make you."
"Do it and I tell Ruby." Nice thinking Jaune.
You're welcome.
"Don't you fucking dare."
"I will." Maybe using Ruby as hostage over her older sister might be morally dubious, but hell, his siblings did it all the time. All the while, Yang now glared at him. "I won't if you won't."
"Promise?"
"An Arc always keeps his word." And as he said it, Jaune could swear he could hear his father dejectedly sighing.
"Well then..." Yang said, continuing her death stare. "Politely eat a dick."
"You first."
"That doesn't make sense. There's nothing there that would be worth taking."
"Not to you, but for the White Fang, they could use MRE's more than you would. When we traveled between outposts, that's all we lived off of." Blake circled a building on the map stapled to the wall in red marker.
"But why not just raid a supply line? There are train tracks not even a mile away from it." Weiss argued pointing to the indication of railway routes.
"The manpower required to ambush an armed convoy in the middle of Grimm territory is something they just don't have. Civilian targets in settlements are ironically safer to steal from."
"So? From what I've seen, they have more than enough. They attack Dust mining outposts often enough for us to hire armed security just for them, not including Grimm attacks."
"That's Atlas, Snowflake." Kali was on the bed, lazily watching the two go back and forth. "Here, the racism isn't as obvious. It's subtle enough where it doesn't actively hinder their lifestyle, but just enough to gather a following. They simple don't have enough desperate people to pull it off."
"Don't call me Snowflake." Weiss huffed and turned back to the wall. "That still doesn't explain the Dust robberies, nor them working with Roman."
"No." Blake agreed, staring at the assortment of newspapers, articles, and reports from across Vale. "He treated them like animals, and they still followed his orders… None of it make sense." Ruby listened intently, sprawled out on the floor and staring at the ceiling. After Jaune was abducted by Port, Blake and Weiss went off to the library to research something. She didn't really remember, just the overwhelming feeling of satisfied exhaustion.
To reward herself for a successful modification or what was arguably a sleep deprived haze of tinkering, Ruby stumbled back to her dorm and passed out. She got maybe a few hours before the nightmare she was having woke her up. At least she didn't scream anymore, no need to bother everyone else with that. Anyway, she awoke to Weiss and Blake tacking papers to the wall on Blake's side of the room.
From what she heard; Weiss was trying to understand Blake's plight and be a better person. Not that she was judging! It was great, that she was string to solve whatever weird racist issues she had. How that equated to them trying to investigate the White Fang, she didn't know though. Seemed kind of backwards to her, but hey, at least they weren't attacking each other. They still argued though, but it was more of a '5.56 Blackout is better than .223, you idiot' than 'All inferior beings are slaves under my rule, Mwahahahahaha!'
She might still be sleep deprived.
Also, Kali showed up at some point teasing Blake and correcting Weiss nonstop. Not that she minded, it was a nice change of pace. Kali also kept both girls in check somehow when she was around. Ruby looked at the upside-down collection of papers from where she laid, trying to decipher the tiny words and numbers. The thought of facing the White Fang again left an ugly pit of dread in her stomach.
Danger wasn't the issue, at least not for her. The issue was holding back. They had courses on how Huntsman should interact with civilians back at Signal, but that wasn't until her next year. Well, before Ozpin invited her to Beacon. She didn't know how soft they were, like biting into a gooey cookie. Ugh. Now she just ruined cookies for her. Thank you, brain, and all your bad ideas. Now the intrusive thoughts were back.
Images of her slicing, cutting, and dismembering people came and went. She hadn't really told anyone about it because she knew it was wrong. The images just sort of… stayed there. Even as she watched Weiss complaining that setting up base in a fishery near the docks is a stupid idea from the floor. Mulling on the thought of how uncertain such a place could be to hide known terrorists, the door opened to let in their missing teammate.
Ruby craned her neck to see Jaune paused at the doorway, covered in dirt, cuts and the odd black feather. Behind him she could briefly see Yang going into her own dorm. He stood there, watching Weiss and Blake bicker about locations, unaware that he was back. Then his eyes drew to the violated wall of information. A deep breath was inhaled by her partner as he closed his eyes and the door.
"Why, gods?" He whispered up to the ceiling before exhaling. Ruby was secretly glad he was here to talk some sense into them. There was also a little nagging part in her mind that said she should help any way possible. Stopping the White Fang is what a hero would do, but right now she didn't really feel like one. Ozpin said it was being handled, so why should they start their own investigation? But now she just felt like she was hiding from her responsibilities of a huntress.
Ruby hated her brain sometimes.
"No." It was the first words from Jaune that morning at breakfast. He pointedly avoided acknowledging what Weiss and Blake were doing in favor of sleep and a shower. Now that he had food and a semi-goodnight's sleep, Jaune's mental faculties were back. Blake, Weiss, Ruby, and their sister team looked up from their own food to stare at him.
"No what?" Pyrrha asked between bites of hash browns.
"But we have a lead!" Blake slammed her hands on the table and stood.
"Then give it to Ozpin." Jaune shot back.
"It'll just be caught up in red tape. Not to mention the incompetence of VPD." Weiss argued. "Roman has been robing Dust stores for months now and they still haven't caught him."
"Still doesn't mean we need to get involved." Jaune would like a normal time at Beacon, not this life-or-death scenario shit. "We're students. And as team leader, I'm tell you that we are not getting involved." He sighed and leaned back in his stool. "Give whatever information you have to Ozpin and let him take care of it. Please."
"Nothing will get done." Blake said with clenched hands.
"Well, what's your plan? Go in guns blazing and demanding their surrender? Hate to say it, but that didn't work last time!" He'd rather not deal with any of them ever again.
"No. We were planning on doing reconnaissance." Weiss said, crossing her arms. "There's a supposed gathering at a fishing warehouse near the docks. A recruitment drive for more members. Whoever is in charge of their PR department even got a band to play." Then, to the eternal surprise to Jaune, she pulled out a goddamned pamphlet. "Motions of White I think they're called?"
"Motions of White!?" Nora snatched the pamphlet from Weiss's hands. "I love them! They have a new album out that I just NEED. Yang, can we go? Pretty, pretty please?"
"I don't see why not." Yang said. "As long as you promise not to cause any trouble."
"Yay! Here that Renny? We need to get costumes!"
"Wonderful." He sounded less than enthused.
"And you can go as a sloth Faunus, we wouldn't need to change anything, and you can act like your normal self. Pyrrha would have to get a tail or something, and Yang can get cat ears!"
"I'm not wearing cat ears, that's Blake's department."
"Wait, wait, wait." Jaune really couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You're not serious about this, right?"
"Why not?" Yang shrugged. The enabling bitch even had a glint in her eye. "We're not there to cause trouble. Just have a fun time and enjoy a concert. Sure, maybe we'll have to sit through a spiel about rising up or something, but it looks pretty harmless. And it's been a while since we had a team outing."
"See? Just having a good time." Blake unhelpfully supplied. "Not even that dangerous." Jaune narrowed his eyes and weighed his options. He really didn't like this. Not only would it be dangerous territory in his opinion, but downright stupid.
"Let me see that thing." Nora handed him the pamphlet. 'Having trouble fitting in? Feeling isolated from friends and loved ones? Racist comments getting you down? No worries, the Whitney Foundation well help you solves those problems! Join us today!' "Why does it say Whitney Foundation?"
"It's a front for White Fang recruitment." Blake explained. "They usually offer aide to those in need, but we used it to network and gather support for the cause. I mean, you can't just go around telling people to join a terrorist organization."
"Where did you even get this?"
"Sun gave it to me."
"Your boytoy?" Yang slyly commented.
"He's not my boytoy." Though Blake's slight blush didn't hide the fact. "He follows me around like a lost puppy after class. It's annoying."
"Whatever you say. No need to get catty." Collective groans from the table complemented Yang's shit eating grin.
"Blake's hopeless love life aside," Weiss began.
"Shut it."
"If we give this information to the authorities, there's a very high chance it'll be leaked, and the meet won't happen. Ironically enough, having Faunus sympathizers within the VPD would make it harder to arrest them. That and a few are simple bought off by interested parties."
"You have to be kidding me."
"I'm not. The intricacies of Valean politics are more democratic than Atlas, making them more prone to corruption. Or more prone to outside influences that are not in the interest of the government or even the people for that matter. Having a handful of trusted individuals, like Atlas has, strongly deters the effects of corruption. Even the martial approach the nations has to-"
"Careful, Weiss. Your superiority is showing." Blake said dryly from next to her.
"I am just stating facts!"
"Sure, you are." The Faunus turned to him. "There's no harm in going, Jaune. Just… A meet and greet. No fights or anything. Perfectly civilian." Blake tried to convince him. Looking at the pamphlet in his hands, he saw the event to happen a week from now. Time to mull it over, instead of outright rejecting.
Burn it. I don't even want to be anywhere near that place.
You think I do?
"I'll think it over." He eventually said. "But it's not like you can go, with you still on house arrest."
"You mean this thing?" Blake pulled out her hand, revealing the beeping anklet twirling around her finger. It mocked him and any illusion of control over his life, undone by his teammates.
"You're just going to go anyway, aren't you?" Jaune sighed.
"Didn't feel right without getting your support, but yeah." Blake shrugged, still twirling the thing around her finger, before Weiss slapped her hand down.
"How did you even get it off?"
"Ruby helped." Jaune looked beside him to see his partner passed out beside him, arms crossed underneath her as a pillow. Ruby's altered sleeping schedule had become the new norm in their circle. He should probably grab some food for her for later.
"What you do, bribe her with cookies?"
"Yeah, sure." Blake agreed a bit too quickly, but he didn't have enough attention to spare on it.
"Fuck it. Fine." He relented. "But I'm coming along. I know this is a bad idea and I'm going to be there to say it." Jaune had a recent epiphany of late. If something could go wrong, it will. At least if he went with, he could minimize the damage. Or at least feel like it.
"We have it all under control." Weiss assured him.
Famous last words in Jaune's mind.
Claws dragged against his shield, pushing him back. Instead of fighting the force, Jaune let his feet skid along the grass. It took him a couple tries and many bruises to get his balance down, but he wasn't fighting against the brute strength of Grimm anymore. The beast followed up with a downwards strike, the armored hand nearly missing him as he sidestepped. Bracing the pommel against his chest, he thrust his sword into the Beowulf's side.
The technique wasn't as graceful as Weiss's, but it was just as effective. Black blood spewed from the deep wound after he yanked it out, the Grimm collapsing on the ground. A gentle scent of sulfur and iron from the blood made itself known, focusing his senses. He breathed it in deeply and hoped for clarity. Nothing really came. Just the decision of whether to go along with his team or not.
"You… You done yet?" Ruby asked from beside him, hefting the crate of vials.
"Yeah. Just thinking." He said, kneeling down next to the slain Grimm. Leveraging himself, Jaune lifted the wounded side, the blood staining his hands. She knelt beside him, setting the crate down and uncorking an empty vial.
"Is it about Weiss and Blake's idea? I bet it is." She angled the glass below the wound and scrunched up her nose in distaste, gathering the Grimm blood. "Or maybe why we're gathering Grimm blood for professor Port. Why do we even need this stuff anyway?"
"I stopped trying understand the guy." He grunted. "I was actually thinking about Weiss and Blake."
"Please tell me you're against it."
"I am. I just don't know how to get them to stop." Ruby capped the vial and put it back in the crate while Jaune let go of the corpse. He collapsed on the ground, sprawling out on the grass. "Blake's dead set on it, and so is Weiss. I mean, I'm glad they're not fighting anymore, I just can't understand how Weiss is on board with it."
"I need your help."
"With what?"
"A… societal issue."
"I swear to Dust if this is about the White Fang-"
"Okay, it is!... But hear me out."
"No."
"They've been stealing Dust, right?"
"That's a fact, yes."
"And the SDC makes Dust."
"Thank you for stating the obvious."
"And since that's technically stealing from you, you want it back, right?"
"Technically, no. We're not liable for Terrorist Raids, but our insurance is. And it's not from us specifically, it's Vale stores and merchants which are also insured."
"But isn't that pretty passive, just letting terrorists take your hard-earned product?"
"Didn't you do that?"
"And isn't it just awful that nothing is being done about it?"
"We literally reported to the VPD and Ozpin."
"My point exactly! Nothing is happening."
"Blake…"
"Now imagine this: 'Schnee Heiress thwarts terrorist plot in Vale, Saving Thousands.'
"…. I'm listening."
"The White Fang is working with Roman Torchwick, renowned thief and all-around dick. But why? Why so much Dust? Where is it going? Who's really calling the shots?"
"That is concerning…"
"And where will the next attack be? You can stop it, Weiss. YOU will be celebrated as a righteous Huntress."
"That does sound awfully appealing…"
"What do you say? Once we tell Jaune and Ruby, the-"
"Now wait a minute. You haven't even told those two yet?"
"Work in progress."
"No, no, no! You can't come in here, flaunting your empty promises of glory and success when you haven't even laid down the foundation yet. What about our resources? Allies? Networks or intelligence?"
"I have Sun."
"Who the hell is Sun?"
"Guy from the warehouse. Fought Torchwick. Follows me around like I'm his mother or something."
"Cute."
"Disturbing really. Anyway, he has information about the White Fang. Information that could help us."
"You mean you."
"Same difference. What do you say?"
"I'm not convinced. Not only is this idea absolutely asinine, and irresponsible at best. There's no coordination or chain of command. If I would help you, and that's a big 'if', I would need to overhaul every single aspect of your hairbrained scheme. And that's on the premise that you even manage to convince me, which I highly doubt you even could."
"I'll do your laundry for a month."
"Plans will be drawn up by tomorrow."
"Maybe it's guilt?" Jaune mused.
"Nah. It's something else." Sitting down next to him, Ruby stared at the tree line. "Can't quite put my finger on it."
"Whatever it is, I just hope it doesn't kill them. It's great they're getting along, but could they do it in a different way like playing games or gossiping? I mean how many more secrets can this team possibly have?" Him and Ruby a serious shared a look.
"You're not secretly a robot, are you?"
"What? No! I'm as human as anyone- Okay, maybe not, but I still-" Ruby snorted, trying to keep a straight face. "How do I know that you aren't a robot, huh?" Her façade was cracking now, the corners of her lips twitching upwards. "With all them fancy gizmos and guns and whatever's."
"I literally took you apart!" She playfully shoved him.
"Only a robot would know how to do that. You can't fool me." A fit of giggles erupted from the both of them in the absurdity. Enjoying the moment away from the seriousness of life. It was good to hear her laugh, especially after everything.
"You're the only person I know that can reattach an arm." Another giggle followed. "Do you know anyone else that can do that?"
"My dad used to make his thumb disappear and reappear when I was little." Jaune shrugged at them memory. "Maybe it's genetic."
"Oh gods, I hope not. I don't even want to imagine what your kids might do. They just start blinking in and out of reality." Ruby started miming with her hands. "That'd be so weird."
"This whole conversation is weird."
"Yeah, well, you started it." She flopped back next to him. "I'm just glad to get some fresh air. Huntresses aren't meant to be cooped up inside."
"Probably not, but we were worried about you."
"We should've been worried about you though." Ruby said looking at the sky. "You're the one that almost died."
"Eh." Jaune waved the suggestion off. "I pulled though in the end. Aura is a hell of a drug."
"It's not a drug, dummy." Ruby leaned on her elbow, giving him a stern look. "And that's no excuse to be casual about it. Just because you feel invincible doesn't mean you actually are." To emphasize the point, she shoved a finger into his check. "So don't get any ideas."
"Trust me." Jaune said despite the digit shoved in his face. "That's the last thing I'd describe myself as." Before Ruby could rebuttal him, A guttural groan and rustle of foliage caught their attention. An Ursa Major emerged, sniffing the air. Its large black frame encompassed by white bone plates, while the beasts jagged claws scraped along the ground. Red beads of eyes swiveled back and forth searching for something.
"Stay still." Ruby whispered, going prone right next to him and pulling out Crescent Rose. Quiet clicks shifted the weapon into a compact rifle, aimed at the Grimm. Now was probably a bad time to notice how close she was, essentially lying beside him. Might've been the stress and maybe finally having a little time to relax, because it was now that his hormones came back in full effect. The gentle slope of her toned back from her life as a huntress and gun nut.
Not to mention how it led to her surprisingly firm butt and equally toned legs. Did she get taller? Nope, time to stop. Get control over yourself Jaune, she's your partner. Trying to ignore the weight near his side and on the rifle on his arm, he turned back to the meandering Grimm. The meandering Grimm that was staring right at them. "Uh…. Ruby…?"
"I know." She breathed, taking her time, settling, and sprawling her legs. A deafening roar came from the beast, pumping adrenaline into his bloodstream. It fell into a lumbering gait towards them, steadily gaining speed.
"Anytime now." Between the two of them, an Ursa Major wasn't a big deal usually, but Ruby wanted him to stay put and he couldn't exactly move out of the way.
The fact that it was strangely comfortable wasn't a factor in the decision either.
Baying for blood and clearly still not stopping, Jaune steadied himself to protect Ruby with his body. He's taken harder hits before, right? Like being slammed into a cliff with a Nevermore. So this shouldn't be a problem. Painful, but not a problem. Most of his life now was pain so what was a little more? Another roar from the Ursa let him know that it was about fifty meters away from them and, in maybe a lapse in judgement, he decided to trust in Ruby.
Fifteen meters away the shot cracked in his ear, deafening him. The Grimm's eye burst into a shower of bone and gore, instantly killing it. But what it didn't kill was its momentum as it tumbled toward them. Jaune hugged Ruby tight against his body and braced for the impact. Blood flew from the wound as the corpse as it ragdolled along the ground, showering them in gore as it thankfully sailed above them before stopping in a heap among the grass.
Red tinged hair tickled Jaune's nose when he raised his head to look back at the body, a smoldering corpse with a generous hole in its face. "See?" Ruby poked up her head from the crook of his chest. "Nothing to worry about." Jaune could only sigh, turning his head back to her. They were in such close proximity that their noses grazed each other at the movement. And now Jaune became painfully aware at how close he was.
How her body felt warm with his, their legs now intertwined. Her arms wrapped around his waist while his metal limb hugged her tight. The gentle smell of cinnamon and gunpowder in the air. Ruby's breath on his lips, and her silver eyes staring back at him. They widened in realization in the position they were in, a very prominent blush following close behind.
"Eep!" Ruby squeaked, dematerializing into a burst of roses away from him, leaving him to fall on his face without the support. "Sorry!" Jaune pushed himself off the ground, relieved, and secretly missing, the warm embrace. Dusting himself off, he saw her nervously fidgeting with the hem of her skirt.
Great. Now it's awkward.
"It's fine." Jaune said, digging a finger into his ear to try and stop the ringing. "Did you have to wait until it was literally on top of us?"
"It was a moving target! A small one too!" Ruby justified her reasoning.
"Whatever you say." Ruby stuck her tongue out at him response. "Let's just grab the vials and get out of here." Jaune looked down at the crate next to him, thankfully untouched from the Grimm. Hefting the crate, Ruby joined him on the way back to Beacon.
"Hey, Jaune?" Ruby started after a few minutes of silence.
"Yeah?" Jaune's head turned to the side.
"Thanks for asking me to help." Ruby was talking to her feet as they walked. "I didn't think I needed this, but its nice to be out again. Hunting." She looked up to him and smiled that cute smile. "It feels nice for things thing to be normal again."
"Anytime Ruby." He meant it, grateful that his whole team was steadily bouncing back. It brought a smile to his face. "Anytime."
Yeah, been a long gap between updates. Was working a on writing project for a colleague, which he seemed to like. It doesn't help that I work so much and have friends and family taking up my time. I'm grateful and happy about that, don't get me wrong. It's just I don't have much time to myself anymore. Either way, more worldbuilding before we get back into the meat of the story. The boring part is just about over, I think.
Until next time.