EPILOGUE: BEACON SAGA
Jaune
A couple months went by since what was now known as the Fall of Beacon happened. A couple months since everything we- I loved perished overnight. One second we were all laughing and fooling around eating ramen noodles at the gardens of Beacon, the next, everything was on fire. People that were just there, were now gone. I'm honestly still wrapping my head around it. We spent a couple days wandering around, trying to figure out what we were going to do next. Some days, we just stared at a wall.
Seeing all that suffering, the cries of the people that night. I knew deep down there was only one answer, that we couldn't let that happen to anyone else, but the weight of it all was too much. Sometimes I wonder if the right thing even is worth doing if the we run the risk of losing the people we love- like we did Pyrrha.
Turns out my conscience and guilt were far stronger than my fear, and thankfully, I'm not the only one.
"Nora, can you please wake up and focus."
Ren scolded a yawning Nora, as we walk down one of the few secured streets left here in Vale. Dawn was upon us and the air was cold, all the street lights were still lit, but you can feel the warmth of the sun slowly rising from the horizon.
"Yeah, yeah."
Nora waved her hands, dismissing Ren as she continued to yawn and stretch. She then turned her attention to me, with her eyes half open.
"Jaune, are you sure this middle man of yours will get us the tickets to Patch?"
With an awkward smile on my face, I shrugged my shoulders and responded.
"I guess we'll see. I'm not really all too experienced doing this sort of thing. I usually just get my tickets at the kiosks or you know, machines at the tower? Buying from someone anonymous is something I've never done before."
Nora groaned while Ren silently smiled.
"Did you at least made sure you asked for an even trade? Like making the payment the same time we received the tickets?"
Ren asked the question that made me regret not involving them in the decision making process, cause I certainly did not.
"Like I said, zero experience, remember?"
He could do nothing but sigh and side with Nora.
We received a letter. From Ruby, about a month back. She got a hint from her uncle Qrow that Cinder might target Haven next. With the CCTS down, there really isn't anyway to warn them efficiently. Atlas has retreated and secluded themselves in Solitas, and the people here in Vale, short-handed as they are, cannot spend the man power to support Mistral. There's only a handful of people that can realistically relay such a message, and fewer that know the kind of information that we do.
In our minds, it's really only up to us. If we can't stop her, then we can at least warn the headmaster there so he can mount a better defense than Beacon did.
That being said, organizing all of this wasn't easy. We can barely send a message to Ruby via our scrolls. Sending letters to each other was honestly more effective than standing on the corner of the tallest building, hoping to snag the signal of the smaller tower in Patch. That whole ordeal was a pain, but we managed to coordinate a time. At the start of winter, when the first snowfall sticks to the ground. Only problem is, with the recent attack that happened, transportation between borders are extremely tight. There are thousands upon thousands of survivors left homeless due to the attack, and only a couple hundred are allowed to travel each day, and that's just between borders on land. Getting to an island off the west coast of Vale was even more difficult, hence the need for outside help.
"Regardless, we are cutting it a bit close. Let's just be thankful that we even got the opportunity to find a flight, and cross our fingers this is legit."
Ren softly whispered. Nora, now fully awake, decided to threw her thoughts on the matter too.
"Yeah! If we miss this flight, we're going to have to go through the trouble of coordinating everything with Ruby from scratch and who knows how long that'll take! Cinder might already be at Haven right this moment. We may have to smuggle our way through the island if this fails."
As we ponder the legitimacy of the tickets are plans were hinging on, our anxiety grew with each step. Fortunately, we wouldn't have to wait very long as the landing docks began to come into view.
"Soooo..."
Nora skipped pass me and Ren, and turned around to stop us.
"How are we gonna know who this ticket guy is?"
I shrug my shoulders.
"The last message I got from him was 'you'll know it's me right away.'"
Confused, me, Ren and Nora all shook our heads left and right trying to look for anyone that screamed 'illegal ticket seller.'
"We expecting an oversized gentlemen with ragged clothes?"
"Oooh! How about a child that doesn't speak but signals us to follow him into some dark and forsaken alley?"
Nora cheerfully responded to Ren's comments. We both looked at her annoyed by her misplaced enthusiasm. The two began to argue, as they always do, while I try to ignore them as best I could and continued looking for our guy. I snooped around once more, frantically shaking my head, till I laid eyes on something familiar and unexpected.
"Ah... guys! I think I found him."
The two instantly stopped arguing and looked at the direction I was looking at. Ren chuckled while Nora faintly smiled at the sight of our illegal ticket seller.
"All of this suddenly makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?"
Ren spoke what everyone collectively thought. We all looked at each other and made our way to the man, resting his back against the stair's handrails. He wore a light blue shirt, tucked in neatly to his black cargo pants that matched the color of his shin height combat boots. He had on a pair of brown suspenders that ran across his shoulders while the other ran across his chest. On his back was a tattered knee length gray hood and cape. Even with his black hair slightly longer than it used to be, the scruff messy hair cannot be associated to anyone other than...
"Ezra."
Hearing the sound of his name being softly called out, Ezra crossed his arms across his chest and tilted his head just enough for his bangs to reveal his eyes.
"Jaune."
We all stop short a couple feet, still wary and cautious of him. A part of me feels guilty for doing so, thankfully, Ezra doesn't seem to mind. He stared at us for a moment then slowly pulled out three tickets from his back pockets and handed them to us.
"Here, as promised, your tickets. I already got your payments so everything's good to go, just gotta make the boarding time... that's in about half an hour."
We all looked at each other with an awkward smile and hesitantly took it off his hands. What's even more awkward than that exchange was the silence that followed after. Nora, who bare it no longer, decided to break the ice.
"Sooo, ah- Ezraa, how did you manage to get a hold of these?"
Nora raised her hand and waved the ticket in front of him. Ezra put his hands in his pockets and answered him nonchalantly.
"Believe it or not, before Torchwick came into Vale, the Nest and the Vale Mafia held the monopoly on dust smuggling."
Ah, the Nest, the criminal organization that OWL works for.
"We used to sneak in boxes at a time to avoid suspicion, but as our business grew larger, it became necessary to increase cargo space. It just made a lot more sense to pay an entire airship crew rather rather smuggle smaller boxes at the time. I simply tapped back in my old connections to nab you those seats."
His openness about his criminal activities is a bit... troubling, but I guess it worked in our favor today, so no harm no foul. Even so, that still doesn't answer the question we had about our trip, to which Ren gladly asked for me.
"Okay, that makes sense, but how did you know we were going to Patch?"
Ezra's calm and cool demeanor began to show cracks. His smile was still there, but his melancholic eyes told a different story. He fell silent for a moment, but I guess he realized that he really is in no position to lie, so he told us what I believe was the truth.
"Yang."
Hearing him say her name, stunned all of us, but he elaborated anyways.
"I-I spent the last few months thinking about her. I want to see her... explain to her everything, not to justify my actions, but just so she can hear my side. It's the wishful part of me that hopes that she might change her mind once she does hear my story."
Ezra scoffed at how ridiculous he sounded. He wrapped his arm around his neck and tucked his mouth in his elbow, trying to hide his embarrassment.
"I would often open up my scroll, staring at her number, contemplating on whether or not I should call her, but I never would. Then I would hop around the idea of just visiting her and apologizing in person, seems more uh, sincere that way. Ha! Anyways, last week I started to fool around trying to see what systems were still online so I can visit Patch. That's when I found a request for three tickets to the island from a man named Jaune Arc."
Ren and Nora laughed heartily after that.
"Wait, you used your real name to make an illegal purchase!? JAUNE! HAHAHAHA!"
I immediately blushed after I realized the mistake I made.
"H-HEY! IT WORKED OUT DIDN'T IT!?"
"That remains to be seen."
Ren calmly added.
"Ren..."
"No no." Ezra waved his hands. "It's justified, but I guarantee you, it's legit. You have my word, not that my words hold any sort of value now after... everything."
I sighed and looked at the embarrassed Ezra. Hesitation and timidness is something I wasn't expecting to see from the usually cool and confident Ezra. It doesn't suit him at all. Which leads me to believe he has something else he wanted to talk about.
"Ez, you didn't just get these tickets to help us get to Patch did you? There's something more..."
He sighed and looked away after nodding at what I said. Ezra closed his eyes, desperately trying to find the courage to say what his true purpose was. Slowly, he opened his eyes then looked at all of us with a face filled with determination.
"I came to apologize to all of you."
Nora softly smiled and stepped forward. Her demeanor a little bit more toned down than her usual self, and her voice oddly soothing.
"Oh Ezra, we know you're sorry. It's just that..."
Ren continued what Nora was saying.
"For the sins that you've committed, forgiveness isn't as easy. It'll take a while. I think I can speak in behalf of everyone here that out of all the people affected by the Fall, we are probably the only ones even willing to let you earn forgiveness. But that's the thing, you have to earn it, we can't just give it you just cause you gave us tickets to Patch."
I didn't wanna pile more bad news on Ezra, but I felt the need to speak as well.
"On that night, when all the students were in that airship, and everyone was yelling at you... when you left, we made a promise to..." Damn, I didn't know even saying her name was going to be this hard. "P-Pyrrha, to each other that if you ever find yourself with no one turn to, and no one wants to give you a chance at redemption, that we would give it to you."
Ezra's eyes lit up, as Nora moved back beside Ren, clutching his arm, and spoke.
"We intend to uphold that promise, but please, make no mistake... your sins are far too great for us to say your forgiven... not yet at least, but!"
Her cheery demeanor came back, as she looked at all three of us who now shared the same huge grin as her.
"We know you're trying, and you're more than welcome to join us in our journey. Hopefully you can find your peace and redemption along the way... After all, what better way is there for you to fix your mistakes?"
Ezra smiled and began to tear up, but he held it in. He casually wiped his eye then frantically waved his hand.
"You guys are far too kind to even give me a chance. Thank you, but... that's not what I'm apologizing for. I already know redemption for the things I've done at Beacon will take a lot more effort than a couple of airship tickets."
The three of us looked at each other confused.
"Then, what are you saying sorry for?"
Ezra began unbuckle the backpack hidden underneath his cape.
"That night when you called me, asking me to save Pyrrha. I-I-I... ah..."
Ezra stuttered, while my chest began to ache. I brace myself for the pain that's about to come in with Ezra's story. Outside of Pyrrha dying that night, nobody really knew what happened. Ezra and Cinder are the only ones who can actually tell us what transpired that night at the top of the tower. My knees began to soften and shake as the realization that I was about to hear what happened to Pyrrha that night dawned on me.
I honestly don't think I'm ready to hear it, but I have to... I just have to know.
"I found her alone, at the bottom of Ozpin's tower. I begged her not to go, but I was beaten and battered, barely able to stand up. I wasn't really in a position to force her to stand down or take her place. She... thought about me, she expressed her concern about my well being... she..."
The pain in his voice was starting to become more evident as he painstakingly relived each second of that night.
"It didn't make a difference to me. At the time, my whole world was crashing down on me. I thought that if I had died that night, I probably deserved it, and that Pyrrha still had people waiting for her. Heh. Stubborn, Pyrrha was."
Stubborn. We all smiled at the word because of how right Ezra was, that's Pyrrha.
"She insisted, she said it was her obligation to try. I managed to convince her that I should fight with her. In the back of my mind, I knew somebody was going to die that night. I just had to make sure it was me, and not her. Sure enough, I was right! I sat there defeated. Pyrrha was hurt, but she could move, limp away... crawl, I was just... beaten. I remember staring at the tip of the arrow that was about to pierce my chest, so I closed my eyes, let my guard down knowing that Pyrrha was hopefully escaping somewhere. I wanted to let my last thoughts to be that of... Yang, so I didn't pay attention to anything else."
The tone of his voice went from sadness to horror and pain in an instant.
"I- I didn't think Pyrrha would jump and get in the way of the arrow. Next thing I knew, she was there, dying in my lap."
I looked away, but that did nothing to erase the image of Pyrrha's death out of my head.
"A-and then Ruby appeared out of nowhere, the dragon was roaring, and Pyrrha was crumbling and disappearing and!"
Ezra grew hysterical for a second. Ren had his jaws dropped, and Nora had her hand covering her mouth. Ezra began to hyperventilate before he forced himself to slowly calm down.
"Then there was light... a bright white light that knocked me unconscious. When I came to, it was only me and Ruby... I ah."
Ezra stopped himself, and allowed us to process everything. He then knelt down and began to open his backpack.
"I called you here to apologize because I couldn't save Pyrrha like I said I would. I know this isn't enough, but here. Everything Pyrrha had when we lost her."
Then I saw it. Her garb, her bracers, her armor, even her circlet. Ezra reached out and handed them to me, and I started to lose track of my surroundings the more I stare at Pyrrha's belongings. It was her bracers that got me... touching them felt like I was holding Pyrrha's hand, but the moment I put any sort of pressure onto them, I was given cruel reminder that she was no longer here, as each of her armor pieces fell from my hand.
"Ahh!"
I clumsily fell down trying to catch all of her stuff in the air, awkwardly flailing my arms till all of them were close to my chest. I didn't mean it this way, but it looked like I was hugging Pyrrha, except nothing was there... only her empty clothes and her linger scent. At this point, I didn't even realize it, but I found myself pathetically sobbing on the ground, clutching Pyrrha's stuff close to my chest. I didn't even know when I started crying.
"Oh Jaune!"
Ren and Nora knelt down and wrapped their arms around all of us, they too bawling their eyes out. I guess we should be thankful that sun hasn't risen yet, not that many people walking around to see the three of us crying our hearts out in the middle of the street.
"There's... more..."
The three of us lift our heads, tears still falling from our faces. Ezra held in his hands Pyrrha's weapons, Milo and Akouo. He slowly reached them out to us, but as the three of us came to pull her shield away, Ezra held on to it for a brief moment before he hesitantly let go.
"Well... that was..."
The three of us gathered Pyrrha's stuff and wiped the tears off our faces as best we could and stood up. I looked at Ezra and smiled.
"Thank you for this, Ezra. This... this means everything to us."
With Pyrrha's shield firmly in my hands, I look down and saw a reflection of Pyrrha for a split second. I rub my eyes, making sure I wasn't seeing things, but as I soon I opened my eyes, I only saw myself. A part of me felt like Pyrrha was trying to tell me something.
"Ezra."
"Yeah?"
I held on to her shield, not wanting to let go, hoping that I'd get to see... whatever that was I just a saw a second ago again, but alas, all I see is myself rocking a nasty sore and red eye thanks to all the crying.
"Do you believe in destiny?"
Ezra chuckled, not surprised at all at what I had just asked him.
"You know, Pyrrha asked the same question to me."
"I know, I eavesdropped remember?"
Ezra nodded.
"I do, Jaune. Destiny I mean. Pyrrha has always been hopefully, and found the meaning in everything she did, in everything we did. That I believe. It must be true. Otherwise, all her death would have been-"
I cut him off.
"For nothing."
The two of us stare at each other, silently trying to figure out what the other wants to do.
"Listen Ezra, you've done some things that are irreparable. Mistakes that cost people everything. Pyrrha knew the consequences of your actions, yet she still believed in you. Do you understand what that means?"
Ezra stood there in silence and nodded. Ren stepped in and gave Ezra a piece of his mind.
"Pyrrha died believing in you. Whatever actions you take from now on will also reflect on Pyrrha."
It's unusual to see Ren scold someone other than Nora, but he's right.
"So please, Ezra."
Nora walked right next to me as she pleaded. She held on to Pyrrha's shield and looked me straight in the eye. No words were needed to know what she was thinking, then Ren to, placed his hand on her shield.
"It's only right..." (Nora)
"That in your journey of redemption..." (Ren)
"That Pyrrha watch over you." (Jaune)
Together, the three of us hand Ezra Pyrrha's sword and shield.
"A-are you sure!? I mean. I can't take this, Pyrrha's too important to all of you."
I place my hand on his shoulder and tried to calm him down.
"It's fine, you gave us plenty of her stuff to remember her by. Don't forget, we promised, remember? A place to stay. Besides..."
I look at Ren and Nora with a smile.
"Pyrrha never truly left us. She'll always be here, so long as we have each other."
Ezra clutched Milo and Akouo in his chest as tears began to pour out of his eyes.
"Thank you. I won't let you down."
"Damn right you won't."
We give him a moment to gather himself before Ren decided to offer Ezra to join us.
"It's not too late you know, you can always join us. I find it hard to believe you can't find a way to get in on that airship."
Ezra laughed at Ren. He hooked Pyrrha's sword and shield behind his cape then pulled out another ticket from his pocket.
"True. True. I thought about it, but you're going with Ruby yeah?"
Nora and I nod.
"There's no one in this world that I hurt more than my team... Yang. I want to make things right with them, but I- I'm not ready for that just yet."
The anguish in his voice was subtle, but I can sense it all the same.
"Oh come on." I tried to reason with him. "Ruby probably already forgave you. Yang, we'll... find a way, okay?"
Ezra shrugged his shoulders.
"I know... I know Ruby already forgave me, that's why I'm not going... if I go with Ruby it would be like taking the easy way out. I'd be hiding behind the goodwill and forgiveness of another person. One I didn't earn. Ruby is kind that way, but I have to do this the right way. And as for Yang..."
He pulled something else from his pocket. It was a gray box, no bigger than the palm of my hand, with three white feather tied to it.
"Can you make sure this gets to her?"
"What is it?"
Was the first thing all of us asked.
"Yang was looking for her mother ever since she was a child. I haven't found her yet, but inside this box is a clue that will eventually lead to her. I wanted to surprise her when we were still together, but Beacon happened."
I gladly took it off his hands.
"We'll make sure this gets to her."
Again, me, Nora, and Ren looked at each other. If Ezra doesn't want to come with us then...
"What now? Where do you plan on going next?"
Ezra crossed his arms and began explaining.
"I'm assuming you're reuniting with Ruby because you got a lead about Cinder right?"
"Haven Academy." I instinctively yelled.
"Right, cause Cinder mentioned during her announcement that she's from Mistral."
Ever the thinker, Ren interjected.
"Haven is still a Hunstman Academy, there'll be people- competent ones living there, and she's exposed herself, so attacking it wouldn't be as easy."
"She'd need an army still."
Nora butted in.
"Right. So, you guys follow through on your plan, and I'll follow through with mine."
Out of genuine curiosity, I ask.
"Which is what?"
Ezra smirked, letting go of his ticket to Patch, releasing it in the gust of wind that blew past us.
"The White Fang."
We were all taken aback at what he said. How could we not, he'd take on the White Fang alone?
"Ezra?" Nora concerned, spoke her mind. "You can't possibly take on a whole army by yourself, nor do you expect them to reason with you."
Without any hesitation, Ezra flashed a huge childish grin our way.
"Of course they won't listen to me. Not to me no, but... I know a guy."
The three of us shook our heads in disbelief, and laughed out loud.
"I guess some things never change huh?"
Nora smiled at Ezra, leaning towards him with a stare so intense, he instinctively backed off.
"W-what?"
Embarrassed, Ezra blushed and covered half his face with his cape.
"Speaking of change, something's different about you, but I can't quite point it out."
Curious to what she meant, I looked at Ezra from head to toe, noticing nothing different except his hair that grew a bit longer and his...
"Eyes... they're a different color."
Nora gasped and hopped in the air while pointing at Ezra enthusiastically.
"THAT'S IT!"
Ezra scratched the back of his head, relieved that that was all Nora was fuzzing about.
"O-oh! Yeah, I wore brown contacts as part of my disguise. Actually, I've been asked to wear them since I was a boy. Even when the people in the slums took me in, they still told me to keep wearing them. They never really explained it well, but it had something to do with our tribe's traditions... Anyways, I decided to do away with all that, since you know... the whole turning a new leaf thing."
I look deep into his eyes, something about them felt familiar and comforting.
"They suit you, your natural eye color I mean. They're like Ruby's... silver eyes."
We all teased him a bit for it. The contact lenses was such a small detail that I didn't even notice till Nora brought it up. To worry about them was a bit ridiculous if you ask me... or way too meticulous on his part.
Once our laughter ended, everyone could sense that it was time for us to part ways, so the four of us hugged each other.
"Ezra." I whispered to all of us. "Don't forget, we'll support you no matter what so long as you keep doing right by the people you wronged. And to us."
Ezra hugged us all tightly before pulling away.
"I promise. I swear, I will do everything in my power to right all my wrongs."
And with that, we all said our goodbyes. We stood there for a moment, and watched him walk away towards the pier, away from the airship docks. It was here that Nora thought of something that made her panic.
"OH SHOOT! That was sweet and all, and I realized we all just had a moment, but it's really NOT very smart of us not to ask where he's going! You know, just in case we run into a dead end and have to follow his lead. I mean, he can do that on his end cause he knows where we're going, but we're completely clueless! We don't don't know where he's going!"
That's actually... pretty valid. I began to pace back and forth till I eventually forced myself to run after him, but not before epically tripping, and almost falling into the river. Thankfully, Ren was there to catch me.
"EZRRRAAA!"
I yelled while I desperately tried to maintain my balance on the edge with Ren's help. Ezra stopped for a moment and looked back.
"OUT OF CURIOSITY! THIS GUY OF YOURS! WHERE IS HE? JUST IN CASE WE NEED TO LINK UP!"
Ezra flashed the same childish smile at us once more and continued walking away, but not before shouting back his destination.
"MENAGERIE!"
Author's Note:
Thus marks the end of the Beacon Saga. Three years ago, I originally wanted to end Summer Snow here and start a new book chronicling Ezra's story throughout the Haven Arc, but I've decided to just continue the story in this book instead, with each arc closing with it's own epilogue.
On that note, I wanted to say A BIG THANK YOU to all the people that supported me so far. Even if you didn't like the direction of the story I wrote, you still took time off your lives to read, so thank you! You guys mean the world to me, and so long as RWBY continues, I will continue writing. So I ask that you continue your support, and I will continue to write Ezra's story in RWBY's wonderful world.
Be on the look out for Summer Snow art posted on my profile sometime soon.
Again, Thank you to everyone that has read Summer Snow so far.