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(Ruby PoV)

He surprised me, okay? He was faster than I thought. He crossed the distance with a blue flash and a single wide upwards swing. Blonde hair flicking back, blue sparks filling the air as he rushed in an arcing blur of gold and white. His sword flicked out, pale and yellow and his darker clothes silhouetted him against the night in a flare of cobalt, near violet.

I should have known I couldn't pull off Pyrrha's plan to train Jaune. It had been all about hiding how strong he was from himself until he was ready. It turns out I couldn't do it and everything had backfired tremendously.

Since I'd seen Pyrrha help Jaune with her semblance from afar, I'd been taking notes. Jaune had changed for the better after that. I just kept going with it. He hadn't needed to know how strong he really was out here. It had just been Grimm; so, what was the harm in letting Jaune's power run away from him? It didn't matter if he didn't know his own strength when he was crushing monsters.

It was so clean the way he squished them under his foot.

I hadn't thought…

I hadn't thought.

I remembered back at Beacon when I got my first glimpse of Pyrrha's plan to trick Jaune. Weiss had had to explain to me what polarity was because I was so slow. I thought that if I timed things right I could, well-maybe not replace Pyrrha, but maybe at least I could step in. Fill the gap. Finish the plan. It was as though I found a half-finished painting. And just needed to fill it in appropriately. I could do that. Or I thought I could do that, at least.

The next thing I knew he ripped somebody in half. Just like that. My family taught me to control my power and my strength whereas Jaune had no one but me. At the same time I'd just done as best as I could to make him faster and more fearsome. I made him as strong as possible and now look at the mess. It overwhelmed him. It was my fault.

Pyrrha's plan was so carefully set in motion and I hadn't even seen the bandit sneak up behind him and put her gun right next to his head.

He should have died. Nearly anyone else would have, I'm sure. I deserve to have watched him die. Now that he hadn't, though, what could I do?

In the soft light in the tent, I brushed his hair over his bruised scalp. His teeth were clenched in his sleep to the point that I could hear it. The goofball. I kissed his forehead and he didn't relax at all or lean into the touch. Instead he flinched oddly and sucked in a breath.

I held my breath with him, paralyzed that he might wake or, much more scary, not wake. I realized I was holding my breath for far too long and exhaled but Jaune didn't. Instead, he choked on nothing with empty lungs but he never regained consciousness. I pleaded with him but his eyes remained clenched shut.

My heart raced with worry and I tied my eyes shut. If Weiss were here, she would know exactly what to do. She had medical knowledge and she knew about aura. Plus she was really good at memorizing and learning.

She always knew the right order in which to do things. I giggled to myself a little, letting relief fill me as Jaune breathed deeply at last.

I wondered, feeling dizzy. I watched Jaune pant for air, his face almost purple like the bruise on the back of his head.

Weiss and Pyrrha were so precise and clean and orderly and I was just...

They were so much smarter than me.

I paced out of the tent to our prisoner. She glared at me and you know what? I glared right back. She shot Jaune in the back of the head. She wasn't like Jaune. Jaune had killed on accident. She was a murderess.

Jaune wasn't like that.

Well except for how he talked about Cinder… but that was different because he might be right, I mean, right now, I was struggling to keep this girl under my guard.

Cinder had power. Real power. Jaune wasn't blowing smoke in regards to how many people she could kill and I dreaded taking Cinder as a prisoner. In my head, I can never imagine it going down that way.

The point is that Jaune isn't like that.

"Why don't you just kill me?"

"Jaune will have questions for you." I muttered. "Eat something." Or don't. I only had to give food to the hungry and medicine to the sick. I didn't have to make them take it.

She shuffled. I'd given her a blanket and some other things to stay warm while I waited for Jaune to wake up. She pulled the blanket tighter around her, over her bound ankles.

"Is he going to kill me too?"

"Please." I muttered. "Jaune isn't like that."

"No?" She wondered. She accepted the meal from me with wary eyes. It was just oats and milk. If Jaune was awake he could make something. If Ren was here he could turn it into a feast. She was left with me. "He killed Terran."

"You and your friends were looking for trouble. Jaune was the trouble you happened to find." I defended him.

"Then what are you going to do with me?" She waved her bound wrists at me. "I'm not going to tell you anything. It'll be so much worse for me if I do."

"Worse than Jaune killing you?" I had to wonder. "If you're so afraid of us murdering you, what do you really have to be scared of besides that?"

"Life in the bandit hordes aren't isn't forgiving for traitors." She insisted. "If I tell you anything my Khatun will kill me."

"Raven?"

She shook her head. "Her name is Vernal, and- and- I shouldn't even be telling you that." I watched her bury her face. "She'll kill my friends and then what will I have?"

"I can help you." I meant it too. I nearly bit my tongue saying it but I would. "Tell me about Vernal." She shook her head. "Will you at least tell me your name?"

She remained silent. I stood up and growled out. "We'll take you to a prison. I won't let anyone kill you." I stood up and walked back to the tent. If she wanted to try her luck slithering away with tied wrists and no weapon then she was more than welcome to.

"It's Viriscent." She murmured behind me. I pushed into the tent without a word back at her.

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-WG