Chapter 38: Let's Take a Trip
I had to put my scroll on silence. I have been getting calls from an unknown number since this morning and now they are getting very annoying. Did I know the number? Sadly no, but I sometimes do get calls from people trying to sell me something and I just ignore it.
I looked up and saw Professor Peach giving her lecture on the trees of the Forever Fall Forest, and how they are capable of giving out sap.
"Now students as I said the sap of these trees is one of the most delicious sweets you can have, you can put it on just about anything edible."
"Even Pancakes!"
"Yes, Miss Valkarie, even Pancakes. However, the forest is storming with Grimm and sadly I am unable to go there."
"Why?"
"Well... Let's just say... I kind of blew up half of the forest last time I was there and Miss Goodwitch had banned me from ever going there again. But that still doesn't mean I can't send you students there and get me that sap. So I had a word with Professor Goodwitch and she has agreed to take you students to the Forever Fall Forest as a field trip on Monday instead of your usual combat class."
Some of the students grone at this while the others just stay quiet.
"Aw come on now, I'm sure you will be able to see a Grimm or two out there. Way better than fighting with your piers. Right?"
I mean she is not wrong. At this point, almost everyone has fought against each other once now. Also to have a field trip outside of school does sound nice.
The bell rang and we all began to leave the class. "Remember students! Monday. So make sure you bring back the sap! And be careful out there!" I liked that she prioritized the sap over us. Professor Peach is one of a kind.
"So Monday we are going on a field trip. You think we should go to Vale and get some supplies for it?" Ren asked us.
"Sure. In any case, we can try and get some other supplies as well." Pyrrha agrees to this.
"Alright, we should go tomorrow then. Since it's Sunday. I'm sure we can all go." I tell them as I turn to look at Jaune still with Cardin's group. "Well, I hope all of us."
I pulled out my scroll and saw that I had 34 missed calls. 'God damn! Okay, the next time this person calls me I am giving them a serious backhand.'
Speak of the devil. I answer my scroll.
"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. but what I do know is that I have a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long time. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you... I will look for you, I will find you and I will -"
I get cut off by a voice that I haven't heard for a while now.
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"Penny?"
We agreed to meet on Sunday, in downtown Vale. You know I would have never guessed that Penny would ever come to Vale or even contact me. But hey! I sure as hell not complaining.
"So this friend of yours, who is she?" Ren asked.
"Penny, she is one of my friends back in Mantle. Ugh... Keep in mind she is kind of... Awkward but trust me she is the best!"
"Cool! So... How tough is she?"
"Nora."
"Oh Nora, she is the third strongest person I have known. She can easily take on a group of people by herself if she wants to."
"Ohhhh, So I guess that means I'm the first Right?" Nora said to me.
"..." I look away from her.
"I'm the first right?"
"Let's try not to start something... Ren back me up here."
"Nora, just drop it."
"Tsk... Fine. Just trying to distract myself from what happened this morning."
We all agreed to go to Vale today. However, one member decided to not come with us. He kind of just left the room earlier in the morning and just left a note for us to find in his bed. Nora tried to contact him but he just put his scroll on silence. This was supposed to be an outing with the five of us and now we were down a member.
"I'm sure our leader knows exactly what he's doing." We all turned to Pyrrha and saw her with an annoyed expression on her face. Yeah, she was really upset with Jaune. I mean I don't blame her, but since yesterday she was kind of acting up for some reason.
"So where did you agree to meet with her Seth?"
"Downtown. You know that big clearing in the middle of Vale. So we should hurry up and meet up with her now." As we made it to the clearing I looked around to find her. "Do you guys see her? Look for a girl with Orange hair and a pink bow."
"Uhhh Seth."
"Yeah R-" I stop talking as I feel someone grab me from behind and squeeze me to the point that I feel all my air leave my body. Soon the person scoops me up my feet and holds me there.
"AHHHHH!"
"Salutations Friend Seth!" I heard her voice, man it really hasn't changed at all.
"Penny! Penny! You're Tearing Me Apart, Penny!" I said to her as I began to tap out.
I am let go and fall to the ground. As I look up I am met with green eyes and a big smile. "Hey, Penny." I said as I began to stand up again.
"It has been so long since we last spoke. How have you been?" Penny said as she helped me up
As I rub my back and begin to stand up straight I look at her now. "Everything has been fine. Made it to Beacon. School has been good, and I feel like I need to teach you about texting."
"Oh, right. Father did say that my Scroll does have that function. But I just wanted to talk to you, after so long. My apologies."
"Don't worry about it. Just next time leave me a text. I respond to those way faster. Also, I was in class so-"
Cough! Cough!
Hearing that I turn to face my team and see Ren with an amused face. Nora with a smile. And Pyrrha... Oh boy.
"Right! Sorry guys! Penny this is my team." I show her to them and see each one greet her.
"Nice to meet you. I am Lie Ren. But people just call me Ren." Ren said with a bow, trying to be polite.
"Hi! I'm Nora! Nice to meet you too Penny!" Nora went to shake Penny's hand but Penny just looked at it.
"Gasp! My first handshake in Vale! Sensational!" Penny then grabbed Nora's hand and began to shake it. Making Nora's eyes go wide at this.
"Woah! She really is strong!" Nora soon began to shake to the best of her ability but she was no match for Penny. "Okay, Seth. I see what you mean."
"Told ya." I turned to Pyrrha but she was already in front of Penny when I saw her. "And this is-."
"Hello, Penny. I'm Pyrrha Nikos... I'm Seth's best friend." She raises her hand to her.
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Why is the air so tense now?
"Nice to meet you as well Pyrrha Nikos. I am also one of Seth's best friends as well. I hope we can both as well be friends!" Penny soon raised her hand to Pyrrha as they were about to shake hands. I suddenly picture both of them fighting.
"STOP!"
They both stop and look at me with confusion.
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"Ugh... Hammer time. Now I remember how the song went. Ehe..." I said as I began to turn around while rubbing my head. 'What the hell was that? It almost felt so real... Fuck these headaches.'
"Seth? Are you alright?" I heard Pyrrha ask right next to me.
"Friends Seth is everything alright with you?" Now I heard Penny on the other side ask me as well.
"Yeah, Sorry it's just these headaches again. I swear they haven't been a problem since my first time here in Vale."
"How about we go somewhere and relax? It's still early so how about we go and eat?" Ren told us.
"Yeah! We did kind of skip breakfast so a good lunch can do us justice." Nora said as she began to walk to a nearby place followed by Ren.
"Yeah... Let's." I said as I began to walk as well, but soon felt someone grab my left arm. I turned and saw Pyrrha holding it.
"We can't let you fall on us like last time." She said with a smile.
Soon I felt someone else grab my right arm. I turned and saw Penny as well holding my other arm.
"Pyrrha Nikos is right. We cannot allow you to have any injuries on this day." She also smiles at me.
Soon both began to drag me in the direction where Nora went.
"Don't I get a say in this?"
Both looked at each other and smiled at one another.
"No." "Negative."
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'I swear I've seen this somewhere before. But I don't know where. Sigh... Why me?' I thought to myself as I felt my face become warm for some strange reason.
As we all took our seats in this nice place that Nora and Ren brought us the first time we all came to Vale as a team. I saw Ren and Nora take a seat in front of me. While Pyrrha sat on my left and Penny sat on my right. while I was sadly in the middle of them.
"Soooo, when exactly did you two meet?" Nora asked me and Penny.
"Oh, well I met Penny on my sixteen birthday. My Mom and I both visited Mantle. And we kind of had a crazy experience there."
"Like what?"
"Oh, you know... Just a crazy experience." I tried to avoid talking about that day... But.
"We both managed to escape the White Fang as they attacked a facility that was being attacked." Penny said without missing a beat.
The two looked at me surprised at what they heard. While I had my hands covering my face.
"Sigh... Yep. That's what happened."
"Cool!"
I mean sure it was somewhat 'cool'. But that experience really made me open my eyes to what the world was truly about. It's thanks to Penny that we somehow were able to make it out of there alive. Honestly, that whole morning was hell compared to that night.
"So Penny, why are you here in Vale?" I heard Pyrrha ask this question and even I was intrigued by it as well.
"Oh, I'm here to compete in the tournament."
We all looked at her confused by her response that I had to put two and two together.
"Wait, you're competing in the Vytal tournament?"
She turns to me and nods her head. "Yes! I was allowed by my father to enter Atlas Academy. So, I am able to compete in this year's Vytal festival."
I don't know if Pietro is smart for this or made the biggest mistake of his life.
"Wait, so you are fighting?" Ren asked in disbelief.
Penny just turns to him and nods. "Yes. I'm combat-ready!" Penny said as she saluted to Ren.
The whole place turned to us and looked at us like we were crazy. I gently grabbed Penny's arm and brought it down.
"Yeah, she is. Trust me, she can fight."
"Nice! Can't wait to see you fight then Penny!" Nora said excitedly.
"If that is the case, where is your Team then?" Pyrrha asked.
"Oh, they are back in Atlas."
We all just looked at her again.
"Is something wrong?"
"So you just left your team back in Atlas?" "Won't they get worried?" "Why?" "Yes, Penny Why?"
We all had our questions, but she simply smiled at us,
"The reason why is because I wanted to see my friend again." Penny looked at me and smiled once more.
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If anything happens to her, I will kill everyone in this room and then myself.
"But don't worry they are used to it by now. I do tend to leave a lot. And the General has allowed me to do this without a problem."
"The General?"
"General Ironwood. He is also the Headmaster of the school as well as the head of all of Atlas Military. He and Father have agreed to allow me to explore Vale a little early. So that is the reason I am here." Hic!
Huh, wait would that mean that the general knows about Penny then? I mean hell I think Pietro would have gotten some help. But damn to get help from the main guy himself.
"Well... It is nice to have you here Penny." Ren said.
"Yeah! A friend from Seth is a friend for us." Nora added on, but soon Penny went in for a hug that surprised her.
"Yay! My first friend here in Vale! Now I have a Boy-Friend and a Girl-Friend!"
I slam my head onto the table.
Yep! Only Penny can have this reaction out of having friends... Man, it's good to see her again.
As time went on we all enjoyed the food that we ate. However, Nora questions why Penny didn't order anything.
"Oh, I ate a big breakfast before meeting you all." Hic!
So yeah, we all really did enjoy our food. However, I did have one question for her.
"How did you get my number, Penny?"
"Your Mother gave it to me once father called her. She said something along the lines of. 'Of course and hopefully, you two can reconnect with each other like last time. Seth really misses you.' After that father gave me a scroll to call you."
I slam my face once again on the table.
"Aww, that's cute. Seth really does miss you." I heard Nora tease at me while I also heard Ren chuckle at this.
"Yes... That's so nice of Seth." I heard Pyrrha's voice as well but it sounded really off. Raising my head I saw her giving her best showbiz smile while she continued to eat.
Sigh... With friends like these. Who needs a bad time here?
After eating we all left and began to do what we came here to do. We all went to stores to get supplies for tomorrow's trip to Forever Falls. We all went to different stores and got a variety of supplies. After getting those we went and see if we could buy more Dust for my Grenades. However, it was all the same in each store we passed.
"Damn, this is the fourth store that they don't have the Dust I want." I said as we left another store.
"The stores have been getting targeted as of recently. And yet the police have yet to get the people responsible for them." Ren added on.
"At this point, all of the Dust around the city will be a rare find." Pyrrha added as well.
"Has this been happening lately?" Penny asked us.
"Yes, for the past few weeks every time we come to Vale, the stores are usually ransacked from all of their Dust." Pyrrha informs her.
"Oh, that is bad. Do you need the dust, Seth?"
"I mean I can manage without them. I just use them for my grenades. That's pretty much it."
"I see..." I see her take out her scroll and begin to text on the screen.
She can text and yet she blows up my scroll with her calls. Sigh, Never change Penny.
"Come on we still got one more store to visit and we will see if we can get at least five more extra Jars."
We all entered a store and began to look around for jars.
"Why do you need Five Jars? If I may ask." Penny question.
"We need them for our team. Cause I feel like we might need some if one breaks on us."
"Oh so to have extras, for the four of you correct?"
"Actually it's for our other teammate." Pyrrha said to her.
"Other teammate?"
"Oh right, we kind of forgot to mention. We are a five-person team. We are team JNPRS. I'm their fifth member."
"Oh, wonderful. Where is your other teammate?" As Penny asked this the rest of us kind of didn't want to answer her question. "What's wrong?"
"Well... He's not here right now."
"I can see that, but why?"
"Penny... We kind of not in the mood to talk about it." I tell her trying to get past this.
"But why? If he's your teammate shouldn't he be here with us? You are all friends right?"
"We would if he decided to hang around with us rather than-"
"Nora... Enough."
"Look Penny, we're kind of not on the best terms right now with him."
"Are you guys mad at him?"
Are we mad at him? I mean I'm not trusting him right now. But I wouldn't say I'm mad at him. I looked at the others and saw that they also had the same thought as well. They were all wondering if they themselves were mad at Jaune.
"No... I don't think we are, but he is making it kind of hard to be on his side right now."
"Oh, well I'm sure whatever he is going through right now. He could use you guy's help."
We all look at each other and all have the same look of wonder. I turn to Pyrrha and see her nod her head at me. I guess she is right. After another hour of shopping, we finally got all of the supplies that we wanted, and we all were about to leave to go back home.
"The next airship leaves in ten minutes we are close to it so I guess we should go now." Ren told the group.
"Right! Let's go home!" Nora said as she began to walk.
"You guys go on ahead. I'll catch the next one." I informed them.
"Why?" Pyrrha asked and I just motioned my head to Penny. "Oh."
"Yeah, I'm going to walk Penny back to her place."
"Oh, you don't have to Seth, I can walk myself back home."
"Nah, it's fine. I still want to ask you something as well." I turn back to the team. "I'll see you guys back home."
"Alright." Ren said as he began to carry his bag of Nora's stuff.
"Take care Penny!" Nora said as she ran up to Penny and hugged her and in return, Penny hugged back happy with the hug. Soon Nora went back toward Ren.
"Yes, Penny take care." With the same result, Penny ran up to Pyrrha and hugged her as well, with Pyrrha awkwardly hugging her back. With that, the three began to walk toward the airship to go back to Beacon. As they were walking I saw Pyrrha turn back and look at us. I gave her a wave smiling at her. She in return smiled as well and waved back as she continued to follow Ren and Nora.
"I believe they are very nice people Seth." I heard Penny tell me. As I turn to her I nod at this.
"Yeah, they are the best. Come on let's get you back home." The two of us began to walk back to Penny's place where she was staying, as we walked we began to continue to talk about how she had been, how the rest of the guys in Mantle, and how Pietro had been.
"So after that, Father had upgraded my arms to a better more human-like feel. Have a look." Penny raised her arm towards me and I grabbed it feeling that her old cold touch was now less cold.
"Huh, well it is an upgrade from last time. Hell, you are still as strong as ever."
"That is correct, or as Marrow has said to me. 'For a small person, I'm totally ripped.' Fiona also agrees with him on that."
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'I think they need to stop teaching her how to talk slang.'
"That's good Penny."
"By the way how has your heart been so far? Any updates on it?"
"Oh, well... Mom took me to a doctor to have me checked. As much as I didn't want to. But they discovered that nothing was wrong with me. I have a normal heart and everything is fine with me. So for the most part, still don't have a clue about my music."
"Oh, that is a shame, Seth."
"But... I was able to discover something amazing."
"Really what is it?"
"I have a Semblance, and it's Wind."
"That is wonderful news, Seth."
"Yeah, but I'm only able to use it when I sing out loud or in my head. So that's kind of where I'm at right now."
"Interesting. So is it the same as your mother's?"
"Yeah kind of like that. But way different in how we use it. I mean I'm trying to do the same things she does and to be fair It's kind of hard."
"Like what?"
"I mean she can move fast, lift people up, and apparently she can hover. The only thing I can do is send out wind currents to people. So trying to imitate her moves is hard for me." I said this, as I now noticed we were infront of a hotel. "Is this the place?"
"Yes, this is the place. Thank you Seth for bringing me here." I see her open her arms to me and I prepare for the embrace,
"URK!" She hugs me tightly and I try to return the hug to the best that I can. Eventually, she let me go.
"Yeah, see you Penny take care. Oh, just remember the next time you want to talk to me go ahead. I already got your number so we won't have that problem anymore."
She nods her head at me. "I shall do just that." She was about to go but stopped and turned back to me "I believe you need to find your own style rather than copying your Mother, Seth. She is her own person and you are you." She walks infront of me and places her hand over my heart. "This is your gift, Seth. Only you will know how it will be used." She lets go and soon enters the hotel, waving back at me.
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'Oh... Oh.' It's all that I thought as I felt my face turn red.
I quickly turn around and accidentally bump into someone.
"Shit my bad. I didn't mean to bump into you." I helped the person up and saw that it was a small girl wearing all black, with black hair tied up into twin tails and as she looked up I saw her green eyes.
I see her shake her head and smile at me.
"Are you okay?"
She nods her head and taps my hand in a kind gesture. Soon she passes me while waving goodbye. As she continues to walk straight ahead towards the downtown of Vale.
'Sigh... Nice job. Man, I really need to get a good grip on myself.' I began to leave and start to head back home... But.
"Hey! There's that kid!" I heard someone yell, and as I turned I saw a group of people with black suits and red ties run towards me.
"Oh for fuck sake!" I began to run as the group gave chase to me.
'Next time I see that place, I'm burning it to the ground.'
Walking back to my room I was thinking of what Penny had told me.
'I need to stop copying Mom's moves and make my own. She might have a point. All I have been doing is trying to mimic Mom ever since I got my semblance. She did tell me how her air slashes work and others as well. But they haven't been working out for me. Maybe now I need to make my own path and create my own style to fight with.'
As I climbed the stairs I was about to turn the corner but I heard two people talking to eachother.
"You know you are not the easiest person to talk to about this kind of stuff." I heard Jaune's voice.
"Nope." I also heard Ruby's voice as well. I stopped close to the corner and began to listen to the two.
"Jaune maybe you were a failure when you were a kid, and you might have even been a failure the first day we met." I had to cover my mouth and keep quiet as I heard Ruby continue to downplay Jaune. "But you can't be one now... You know why?"
"Uh... Beacuse?"
"Because it's not just about you anymore, you've got a team now Jaune. We both do, and if we fail then we'll just bring them down with us. We have to put our teammates first and ourselves second. Your team deserves a great leader Jaune. So prove them wrong... Have a good night Jaune." A door shuts and I smile.
Man, Ruby is really taking this leadership stuff seriously... I'm happy for her. I was about to turn the corner but I heard Jaune's scroll go off.
"Hey. It's your buddy, Cardin, I know you're probably busy with that dust project I gave you. But... I'm gonna need you to go out and get me a bag of Rapier wasps and make sure they have really big stingers it's important. So don't screw this up."
As I hear Jaune begin to walk toward me I quickly walk back to the stairs and pretend that I just made it to our floor. As I enter the hall again I see Jaune standing right infront of me and See his shocked reaction. I see him trying to form words but I just walk right past him. "We got that field trip tomorrow." I said to him as I began to walk toward my room. If he was trying to say anything I don't hear it.
I enter the room and prepare for tomorrow.
Forever Fall... Man, it's so Red. Like I swear I know I'm used to being in the forest and all but man this place is so red. Like why is it so RED?!
"Yes students the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful, but we are not here to sightsee." Professor Goodwitch stated as she led us through the forest. "Professor Peach has asked all of you to collect samples from the trees deep inside this forest and I'm here to make sure that none of you die while doing so." As the professor finishes she turns back to us.
"The amount of fate she has for us is so welcoming." I said in a low voice but I heard Nora and Yang chuckle a bit. But it gets cut off by the stern look of Miss Goodwitch.
"Each of you is to gather one jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm. So be sure to stay by your teammates. We will rendezvous back here at four o'clock, have fun." With that Miss Goodwitch walked away leaving the class to go and get their sap.
As the teams all split up I saw team RWBY begin to walk toward the closest tree and begin, while my team began to walk in the opposite direction going more deep into the forest. As we walked I turned and saw Pyrrha looking back at Jaune who was walking with Cardin and his team carrying a bunch of Jars and a case for some reason.
Seeing Jaune walk away with Cardin really got me on edge for two reasons. One, if they walk away from us, I won't know what they might be planning with those wasps that Cardin told Jaune to get. And dos, if I try to go after them, the others might find that suspicious of me and might follow as well.
Sigh... Decisions, Decisions.
"Seth, let's go." I heard Pyrrha tell me as she began to walk toward the others with an annoyed look on her face.
'Oh boy.' This could be a problem.
We all went to a tree and began to extract the sap from it. I kept looking around for any signs of Cardin or Jaune. Filling the Jar and setting it aside I kept on repeating this for the next four trees. Honestly, I thought I was being slick about it. However, I was not.
"Is there a reason why you keep looking over your shoulder every other second Seth?" Turning my head to Pyrrha I see her looking at me with concern.
"Oh, uh... Just looking out for any Grimm you know. Those things can be around anywhere so just keeping an eye out." I saw her look at me like she didn't believe a word I said.
"You know I would originally believe you, but seeing as you already have six full jars. I can tell something else is on your mind... So talk."
Of course, she would notice. Why wouldn't she? "I'm just thinking about what Penny said to us yesterday."
"Oh... Do you mean about if we are mad with Jaune? I mean." She begins to think about it and to be honest we really didn't talk about this at all. I mean I know how I feel about this but the others, I have no idea what they think of it. "I mean I'm not mad at him, just disappointed in him. But we need to understand where he is coming from Seth. From what he told us, his family didn't train him and yet he still wanted to help others. Sure it's not the best way to do this but still... He made it this far."
"The fact that he passed initiation is a miracle in my books. But one thing doesn't add up... If his parents didn't train him or wanted to help him with this. Why is his Aura unlocked? That's the thing that doesn't add up here." I began to think and saw that Pyrrha had wide eyes for some reason, "What?"
"Well..." Pyrrha begins to rub her arm in embarrassment. "He didn't really have his Aura when we first met... Ehe."
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"He what?" I said in disbelief.
"I mean you saw him during initiation, right? How he was sent flying around, he most likely would have died if no one saved him. So I had to step in and help him. Seth, he would had-"
"I'm just trying to figure out how a guy with no experience, no Aura, no knowledge of Grimm, and fake transcripts can get into this school with no problem. What the fu-" Pyrrha quickly covered my mouth with her hand and waved to the others seeing us talking. I turned and saw Nora and Ren look at us confused and also saw team RWBY looking at the both of us.
Turning my attention back I removed her hand from my mouth and began to talk in a low voice. "So you are telling me that he didn't have any type of Aura when I first met him and yet, he somehow is still here? Wait so how does he have it?"
"I... Unlocked it."
With a wide mouth, I was about to scream. However, I just grabbed one of the jars of sap opened it, and began eating it. The taster was good, almost like strawberry jam with a hint of lemon flavor. No wait back on topic!
"Why? Why do all of this for him?" I really want to know now. For Pyrrha to put so much effort on him was really weird in my opinion.
I see her look down at the ground and look away from me. I also began to wonder why would she put so much effort into someone whom she just met, I mean a few things just don't add up and yet this is making me even more confused... Wait hold up...
"Do you li-"
"He reminded me of someone."
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"Huh?"
"Oh come on Seth. A boy who wants to help people, parents who don't want him to be a huntsman, a boy who gets picked on? Does it ring a bell?"
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"Me?"
"Yes, you. Seth, let's just say what would you have done if your mother didn't want you to be a huntsman or train you at all? What would you have done then?"
What would I have done... Shit maybe annoy her to no end. Or hell maybe train in secret, ask for help, run away from home... Oh... That's what.
"Well... I mean I would have at least asked for help."
"And yet you still would have done anything in your power to accomplish that goal huh? Even dismiss what your mom had told you. You see what I'm getting at Seth."
"Okay, I get it. But there are other ways to help people. You know like be a doctor or a police officer, hell even join Atlas for the military. What we are doing here is fighting Grimm. And he doesn't know the basics of that."
"Why are you so upset about this?"
"Because I -" I get cut off by the sounds of a huge roar. Turning our heads in the direction of the roar, we see team CRDL running in our direction while Russel screaming at the top of his lungs.
"Ursa! Ursa!"
But he gets cut off by Yang who stops him in his tracks.
"What? Where?" Yang said to him as she picked him up.
"Back there it's got Cardin." Russel said as he dropped to the floor and continued to run away. We all just looked at eachother.
"Well, I see this as an absolute win." Everyone turned to me with an upset face. However, that gets short-lived because of what Pyrrha said.
"Jaune."
Shit.
"Yang, you and Blake go get Professor Goodwitch." Ruby informs her team while Pyrrha also turns to Ren and Nora. "You two go with them. There could be more." We all take out our weapons and begin to run in the direction of the roar.
'God damn it Jaune, you better be alive at least.' As the four of us ran through the forest we made it to the place where the sound was coming from. In a huge clearing, we saw Cardin on the ground crawling away from an Ursa major who was getting close to him. I looked around for Jaune running toward Cardin's down body and raising his shield. Blocking the swipe of the Ursa major.
I aimed my weapon at it and saw Weiss ready to charge as well, but Pyrrha stopped us in our tracks. "Wait." She said to us.
"But, Jaune needs our help." We heard Ruby say.
"He got this." Pyrrha said with confidence
"But..."
"Don't worry Ruby, I got a shot on him." I said as I aimed my weapon.
"On the Grimm right."
"..."
"On the Grimm Right, Seth."
"Huh? Oh Yeah." I raise my aim higher and not at the down person.
We saw Jaune keep dodging the Ursa swipes the best that he could. But sooner than later the Ursa was able to land a clear hit on him, sending Jaune back and making him land hard on the ground. However, Jaune didn't give up and continued to rush the Grimm and keep on attacking it. With another swipe Jaune once again gets sent to the side, landing hard once again.
"Pyrrha." I said to her.
"Trust me."
I pulled out my scroll and saw our Aura levels, there I saw Jaune's levels down to the red. The next hit could shatter his aura and he would get injured. Raising my head up I still saw Cardin on the ground and soon I got an idea. I began to record the events just in case.
As the Ursa stopped right infront of Jaune it raised its paws and was about to swipe once again, but Jaune also raised his sword and met it head-on. Time felt like it slowed down and we all saw that the Ursa was going for Jaune's head while Jaune went for its body.
"He's gonna get hit." I said out loud and turned to the rest only to see Pyrrha raise her hand. Turning back to Jaune I could see a hint of black all around Jaune's shield and soon the the Ursa swipe landed on his shield, protecting Jaune from the blow. Jaune taking the impact moves his shield away, raises his sword toward the Ursa's head, and decapitates it.
Meanwhile, we all saw Pyrrha put her hand down and Ruby looked at her in wonder.
"Uh, what?" Ruby questioned.
"That was brutal."
"How did you?" Weiss also questioned what she had just seen.
"Well, Ruby has her Speed. You have your Glyphs, Seth has his wind-"
"Pyrrha!" I said to her in shock.
"Oops!" She quickly covers her mouth.
"Wait he has what?" "Cool."
"Well... My Semblance is polarity... Sorry." She said as she began to rub her shoulders. As she turned to the rest we all had mixed reactions with Weiss looking at Seth in shock, Seth covering his face in annoyance, and Ruby...
"Woah, you can control poles."
"No, you dunce. It means she has control over magnetism."
"Magnets are cool too." Ruby chimes in.
While rubbing my face I just begin to walk away from the others. "Wait where are you going?" "Yeah, we need to tell them what happend."
"We could but... Let's keep this our little secret." With that, she began to follow Seth as he was walking back. Catching up with him she tells him. "Sorry."
"Sigh... It's fine, I was just hoping to keep this a secret for a little while longer at least. Still though, at least we know he can take a hit."
"See I told you he is determined to do this."
"Still, if you didn't help him, he would have died right there and then."
"This is why we need to help him, Seth if he really wants to do this. Then he needs the help."
"Helping him is one thing. Him wanting help is another. The choice is his, If he wants my help... Then he needs to prove himself now." I tell her and turn to face her "I have a plan... But you need to trust me on this."
The fact that almost no one got in trouble was some sort of miracle for all of us. Miss Goodwitch was surprised that no one got seriously injured once we all came back from the forest. She did ask what had happened and we explained that there was just some Ursa running around. We didn't tell her it was a major, cause I felt like she would have given us a lecture on the importance of running away. Seriously today was annoying.
I was sitting on my bed looking at my phone when the door to our room opened and in walked Pyrrha and Jaune together. I saw Pyrrha nod at him and asked us for their attention.
"Guys, Jaune would like to say a few things." She motioned to Jaune who stepped forward.
It takes him a good minute to get his bearings but eventually, he begins. "Guys... I'm sorry. I have been a jerk to all of you and you have all been trying to help me. I know I haven't been the best leader as of right now. But please, if you give me this chance I want to prove to you all that I really want this to work. I had this whole macho stuff in my head that I just thought that I could do this all on my own. But now I realize that I can't... And I need some help... A lot of it." He looks at all of us and I turn to see the other's reactions. Nora was happy and Ren had a small smile on his face. Pyrrha also had a smile on her face. But that quickly dropped when she looked at me.
"So please guys... Give me one more chance." Jaune finishes and looks up and sees Nora run at him and give him a hug.
"Yay! Our leader is back!"
"ACK!" Jaune yelled in pain.
"Good to have you back Jaune." Ren said as he placed a hand on his shoulder.
As they all accepted his return with open arms they all soon turned to me who was just sitting on his bed and looking over his scroll.
"Seth." I heard him talk to me. "I know I don't have any right to say this but can you also please help me? Can you please, also train me as well? Help me get better."
...
...
...
The room goes quiet for my response, and I raise my head to see everyone else reactions as well. Nora nods her head, Ren nods as well, and Pyrrha with a worried expression. I turn and see Jaune's face with a pleading expression as well.
I place my scroll down, get up from my bed, and get right in front of Jaune.
"Seth?" I raise my hand to stop them.
...
...
...
"I refuse." I tell him with a serious demeanor.
"What?"
"I refuse Jaune. I won't help you."
"Wait but Seth, he is apologizing to us can't he-"
"If he really wants to apologize the right way." I turn to face Jaune again. " Tell them."
His eyes go wide and his mouth goes shut. "I... I... Please don't."
"Oh, that is too far gone now Jaune. You didn't have a problem once Cardin was doing this, what changed? Do you want my help? You want my trust back. Tell them."
"Tell us what?" Now Ren said confused about what we were talking about.
"Seth I don't think now would be the best." Pyrrha now steps forward trying to stop me.
"If he doesn't tell them, then I will." I turn to the other two "Guess what Jaune here is-" I get cut off by Jaune yelling at me,
"Please stop! Please there has to be another way."
...
...
...
Bingo.
"There is..." I look at him, "But you won't like it at all."
"I'll do it."
I just smile at this. "Good."
A/N: See you all next chapter where we will be meeting new people and ending this arc. So, join us next time. For Think! Think!
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