Heart to Heart

Chapter 23: Anger and Loss

Jaune sighed as he and his team were waiting behind the yellow line facing the Atlas base. He could see everyone else up front waiting by the closed gates. The same two guards were there, at least from what Jaune could tell they should have been the same guards.

"You think they'll do any better?" Nora asked out loud.

"We can only hope." Ren shrugged.

Jaune nodded, they were a bit too far away to make out what everyone was saying. He saw them gesturing to Weiss who seemed uncomfortable as the guards looked at her closely before saying something and pulling back. They left and were most likely getting that same woman as before.

"Well at least they're getting somewhere faster than when we tried," Ren admitted.

"I was kind of looking forward to singing again," Nora said.

"I just hope that they'll listen this time," Jaune sighed. "You think the plan to use Weiss to get us to Atlas is a good one?"

"Well her dad is powerful and wants her back," Nora shrugged.

"He would have a lot of influence." Ren nodded.

"I just don't like using her like she's some kind of bait." Jaune's shoulders slumped.

"Hey don't worry about it," Nora waved it off. "It's not like we're actually going to just hand her over. As soon as we get to Atlas we bail before he can do anything that's all."

Jaune had to smirk a little at Nora's optimism.

"What are you doing back here? I thought I told you to leave!" Cordovin yelled out seeing team JNR.

Jaune and Ren had to hold Nora back as she yelled back at the woman. Jaune was thankful Ren was here because Nora was freakishly strong for someone of her size. Although if she was serious she still might have been able to easily push them off if she wanted to.

In the end, the gate was slammed on them once more as Jaune sighed walking over to the rest of his friends. He hated that it ended like this but he honestly wasn't expecting much of a change. He stood next to Yang who looked a little bit more upset from whatever that woman said to her. It wasn't too visible but he could see that she was tense for some reason.

"You okay?" He asked softly.

"Yeah, I'm not going to let her get under my skin," she took a calming breath but soon felt his hand linked up with hers. She smiled at him as she smiled back and she squeezed it a little. Even in small moments like this he was there for her and she appreciated it from him.

"Uncle Qrow where are you going?" Ruby asked snapping their attention to the man.

"Going to look for a place to drink," He stated to her walking off and leaving them alone.

"Whoa, he seems a bit, well…" He wasn't sure how to put it as this was Yang and Ruby's uncle but in the amount of time he had known him he hadn't been this moody.

"I know, he hasn't been taking something we learned very well," Yang told him and the truth was that none of them were. She saw the questioning look and knew that they would have to tell Jaune, Nora and Ren what they had learned.

Part of her didn't want them to know, she knew and a part of her wished she never found out. She remembered that saying that 'ignorance was bliss', well she never really truly understood that until this moment.

"Well if he's going to be like that then who needs him," Nora huffed as she pointed to Oscar. "We got Ozpin to help us out."

The silence was near deafening as team RWBY gave each other looks. They couldn't put this off anymore they had to know as they weren't going to keep this secret from them. They deserved to know the truth no matter how much it might hurt.

-Arc/Cotta Household-

It wasn't an easy story to tell the others, they had gone over what happened after the crash, what they found out about the Relic, Ozpin's history in fact the whole history of the world was tied up to him and Salem. To say that the atmosphere in the room was depressing was an understatement.

There was a long drawn out silence over the room as their friends digested everything. They waited to see how they would react they knew that this wasn't an easy thing to take in. In fact, they were still trying to come to terms with everything they had learned from Jinn.

Jaune was the first to stand up as he tried to make sense of it all. Everything they had said he believed because they wouldn't lie to them about this kind of thing. He was facing one of the walls as his mind tried to make sense of it all. The problem was that he just felt so frustrated, so helpless again and above all, he felt anger. Anger at having not been told any of this until now, he wasn't angry at them, they had told him when they could. He hated that Ozpin didn't tell any of them this, that he promised not to keep secrets and here he was keeping more secrets.

Hell this was the biggest secrets that Jaune could think about.

What was the point of anything they did if none of it mattered?

All the frustration and anger just kept boiling it up inside as he just lashed out punching the wall in front of him. He felt his fist break into it, he knew his sister would be angry at him but in that moment he didn't really care. Everything they've done everything they have all been through and what was it all for?

"Everything was for nothing!" Jaune angrily balled his fist, he felt like he wanted to tear something apart. He didn't care what he needed to vent on something at this moment.

"That's not true," Blake tried to calm the situation.

"Really?" Nora said sarcastically. "Because it sure sounds like it."

"If Salem can't be killed how are we supposed to win?" Ren asked as he had been thinking about the problem but he kept coming up with dead ends.

Again, there was nothing but silence in the large open living room as no one had any idea of how to deal with Salem.

Jaune growing frustrated with the silence said. "Yeah, great plan everybody."

Yang looked on worried about Jaune ever since she and Weiss had met up with everyone at Haven she had seen this from time to time. This darker side to Jaune that came out now and then, she saw it in the battle against Cinder, she saw it from time to time since then. Seeing it now though worried her, this wasn't the Jaune she knew, at least not the majority of him. He was still holding on to his anger, something she had plenty of experience in.

Oscar stepped forward, "Look none of this is great but we're not the bad guys here."

"You sure about that?" Jaune asked darkly surprising everyone. "He's in your head isn't he?"

He turned and walked over to confront Oscar. "Did you already know about this?"

"He didn't know any of it." Weiss told him trying to step in front of him but he just walked past her. His glare was only on Oscar as he grabbed the young boy by his shirt and held him up against the wall by the stairs.

"How much longer can we even trust him?" Jaune asked everyone.

"Jaune!" Ruby cried out as now Yang was seriously getting worried as she quickly went to him.

"How do we know it's even him? We've could have been talking to that liar this entire time!"

"Jaune!" Yang had finally reached him and pulled him away from the boy.

He stood there looking at her as she saw the pain and anger in his eyes, there was a hardness to his eyes but she held her ground. She knew anger well, she had let it control her too much in her life before she lost her arm and she wasn't going to back down. For a tense moment, she honestly wasn't sure what he was going to do.

Jaune broke the look, he then looked at everyone and finally Oscar as she quickly turned and went up the stairs. Yang watched him go and decided that he needed either needed a good talking to or maybe an ass kicking. She could do both as she followed him up the stairs. He went to his room and slammed the door behind him.

Yang opened it and quickly closed it behind her hoping that this wouldn't turn into a shouting match.

"I want to be alone Yang," Jaune said starting at the single window in the room with his back to her.

"Tough because we're talking about this," She sternly said. "What the hell was that?"

"We said no more secrets and he promised there would be no more and he lied to us Yang," Jaune said in a low and angry tone. "The biggest lie of them all and he still kept us in the dark."

"Yeah I know and I agree I'm pissed at Ozpin but Oscar didn't do anything." Yang confronted him.

"How do we even know that Ozpin isn't pulling the strings again?" Jaune wheeled on her. "He could have been acting for who knows how long and would we even know? No one knew that Ozpin wasn't who he seemed to be."

"Jaune you know better than that," Yang replied. "Oscar is just a victim in this, he never asked for any of this."

"Then Ozpin should get off his ass and come out and confront us about this!"

"Don't yell at me Jaune!" Yang's eyes turned red.

"Why not? What are you going to do about it Yang?" He challenged her. "Going to punch your way out of the problem like always?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She knew this wasn't normally how Jaune acted, he looked like he was ready to rip himself apart.

"What's wrong with me? What's right Yang? What's right about any of this? All this, all of everything we've been through was for nothing!"

"I can't believe that Jaune! There has to be a reason!"

"Then tell me why Pyrrha died for?" He angrily told her as there was a silence between them as tears forming in his eyes. His shoulders slumped as he sat on the bed looking down at the ground. "She died for nothing Yang. She never had a chance and she just died and…I couldn't do anything, none of us could."

Yang could see where a lot of this anger and pain was coming from now, her eyes returned back to their original color as she sat down with him.

"What has all this been for?" Jaune nearly broke completely then. "Pyrrha dying and what it did to my team, what it did to me. What you went through losing your arm, with your entire team being broken up and scattered. Each of you lost that bond for months and I know you were all lost. I saw it in Ruby when she was traveling with us when she thought I wasn't looking, I saw it when you all got together again in Haven how much being away from each other had left a whole in all of you."

Yang looked down at the ground silent for a moment. "Yes, well we're together again and whole. It sucked but we were able to move forward and got stronger because of it."

"Team JNPR will never be whole Yang, there's a huge gap that will never be filled again." Jaune said silently.

Yang looked at him seeing the amount of pain he had been holding back as she gently took his hand in hers. "I know, I wish there was a way to fill it but…"

"Yeah but…" Jaune nodded.

The two of them just sat there in silence not even attempting to say anything. They had no idea how long they were just sitting there holding hands.

Yang smirked suddenly as she let out chuckle as he looked at her in confusion.

"I guess this counts as our first fight?"

Jaune thought about it and he couldn't help but smirk in response. "Yeah, guess so. Sorry for yelling at you."

"Yeah it's okay," Yang shrugged. "It's been a stressful time for all of us."

There was a panicked knocking on the door. "Guys are you in there?"

"Ruby?" Yang asked as she got up and opened the door to see her little sister looking very worried. "What is it?"

"It's Oscar, he's gone!"

"What do you mean gone?" Yang asked.

"I mean I went outside and talked to Maria and I came back inside he wasn't around. He's not in the house anymore and no one knows where he went." Ruby told them looking very worried.

Jaune paled as he suddenly felt that this was all his fault.

-Streets-

Oscar was walking the streets alone as the night had come to the city. After what happened, he needed some space. He really didn't blame Jaune but that person was kind of scary at the moment and he didn't want to be in the same house as him, at least until he calmed down.

Now he wasn't sure what to think or feel.

After everything, he had learned he had been trying to deal with it all. He felt like he was just another link in the chain, that his life was now nothing more than one more life for Ozpin, well maybe Ozma actually.

He honestly had no idea how it even worked, Ozpin said their memories would merge but what would that mean for him, would he still be him or would Ozma be the dominate personality? He remembered how when his first host had seen a reflection of Ozma so was that how it worked? The worst thing he could think was that 'he' would disappear and be replaced by either Ozma or they would merge to create a completely new person.

It sucked, he hated it but there was literally nothing he could do to change it, he was nearly fifteen years old and he might not even 'live' to see his fifteenth birthday. If he did, he doubted he would will be 'himself' for another full year. Ozpin never said how long this process took and Oscar still didn't have full access to all those memories.

He had been trying to think, to remember any other memories but whatever Ozpin did when he locked himself up in the back of his mind, it seemed to fully lock away Oscar's access. A part of Oscar was kind of glad, if this was true then wouldn't that mean whatever was happening to him was slowed down? Would he have more time to stay Oscar Pine?

What if it didn't work like that though?

Looking around he noticed that there weren't that many people around as he whispered to himself.

"Ozpin can you please come out? I really need to talk to you." He waited but all he heard was the normal sounds around him.

"Come on! I need you damn it, you can't turn your back now." He hissed out clenching his fists. He found a bench, wiping off a little of the snow he sat down. He felt so alone now, he had gotten used to having Ozpin in his head and now that he was 'gone' it felt empty inside.

What was he supposed to do now?

He was used to having Ozpin helping to guide him but now that he was gone, he had no idea what the next step would be. If they couldn't get to Atlas would they try one of the alternate ways they thought about before coming here?

As he sat there, he was wondering what he was going to do if Ozpin never came back. Would he just go back to the farm? No, he couldn't go back now, not after all of this. He was training to be a Huntsman now and yes, it was scary, he had seen more danger in the few months then in his entire life combined. Yet it wasn't all bad, he kind of liked the training, he liked the people he was with.

In fact, he was starting to wonder if he could call them friends. Sure most of them were about four years his senior, the only one close to his age was Ruby.

Thinking of the red caped girl made him think of how she had been dealing with all of this. She wanted to keep on going in fact she wasn't letting anything get in her way. She was going to Atlas and Oscar got the feeling if she had to she would swim there.

That brought a small smile to his face with that mental image.

She always seemed to know the right thing to say, the right thing to do and she was only two years older than him but she seemed so much more than that.

If he was going to be a Huntsman he would want to be one like her. Someone that never gave up and could inspire the best in people, he just hoped he could one day be half as good as her. He might be on limited time until whatever happens to him happens so he might as well make the best of the time he had left.

Pushing himself up he started walking, he wasn't sure where he was going but if Ozpin wasn't going to help then maybe he should take a page out of Ruby's book and figure it out for himself and then go for it with everything he had. He stopped suddenly as he caught his reflection in the glass front of a store.

It was a clothing store and as he was passing, he saw his reflection superimposed on a few of the clothing in the window for sale. A green leather outfit caught his attention as he was looking at it, it looked like he was wearing it in the glass. He had to admit that it looked kind of nice on him, he looked down at his farm clothing.

This was the kind of clothing that a farmer would use, well worn light and well used. If he was serious about being a Huntsman then he would have to start acting like one and start looking like one. He went into the store and asked to try on the clothing he had looked at. The store clerk was helpful and Oscar was thankful that the clothing actually fit him really well. The leather would offer a bit more protection against Grimm but not hinder his movements.

He needed more speed and agility then say armor in fact the only person he knew that wore armor was Jaune.

He frowned thinking of the tall blond guy he had been so angry it was kind of scary. It didn't help that the guy was a few feet taller than him and that armor he wore was kind of intimidating for a young man like himself. Still, he knew that Jaune was having a hard time he had seen it now and then although he didn't know the full details. Maybe he should do something to lighten the mood?

Thinking on how to do that he remembered how his aunt would make this great casserole when they had a hard day. It was something he learned from her that even he had made now and then when she was down. It was kind of a long shot but honestly after everything maybe they all needed was just one moment where they could all just come together and enjoy a moment.

Just one moment together when they didn't have to worry about everything, it wasn't much but it was at least something he could do.

While Oscar was heading home everyone else was looking for him. They had split up into different groups to cover more ground. Jaune was with his sister and teammates as they looked around while Ruby was with her team looking on the other side of the city.

Jaune was lost in thought most of the time, as he felt so guilty about all of this. He shouldn't have gotten angry with Oscar and blamed him for something that wasn't even the boy's fault. He should have been better than that. There was also the fact that Saphron wasn't happy with the damage to the wall either when she had seen it. Jaune knew he would get a talking to later about it but when they had told her about Oscar having gone missing, she put it off for a later time.

He had lost count of how long they had been looking for him and he was starting to get worried. What if something happened to him? He would only blame himself if something did happen.

"I don't get why he would just run off," Saphron stated.

"We…kind of got some bad news," Ren stated trying to think of a way to explain it to her.

"I get that you're all hunters, well hunters in training but what news could be this bad?"

The others didn't say anything as they exchanged looks.

"Something you can't say then?" Saphron sighed ever since they got here she had a feeling they were keeping secrets. She knew that because of their job they had to do things that required them to keep to secrecy but it wasn't easy to handle sometimes when she wanted some kind of explanation.

The whole thing seemed strange, a single fully fledged Huntsman with a group of students on a mission? Then there was Maria as well, they had explained that she had been left behind on the train but then why was she still with them?

There were a lot of little things that didn't add up but she didn't push it since she doubted that they would tell her.

It was a bit frustrating at times but it was also worrying.

She still found it hard to believe that Jaune of all people had damaged that wall. Her little brother had always been the quiet one, maybe even a little bit of an introvert but he never showed signs of that kind of violence. Looking at him, she couldn't help but think about how much he's changed since the last time she saw him.

He hadn't even gone to Beacon yet and he has still been his lovable and dorky self, he still was, but now he had matured in a way that made her a little worried about him. There was this darker side now and she just wanted to pull him into a hug like when he was little. It was obvious to her that Jaune had been through a lot lately and it had forced him to grow up in a way that she never expected.

Even right now, he looked like he was carrying a lot of weight on his shoulders and the big sister in her and the mother side of her wanted to help him, she just wasn't sure how.

"We just found out that what we thought we were going to do it going to be a lot harder," Jaune explained as much as he could to her. It was also an understatement they still had no idea what to do even if they did find Oscar. As far as they knew, they had no real way of winning this fight.

Saphron didn't know what mission they were on but it sounded very dangerous to her. She had started to get to know Jaune's friends and she could tell how close they were to each other. She had also seen how close Yang and Jaune were together, something she was very eager to learn more about them and the girl.

Maybe they didn't have to go? What if they stayed here? They could stay with them until they found a place, she and Terra could help them with that. It was be great to have some family here, yes she left home quickly but she still missed her large family. There was plenty of work for Huntsmen and Huntresses here since Atlas was more for defensive actions. If something like another train attack happened having a group of trained hunters would be great to have.

"Well what if you stayed here?" She offered. "There's plenty of work here you could do and a lot of good as well. I know having you all here would be nice and Argus is a very nice city to live. You all could just stay and work and live here."

Jaune had to admit it was kind of a nice thought but they couldn't, this was just too big to ignore even if there was no hope for it.

"Sorry sis but this is just too important to just stop." He glumly told her.

Saphron felt a bit deflated hearing that, she had tried but it seemed that there wasn't much she could say at this point, they were pretty set on doing whatever it was they were doing. Thinking on the time she would have to go pick up her son from day care soon. She wished they could change their minds but it looked like nothing might come of it.

"I better go pick up my son from day care," She told them. "I'll let Terra know what happened and we'll try to search for a bit longer before meeting back up at the house."

With that she left them as the three teammates continue on without her. It didn't take much longer until Jaune needed to sit down. He found a bench as he tried to think but his emotions were all over the place and it was hard to think straight. All he could think about was how badly he felt he messed up.

"Hey there's a café," Nora pointed out hoping to figure out something to say that could distract Jaune. "Want to get something to warm you up?"

"No I'm good."

Nora's smile dropped. " You sure?"

"Yeah I am."

Nora and Ren shared a look as they walked off. When they were far enough away Nora looked worryingly at Ren. "Ren, I think he's getting worse."

"He is," Ren nodded.

"I thought him and Yang getting together would help him." Nora leaned against her boyfriend as he placed an arm around her shoulders hugging her close.

"He was, in fact they both are still good for each other," Ren told her. "It's just that after what we learned, it's hard to take no matter what."

"I'm scare for him Ren," Nora whispered out. "I don't think we can take another loss."

He pulled her as close as he could both for her sake and for his own. He too didn't want to lose someone else, Jaune was more than just a teammate and leader he was a brother in all the ways that mattered. They both had no blood family left and their friends were the only family they had in the world at the moment.

Their 'family' had been through a lot recently and they didn't want to lose it or have it torn up again.

Jaune was still sitting on the bench just feeling horrible, he really wanted to find Oscar and say how sorry he was. There really was no justification in his mind about what he did, he had just been so angry and frustrated he wasn't even thinking straight.

As he was lost in thought, he noticed something odd. A single leaf was blowing in front of him it was a bit odd to still see one given that all the trees that hadn't lost their leaves for the winter were the type that stayed green all year round. He saw it blow into what looked like a park across from him.

'Maybe Oscar is there?' He figured as she decided to take a quick look it didn't seem that big so it shouldn't take that long a quick look would do. He walked over and when he got to the entrance he noticed, a statue was in the center of it. When he got a good look at the statue, he felt like someone had punched him in the gut.

There standing there with her shield in front of her looking down was a statue of Pyrrha.

He moved like in a trance to see it, he felt all kinds of emotions seeing it but it was all jumbled up inside. He could only stare at her image looking back at him.

He noticed the plaque as he got a good look at it.

In Honor of

Pyrrha Nikos

One of the many students

Who fought valiantly at

The fall of Beacon

Jaune felt his heart break all over again reading those words. Miles away from where she died and here this was staring back at him, another reminder of what he lost, of who he lost and everything that could have been. He missed her every day it seemed and sometimes he would give anything if just for one moment more, if only so he could say all the things he never got to say.

He couldn't stand to be here anymore just looking at her now it was like his heart was being broken again and again. He made to move but suddenly stopped when a gentle voice spoke up next to him.

"It's really beautiful, isn't it?" It was a voice that made his heart freeze at how familiar it was.

'Pyrrha?!' he turned to see someone else there with him.

Looking over he was shocked because for a brief moment he thought it really was Pyrrha. He quickly realized this wasn't the woman he knew. The woman was holding a bouquet of red flowers did have the same color of hair and eyes but she was different person.

She wasn't as tall as Pyrrha, her hair was much shorter and she had on glasses as the older woman looked up at the statue. He suddenly realized that this must be a relative of Phyrra's, he looked away unable to look at the woman. He had been her partner and yet what had he known about her personal life? He didn't know how this woman had to be related and he felt bad about never asking Pyrrha about her own family. It was just one of those things that you always thought there would be time for so you never did.

There was another question would the woman hate him if she knew who he was? That he had been her partner and how he had failed her? Failed to help her when she needed it, Jaune hadn't even been there for her at the end. He didn't care if he died with her but she had died alone again, Cinder and he should have at least been there for her.

He honestly wouldn't blame her if she did hate him since sometimes he hated himself.

"Yeah it is," He hated making small talk so he tried to figure out what to say next. "So, uh, why here?"

"She trained here, Sanctum Academy," the woman said without looking away from the statue. Her voice sounded so much like Pyrrha's that it was scary. "Everyone was crushed when she chose Beacon over Haven. No one wanted to see her go, but it was where she wanted to be."

She started to hold the flowers a little tightly to her chest almost looking like she was lost in a memory of Pyrrha.

"But it was where she wanted to be. I'm just glad that she was surrounded by such amazing people." Now she looked at him and Jaune felt a chill, did she know who he was?

He looked at her and as their eyes locked, he wanted to ask the question if she knew but he could see it in her eyes. He felt his eyes stinging as the tears were welling up. He looked away not able to meet the woman's gaze anymore.

"She should be the one standing here." He told her.

"She is," She said as he looked to see her looking back at the statue. Then she turned to face him, "She understood that she had a responsibility. To try, I don't think she would regret her choice because a Huntress would understand that there really wasn't a choice to make. And a Huntress is what she always wanted to be."

"She never got the chance to graduate but she was a huntress."

Thank you

Jaune?

He looked back and she was just gone the flowers were by the feet of the statue but the woman was suddenly gone. He looked around but there was no sign of her, it was like she hadn't even been here. All that was left were the flowers.

Was the woman some type of Huntress? Or had she actually been…

He looked at the statue and for a brief moment, he wondered. He knew that apparently the gods were real now even if they had left their world. Magic was real if in a limited form and apparently the afterlife existed from what the story they told him said.

Was it so hard to believe that in all that maybe there was a little bit more to the world that they didn't know about?

"Jaune," Nora came up to him with Ren by her side. They were holding coffee cups, with Nora having one for him. It was cold and she felt that something to keep them warm while they looked for Oscar would be a good thing. She was about to say something else when the words died in her throat as she gasped at the sight of the statue. Ren was silently just as shocked to see the statue there before them.

"I'm sorry," Jaune told them. "I've been a terrible leader and a terrible friend and I..."

"Jaune," Ren spoke up cutting him off gently as he looked to see the worried looks in their eyes. "This has to stop."

"We heard what you said to Cinder at Haven," Nora started up. "You're not being fair to yourself. We love you just like we loved Pyrrha, we're teammates, family."

"We don't want to lose you too," Ren told him.

"I think…I think she knew she wasn't going to win," Jaune looked up at the statue. "That she might not come out alive but…she knew that she was the only one that could try."

"And so she did" Ren stated looking at the statue holding Nora's hand.

"Maybe we should too." Jaune stated.

"Yeah." Ren agreed.

"She might not be by our side anymore but we can fight like she is." Nora told him.

"And in a way, she would be." Jaune agreed.

"Let's check back at the house." Ren

"Thank you." Jaune said softly to the statue. Maybe that was the one word he needed to say to tell her. He wouldn't be the man that he was without her and he would always carry her memory alive in his heart.

TBC…

Well I'll say this, next chapter will have a lot more original content to it. I tried to freshen this up a little bit showing Oscar's POV of what happened to him and little things like that but I really don't like just redoing canon stuff but it was needed for the story.

Also I'm going on a work trip out of the country for 6 -8 weeks. I should have internet but depending on my work hours it will depend on if I can get anything done and posted. I'll do my best to write what I can when I can but for the next two months it's going to be a bit slow.