Heart to Heart
Chapter 45: Alone in the Dark
Jaune wasn't sure what to do, both he and Blake were silent in the dark the only light was from her scroll at the moment. He honestly wasn't sure what to do, he knew that talking about use up their air but the quiet of this place was eerie. It was like they were in a tomb and it was starting to get to him a little. He had faith that the others would get to them but the quiet and darkness only made time seem to stretch out.
He cast a look over to Blake as she seated with her legs pulled to her chest and hugging them most likely trying to converse body heat. That was another thing he had slowly been noticing, it was starting to get colder. Without power, the internal heating had cut off with the lights and air vents. Even though aura could protect you a bit from the cold that fall had taken a toll on their aura a bit.
Jaune could already feel the cold starting to creep into his body and he was starting to wish he had a long coat on like Blake did instead of armor. They had gotten some of the blankets from the overturned beds to help stay of the cold but without a heat source it was only delaying things.
He had to admit, this was most likely the longest he had spent along with Blake since…well ever.
A small chuckle escaped his lips that Blake noticed.
"What is it?" She asked.
"It's just, I think this is the longest we've been in a room together in the longest time and all we're doing is just sitting here in silence."
Blake realized this and suddenly felt a bit bad she had always been a bit of an introvert and liked to spend her time reading and alone activities. Truth was, she had felt alone and hadn't even realized it because it had become the 'norm' for her. It wasn't until she joined team RWBY that she finally started to realize she didn't have to feel that way. The problem was lifelong habits like that were hard to break.
"Sorry," she looked down feeling her ears flatten against her hair. "I'm…not good at the social stuff at times."
That only made Jaune smile a bit more. "Hey you could always join Ruby and me in the socially awkward club then."
That got a bit of a smile out of her. "Maybe, although I really should get to know my other friends more. I never spent any time with you, Nora, Ren and…well any of you back in Beacon. I barely was social with my own team at the start."
Jaune noticed her slip of the name. "You can say her name you know. I know that Pyrrha is gone and…I've started to make my peace with that. But please, don't feel like you have to tiptoe around it."
"Sorry, you were just kind of, well when I rejoined you were in a dark place." Blake had seen so many people in a place like that in the White Fang. Too many of her people had been hurt in life and it showed. Yang had also been like that Blake had no idea how to help someone with that kind of pain.
"Yeah, I was…I was dealing with a lot," Jaune knew he hadn't been dealing with it in a healthy way but he didn't have anyone to turn to for the most part. "But I'm better now, better than I've been in a long time and I don't want Pyrrha's name to be a taboo subject. She was our friend and she doesn't deserver to be forgotten about. I prefer to remember the good times."
Blake had a sad smile on her face, she was proud of the way he had come to deal with it. "I just wish I got to know her better, you always think there's going to be time…"
"Yeah, you do," Jaune nodded his head. "Truth is most of what I know about you is from Yang anyway."
Blake rolled her eyes. "I can only imagine what she talks about."
"Well…" Jaune thought back. "She mentioned how much you like fish, plus something about a laser pointer?"
"I'm going to kill her," Blake said darkly remembering that point in the library. "In my defense I was tired and wanted to know who was messing with me with the pointer."
"Well, she does say good things," Jaune quickly tried to come up with the other stuff that Yang talked about to save his girlfriend from Blake's wrath. "I mean she's talked about how quick a thinker you are in a fight, how fast can move and react, how you're a good listener."
Blake could feel a bit better about that.
"Plus, I know you like to read a lot, although I'm not sure what you like to read." Jaune thought about that last bit.
"Well, it varies but I like fictional stories the most." Blake shrugged.
"Hey so do I," Jaune was glad he found something they had in common, Blake was a hard person to get to know in the past. "I kind of grew up on stories about heroes doing good and stories of knights and stuff like that."
"I'm not surprised given how you dress," Blake smirked nodded her head to his amour and weapons.
"Oh yeah," he scratched the back of his head. "I mean the sword and shield are a family keepsake so it stood to reason. I got the original breastplate in vale when I showed up the day before I went to Beacon."
Blake nodded her head she had spent that day in a hotel not wanting to go out in public after leaving the White Fang so soon. "That armor did look a little second hand."
"It was," Jaune said embarrassed, "It was the only thing I could afford after the tickets and a few other things."
Those fake transcripts had cost him a lot and then there was meals and a hotel for the day ate into a lot of his savings.
"Actually, I've always seen you with a book," Jaune commented. "I guess you read a lot growing up too?"
"Yeah, my family moved around a lot so I didn't get to have much of a childhood. My books were kind of my way of letting my imagination run wild."
"So what are you favorite books then?" Jaune asked to both pass the time and to see what kind of taste she had.
"I got a few," She quickly thought of the Ninja's of Love series and just as quickly pushed that aside. She got enough teasing about that when Yang found her books one day in Beacon. "Well there's Hunters Glory a book about a Huntress and Huntsmen fighting against the odds together. Then there's Silent Knight, A Man with Two Souls…"
"Two Soulds?" Jaune asked about that one as it got his interests.
Blake nodded. "Yeah about a man born with two different souls as they learn to cooperate and live together. I always like it as it's an allegory for humans and faunus should come together."
"It…sounds more like Ozpin," he said.
Blake blinked. "But that book is…oh…"
"Old?"
"About over a hundred years…" Blake's eyes widened as she mentally slapped herself for not seeing it until now. Looking over the book in her memory it was very similar to what Ozpin had been forced to do by the Gods.
"Looks like we might have to put that into non-fiction then," Jaune sighed.
"When you stop to think about it, it's kind of scary," Blake said seeing Jaune's confused look as she went on to finish her thoughts. "Think about it, he's been doing this since…well before most recorded history. He's most likely either seen or been involved in how many major events in our history?"
Jaune thought about that and suddenly the world seemed a lot heavier. "Whoa…I mean we knew he was long lived like with Salem but I don't think I actually…you know…thought about it."
Blake nodded. "We were kind of sandbagged by it all, especially Oscar."
"I really don't know how he's holding up with all this…I still feel bad about lashing out at him."
"You were angry and upset."
Jaune shook his head. "Still no excuse, he didn't ask for this, any of this. We at least choose this life he got dragged into it."
Jaune had to smile a bit, "You know…I think this I the longest conversation we've had now."
Blake nodded her head, "Yeah…we should talk more."
"Agreed, I mean I'm dating Yang and you're her best friend, doesn't make sense for us to be nearly strangers."
Blake nodded her head and then she had a small smile remembering something. "Yang said when we meet up with Sun again she wants us to go on a double date."
"Huh…never been on one of those," he admitted.
"Same."
"Another thing we got in common," he joked lightly but then he thought of something. "Hey Blake is something bothering Yang lately?"
Blake turned her head to look at him, "What do you mean?"
"I don't know," Jaune tried to find the words. "Lately she seems like something is bothering her, I've asked but she just waves it off. I noticed it sometimes when we're alone and she seems like she gets bothered by something…it's not me is it? I mean I'm not doing something she doesn't like and doesn't want to hurt my feelings is it?"
Blake thought about it, she did know what was bothering Yang. All those times they had been together doing the guard duty for the resources to the Amity project left a lot of boredom and you got to talking. Yang had confided in her in their last trip about a problem she had. Now she had a choice she could tell Jaune but would Yang want him to know about it?
Not likely but seeing the worry on Jaune's face also made her wonder if this could lead to issues with their relationship. Yang and Jaune had been good for each other, helping to pull each other out of a very dark part of their lives and she didn't want to see that gone over a misunderstanding. She hoped that Yang would understand.
"It's nothing you did," Blake told him. "Just…okay you can't tell Yang I told you this, she told me about this when we were alone but I don't want you to think it's anything you did. Promise me you won't say anything about this."
"You have my word," Jaune said seriously.
Blake did know that Jaune never broke his word when he gave it. "Okay when you said you loved her it kind of bothered her."
"What!?"
"No! Not like that!" Blake said quickly seeing where this was going. "She's bothered because she wants to say it back but every time, she tries she can't make it happen."
"Oh…" Jaune thought about it and she hadn't said the words back. He was actually starting to feel like maybe he shouldn't have said it, that maybe he said it too early. This was the first time he even had a girlfriend after all, there were a lot of things he was learning.
"Well she shouldn't be worried about it, I know how she feels and that's enough for me."
"I know but she wants to say it." Blake stressed. "She can't figure out why and it's been causing her stress over it. It's just something she's got to learn how to work out for herself."
"So, I can't help her?"
Blake thought about it. "Just be you and I think that's enough to help. Just give her time to work things out."
"Well okay," Jaune shivered. "It's getting colder in here isn't it?"
"Yes, without the heaters working and us under ground the heat is being sucked out." Blake knew that even if they got more blankets the cold would still seep through. They needed a heat source but it was an enclosed area, if they tried to set a fire they would die a lot faster.
Jaune had the same thoughts then he had a sudden idea. "Do you have any fire dust left?"
"You know we can't start a fire."
"No not for that," Jaune pulled out his shield and activated it. "This uses hard light dust to power but what if I added in fire dust?"
"Have you tried other elements?" Blake was curious about this line of thought as it might work.
Jaune shuffled a bit. "No…but the theory is sound…I think. I'm no expert in dust but I've seen you all use different elements with your weapons so it might work."
Blake looked through her ammo pouch, she had a few different types of rounds she carried just incase since she could add that to her clones. "I don't have much."
"Well let's try it, at worst...it won't work…and maybe break my shield." Jaune really hoped it didn't break.
Blake handed him the dust as he inserted it into the small slot now in the back of his shield. He also had a power output. He set it to the lowest setting just to be safe. He didn't want to send a fire blast from his shield or whatever else could happen. He placed it against a metal crate in front of him as he carefully activated. The symbol glowed an orange as a wave of heat washed over the area in front of him.
"Oh that feels nice," Blake sighed in relief as Jaune joined her.
"Oh man I'm going to have to remember this," Jaune leaned back feeling the heat wash over them looking down at the fire dust still in his hand. Good for a few more times as he had no idea how long this would last, even on the lowest setting. "I'm going to have to experiment with different elements when we get back."
"Should be interesting." Blake smiled as both of them were bathed in the orange glow of his shield.
-Surface-
Yang could hardly stand still as everyone was looking at the ground where the shelter had fallen into. They had finally finished off all the Grimm while the civilian workers were on their way back to Atlas. The problem now was getting to Jaune and Blake.
"Can't we just dig them out?" Yang asked as she stopped her pacing. "Hell, I'll smash my way through if I have to." He cocked her gauntlets loading them up as she got ready to walk into the small depression.
"It's not that simple," Clover said looking at the ground. "It's still unstable, whatever the Grimm were up to I'm not sure they got to finish. Penny can you find out how far down it is?"
Penny nodded as she knelt down and placed her hand on the ground as her eyes glowed for a bit. "It's over twenty feet down."
"Twenty feet!?" Ruby said shocked. "How far where they digging?"
"It might be also an old shaft they could be under," Elm said rubbing her jaw. "which would be even worse if it's wedge in deeper."
"Then let's get them out!" Yang smashed her fist into the ground setting off her weapon as ice and piece of the ground flew off. Then the ground sunk down as everyone had to back off even Yang. "What was that?!"
"The ground seems to be unstable," Clover narrowed his eyes.
"So what, if we dig we'll sink with them?" Nora asked nearing a panic.
"We need a solid path down," Clover said after a minute.
"I can melt us down with my energy beam," Penny offered as she did the calculations. "But with the ground like this it would just fill in as fast as it melts."
Weiss suddenly had an idea. "What if I freeze the outer layer as you go?"
Penny thought about it, "That should work but it will take time."
"Do you have enough ice dust?" Ruby asked her teammate.
Weiss did a check and frowned. "I'm not sure, I used up a lot in that fight."
"Everyone who has any ice dust hand it over to Weiss," Qrow stated looking around. The others dug into supplies as they gave up as much as they had on them which wasn't much. Clover said he could radio in more when the flyers came back with troops and combat engineers to help get the defenses back up.
Yang clenched her hands wishing she didn't use only fire dust rounds. She had never needed to change before now.
Qrow could see that his niece was not dealing with the situation well, he couldn't really blame her so he walked over to her to softly talk to her. "Kid, go cool your head off, we can only wait and let them do their work."
Yang watched as Penny started burning a hole into the ground with her laser and then shut it off as Weiss froze the hole quickly making a solid surface around the new hole. Penny judge it was solid enough to go on as Weiss got ready for another blast of ice.
"Fine," Yang simply said and walked off, she didn't want to be around anyone at the moment anyway. She was feeling useless…again.
She hated this feeling, she hadn't felt like this in a long time but the bitter taste of it in her mouth and in the pit of her stomach was getting too much. She walked off to one of the buildings it looked like a large barracks or something. She found a female bathroom and walked inside of the small room.
Taking a grip of the sink she got some water flowing and slashed some on her face as she gripped the edges and just hanged her head down. She hated this, she hated not being able to do something again and with both Jaune and Blake on the line it was even worse.
She went to slash some more water on her face but stopped when she noticed it, her hand shaking again.
"No…not this again," She gripped her hand to stop the tremors. "Damn it I thought I was done with this crap." She said softly to herself.
She felt the panic swelling up inside of her again the same feelings of when she lost her arm.
Quickly gripping the sink, she started to breath heavily. "I'm fine, they'll be fine, we'll get them out and things will be okay."
The words sounded hollow in her ears.
"Damn it stop it!" She shouted out her fists nearly breaking the sink. She felt the anger quickly flow out of her as her legs felt weak and almost unsteady.
"Please…I don't want to go through this again…" She whispered out. "I can lose anything more."
She had lost enough, her arm, her sense of invincibility, her true mother Summer, even her birth mother Raven. She couldn't lose anything more, not so soon. Jaune and Blake's faces danced in her mind. One was her partner, her best friend, someone that had become like a second sister to her.
Then there was Jaune, who had become a friend, then a confidant in her darkest moments, and finally her lover.
She couldn't stand to lose them either of them and to lose them both, it felt like it was tearing her apart inside.
"Damn it, things were finally starting to get better," she muttered as she glared at the image in front of her. She saw her red eyes, Raven's eyes staring back at her.
'Weakness.' Raven's voice came in her head as her birth mother's view on how having bonds with others only made you weak inside.
Yang's glared back as in a fit of anger she just smashed the mirror with her robotic fist as the cracks made several broken images staring back at her.
"Yang?" Ruby's worried voice from the doorway brought Yang out of her thoughts.
Yang jerked in surprise as she looked to see a very worried looking Ruby in the doorway.
"Oh…hey sis." Yang felt a bit embarrassed being caught in this situation. She was the big sister, she was the one that was supposed to keep it together even when she wasn't.
"Yang it's okay to be worried about them," Ruby said as she gingerly stepped inside. "We all are."
"It's not that, well not just that," Yang turned back to the fractured mirror. "I hate feeling like I can't do anything to help. I just have to sit on the sidelines and wait for something to happen. If I was doing something, anything, then at least I wouldn't…"
Ruby walked up to her sister, "Wouldn't what? Yang you can talk to me, we're sisters after all."
Yang sighed as she hung her head. "I hate feeling weak and vulnerable Ruby…ever since I lost my arm…"
"Yang I…I don't know what that's like to get hurt that badly," Ruby still remembered seeing Yang for the first time with a missing arm. How defeated she looked and how much in pain Yang had been in and how she couldn't do anything about it. She had tried but Yang kept pushing everyone away back then.
"I do know what it's like feeling weak," Ruby stated as she thought back to one of her worst memories. "If I had been stronger or maybe a bit faster then maybe Pyrrha would still be alive."
Yang's eyes widened as she quickly looked at her sister and the pain on her face. "Ruby that wasn't your fault."
"I know! Everyone says it but I still was too slow Yang!" Ruby surprised Yang by shouting back with tears in her eyes. "I watched her die Yang, she died in front of me and…and I couldn't…"
Ruby felt her throat tighten up as the emotions came through her. Yang instantly pulled her into a hug as Ruby hugged her back. Yang should have known that would have bothered Ruby, they all felt horrible when they learned Pyrrha had been killed but Ruby had been there, she had seen it. She never went into detail but she hated how her little sister had to go through something like that.
"Sorry," Ruby muttered. "I came to help you out."
"It's okay," Yang rubbed her back as Ruby pulled away slightly to wipe her eyes.
"Still, Yang, you were always strong to me," Ruby told her. "I know things got bad there for a bit but you pulled yourself up again. Dad always told us that no matter how much we fall we have to get back up."
"Yeah, he did," Yang nodded. "It's just that, I don't think I can lose something else Ruby."
"We won't, you're not in this alone Yang, you never were." Ruby said.
Yang knew she wasn't, she was the first to offer help and advice but when she needed it she normally shut everyone away. She was just used to being the 'big sister' but it wasn't until she and Jaune started getting closer that she allowed for someone else to help her with her burdens. It felt nice to unload on someone she knew wouldn't judge and she felt safe in confiding in.
"Sorry sis, I wasn't used to it," Yang told her.
"I know, you've always been there for me so I wanted to be there for you too."
Yang got a small smile on her face. "Thanks…I'm just, I thought I was getting better and all this is making me feel like I'm back in my room, missing my arm and feeling like hell."
Ruby hated hearing that, she never wanted Yang to go back to being like that again. "I wish I could have helped you back then."
Yang gave her a small hug, "I don't think I was ready for help…sorry I wasn't there for you. I should have left with you."
"It's okay, we were both hurting and I don't think either of use really knew how to deal."
"Ruby…how are you dealing?" Yang had been so wrapped up in her own issues she had never really thought what Ruby might be going through. She always seemed the same, maybe a bit more mature but still the same old Ruby so she hadn't noticed anything. Maybe her little sister was just way better at hiding her feelings from others than Yang gave her credit for.
"It's mostly better…I still get nightmares now and then," Ruby admitted looking down. "I still feel like I failed, but I can't let that stop me because I don't think she would want that."
"Yeah, she didn't seem the type to give up," Yang told her.
"And we shouldn't either," Ruby looked up at Yang. "We'll get them back."
-Inside the Shelter-
The glow of the shield was starting to fade, the fire dust was running out of power and soon they would lose the warmth of it and the light it was generating. He had already replaced the dust as Blake's fire dust she had was now all used up. The thing was, that wasn't their biggest concern right now.
Both of them were starting to feel sluggish and breathing was getting heavier to do. They knew that they were starting to run out of air as they had spent the last ten minutes in silence.
They were leaning up against each other as their strength was starting to leave them.
Just then the light of his shield flickered out as the heat it was generating was leaving them.
"Well, that's it, we're out of fire dust." Jaune said.
Blake nodded her head. "Jaune…this is looking bad."
"Yeah, it is…you know this isn't how I figured it would end." Jaune felt the darkness around them as the only sounds were from them. It was like being in a vast cold void and it made possibly dying here even scarier.
"How did you figure?"
"I don't know…maybe sacrificing myself to help others…or better yet in old age with a large family."
"I like the second option," Blake stated. "I always figured I would die a bit more violently."
"That's…kind of dark."
"I lived with violence for most of my life," Blake shrugged. She had been in protests as fat back as she could remember and those sometimes turned violent, then there was the White Fang, then her time as a Huntress. It was a violent world and she always seemed to choose a life that had some kind of violence in it.
Even when she tried to go back home after Beacon and just hide there when things got violent. First the Grimm on the sea and then the White Fang on the island. It just seemed to Blake that she was going to head into a violent end one day, now suffocating in a building underground with someone she was starting to consider a friend.
It was a bitter irony that she and Jaune only got closer as friends before they both died together.
"Maybe they will get to use before it's too late." Jaune tried to be optimistic.
"Maybe," Blake said although she didn't sound convinced. She was thinking of all the things she wished she had done differently. She wished she had left the White Fang earlier, maybe take Illia with her, she wished she had kept in contact with her parents more, she wished she had spent more time with everyone. She wished she had more time with Sun to see what kind of relationship they could have had.
She didn't want to think about it, she wanted a distraction. "Hey Jaune you said a big family, you think Yang would be up for that?"
"I hope so," Jaune squirmed a bit feeling a little uncomfortable. "I mean we haven't talked about it or anything, we're still not even dating for a year yet."
"So, she's not the one then?"
"I didn't say that I just…" he thought about it. "I hope she is. I would want her to be, if things worked out like that, I would be happy with it."
He thought to having a life with Yang, both of them living in a house with a few kids. He had no idea where they would live, maybe in Argus to be close to his sister, maybe closer to his family or even her family. No matter where they would be, he hoped they would at least be happy.
Blake nodded off as Jaune felt his eyes getting heavy, it was a nice dream as he felt himself losing consciousness.
He thought he saw something in the dark, a green glow? It was hard to tell it was fading in and out. Something happened, a loud sound? Voices?
He felt and heard something like metal being forced apart?
"Here!" it was a familiar voice.
Things felt a bit clearer now, the air felt less heavy for some reason. Something blinded him but he couldn't tell what it was. He felt someone near him but he couldn't tell if it was real or not. Was he hallucinating or not.
"..aune!"
Was someone calling his name?
He felt himself rising up, was he flying or being carried? He thought he saw Penny but he passed out again.
The next time he came back he felt something on his face, he was on something hard but he was warm and cold at the same time. He slowly managed to open his eyes as he could hear people around him. He blinked from the light. He could see the sky as his mind slowly came to the realization he was outside again.
"Ughhh." He moaned trying to raise a hand to the thing on his face but felt it stop as something was holding it.
"Jaune!?" Yang's worried voice called to him as he looked over to see Yang leaning over him.
"Yang?"
"Hey how are you feeling?" she asked.
"Not sure…" his thoughts were slow and it was a bit hard to think but it was clearing up. He soon realized he had a mask over his mouth most likely feeding him air.
"Ma'am let me check him over," a stranger in a uniform told Yang as she moved back a bit as a bright light was put into his eyes from a penlight. "Sir, you and your friend were suffering from lack of oxygen, we're feeding you both now before we move you back to Atlas for a full medical checkup. Can you understand me?"
"Yes." Jaune said weekly.
"Can you tell me your name?"
"Jaune, Jaune Arc."
"Is he going to be okay?" Yang asked.
The medic put away the light. "He's recovering but that's for the docs back at Atlas to determine. I think we can move them onto the ship."
"Can I come?" Yang asked worried about Jaune.
"Are you related ma'am?"
"I'm his girlfriend."
Medic nodded. "Alright we got room but please stay out of the way if we ask it."
Yang nodded her head as long as she got to ride with Jaune and Blake she would do what they said. She cast a look over to Blake whose eyes were open as another medic was talking to her. She was talking back and moving slightly which was a good sign.
"Go on with them," Ruby said nearby. "We're pretty much done here and we'll meet you at the hospital."
"Thanks," Yang said as the pallets were lifted and carried over to the emergency response airship that had landed during the digging process.
The others watched them go with many relieved expressions. Nora had felt all the energy go out of her as soon as they found Jaune and Blake alive. All the stress and worry had taken their toll on her as she was leaning against Ren for support. The quiet boy had an arm around her gently stoking her arm as he was just glad everything worked out. They would see Jaune when they got back and he knew Nora once recovered would be a bound of energy again for their visit.
"That was a lot of work," Weiss sighed as she was totally out of ice dust looking at the massive hole in the ground. It was a perfect circle with ice around it looking like a pure shaft made of ice.
"Yes, I require a recharge after all that," Penny nodded her head. She looked at her gloves and hands as both were torn up. When she had finally hit the side of the complex, she had accessed that the quickest way to open it was to make an incision and use her strength to push apart an opening. It had worked but her gloves and artificial skin wasn't as durable as her metal casing under it.
"Does that hurt?" Weiss asked seeing he stripped off 'flesh' seeing the metal under it.
"Oh no, I have no sense of 'pain' that the skin is broken, only that there was damage to it." Penny told her as she did close her hands. "I do feel uncomfortable with my internal structure being exposed."
"Well I'm sure your father can fix that up easily enough." Weiss offered.
"Oh yes, my father is great at fixing things like this. And I have spare clothing."
"Spare?"
Penny nodded. "Yes, I do tend to push myself more than a regular person after all and clothing isn't designed for my level of use."
"Ah I see," Weiss took that in as she looked over her shoulder. "It looks like everyone is setting up to leave."
"Yes, let's go back. I'm sure Jaune and Blake will be fixed up as well." Penny said optimistically.
Weiss nodded but paused looking at the damage. This was a new type of attack from the Grimm, it was like they were getting smarter or something. She knew that Grimm that lived long enough turned into an Alpha. A Grimm that was stronger and smarter that would lead a pack. She didn't see an Alpha out there but could this have also been Salem?
The world was so simpler before and now she wasn't sure what was in store for them all.
TBC…