Ch. 66 Ride with me
Jaune was tired of trying to keep this a secret from Ruby. She knew he was working on something, probably even that it was a bike so keeping it a secret was kinda pointless. Except for how far along it was now. With Penny's help with designing the thing to not fall apart Jaune could focus on hammering out the details, pun intended.
With a machine this complex Jaune would take weeks, maybe months to calculate the loads and material stress on his own. Penny had it done in three days. The biggest question mark was the engine of course, Ruby only had predictions when the project started and Jaune, not wanting to give the game away, didn't really consult it with her at the time.
Now that they had several days worth of data from the test rig Penny could adapt an existing jet engine design and redesign it to use Ruby's tech. Penny, unlike Jaune, did consult the problem with Ruby. Recorded data can only do so much sometimes and Ruby wanted help processing the data anyway.
Another thing Jaune worked on was the ancient Valean. Obviously he continued his studies in that department, not just for his own work but also because Penny was hellbent on covering every piece of metal in her body with script and was eager to discuss it with anyone and everyone around her.
Jaune and Ruby were on the receiving end of the majority of it but Weiss and Winter were not spared either. Her father Pietro tried to help, but after Penny shot down the ideas of the educated man a few times for being too similar to existing stories and quotes. For all his intelligence he was also the one to suggest carving the names for the corresponding bones on her metallic skeleton. The man stopped trying to help.
A problem Jaune had to solve with inscribing the bike however, was that thanks to his semblance he had to do it by hand instead of letting a machine do the work. What that led to was using far blockier and easier to carve letters. The high dust alloy was a brittle material before introducing aura so he encountered no problems there, the elemental dust alloys however proved to be a nightmare to work with and on most of those pieces Jaune gave up.
Contrary to the almost poetic nature of Penny's inscription, Jaune was practical in most of his. Most of the mechanical pieces sported a description of their function in the machine, simple as that. The frame and outer armour was different though.
Jaune was currently in the process of mounting the outer plates on the almost finished product. It took days just to hammer out the shape of the high dust alloy plating and then days more to inscribe it and now he had to be careful not to damage the parts during the final assembly.
He had already thought of the name and it was the main inspiration for the inscription. Descriptions of wind and the spreading of wildfires, the speed at which the wind could bring a storm, the raw destructive power of a flame, and horses. Horses running through planes, through forests and over mountains, outrunning the weather, outrunning the wildfires, and outrunning Grimm.
As he mounted each peace he read through the inscriptions.
Descriptions of horses carrying knights into battle against the Grimm, descriptions of Grimm trampled under their hoofs. Description of the mighty horse standing against the Grimm with no fear and running ahead into the fray.
"Jaune?"
In his surprise Jaune dropped the plate he was about to mount on the concrete floor of the workshop.
"Ruby!? What… how did you find me?"
"I am still your team leader, you know, our new scrolls allow me to locate you in an emergency."
Jaune picked up the plate and surveyed the damage.
Ruby shrank down on herself before asking in a quiet voice "...is it bad?"
"Huh? No, it's fine, just a few scratches. I'm more upset that the emergency couldn't wait for an hour or so. Spoiled the surprise you know."
"Oh, right! The emergency! Just got messages from Ren and Nora, Yang and Qrow. They're together in Mistral, but Haven is closed down and Qrow says something is wrong. Those were sent more than a week ago. Jaune, I want to go help them."
Jaune looked at the armour plate he was still holding. There was a large scratch going through the words torva creatura d Grimm. With purpose Jaune put the plate where it belonged and started threading the rivets through the holes.
"Give me thirty, no twenty minutes to finish this, talk to Ironwood about getting us a transport. Even if he can only get us to Argus, once we're on the same continent we can get to Mistral. I'll drive us if all else fails."
Jaune didn't hear Ruby leaving, he was absorbed into his work, trying to finish this thing as fast as he could without making any mistakes. Fifteen minutes later he looked over everything and sat on the leather seat he bought, took apart and sewed back together for this.
He took a deep breath as he slotted his hand into the glove like compartment where the handle bars would normally go. Infusing his Aura into something of this size was meant to take a while since he'd be able to take breaks. No time for that today.
He noticed from the corner of his eye that Ruby had once again opened the door and entered the room. It was then that the engine came to life for the first time and spun up. At that moment Ruby knew why Jaune insisted on keeping it a secret. She knew he came up with the idea when she mentioned her first version of the jet but she thought a full scale version was still far off from reality. Yet the distinct roar of an Aura-Dust jet was audible throughout the building.
Jaune was clad in white flames of Aura as he poured all of it into the machine and when the flames of his Aura grew dim he smiled at her before yelling over the engine. "Te nomino Equinus di Ardera Ventis in lingua avita in qua omnia arma ab Arco gestata nominatur."
Ruby watched in awe as the Horse of the Burning Winds joined Jaune's aura. Jaune fell to his knees exhausted from pushing his semblance to its limit.
Ruby ran up to him and supported him back to his feet.
"I wanted to give you a grand showcase of everything it can do… too bad I'm so tired right now." He smiled at Ruby.
"You big dumb idiot…"
"Your idiot, boop!" he smiled as he booped her nose, smearing grease on it.
=O=O=O=
"You're crazy!"
"And you're an idiot, why did you do that!"
"Nevermind that, DRIVE!"
Sun wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. He would freely admit that on most days but he failed to see how that was in any way related to their current situation.
See it all started one innocuous morning when Blake's mother, Kali, offered a way for Blake to help the community and let off some steam.
Normally a lot of the good work done for the community went through the White Fang in Menagerie, but Blake had a frankly understandable distaste for working with them right now.
While this was an altogether different branch of the Fang than Adam's group, and after Adam's death even those sympathetic to his ways went silent, Blake just wasn't ready to join them any time soon.
That added with the unpleasant aspects of the organisation her father was helping deal with in the past weeks left Blake with little to do. That was of course except what she went to Vale to do. Train to kill Grimm.
Much to Sun's surprise, Kali was the more supportive of her parents in that regard. At first she supported them in training, then joined them much to Sun's surprise and bruised ego as she almost effortlessly wiped the floor with him.
Kali was once a skilled warrior that helped in establishing much of the current area of Kuo-Kuana as Grimm free areas. If you believed what some locals told Sun, she did so almost single handedly in some cases.
Despite their physique, Ghira was the one that dealt with the politics while Kali slaughtered Grimm en masse. That wasn't to say he was any slouch either, but he was more reliant on his raw physical prowess and only really fought when he had to.
Kali used a glaive as her weapon and had quite a few of them. So when she one day suggested Blake and Sun should go and hunt some Grimm around the settlement she even offered for them to take a few as backups to their own weapons.
Sun already used a bō staff to fight so a glaive was not unfamiliar to him, though he had a hard time using the blade effectively. Blake was once trained in using the weapon by her mother, but when she ran away with Adam she stopped using the bulky polearm in favour of Gambol Shroud which was more in line with the covert work the Fang required of her. Therefore she was more than a little rusty with the thing but still agreed to take it as a backup.
They went out that morning and took a buggy to ride out into the desert to hunt some Grimm that were spotted roaming a bit too close to the settlement.
Sun was more than a bit disappointed when Blake didn't let him drive, but had to admit he had no experience with it unlike Blake.
They made smalltalk on the way, which once again reminded Sun that Blake is more or less a princess here as the dune buggy they were driving right now was one of tens, maybe a hundred maximum on the whole island. To just let two teenagers borrow one for an expedition without any fuss was completely foreign to Sun. He was used to maybe catching a ride on one if the owners let a street urchin like him on and that was in Vacuo where these things were roaming the streets.
When it came to hunting Grimm on the sand dunes, Sun was once again in his element. This was a lot like Vacuo, even if the sand had a different consistency than the arid inland dunes of Vacuo. Blake was doing well enough for herself, sure but Sun was in his element.
That was of course before they managed to alert nearly every Grimm in the area to their presence, leading them to their current predicament. The Grimm weren't of the particularly tough variety and there weren't quite as many of them as that day in Beacon, but there were still a lot of them.
As Sun took potshots at the following Grimm while Blake drove the buggy, he had to admit he was glad Blake was driving.
They would have to lose them somehow or drive around for long enough to thin out the horde with their guns. Either way Sun was in for one hell of a ride with Blake behind the steering wheel.
=O=O=O=
Two days after leaving Atlas Jaune and Ruby were approaching Argus, eagerly looking out their transport to catch a glimpse of it in the distance. Or they would be if it wasn't for the weather.
Unfortunately for them the weather took a turn for the worse during their journey, turning into a veritable whiteout, leaving the Manta type aircraft to rely on sensors rather than visuals on approach.
Argus Military Base was prepared for these conditions and was guiding the descent. Their pilot periodically spoke military jargon into his headset while largely ignoring his passengers.
They weren't his priority, just a last minute tag along. His mission was the transport of non-essential communication data. Since the fall of vales CCT the relays in other kingdoms were operating in a limited capacity, only transmitting essential data between kingdoms. It was an unfortunate side effect of the Vale being rather central to the network, itself functioning as a relay between the three other major kingdoms.
Jaune and Ruby got dressed for the weather, both donning their winter cloaks and each shouldering their packs to move out as soon as they could.
"Kinda a bummer that we can't just take off and ride into the sunset…"
"Jaune…"
"I know I know, the storm and all that. Just saying…" he said in a sing-song cadence while strapping his new goggles into place.
"Jaune, you're visiting your sister and that is final." Ruby said playfully as she did the same with her own goggles.
"You do realise that once she has us in her clutches we'll be stuck here for a few days at least…"
"Until the storm clears out we're stuck in Argus anyway. Plus you already asked if we can stay."
Jaune shook his head, thinking Ruby had no idea what she was getting into. She may have met his other sisters, but Saphron was always a bit more… maybe outgoing was the right way to put it?
"Fine, but I'm driving us there. Should be a good test for the hard-light tires" he said grinning, going over the route on his scroll.
"Not before we're cleared to leave the base. I'd like to be allowed back into Atlas at some point… Legally!" Ruby emphasised.
"Fine, but the moment we're out the gates we ride away."
Before they could say any more the Manta touched down and the door opened to the howling wind. The moment they stepped out Ruby lost all will to complain about Jaune's plan. The weather they were shielded from until now was positively dreadful. The wind whipping the icy slush from the surrounding sea into what little exposed skin there was.
Suddenly Ruby was happy to have the goggles already on instead of waiting until they got on the bike.
The soldier sent to deal with them packed them out as fast as he could, though not even his Atlassian uniform prevented him from looking miserable. Even his facial hair was covered in ice, or at least Ruby hoped that was facial hair and not just ice building up on his face.
The moment they were outside the gate the soldier closed it behind them as quickly as possible and disappeared into the snowstorm, presumably to get inside.
Jaune called out the name of his bike into the wind, though even Ruby who stood right next to him had difficulty hearing him. It was only when the engine started that the storm took a back seat.
Jaune motioned for Ruby to get on the bike as he revved up the Horse's engine. Ruby almost thought she heard someone call out to them from inside the gate before the sudden takeoff forced her to hold onto Jaune tight.
The glowing blue hard-light wheels flared out the individual cells, biting into the frozen snow of the suspension bridge. Soon they were on the other side of it and entered Argus propper.
Jaune slowed down significantly and let the engine quiet down as they rode through the streets. The white darkness soon started turning into actual darkness as the sun set, leaving the street lamps to pick up the slack.
Ruby was glad to not have to climb up the many hills of the city, especially in this weather. The roads were covered in a thick layer of snow compacted by the traffic and the sidewalks were downright impossible to walk on in places due to snow drifts.
Eventually Jaune slowed down and stopped in front of a townhouse, turning the engine off. Now that the noise of the engine was gone Ruby spoke loudly over the storm.
"Is this it?"
"Should be. Can you ring the doorbell? Or should I put the bike away first and let you fall on your butt?"
"You're a butt." Ruby shot back playfully as she got off and started climbing up the door steps through the snow drift.
Jaune put away the bike, feeling a large amount of Aura return to him and enveloping him in a warm feeling. He was halfway up the steps when the door opened, ushering them inside even before greetings.
Only once the door closed and Jaune took off his fogged up goggles did his sister say anything.
"So, how's married life treating you? When's the kid gonna be born?"
Jaune groaned.
"Sis, not even a hello? And not everyone starts a family immediately after getting married."
She smirked at him and Ruby, though whether it was a blush or just the windswept skin complexion that made their faces red was anyone's guess.
"Well come on in you two. Terra is upstairs with Adrian, putting him to bed. The guest room is ready for you, but just for future reference, I'd like to know more than two hours in advance next time. Terra made me clean EVERYTHING."
Jaune chuckled at his sister's plight.
"Oh don't you laugh Jaune. You're lucky that I got word from dad of how you've done goofed with your proposal. I've had some time to get it out of my system… mostly. I'll still laugh at you when you tell us the details over dinner. Now go put your bags away, the guest room is over there."
The moment they were alone Ruby looked at Jaune with a slightly confused expression.
"Don't worry, Terra will reign Saphron in… hopefully. If it gets too bad, packing up and riding into the storm is still on the table."
Ruby thought for a moment before replying with a mischievous smile "You know what they say, if you can't beat them, join them. After all, we Arc women have to stick together… and you did done goofed."
Jaune groaned.
"Can I at least have my nephew there for moral support."
"Don't you bring baby Adrian into this, he needs his sleep. So man up and think of it as practice for when we come back to the rest of your family." Ruby said and flashed him a smug toothy grin.
As Ruby made her way into the kitchen ahead of him, Jaune smiled wryly. As he turned around in the doorway on his way out to turn the light off, he looked at the bed longingly.
One part of him just wanted to get out of the awkward retelling of his fight with Taiyang and its consequences. Another came to a sudden realisation - there was no Academy around here. That meant no Vault and no Relic.
Jaune may actually have a peaceful sleep tonight.
=O=O=O=
Author's note:
Well we have moved along with the story a little. I haven't forgotten about Blake and Sun, they just weren't as important for the overall story, but I felt like writing this relatively unimportant scene and I think it fin in this chapter quite well.
Now as for scheduling, there is a good chance I will not have time to write a chapter for next week due to the state exams. Instead I'll probably post a one-shot from the pile. Actually I'll probably post it regardless of whether the chapter is done or not (the not seems far more likely).
So next week you may look forward to Logistics of Survival a short radio play style one-shot.
But hey if you want to support me you can do so on P a treon . com (slash) OlympianScribe
Anyway I hope you enjoyed and are looking forward to the next chapter: Ch. 67 Hot
