Jaune was shook. Quite literally, as he was having some trouble staying on his own two feet. The stonework below him had been shaken loose, really being held up only by the friction forces between the rocks. There were gaps wide enough that Jaune could see the main supports and rafters below. He and Dr. Cortez shared a look.
"Time to go-" Dr. Cortez started, but was interrupted by another shaking of the building. The Berengal gave a roar, beating the dust off it's chest. Jaune sent a quick arrow aimed at its face. Curse you, Jangles the Moon Monkey! A yelled, shaking his fist. Curse you!
Nadir sunk below, into the church. Dr. Cortez was scrambling to follow him, getting down below the church roof as well. The building shook again, this time the cause of a battalion of Goretusks slamming into the wall. Arslan watched in horror as Jaune's glyphs, shields of blue light shattering like glass. On the next blow, a hole was blown through the wall, a dark boars head sticking dazed through the wall. Sage stabbed it between the eyes before even a civilian could scream. Jaune peered over the side of the church, seeing a rather large collection of grimm pigs stumbling around, concussed.
A welling pit of concern started to grow in Jaune's stomach. A breach in their meager defenses was incomprehensibly not good. They had only barely thinned the herd as it was, it was too soon for things to go down hill now.
News flash: It's bad news. Things have been going down hill since we ran the fuck away from home. A said as Juane pulled that sinking panicked worry from his gut, letting the tar like drip feed into his woven veins. He pulled it like one pulls sap from a tree, lathering it into the shadow of his bow. It drew back, aimed directly down into the grimm. The arrow shot forward, but slowed, like shooting syrup into water it floated down to the ground. A blinding purple light, one akin to the blacklights Jaune had seen at the one rave his sister had dragged him too just before he left, but a thousand times brighter. When it had gone, the goretusks were gone and several floating purple balls floated ominously, hanging in the air like specters of death. It had also unintentionally vaporized a large clean hole in the busted wall.
Jaune quickly got off the roof.
The grimm pawed and paced, just on the outskirts of the minefield of floating orbs. An ursa sniffed at one from a healthy distance, turning away with a disgruntled chuff. It evidently did not like the ominous oscillating ornithoperous orbs. This lead to a tense standoff, Jaune and humans on one side of a hole, and the creatures of darkness on the other. Only some ten feet of space marked the separation between them.
On particularly brave deathstalker decided to dare to march forward. It stepped impatiently forward, coming within a short stride away from one of the orbs. It, much like a ferrous liquid attracted to a magnet or perhaps some kind of hungering amoeba, reached forward to touch the scorpion. It recoiled from the contact, seething at its touch. But it was firmly planted to the chitinous armor of the Dealthstalker, slowly glomping onto the grimm creature. It slowly started to spread across the panicking grimm, it futilely trying to scrape the primordial goop off by smashing its claw into the ground. The dark tar like substance of arcane manufacturing grew and spread across the grimm.
Arslan was struck with a terrible revulsion at the terrible sound of the screaming pain of the dealthstalker. She would never hear any worse sound in her life. She watched as the grimm was completely enveloped, its shape becoming more and more amorphic as it was consumed by the purple space amoeba. Eventually it was shrunk down into nothing, finally dissolving into the wind in some small purple ribbons.
The large Berengal, the leader of the hoard came up to the forefront. It grunted, looking around, as if asking "What the hell is going on here? The assault doesn't stop for anything!" An ursa gave a grumbling response. Jangles the Moon Monkey didn't like the answer, what ever it was. It grabbed the Ursa, throwing it into the minefield of orbs. Like magnets drawn to Iron, the ursa was swarmed, quickly dissolving into mist. The Berengal grabbed another grimm, a deathstalker, and tossed it into the death zone as well.
Sebastian leveled his revolver at the boss berengal. "Kill it! Kill it now!" he ordered, breaking the tense lull in his students action. He taught by example, putting a bullet in his shoulder, and quickly deciding it wasn't enough, put a couple more for good measure. Sun emptied one of his shotguns into the berengal before it got the message and made some distance, throwing another grimm in the way. The grimm had gotten the message at this point: Either eat the mines and get dissolved, or do so at maximum velocity.
Like autonomita, they marched forward. Jaune turned to the men holding spears. "Formation!" He hissed loudly at them, stirring them unto action. "No heroics. Your duty is to ensure nothing passes the breach!" where his quick instructions as he started putting together a spell. A boartusk, engulfed in the voidfire, tumbled to the side and slammed into the now non functioning wall. B fell unceremoniously from the roofing and onto the grimm, shattering as he collasped though it and hit the jagged stone chunks.
Welcome back A greeted his counterpart, watching with glee as several grimm were shot through with a scattering of arcane bolts. How did you end up back up there?
Jangles the Moon Monkey threw me when I tried to punch him in the face. B crossed his arms and pouted.
This version of Jangles sure does like throwing things. A noted, watching as the last of the mines was absorbed by the grimm hoard. Welp, there goes our saftey net.
60 lien Sun leads the countercharge. A said after a moment, watching through Jaunes eyes. He had pulled out a two handed sword of considerable length. It was a broadsword by any reasonable standard, at six and some odd feet of reach it was a rather standard looking zweihander. At least he thought it counted as a zweihander. But in the Huntsman world of ridiculous overly complex and compensating weaponry, it might have been a hunting knife. With a battle cry, he rushed forward. His heart began to beat once more, pumping the adrenaline spiked blood into his veins. His sword, as though it was sensing the excitement of its wielder, began to throw of sparks from its edge. "Jangles the Moon Monkey, you're a damn coward!" Jaune called out, throwing himself into the first grimm that got in his way, a grunt. His shoulder connected with a earth shaking impact, the poor grunt dissolved into ash and solar infused powder basically on impact in a spontainous flash ignition. Jaune didn't even mean to strike it with any force that was unbound by the laws of physics, but it got his point across. "FIGHT ME!"
A and B glanced at eachother. Well, I suppose you owe me 60 lien.
Damn.
Sun and Sage glanced at eachother as well, a wide grin spreading across their face. The thundering pace of their footsteps almost matched their heartbeats, rushing forward and driving a wegde into the grimm hoard. The three of them collided into the pack of grimm with a thunderous crash. The three of them shoved their way into the pack, creating a space behind them. A space that needed to be filled. The rest of team SSSN filled in behind them, following their leader into battle. Arslan kept her team back in case anything got past the boys frontal assault.
And indeed things did. The grimm crashed like waves against rocks upon the frontal bulwark, those that survived were swept to the side and rushed at the tasty smell of fearful squishy humans. They often were met with Arslan's fist instead, or Bolin's staff. Not to be outdone by his leader of course, he put his all into the slaughter of the grimm.
Not that it held a candle to the carnage Jaune carved. His blade swung through the world like butter, his sheer bloodlust turning anything that stood in the path of the sword into mush. He surged forward, each step going deeper and deeper into the pack. The pack responded in kind, surging forward to meet him. It was like he was a beacon to them, a call to battle that could not be ignored. They climbed and clambered over each other to get to him. Their red eyes meeting his clouded steely blue, they charged and trampled at him, each trying to get the honor of being the first to draw blood from the thing in front of them. Only the Berengal recognized it for what it was. The pack was fresh, full of young grimm. None of them had felt the touch of their mother, or the primordial powers of yore that lurked behind her. One could feel it in her eldest sons, in their very presense.
The berengal, the one that had been named Jangles the Moon Monkey, felt a similar kind of ancient power. It was different, of course. It didn't radiate the same kind of general wish for wanton destruction and progression of entropy.
It radiated a challenge. A dare to reality itself, that it had no right to be what it was. That the Grimm, the rock, the very air around them had to justify its existence to him. While the Grimm loved destruction, and loathed anything that dared to create, the thing in front of them held a hatred that burned. It burned with such a wrathful ferocity it was like looking at the sun. The berengal threw another of it's fellow grimm in the way of the group of huntsman. It was caught by those piercing blue eyes, forced to answer his challenge.
It was felled just as quickly as anything else that Jangles the Moon Monkey dared throw in front of Jaune. He stepped over his most recent slaying, pointing his sword at the Berengal. "ENOUGH! You do not run, Jangles the Moon Monkey! Not this time!" Jaune declaired. Sun gave him a raised eyebrow.
"Really dude, Jangles the Moon Monkey?" he asked, not impressed. "You used to be cool."
Jaune shook his head. "I don't need you insulting my esteemed rival, no matter how cowardly or ridiculous his name is." The ranger chastised as the world rushed around them. The grimm swarmed around them, creating a circular wall between. Team SSSN was pushed back by the dark tide, leaving Jaune alone. Alone to face Jangles the Moon Monkey.
"This is it, huh?" He asked, lifting his blade at the berengal. It only huffed, standing up on it's hind legs and beating its chest with a strong ferocity.
"Let's do this. One last time."
Arslan watched in horror as Jaune charged the pack of grimm, alone. She knew that he was competent, but it wasn't his competency that she feared for. It was hard to look at him and not see the little broken man sitting at the edge of the roof. She could still see it in his eyes sometimes. Sometimes she wondered if everyone else was just blind. Team SSSN rushed forward to support the lone huntsman, while Arslan kept her team back. She knew there were to many grimm, they would just run past them towards the civilians.
Imagine Arslan's confusion when the grimm didn't simply go around the fearless huntsmen, but instead threw themselves into complete death. It was like they were blinded to what normally would have attracted their facies much more than battle trained huntsmen. Of course, some of them slipped by or were pushed to the side, only to throw themselves back into Jaune's piercing gaze. Arslan threw her rope dart, catching one and reeling it in. It thrashed and snarled and snapped as it was dragged away from the target of its ire. The poorly, hastily trained civilians rushed forward and plunged the tips of their blades into its prone body. It howled and screamed as it was skewered. Bolin slapped at another grimm, sending it back into the pack.
"Wild." Dr. Cortez noted the odd behavior. Reece beheaded one with the blade attached to her board.
"Have you seen anything like this, doc?" She asked. While Reece wasn't the best student in Grimm Studies, she knew that this was unusual behaviors for grimm to exhume. Sebastian shook his head.
"No, but you can feel it, can't you?" He asked, the question feeling rather pointed at Arslan. Arslan gave him a rather blank look.
He signed. "Look again, Arslan." With a wave of his hand, he gestured at Jaune. He then shot at the pack, thinning it once more. The spearmen huddled together, unknowingly standing equidistant from each other.
Arslan sighed, closing her eyes and pulsing her aura through her semblance. While she could see everyone around her, it was impossible to recognize them. The entirety of her semblance was being dominated by the mosaic like vapors bathing him and the area around him. Flames of color danced and whispered off him in a blinding dance. A web of hateful, hazy red was painted over his grey yellow aura, latching and feeding off of the nearby grimm. They pulled them towards him, his sheer hatred binding them to his battle. It was so incredibly bright it was hard to look at. Arslan forced her semblance off, left shaking her head clear of spots.
"You can see that?" She asked her teacher. He laughed, popping another grimm into dust.
"No." was the answer. "But I have seen things similar, although much less subtle, before." He admitted. Nicargo was a weird experience.
Arslan was going to ask what happened in Nicargo, but was distracted by a shift in the way that the grimm were acting once more. Jaune was broken off from team SSSN, a surge of grimm like rats exploding out of a hole. "Back up! Back up!" Sun commanded, the team taking leaps backwards towards the safety of the church. Leaving Jaune alone, alone to face the grimm he had called "Jangles the Moon Monkey".
Weird name.
The grimm surged forward, getting for too close for anyones comfort. Reese shot out a plume of flame, burning a vial of dust to turn a swath into ash. Arslan surged forward to meet up with Bolin, providing an effected bulwark for team SSSN to retreat safely into. Arslan ended up side by side with Sun, sweeping at things with the end of his staff.
"You know, on the bright side, the hoard is thinning out!" Sun called out over the cacophonous sound of the cascading grimm.
"You normally have a but following that" Neptune rebuttled. Sun made a wide gesture to the pile of grimm in front them, mostly alive. "Yeah, I guess that counts."
Arslan wasn't really listening, her focus locked on the space ahead of them. There, Jaune was duking it out with the massive gorilla. He dipped under a wide swing, glancing a blow into the Berengals armpit. He had to take the full brunt of the follow up on his shield, something that sent him staggering. Arslan whipped her rope dart around with increased fervor, doing her damned best to carve a path through to get to the ranger. The sky had darkened, the sun choking on the grasp of clouds coming in from the mountains
He dived between the Grimm's legs, Glassvain lacerating across the back of it's knees. Jangles the Moon Monkey howled, twisting to slap at the grey ranger. Jangles connected with a statue made of gravel, sending the small stones buckshot into the distance. It growled, internally cursing this tricky outside thing. It saw it flicker just at the edge of it's view, and lunged at it.
Jaune yelped as he batted Jangles the Moon Monkey aside, Reeds Regret clashing harshly with the bone plated knuckles, deep gouges running through it. The blow sent shock waves up the rangers arm. His spare arm thrust Glassvain into the chest plate of the Berengal. Jangles grabbed it, wrenching it out of Jaune's hands. Jaune's eyes went wide for a moment, before he grabbed another weapon. The Hammer and Chisel screamed in a bloodthirsty chorus, but the rangers hands did not grip their eager handles. He opted for his large sledge hammer instead. I will burn this thing alive. He thought, already pushing the off worldly energy into an unnatural flow, preparing for its rapid expenditure.
He dipped under a wide swing and countered with his own. The Berengal jumped to the side, avoiding the ground shattering impact of the hammer. It did not help it from avoiding the blade of light Jaune pulled into existence. Both the Berengal and the magic blade screamed into the air as it cut against it's face. Jangles leapt back hoping to make space and find a better angle. It was met with a scattered blast of arcane bolts. Growling, pock marks of smoking coming off it, the Berengal landed. Clearly, it could not run from this thing. So it would have to crush it's tiny little head in between it's hands. It lunged forward at Jaune once more, hoping to slam the creature before him.
It's fists were met with a stone wall, erected from the depths of the earth.
Thunder rumbled overhead, the clouds darkening and swirling above the dueling creatures. Red crackles of lightning illuminated the unnatural cloudmass, pulsing with the rangers veins. One could smell the static in the air as Jaune huddled behind his stone structure. The top half of it was ripped off, the basalt slate compound rock crunching under the strong fingers of the gorilla grimm. It looked down at the blonde ranger, a dark grin spreading on it's face.
I got you now. It seemed like it was sneering.
Jaune looked up at it, a wide grin across his face. "You know, Jangles? You never cease to entertain me." He said, thrusting his hands up towards the sky. A ball of red energy shot up from his hands, and the sky responded in kind. A bolt of lightning the color of blood, or cherry cool-aid, shot down towards whatever was unfortunate enough to be below it. It was a particular unfortunate standing for the berengal that it was significantly taller than a crouching blonde human.
There were few things that were as painful in the long history of its life that were as painful as getting struck by lightning. It collapsed backwards , smoke coming off it's body. Jaune stood up from his hidey hole, his own arms burning from the power. He picked up Glassvain, letting out a deep breath. The grimm let out something between a snarl and a wheeze, trying to get up. Jaune stood over it, looking down at his defeated opponent.
"I will see you again, won't I?" he stabbed Jangles the Moon Monkey through the neck, killing him.
It was an anticlimactic death, all things being told. Something that Jaune couldn't help but find himself a little disappointed. He turned to look at the Grimm hoard behind him. Barely held off by a wall of bodies and firepower, a huddled mass of people were tucked into the corner.
The bulwarking force of nine huntsmen and a block of spear wielding peasants was doing surprising well, even with the added effect of a funnel through the hole in the wall preventing any semblance of a flank or outmaneuver. A boartusk charged the civilian spearmen, crashing through their position. The spears worked, impailing the oversized pig, but that didn't stop its momentum. It slammed into one unfortunate soul, slamming him into the ground with the full force of a three hundred pound freight train with a shattering cracking sound. The pained cry and commotion drew Jaune's attention away from the dissolved corspe.
Cracking his knuckles, he tightened his grip on glassvain. Pouring arc energy into the blade, he unlocked it, letting it fall limp into the segmented whip form. Curves and arcs of electricity streaked from it, connecting each segment curve by curve. He shot it forward, letting the empowered lacerations cleave through the grimm. The flung his arm, lashing great swaths of death through the air as he approached. They fell, clouds of grimm ash falling away choked out the sun peaking from the clearing skies.
Between the death of the Horde leader, and the sudden flank breaking them. Some fled, particularly those at the edges of the front. Those less lucky, or less intelligent, were decimated by either blade, bullet, or hard knuckle.
Arslan looked behind her at the people they were protecting. "I… I'm actually stunned." She said, shaking her head.
"Consider me impressed." Dr. Cortez echoed, tipping his hat to his students. "No one died, and it came with minimal casualties." He looked over at jaune, who was shakily sheathing Glassvain. He could see the bulging of his veins, blood pumping through them at such a rate it looked as though they were glowing a magmatic orange. The ranger pushed past them, looking at the brave men that made up the spear phalanx.
"We had casualties? Who?" he asked Dr. Cortez, his voice as hard as iron.
Dr. Cortez shrugged. "Nothing major." He jerked his head to the man who had been tackled. He was being dragged away by his fellows, trying to figure out what was wrong. The ranger moved towards the whimpering man, but was swept up by the sudden explosion of movement from the rest of the community. The huddled masses got quickly to work, doing whatever crisis management work they could. Jaune was swept away in the hustle and recovery from shock. He went around, finding where he could be useful. He set up emergency cots and sleeping bags for those who had found their homes destoryed or uninhabitable first. He moved the stones that had collasped in on the church, using a smidge of earthen magic to either enhance the strength of his own muscles or have the ground reabsorb the rock when no one was paying that much attention. Small taps on crying or overwhelmed children and babes sent soothing and dulling pulses of magic through them, freeing hands and minds of their parents to assist other, more pressing tasks. He could feel the fatigued burning with every tap, every stone, and every step. But these people needed beds. They needed roofs. They needed security.
And yet there was still more to do. There was always more to do. The sun had started to set, and Jaune was just starting to make his way to the cots designated for medical recovery. Several were filled, mostly for scrapes, close calls, concussions and the likes that fell under the category of "minor inconvenience". Only one was of major concern, the towns apothecary was hovering over him.
Jaune stood at the foot of his bed, his shadow casting ominous darkness over the two. "What is the injury?"
The medicinal man shrugged. "Either broken lower spine or where the spine meets the pelvis. He's absolutely broken his tailbone and probably his hip. That's nothing some bed rest and good splints can't solve. In a couple of weeks. Or months. Probably months. But the spine…" they trailed off, grinding their teeth.
Jaune frowned, looking down at the paitent. "I might be able to help." He said, kneeling down on the other side. "What is your name?"
"Daeloth." He grunted, shifting to look at Jaune. That was a mistake, judging by the sharp hiss that came out of his mouth.
"I would suggest not moving just yet, Daeloth." Jaune said, already shaping the mana into a useable form. Gently pressing his hands into his stomach, he started pushing finger like strands of mana, feeling around and getting a good grasp of what the damage was.
Hrmm, this is more complicated than I thought it would be. Jaune grumbled. B nodded.
Damaged lower spine, absolutely fucked left femur, shattered pelvic bone on the left side and several fractures on the right, tailbone is also mostly destroyed plus some organ damage. It should be repairable.
Jaune nodded, taking his hands off. "Daeloth, this may or may not feel rather weird on your end." The ranger started, pulling out a bottle of alcohol. It was his third since the end of the battle, but Arslan wasn't going to know that if he got his way. He took a quick swig before tucking it away. "But it shouldn't be painful." Rolling his neck, he started working the mana again. The fastest way would be to just dissolve and rebuild the damaged sections of bones, and let the squishier bits recover naturally. First step would be to shut off the nervous system in the operational zone, at least temporarily.
Considering his options into that regard, he handed Daeloth his bottle. "Drink." He commanded, and to his credit Daeloth did. Jaune tapped him on the head, altering the affects of the alcohol to be particularly numbing and sense dulling.
Daeloth nor the apothecary noted that the veins on his neck were leaking out a golden glow, or that his eyes were shot with thin swirls of reds and greens.
When Jaune started working on manipulating and twisting the flesh, Daeloth did indeed think it was a strange feeling. The words he would use would be "Weird as shit, mate", but Jaune didn't need to know that. He cut and picked away at the bone, rebinding and sticking them together section by section.
He did not notice a dark and ominous presence behind him, remaining blissfully oblivious of it until it made itself known.
"Ahem." The roughened voice drew his attention. One he knew well, but had never heard such strain in before.
"Ms. Altan." He said, not looking away from his work. "Is the work done yet?"
Arslan crossed her arms. "Our work" She said, putting her emphasis on the first word "is done for the day. I have no intention of letting you work yourself to death. Not today."
"Hrmmm." Jaune hummed, not really paying attention. He refocused his efforts, finishing the reconstruction of the mans pelvis.
Arslan harumphed, tapping her foot. "You're not even listening to me, are you?" She asked, half a growl in her voice.
Jaune shook his head. "Not really, no. I will be able to listen in ten minutes." He answered, moving on to the tricky part. Spines were always tough, and particularly dangerous. He just hoped that he didn't fuck it. Piece by piece he went, carefully plotting and planning it out.
"You're ten minutes are up." Arslan said. Jaune shook his head.
"I'm not done yet." He said, clenching his jaw. He could hear her growl.
"Jaune-" She started, but was quickly cut off.
"I am almost done, Arslan. Just-just have patience." Arslan relented at that, opting to be silent until Jaune finished. When he got up, already looking around for the next task that needed doing, Arslan grabbed him by his armor plate.
"No, no. Absolutely not." She commanded, pushing him so that they were looking eye to eye. "I know exactly what you are thinking. No."
Jaune swallowed, shaking his head. "But-"
"Jaune. I can literally, Literally, see your veins glowing like Reese's fancy keyboard right now." Arslan said, turning on her heel and dragging Jaune by the front of his chestplate. "I don't know what bullshit your semblance does to your bloodstream, but I know exhaustion when I see it." They arrived to another cot, one of the nicer ones that had either been overlooked or, more likely, been reserved by someone and quite possibly kicked out.
"This man is sleeping here for the night." Arslan said to the woman that was doing her best to administer the beds. She nodded, but Arslan had more to say. "He does not get up, he does not help, he does not tap people on the head and calm them down. No matter what or how much he says, he does not leave this bed. He is getting a good, quiet, peaceful night's sleep." Arslan said, turning to Jaune. "You are not going to argue or fight. You are going to sleep, understand?" she said, pointing a finger at him.
Jaune raised an eyebrow, but nodded. It's not worth arguing. Worst case, I just sneak out later on and make sure everything is going to be ok. He thought to himself as he was eased onto the cot, a blanket thrown over him.
A gave a couple of deep, calming breaths. Did anyone else find that really hot?
Jaune shook his head. Nope! Going to sleep! He denied, closing his eyes and, for the first time in what felt like a century, let his muscles relax.
END CHAP 66
Arslan was tired. She wasn't the only person that was tired, but still, she was tired. Not as tired as Jaune, apparently, as he fell asleep the moment she got him in a bed. She envied him sometimes, being able to lay down and just sleep. Turn into a corpse and be unbothered for a couple of hours. She looked down at the ranger, the dull glow from what she assumed to be the dust running through his veins had started to fade. Arslan shook her gaze away from the almost hypnotic pulsing lines, moving away to go find someway to be useful. She ended up sitting next to the camp fire, a large pot boiling water over it.
One of the women handed her a knife and a pile of vegetables. "come, help us."
Arslan started to chop the root vegetables put infront of her, carefully making knuckle sized cubes to put into the soup. Others bustled around her, most heading home to inspect whatever they had left.
Splosh. A little girl pulled a tiny doll from the rubble.
Chop. A man looked at what was left of his shop, holding a half broken pot before tossing it to the side. He sighed, shaking his head. His wife gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. They said nothing.
Splash. A mother was fretting over her son. She had been doing so for the last hour, gripping him tightly and sobbing tears of relief into his shoulder. He awkwardly patted her back with one hand, the other still gripping the spear he had killed a diminutive grunt with.
Chop. Jaune was sleeping. He laid there, still in sight of Arslan's careful gaze, still as a corpse. Arslan was… vaguely aware that he didn't like sleeping. He had spoken to her, in a moment of rare, true honesty, that he suffered from terrible dreams. She gazed into the fire, wordlessly taking a bowl of thin soup to sip at.
A woman, draped in thin purple cloths and heavy woven blinkets, her bobcat tail swishing behind her. "Abarsh Hidikargu" Arslan said, greeting the woman with a bowl.
"Awww, thank you darling. Aren't you just sweet?" The old bobcat asked, crooning in their native tongue. Arslan smiled at her, helping her sit down. "Thank you, darling. The cold outdoors is harsh on these old bones." Arslan hummed, sipping her soup.
The old woman next to her hummed, looking around the destruction. "You know, many might consider it a miracle from the gods that we survived."
The lioness nodded solemnly, her eyes glancing over to her fellow blonde. "yes, we are truly blessed to have had such an outcome."
The old woman shook her head, smiling. "I said nothing about blessings, dearie. I said Miracles." She croaked, sipping at her soup. "There are some small acts of magic left behind in this world, after all."
Arslan raised an eyebrow. "Abarsh, magic hasn't been true since the time of gods, and they left us long ago." She sighed, looking back into the fire. The old woman raised her eyebrow.
"Oh, is that what you think?" the Madame giggled, bobcat tail swaying behind her. "You think the tales of old decrepit tombs is a true history?" she put her bowl down. "no, no, no. There are still little bits of magic around. I know you know that. You've seen it. The way the world roils at it."
Arslan stared at her. "he bleed color." She confirmed. "When I look at him through my semblance, the world if painted in hazes" I am fairly sure that's from immense dust concentration. She thought to herself, still not quite believing that magic was real
The old woman smiled. "Is that how it is? He bleeds light?" The lioness nodded. "Mmm, I see. So, what do you think he is?" She asked, tilting her head.
Arslan just blinked at him. "What he… is?" She was a little confused. She wasn't quite sure if the old fortune teller was senile, pulling her leg, or actually being honest. "I mean, he's human. He's a little weird, but he's human." The old lady just hummed, looking at him.
"Perhaps, perhaps." She said quietly, before looking back up to the lioness "Dearie, you should look around more often. You said you could see his color, right?" Arslan nodded, finishing her soup. "You might just find more than you think there is."
Arslan groaned, putting her head into her hands. "Arbash, the last thing I want is to have my life even more complicated." There was a sound of something scraping against stone. Arslan looked around quickly identifying what could have made it. Bolin was up, walking around and dragging his staff along the stonework. He seemed to be peering down at the people resting in cots.
Arslan stood up, pacing over to him as quietly as she could, soup bowl in hand. "There's soup if you want it." She offered him in a whisper. He just shook his head, not particularly interested. Instead he was just gazing down at a familiar sleeping blonde.
"I overheard your conversation with the woman." He said somenly. Arslan raised an eyebrow at him, curious as to where this was going.
"And what of it?" She asked.
He just looked down at the dreamer, solemnly. "Why is he so much more powerful than me?" He asked the ground with a mutter. Then he turned to look at his leader. "is that why you chose him over me?" Arslan looked at him, confused.
"What?" She asked, not sure where this was going. "Choose him over you?"
The blue man nodded, his teeth clenched. "yes. You chose him. Even though it was me that was there next to you from the very begening, at every opportunity, at every turn, you choose him." His jaw was grinding, his eyes locked onto the sleeping man. "I just don't understand it, Arslan. You used to be smart, you used to be so smart. People are supposed to get smarter as they get older, but you? It's just been bad decision after bad decision." He practically spat. Arslan growled, a twitch forming on her temple. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
"Alright, what about our miraculous success today was a mistake?" She asked with a tapping of her foot.
For the first time in their conversation, Bolin looked at his leader. "Nothing… But everything before hand?" He asked. "We shouldn't be here. We should have never come here." He wheeled on her, fire in his eyes as he let out an infuriated growl. "You come here because Jaune wanted you to! You accepted this mission because Jaune wanted you to! You listened to him for no other reason than he wanted you to! You followed him because he wanted you! You chose him over me because he wanted you too! You are blind because he wanted you to!" Arslan's grip tightened on her hand, a clenched fist growing tighter. Hell, you bent over for him when he wanted you to! How did it feel" he would have continued, but he found his nose inexplicably collapsed and his jaw fractured.
That was too much for Arslan. She had had enough and wasn't going to let him another word out. "That is enough. You will shut up, or I will remove your ability to speak." She growled at him, grabbing him by his lapel. She dragged the stunned man across the courtyard, tossing him roughly at her leading teacher.
"he's your problem. I'm not dealing with him any more." She snarled, not bothering to stick around. She was going to go to sleep. Or beat a mountain into submission. She would decide on the way.
Jaune woke up to an unfortunately familiar chill. He stared up at the stone ceiling of the mountain. Standing up from the gravestone, he dusted the frost off him. He gazed through the window, looking at the snow-covered mountains before him.
He turned to look at the wizard tower, with the sack of flesh inside, pulsing and growing away. Or dying, Jaune wasn't sure. He looked back at the mountain, then to the tower. Then to the Mountain.
"You know what?" he said to no one in particular. "I think I am going to go sledding."
He was half covered in snow, enough piled onto his shoulder that had Nora been there, he would be a walking ammunition bin. Trudging through the deep snow, the incline would have been treacherous had it not been the fact for all of Jaunes hiking, through both Mistral and the Dream. Eventually, he made it to an appropriate height. Gazing out to the ice covered plains, he could see far into the horizon.
He could see the town he had entered this frozen north. To it's left, a vast expanse of ice. To the right, even more vast expanses of ice.
That's a lot of ice. A thought loudly.
You know, sometimes? B started, looking at his obvious counterpart. I genuinely hate you.
A smiled. But only sometimes.
Jaune put a shield onto the ground, giving it an experimental push. Happy with the lack of friction, he jumped on it. Getting down onto his belly much like a penguin, he rushed down the mountain side, snow and ice splattering against his face. He sputtered as he rushed down the mountain, the wind making his hair flap against the back plate of his armor. His breath was coming out oddly, in sporadic gasps and shouts. It was a totally strange and foreign feeling, but one that he really didn't care to stop. It continued for some time before he recognized it.
I'm laughing. He realized, wanting to face palm. "I'm laughing! I'm actually laughing!" the dreamer cackled as he flew down the mountain. He was laughing in sheer, pure, glee. A sound unfamiliar to the dream. The gray sky hissed at him displeased, but Jaune quite frankly didn't give a damn. He didn't give so much of a damn that he didn't even notice.
He laughed all the way down.
He was going too fast. The dreamer looked up, seeing the rock ahead.
"Oh, whoops." He said, colliding into it a jagged piece of stone. It sent him flying, skirting through the air at a rapid velocity. He would know that it would kill him when he hit the ground, turn him into a motorcycle crash on an autobahn. He would know that it would shatter his skull and spine, throw a couple organs into paste when he made contact. He would know, if only he could stop laughing and whooping.
His head was detached from his body when he hit the ground, smiling even in death.
Jaune figured that something happened to team ARBN over the week. Considering the acidic demeanor of everyone involved, it apparently was bad.
By bad, you mean significantly worse than usual B noted. Jaune nodded.
Yeah. That level of bad. Never before had he seen team ARBN, a normally functional team, get into a very physical fight over breakfast. Sure, he had his suspicions (and repeatedly confirmed and kept track of those suspicions. No, he was not stalking them B, not shut.) and those led him to where he absolutely shouldn't be. In lionhearts office, or rather right outside his door. Team ARBN was in there, and he had caught the majority of a screaming match. Those where words even he was never going to repeat.
I didn't know that Arslan could be that loud. A commented, cleaning out his ears. What a set of lungs.
It took one single powerful yell from the headmaster to shut the four of them up. "Enough!" He shouted, stunning the four arguing teammates.
"Mr. Bolin, as far as I am aware, and I am very aware of my own schools rules, Ms. Altan is fully, and I mean fully in her right to request your removal from team ARBN. She has presented… amicable evidence to your removal. I have no reason to deny her."
"But-" Bolin started and Jaune could hear his voice cracking. Apparently someone did something, because he did not continue. The headmaster continued on.
"as such, I will be making you an independent student until further notice. You are dismissed." The voice was cold, cold enough that it made Jaune shiver and stand at attention, and he wasn't even in the room.
Bolin apparently had a stiffer spine than Jaune, as he had a retort. "You can't do that! That is-" he was cut off by a deep growl. Sometimes Jaune forgot that much like Arslan, Lionheart was a lion faunus.
"You. Are. Dismissed. Now get out." There was a soft pattering sound as someone walked towards the door. Jaune quickly dipped into the shadows, disappearing out of the perceivable realm. Bolin marched out, somewhere between a sulk and a stomp.
His attention was drawn away as the headmaster started speaking again. "Now… what to do with team ARB- team ARN. ACS? Aces?" he pondered, probably looking up at the air. "I like it. Team Aces. I was hoping to enroll you into this years Vytal Festival, but a full four man team is required…"
Someone cleared their throat. "if I may-" Dr. Cortez started. Huh, Jaune wasn't aware that he was in the room, but he was technically team ARBN's advisor. "We could move another student into team Aces."
The headmaster hummed. "I assume you have someone in mind?"
"Of course. I'm would be almost insulted if you thought I didn't. I was thinking about Jaune." There was a conspiratorial moment of silence. Jaune froze, a dozen feeling running through his head. He was going to be on another team. Another group of people was going to be close to him. He was going to be on a team again. He was going to have to work with a team again. He was going to have to fight with another team. Could he even do that? Could he even… trust another team?
"That seems… like a rather good idea. JARS? It works just as well." He hummed. There was a cracking sound, probably the headmaster leaning back in his chair. "If I may ask, why do you suggest Mr. Arc?"
The Doctor cleared his throat. "Jaune is very capable of holding on his own, so there is no issue with him either falling behind in the team or that the team devalues him." He explained. "Beyond that, he worked well enough with team… with our students here. I also believe that the continued isolation of being a single huntsman is …unhealthy for him."
There was a heavy silence. "I see. "the headmaster noted. "You've thought hard about this. Dare I say, you've scripted this?" It was far to respectful for the doctor to have not written it out somewhere
The doctor laughed. "You know me just a little too well, headmaster. I was going to suggest that Mr. Jaune be incorperated into ARBN anyway somehow, this just was a most excellent excuse."
There was a wise hum from the headmaster. "Ms. Altan, are you and your teammates amicable to this arrangement?"
Interestingly to Jaune, but not at all surprising, it was Rheese that answered first. "Yes! We'll take him!" She said. If Jaune was in the room, he could see her give Arslan a conspiratorial wink but he wasn't, so he was ambitious to both Rheese's scheming and Arslan's disgruntled blush. Although that might have been residual blood from her screaming match.
"That seems resounding." The headmaster said. "Martha, please call Mr. Arc to my office-" it was at this moment that Jaune opened the door, walking in with a stone face.
"I was summoned?" He asked, putting on his best poker face. Dr. Cortez gave him a smug side eye, but let it side. The headmaster just blinked.
"Were you just outside of the door?" He asked, not sure whether to be concerned, confused, or impressed.
Jaune shook his head. "No sir. I was wandering around when I had the feeling you wanted me." He answered calmly. The headmaster nodded.
"Right. So, I have news. You are from now on going to be a part of team JARS. Yourself, Arslan Altan, Reese Chloris, and Nadir Shiko. Are there any questions?"
Jaune nodded. "Yes, one." The headmaster nodded, indicating he could speak it. "Shouldn't the team be AACS? Aces? I feel that my replacement of Arslan as team leader would be unproduive at best, and counterproductive to our cohesion at worst. Replacing a perfectly functional and component leader seems unnecessary and overly convoluted." He answered.
And frankly stupid A commented with a snort. Jaune did not add that. Lionheart hummed. "I will make the team name AACS, Aces, as you wish. I do however do fully believe that you should be it's leader, Mr. Arc."
Jaune gave him a level, unwavering look. "I will accept that name." He spoke. Nothing was mentioned about the leadership, but his disagreement was clear as day in his gaze. Lionheart gave a nervous gulp.
"Right. Dr. Cortez, can I entrust you to team AACS's relocation into a common living space?"
Dr. Cortez gave him a even glare. "Kids, you're adults. Figure it out and let me know what the outcome is." He said, turning heel and leaving the room. Lionheart sighed, pinching his temple with a vocal grumble.
"AACS, you're dismissed. Have… just make sure that Sebastian gets the paperwork done." All four of them look at each other, not at all confident in their ability to ensure that outcome.
I AM NOT DEAD! it's a freaking miracle. I am actually surprised we're getting another chapter out of this story. I lost a lot of steam when this document broke the chracter limit on google docs and I had to port it over. that and constant breaks on this site didn't help me.
So, firsts things first: Bolin: Bolin is a character I wish I did better, but I suck really badly at writing evil characters, just bad ones. I pulled an Ironwood with bolin, turning his reasons for his dumbassery into something that is explained off screen in the authors notes. Bolin is a naracist and in love with Arslan. As such, he thinks he's always right, and is very defensive/ protective about her. he see's Jaune as a threat to basically his worldview and that's he doesn't like him. I know I didn't do this character justice, but this thing has already broken google docs and takes approximately 5 minutes to save to word so I don't think I have the physical space to do him justice. Whoops. This was an elaborate scheme to write him out of the story without killing him (which was my first idea, just to make Jaune suffer more)
But we're now where where I want everyone to be for the most part, and we're heading to the vytal tournament next! Not sure if I should do some worldbuilding filler for Mistral first or not. I am really tempted, because I love the character idea that comes with it, but again the story is massive. We are at 280848 words according to Word. So thank you for reading this monstrosity!