Chapter Eight
Jaune grunted as he pushed forwards by Cardin, carrying a cardboard box in addition to Team CRDLs' crate of sample jars.
"Alright, are we almost there? Our mule is going to need to rest a bit." The bigger of the two Team Captains asked of Sky Lark. The gray armor-clad member of CRDL looked over at Cardin and Jaune, then at one of the trees they were approaching. Taking a moment to pull down a low-hanging branch and then inspecting a leaf, he nodded.
"Yeah, we found it." He intoned, showing a leaf that had five flanges forming together. As Jaune huffed, he looked at Cardin.
"Urm… thanks?" He says with a confused expression. Cardin looked back, expression unreadable at the moment.
"... don't thank me just yet, Jauny boy." He replied, slapping the smaller Captain on his shoulder. He then made Jaune open up the crate of jars and fill them with Autumn Maple sap, while Team CRDL eased back and did whatever. After a short period of time, he gathered all the red sap that was needed for their current batch.
Once finished, he found himself once again being dragged to a new spot, this time carrying the cardboard box that was making a number of buzzing sounds.
"Where are we going?" Jaune asked.
"That's a surprise." Cardin replied, continuing on. After some time passed, the two of them found themselves behind some bushes. Cardin took a moment to part a window to see through, and smirked with a glint in his eyes.
"Right then, I am sure you are wondering why I brought you here with the Rapier Wasps in the box? Well, I have something planned for a little someone." He said, gesturing for Jaune to look through the bush. Upon taking a peek, he saw the rest of JNPR harvesting an Autumn Maple for its red sap. Jaune then noticed Cardin was focused on Pyrrha in particular.
"Uh, Cardin? You're not planning on doing anything… dangerous, right?" Jaune asked. Cardin continued looking at Pyrrha, even as he growled out his response.
"Oh, nothing too dangerous, but it will be painful for her… I did a bit of research on Rapier Wasps, and it turns out that they love their red sap." Cardin explains, handing Jaune one of the jars filled with sap. Jaune looked between both the jar and the box, eyes widening as realization set in. As Cardin began to order him around, he thought back to what Eleanor said just a few days ago when she was ranting about his performance in Combat Training.
Either leave and go back to Basic Training with a proper teacher… or quit altogether. The words in his mind, and Jaune shuddered as he breathed in deeply, as he recalled how he got here…
"Jauney boy, look at me when I am talking to you." Cardin commanded.
"No."
"...what?" the bully asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, but I am pretty sure-"
"No." Jaune interrupted again, this looking glaring at Cardin defiantly. "I'm not putting up with you anymore."
"...tch, do you really think I won't tell Ozpin about your little secret?"
"Go ahead." Jaune snapped back, then chucked the red sap jar at Cardin, blanking out as he processed what he did just now as it shattered, splattering its syrupy contents all over the breastplate the larger teen was wearing.
"Oh, you have done it now…" Cardin sneered, grabbing and then throwing Jaune onto the ground. Just as he was about to punch Jaune, a bright white light shone, blinding both of them as Jaune felt something hit his cheek, only to bounce off in time to Cardin crying out. When he opened his eyes, he saw then that his hands were glowing a bright white, which faded out.
Cardin rubbed at his wrist, glaring at Jaune.
"Uh… ack!" The blonde teen cried out as he was struck across the face by his bully, which was when Team RWBY and the rest of JNPR came up from the bushes.
"Wha- hey!" Pyrrha exclaimed, as everyone drew their weapons on him. Cardin, as the rest of CRDL appeared through the brush, sneered as they drew their weapons in turn.
"Oh-ho-ho, you really are quite ready to throw down?" the Winchester taunted.
"This has gone far enough asshole! The hell is your problem?!" Yang demanded, slamming her fists together. The air grew tense, when an explosion sounded out, and everyone felt their Scrolls beeping, indicating one of their fellow Cadets ran into trouble. As the voice of Stanton rang out, they could hear snarling and roaring accompanied by gunfire in the background.
"This is Cadet Captain Egurd to Beacon One and all Cadet Teams, Grimm Swarm, Grimm Swarm. I repeat, Grimm Swarm, the rest of Team STEL and I are being chased by a nest of Grimm we ran into and need evacuation due to being pinned down. I repeat, Team STEL is pinned down and requires eva- SHIT!" he explained, dropping his composure for a moment as a crashing sound burst opened. Once the communication ceased, Glynda Goodwitch wasted no time giving her reply.
"This is Professor Goodwitch, ordering Teams CRDL, RWBY, and JNPR to fall back to Beacon One. Team STEL, transmit your coordinates to Pilot Greene's Scroll, then find and hold a defensive position where possible."
"Pilot Greene to Team STEL, waiting on your transmission. Stay alive and we'll get your asses out of there Cadets." a third voice, this one a woman whose tone was professional and sure of her skills. Stanton spoke up then as the Cadets began running to the Bullhead, dropping their feud for now.
"Ted, get-"
"Already sending coordinates as we speak. Remember to hurry up Beacon One, we're running low on ammunition." Ted Renzo called out, interrupting Stanton. As they ran into the clearing where the Bullhead was powering up its engines, Glynda could be seen waving to them.
"Come on, everyone get in now!" she shouted, quickly filing a headcount as she saw each of the Cadets rush into the Bullhead.
"Everyone in?" Greene called out. Her co-pilot was occupied communicating with STEL, and thus didn't respond to the Cadets beyond a nod of acknowledgement. Goodwitch looked around, then saw a hook fire out and hit the ground by the Bullhead's door attached to a ribbon. Looking up, she saw Blake being pulled by Gambol Shroud, teeth gritting and eyes widened as she released the hook, and rolled into the hanger to quickly get in.
"Shit, shit, shit…" Blake cursed to herself, taking deep breaths in and out as she looked around the hanger.
"Teams RWBY, JNPR and CRDL are in, take off and start heading over to Team STELs' position now!" Glynda ordered, the Professor taking charge. Everyone felt it as their transport began lifting itself in the air, turning in the direction Team STEL was at.
"Pilot Greene to Team STEL, we're on our way. Shoot a flare and prepare for a hot landing." Greene said, her voice being picked up on everyone's Scroll.
"-ck that imitator up! Cadet Smith here, popping flare! Get your asses over here now, Captain Egurd is wounded and requires medevac immediately!" Langley could be heard shouting into the comms, voice gravely as he snarled the words out. A moment passed, then Greene called out.
"Flare sighted, coming in from the south-southwest." She said, turning the Bullhead and flying in full speed ahead. Soon the sounds of gunfire and explosions caused the Cadets to tense up, while their teacher Glynda shouted out to them, carrying a first-aid kit at her hip.
"Alright, for now, all we need to do for now is give Team STEL supporting fire so they can get in the Bullhead and then take off. Once they're in, we're taking off back to Beacon, no heroics. Is that clear?" She called out.
"Yes, Professor!" Everyone shouted in unison, though she noticed the tense looks on their faces. Clearly something happened, but this was not the time or place to address it for now. As the group felt the Bullhead turn around, Pilot Greene spoke up. She then began giving a countdown as she lowered the Bullhead down
"Opening hanger doors in three, two, one… GO GO GO!" she shouted, prompting the Cadets to rush out and charge the horde of Grimm that tried to ambush them from within the Bullhead. While there was some surprise in the sheer amount of the creatures, the Cadets along with the support being given by Professor Goodwitch using her Telekinesis tore through them quickly, opening a hole in their numbers.
As Cardin and the rest of CRDL were tearing through a pack of Beregals, a King Tajitsu came up out of the air, the giant snake Grimm missing its entire white snake portion, and parts of its body cratered, indicating damage from explosive fire. Glynda, seeing Teams RWBY, JNPR, and CRDL holding their ground, levitated herself using her Telekinesis, and spotted Team STEL firing wildly into the Grimm swarming them as they tried to keep them away. While Eleanor, Langley and Ted were still fighting, she could see Stanton was on the ground clutching his stomach, the other three surrounding him to block the Grimm as best they could with their bodies.
Thinking quickly, she dropped down, and called out to Ruby, Blake, Weiss, Cardin, Nora and Pyrrha.
"Ruby, Blake, Team STEL is that way and Cadet Captain Stanton is down. Head over and reinforce their position. Cardin, Weiss, Nora, Pyrrha, clear a path between them and the Bullhead." Glynda ordered, to which all six of the named Cadets rushed out to do their tasks. Ruby and Blake launched out and above the Grimm formation, cutting down a swathe of the monsters and clearing the area. An ice bridge then plowed through the horde of the beasts, scattering or impaling multiple dozens of Grimm as Weiss formed it using her Semblance Glyphs.
Cardin rushed forward into the fray, striking out at several Grimm that were trying to climb onto the wall of ice, Pyrrha and Nora running past to slam, slice, stab and chop a large portion of the beasts. Cardin growled, unaware of Glynda seeing his visible envy of the celebrity gladiator in particular. Her eyes then widen as a black hand reached out for his ankle.
"CARDIN!" she called out, and the large Cadet only had time to process his name being shouted before he was grabbed and pulled by whatever Grimm was targeting him. He cried out as he felt his leg getting pulled hard enough that without his Aura to protect him, it would have potentially been pulled out of its socket. Winchester also slammed face-first into the ice, grunting as he dropped his Executioner in shock.
"Shit!" Glynda exclaimed, and rushed over to help him as he was pulled over the side. Nora, firing her grenades into a crowd, also noticed this when she did a double-take. Her eyebrows were raised as she paused, mouth agape as she and several of the other Cadets heard Cardin screaming.
"I'm going in!" Jaune shouted, following Yang who also jumped in to help Cardin alongside Ren. Glynda, realizing what he just said, moved quickly.
"Jaune, stand back. The rest of us will handle this!" The Beacon professor called out to the blonde. He, however, continued on his way, slashing at the paw of an Ursa that tried to claw at him, while Yang and Ren looked over at him.
"Wait, Jaune, what are you doing?!" Yang called out, crushing the neck of a Beringal that she held in a headlock. Jaune passed by her, causing the brawler to grab his shoulder. When he reached back to take her hand off him, his own glowed white, and upon contact with her, she jumped as she felt a surge of energy flowing into her.
"Woaaah!" She exclaimed, her Aura flaring a bright yellow, similar to when her own Semblance is activated. After a moment passed, they let go.
"Are you alright?" Jaune asked, clearly concerned he did something wrong. Yang was about to answer, but then looked over his shoulder and pushed him aside. As he fell, another Grimm tried to swipe at him, only to be punched hard enough by Yang that she blew apart its lower and upper torso, bisecting it horizontally.
"Well, that's useful. Ren, Jaune, I am getting Cardin!" Yang called out to them while smiling, eyes glowing red like when her Burn Semblance is active and charged forward clearing through the beasts.
"...Jaune, when did you unlock your Semblance?" Ren asked.
"...about ten minutes before we boarded the Bullhead." Jaune replied, picking himself up while Ren helped him up. Glynda floated by, setting her feet down as she walked up to Jaune.
"What's going on?" She asked, voice trailing off as she saw Yang carrying Cardin over, whilst the Cadets sent to help Team STEL were running by to get them into the Bullhead.
"I can explain on the way back to the Bullhead." Jaune offered. Glynda nodded, following the two Cadets to the Bullhead. Once everyone was in, Pilot Greene spoke up.
"Everyone in, this is Beacon One, returning to the nest. Good job out there." She says, while her co-pilot exited the cockpit, carrying a med-kit as he inspected the injured, started with Stanton and Cardin.
Jaune had a shocked expression, as he saw that Cardin's armor was ripped apart in multiple areas, gouge marks tracing where he was mauled by the Grimm, only surviving despite his Aura breaking by Yang getting him out of there, but was lying still. Stanton, while no less for wear, seemed better off by virtue of his being at least partially awake and growling, an intense and surly expression made more intimidating by the blood covering his face and torso.
"Damn, Cardin's not breathing, and his heartbeat is weak" The co-pilot exclaimed, a deep masculine voice echoing from the mask he was wearing with his helmet. Everyone started at that, with mixed emotions in response to hearing this. While Cardin obviously wasn't popular, especially amongst the Faunus students, seeing someone dying regardless of their social position was something they only experienced in fiction, not reality, at least as far as Teams RWBY, JNPR, and CRDL were comcerned. Glynda muttered a curse under her breath, as she began working to help the co-pilot administer CPR.
"We're at least several hours away from Beacon… he isn't making it." Eleanor said, drawing looks from everyone that heard. Blake in particular noted how… casual Team STEL was about witnessing someone that was just entering their early 20s on the verge of death.
"What the fuck bitch?!" Russel exclaimed. The Raccoon Faunus stared with barely a reaction, face blank and stoic.
"Would you prefer I lie and say he's going to live?" Eleanor asked, whilst everyone was watching the argument that was starting save for Glynda and the co-pilot.
"Eleanor, Russel, cut it out!" Goodwitch ordered, prompting a much, much more visible reaction from Team STEL. They all had various amounts of annoyance or disapproval in their expressions, but it was then that Jaune spoke.
"I can try something!" He called out, making everyone turn their attention to him. Yang then proceeded to give her support.
"Jaune unlocked his Semblance, apparently he can now charge up people's Aura, something that I can attest to personally." She replied, and everyone noticed that she was rapidly tapping her foot against the floor of the Bullhead. After some time passed with everyone processing what was said, Stanton held his hand towards Jaune. The co-pilot, meanwhile, was still doing CPR even as he observed from the sidelines.
"Show us." He said, to which Jaune stared as his peer Cadet Captain looked at him. After a moment of silence, he grabbed Stanton by the wrist with a white glowing hand, and let his Aura flow into his fellow Huntsman.
Stanton, who was before hunched over slightly and breathing with a slight hitch in his vocalizations, gave a sharp inhale and stood straight, his body glowing in a pattern of white and hazelnut brown as his body began to heal in front of everyone. Grunting lightly, Stanton wiped off the blood all over his face as he let go, cleaning himself as Jaune went to Cardin.
Taking a moment to let Glynda and the Bullhead pilot back up, Jaune held onto the Cadet that bullied him relentlessly earlier by the ankle, letting his Semblance begin recharging his Aura. A few seconds passed, and Cardin let out a strangled gasp. The pilot then looked at a monitor which was the tool he was using to get the Team CRDL Captain's vitals.
"Vitals are stabilizing… good work Cadet Arc." The man said, to which Jaune nodded, continuing to focus on healing Cardin. Cadet Winchester then let out a scream as he awoke, a punch swinging out and nearly clocking Jaune across the jaw as the startled JNPR Captain jumped back. Professor Goodwitch caught the wrist and held the panicking Winchester by the chest.
"Hey, hey, easy easy… you're ok." She reassured the stressed out young man, whose senses came back to him.
"Wha… where, where the hell?" he exclaimed, looking around.
"Welcome back to the living, we were just about to get the body bag out for you." Eleanor quipped, the rest of Team STEL the only ones chuckling at the dark humor of her joke.
"How was I-"
"Jaune is the one you should be thanking, since his new Semblance is what just saved you." Nora snapped at him, making Cardin wince. Upon seeing everyone else present seemingly confirm this, he sighed.
"I, uh… thank you." He said sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck. Jaune nodded.
"It's alright." he replied, moving to sit back in his seat.
"Wait, where's my Executioner, and the crates of red sap?" Cardin asked, causing all the Cadets to pause.
"Fucking damn it." Yang muttered as they all realized they left both of those things behind in their rush to leave.
Some time later, Vale City
Blake walked down the road, heading for a particular spot she visited often ever since she first came to Vale. Due to the circumstances under which they had left, the Cadets were granted the rest of the day off to relax and recuperate for the day while Ozpin personally reassured them that he would take care of whatever backlash might be received from the failure of the mission, and even to find the Executioner Cardin lost. Nora and Ren left for the library, with Pyrrha talking about doing some extra training with Jaune as she went to the gym, while Weiss mentioned to Blake, Ruby and Yang was going to an electronics store to get her Scroll replaced.
Team STEL was taken to the nurse's office, and Team CRDL… well, Blake wasn't concerned much about where they went and thus didn't care much about where they were at the moment. So, taking the time to slip away and make sure nobody followed her, Blake left Beacon and entered Vale City for a 'personal meeting' as she put it when Ruby asked where she was going.
Once she reached her destination, she examined the sign that said Tukson's Book Trade, and walked in. When the bell that was placed near the door ranged, a voice called out.
"Give me a moment, I will be right with you in a minute!" A man said from the back. Blake proceeded to reply, smiling lightly as she did so. As she spoke, she closed the door and made sure nobody was watching from the building across the street, or that there was any way to see into the store from outside.
"I can wait all day if I must. I particularly like this store." She says, taking off her ribbon to expose a pair of cat ears. The owner paused, and then looked in from the front.
"Well damn, it's hardly been a month! Did you already read through your special order!?" he called out, flashing a wide smile as he set a box down by a wall. He and Blake walked up and heartily embraced each other like friends that hadn't seen each other in a long time.
"Hahaha! Hardly, I only got through the first three volumes, got to make them last the school year and all that…" Blake replied, then her face grew serious as she added "...unfortunately, that was not what I am here for."
Tukson frowned as he heard her tone, and let go to give her some space. "What's wrong? Somebody you recognize from… that group?"
"I think so, but not just that… I think Adam is here in Vale." Blake explained, then told Tukson about Team STEL and what she observed. Once she ended her story, she then noted the grim look on his face.
"...Shit, so you can tell something is up with that particular bunch?" he asked, and Blake recognized the look on his face.
"What do you know about them?" she asked. The response he gave was one that came with a cold, almost fearful tone.
"Have you heard or read anything about conspiracy theories regarding Gaean Industries by one Flax Thomason?"
Authors note: I love when I discover that FFN goofed up a part of the chapter I was uploading...