I don't own anything.
I want to preface this chapter a little bit. To all the clowns and comedians saying that they hope Jaune 'doesn't become a pussy' after killing someone. Go get some therapy or something. A genuinely kind 17 year old accidentally kills someone and some of you are acting like that shouldn't bother him. He won't become a depressed mess or anything, but you can't expect him to just be fine and dandy after half a chapter either.
BREAK
"You saved my life."
It was the first thing I heard once my ears stopped ringing. I didn't turn, though. I stared ahead at the message that floated in front of me.
ENEMY FELLED
+ 40000 Dust
I didn't need to see the White Fang captain to be able to smell the acrid scent of burnt hair and seared skin. I wanted to retch, and yet, I couldn't. I just stood there staring unblinkingly at the message in front of me.
"Jaune? Are you okay?" Blake was by my side, gently touching my shoulder as the police moved around us, assessing the situation. As her hand touched my shoulder, I felt a static shock pass between us. I couldn't tell if it was real or if I was just imagining it, but it was enough to make me jolt.
I inhaled suddenly, all but choking on the smoke that still clung all around us. As the urge to vomit returned to me in force, I had to ponder the question.
Was I okay?
I didn't feel, well, much of anything, really. I was just sort of stood there, as if in a daze. All around us, people moved to-and-fro in a hurry, and yet, we were stood almost perfectly still. Almost like those human statues at the fair or at a circus. The smell of the Captain's still-smoking body made me nauseous, but I didn't feel anything beyond that. No pounding heart, no quivering limbs or pit in my stomach. Not even a twinge.
"I'm fine." My voice came out the same way I felt. Robotic, mechanical almost.
Before long, a man appeared in front of me. I wasn't sure when or how he had gotten there, but I put that out of my mind. He was tall, so much so that I had to crane my head up to meet his eyes, and wearing a similar uniform to the other police officers around us. My eyes were immediately drawn to the shiny badge that hung on his breast pocket.
Captain
"I heard you saved Officer Moccasin." His voice was deep and gruff, and I couldn't help but listen when he spoke. Saved? I looked around me, finally spotting the officer that had been behind Blake and I when I arrived. He looked pale, but otherwise fine. He was sat on a stretcher with an EMT checking him over, though neither looked too worried.
"I guess we did."
When he caught me looking, the officer – Moccasin, I corrected myself mentally – shrugged the EMT off and stood, walking over to us.
"You two saved my life." He said, his voice heavy, laden with something that I couldn't quite place. He stuck out a hand for me to shake, and after a moment of staring at it, I grabbed it. His grip was shaky.
"You two are real heroes, you know that?"
My eyes drifted over to the now covered body of the White Fang captain. I could still smell it.
A hero? I didn't much feel like a hero.
BREAK
"I recall saying that if something like this happened again, I wouldn't be so understanding." Ozpin said.
We were sat in his office again, the headmaster sat behind his desk, Ms. Goodwitch stood to his right. She had come and collected us from the police cordon not half an hour earlier. I had expected the usually stern woman to be angry, but instead, she had just ushered us onto an airship and then into Ozpin's office without saying a word.
I already knew what was coming, but I couldn't bring myself to feel dread at whatever punishment Ozpin had ready for us.
"So, I am glad, for once, to stand corrected."
My eyes snapped over to his, and I could see the way the skin around his eyes crinkled in amusement. He was enjoying this. I felt a flash of something hot in my gut, but it vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.
"While I might not agree with what you were doing, I was more than impressed with the way you went about it. Long-term surveillance, calling in the police, staying out of the fighting until absolutely necessary. Even saving an officer's life. Exemplary work." The man continued, praising us for the actions we had taken.
"The evidence and intelligence gathered today will undoubtedly lead to more arrests in the near future. Despite that, both the police, and myself, would prefer if you refrained from taking action like this in the future." Blake looked about ready to protest, but Ms. Goodwitch spoke up, interrupting her.
"Roman Torchwick and his accomplice were able to escape in the chaos. They undoubtedly know who you are, and are unlikely to allow you to interfere without recourse. You are both promising students, but you are not yet the match of a man like Roman Torchwick."
The talks didn't take much longer after that. Ozpin quickly took our statements again, sending them over to the police for the reports, before he let out a sigh and pushed his chair away from his desk.
"That concludes that then, Glynda, if you could escort Ms. Belladonna back to her dorm. I would like to have a word with Mr. Arc before I retire myself."
A hand landed on my shoulder, and I looked over to Blake, who gave me a small smile. All I could muster was a nod. She was quickly ushered out of the room by our combat instructor, leaving me alone with the headmaster.
For a while, we just sat there quietly, the silence only broken by the sound of Ozpin sipping his coffee.
"Was there something you wanted to talk about, sir?"
"Hmm." He nodded. "You took a life tonight. In defence of another, and yet, that doesn't make it any easier."
It wasn't a question, but I found myself nodding along, nonetheless.
"There are no dedicated psychologists here at Beacon. Should you feel that you need someone to talk to, the school has a practitioner on hand who is always prepared to take on cases such as yours. You are also free to talk to any of the staff, of course, but professional help is available should you find yourself in need."
"Yes sir."
Nothing else was said as I left the office.
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"A hero of war
Yeah that's what I'll be
And when I come home
They'll be damn proud of me
I'll carry this flag
To the grave if I must
'Cause it's a flag that I love
And a flag that I trust
She walked through bullets and haze
I asked her to stop
I begged her to stay
But she pressed on
So I lifted my gun
And I fired away
And the shells jumped through the smoke
And into the sand
That the blood now had soaked
She collapsed with a flag in her hand
A flag white as snow
A hero of war
Is that what they see
Just medals and scars
So damn proud of me
And I brought home that flag
Now it gathers dust
But it's a flag that I love
It's the only flag I trust"
It wasn't that old of a song. It was the tale of an Athlesian soldier during the Faunus rights revolution. It had been a critique on the unacknowledged crimes that were commited against the people on the other side of the conflict. It was a tale of a disillusioned soldier who had done things he wasn't proud of in the line of duty. A man who had comitted deplorable acts because they had been 'necessary'.
It wasn't the same as what had happened tonight, but the paralels weren't hard to draw. I didn't regret saving that officer, not in the slightest. Officer Moccasin had a mother, a father, friends and family. Maybe even a wife and kids waiting for him at home. He got to go home today because of the actions Blake and I had taken tonight.
And yet, did Slate really have to die?
I had been so angry, so terrified that Blake had been hurt that I hadn't pulled my punches. By the time I'd seen his aura shatter, I had already charged up the lightning bolt. But did that excuse me taking his life?
He was a bad man, a criminal. But did he really deserve to die?
The nausea returned in full force as the scent of burnt hair invaded my nose once more.
To distract myself, I pulled up my attribute page,
Jaune Arc
Level: 52
HP: 100/100
AP: 500/500
Vigor: 10
Mind: 25
Endurance: 17
Strength: 30
Dexterity: 18
Intelligence: 11
Dust: 52197
The pride I usually felt when looking at my level was washed away by the same numbness I'd been feeling since I had… since Slate. Looking at it, I put a point into Endurance idly, feeling the surge of strength suddenly course through me. The feeling which I usually relished in, I shuddered.
Carefully, I placed the guitar back on its stand and grabbed Crocea Mors' sheathed form from where it leant against the wall. Sword and shield in hand, I didn't go back to the dorms. Instead, I walked a familiar path out to the cliffs of Beacon, and then down into the forest.
Beowolf
Level 18
The first Grimm I encountered didn't stand a chance. A single blow from my expanded shield shattered its skull into a dozen pieces, turning it to dust. I didn't even stop or slow my walk.
+ 1498 Dust
The next Grimm I encountered was more of a challenge, but still not enough.
Ursa Major
Level 42
It lashed out with a huge paw, ready to squash me into the ground. I brought my shield up, the surface black as night as it smacked the paw aside. I didn't even bother to go for a weak point. Crocea Mors carved through the bone plating through sheer force, parting skin, muscle and bone all the same.
+ 12387 Dust
It took me entirely too long to find the next. It had to have been a quarter of an hour before something barreled through the treeline at me. Its speed only hurt it more when it slammed into my shield face-first.
King Taijitu
Level 36
I had known that the serpentine Grimm appeared here on occasion, and we had learned about them in class, but I'd never fought one myself. I didn't have much more time to ponder it, though, as the white half slammed its head down onto me, mouth open. I didn't bother trying to block. It could comfortably fit me in its mouth so there wasn't really anything for me to block.
Instead, I let my aura flow down into Crocea Mors, and the smell of ozone invaded my nose. Everything went dark as the monster's mouth closed around me, and then night turned to day as I sent a bolt of lightning down its throat.
This time I'd had the foresight to close my eyes before the flash, and I opened them back up just in time to see the monster reel back, a loud hissing noise escaping it as it backed off. A quick glance at its health bar revealed that I'd taken it down below half its health. The white half was charred and blackened, even on the outside, and it hung limply.
Only the black half remained.
I didn't give it the opportunity to attack me. I bent my legs and pushed off, denting the forest floor where I'd been standing in the process. While Dexterity might cover most things concerning speed, the harder you pushed off, the faster you went. And I had strength aplenty.
I launched through the air like a bullet, slamming into the side of the snake's black head shield first. Scales cracked and flaked off under the force, and the head snapped back, slamming into a tree as it was launched away. I didn't let up, simply hopping onto its head and ramming Crocea Mors through its crown, turning it to dust.
+ 9287 Dust
Jaune Arc
Level: 53 – 54
HP: 100/100
AP: 500/500
Vigor: 10
Mind: 25
Endurance: 18
Strength: 30
Dexterity: 18 – 19
Intelligence: 11
Dust: 35375 – 947
I shuddered again as the haze of strength passed through me.
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Okay, the immediate aftermath of the second encounter with the White Fang is over. Let me know what you all think!
As always, have a good one!
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