Castaway Island

Chapter 5: Night Terrors

-DAY 8-

Yang was running but she couldn't remember why, the place around her looked like some kind of maze with twisting corridors that were like twisted caricatures of Beacon's hallways. She just kept on running looking for something or someone. She didn't realize she was in her old clothing, or that her arm was no longer missing. She kept on running down the endless hallways until she made a turn and there at the end, she could see Blake's back.

"Blake!" She ran after her, but Blake didn't even look back as she ran away. Yang kept running after her, calling out to her but her teammate just ignored her as Yang tried to catch up, but no matter how hard she ran she just couldn't get close to her. Yang reached out with her arm desperately and then suddenly her arm was cut off.

She fell to the ground seeing her stump of an arm, bleeding out as she desperately tried to stop it. She could see her severed arm not far away as it slowly disappeared like how Grimm do when they die.

"She's not coming back for you." A cold voice that sent chills down her spine as it registered. "She left you all alone."

Yang turned to see Adam there walking towards her, his sword out as he dragged it along the ground. Her heat was hammering at the sight of him, the man that crippled her, that took her arm and who Blake was running from.

He raised his sword up as she lay there helpless.

"Time to finish what I started," he told her as the Yang screamed as the sword was coming down.

"Yang! Wake up, Yang!" She felt herself being shook awake as she gasped and bolted up. She looked down at her hands as she could see the metal one gleaming in the moonlight, it's cold and empty feeling where her hand should have been. Her other hand started to tremble again as she gripped it and held it tight.

"Yang?" Jaune said softly he had been woken up by her thrashing about and whimpering about something he couldn't make out. He shook her awake knowing she had been stuck in a pretty bad nightmare. Looking at her know he had never seen Yang like this before, so vulnerable and broken. He knew what it was like to feel broken, ever since losing Pyrrha he felt like a piece of him had been taken from him.

Gently he reached out a hand to her shoulder, she tensed but he gently squeezed her shoulder letting her know he was there. Eventually she started to relax as his hand went to rubbing her back.

"Are you okay?" He asked her softly.

She wanted to tell him no, but her throat was too tight to speak, she felt the hot sting of tears in her eyes. She hated the nightmares, the feeling of being weak and vulnerable. Adam hadn't just taken her arm, he had taken a piece of her soul and left in its place fear. She didn't used to be this scared all the time but ever since that day it was like a sliver of fear was stabbed into her heart.

"Yang?" Jaune moved closer to hug the girl.

Yang had tried doing this on her own, tried to push away the nightmares, tried to go past the trauma. She was just so tired of it all, so tired of fighting what felt like a losing battle at times. Without a word she shifted and laid her had on his shoulder and hugged him back. She wanted to feel something else, anything else and Jaune felt warm at the moment while she just felt so cold inside.

Jaune was at a bit of a loss, but he didn't say anything, he just held her rubbing her back. He knew that Yang had gone through a lot, but it seemed to be worst than anyone realized.

"I hate this." Yang muttered.

"Oh sorry, I'll stop then," He tried to pull back misunderstanding her words, but she pulled him in closer.

"Not this," she told him her voice filled with pain. "I hate feeling like this, I hate being scared, I hate feeling like I'm less than what I was, I hate just…all of it."

Jaune could sympathize as he rested his head against hers. "I know…before Pyrrha left she put me into a locker and sent me away." He didn't want to bring up the kiss, that was too personal even for this moment. "After I learned she was killed, all I felt is this feeling like I let her down. Because I wasn't strong enough, she sent me away and had to fight on her own. If only I had been stronger then maybe…maybe I could have been there and…"

He couldn't finish as the pain of losing her hit him hard again, his eyes watering as now Yang was hugging him back not just for her own comfort but for his too. Both of them just sat there in the dark holding each other trying to comfort the pain each of them was feeling.

Eventually the morning sun came out as Yang blinked her eyes, the last thing she remembered was waking up to that awful nightmare and Jaune being there for her. She remembered them hugging each other and she remembered starting to feel comfortable and safe when sleep took her again. She soon realized that she was laying on top of Jaune resting her head on his shoulder. Feeling herself blush a bit at the intimacy of the moment she couldn't help but feel comfortable like this.

Last night had been bad, she had nightmares before, she had them a couple of times while on the island but not that bad. She hadn't woken Jaune up before so now he knew about her nightmares. Well maybe it was only fair, she knew he had them too, she had seen it. Although she hated showing that kind of weakness, having someone there for her felt better.

She remembered how gentle and kind he felt holding her, she remembered how she could sense his own pain. The two of them had been through a lot but that was the first time either of them had let their guards down around the other like that.

'Maybe it's because I didn't feel so alone,' She thought to herself. Ever since she lost her arm and Blake abandoned her, she felt so isolated. Like no one could know her pain and she was left dealing with it all on her own. Was Jaune feeling similar emotions? She looked up at his sleeping face and he looked a little rested. She also notices the slight stubble growing. She reached up and felt the small hairs, she wasn't sure if he would look better with a beard or keep it clean shaven.

Jaune felt something warm pressed against him, something gently rubbing his face. He blinked his eyes and noticed that Yang was cuddling up to him her hand on his face. He froze, why was she doing that? Also, when had they fallen asleep? Last thing he remembered was both of them had been up last night just trying to find some kind of comfort.

Yang felt a little embarrassed at being caught so she decided to make a joke of it. "You could use a shave."

Yang pulled her hand back as Jaune felt his face, sure he felt some stubble, granted it wasn't much, so what if his facial hair took longer to grow out then most boys his age? He was reminded how his mom always said he had such a cute babyface look to him.

"Oh, well I guess?" He wasn't sure what to say, what do you say after last night and now here they were cuddled up together? He also tried to ignore that she was only in a t-shirt and gym shorts as sleepwear, which was what he was using as well granted when they took what clothing they could, but it left little to the imagination of feeling her body pressed up against him.

He could feel her leg over his own and two very large and firm parts of her body pressing up against his chest. He tried so very hard not to think about that or else getting an erection right now feel very inappropriate.

Yang placed a hand on his chest, and she paused just for a moment feeling the muscles under the shirt. While not large they were very firm. She wouldn't lie, in another time and place she might have taken the time to enjoy it. Instead, she quickly gathered herself and pushed off him as she rolled to the side of the bed and stretched out.

"So…about last night," Yang knew they couldn't just ignore it, it happened, and they were stuck on an island alone with each other. It was going to happen again as she knew it would. She had been lucky a really bad one like last night hadn't happened already.

"You don't have to say anything you don't want to," Jaune told her knowing how hard talking about painful memories or how it affected them was. He had kept things bottled up for so long he wasn't sure how to deal with it. It was why he was so depressed that his scroll was damaged because it had the last video, he had of Pyrrha on it.

"Trust me I don't like talking about it but it's going to happen again," Yang sighed not even looking at him. "I keep having nightmares Jaune and…my hand keeps shaking." She raised it up as she felt some slight tremors. "Every time I think about what happened and I hate it, I hate feeling like…like I'm broken."

Jaune was silent a moment looking at the wall across from him. "I know the feeling."

"How often does it happen to you? The nightmares?" She gently asked.

Jaune shrugged. "Hard to say…maybe a few times a week, you?"

"About the same," Yang shifted uncomfortably. "Used to be every night at first."

"Yeah," Jaune nodded again. "I thought when they weren't happening every night, I was getting better and they would stop but…"

"But they didn't." Yang finished for him.

The two of them were quiet as neither had really talked much to anyone about the trauma they had gone through or how they were trying to cope with it all. Both had come a long way from where they started out but to them, it felt like they were still a long way off from going back to how they felt before Beacon's fall. Both wished they could just go back to those days when the worst thing they had to do were tests, Glynda's stern look and facing off the occasional Grimm or in team RWBY's case criminals like Torchwick.

But they couldn't go back, they had to move forward even if it was one of the hardest things to do.

"Thanks," Yang softly said as Juane looked at her confused. She looked over her shoulder at him. "For last night, it was pretty nasty and well I didn't want to be alone with it."

Jaune gave a gentle smile at her. "No problem I mean you were there when I had one too."

"Yes, but you did more, and I appreciate it," Yang paused as he turned around to fully face him. "So how about this, since we're helping each other to survive already, we help each other with this as well? Just…being there for the other when we need it?"

If it were anyone else Jaune might have turned it down, but Yang was different. She understood the kind of deep pain he was feeling. Looking at her eyes he could see she was suffering just as he was. It was because of that shared pain that maybe he could allow himself to let someone help him. Sure, everyone was affected by Pyrrha's death, but she was his partner and, maybe she could have been so much more. He hadn't realized it until she had kissed him how she felt, he hadn't even fully processed it all.

Then she pushed him away, she sent him away because he wasn't strong enough to stand with her and then she died before he could do anything. He had never felt so weak and worthless in that moment, that all his training and everything he had done up to that point had been for nothing. He had failed to protect her when she was in that machine, failed as a partner, failed as a Huntsman.

He felt like such a failure and then he lost the one person who he had thought truly believed in him. All that was left inside in those first few weeks was so much pain and anger, anger as both Cinder for what she did and at himself for being so weak.

"Jaune?" Yang asked seeing the look on his face and breaking him from his thoughts.

Looking back up into those concerned eyes he couldn't help but feel like Yang in a way was a kindred spirit. "Yeah sorry, my mind went somewhere, well somewhere I don't like to go. I think…that's a good idea Yang."

She nodded her head as the two were left a little unsure what to say. So, Yang just got up seeing the rising sun. "Well, might as well start the day instead of having our two-person depression session."

"I guess misery does love company?" he half smiled trying to go with it.

"Yep, but let's get going, more to do and I want to see if we can find more places around here." Yang told him as they had to split their time between gathering items they needed and food so they hadn't explored much in the last few days.

"I think we got enough saved up to start exploring a bit." Jaune nodded.

-Later-

After getting ready for the morning, they decided that they would first check out areas close by more thoroughly and move out from there. The bungalow area wasn't much to see, they found usual odds and ends. They did find some left-over items in some of the small homes, even a few suitcases that looked to be left behind. They decided to start breaking them open to find any useful items as the owners were not coming back for them.

Nothing much was found, just the usual clothing, none of it fit them but maybe the cloth could be salvaged for other uses. Yang at least found a decent hairbrush which she kept, her hair was starting to look a mess and she desperately wanted something to help keep the tangles out.

"Oh, wow look at this," Jaune pulled out an old school straight razor. "Guess someone liked to go old school."

"Keep it," Yang said looking through the drawers of the home they were in looking for anything useful. "It will last longer than those disposable ones we can find in the pharmacy store."

Jaune rubbed his stubble not sure he trusted himself with it but it could be used for other things if needed. He put it in his pocket as they continued to flip the homes. They didn't find much, some watches that they would have to put in new batteries for, some personal grooming products, some fridges had spoiled food to their dismay. They did find a few books, apparently a couple of people liked to read on vacation, so they took them for something to kill time with.

They explore more of the area and when that was done, they started to explore some of the paths, they knew about the one that lead to the beach and to the hotel area but there were a couple of other ones. One led to a small gated off building where the gates were covered up so you could only make out the roof of a long building which was about a five-minute walk away from everything. There was a weather worn metal sign that read 'MAINTENANCE' on it.

"Oh, this looks promising," Yang tried her master keys but to her surprise none of them worked.

"Guess they don't work for this well you know what to do." Jaune shrugged as she gripped the simple padlock and crushed it, breaking it and then pulling it off. They opened the gate to find a long rectangular building with what looked like three garage doors closed up. What surprised them were the four golfcarts parked off to the side.

"Does this place have a golf course?" Jaune asked.

"If they do it's got to be further in the island…wait maybe these are just to get around the complex in?" Yang thought about it. The island was kind of uneven and building a golf course would take a lot of effort not to mention maintenance.

Jaune hopped into one and tried to start it, there was just a button for on/off on it, but nothing worked. "Maybe they're here because these are broken?"

"Could be," Yang went to the front door, it was locked but it was just a regular door. Easily enough for her to kick open. With a loud bag she broke the door open but then yelped as a large lizard ran out of it. "Stupid lizard!"

Jaune snorted as he covered his mouth as her being startled by the creature.

"Hey, I wasn't expecting it!" She blushed as they went inside. The main office looked a bit of a mess, they looked up to the hole in the ceiling and how it looked like a bird's nest had been build but now looked to be empty.

"Look for more keys?" He asked her.

"Yeah, maybe maintenance people have access to other places."

They didn't find much, there was a small vending machine that looked like a different lizard got into and then got stuck. It's corpse still inside of it with half eaten candy bars.

"Yikes," Yang commented seeing it.

They didn't find anything in the way of keys, just some paperwork that wasn't ruined and a bathroom and breakroom. It wasn't until they entered the longer part of the building with the garage doors that in the gloom, they found what looked like a mechanical shop.

"Now we're talking." Yang grinned a garage was something she could work with. She could make out a chain by the garage door and pulled as it slowly started to raise up allowing a lot more light into the facility. Now they could both see what the small garage was used to repair the carts since two were already in and looked like they were in the middle of being worked on.

"Well now at least we got a lot of tools," Jaune looked at the work benches seeing so many tools just laying around. Of course, the ones that needed power might not work if their charge was dead but at least they had access to some decent tools if they needed them.

He found some cable wire in the corner. "Hey you think this might work better than the rope for the laundry?"

Yang came over to take a look it was a thin but strong looking cable it looked like it had been a power cable judging from the copper insides. "Oh yeah this will be much nicer, that rope was really rough on the clothing and to handle."

Together they unwound some of it as they judged how much they needed, then they just took a few minutes to find the tools and cut it then rolled it back up. Yang took a tool belt left hanging and filled it with every tool she could think of that they could use. She also grabbed anything that she might need to maintenance on her mechanical arm. While she was told it was the best that Atlas could make, a machine still broke down from time to time. She even found some oil cans and took one just in case she needed it for the joints.

Her arm had an internal oil supply that was to help keep everything moving nice and smoothly and while maybe not the recommended type it was better than nothing. In about three months she would need to change out the oil and do some maintenance on it, so this was a godsent to her. In the back of her mind, she had been worrying about what if her arm stopped working while here.

"You think we can get one of these running again?" Jaune asked looking over one of the carts, it was opened up and looked like they had been in the middle of fixing something.

Yang walked over and took a look at it. "Well, I'm more familiar with bike engines but this sucker is electrical from what I can tell. Looks like they might have been doing maintenance work. I'm not sure how it all goes together but I might be able to figure something out eventually if I mess around with it."

She stood back up with her hands on her hips. "I can look into it later since it's not a priority but with all the carts here I might be able to cannibalize different parts out of them. I just need to see if the power is live." She looked around for a voltage meter since she had to check the power. Eventually she found one and tested it out.

"Hmm…dead," She went over to the other one in the garage and opened it up and tested the battery. "Oh, hey we got some power in this one."

Yang grinned at the thought of getting something working to help cut down on travel time. They still needed to find a way to recharge the batteries. She saw a charging station and took a look. It looked like it used lightning dust, but the dust had run out. Looking at the cables connected to a half-melted battery she saw someone had left it charging when the storm hit.

"What idiot did they have working here?" She muttered they were lucky nothing caught fire. Then she noticed Jaune looking at her. "What?"

"Oh, sorry it's nothing."

"Come on, what is it?" she demanded.

"It's stupid…" He looked at her and sighed. "Fine. Dressed like that in here and with the tool belt you reminded me of this pinup my uncle, you know the one that liked to fix things? Well, he had a few up in his garage."

Yang blinked before looking down at her outfit. She had on shorts with her own orange t-shirt on, with the tool belt. She guessed she kind of did look like one at the moment, which caused her to grin as she leaned back into one of the work benches putting on a sexy pose.

"Like this?" She grinned at him.

Jaune blushed as Yang looked very tempting right now. He looked away shyly scratching the back of his head. "Kind of, yeah."

It felt a bit nice to know that even after losing an arm she could still turn heads. She had actually thought in those first few weeks how people would only look at her as a cripple and only look at her in pity. So, it felt nice that Jaune still have that kind of reaction with her having a replacement arm. Kicking off the bench she figured she had her fun.

"Well, a girl likes to know she's still pretty," Yang told him. "I know I don't exactly look like runway material with my hair all a mess."

"It doesn't look that bad to me," Jaune shrugged.

"I'm a perfectionist when it comes to my hair," Yang told him.

They searched a little more and finally they not only found a flashlight so now they have one each, but a couple of battery powered lanterns. They also found a small storage area where things like batteries, replacement parts and other odds and ends which were stored in a shed behind the building. They even found some gas and oil stored in there. Not sure what they would do with it but maybe they could use it to make a giant signal fire on the beach? Jaune found some shovels and figured with this he could dig up that patch of ground and try and make a small garden for them.

They even found a large metal cylinder marked propane sitting outside next to the shed. They figured this was where the cans were refilled although they didn't want to fool around with it until they needed to. Neither of them knew how to safely operate it and so left it when the tanks ran out.

By the time they got back and unloaded everything Jaune and Yang looked around.

"We're starting to become packrats at this point," Jaune signed at all the stuff laying around. It wasn't that big of a place, so they had a lot of stuff lining the walls by this point. Even the raft they came in which was now deflated was rolled up onto the small deck.

"Yeah, we need to do something about this," Yang thought about it. "Hey, you know how next door we put the extra ice dust into that fridge? Why don't we just make that like our store house?"

"Should work," Jaune nodded it wasn't far away and it wasn't very damaged. The elements or animals hadn't been able to get in so all the extra stuff they didn't need could be put there. "I wonder if we can make a work bench in there too, so we don't have to walk all the way over to the maintenance building?"

Yang shrugged. "We got the tools now. Oh! I can finally make some decent spears now, not to mention with all those wires I can strip something down for a decent line for the fishing rod."

"Maybe if we find something we can make that smoker like my uncle had," Jaune thought about how they could use that to help preserve food.

So, after a light lunch they started the process of turning the place next door into storage. They placed all the extra batteries into the place along with cans they couldn't fit in their kitchen into the one in the other house. The same with the water bottles and various other little things. They tried to keep it all organized just so they could easily find it and left one of the lamps in there as a backup.

Yang went to work on her spears after that as Jaune went to the beach to find something to eat. They had run out of the fish and oysters he took one of Yang's older spears with him. He tried his hand at the spear fishing but had as much luck as Yang did. He had though of his sword but his cleaning products for it were limited and he didn't want to constantly get sea water on it in fear it could start to rust over time.

Walking the beach, he wondered just how large the island was, they hadn't had the time to try and look but maybe with some decent supplies they could check. If they were going to cut up the craft and use its bright orange color to grab the attention of passers by but they had limited material to work with and had no idea just how big the island was to set them up at equal distances. If they only marked one side of the island, then if someone passed on the other side, they would totally miss it.

There was one thought worrying Jaune, they hadn't seen another plan in the sky their entire time here. They hadn't noticed any boats either, if they were off the beaten path as it were they might not be able to see any rescue efforts.

Jaune knew that the others were out there looking for them but where they even looking in the right spots?

With a heavy heart he went back to work trying to find some dinner. He decided to walk further down the beach as he might as well explore some more while he was at it. He knew one direction would leave to the docks, so he went the opposite way. He didn't see much he caught a few crabs he placed in a bucket but nothing much else. Then he noticed a flock of birds in an area more inland. He paused considering his options.

They still had no more signs of Grimm but you couldn't be too careful not to mention other predators. But birds in that number might mean they had found a food source, especially if they were the type that ate fruits. He also could be wrong about it but he decided to go in just enough so he wouldn't get lost.

At least he hoped he wouldn't get lost.

He slowly made his way in drawing his sword to help clear a path at times. He paused went he found a few thin trees with long green leaves and stems. At the top was some fruit ranging in green to orange. They looked familiar and he was trying to place them when suddenly he remembered seeing them in a few stores back in Haven.

"Now what were they called? Poppy something? Papa? Papaya! That's it," it suddenly clicked in his head. He was hoping to find some new fruits to eat and so he decided to pick them, thankfully the trees were short so he could just pick them easily enough. He got the feeling there was more inland, but he didn't want to go too far in. He could still hear all the birds but if he got lost Yang might come looking and then both could get lost separately.

Looking at the trees, they weren't all that big.

"Hmmm…with the shovels I wonder if we can dig them up and just plant them closer by?" He counted the trees, and it could take a few trips to get them all. Maybe if they did a couple a day it would take a couple of weeks to get them all, if they wanted to get them all.

When he got back home and told Yang of his discovery, she was all for getting a few trees.

"You really think it's a good idea?" Jaune asked her.

"Why not? You can make some nice drinks with papaya," she had a few cocktails in the past that were made from its juices. "Plus, it would be nice to have some juice to drink and not just water and coconut milk."

"Yeah, that would be nice," Jaune nodded. "I'm starting to wonder what else we'll find out there."

"Maybe we'll get lucky and find some mangos, passion fruit, avocados or even some pineapples." Yang thought of all the tropical fruit she could think of. If there was one kind maybe there were others?

That night they made plans to start moving two of the trees the next day as they got ready for bed.

They turned out the light but both of them were a little unsettled given what happened last night. Both were unsure if they would have nightmares again or if they would get any type of sleep. Yang shifted in her spot on the bed as she just couldn't get comfortable. Jaune too was on his side trying to sleep but Yang's shifting wasn't helping, not that he felt like sleeping.

"Are you okay Yang?" He asked her eventually.

"Sorry, am I keeping you up?"

"A little but I just can't get my mind to calm down," he turned onto his back looking up at the ceiling.

"Me too," she signed and rolled onto her back. "Stupid nightmare has me all screwed up in the head."

"Do you want to talk about it?" He offered.

"Honestly it's mostly pieces now," Thankfully that was true as she could only remember looking for Blake, Adam cutting her arm off again and some blurry memories. She tried to think of what might help them both sleep. How did she fall back asleep last night? Her face heated up slightly at the memory of them holding one another.

Maybe that's what was missing, some comfort? She would never consider what she was thinking in any other situation, but it was just them and lately she felt like she could be more at ease with Jaune since they had started to open up to the other about their issues. She just hoped it wouldn't get weird between them.

"Hey, Jaune, do you mind if I try something?"

Jaune blinked not sure what she had in mind. "Try what?"

"This," she turned over and snuggled up against him.

Jaune blushed as Yang did this shocked still as he wasn't sure what to do in this moment. "Uh…Yang?"

"I just…I don't know, I just wanted to not feel alone right now if that makes sense?" Yang wasn't sure how to accurately say it, but she wanted that warm and comforting feeling she had felt back again. "If this is weird for you, I'll stop."

Jaune felt like he was in a bit of an odd position. He thought he could get where she was coming from, wanting to feel something other than all the negative feelings that built up over time. Just wanting an escape from it all so you feel like you can just breath again. He also felt very nervous because Yang was a very attractive person, and it wasn't like he had a lot of experience with women. Having one cuddle up next to him normally would have been a dream come true for most people.

However, she was also a good friend, their friendship had deepened with their time here that was for sure, and he couldn't take advantage of that. She needed comfort and who was he to not help her with that? There was also a little part of him that wanted to feel some comfort as well, to not feel this ugly pain in his chest even for a moment.

They had been so busy with just trying to survive that most of the time he didn't notice it but in the quiet moments, like at night it all came back.

"I don't mind," he told her as he shifted to get a bit more comfortable as she rested an arm over his stomach.

"Thanks, Jaune." She closed her eyes listening to his breathing. It was a strangely soothing sound as she felt herself slowly drifting off to sleep.

TBC…