Arc 2 -Chapter 22 - Lunacy
A piercing scream broke Jaune from his sleep. A scream he'd never heard before, but recognized. Ruby.
He scrambled out of his tent, vision blurry, head groggy as he looked about, trying to see where what was going on. It didn't take long to find. There at the edge of the camp was Ruby lying on the ground, hands clutching to her belly, the ground beneath her mucked with dark blood. Neptune was not far off, fighting against a lone Grimm and struggling badly. A Grimm Jaune recognized from his studies, but had never fought before. He supposed it was time to correct that lack of experience, despite being more tired than the dead, and with the song of the Shards of the Brain still pricking at his mind. Never any rest in this twisted world.
Had to get to Ruby first though. Jaune darted over to her right away, slapping himself to wake up so he didn't pitch onto his face. He slid to his knees beside her, looked her over for where she was hurt. Her breathing was fast yet weak, bloody hands trembling as she clutched at her stomach. Jaune gently moved her arms, heard her whimper in pain, and immediately regretted it. The wound was deep and open. It could kill her before she had time to heal. She needed Aunt Peach right away.
Neptune let out a yelp of pain as he was launched back, courtesy of a great back-handed slap from the flayed hand of the Grimm, which followed up with a high and hoarse shriek like it was desperately in need of water. Or another, more sanguineous substance to satisfy its thirst. Neptune scraped to his feet, breathing hard, so scared that there were tears in his eyes, but ready to charge the creature anyway.
"Where's Aunt Peach? Where's Cinder?" Jaune demanded of him.
Neptune shakily pointed his trident at the monster. It inched toward them. Skinned paws sifting through the ash. "Split up! They led the rest of them off! Don't know how this one got through!"
Jaune frowned bitterly. Of course there were more. Perhaps it was something close to luck that only one got through. One more and all of them would be dead already. "Take Ruby to Peach. Take her now!"
Neptune looked back, even more afraid. "What about - "
Jaune sprang forward as the Grimm chose that moment to pounce. "Go!"
Jaune reinforced his shield with a Bulwark, meeting the Grimm's gangly claw head-on. It held, thank God, but only for a moment. Its deceptive strength came through and, due only to Jaune dodging back quickly, its sick black claws only managed to harm his chest plate. Two deep tears of ruined metal. It was obvious then what he'd look like if he took a direct hit.
Between all the moving and dodging and fighting back, Jaune saw Neptune hurry across the buried city at top speed with Ruby in his arms. He tried to have hope they'd make it to Peach in time. For now, though, he needed to focus on preserving his own life.
The Grimm stalked toward Jaune on its long spindly arms, looking like they were little more than rotted skin stretched and twisted over its skeleton, crested with bits of useless white bone armor. Even its face lacked flesh of any kind, but an emaciated skull with empty sockets and a row of canine teeth as if it was some big, mutated, flayed werewolf. All the skin on its back had been torn off, revealing the twisted spine arching upward, and now flapped about the Grimm's face and shoulders like wings made of dead, dripping flesh. The monster hissed its obvious threat, eyes shining red through the shadows cast over its face. A Blood-starved Beast, it was called. A B-class Grimm. Far out of Jaunes league to defeat alone.
Of course, that didn't change the fact that he had to defeat it. Or at least, survive long enough to be rescued.
The Blood-starved Beast came at Jaune so fast that it almost seemed to disappear. He'd known well they were fast and so had his shield up. As such, instead of being torn in half, he was sent spiraling backward, tumbling over and over in the dust. He heard the Grimm's thumping footsteps as it charged him again and he just managed to scramble to his feet to avoid a claw, which pierced the ground where had been laying instead.
Jaune doubled back, the Shards still singing, a child's laughter from somewhere, the world still no clearer due to the grog of only a few hours of sleep and the beating he was already starting to take. Had to push through. Had to fight! He took the initiative this time and summoned a spear, lunging it forward just as the beast came at him. With annoying swiftness, it skidded aside and avoided the attack entirely, far smarter than the average Grimm. Jaune swore the cursed thing grinned as if it knew very well how irritating it was.
The Blood-starved Beast circled him and Jaune circled back - lions dueling over command of the pride. All Jaune had to do was dodge and avoid and block until help came, but for some reason, he didn't think much about that. and charged at his enemy, intent on seeing it dead for hurting his friends.
He poked and prodded with his spear, cutting out wide when the monster tried to attack back, discouraging its approach. It rushed at his exposed guard, struck him with the back of its spidery hand, deceptively strong. Jaune righted himself and kept from ending up in a heap on the ground, lugging the spear expecting the beast to dodge, then summoned a sword. This felt more at home. Things were a blur from there, a vicious sequence. Dodging and blocking, stabbing and slashing, feinting and repositioning, all with Jaune on the back foot, barely able to keep the pressure on his enemy.
The Blood-starved Beast hurled itself at Jaune with a mighty wail, long arms spread wide like it was about to hug him. Jaune raised a High Reflect, figuring sending its own strength back would be a fitting way to get in some damage. The issue being, that the beast did not strike his barrier the way he'd expected. Instead, it landed on the ground before him on all fours, reared back, spine curling high as a camel hump, then launched itself at the barrier, and burst right through with a sound of shattering glass. Jaune barely had time to be surprised before it shoulder-checked him in the front, launching him off his feet, and sent him crashing through a half-crumbled wall, rolling and scraping across the new rubble.
Already, Jaune started growing tired. Tired of being kicked around by all these Grimm, tired of being too scared to sleep, tired of the damn singing Shards. Hadn't even gotten a good hit on this fucking thing. Any cuts he made weren't deep enough to make it flinch or stagger, and bashing it with his shield did little to scramble it. The damn thing was incredibly durable and strong. Even his High Reflect was ineffective. Jaune spat some ash out of his mouth. That was it, then. Screw defense.
Jaune dismissed his shield and summoned a single longsword, took it in both hands, working his fingers tightly around the grip. One step, two steps, three, each one careful and considerate as he worked his way to the right, the beast stalking to the left. He saw it lower its head, bend its knees, arch its back - it was about to rush at him again. He decided to go first.
Jaune extended the blade out as the beast vanished before his eyes, trusted to luck, and palmed the pommel with his other hand, hard as he could. A mighty weight ran straight right into him with a wet crunching sound. He'd guessed right. His sword was buried up to the hilt in the beast's chest, straight through to the heart, if it even had one. Sizzling hot pus oozed out of its boiling flesh and dropped onto Jaune's armor, already eating through like acid. The beast roared in his face, right in time with the rising procession of the Shards' song. Jaune coiled his muscles so tight that they hurt, then pulled, pulled, flesh ripping and bone breaking until he ripped his sword up through the beast's shoulder and out in a spray of black smoke. It wasn't called blood-starved for nothing, after all.
The beast let out a wail and Jaune roared with it, cut off when its hand caught him across the face, flipped him double in the air, and left him to fall right on his face. He felt his nose crack against a stone, let out a gurgle, sucked up ash instead, and felt it mix with the blood in his mouth. Get up, he told himself, get up or you'll die.
Jaune pushed himself to move as fast as he possibly could, his body aching all the time, but knowing that to slow down even a little would mean his death. The Blood-starved Beast had grown even more savage now, abandoning all pretenses of planning and patience and coming at him with reckless need. Jaune was only too happy to oblige, strangely finding himself smiling despite being scared out of his mind. They clashed, sword against claw, clashed again, shield against teeth. Jaune managed to be strong enough in the moment to push it back, then score an arcing cut across its face, leaving a satisfying gash there. The beast did not care, simply returning the favor by slashing him across the face. Thankfully he'd ducked back, so the cut was shallow, blood bubbling from his cheek.
Steel on bone, a savage dance, Jaune cut and cut and cut, sometimes unsure what he was cutting at. Was he fighting two of these things now? Couldn't tell anymore. Jaune bellowed like an animal. Or was he laughing? Ducked under a swipe, dodged back to avoid another, kept dodging to the left, since that seemed to be where it was the safest. He switched his sword to a heavy battle-axe - a weapon quickly becoming a favorite of his - then scored a delicious wound along the beast's side, earning its pained howl. Again, the favor was returned as the monster whipped around, sending him tumbling away with a bash of its leg.
Oh, he was finding it hard to breathe now. Had he taken a breath at all? He had no clue. When would someone get here? "Help," Jaune said, but only blood came out of his mouth. The Beast was descending on him, new flaps of skin and meat from Jaune's cuts slapping about as it bore down on him. Jaune was too slow in casting Reject, so it tackled him full-on.
By some luck, it hadn't gotten a chance to bite his head off, due only to him having been standing near a dip in the land. They went flopping down the hill together, over and over in the dust, Jaune stabbing with a knife he'd conjured, however pointless. Then they broke apart as they met the bottom, the beast sliding through the ash, kicking up a dusty cloud, and Jaune flopping up to his hands and knees, eyes waning, spit dripping out of his dry mouth. "Help," he whispered.
The monster came again, refusing to stop now when its meal was so close to finished. Jaune barreled into it with his shield, but this time it was too weak and he was trampled over instead. The Blood-starved Beast brought its claw down, but this time Jaune had Reject primed beforehand and launched the devil into the air like a dodgeball bounced off the concrete. Its arms gave off a sick and wet crack as it landed on them, which might have been good news, but was anything less when it came to this monster. It sprang back up as Jaune charged at it, bounding toward him despite its broken arms, half sprinting, half dragging itself through the dust.
Jaune leaped at it with a bellow, coming down on it from above like a peregrine falcon that had seen its prey from a hundred miles high. The Beast swung at him with its twisted arm, but Jaune managed to summon his shield beneath his feet. He kicked off it mid-air just before the claw struck the shield and sent it spinning away, then drilled into the Grimm's back with his sword, straight through the point where the spine met the neck bone. So very tired. The eldritch song looped in his head over and over. Driving him mad.
"Die!" Jaune dragged the blade higher and got it through. "Die!" Further, tearing into the creature's skull, its brain. "Diiie!" With one last effort, he tore the Blood-starved Beast's face in half, perfectly symmetrical with its skin flaps. The fight all went out of it in an instant, with only its dry-throated growl and some twitches of its leg as the last embers of life left it behind. It was dead, no doubt.
But Jaune couldn't stop.
Die, die, die. He roared as he hacked at the monster over and over, even as its body began to fade away. Everything in his head was a jumbled mess like it had been for while now, and he couldn't think straight. He hated this world. He was terrified of it. Scared almost to pissing himself. He wondered if he had already. He was pathetic and wanted badly to go home. Die, die, die. Chopping into the gray sands now, pulling out sprays of the stuff and getting it all over him as if he wasn't covered in it already. Die, die, die.
Jaune roared again and raised the sword high. Then stopped. Or rather, someone grabbed his wrist.
Cinder.
She stood in front of him now, looking out of breath like she'd run the entire way here without stopping. "Stop, Jaune. It's dead."
Was it? How could he be sure? What if Cinder was lying to him? He didn't know what to say.
"Put it down, Jaune." she whispered, 'It's over."
It wasn't over. He wasn't sure this nightmare was ever going to end. Why had he come here? Why? Jaune slowly, shakily dismissed his sword, arms falling slack at his sides. Legs so weak that he could barely stand. Then he remembered everything. "Where's Ruby?"
They found Peach and Neptune not far from the campsite, both standing over someone lying motionless on the ground, and Jaune hurried over, fearing the worst. Ruby laid there on the tarp of a folded tent, her corset unlaced and blouse pulled up, revealing her stomach - and the slit where the wound had been sutured. No wire or anything that usually came with professional stitchings. It simply looked like the cut had closed up most of the way, leaving only the thinnest crease of skin where the open wound had once been.
"Will she be okay?" asked Jaune.
Peach nodded. "Her body will take care of the healing. All I did was make sure she didn't lose any more blood. Thankfully, the cut wasn't deep enough that any organs were damaged. She'll heal. But she won't be able to walk for a few hours and - "
Their heads all turned south at the sound of distant screeches, and Jaune saw Neptune swallow hard.
"And we clearly can't afford to rest here." finished Peach.
"I'll carry her," Jaune said before anyone else could offer. This was his fault. Had he not been asleep…
"Well, get her up now, then. Let's get ahead of the Grimm. Maybe we can get far enough ahead for them to lose our trail." said Peach, already turning to head north.
Jaune pursed his lips, but did so. He tried being careful as her unconscious face twisted with pain, then Neptune helped her onto his back, fastening her hands together around his neck, so she didn't slide off. Jaune hoisted her up, thankful at how light she was. He nodded at the others.
And, once again, they headed off into the night, all bloodied and battle-worn.
The Shards sang on, regardless.
Cinder's plans were in jeopardy.
You couldn't call it a new occurrence, not with a life as rife with disappointments as hers had been. It never quite dulled her to the sting though, the stab of annoyance and building sense of unfulfillment to see one's careful work and diligence be reduced to… well, cinders. Such annoyance as it was, was only exemplified in physical form - that of the dogged master leading on a trio of tuck-tailed children. And they were a sorry sight to be sure.
Little Miss Ruby had healed from that bad wound in a couple of hours - average pace, really. Nothing to be impressed upon - but it had still left her weakened. Though that wasn't quite so big a deal since she wasn't skilled enough to be useful in a fight anyway. The one thing that infant was capable of doing was having Jaune see to her needs, seemingly by being completely and genuinely useless. What was it about men and their hero complexes and being drawn to weak little damsels? Cinder half thought the girl was more manipulative than she seemed, weaponizing her innocence and supposed purity to get Jaune sniffing at her. As it stood, Ruby had clung to Jaune's arm and stayed there, looking close to falling on her face, but unfortunately had his sturdy body to prevent it.
It seemed her warnings to Jaune had not been enough. As the dangers grew harsher, the two of them started to get close again. Sleeping together again, and who knew what else they were doing? It was a disaster in the making. One she could not allow Jaune to throw himself into. She was doing this for his sake, really.
Neptune, for all his annoying interference in her plans, now dragged his feet through the sand. No longer twitchy and anxious, but resigned and exhausted, as if he wouldn't be surprised by the next horrific attack. A good thing, when you are experienced. Not so much as a novice. Jaune was the one to hold himself together the best, but at the same the worst. Always ready to fight, blessed to be a fast healer, and handling Grimm far better than most at his level, even Cinder herself. Killed a Blood-starved Beast on his own? That should have been impossible by all accounts. Yet here he was, having survived and gutted that monster like a fish. It tinged Cinder to think of how powerful this miracle of a Hunter could be with more focused training. She might have smiled, if there wasn't a more pressing matter concerning the boy.
He was cracking.
Cinder could still hear the Shards' song in her head and it was keeping her from getting rest as it was. But she had enough experience and mental fortitude to draw from to keep herself together. Even if it was not easy. Sensibly, the yet untried, fresh-faced children likely suffered the mad song like a weight on their brains, and most especially Jaune. Should this go on, they might all get killed, if they were lucky enough not to go completely mad first. That would be the end of them. Three lives wasted.
And what's worse, this was horrible for Cinder's plans. She needed Jaune for them and he would appreciate his friends being alive. So, Cinder, in all her grand mercy, had to preserve their lives as well so that Jaune didn't break down into a totally uncontrollable state.
The children would have to go back. They all would. Cinder's future endeavors depended on it. Of course, that meant a particular someone would have to be abandoned. Sacrificed, if necessary. But would Peach see the reason for such a suggestion? That'd be awkward to explain. We simply must return Master Peach! How ever else am I meant to bed your nephew and utilize his powers for my own yet unsatisfied grievances? Best not to open with that one.
Cinder abandoned her position at the rear and took up stride beside Peach. Her old master glanced at her through the corner of her eye. That look of warning like anyone approaching her would have to tread lightly. Even after all these years, that look still made Cinder nervous. "What is it, Cinder? Do you sense something?"
"The mission is compromised, dear master." Cinder said, low enough that the children couldn't hear. "It has been compromised since our… latest arrival."
"Oh really? I hadn't noticed," Peach scoffed. "As I recall, the mission was jeopardized far before, when my two apprentices were given the location of my mark's key. Now whose fault could that be, I wonder?"
Damn, Cinder really should have thought this confrontation through. Still, best to work with what's been established. To win the war, you sometimes had to lose a few battles. "What's done is done. Let's save the shame and blame game for another time. We should return to the surface world."
"We can't."
"Can't?"
"After coming this far. It's better to take care of Qrow's Alter now. We don't have much time before the Whispers are given the order."
Cinder took a single long stride ahead, then looked her master right in her cold blue eyes. Honestly, Peach and her nephew were winter incarnate. "Far be it from me to criticize your bottomless well of wisdom, but have you seen the state of the children? Of your beloved nephew?"
One corner of Peach's mouth twitched. A sign she'd be pricked right where it stung the most. "It's hard to miss."
"Then I need not tell you that he is one wrong step from a plunge he may not come back from. At least not the same. I admit, it is my fault he's here, but we must think about what is best for them now. You know we must turn back."
"And what about Ruby's uncle? What about my friend?"
Cinder thought to put it delicately, but in the end wasn't feeling so pitiful, especially not to her. "He has lived a good forty years, has he not?"
Peach snatched Cinder by the wrist and dragged her forward, very plainly trying to ensure no one could hear her bite Cinder's head off. Nothing new there. Her grip was painfully strong, and it reminded Cinder of her apprenticeship days. When she'd misbehave, or talk back, or anything her master did not like, Peach would grab her much the same way as she did now. Once they were a far enough distance not to be overheard, Peach snarled at her. "Abandon him? Have you lost your fucking mind, Cinder?"
Cinder snatched her hand away, had to keep from wincing where Peach's nails had scratched her, and she had to resist the urge to snap back. Quell the warm wet in her eyes. "My my, the mouth on you. And I'm afraid I am perfectly sane, or as close to it as a woman like me can be. Do not pretend you have not made such decisions before."
"Those were different times and for different reasons. You damn well know it."
"Meaning, they weren't people you cared about?"
Peach's fist bunched, and that was somehow less worrisome than if it had remained an open palm, so Cinder took that for mercy. "Qrow is my mark and I will not abandon him."
"Even if your nephew should pay the price? Shall you sacrifice even your own blood, now? Your cruelty knows no limits, it seems."
Peach looked on toward the kids, who'd stopped to take a break by a crumbled roof. Ruby sat with her legs drawn up, once bright silver eyes now a haunted gray. Neptune stood facing the wall, holding himself steady and trying to breathe. Jaune had ambled away a bit, was pacing back and forth with urgency, like he still sensed Grimm in their trail. He seemed to be muttering to himself too, and Cinder had learned from Peach that this was a kind of mental exercise to help him stay calm, like squeezing a stress ball when angry. Still, you didn't need a stress ball if you weren't stressed, and this trio was the very definition of the word. All soon to succumb to the madness of this twisted world if they stayed any longer. Peach's face softened, all the love in her heart coming to the surface for just a moment - a moment too long for Cinder's liking. Still, she shoved down the feelings coming up and focused on her goals. Revenge and justice. For that she needed weapons. Strong weapons. And Jaune was the bomb with the potential to destroy anything and anyone she wanted.
"I will not pretend to understand the severity of your decision," said Cinder. "But it is a choice you must make nonetheless. Your longtime friend, who has led a pathetic life of misery and indulgence, who caused the death of a family member and destroyed his family? Or your nephew's, who has not yet lived long enough to become a saint, or a sinner, or anything else? For all the mistakes you've made, master, do not let this be one of them."
Cinder could tell she was getting to Peach now. There was no better way to get to someone than through the things they loved most. Who could know better than Cinder herself? There'd been a time she'd loved. Given all her love to those she could never have known deserved far less. The lesson then was clear. Look out for yourself and love only yourself. Everyone else is but a piece of your story. It was the only way not to get hurt.
"I'd say take as long as you need to think about it," Cinder turned to check on the children, which of course meant Jaune. And to set up camp while she was at it. "But time, as you said, is something we're running short on."
The fire wasn't really necessary, given that it was never really cold or hot in this wasted land. Still, staring into the flickering flame, into the bright colors, listening to the crackles and pops, it helped Ruby feel a little stronger. It helped her hold on a little longer. It gave her some hope. Some.
She sat there alone, sniffing occasionally in case there was a new smell in the air besides the coarse and metallic smell of ash. There wasn't, but periodically trying helped keep her focused. Absently, she rubbed the scar from the bad wound she'd taken earlier that day, from that terror of a monster that came very close to killing her, Neptune, and Jaune, if the latter hadn't saved them. Ruby hadn't thanked him for that yet and she didn't know why. Perhaps too busy being stuck in her own thoughts. Perhaps, too busy being scared every moment she was awake.
But misery loves a crowd, her father had once said, and the entire band was all in many ways disturbed lately. Neptune looked constantly tired and defeated, even though he tried to put up a front whenever Ruby talked to him. Peach was angry all the time and dark circles had formed beneath her eyes, not at all unlike Uncle Qrow on his worst nights. Cinder mostly looked put out, as if she'd been promised something and the world had yet to deliver. Jaune didn't bother with a front this time and freely admitted to being scared, and yet he ventured on as if this were all a mission of paramount importance. It was, given her uncle's life depended on it, but Ruby didn't think any of them expected it would be this difficult. Cinder had pulled Jaune away for a private word somewhere off the trail, and Ruby had not had the energy to stop her. She could only hope that the woman wasn't evil enough to use this chance to molest him.
And then there was still that niggling worry at the fore of her mind. The creeping ideas about her uncle and the secrets buried in this graveyard meant to be his heart. Her imagination had been spinning with theories ever since Cinder brought the subject up.
She knew her uncle had a dark past. Anyone could tell just by looking. Full of abuse and neglect and a family that did not know what love was. He'd been to Juvenile before at her age, and had been running with this gang alongside his sister. He'd even said that everything he experienced in that gang was the very reason he wanted to become a policeman. Her uncle told the stories in ways that made them seem like funny romps and misadventures, but that was just like him. Sweetening shit with honey, as her mother had always said.
What if these dark tendencies of his had not been left completely in the past? What if he'd done worse things than she could ever imagine? Was he a corrupt cop? Paid off to ignore crimes? Had he allowed criminals to go free at the expense of the victims? That would be awful. But somehow Ruby didn't fear that as much as another, more disturbing thought.
Once, in their teenage years, her uncle and mother had dated for a while. She'd told Ruby once. Her uncle said it didn't last long and that the breakup was mutual since they both felt they weren't ready. And Uncle Qrow had been best man at her wedding, and from the videos hadn't seemed bitter or jealous. But what if, years later, the two of them changed their minds? What if instead of going drinking all the time, they were betraying the family? Hurting their respective husband and close friend? It could explain a lot. It would explain a lot…
Ruby felt someone approach and looked up. It was Miss Peach, smiling down at her as sweetly as could be forced on her weary face, as if still trying to see the world as kind and beautiful and finding it harder every passing day. "Ruby. How are you doing, sweetie?"
Ruby almost burst into tears at that word. Her dad called her sweetie, and she was missing him worse than ever. "I'm fine," she lied.
Peach kneeled down. "Tell me the truth, Ruby. Do you regret coming with us?"
Ruby felt like the most selfish person in the world as she gave in, seeing no further point in resisting. She whispered, "I just wanted to help my uncle."
"I know."
"I was gonna help. I was gonna fight. "
"You have been fighting. And you've fought so hard. You've been very brave."
"But… but I can't handle all of this," Ruby admitted. "I'm not strong enough."
Peach nodded. "That's not your fault. No one can be prepared for something like this, not even if they had days to take it all in. It takes a wealth of maturity to recognize your limits, unlike a certain nephew of mine. You aren't abandoning your uncle for feeling the way you do, you understand?"
Ruby couldn't find a way to believe her. "I just want to go home."
Peach nodded, likely already knowing. "I know." and she sighed. "That's why we're going back."
Ruby looked up at her. "We are?"
"Yes. As soon as we've rested up."
"What about my uncle?"
"I'm only taking you past the gorge. After that, Cinder will take you home and I'll go on alone."
Ruby wanted to object. Especially after seeing, and feeling, how powerful the Grimm were in this place. But Peach was the only one relatively calm in all of this insanity and the least scared too. If she was scared at all. And realistically, her being alone would not restrict her so much and she wouldn't have to protect them all the time. She would just have to hope and trust that Peach could handle it.
"Please," Ruby came close and hugged her tight, needing the hug far more than Peach did. "Please save Uncle Qrow. We all still need him, even though he doesn't think so. Please, Miss Peach."
She felt Peach hug her back, her voice so gentle that it reminded her of Mom. "I'll fight to my very last breath if it means I can save your uncle. I will do everything I can."
A promise to try. Not a promise to succeed. It was the best anyone could ask for, really.
It wasn't hot or cold, there in the dusty wasteland, but Ruby still needed the warmth of holding someone, and so held onto Peach for as long as she could.
Cinder snapped her fingers a few times in Jaune's face. "Jaune? Are you listening to me"
He snapped around to wide-eyed awareness like an owl in the night, having previously been staring off into the distant ruin-pelted desert. "Cinder? When did you get here?"
"I've been here the whole time."
"Oh," Jaune blinked. "Is something the matter?"
The matter - as he put it - was that Cinder was trying very hard to ensure he did not fall apart before she could make enough use of him. Honestly, she might never run out of uses if he proved as effective in the bedroom as on the battlefield. For now though, the boy was edging on madness. Jittery, always looking around yet barely attentive, periodically summoning and dismissing his shield as if he imagined an enemy in the distance, only to realize it was just some rubble. It was getting pretty annoying.
But she had to be considerate, damn it all. None of this would work if she didn't treat him with respect. So Cinder shelved her annoyance and reached up to caress Jaune's cheek gently. She almost smirked as she finally got him to finally focus on her with those cold, if now a little crazy, eyes. "Are you alright, Jaune?"
"Fine," he said. Though he was clearly not.
"You can talk to me, if you'd like."
"Talk about what?"
"Anything you want." Slowly, she eased him to sit down, and brushed some lank hair out of his face. It gave her a view of the scar across his nose, a parting gift from his last fight. He was starting to look like a real warrior. "Anything you want, my darling."
Jaune didn't show much reaction to the word darling, but perhaps that was a good thing. If he'd objected, then that would mean she was losing her influence. And it wasn't as if he wasn't a darling to her. He very much was, in a way. Precious as the most jewel in a treasury. And just as difficult to replace. "My sister says I never had a puppy."
Well, that was random. "Is that so? Have you always wanted one?"
He nodded.
Cinder made a mental note to buy him one as a gift. She wasn't much for pets herself, though Emerald had a strange fascination with birds so Cinder had gotten one for her long ago. The girl had never seemed so happy. Sentimental nonsense, but at least it had finally gotten that girl to learn some responsibility.
"But I swear I had one though. She died, I remember that. Didn't even have her for long… What the hell was her name? I can't remember. Why can't I remember?" Jaune's eyebrows furrowed like it was the mystery of a lifetime and he the detective doomed to uncover it.
Cinder had to keep from rolling her eyes. The insane truly had strange fixations. Making serious out of the mundane. Best to entertain his beliefs for now, though. For both their sakes. Cinder truly hoped Peach had changed her mind by now. "How did you feel when you named your puppy? Try to think of that. It might help you remember."
Jaune took a while to think about it. "I guess I was… I was happy. But her name wasn't Happy. Something else."
"Did you name her after something that makes you happy?"
Jaune thought even longer, eyes shifting. "I don't… I don't know. Why don't I know?" Cinder heard his breath start to grow faster, his chest rising and falling. "Why? Why don't I remember?"
Cinder settled her hands on his shoulders gently. "Stay calm, Jaune. It's alright."
Jaune jumped out of her grip, stomping ahead through the ashes, fists bunched like he was ready to fight someone. "Why won't it stop? Why won't they leave me alone? I still hear them!"
The boy clutched at his hair like he was ready to pull it all out. Cinder was actually afraid he would. "What was her name? It's right there. On the end of my tongue. She was real, Saph! Make it stop. Leave me alone!"
He was losing it. Cinder got up, ready to drag him back to his aunt so she could settle him. "Let's go see your Aunt, Jaune. It's alright."
Jaune didn't hear her. His eyes were wide with panic, now storming in a circle, hands clawing like he was holding something precious, but had no idea what it was or why he had it. "Her name. What was it? I know she was real, I —" And he paused. His eyes were glassy with realization. "Was it… Joy? Was that my puppy's name?"
Cinder scoffed. "Jaune, that's your mother's name."
It was a rare moment indeed, that Cinder regretted anything she said. And never before had she thrown a hand over her mouth at the shock. It seemed there was a first time for everything. The longest silence, possibly in the history of mankind stretched between them, Jaune's face blank as a stone, the world so still as to be dead. Then, his pupils seemed to shrink as the whites of his eyes seemed to fully open, to fully understand. Cinder swallowed nervously as a long moment passed, having no idea what would happen next.
It got only worse as Jaune took a step back and started shaking his head. "No… that's… no, you're wrong. You're wrong!"
Cinder stepped forward, trying to salvage the damages, praying it wasn't too late. "You're right, Jaune. I'm sorry. I was wrong. Forget what I said."
But it was like he couldn't hear her. He pointed a shaky finger at her, his eyes wet now. "You… you're mad. You're mad! You think I'm crazy, don't you?"
"No, Jaune. That's not what I - "
"You all think I'm crazy!" Jaune screamed in total hysteria. "You don't know anything! I'm fine, I'm…" he trailed off.
"Jaune?" Cinder took another step toward him, more than a little scared herself.
He was staring off somewhere now, attention stolen. Whatever it was, it seemed to make him even more manic. "Why do you keep showing up?"
Cinder looked where he was looking and didn't see anyone. There was nothing out there but them. "Jaune?"
There was a rush of wind as Jaune darted past her, moving surprisingly fast, her hair smacking her in the face for a moment. She immediately gave chase, having no idea where he could be going, but not in doubt that he wouldn't stop until he got there.
"Jaune, wait!" She yelled, which of course got her nowhere. She hurried on and overtook him, thankfully still faster than him, and seized him by the arm as he came up. "Just wait a -
Jaune had not entertained even the idea of stopping. He struck her across the face with the back of his fist without a second thought, and so hard that Cinder turned half a somersault and planted firmly on her face, feet in the air. Cinder could not help the thought that somewhere someone who hated her guts was laughing right now. She struggled to her feet, one hand to her bloody nose, and was about to chase Jaune again, no doubt having gotten some distance now.
Except, he hadn't.
He was maybe ten strides away, standing right there in the middle of the ashen desert… and he was staring up.
Cinder followed his gaze, wondering what the hell could possibly be up there that it took his attention better than her, and she only saw the moon. Saw that it was no longer in its quarter state. Now, it was a bit wider. Definitely more than a quarter but still obviously less than half. For now. Why the hell did he find the moon of all things so interesting?
Cinder had just started walking toward him, less than amused and still smarting from what was basically a pimp slap, when Jaune began to move again. Only it wasn't toward whatever he'd been chasing. He'd kneeled down and looked to pick someone up in his arms, holding empty air against him like it was a child. "What's your name?" she thought she heard him say, entirely unsure of what to do.
This uncertainty was only made all the more extreme when the boy began to float away. She was even more unsure when he began to float into the air.
Cinder rushed up to him as fast as she could, but she may as well not have bothered, he was far out of her reach by then. She conjured a chain and hurled it at his foot, and somehow it missed. The end curled inches away from his foot if guided away by a magnet, utterly denied even to touch him. Cinder stared horrified at the soles of Jaune's boots as he floated high and higher, her jaw dropping as he ascended, the slow and unstoppable process of turning into a tiny black speck beyond her reach. The absolute ridiculousness of it. It might have almost been hilarious - her ex-master's nephew just randomly ascended into the cosmos after a psychotic episode. She might have burst into laughter, if she hadn't been afflicted with cold, shaky-handed disbelief. Eventually, Jaune was gone, lost beyond the black sky, seemingly forever.
"Oh no…" she gasped. How was she going to explain this to Peach? That woman's patience ceiling was a high one, but the loss of her nephew would surely be the thing to bring it down, and who knew what would happen then? This would be just the thing to send her over the edge. Forget Cinder's plans for the use of Jaune and her means of revenge against her enemies.
If Qrow's Alter did not kill Cinder, then her old master absolutely would.
Jaune stood there and he cradled the boy in his arms. His little arms wrapped around his neck, his rear supported by Jaune's forearm, and holding him close. Safe and protected. They both were.
He was standing somewhere. Well, obviously. You couldn't stand nowhere, after all. But this was a place he did not recognize. He'd been used to dust and ash and the smell of it. But there was significantly less dust here and a lot more solid rock. Solid gray rock. All around him the land was bumpy and dented and scarred, like the place had endured centuries of deadly battles, or been pelted by meteorites. Beyond the flat and empty land, there was only a perfect darkness. So deep and so foreign that it was anyone's guess what lurked beyond them, if there was anything at all. And it was quiet too. Jaune realized he did not hear the song anymore. Place smelled strange too - the acrid stink of burnt gunpowder.
The boy shifted in his arms, pressing up so his little hands were on Jaune's shoulders for support, then looked at him directly. The empty holes where his eyes were supposed to be didn't scare him somehow. The boy did not look scared or in need of help. Rather, it was like he had expected Jaune and was simply here to guide him somewhere. But where? And why?
"Can you help me find my eyes?" he said softly. "I lost 'em."
Jaune blinked. "I guess I'll try. Do you know where they are?"
The boy lifted one arm, then pointed out to Jaune's right, wordless. Jaune followed his finger.
He'd seen pictures of Remnant before. Pictures, obviously. And on those live streams from space satellites that he sometimes watched. A big blue ball, strewn with the circling, foggy white clouds that made up the atmosphere, and the deep greens and browns of massive land ashes housing billions of people. The bottom right of the distant planet was half shrouded in darkness, so you couldn't see the whole thing. Not like it really mattered. The rest of it was enough.
It was peculiar though that the whole planet wouldn't be visible. One would think that if something was on fire, you'd be able to see all of it, at least until it turned to dust.
The clouds were not white but black, and seemed to ooze away from the planet, instead of covering it, as if everything below was a lost cause and they needed to find a new planet to hover over. The land was tortured with thousands of cracks, all bleeding boiling red magma that did not seem like a lot to Jaune, but were probably whole rivers of lava down at the surface. Flames crested all around the circumference of parts of the planet, flakes of red and blue drifting off into the empty darkness beyond. Looked very much like Remnant was in some trouble. It was kinda sad.
"There?" asked Jaune.
"Uh-huh." The boy nodded.
Jaune looked at the planet again. Well, what was the harm? It wasn't as if he had anything pressing to attend on. He had one question though. "How do we get there?"
"However you want."
However he wanted? That was pretty awesome actually. Jaune tried to think of a really cool way to get there, then said, "Let's walk."
"Kay," The boy eased out of Jaune's grasp and dropped to his feet, looking up with no smile or frown, face without a read. He held out his small hand. "My mommy says you gotta hold hands so you don't get lost. If you hold my hand, I'll be able to protect you."
Jaune nodded. It was good advice. Why didn't he do that more? No better time to start than now, he supposed. He took the boy's hand, small in his, but safe with him. No, Jaune was safe with the boy. Yes, that sounded right.
Together they began making their way toward the burning planet.
Really love all the theories and discussion. It is even better than the discourse about Tournament Arc, and I didn't think I could write another fic worth so much talk.
ISA