Published: 11 Dec 2024
"Grandpa, could you tell me another story!" An eight year old Jaune asked the old man next to him n as they sat by the pouch outside of the house, their stomachs sated by the bountiful food that his mother made that evening. The sun was setting just over the small hill, and with the last rays hitting the water, it gave the impression that they were near a lake of gold instead of water.
"Oh, aren't you sleepy yet?" The old man raised an eyebrow in amusement.
"Nope!" Jaune's declaration got derailed from the yawn that came out of his mouth. The old man chuckled at that timing.
"You really should get to bed, Jaune." Aurivelle remarked. "You only just recovered from the latest treatment."
"Please, just one more!" Jaune begged his grandfather who huffed in good nature at the boy.
"Very well, but you will go to bed after this." His grandfather looked up to the stars, deciding on what story to tell. "Okay, I got one, although I will warn you, this is a little darker than the others." That sobered Jaune up. Aurivelle and his uncle Alex had not shied away from the darker parts of a huntsman lifestyle despite misgivings from his parents and older sisters; they wanted to make sure he was aware of the dangers if he wanted to do the line of work they were in.
His grandfather started to tell him the last story for the night, a decidedly sadder tale that had a young man who seeked to be a hero undergoing many trials, only to be betrayed by those he had saved and by his own beliefs, and ultimately executed. It was a very sad tale, one that was considered cautionary for those who tried to go too far for their beliefs. Jaune did not like that story much but appreciated the old man's honesty.
"That was a sad story." Jaune said a few minutes.
"It is, Jaune. It is." Aurivelle sighed heavily. "Most would wish to save as many lives as we can reach, but in this world, you can't save everyone."
"But I could try." Jaune proclaimed with clenched fists before wincing and hunching forward a little. Aurivelle went to rub his back for a while until Jaune could breathe properly.
"If you really want to do that, you need to get better first." His grandfather gently scolded the boy for exerting himself. "Until then, make sure your head is trained."
"But when can I be trained?" Jaune looked at his hands with sadness. "I keep getting sick, and papa and mama won't teach me." Aurivelle sighed at that.
"Your parents are worried. And sometimes our worries can get a bit much." The old man patted Jaune on the back. "But that doesn't mean you can't do light exercises, get that body stronger a step at a time." he looked at his watch and hummed. "Time for bed, Jaune." Jaune sighed as he looked up at the night sky once more before getting up to leave.
He hoped to get better.
~ooOOoo~
(Present Time, Emerald Forest)
It had taken them a while to widen the opening they found enough to squeeze through, but Jaune and Pyrrha were more than determined to get as far from the crypt and the Grimm staying inside as possible. Once out, they were very happy to find the weather had cleared up during their near-death experience, and with the high vantage point, they were able to spot their real objective in the distance by the open field. It had to be that since it looked like ruins one would associate with history documentaries and movies, and with a quick check of her scope, Pyrrha could spot two people walking towards the temple that appeared relatively intact and was in the center of the entire set.
With a smile, the duo proceeded to climb down the mountain and made their way to the ruins.
"Well this is a welcome change." Pyrrha spoke as they broke through the ring of trees and started to walk to the ruins.
"No kidding, I could use some relaxation after that craziness in the cavern." Jaune nodded as he adjusted the two swords on his body. It was odd really; while Crocea Mors felt alien to him, the other blade was strangely familiar and comfortable, as though he had been carrying it with him his entire life. Maybe it was some subconscious thinking on his part, likely due to the fight he had with the Grimm earlier, but he felt that this was a weapon he could get used to faster despite it being another sword.
He would have to think about it later.
They reached the edge of ruins and made their way to the area where Pyrrha had spotted people going to, and they got the impression that these were actual ruins instead of props built by the academy for simulation. For one, it looked really old and there was a fair amount of weather damage that stained the once white marble pillars that littered the area, and there were broken statues that showed the passage of time on time.
That or Ozpin had a lot of free time to do this.
Whatever the reason, the duo were at least thankful their path to the center of the ruins was uninterrupted and they could see the actual temple that must have been quite the sight based on the pillars that reached up to the sky. Jaune was just hoping that their little roundabout did not cost them too much time.
"Hey there, Jauney!" Jaune's thoughts were interrupted as he heard a familiar voice. He turned about to find the source of the voice, and caught sight of a familiar blond bombshell he had met at the orientation yesterday, waving at him by the entrance while a black-haired girl who he presumed to be her partner stood a little away from her. "Missed me?"
"Hey there, Yang! Fancy seeing you in these parts." Jaune called out to her while waving his arm. It did not take long for the two of them to walk up to her who proceeded to step forward and slung an arm around his neck, using the other to mess up his hair with a cheeky grin.
"Looks like someone went through the blender, you must have fought your hardest?" Yang Xiao Long spoke cheerfully, but Jaune had enough experience from his sisters to note the light tone of concern hidden beneath her bravado and there was something akin to worry in her lilac eyes as she looked at some of the blood and tears on his clothes.
"We got into a spot of trouble along the way and it was quite a hassle with that thunderstorm." Jaune lightly tapped her arm awkwardly in his position, not wanting to accidentally touch her inappropriately because of her attire. "But we came out on top and the best part was the shortcut we ended up taking to get here."
"Well, that must be a lucky break then." Yang pulled back with a more genuine smile. "We got held up and had to make a pit-stop for the rain to clear. You two actually got here within a few minutes of us arriving."
"We were also hindered by the Ursas and Beowolves after us." The black-haired girl spoke for the first time, her amber and oddly cat-like eyes looking at them closely while gesturing at Yang. "One of them cut her hair a bit and she sent it flying into the pack with one punch before going to town on them."
"That monster ruined my beautiful hair!" Yang cradled her hair like she was handling fine china while growling. "That thing was lucky that I could not use my more explosive rounds or it would be a huge smear on the ground!" Pyrrha appeared to agree with her given how she was touching her own hair at the description. Jaune could only imagine the aftermath based on this, remembering the times his sisters reacted badly when their hair got stained or cut roughly. Especially his eldest sister Marianne, who threw such a fit when her hair got cut drastically short by an Ursa during one of her trips, she saw fit to decimate the entire forest's worth of Grimm in the warmer regions of Solas, and she was extremely thorough and outright merciless in her execution.
Atlas had wanted to reward her generously by offering triple her pay. Her only request was for a beauty parlour to fix her hair, and that took a long while to find one that could cater to her needs. Uncle Alex had commented that the army had made a rule stating the female cadets should have their hair cut short to avoid this mess.
"Erm, Jaune?" Jaune turned to face Pyrrha who looked a little out of her element with their conversation. Jaune smacked his head at forgetting about his partner and set about righting it.
"Sorry Pyrrha, I got carried away there." He motioned his hand at her while turning to Yang and her partner. "For those who don't know me, my name is Jaune Arc, and this is my partner, Pyrrha Nikos. She's… apparently someone famous?" Jaune turned to her with a confused expression to which she responded with a good-natured smile and chuckle. She still could not believe her luck that she would be able to find someone who only knew her by the god-awful cereal she helped to promote, and she was ever so grateful that he did not care about her achievements.
"Hello." She waved at the other two with Yang smiling brightly back.
"Hey there, my name is Yang Xiao Long. Ass-kicking extraordinaire and all-round beauty!" Yang spread her arms with lots of gusto before gesturing to the dark themed girl. "And this quiet gal is my partner, Blake Belladonna."
"If you want to stay partners, I would suggest getting your relics over there." Blake did not acknowledge the introduction and merely pointed to the patio where Jaune spied several gold and black chess pieces on an old chessboard. "I suspect they will determine both your partnership and your teammates."
"Oh I see. Thank you for your advice Blake." Jaune nodded before the two of them made their way to the relics, pausing briefly to pat Yang on the shoulder lightly at seeing her pout at Blake for ruining her introduction. They did not take long to pick since Pyrrha was fine with whatever he would take so he chose the 'Rook' piece and passed the accompanying piece, noting a few other chess pieces were missing. Guess they were not the first ones to have arrived, but considering what he knew of the team-ups from his sisters, that would mean they had to have two others joining them. He could only hope they were nice people.
"So, this is Miss Pumpkin Pete in the flesh huh?" Yang looked at Pyrrha as she walked around her with a cursory eye. "I must admit, you are a lot taller than what I was told. And a lot more red than I thought."
"Erm, thank you?" Pyrrha raised an eyebrow, not knowing if she was being complemented. She was often told a lot of things in her line of work, but at least Yang seemed nice and honest.
"Hmmm~" Yang looked back at Jaune with a smirk that resembled that of his older sisters when they were about to pull a teasing frenzy on him as a kid. "She is quite the looker. Are you planning to upgrade from my sister and I to Pyrrha here? Jauney, I thought we were good friends."
Jaune blushed lightly from her words but had the perfect comeback to that. "We are good friends Yang, and quite frankly, I find it hard to believe that anyone can upgrade from you, considering your looks and all. Although Pyrrha is beautiful in her own way." To his partial satisfaction, Yang blushed lightly with Pyrrha following suit with a heavier blush from his corny words, while Blake had the faintest smirk of amusement at the sight of her partner blushing.
"Oh~ Lover boy has a quick tongue huh?" Yang looked back with a smirk. "Well then, be prepared for war, because I will make sure to leave you 'Yanging' for more." At her attempt of making a pun, Blake palmed her face while shaking her head and muttering something about being stuck with a failed comedian, Pyrrha looked at the two with an odd expression, while Jaune...
'SNORT!'
The girls turned to look at Jaune who covered his mouth to stifle the chuckle that was emitting from his mouth. "Sorry, it was not a good pun, but it is a decent attempt." Jaune struggled to control the laughter that wanted to come out of his mouth. Blake and Pyrrha looked at him with disbelief while Yang looked like Christmas came early.
"You laughed at my pun?" She asked in a slightly hopeful tone. When Jaune nodded his head after containing his laughter, Yang pumped her arms in the air while doing a rather cute victory dance that did interesting things to her assets. "YES~ I finally got someone to laugh at my puns!" She cheered while the other two females looked at her with raised eyebrows.
A roar stopped her little celebration and directed their attention to an Ursa that burst out of the tree-line and fell down flat on the ground, looking every bit tired and if possible, having an expression that said it was freaking done with whatever situation it got itself into. That much was apparent when a ginger-haired girl with a white top and pink combat skirt with what looked to be a large grenade launcher strapped to her back popped up from behind and looked at the Ursa with an expression akin to a kid whose toy got broken.
"Aww~ It broke~" The girl poked the dark creature with her finger while looking a little sad. The bush shuffled from behind before another person came out looking extremely worn out. He was a male teenager who gave the impression of being a quiet monk from the temples of Mistral with his long dark hair tied into a long and messy ponytail with a pink streak down the left side of his hair, a green long-sleeved tailcoat and plain tan pants. He certainly gave the feeling of being some sort of martial artist if not for the perpetual look of exhaustion on his face.
"Nora, please... Don't do that again." He panted while resting a hand against the beast. When he did not get a reply, he looked up to find that she had somehow teleported herself to the relics where she looked at them with wide eyes, before grabbing another 'Rook' piece and started to do a dance while singing about how she was the queen of the castle.
"Did she just ride an Ursa all the way here?" Blake asked with disbelief in her voice as she watched the girl somehow playing with the piece while balancing her weapon at the same time, occasionally shifting it into its secondary form that took on a huge hammer.
'By the gods, she is going to be a handful!' Jaune thought as he watched the girl that he recognized as the one he met during breakfast return to Ren with another one of the pieces. Pyrrha seemed to agree with his thoughts as she edged closer to whisper "You do know that she has the same piece as us, right?"
"… We can make it work?" Jaune looked at her with a dubious expression while Yang came along and put a hand on their shoulders.
"Good luck." Yang said with a solemn expression that was marred with a smirk on her face. Jaune could only answer by palming his face and letting out a sigh while Pyrrha looked up to the sky in hopes of divine intervention.
And she may have gotten it as she paused while narrowing her eyes. "What is that?"
Jaune, Yang and Blake turned to look at where she was looking, and unknown to them, the other two had heard her and turned as well. It took a while but Jaune could see a dark spot in the sky that was a little above them and getting bigger.
"I think that is a Nevermore." Blake spoke slowly as she narrowed her eyes. "I have heard they are common around here." She paused as she tilted her head. "Anyone else hear something?"
"I don't hear anything?" Jaune answered with the others agreeing.
"It sounds like it is coming from... above..." Blake looked up before her eyes widened with her mouth wide open. Jaune and Pyrrha looked up at the same time and gasped at the sight of Ruby falling from the sky and at a very fast rate.
"LOOK OUT BELOW!" Ruby yelled as her arms flayed about trying to slow her descent to the ground.
"Ruby!" The moment Jaune yelled, something seemed to shift in his vision. One moment he was looking at Ruby falling from the clear blue sky, the next he found himself looking at a pale woman with a blood-stained dress and falling through a dark sky ridden with thunder and rain. His feet moved automatically to propel him forward, arms stretched out to catch the woman before she hit the ground. With a yell, he jumped forward to get the necessary momentum to catch her in time, rolling his body to cushion her with it and hitting his head against the tree in the process.
"Jaune!" Ears ringing and blurred vision, Jaune shook his head to rid himself of the stars blocking his sight and found himself cradling a dazed Ruby in her arms. Jaune looked around while wincing from the pain, wondering what happened to the woman he saw.
"Jaune, are you okay?" His thoughts were broken when Pyrrha came forward with Yang following suit, expressions of concern and fright apparent on both their faces. Jaune slowly released his hold on Ruby who seemed to have regained her bearings and was now blushing heavily from the contact. She was soon swept into Yang's arms and hugged tightly by the sister who checked her body for any wounds, while Pyrrha knelt down next to him to inspect him.
"That is a nasty bump you are sporting, but it seems you don't have any major wounds." Pyrrha looked at his head while gingerly touching the part that made contact with the tree, withdrawing her hand when Jaune let out a pained hiss. "Sorry!"
"It's okay, it stings a little. That's all." Jaune used the tree to get up slowly while cradling his head. "I think that hit was a lot harder than I thought, I am seeing double right now."
"I am so sorry, Jaune!" Ruby managed to extradite herself from Yang's tight hold and was now bowing her head many times as she sported an ashamed expression.
"It is fine, but mind telling us why you fell out of the sky at what, a couple of hundred feet?" Jaune paused as a new thought came through his mind. "Wait, are you alone? If not, where is your partner?"
"Erm..." Ruby slowly lifted her finger at the sky while looking embarrassed. The whole lot of them, including Nora and Ren, looked up to find the white-haired girl hanging off what had to be the biggest Nevermore he ever laid his eyes on.
"How could you leave me?!" The girl screamed loudly, her words barely heard from their end.
"I said jump, Weiss!" Ruby called out to her.
"You do know she is going to fall, don't you?" Blake commented from her side with a raised eyebrow.
"She'll be fine." Ruby said that with a not so convincing smile of assurance.
"She is falling." Ren spoke in the flattest tone possible as they watched the heiress dropping from the Nevermore and towards a certain doom. And for the second time in the row, Jaune saw another vision of a person falling through dark skies, this time a younger girl dressed in rags with a stake through her heart. Without realizing it, his body moved once more to get to the figure and he managed to catch her without getting himself hurt.
And immediately after that, his vision cleared to reveal a blushing Weiss in his arms.
'Okay, that was weird.' Jaune thought as he absentmindedly went through the motions of letting Weiss leave his arms and nodding at her weak attempt at thanking him. He hoped he did not catch something in the caves that was making him see things.
"Well look at you, Lady Killer~ catching girls in the air and all." Yang had that predatory smile of teasing as she walked to him. "You sure know how to make them fall for you, huh?"
"Please tell me your sister is just in the mood for a bad pun fest, and that this will be temporary?" Blake looked to Ruby with a pleading expression with desperation in her eyes. Her hopes were dashed as Ruby shook her head in despondence, while Weiss massaged the bridge of her nose and muttered something about dumb blondes.
'SNORT!' Jaune did not help matters by suppressing another bit of laughter that seemed to encourage Yang to try another pun, while the remaining three looked at the group with a weird eye.
The sounds of trees crashing to the ground stopped the merriment and drew their attention to the tree-line, the sight of which made Jaune and Pyrrha groan in annoyance. Hissing in agitation, a small legion of centipede Grimm spread themselves around the area, their eyes looking at them with both hate and hunger.
"Friends of yours?" Yang asked as she primed her gauntlets.
"More like irritating pests that don't listen." Jaune took Crocea Mors and held them nervously. The ground started to rumble before a part of the ground behind the arthropod Grimm exploded and what had to be the largest Death Stalker one would ever lay eyes on shot out of the ground and slammed back down with enough force to make the lot of them stumble.
"Then what about that one?" Blake pointed at the Grimm snapping its pincers loudly alongside its mandibles while the tail stood tall with its golden stinger shining brightly in the sun. Jaune blinked before looking at Pyrrha, the both of them likely thinking and dreading the same thing.
Oh, Sugar Honey Iced Tea.
"Erm, guys?" Ruby raised her hand to point at the Nevermore who had returned and was now hovering above them, its screeching loud enough for them to hear and seemingly rally the other Grimm to attack.
"Great, now we can all die together!" Yang threw her arms in exasperation. Jaune turned to comment when he saw Ruby tensing up and hunching towards the arthropods and the Death Stalker, clearly wanting to charge ahead at them. Once again, Jaune saw another vision appear before him, revealing a young boy in torn shorts carrying a spear and wanting to charge at a group of soldiers that clearly outclassed him in equipment and skill, with a bunch of bodies lying around them. At the sight of the boy taking the first step, Jaune reached out and grabbed hold of the collar, that action seemingly removing the vision to show that he managed to catch Ruby before she could run after them.
"OW! Jaune, why did you stop me?!" Ruby looked at him with a cute pout of defiance only to recoil slightly from the cold fury on his face.
"May I ask what the hell are you thinking? Trying to charge at them on your own, are you bloody nuts?!" Jaune admonished her while maintaining a firm hold on her cloak, feeling an odd amount of righteous anger in him. Weiss, who was closer, nodded in agreement.
"Indeed, what were you thinking, trying to show off like that?" Weiss scoffed while looking at her.
"I am not trying to show off, I just want to prove to you that I can do this!" Ruby whined but stopped moving.
"Well that is a very childish thought you have." Weiss scolded her before taking a deep breath. "But I suppose I can be a bit..." She turned to look at Jaune with a slightly uncomfortable expression, likely remembering their first interaction, "difficult at times, so I will try to be nicer."
"Thank you!" Ruby cheered as Jaune lowered her down, now comfortable that she would not run off alone and not feeling that odd fury anymore. Yang gave him an appreciative nod for stopping her sister before looking at the others. "So, what now?"
"We got what we came for, so I would suggest moving back to the cliff without having to engage the Grimm." Weiss spoke out her thoughts while Ruby went to collect their pieces.
"Yeah~ I don't think they will let us go." Yang used her thumb to point at the ground-based Grimm.
"Then we need to divide and conquer." Jaune gave a quick glance noting their equipment and evaluating what he knew. "Okay, I have something of a rough plan. Pyrrha and I had fought those creatures earlier so we know their weak-spots. You two." He pointed at Ren and Nora, "come with us so that we can clear them out quickly. You girls deal with the Nevermore, you have both mobility and firepower."
"And how about that one?" Blake pointed at the big Death Stalker who, unlike the other Grimm in the area, was actually looking at them calmly with an unsettlingly steady gaze. But for whatever reason, Jaune felt that the Death Stalker was actually staring at him, its pincers moving in time with his body movements as though it was anticipating his next move. It did not react to the others when they were gesturing and it was staying still unnaturally.
"Call it a gut feeling. It won't attack us until we are done with our respective problems." Jaune said with the others looking at him funny. "Correct me if I am wrong, but the amount of armor it has suggests it is a lot older compared to the others, meaning it is a whole lot more intelligent than them?"
"Yes, though I must say that its armor is a lot thicker than what has been recorded." Weiss agreed with his observation. "Coupled with its size, I can't imagine how old that one must be."
"But that does not mean it won't attack us from the start." Blake argued her point. "Grimm will always look for an opportunity to strike. The Death Stalker may go for either group while we are busy dealing with the others."
"True." Jaune nodded his agreement. "But would you rather we fight them all at once or fight them separately if given the chance?" To this, no one could argue with him.
"Okay, let's go and kick some Grimm Butt!" Ruby raised her weapon enthusiastically. Weiss rolled her eyes but raised her weapon to touch her scythe to humour Ruby, while Yang and Nora cheered heavily. Ren merely nodded while Blake looked the least enthused of the lot. Pyrrha looked to Jaune with a smile, which he returned with one that was more of a grimace.
'Grandfather is going to tan my hide when he finds out!'
"Let's go!" With that the teens split up, that action seemingly making the centipod Grimm roar out in a challenging volume and go forth to attack them, and the Nevermore to let out a shriek of its own while chasing Ruby's group after they had successfully baited it. The only exception to this was the Death Stalker that had merely taken a few steps back before settling down on its legs, its eyes still maintaining contact on Jaune with the tail swaying in time with the wind.
Well, at least he got something working for him.
"Pyrrha, see if you can replicate what you did back in the caverns. There should be more material here for you to use. Otherwise do hit and run tactics." Jaune told the spartan who nodded as she moved forward.
"Ren, you and I are providing support for both her and Nora. We would need to make sure they don't get overwhelmed." Ren cocked his guns resolutely.
"Nora, you got that grenade launcher. I need you to make sure not one of those things get behind us or at the others. Anything that gets within two feet of you, you either force it back or blow it to ashes." Jaune stopped Nora who was about to move ahead. "One last thing. If you really can't shoot them, then do one thing with your hammer." Jaune smiled in a manner that could be a little frightening for his little sisters back home.
"Smash."
Nora let loose her own scary smile as she twirled her weapon with her eyes set on the nearest Grimm, and maybe it was his imagination, but Jaune would swear the Grimm actually shivered from her anticipation to attack them.
"Understood Fearless Leader!" Nora started to laugh like a mad woman as she began layering on the explosive rounds on the centipede Grimm while Ren covered her using his firearms, occasionally taking a swipe at some of the closer ones with the blades. Jaune himself used his shield to clumsily block the creatures aiming for Pyrrha's back, giving her the chance to shoot them down while occasionally taking one down himself. Thanks to their previous experience, they did not take that much time to kill off the Grimm. It was oddly anticlimactic; they had more issues in the darkness of the catacomb, but out in the open with light and reinforcements, they were taking down double the numbers with a fair bit of ease. Soon enough, the last of the centipede Grimm were eliminated by the generous usage of Nora's secondary weapon form.
"Ah that was nice!" Nora wiped her brow and shouldered her weapon, her smile being an odd sight amongst the decaying corpses of the Grimm and with Grimm blood on one side of her face. "I wonder if we can do that again in the future?"
"I pray not." Ren remarked as he held his knees while panting.
"At least we are able to get rid of them." Pyrrha said as she lightly heaved. "Good thing you found their weaknesses earlier, Jaune. That could have gone worse."
"I don't even want to imagine it." Jaune panted as he looked to find Ruby and the others. His worries were not necessary as he watched them take down the Nevermore with a fair bit of ingenuity and madness.
'Damn~ note to self. Do not get in front of Ruby when she swings that weapon.'
"Looks like they got it covered." Pyrrha remarked as the others looked at the team, with Ruby barely visible on the cliff edge as she waved her arm. Jaune was about to say something when he saw movement behind Pyrrha and his body immediately snapped into action.
"Incoming!" Jaune pulled Pyrrha out of the way while bracing himself against his shield just as the Death Stalker came rushing in without a sound and struck with its pincer, lifting him off his feet and sending him hurtling back a few feet into the air.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha tried to get to him only to be repelled by the Grimm that used its tail to create a huge gorge in the ground, followed shortly by a few rock piles made by its pincers. Seemingly satisfied that the other three won't interrupt, it turned back to focus its attention at Jaune who got back on his feet unsteadily and cursing his luck at the matter. He had hoped to be wrong about the Death Stalker's motives, but this attack proved it. For whatever reason, the creature was after him specifically.
Well, if that was what it wanted?
Jaune forced his legs to move and started running to get the Death Stalker to follow him and leave the others alone, hoping to get more cover among the ruins. To his relief and frustration, the scorpion Grimm began to chase him, clearly choosing to go after him rather than the others. At least this would give the others time to regroup and think of a plan to help him out, or in the worst case, they can leave to get help.
"Come on ugly, this way!" Jaune called out as he made his way to a deeper section of the ruins, using the cover to avoid strikes from the pincers or the stinger. He winced from some of the debris whizzing by from the creature destroying everything in its path to get to him, and grabbed a rusty pole to swing himself around one of the bigger columns and through a gap that hid him from the creature rushing past that hiding spot. Jaune did not waste that moment and moved out of the way while using the moment to assess the situation.
'Okay, this guy has some thick armor, big ass pincers and a stinger that makes me look shorter than I need reminders of! I am going to need a way to distract it long enough for the others to get here or at least bring help.'
"Jaune!"
'Nevermind.'
Jaune squeezed out of his hiding spot to find Pyrrha, Ren and Nora running to his side, stopping for a brief moment as they took cover again from the Death Stalker that had made a full circle to chase him, paused for a moment before continuing its quest to end his life.
"Jaune, are you okay?!" Pyrrha went to him and gave him a quick look over to check for wounds.
"I am fine, but this guy is very persistent." Jaune answered her while looking around the column to check for the creature.
"This is going to be so much fun!" Nora cheered while waving her weapon, looking like she had no worries to plague her even with the current situation they were in. "Let's break some Grimm's legs, Jaune-Jaune!"
"Nora." Ren palmed his face while shaking his head.
"Well, I am getting tired of being chased around." Jaune peeked around the corner to look at the Grimm before coming up with a plan. "Okay, I got a crazy idea. Pyrrha, think you could take out its eyes? We just need to get its field of vision removed a bit. Nora, you and I would need to run interference to keep it busy. Aim for the legs. Ren, see if you can take out that stinger."
"Oh yeah, this is happening!" Nora let out a maniacal laugh as she took out her grenade launcher and started to dish out multiple explosions at the Death Stalker, which was understandably stunned by the suddenness of the attack. Jaune came close and started to hack at the legs as best as he could, thanking the blacksmith who made Crocea Mors for its sharpness and toughness as he was able to cut deep into the joints of the legs while his shield blocked the hard strikes of the legs. Pyrrha proved herself to be an expert marksman as she took aim and meticulously took out the eyes without missing a shot, while Ren used his dual pistols to lay down both cover fire and tried to take down the stinger.
With that said, the Death Stalker had recovered relatively quickly and was merely irritated by the shots hitting its armour, but certainly angered by Jaune's sword being able to cut its legs. After one underhanded strike by Nora which broke the armor and left a huge opening at the top, the Death Stalker let out a roar that showed how clearly it had enough of their attacks, and with a swiftness that belied its tough exterior, spun around to force them all back and using its stinger to slam against Nora to send her flying away quite a distance.
"Nora!" Ren called out in concern before directing angry eyes at the Grimm. Letting out a brief roar of rage, Ren jumped onto one of its legs, skipped on its body and proceeded to unload all of his ammunition on the offending appendage, making the Grimm hiss in pain as it tried to shake him off. It succeeded in getting him off, but the damage was done with the stinger hanging by its tendon.
"Pyrrha!" Jaune called out to her while pointing at the Grimm. She got the idea and threw Akouo at the tail, bisecting the stinger from the tail and making the sharp end land on the opening of the armor, causing the Death Stalker to roar out in agony.
"Right then, Nora! Nail it!" Jaune called out feeling the plan was a success, but when he did not get a reply he turned to find Nora knocked too far away from them and looking unsteady on her feet. "Oh no~"
"Jaune, watch out!" Pyrrha's warning brought his attention to the front, barely giving him time to raise his shield as the Grimm came barreling straight for him, its eyes now showing deep rage at all the pain inflicted on it and wanting to eliminate them all. With a roar, the creature slammed into him hard enough to lift him off his feet and sent through the wall, making him lose some of the Aura and his weapons as he crashed to the ground.
'Crap!' Jaune scrambled to get to his shield but the Death Stalker had other ideas as it used its pincer to crack the ground and forced it upwards to separate him from the shield. With another roar, it swung the other pincer at Jaune, forcing him to take the full brunt of the attack.
"GARH!" Jaune let out a scream as his body was immediately assaulted with the feeling of pain rushing through his limbs and back. A brief flash of light and the sound of something breaking was enough to tell him that something was very wrong.
"Hang on!" He felt his collar getting pulled in the nick of time as the Death Stalker jabbed a pincer where he was a few seconds, creating a deep crater and some cracks in the ground. Jaune did not have much time to contemplate when Ren placed an arm around him and dragged him to deeper cover.
"Sorry for the rough treatment, but I had to get you out of the way before you resemble one of Nora's pancake disasters." Ren remarked while propping Jaune against the wall and examining the wounds. "Okay we have a problem."
"How bad is it?" Jaune winced from the pain shooting through his body.
"Well I can tell you that your least lethal injury is a broken rib." Ren quipped as he lightly prodded Jaune's body, making him groan from the pain. "But the main issue is that your Aura has broken, so you are now vulnerable. You will need to take a back seat and let us handle this."
"That would be nice, but I think I might have some bad news on that part." Jaune gritted his teeth as he got into a better position. "For whatever reason, that creature has been after me since the beginning. If this was me being weak, I might understand a bit, but even with you guys hammering it with ammo and Nora's attacks, it keeps on chasing me."
"That I can agree with you. I have never seen a Grimm this determined for one person." Ren nodded with a grim frown.
"That however is something that we can use to our advantage." Jaune said much to Ren's confusion. "That guy is after me so much that it's ignoring the rest of you guys. And with Ruby and the others coming after us, we would have more firepower. I just need to hang on a little longer for them to arrive to help lay this creature down."
"That is a risky move and you know it." Ren narrowed his eyes at Jaune. "Even if the amount of Aura you have left can heal your wounds enough to allow mobility around the area, you won't last much longer against a Death Stalker of that size. And how much can you do without a weapon?"
"The Grimm has a hard time turning into corners, so it ends up smashing into the ruins around here. Enough of the rubble should be able to drive that stinger deeper into its back enough to force it to go slower, thus giving you guys more time." Jaune motioned to Crimson Blitz still sheathed on his back. "And I am not defenseless, I still have this guy with me." Ren was about to argue when the telltale sounds of the Death Stalker stomping came from their side, making them turn around and go pale at the sight of a rampaging Death Stalker coming at them with thunderous steps.
"No time to argue, move!" Jaune pushed Ren out of the way and into relative safety before getting up to his feet and started to run as best he could with his injuries. More than ever he thanked Pyrrha in his mind for unlocking his Aura because he was going to need every bit of it.
"Okay. Time to use you again, Crimson Blitz." Jaune grabbed the sword and pulled it out of the sheath, its black edge gleaming in the sunlight and for a brief moment, he felt it vibrating slightly as though it was happy to be out in the open and ready to slay an enemy again.
He did not have time to think about it as the Death Stalker let out another roar and sped up as though his action of drawing the sword was a challenge that it wanted to answer. Well at least he got its attention.
"Come on ugly!" Jaune turned around to face the Grimm and once again, his vision shifted to show what looked to be a smaller version of it with bigger pincers trying to attack him in what appeared to be in a dark forest. Without a thought Jaune swung the blade in time to block the pincer aimed at him and redirected it to the ground, making him falter slightly but kept his footing to deliver a quick slice at the creature's face. Much to his surprise, the blade cut through the thick shell easily, making it bleed black blood and the creature to hiss in pain and move away slightly.
'Whoa, this sword is a lot sharper than I thought!' Jaune's thoughts were put on hold as the Grimm let out another roar and started to swing its pincers at him randomly, forcing him to dodge and parry them in quick succession. But a part of his mind could not help but gawked at the oddly smooth if not clumsy manner he could maneuver around them. He had trouble dodging his uncle's simple thrusts and his sister's jabs, yet he was easily moving around the Grimm like a ballerina and he could not help wondering what was doing this.
Was it simply adrenaline, the fear of being killed?
Maybe he was actually better than he thought?
Or was it due to the odd visions that were overlapping with his sight, making him move more effectively? If so, why was he having them now?
"Bang!"
His thoughts and little dance off got interrupted when a gunshot rang out in the open, followed shortly by a small explosion that hit the Death Stalker in the side. Then a giant wall of ice sprouted up from the ground in front of him, separating him from the Grimm.
"Get moving!" Jaune heard Weiss's voice and instantly turned to run towards the general direction of the voice, finding her near the stone bridge with her weapon stabbed into the ground with a spinning symbol of a snowflake under her. By her sides, Yang and Blake stood with their weapons primed and eyes keeping watch at the ice barrier that was cracking.
"Hey there Lady Killer!" Yang momentarily broke her attention to focus on him. "Looks like you got quite the catch, a giant Death Stalker that wants your ass."
"That is putting it lightly." Jaune wheezed and spat out some blood as the injuries started to catch up to him. "I demand a refund, I did not ask for a damn Death Stalker on my ass."
"Okay, I think you can leave this to us." Yang said in a cheerful tone that barely hid her concern over him as she looked at his wounds. "Mama Yang is going to lay the smack down on this bad boy."
"There is a giant stinger at the top of the head, we got it cut off and stuck in a hole of its armor. But we need to jam it in harder to kill it." Jaune quickly informed them before they moved on.
"Oh~ jam it in harder, huh?" Yang had that light in her eye that made him wary. "I will make sure to jam it in so hard that Grimm will be shouting my name in ecstasy and pain!" With that line, she ran off leaving him red-faced and one Blake Belladonna who looked on with a flat expression.
"Just so you know, I blame you for encouraging her puns and general attitude." Blake remarked with a flat tone before running after Yang. Jaune could only go redder in the face and lower his face into his hands in deep embarrassment.
"Jaune!" Ruby came to his side and looked at him. "Are you okay? You looked like you had a fever."
"Hey Ruby." Jaune sighed as he looked up in time to see Pyrrha and the other two come to their side. "I am just very burned out, in need of rest, and not prepared for your sister's choice of words."
"Ah~ I feel for you." Ruby nodded with a slightly sympathetic expression.
"Nora, how are you?" Jaune turned to the bubbly girl, remembering the hit she took.
"Forget me, you looked like crap!" Nora exclaimed while looking over his body at the wounds he got. "How are you standing?!"
"Right now, pure adrenaline." Jaune answered while wincing at the pain. Now that he had stopped moving, the pain started to mount and he was having trouble maintaining his vision.
"Better hang on a little more, we would need whatever help we can get." Ren raised his hand to interrupt the obvious counter about to be made by Pyrrha and Ruby. "Jaune will stay back and relay whatever information to help us slay the Death Stalker. His earlier plan was a little rough but definitely better than whatever we can think of. With more of us and it being injured, it should not take us long to take it down."
"If you people are done talking, now would be a good time to help us!" Weiss yelled as the ice barrier broke apart to reveal a very angry Death Stalker. The others took up their arms and leapt forward to engage it, leaving Jaune to look at them while feeling his limbs getting heavier. At least they got this covered, but there was a part of him that felt a little left out.
'Don't go there, Jaune. Remember what Uncle Alex said about this, it is fine to act like a hero, but stupid if I rushed into a situation without understanding how to survive.' Jaune thought to himself as he watched the others struggle with the Death Stalker. 'For now, find and focus on possible weaknesses.'
With that in mind, he watched the Grimm fighting off the others and saw the manner it was favoring certain portions of its body. "Guys, aim for the legs, stop it from moving so that Yang and Nora can deal out the heavy attacks!" He called out to them as they got closer. Pyrrha and Ren immediately followed the plan while Ruby relayed the information to the others. Weiss spun the revolving chamber on her weapon and rushed forward to stab it into one of the legs, turning it into ice and shattering it, while Ruby started to spin around to start hacking at one of the others. On the other side, Blake, Pyrrha and Ren joined forces to tackle the legs on their side, hacking away as best they could through the thick armor. Yang and Nora helped to cover for both sides by using their heavy attacks to distract the Death Stalker while weakening it.
But the Death Stalker would not give in and soon learnt how to avoid some of the attacks and push back the others. From his end, Jaune could see how tired the others were getting, and how Nora and Yang were being forced to conserve their ammo due to the armor that was resisting all of their attacks.
'That armour is too thick, nothing is going through it! The only thing that could damage it was…' Jaune paused as he looked at the sword still in his hand before looking back to the Death Stalker and wincing at the idea popping into his head. He was going to need to apologise to his grandfather, uncle and sisters for this action.
With that in mind, Jaune gritted his teeth and rushed forward, bringing Crimson Blitz to the side and with its sharp edge scraping the ground. With a yell, he went between the gap of Blake and Pyrrha, using his momentum to jump and slide on the ground beneath the Grimm before bringing the sword up, its sharp edge ensuring a clean cut as he glided across the ground all the way to the other end, making the Grimm roar in pain and more importantly, giving Yang and Nora a chance to properly lay on the heavy hits that crippled the legs. That helped Weiss to focus her attack on the left pincer claws to freeze it enough for Ren to break it apart with its shots, depriving the Grimm of one of its weapons.
"Pyrrha, boost Nora up!" Jaune yelled out. Pyrrha and Nora looked at each other and nodded, leaving Yang to continue hitting it with her shotgun gauntlets. Pyrrha lifted her shield and braced herself on the ground as Nora jumped onto it and used one of her grenades to propel herself up into the air.
"Bring it home, Nora!" Yang called out to her.
"Got it!" Nora spun her body a few times in the air while holding on to her hammer. With a jubilant roar, she smashed the hammer dead center of the stinger, driving it deeply through the armor and into the head, causing the Grimm to buckle under the force. It struggled for a bit before laying still.
"YES!" Yang and Ruby cheered with their arms up high, being the most excitable of the lot, while Blake and Weiss let out tired sighs of relief. Ren simply dropped to his butt and laid down on the floor while Pyrrha let her arms drop to the side and let out her own sigh of tiredness.
"Hah~ that was refreshing!" Nora leapt off the Grimm and made her way to them. "Let's do that again!" Jaune was about to throw in a comment when he spied the tail twitching slightly and one of the Death Stalker's eyes glowing a bright red. Without realizing it, his body moved quickly and grabbed Nora before throwing her to the side.
"What the?!" Nora was momentarily speechless as she watched the Grimm she just smashed got back up with a burst of energy and backhanded Jaune with the pincer, sending him flying into the air and well away from them. Before she and the others could react, the Grimm smashed its pincer into the bridge, making the already unstable ruin crumble around them. Then with a leap, it propelled itself to solid ground while breaking the bridge with its strength, forcing them to leave as it started to collapse under them.
"We got to move! The bridge is collapsing!" Weiss called out while grabbing Blake by the arm and pulling her up.
"But what about Jaune?!" Pyrrha tried to move towards him but got hindered by Ren and Nora.
"We can't help him if we don't get off this bridge!" Ren pulled her arm with Nora pulling the other, almost lifting her off her feet. "As it is, we need to get away from here, this instance!"
"Jaune!" Ruby called out while Yang grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her over her shoulder, before running with the rest to escape the crumbling portions of the bridge. It did not take long for them to get to the other side at the same time as the bridge that finished crumbling and thus leaving a chasm between them and their comrade who was stuck with a Death Stalker hellbent on killing him.
'God, this is such a crappy way to die.' Jaune groaned as he got to his feet unsteadily, glaring at the Death Stalker that was currently at the edge of the cliff. He was not given enough respite as the Grimm charged at him with all the energy of a wounded animal on its last legs, forcing him to dodge to the side and let it continue to the forest which it laid waste to a fair bit before coming to a slow stop. With another hiss, it slowly turned to face him, its mandibles clicking quickly and its pincers snapping loudly.
'Man, if this is how I am to go, this would be one hell of a story.' Jaune thought wistfully as he used the sword to pick himself up from the ground, wobbling slightly from the dizziness and loss of blood. His heart nearly stopped when his eyes cleared enough to show that he was at the cliff's edge, and there was no room to move elsewhere.
'Darn it, I really need something right now.' Jaune gripped the handle tightly and lifted the sword with heavy arms, pointing it at the Grimm in defiance. 'Good thing the others are on the other side. It does not mean much, but at least they can stay alive and perhaps make a better difference to the world than me.'
In his worsening sight, Jaune looked at Crimson Blitz in his hands, the dark edge catching some of the light from the sun, and could not help a random thought. 'Wonder if the previous owner had to deal with this in the past?'
That was when something happened at the same moment as the Death Stalker started to move forward.
Visions of battlefields and unknown lands shot through his mind, almost blinding him to a standstill and making his head ache like a jackhammer going full throttle on him. His body felt like it was now on fire and the only reason he could not yell out in pain was the sight of a figure before him wielding the same weapon as him, his body hunched down and riddled with wounds and bleeding out. Before him was the same type of Grimm facing him as well, and just like Jaune, the figure was in a similar position of helplessness.
["So this is it for me?"] A voice echoed in Jaune's head as the figure seemed to chuckle at the situation. ["At least the others are safe. I should be the only one to fall, being the weaker one of the lot. They can make a bigger difference than me."] The figure spat out some blood as he coughed heavily before taking a few deep breaths to calm himself.
["Okay big guy, it is just you and me."] The figure looked up to reveal a rather youthful face in his early twenties with spiky blonde hair and startling blue eyes, with a trail of blood from the corner of his mouth. The figure picked up his blade in a similar manner as him and glared at the Death Stalker.
["Let's do this buddy, one last time."]
Seemingly out of his control, his arms lowered the sword and moved it to the side, giving it room for the sword to reconfigure itself back to its old form with loud mechanical sounds while crimson lightning started to spark all over its body. Unknown to the teammates who were attempting to get to him and the professors who were watching, one of Jaune's eyes started to change color from a bright blue to an almost radiant white while his hair started to pale at the fringes. He stood before the oncoming Grimm with a defiant glare, not moving an inch and waiting for it to get closer.
"Jaune, move!" Pyrrha called out to him as she tried to use her polarity to move him to no avail.
"What is that dunce doing?! He is going to get killed at this rate!" Weiss demanded while looking both angry and concerned for Jaune.
"Jaune!" Ruby yelled out as the Grimm was bearing down on Jaune with its pincers ready to grab and tear him into pieces. Just a few feet separated the two when Jaune finally made his move. He raised the sword with both hands, the crimson lightning now visible from where they stood and breaking the ground around him. Even with the distance between them, the others could almost feel the amount of energy that was building from the weapon. Then with a defiant roar, Jaune swung the sword down.
"BBOOOOEOEOORRRRRRR!"
The resulting attack that came after could only be described with the words 'utter destruction', as the beam of crimson lightning surged forward at the Death Stalker, instantly bisecting it in half before continuing its trajectory behind it all the way to the other side of the forest and sputtering towards the end, leaving behind a long trench carved into the earth, with wrecked or burned trees on both sides, and the smoldering remains of a Death Stalker that fell to the ground and split cleanly in half, tail and all.
"Holy..." Weiss let out a word with her eyes wide open.
"Shit..." Yang finished it for her with her mouth wide open.
"By the Brothers and Oum..." Blake muttered while fighting all of her instincts in her that were screaming at her to either eliminate the person before her or to flee from the display of power exhibited by someone she deemed harmless. She did not think she would meet anyone who could be stronger than Adam, but to witness someone utterly wrecking a Death Stalker of that size and a large portion of the forest, she was both dumbfounded and wholeheartedly terrified.
"Ren, did Jaune just obliterate an entire stretch of forest?" Nora asked while rubbing her eyes. Her companion could only nod in silent disbelief.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha called out to him and cursed at the distance between them. A rush of rose petals drew everyone's attention to Ruby who had managed to find a way to cross the gap with some of the longer pillars that had fallen over and with a running start, hoping to make sure her first friend was safe from what had happened earlier.
As for the person in question?
Jaune panted heavily as he watched the Death Stalker evaporating, his head reeling from the vision he had and his body feeling like he was running on fumes. He was not sure what had happened, but one thing he did note was the fact he took on a Death Stalker on his own, albeit with some help from the others and something else. He looked at the sword in his hands and thought privately as the weapon let out some sounds before it went back to its previous configuration.
'What the hell are you?'
Jaune could not think anymore at that point as all the energy left him at that point, making him release his grip on the sword and letting his body drop to the ground with all the tension leaving alongside with precious lifeblood dripping from his wounds. As darkness clouded his eyes, he could have sworn that amidst the sounds of his teammates yelling and pounding feet coming his way, someone else was next to him, the voice being too soft to hear properly, yet it seemed to stand out enough for him to hear the words.
[Not quite yet. You are not ready for what's to come.]
~ooOOoo~
"Glynda, can we confirm the partnerships based on the recordings?" Ozpin continued watching the clip that showed Ruby Rose and the crew rushing to the spot where Jaune Arc had collapsed.
"I have. Jaune Arc has been confirmed to be Pyrrha Nikos's partner, and their team members are Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie. I am going to pity them for having to deal with that child." Glynda answered. "Shall I get the bullhead to collect them?"
"That would be helpful, and any other teams that have yet to make it back if needed. The presence of the Centipod Grimm worries me along with the size of that Death Stalker." Ozpin frowned at that. "The Death Stalker would have to be around here for a long period to grow that big, and the Centipods are not native to Vale, yet such a big cluster is present."
"Perhaps we should question the other teams if they had encountered them elsewhere." Glynda suggested while entering some commands into her keypad for the bullheads.
"Get the teams and other students out of the forest. The exams are over now that the last pieces have been collected." Glynda nodded and made her way to the bottom with her Semblance, leaving Ozpin on the cliff looking at the tablet showing the students gathering around Jaune Arc to check on him with Blake Belladonna and Weiss Schnee looking at the devastation with shocked expressions. Ozpin however was focused on the one person that was standing next to Jaune who was not a student, or even visible to the others except perhaps Ozpin. It was a shadowy figure of a man whose features were faded, with the only indicators being some spiky hair and some armour on his shoulder resembling a pauldron. Then it started to disappear from the feet, but before disappearing completely, the figure lifted his head to look straight at Ozpin as though he could sense his presence, then it completely disappeared from sight.
Well, this year just got a lot more interesting.
Author's Notes:
At least I got this one out on time. Not sure if I can get another out before the end of the year. I tried to add on more details so that it can make sense for the later chapters.
Until then, stay classy.