Jaune was shook. Quite literally, as he was having some trouble staying on his own two feet. The stonework below him had been shaken loose, really being held up only by the friction forces between the rocks. There were gaps wide enough that Jaune could see the main supports and rafters below. He and Dr. Cortez shared a look.
"Time to go-" Dr. Cortez started, but was interrupted by another shaking of the building. The Berengal gave a roar, beating the dust off it's chest. Jaune sent a quick arrow aimed at its face. Curse you, Jangles the Moon Monkey! A yelled, shaking his fist. Curse you!
Nadir sunk below, into the church. Dr. Cortez was scrambling to follow him, getting down below the church roof as well. The building shook again, this time the cause of a battalion of Goretusks slamming into the wall. Arslan watched in horror as Jaune's glyphs, shields of blue light shattering like glass. On the next blow, a hole was blown through the wall, a dark boars head sticking dazed through the wall. Sage stabbed it between the eyes before even a civilian could scream. Jaune peered over the side of the church, seeing a rather large collection of grimm pigs stumbling around, concussed.
A welling pit of concern started to grow in Jaune's stomach. A breach in their meager defenses was incomprehensibly not good. They had only barely thinned the herd as it was, it was too soon for things to go down hill now.
News flash: It's bad news. Things have been going down hill since we ran the fuck away from home. A said as Juane pulled that sinking panicked worry from his gut, letting the tar like drip feed into his woven veins. He pulled it like one pulls sap from a tree, lathering it into the shadow of his bow. It drew back, aimed directly down into the grimm. The arrow shot forward, but slowed, like shooting syrup into water it floated down to the ground. A blinding purple light, one akin to the blacklights Jaune had seen at the one rave his sister had dragged him too just before he left, but a thousand times brighter. When it had gone, the goretusks were gone and several floating purple balls floated ominously, hanging in the air like specters of death. It had also unintentionally vaporized a large clean hole in the busted wall.
Jaune quickly got off the roof.
The grimm pawed and paced, just on the outskirts of the minefield of floating orbs. An ursa sniffed at one from a healthy distance, turning away with a disgrunted chuff. It evidently did not like the ominous oscillating ornithoperous orbs. This lead to a tense standoff, Jaune and humans on one side of a hole, and the creatures of darkness on the other. Only some ten feet of space marked the separation between them.
On particularly brave deathstalker decided to dare to march forward. It stepped impatiently forward, coming within a short stride away from one of the orbs. It, much like a ferrous liquid attracted to a magnet or perhaps some kind of hungering amoeba, reached forward to touch the scorpion. It recoiled from the contact, seething at its touch. But it was firmly planted to the chitinous armor of the Dealthstalker, slowly glomping onto the grimm creature. It slowly started to spread across the panicking grimm, it futilely trying to scrape the primordial goop off by smashing its claw into the ground. The dark tar like substance of arcane manufacturing grew and spread across the grimm.
Arslan was struck with a terrible revulsion at the terrible sound of the screaming pain of the dealthstalker. She would never hear any worse sound in her life. She watched as the grimm was completely enveloped, its shape becoming more and more amorphic as it was consumed by the purple space amoeba. Eventually it was shrunk down into nothing, finally dissolving into the wind in some small purple ribbons.
The large Berengal, the leader of the hoard came up to the forefront. It grunted, looking around, as if asking "What the hell is going on here? The assault doesn't stop for anything!" An ursa gave a grumbling response. Jangles the Moon Monkey didn't like the answer, what ever it was. It grabbed the Ursa, throwing it into the minefield of orbs. Like magnets drawn to Iron, the ursa was swarmed, quickly dissolving into mist. The Berengal grabbed another grimm, a deathstalker, and tossed it into the death zone as well.
Sebastian leveled his revolver at the boss berengal. "Kill it! Kill it now!" he ordered, breaking the tense lull in his students action. He taught by example, putting a bullet in his shoulder, and quickly deciding it wasn't enough, put a couple more for good measure. Sun emptied one of his shotguns into the berengal before it got the message and made some distance, throwing another grimm in the way. The grimm had gotten the message at this point: Either eat the mines and get dissolved, or do so at maximum velocity.
Like autonomita, they marched forward. Jaune turned to the men holding spears. "Formation!" He hissed loudly at them, stirring them unto action. "No heroics. Your duty is to ensure nothing passes the breach!" where his quick instructions as he started putting together a spell. A boartusk, engulfed in the voidfire, tumbled to the side and slammed into the now non functioning wall. B fell unceremoniously from the roofing and onto the grimm, shattering as he collasped though it and hit the jagged stone chunks.
Welcome back A greeted his counterpart, watching with glee as several grimm were shot through with a scattering of arcane bolts. How did you end up back up there?
Jangles the Moon Monkey threw me when I tried to punch him in the face. B crossed his arms and pouted.
This version of Jangles sure does like throwing things. A noted, watching as the last of the mines was absorbed by the grimm hoard. Welp, there goes our saftey net.
60 lien Sun leads the countercharge. A said after a moment, watching through Jaunes eyes. He had pulled out a two handed sword of considerable length. It was a broadsword by any reasonable standard, at six and some odd feet of reach it was a rather standard looking zweihander. At least he thought it counted as a zweihander. But in the Huntsman world of ridiculous overly complex and compensating weaponry, it might have been a hunting knife. With a battle cry, he rushed forward. His heart began to beat once more, pumping the adrenaline spiked blood into his veins. His sword, as though it was sensing the excitement of its wielder, began to throw of sparks from its edge. "Jangles the Moon Monkey, you're a damn coward!" Jaune called out, throwing himself into the first grimm that got in his way, a grunt. His shoulder connected with a earth shaking impact, the poor grunt dissolved into ash and solar infused powder basically on impact in a spontainous flash ignition. Jaune didn't even mean to strike it with any force that was unbound by the laws of physics, but it got his point across. "FIGHT ME!"
A and B glanced at eachother. Well, I suppose you owe me 60 lien.
Damn.
Sun and Sage glanced at eachother as well, a wide grin spreading across their face. The thundering pace of their footsteps almost matched their heartbeats, rushing forward and driving a wegde into the grimm hoard. The three of them collided into the pack of grimm with a thunderous crash. The three of them shoved their way into the pack, creating a space behind them. A space that needed to be filled. The rest of team SSSN filled in behind them, following their leader into battle. Arslan kept her team back in case anything got past the boys frontal assault.
And indeed things did. The grimm crashed like waves against rocks upon the frontal bulwark, those that survived were swept to the side and rushed at the tasty smell of fearful squishy humans. They often were met with Arslan's fist instead, or Bolin's staff. Not to be outdone by his leader of course, he put his all into the slaughter of the grimm.
Not that it held a candle to the carnage Jaune carved. His blade swung through the world like butter, his sheer bloodlust turning anything that stood in the path of the sword into mush. He surged forward, each step going deeper and deeper into the pack. The pack responded in kind, surging forward to meet him. It was like he was a beacon to them, a call to battle that could not be ignored. They climbed and clambered over each other to get to him. Their red eyes meeting his clouded steely blue, they charged and trampled at him, each trying to get the honor of being the first to draw blood from the thing in front of them. Only the Berengal recognized it for what it was. The pack was fresh, full of young grimm. None of them had felt the touch of their mother, or the primordial powers of yore that lurked behind her. One could feel it in her eldest sons, in their very presense.
The berengal, the one that had been named Jangles the Moon Monkey, felt a similar kind of ancient power. It was different, of course. It didn't radiate the same kind of general wish for wanton destruction and progression of entropy.
It radiated a challenge. A dare to reality itself, that it had no right to be what it was. That the Grimm, the rock, the very air around them had to justify its existence to him. While the Grimm loved destruction, and loathed anything that dared to create, the thing in front of them held a hatred that burned. It burned with such a wrathful ferocity it was like looking at the sun. The berengal threw another of it's fellow grimm in the way of the group of huntsman. It was caught by those piercing blue eyes, forced to answer his challenge.
It was felled just as quickly as anything else that Jangles the Moon Monkey dared throw in front of Jaune. He stepped over his most recent slaying, pointing his sword at the Berengal. "ENOUGH! You do not run, Jangles the Moon Monkey! Not this time!" Jaune declaired. Sun gave him a raised eyebrow.
"Really dude, Jangles the Moon Monkey?" he asked, not impressed. "You used to be cool."
Jaune shook his head. "I don't need you insulting my esteemed rival, no matter how cowardly or ridiculous his name is." The ranger chastised as the world rushed around them. The grimm swarmed around them, creating a circular wall between. Team SSSN was pushed back by the dark tide, leaving Jaune alone. Alone to face Jangles the Moon Monkey.
"This is it, huh?" He asked, lifting his blade at the berengal. It only huffed, standing up on it's hind legs and beating its chest with a strong ferocity.
"Let's do this. One last time."
Arslan watched in horror as Jaune charged the pack of grimm, alone. She knew that he was competent, but it wasn't his competency that she feared for. It was hard to look at him and not see the little broken man sitting at the edge of the roof. She could still see it in his eyes sometimes. Sometimes she wondered if everyone else was just blind. Team SSSN rushed forward to support the lone huntsman, while Arslan kept her team back. She knew there were to many grimm, they would just run past them towards the civilians.
Imagine Arslan's confusion when the grimm didn't simply go around the fearless huntsmen, but instead threw themselves into complete death. It was like they were blinded to what normally would have attracted their facies much more than battle trained huntsmen. Of course, some of them slipped by or were pushed to the side, only to throw themselves back into Jaune's piercing gaze. Arslan threw her rope dart, catching one and reeling it in. It thrashed and snarled and snapped as it was dragged away from the target of its ire. The poorly, hastily trained civilians rushed forward and plunged the tips of their blades into its prone body. It howled and screamed as it was skewered. Bolin slapped at another grimm, sending it back into the pack.
"Wild." Dr. Cortez noted the odd behavior. Reece beheaded one with the blade attached to her board.
"Have you seen anything like this, doc?" She asked. While Reece wasn't the best student in Grimm Studies, she knew that this was unusual behaviors for grimm to exhume. Sebastian shook his head.
"No, but you can feel it, can't you?" He asked, the question feeling rather pointed at Arslan. Arslan gave him a rather blank look.
He signed. "Look again, Arslan." With a wave of his hand, he gestured at Jaune. He then shot at the pack, thinning it once more. The spearmen huddled together, unknowingly standing equidistant from each other.
Arslan sighed, closing her eyes and pulsing her aura through her semblance. While she could see everyone around her, it was impossible to recognize them. The entirety of her semblance was being dominated by the mosaic like vapors bathing him and the area around him. Flames of color danced and whispered off him in a blinding dance. A web of hateful, hazy red was painted over his grey yellow aura, latching and feeding off of the nearby grimm. They pulled them towards him, his sheer hatred binding them to his battle. It was so incredibly bright it was hard to look at. Arslan forced her semblance off, left shaking her head clear of spots.
"You can see that?" She asked her teacher. He laughed, popping another grimm into dust.
"No." was the answer. "But I have seen things similar, although much less subtle, before." He admitted. Nicargo was a weird experience.
Arslan was going to ask what happened in Nicargo, but was distracted by a shift in the way that the grimm were acting once more. Jaune was broken off from team SSSN, a surge of grimm like rats exploding out of a hole. "Back up! Back up!" Sun commanded, the team taking leaps backwards towards the safety of the church. Leaving Jaune alone, alone to face the grimm he had called "Jangles the Moon Monkey".
Weird name.
The grimm surged forward, getting for too close for anyones comfort. Reese shot out a plume of flame, burning a vial of dust to turn a swath into ash. Arslan surged forward to meet up with Bolin, providing an effected bulwark for team SSSN to retreat safely into. Arslan ended up side by side with Sun, sweeping at things with the end of his staff.
"You know, on the bright side, the hoard is thinning out!" Sun called out over the cacophonous sound of the cascading grimm.
"You normally have a but following that" Neptune rebuttled. Sun made a wide gesture to the pile of grimm in front them, mostly alive. "Yeah, I guess that counts."
Arslan wasn't really listening, her focus locked on the space ahead of them. There, Jaune was duking it out with the massive gorilla. He dipped under a wide swing, glancing a blow into the Berengals armpit. He had to take the full brunt of the follow up on his shield, something that sent him staggering. Arslan whipped her rope dart around with increased fervor, doing her damned best to carve a path through to get to the ranger. The sky had darkened, the sun choking on the grasp of clouds coming in from the mountains
He dived between the Grimm's legs, Glassvain lacerating across the back of it's knees. Jangles the Moon Monkey howled, twisting to slap at the grey ranger. Jangles connected with a statue made of gravel, sending the small stones buckshot into the distance. It growled, internally cursing this tricky outside thing. It saw it flicker just at the edge of it's view, and lunged at it.
Jaune yelped as he batted Jangles the Moon Monkey aside, Reeds Regret clashing harshly with the bone plated knuckles, deep gouges running through it. The blow sent shock waves up the rangers arm. His spare arm thrust Glassvain into the chest plate of the Berengal. Jangles grabbed it, wrenching it out of Jaune's hands. Jaune's eyes went wide for a moment, before he grabbed another weapon. The Hammer and Chisel screamed in a bloodthirsty chorus, but the rangers hands did not grip their eager handles. He opted for his large sledge hammer instead. I will burn this thing alive. He thought, already pushing the off worldly energy into an unnatural flow, preparing for its rapid expenditure.
He dipped under a wide swing and countered with his own. The Berengal jumped to the side, avoiding the ground shattering impact of the hammer. It did not help it from avoiding the blade of light Jaune pulled into existence. Both the Berengal and the magic blade screamed into the air as it cut against it's face. Jangles leapt back hoping to make space and find a better angle. It was met with a scattered blast of arcane bolts. Growling, pock marks of smoking coming off it, the Berengal landed. Clearly, it could not run from this thing. So it would have to crush it's tiny little head in between it's hands. It lunged forward at Jaune once more, hoping to slam the creature before him.
It's fists were met with a stone wall, erected from the depths of the earth.
Thunder rumbled overhead, the clouds darkening and swirling above the dueling creatures. Red crackles of lightning illuminated the unnatural cloudmass, pulsing with the rangers veins. One could smell the static in the air as Jaune huddled behind his stone structure. The top half of it was ripped off, the basalt slate compound rock crunching under the strong fingers of the gorilla grimm. It looked down at the blonde ranger, a dark grin spreading on it's face.
I got you now. It seemed like it was sneering.
Jaune looked up at it, a wide grin across his face. "You know, Jangles? You never cease to entertain me." He said, thrusting his hands up towards the sky. A ball of red energy shot up from his hands, and the sky responded in kind. A bolt of lightning the color of blood, or cherry cool-aid, shot down towards whatever was unfortunate enough to be below it. It was a particular unfortunate standing for the berengal that it was significantly taller than a crouching blonde human.
There were few things that were as painful in the long history of its life that were as painful as getting struck by lightning. It collapsed backwards , smoke coming off it's body. Jaune stood up from his hidey hole, his own arms burning from the power. He picked up Glassvain, letting out a deep breath. The grimm let out something between a snarl and a wheeze, trying to get up. Jaune stood over it, looking down at his defeated opponent.
"I will see you again, won't I?" he stabbed Jangles the Moon Monkey through the neck, killing him.
It was an anticlimactic death, all things being told. Something that Jaune couldn't help but find himself a little disappointed. He turned to look at the Grimm hoard behind him. Barely held off by a wall of bodies and firepower, a huddled mass of people were tucked into the corner.
The bulwarking force of nine huntsmen and a block of spear wielding peasants was doing surprising well, even with the added effect of a funnel through the hole in the wall preventing any semblance of a flank or outmaneuver. A boartusk charged the civilian spearmen, crashing through their position. The spears worked, impailing the oversized pig, but that didn't stop its momentum. It slammed into one unfortunate soul, slamming him into the ground with the full force of a three hundred pound freight train with a shattering cracking sound. The pained cry and commotion drew Jaune's attention away from the dissolved corspe.
Cracking his knuckles, he tightened his grip on glassvain. Pouring arc energy into the blade, he unlocked it, letting it fall limp into the segmented whip form. Curves and arcs of electricity streaked from it, connecting each segment curve by curve. He shot it forward, letting the empowered lacerations cleave through the grimm. The flung his arm, lashing great swaths of death through the air as he approached. They fell, clouds of grimm ash falling away choked out the sun peaking from the clearing skies.
Between the death of the Horde leader, and the sudden flank breaking them. Some fled, particularly those at the edges of the front. Those less lucky, or less intelligent, were decimated by either blade, bullet, or hard knuckle.
Arslan looked behind her at the people they were protecting. "I… I'm actually stunned." She said, shaking her head.
"Consider me impressed." Dr. Cortez echoed, tipping his hat to his students. "No one died, and it came with minimal casualties." He looked over at jaune, who was shakily sheathing Glassvain. He could see the bulging of his veins, blood pumping through them at such a rate it looked as though they were glowing a magmatic orange. The ranger pushed past them, looking at the brave men that made up the spear phalanx.
"We had casualties? Who?" he asked Dr. Cortez, his voice as hard as iron.
Dr. Cortez shrugged. "Nothing major." He jerked his head to the man who had been tackled. He was being dragged away by his fellows, trying to figure out what was wrong. The ranger moved towards the whimpering man, but was swept up by the sudden explosion of movement from the rest of the community. The huddled masses got quickly to work, doing whatever crisis management work they could. Jaune was swept away in the hustle and recovery from shock. He went around, finding where he could be useful. He set up emergency cots and sleeping bags for those who had found their homes destoryed or uninhabitable first. He moved the stones that had collasped in on the church, using a smidge of earthen magic to either enhance the strength of his own muscles or have the ground reabsorb the rock when no one was paying that much attention. Small taps on crying or overwhelmed children and babes sent soothing and dulling pulses of magic through them, freeing hands and minds of their parents to assist other, more pressing tasks. He could feel the fatigued burning with every tap, every stone, and every step. But these people needed beds. They needed roofs. They needed security.
And yet there was still more to do. There was always more to do. The sun had started to set, and Jaune was just starting to make his way to the cots designated for medical recovery. Several were filled, mostly for scrapes, close calls, concussions and the likes that fell under the category of "minor inconvenience". Only one was of major concern, the towns apothecary was hovering over him.
Jaune stood at the foot of his bed, his shadow casting ominous darkness over the two. "What is the injury?"
The medicinal man shrugged. "Either broken lower spine or where the spine meets the pelvis. He's absolutely broken his tailbone and probably his hip. Nothing some bed rest and good splints can't solve. In a couple of weeks. Or months. Probably months."
Jaune frowned, looking down at the paitent. "I might be able to help." He said, kneeling down on the other side. "What is your name?"
"Daeloth." He grunted, shifting to look at Jaune. That was a mistake, judging by the sharp hiss that came out of his mouth.
"I would suggest not moving just yet, Daeloth." Jaune said, already shaping the mana into a useable form. Gently pressing his hands into his stomach, he started pushing finger like strands of mana, feeling around and getting a good grasp of what the damage was.
Hrmm, this is more complicated than I thought it would be. Jaune grumbled. B nodded.
Damaged lower spine, absolutely fucked left femur, shattered pelvic bone on the left side and several fractures on the right, tailbone is also mostly destroyed plus some organ damage. It should be repairable.
Jaune nodded, taking his hands off. "Daeloth, this may or may not feel rather weird on your end." The ranger started, pulling out a bottle of alcohol. It was his third since the end of the battle, but Arslan wasn't going to know that if he got his way. He took a quick swig before tucking it away. "But it shouldn't be painful." Rolling his neck, he started working the mana again. The fastest way would be to just dissolve and rebuild the damaged sections of bones, and let the squishier bits recover naturally. First step would be to shut off the nervous system in the operational zone, at least temporarily.
Considering his options into that regard, he handed Daeloth his bottle. "Drink." He commanded, and to his credit Daeloth did. Jaune tapped him on the head, altering the affects of the alcohol to be particularly numbing and sense dulling.
Daeloth nor the apothecary noted that the veins on his neck were leaking out a golden glow, or that his eyes were shot with thin swirls of blues and greens.
When Jaune started working on manipulating and twisting the flesh, Daeloth did indeed think it was a strange feeling. The words he would use would be "Weird as shit, mate", but Jaune didn't need to know that. He cut and picked away at the bone, rebinding and sticking them together section by section.
He did not notice a dark and ominous presence behind him, remaining blissfully oblivious of it until it made itself known.
"Ahem." The roughened voice drew his attention. One he knew well, but had never heard such strain in before.
"Ms. Altan." He said, not looking away from his work. "Is the work done yet?"
Arslan crossed her arms. "Our work" She said, putting her emphasis on the first word "is done for the day. I have no intention of letting you work yourself to death. Not today."
"Hrmmm." Jaune hummed, not really paying attention. He refocused his efforts, finishing the reconstruction of the mans pelvis.
Arslan harumphed, tapping her foot. "You're not even listening to me, are you?" She asked, half a growl in her voice.
Jaune shook his head. "Not really, no. I will be able to listen in ten minutes." He answered, moving on to the tricky part. Spines were always tough, and particularly dangerous. He just hoped that he didn't fuck it. Piece by piece he went, carefully plotting and planning it out.
"You're ten minutes are up." Arslan said. Jaune shook his head.
"I'm not done yet." He said, clenching his jaw. He could hear her growl.
"Jaune-" She started, but was quickly cut off.
"I am almost done, Arslan. Just-just have patience." Arslan relented at that, opting to be silent until Jaune finished. When he got up, already looking around for the next task that needed doing, Arslan grabbed him by his armor plate.
"No, no. Absolutely not." She commanded, pushing him so that they were looking eye to eye. "I know exactly what you are thinking. No."
Jaune swallowed, shaking his head. "But-"
"Jaune. I can literally, Literally, see your veins glowing like Reese's fancy keyboard right now." Arslan said, turning on her heel and dragging Jaune by the front of his chestplate. "I don't know what bullshit your semblance does to your bloodstream, but I know exhaustion when I see it." They arrived to another cot, one of the nicer ones that had either been overlooked or, more likely, been reserved by someone and quite possibly kicked out.
"This man is sleeping here for the night." Arslan said to the woman that was doing her best to administer the beds. She nodded, but Arslan had more to say. "He does not get up, he does not help, he does not tap people on the head and calm them down. No matter what or how much he says, he does not leave this bed. He is getting a good, quiet, peaceful night's sleep." Arslan said, turning to Jaune. "You are not going to argue or fight. You are going to sleep, understand?" she said, pointing a finger at him.
Jaune raised an eyebrow, but nodded. It's not worth arguing. Worst case, I just sneak out later on and make sure everything is going to be ok. He thought to himself as he was eased onto the cot, a blanket thrown over him.
A gave a couple of deep, calming breaths. Did anyone else find that really hot?
Jaune shook his head. Nope! Going to sleep! He denied, closing his eyes and, for the first time in what felt like a century, let his muscles relax.