27
"You've been moody." Raven glared at Jaune, "More than usual, Raven. What's wrong?"
They found themselves tucked away in a motel in one of the seedier parts of Vale and though they were sharing a room, it had two beds. It wasn't dissimilar to the days in which they had spent at Beacon, and both had been on relatively good behaviour. It wasn't like they were hormonal teenagers prone to accidents. The place was dingy with a weird smell to the room that someone had desperately tried to cover up with industrial cleaner.
Over the last few weeks they had spent in the city Raven had grown increasingly restless. It had started off harmlessly enough, with her inviting him to spar with her at some of the local gyms that catered to full time huntsmen and huntresses. It became apparent, however, that it wasn't enough and her growing temper had been affecting him, too. She stopped caring for the dust blade of her weapon, though they were fairly brittle, they still needed care and periodic maintenance. Omen's revolving sheath lay disassembled on the bed next to her.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She steadfastly looked away from him with a scowl. One of the things that he had learned spending so much time in close proximity to her was that she wore her emotions on her sleeve. It had surprised him, initially, to find that she was a rather passionate woman, though the usual emotions she expressed were anger and contempt. Something was eating away at her and she was a bad liar. Honestly, it mostly reminded him of Yang and he could easily see how much she took after her mother.
"We both know that's bullshit, Raven." Even he had grown tired of waiting. Though Ruby had asked him to lay low for a little while, he found himself feeling almost claustrophobic. The last time he'd been out and doing something, he had run into Pyrrha and Ruby.
I need to get used to calling her Carmine.
They had spent a while talking and even exchanging scroll messages ever since their reunion. It sounded like Blake was driving her up the wall, though she tended to transfer that back to him, constantly asking him to train with JNPR.
As it was he was reduced to either maintaining Crocea Mors or training; it was incredibly dull. Which is how he found himself sticking his nose into RAven's business.
"What's there to tell?" Raven grunted, "I hate the city, there's a reason I was living in the ass end of Anima."
"I thought that was because you were a criminal."
"I chose that life!" She protested, "Out in the wilds it's the survival of the strongest, I like it better than here being surrounded by weaklings."
"You don't have to be here. If you don't like it, you can fuck off like you did at Haven." Jaune spat back at her and she visibly flinched back.
It was a low blow, he knew, but he still held some vitriol for the woman. She had abandoned his friend and even tried to get them all killed to save herself. Jaune fully believed she was a coward as well as a narcissist.
"You know I can't do that."
"Really?" He asked, "You could portal back to the tribe now. I'm here where I want to be and I don't think anyone would care all that much if you disappeared again."
"Oh fuck off!" Raven and stalked up to him, "Get off your high horse, Arc. We both know that if it wasn't for me, you'd be wallowing in self pity in a ditch somewhere. So you can take your platitudes and shove them up your ass before I do it for you."
He stood, rising above her and glaring at her as much as she did him, "Then what do you want? There has to be a reason you're still here."
"I told you, I don't have a choice!"
"We both know that isn't true!" He poked her in the collarbone, "You're here because you want something and you just can't fucking admit it."
"Did you forget that I'm the fucking Fall Maiden? Salem will come for me no matter what, even if we've used the questions. My best chance at survival is here, as much as I fucking hate it."
"If it was just about survival you could hide out in Anima for the rest of your life and likely not be found if you didn't want to be." Jaune shook his head, staring her down, "It's about more than that, Raven. What made you stick around? Why are you still here?"
"Fuck, I don't have to answer to you." She stormed off making sure to push him aside with her shoulder, leaving Omen in pieces on her bed.
The door slammed shut, shaking the walls and causing him to wince a little. That had not gone very well, but she had been pushing his buttons for at least a week. Maybe they really had been cooped up together for too long, they were liable to go for each other's throat. Jaune needed something to do and it was with an internal groan that he realized he really only had one option.
Raven would return in an hour or two, she wouldn't leave Omen in pieces, especially not on the penultimate night of the dance. Though they weren't attending they did have a job to do that night. Or rather he did.
Lessons were over for the day when he arrived in Beacon and the temperature was falling rapidly as the evening set it. He found himself walking the familiar halls of Beacon. Ozpin had nominally given him free reign, at least the ability to come and go like his protege, Qrow. Jaune hadn't seen fit to really exercise it, only coming to get himself looked at thanks the prodding of Raven of all people.
Despite not really being in Beacon for a decade, he still knew the way through the well lit hallways. The powerful memories of the time spent there, still vivid and leading him to the door to team JNPR's dorm room. He could hear the muffled music from the other side, Nora blasting her music as she did her schoolwork. Ren was probably busy trying, and failing, to get her to wear headphones while Pyrrha was too polite to insist. And himself…. He was most likely focused on his own work and thought that Ren had it under control.
He found a faint, nostalgic smile on his face. Jaune gave a sharp rap of his knuckles on the wood, loud enough to be heard. Within a moment the music was turned off and he could hear the hushed whispers before the door opened to Pyrrha, he smile polite. They must have thought someone was calling on them to complain about the noise. Instead her eyes opened wide in surprise.
"Oh!" She brought her hand to her mouth, "Mister Jack, wasn't it? What brings you to our dorm so late?"
"Pyrrha? Who is it?" Her partner stuck his head over Pyrrha's shoulder. Jaune blinked as he came face to face with his younger self. This wasn't the first time meeting him, but it was the first time they had paid attention to one another.
"Jaune, you remember Professor Rose's friend from the other day?"
The younger blonde blinked back at him, looking confused but not because he didn't recognise him, "Yeah…. You look like my dad."
Jaune stood there unsure of what to do, face with his younger self turning a curious shade of red.
"Ah… I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"
"It's okay." He rushed to shush the poor teenager. Secretly he wanted to curl up and be swallowed by a pit right there, "You're Jaune Arc, right?"
"Huh? Yeah, how'd you know?"
"Miss Nikos told me…"
"Oh, right. Of course." Jaune wanted nothing more than to cringe at himself.
"And to answer your unspoken question, I probably look like your father because I'm an Arc."
The young Jaune sucked in a deep breath, eyes widening, "What?! So are you like my uncle or something?!"
Jaune simply shrugged, "I don't know." He could tell it was an unsatisfying answer by the way his younger self's face wilted, "I don't have any brothers, that's for sure. We're probably related but I'm not sure how closely. But I didn't stop by for that, I was wondering if I could borrow Miss Nikos for a little bit."
"Why?" Nora's head popped in above her teammate's, "You're not planning on seducing her are you?! You can't have her!"
"Nora!" Ren chastised from inside the dorm.
"But Reeeen!" She wailed, "He's handsome! And blonde! What if he steals Pyrrha's heart!"
The girl in question was turning more crimson with each passing second ao ahw stepped forward, pulling her partner with her and shutting the door on Nora, "What did you want to talk about?"
He had to bite his knuckle to keep from laughing but there was no hiding the smile on his face that seemed to make Pyrrha flush even more.
"Do you want me to. Uh…" Young Jaune gestured back to the dorm, "Shut her up or something?"
"I think you're fine." Jaune answered for Pyrrha, eyeing her while he did so, "I came because of something R-Carmine suggested. She said that since we use similar weapons I can give you both tips and help you improve."
"Both of us?" Young Jaune looked to his partner who was only just recovering from her mortification.
"Well, yes, you're both students who use a combo of sword and shield are you not?" Jaune folded his arms with an arched eyebrow, "Unless you think one of you doesn't need training?"
"We'd love to!" Pyrrha interrupted, "That sounds like a grand idea…. Mr. Arc?"
Jaune grimaced, "Just call me Jack."
"Yes, sir." Jaune's eye twitched.
"Anyways," He soldiered on, "I figured I could start with some one on one training with Pyrrha and then Jaune can come by in a half hour and I'll give him some training. After that I can focus on the both of you."
"What? Why can't I come right now?!" Young Jaune objected, causing the older man to roll his blue eyes.
"Because you probably still have some work to finish, don't you?"
The younger blonde raised a finger and then let it slowly fall before nodding sullenly, walking back into the dorm. Jaune turned to Pyrrha who was suddenly left alone with him.
"If you'll excuse me, I need to grab my equipment. Where are we going to train?" She asked.
"We probably shouldn't use the arenas. Rooftops will be secret enough for us. Meet me up there."
Pyrrha's emerald eyes regarded him coolly, like she had a question that she was burning to ask. It didn't take long for her to get into her combat gear, not accounted for being accosted by Nora, and soon the two found themselves atop a familiar rooftop. It brought back a lot of fond memories for him as he looked around the large, flat space that only had some kind of large air conditioning unit to give them company. It hummed quietly as Pyrrha walked up to him.
"How do you know this spot?" She asked, cocking her head at him.
"You think you're the only one who trains in places like these?"
Pyrrha narrowed her eyes at Jack, how did he know we came up here to train?
Their first meeting had brought questions and their second only brought more. Even still she kept drawing parallels that didn't make sense. He was blonde, related to Jaune somehow, was friends with a Rose, called her craterface like Jaune did and apparently had a sword and shield. She took a few steps back as he motioned her to give him space.
"Shall we get started?" He asked, drawing his sword from its sheath and unfolding the sheath into a shield. Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw the double crescents of the Arc family crest, a stark yellow on white. His heater shield looked different from Jaune's, however. With gilding across the edges that matched the crossguard of the weapon.
Who are you, really? She wondered.
She saw him freeze, "What did you just say?"
Had she asked that out loud? Instead of apologizing like she usually would, she squared her shoulders and stood taller, "Who are you really? Ever since you showed up things have not made much sense."
Jack, if that was even his name, looked around, "What reason would I have to lie to a couple of teenagers?"
He wasn't denying it, in fact she doubted he had outright lied to her in any of their interactions. It was still deception, but why would he care about a student like her? It was a good question and she couldn't find a good answer for it.
"I don't know why, but I do know that you don't make sense."
"Oh?" He shifted his weight to one leg, "And how is that?"
"When we first met, you called Professor Rose 'Craterface' That's Jaune's nickname for Ruby." She saw him wince, "If that was not odd enough, you, and Arc, had the same nickname for her, a Rose. If anything you look more like Jaune's older brother than…a… relative…"
He cocked his head, "Is something wrong?"
Older brother, just like Professor Rose was the older sister of Ruby and Yang. Yet when she looked at them it was obvious that Carmine was nearly identical to Ruby. A sibling who looked like an adult version of the younger one. Yet Yang and Ruby insisted she was their sister, so were they lying too?
Miló came up to point at him, "What is your relationship with my partner?"
Jack sighed and shook his head, "You wouldn't believe me, even if I told you."
"Try me."
There was a long stretch of silence and she didn't dare lower her weapon. As it was, her hackles were raised, even if every cell screamed that she could trust the man. He was hiding something from her, from them, and she needed to know what it was because it concerned her partner.
"How about a wager?" He asked, cocking his head at her, "I'll answer your questions, truthfully, if you can bring my aura down to half in a spar."
Pyrrha stood and watched him carefully. She knew she was well trained and try as she might to be humble, she knew she was more skilled than most students in her years and possibly above. It wasn't by chance that she was sitting at the top of the practical scores. But this was different, in all of her years spent fighting in the tournament circuit, she could read an opponent fairly well. In all of the observations she had made of Jack, she could easily tell he held himself like a coiled spring. He walked with the confidence of an apex predator, someone who was not only in their prime, but knew they were in the top percentile of skilled fighters.
It made her wary, and questioned whether or not she could take his aura down that far before being taken down herself. She knew nothing of his combat style, though it was safe to be able to assume it was similar to Jaune's, as much as he hadn't yet developed one yet.
She had to try.
No step forward could be taken without the risk of tripping and similarly no fight could be won without risk.
"If that's the only way to get you to tell me, then I accept."
A smile spread across his face, lopsided and painfully familiar to her, "Alright Pyrrha, whenever you're ready."
She raised her shield as she started circling to the side and, predictably, he circled the opposite direction. It looked like he was relaxed, holding his sword in a loose grip. He had left himself wide open as he moved but she wasn't foolish enough to believe it was an accident. This man was a huntsman and a Beacon alum, there was no way he was unskilled.
It grew obvious that he wasn't going to make the first move, leaving it up to her to set the pace of the encounter. She decided to probe his defenses. A quick hop forward, and her sword extended into spear mode to stab in the blink of an eye. Jack deftly avoided the tip by a mere inch, not even blinking at the blade sailing past his eye.
As quick as lightning he rushed into close range as he followed the haft of her spear inwards. She was ready for that, letting go of her weapon and using her palm to deflect his blade away from herself and snapping Ú's edge into his face. It was deflected as his own shield came up and he continued bodily charging into her. Pyrrha kicked off of his shield and summoned her weapon back to her hand, swapping it back into its shortsword form.
Spinning in midair, she threw her shield like a discus. It whizzed at a great speed, enhanced by her semblance to impact against Jack's shield and bounce away as he batted it away. It gave her enough breathing room to land a dozen feet away with Miló rapidly changing into a rifle to snap out a few shots as her shield floated back to her.
The huntsman leaned to the side, letting the first shot pass him by before deflecting the second and third while rushing her. She probably could conclude he either didn't have a ranged option or was determined not to use it. The blade came flashing like a silver meteorite for her neck and she deflected it with her semblance but was caught off guard as his fist caught her cheek. It sent her stumbling back, even if her aura protected her from physical harm. She was confused for a moment before she heard the clattering of metal and saw that he had let go of his weapon as a feint to punch her.
He had known her semblance.
She stood there as she watched him walk over and retrieve the blade before he turned back to her, "Do you still want to do this?"
Pyrrha's eyes narrowed and she didn't bother dignifying it with a response. Miló shifted back into spear form and she charged him, determined to accomplish her goal. Now she had a better understanding of his capabilities.
Now it would all come down to risk.
Jack deflected her spear with his shield and she bounced her own down onto the ground behind him where it ricocheted unnaturally, catching him in the back of the knee. As he went down on one knee she spun her spear around her back, firing it and causing it to jump forward and past his defenses. Pyrrha was rewarded with the satisfying feeling of her speartip meeting his body, only not piercing him because of aura.
Something flashed purple and she felt herself get picked up and thrown away from him, she rolled back onto her feet in time to see the glow fading from his shield.
Dust imbued in his shield? Gravity, I think. Maybe other types as well.
She would have to keep that in mind. Pyrrha caught Akoúo again, immediately throwing it again and using her semblance to curve it around the left as she darted right. Both reached him at the same time, the huntsman ducking underneath the flying shield and leaving her free to catch it. His shield was up, his defense impeccable, but that meant nothing in the face of her semblance. She reached out with her polarity, gripping the shield and wrenching it aside viciously. Cocked behind it was his blade which came lancing out as she did so, scoring a nasty hit on her aura but not before she returned the blow with three quick ones of her own.
Blue eyes widened as he caught onto what she was doing but was helpless against the suicidal tactic. Pyrrh brought her knees up into his face, knocking his head back before she saw a bright white glow around his head. She prepared for whatever semblance he had but wasn't prepared for him to headbutt her knee back. And she definitely wasn't prepared for it to hurt. It felt like she had taken Cardin's mace to her kneecap and it instantly sent shivers of pain down her calf.
Stumbling back she had to scramble to try and avoid his rising thrust but was only barely able to twist out of the way. She saw her opening and used her semblance to propel her metal booted foot into his ribs. He grimaced as it dug into his aura. The pommel of his blade struck out and connected with her temple, causing her to see stars and fall onto the ground. Without even thinking, she rolled over, narrowly avoiding the followup strike that slammed down into the place where she had been a moment ago.
Pyrrha used her semblance to hold his sword to the rooftop as she sprung to her feet, leaping up and stabbing out with her own blade to score a hit across his cheek even as his fist connected with her stomach, folding her over his arm. However she didn't let that stop her, firing Miló and causing it to stab deep into his abdomen, surely removing a good chunk of his aura in the process. Jack tossed her away and spun around, throwing his shield at her. She attempted to twist in midair but the corner of it still caught her in the center of her back, causing her aura to flare in response.
Skidding to a halt on the rooftop, the shield returned to its owner with a purple glow. The pose looked familiar, she'd seen it hundreds of times while reviewing footage of herself and he aped it perfectly. As she struggled back to her feet, weapons at the ready he held out his hand for her to stop.
"Any further would be dangerous, Pyrrja. Your aura is dangerously low." With a quick check it revealed that her aura was at a mere eight percent. Shockingly low and in a sanctioned fight it would have been called quite a while ago. She was panting with the exertion and concentration, leveling her gaze upon the huntsman.
"And what about your aura?" She asked as she struggled to get her breathing under control.
Jack removed his scroll and opened it before chuckling, shaking his head, and turning it to face her to show the results that displayed on the screen. There the yellow bar that represented his aura around the halfway mark and as her eyes drifted over to read the percentile on the display her eyes widened.
Forty-seven percent.
A/N: I tried uploading this yesterday but ran into issue, it seems FF was down or something so sorry for the late post.