Pre-Note: Sniff, I'm so happy, a porn-bot is following my tumblr. There must be a medal or milestone for that.
#######
"Turn the alarm off." Yang groaned, having finally gotten a lick of sleep after a dozen of nightmares. Burying her face into the pillow when a ray of light tickled her eyes. 'Wait. I sleep in the top bunk.'
Tearing her face from the comfortable clutches of her pillow, she frowned at the life around her. Jaune was by the kitchen with Violet piggybacking on him as he warmed tea in a pot. Ren was going trough his morning routine, doing some yoga. Everyone else were hidden under the covers. Pyrrha poking her hand out from her cocoon, a grey metallic aura flickering in and out of life around the alarm clock.
"Oh yeah, that's right, we bunked over." Yang mumbled through a yawn, burring her face into her pillow as memories of yesterday flashed trough her mind. From the train, fighting the cocky little shit who kicked her ass, the blur that came after, before crashing in JNPR's room, watching a movie, and bunking.
A groan rumbled trough her as she knew she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. Not with yesterdays clusterfuck seared into her mind. Scratching her butt, she fought back another yawn before groaning and getting out of bed. Any enjoyment and want to spend five more minutes under the cover thrown to the side. Standing up and stretching, she momentarily forgot she wasn't back in their dorm room, and that she slept in only her panties until Violet called out "Indecent!" with a huff.
"What? Never seen a pair as good as these before?" Yang teased unashamedly. Smirk breaking when another yawn escaped her. Jaune and Ren only throwing her puppies two curious glances before going back to what they were doing. "Hey now, nothing? Not a blush, a stammer, sneaky glances, nothing?" Yang teased, more curious than hurt or affronted.
"I grew up with seven sisters." Jaune replied, giving her the flattest stare possible. "I threw a tantrum, or at least cried, when I didn't get my period. Not knowing it was physically impossible for me to do so."
Snorting, Yang had to fight not to break out in laughter. She could see it clear as day. Little baby Jaune in his onesie crying to his parents.
"So excuse me. While you have a… bountiful chest, Yang. I don't want to say desensitised, but I have grown more than used to seeing boobs than to freak out. Not to mention this is more accidental than sexy or seductive. You look like shit." Jaune finished, pouring the tea into some cups. Not even sneaking a glance.
Turning to Ren, the man in question only nodded sagely. "Nora."
"You know what, fair." Yang nodded in acceptance. Nora was already a wildcard who lived at two hundred percent. She coulndt even begin to imagine how she was when younger. Looking around for something to cover up in, she shrugged before throwing on one of Jaune's older shirts. Quick to notice how tight it sat around her shoulders. Making her wonder for half a second if she should just go tits free.
"So what are you making?" She asked, striking up some idle conversation. Jaune and Ren might enjoy working in silence, but she hated it. While she wasn't exactly a gossip, she enjoyed conversation. That it kept her mind occupied just an added bonus. "Where is little miss adult for that matter? Aurora never seems to leave your side." She asked, leaning on the counter, curiously looking as Jaune cut up herbs and grinded them before adding them to a water flask.
A dour mood fell over Jaune and Violet the second the words left her lips. Even Ren seemed more stoic than usual. His face blank of emotion. Making her wonder if she had asked something stupid.
"She… isn't with us anymore." Jaune whispered softly, letting Violet slide down his back before quickly demanding to be lifted up. Burying her face into the crock of his neck.
He must have noticed her confusion, because Jaune sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Something gold glittering in the light but before she could ask Jaune continued. "She was… terminal when I materialized her. She had a week at best, and we tried giving her a nice a time as possible. But…"
"Yesterday made everything worse." Yang finished. Yesterday's guilt coming rushing back full force. No one had gone around assigning blame. But that didn't stop her from beating herself up about it. If she hadn't lost, if the cocky little shit hadn't been able to free Roman from Blake's hold, then things wouldn't have spiralled so out of control. 'Even if there really weren't any control of the situation to begin with.' She cringed.
It had been a clusterfuck of hastily shouted orders, emotions and panic running wild. Blood. The gloves had been off. She didn't know what she had been doing half of the time, just throwing punches, trying to get to Ruby before she got held up and knocked out.
"Yes. She passed away last night. Peacefully." Jaune finished. Violet digging her face even deeper into the crock of his neck.
Yang nodded absentmindedly. Her heart acing more for Jaune and everyone in Team JNPR than for Aurora. Even if she felt like a piece of shit for it. Truth of the matter was that she hadn't gotten to know the girl in the slightest, and any attempts she made were shot down. It didn't stop her mind from adding another part onto the self-loathing pile, and she knew both Ruby and Violet would take it hard. But there was no love lost between her and Aurora. No matter how uncaring it sounded in her mind.
"My condolences." Yang said. She might not have been close to the girl, but she didn't hate her. She had died too young, and what should have been one last week of playing and picking of her bucket list had been cut short by the forces that be.
"Thank you." Jaune smiled softly. Looking up at her with a frail and jagged smile.
"So what happened to the blue onesie?" Yang asked, partly to switch the topic, and partly because Jaune was dressed in grey sweatpants and a blue exercise hoodie. So was Violet for that matter, also dressed in training clothes "Don't tell me you thew it away. You looked good in it. It really makes your eyes pop."
"If you had gotten up five minutes earlier, you would have seen me in it." He shrugged nonchalantly. Even if Yang was quick to notice how his shoulders fell slightly, the tightening around his eyes easing. Mentally clapping herself on the shoulder for her quick thinking. Before his words caught up with her and she threw her eyes at the closest clock. Which read five fifty am.
"Wait what? You wake up at quarter to six?" Yang exclaimed.
"Quiet down, we are trying to sleep here." Weiss grumbled from her bed. Only for the alarm to blare a second after. Both Pyrrha and Nora groaning before getting out of bed like two stumbling zombies. Nora making a beeline for the utility room before changing into her training gear, Pyrrha doing the same in the bathroom.
"Morning." Pyrrha mussed drowsily before collapsing down into one of the kitchen chairs. Looking half a second from falling asleep sitting.
"Where's little miss grumpy?" Nora asked, washing her face in the sink while Weiss was quick to claim to bathroom.
"Gone." Jaune replied tiredly. Much to Yang's surprise, Nora only nodded. "Ah, so it finally happened, huh." Nora sighed heavily, sounding almost relieved.
"Wait. You all knew she was terminal? Why didn't you tell us anything?" Yang asked, feeling as if she was missing something.
"Yang. She lacked most of her lower intestines when she appeared. It's a miracle she lasted as long as she did." Nora replied evenly, cutting of what Jaune was going to say. Something soft flashing over her eyes. "And even if Jaune's semblance or some other mumbo jumbo managed to fix it, she already had a foot in the grave. I rather her pass away peacefully than continue to waste away."
"Be that as it may, you could at least have informed us." Weiss chimed in, having gotten out of bed when she wasn't looking. "I understand the wish to keep it private, but you could at least have informed us that she wasn't well."
"And are you saying you wouldn't treat her any different?" Jaune shot back, slowly letting Violet down. Yang's eye idly trailing towards the necklace wrapped around his left hand. Eyebrows darting up into her hair before her eyes softened, something soft warming in her chest. It was the same pendant she had seen Aurora finger with when she thought no one was looking. There had always been a hesitancy, a guilt, in Aurora's eyes when she looked at the pendant.
Yang had never quite gotten the significance of the pendant; it looked just like any golden pendant to her. Maybe a bit worn, but it didn't look special. But it had been special to Aurora, and that made it significant. Seeing Jaune carrying her pendant as if mourning hammered the nail home. With how caring Jaune was, she didn't doubt for a second that he would have 'materialized' her again if she could. Not to mention Yang would bet her favourite boob on that Aurora would claw his face of before she gave Jaune the golden pendant.
'She really is gone, huh.' She realised. Not knowing how to feel. Replying absentmindedly as Weiss started berating her for hawing her butt on display.
It was only when Jaune clapped, getting everyone's attention, that Yang snaped back to reality.
"Yang, get dressed. Ruby, Blake, Weiss, here are some pre-workout smoothies." Jaune said in that no-nonsense tone of his. Looking around, Yang saw the whole of Team JNPR dressed in workout clothes. Pyrrha still looked as if she could fall asleep while leaning on the wall, but she was dressed in rust-coloured sweatpants and a baggy hoodie.
"Wait, what?" Yang asked, looking around in surprise. Ruby had the gall to send her a cheeky smile, yet the dark bags under her eyes stood out. Silver eyes trailed over to Jaune, not finding those blue eyes that peeked out behind him.
"Well, you slept in our dorm, ate our food, used our showers, so joining us in our morning workout isn't that much of an ask." Jaune shrugged. "Some physical activity would do you some good, I think. Giving you something else to focus on, let the festering feelings from yesterday be pushed to the back of your mind."
"So we are heading to the gym?" Ruby asked innocently. Licking away her smoothie-moustache, already having one foot outside the door. An eagerness to get out, to move, to do something in her eyes.
"Nope." Jaune replied cheerily. Something that sent shivers racing down Yang's spine. Out of all in their little group, it was Jaune who had the most obvious and largest change since enrolling. It was hard to compare the happy, naive, and cheerful boy that looked so out of place with the stern man before her.
It wasn't just muscle Jaune had put on. He stood straight, jaw sharp and eyes piercing. While he smiled, and there was no doubt that they were still the same kind person. Yang coulndt help but wonder what made someone change so much so rapidly.
"It was my turn to choose what we did last Wednesday. And I chose the gym." Nora pipped in, fighting back a yawn as she stretched.
"And it's my turn today." Jaune finished just in time for Yang to pull one of Jaune's hoodies on. The man in question only giving her a raised eyebrow before shrugging. But if they were going to be dragged out into early morning training without the chance to properly get dressed. Then they had no reason to whine if she borrowed some clothes now.
"For today, I think some rounds around the university would do well for a warmup." Jaune said before ushering them out of the dorm before locking the door after them. "Here. If you want your spar after." He continued in a lower voice, pushing Ember Celica into her hands.
Nodding absentmindedly, she equipped her trusty weapons as they walked. Her team gave her some looks, but none of their stares were judgmental or even questioning. Even Blake who had a bad habit of being quick to judge had kind eyes. Making Yang think that maybe yesterday's clusterfuck was just what their team needed to get their asses in gear and begin to really trust each other. It sucked that it had to be that way, but maybe they could place that chapter behind them.
It didn't take long before they stepped out into sour winds and a cold autumn morning.
"Jaune, I want you to know that I hate you." Yang grumbled, pulling her borrowed sweater tighter as a sour wind sent shivers racing down her spine. The fun and weird experience of walking around the deserted campus quickly forgotten by the uncaring weather. The sky was grey with dark clouds as far as the eye could see. Sharp winds blew, cutting through her clothes and sending shivers racing down her spine.
"Come on, it's not that bad sis." Ruby pipped optimistically. Acting as if Yang coulndt hear her teeth clattering. "At least it's not raining."
As if on que, lightning cracked the sky, thunder boomed. A light layer of rain fell from the sky. It looked like the sky was mourning with the people of Vale.
"Just had to go and tempt fate, huh." Weiss grumbled, the only thing stopping her from marching back in was Team JNPR already having begun moving out into the bad weather. Even Violet wasn't an exception. The little girl's face carved from stone as she walked with determined steps.
"I usually use the fountain as a marker on my runs. But try at least one or two arounds around the school. It can be exhausting, but physical staying power is something everyone needs no matter how you fight." Jaune explained, before turning to her. "When you are done, stop by the cliffside. Where the initiation launchers are."
Then he was gone, quickly catching up with his team. Some quick words were exchanged with Violet. Before Jaune eventually nodded and picked up the pace on his own, leaving Violet behind as she was slowly left behind. Only Pyrrha jogging beside her, the redhead ignoring the pout Violet sent her way.
"What was that about?" Weiss asked as they threw themselves into a light jog.
"Get your mind out from the gutter." Yang teased, feeling her blood pumping. "Just Jaune keeping up a promise from yesterday."
Slowing down, she sent her team a little wave as they continued. Unfortunately her big sister instincts were blaring. She could kind of see what angle he was going for, not wanting to come in the way of her 'independence'. But Violet was nine, grieving, and needed someone to look after her, no matter how much she wanted to be alone.
"You *huff* are going to *huff* die." Violet panted easily between breathes. Keeping up a light pace. Sharing a quick glance with Pyrrha, Yang was quick to notice that when Jaune meant warm up, he meant warm up. There was no way Violet could make it around the academy once without collapsing. She was getting better at record pace, but she just wasn't there yet.
"Aren't you a ray of sunshine?" Yang quipped, ribbing Violet lightly as to take her mind of her grief. Her little tactic working wonders as Violet glared up at her. Reaching to her back where motes of silver gathered only to quickly dissipate. Shotting a petulant look forward. Making it clear as Jaune had interfered somehow.
Yang had long since given up on trying to figure out how Jaune's semblance worked. Instead just choosing to take it at face value that Violet apparently cold materialize her weapons, while Jaune could interfere in her manifestations.
"Did you get a new weapon, Violet?" Pyrrha asked from the side, with how it rained Yang wasn't sure if the light sheen of water was sweat or just water. Not that she really could see herself caring much, now wasn't the time for competition. 'Really, what were you thinking Jaune?'
"Mhhhmh." Violet nodded, a proudness in her eye's that was quickly followed by melancholy and grief. "It's the weapon my sister chose… she never got to use it, but I carry a piece of her with me."
"I'm sure your sister is proud of you." Pyrrha chimed, Violet puffing up her chest. Kicking a rock and almost eating the curb before her eyes shone a ghastly blue. Her foot shoot forward, planting itself before her, slinking away from Yang's grab and launching herself forward. With quick steps, Violet bled off the excess speed. The glow in her eyes puttering out as she breathed easily.
"Congrats. Looks like someone awakened their semblance." Yang chimed, giving Violet a congratulatory pat on the back. Yang's smile only shining brighter when Violet puffed up her cheeks and shoed her hand away.
Try as she might, Violet coulndt hide how her cheeks turned rosy. And it wasn't because of the wind or rain.
"So what can you do?" Yang asked, sharing a quick glance with Pyrrha. Both coming to a unanimous decision to try and keep Violet from getting hung up on her grief. She could play the little lady all she wanted, tying to act mature and ignore the feelings in her chest. But Yang knew when she saw an impending tantrum.
Turning around the bend, Violet never answered. Instead breaking out into a sprint. Jaune already waiting with his arms out by the cliffside. Catching Violet in his arms while she threw herself at him. All the grief, melancholy, tears, and anger washed away in an instant.
"That's not good." Yang whispered to herself, frowning slightly at Violet. She was already extremely attached to Jaune. With her sister gone, it seemed like her attachment had only grown stronger. 'The grief wasn't as much because of Aurora being gone, even if there undoubtedly was some of that mixed in. But it was because she regretted being separated from Jaune. That's not healthy.'
There was a line between my dad is my hero, and I will have a mental breakdown if my dad isn't close. Thankfully Jaune seemed aware of it, if the sigh that escaped him was anything to go by.
"Couldn't have been more cryptic if you tried there Vomit Boy. What's next, asking Ruby to read comics trough smoke signals? Or do we need to read the clouds next time we are hanging out?" Yang joked, lightening the mood. Looking around with a raised eyebrow. "So where are we gonna fight? The cliffside doesn't seem like the safest of locations."
"I already know a place." Jaune said, standing up with Violet still clung around him. Refusing to let go of the hug. Fishing out an orange flare, he stepped to the cliffside. Lighting it with a snap of his fingers before gently throwing it down the cliffside. Orange smoke rising as the flare bounced against the stone side before landing somewhere. "There should be a clearing down there. Should be good enough. First one down?"
Yang had already thrown herself over the cliffside before Jaune could finish. Already looking forward to it. 'It would be just like being back home.' Yang thought with a smile.
Signal didn't have the same arena as Beacon. Far from it, the arena was outside and made up of nothing but some wooden pillars to symbolise the edges. The rest was a mix of mud, sand, dust, and what the weather dictated. It wasn't the best of arenas, lovingly called 'The Pit' by both staff and students. But it was great at whipping them into shape. After all, you wouldn't be fighting grimm in a pristine arena. No, you fought grimm outside, be it on a plain, an island, in a swamp, or in a forest. Having good weather was a luxury, learning to fight in mud or on uneven ground a must.
There was a reason she and Ruby didn't wear heals. And it wasn't all because of dislike for the footwear.
Doing a flip trough the air, she saw Pyrrha racing past her. Grabbing into the sides of the cliff to launch her further down. Not one to be outdone, she fired Ember Celicia, lancing herself further down. Turning it into a race of chicken.
Lilac eyes met emerald green as she grinned. Firing two more shots, Yang raced ahead. Grin widening as she was first, before controlled panic set in. Firing two shots under her to dampen her fall, she launcher herself like a rocket horizontally. Turning in the air and landing on a tree. Aura flaring, taking the force of her as she launcher herself back into the clearing. Tsking when she saw Pyrrha already three.
"Wha – How?" Yang exclaimed, she had been in the lead, she should have won their little game. Pyrrha only smiled sweetly at her. "Secret~" She chimed with a grin. Only to look up and throw herself to the side. Jaune impacting the ground like a missile a split second later. Kicking up a cloud of dust and burring himself up to his knees in the dirt.
Tearing his feet out, he sat down a wildly grinning Violet and turned to her. A hand on the hilt of his sword, something flashing in her eyes as he looked her over.
Fire ran trough her veins as Yang reloaded her gauntlets. A grin splitting her lips. The spar might have been sprung on her, leaving her with no ammo, but she didn't mind.
Jaune softly ushered Violet over to Pyrrha by the side, turning to give her a hard glare as he stretched. "Yang, before we begin. If you're thinking about using this spar as some form of self- flagellation for 'penance' because of yesterday or something stupid like that, I'm out. I want no part of it."
"Oi! That's uncalled for." Yang spat, feeling called out. Anger racing trough her. Filling her stomach as she felt some locks catch fire.
"But not wrong, apparently." Jaune had the gall to say. Resting his hand on the pommel of his sword. A flat glare staring her down. Daring her to do something stupid. "We all fucked up, there is a thousand things we could have done better in hindsight. But no. I won't allow you to use me like that."
Yesterdays clusterfuck flashed in her mind. Her stomach of angry fire boiling over, lava burned in her veins. Yang hadn't asked Jaune to spar with him to be beaten up, even if there were some kernels of truth in his words. She had gotten him to spar because he was like her.
Jaune was an angry man. He hid it well, but there was always fire lingering in the back of his eyes. Sometimes it slipped through, their last match coming to mind. He felt like a walking mirror image of her, their fighting styles less technique and more instinctive. Fuelled by heart and anger. While she jokingly called him Vomit Boy, both of them knew that he hadn't been Vomit Boy in a while. Not with how he fought, he wasn't the strongest, nor the best or the fastest. But he had heart aplenty, not to mention how his win rate had shoot straight trough the roof after he had gotten his footwork figured out.
He was the first, or only, option she could measure herself against. Pyrrha was too good, Weiss too technical, Ruby too speedy, Nora too electric, Ren too calm, while Blake was too skirmishery. If she wanted to know where she stood, it could only be while fighting who fought like her and who felt like her.
She hadn't come all this way just to be called out.
Lilac eyes darted to the golden pendant wrapped around his hand, anger poisoning the words on her tongue. "Those are some big words for a child murderer. Did you take the pendant before or after Aurora was dead?" Yang snarled; mind clouded by rage clearing up for a split second. Only for guilt and disgust to well up inside. She didn't need to look at Pyrrha or Violet to know she had overstepped. But words, even those spoken in anger coulndt be taken back.
It wasn't anger that blared to life in Jaune's eyes. Only an eerie calm, a cold cruelty. "I'm going to hurt you. And I'm not going to feel bad in the slightest." Jaune stated calmly, not drawing his sword as he moved slowly towards her. The cruelty in his eyes turning into outright malice.
A nervous grin made it's way onto Yang's face. Followed quickly by a fierce smile as a familiar mix of anger and adrenaline surged trough her. 'If he's not going to make the first move, I will.' Letting her heart fuel her, Yang dashed forward. The familiar wet ground only serving to push her confidence higher. It was all so familiar.
Opening up with a heavy haymaker, sharp pain shoot from her liver. Jaune having slipped under her attack and smashed the pommel of his sword into her side. Driving all the air out of her, the new diamonded shaped pommel sending pain racing through her body.
"Predictable." Jaune called out icily. Dodging with elegant steps around her barrage, not even drawing his blade before he buried the pommel into her stomach again. "It doesn't matter if your anger gives you strength if it turns you into a snarling beast."
Ember Cecilia roared, a goad of fire blasting Jaune in the face. Only for him to disappear like a reflection on still water. Gone in a moment's notice, leaving her alone in the clearing with only her beating heart, the light sheen of rain, the muddy ground, Pyrrha who was restraining Violet, and a crow and a raven hidden under the cover of a tree's crown. The crow caved something, but she was too focused to listen. Aura up as she looked around for Jaune with a nervous smile.
Hearing a branch snapping behind her, she pivoted on the spot, sending a quick jab out in defence. Thunder boomed out in the clearing. Yang momentarily blacked out. The mother of all headaches pounding in the back of her skull. She saw stars, her ears rang, she almost chipped a tooth at a rock.
Brain rebooting, she fired into the ground in a wild attempt to get away from the soccer kick headed for her skull. Turning on the spot she put everything behind a heavy right.
A meaty *thud* echoed out in the clearing. Jaune's cold blue eyes starting uncaringly down at her. Only pushing her fist to the side. "Sloppy." He replied, before knocking her out of her stupor by burying a fist in her stomach. The air leaving her lungs as she felt her aura shatter.
"Are you mad?" Yang spat, genuine anger in her voice as she gasped for breath. "What if I had chosen to fire a shot? You would have died!" Realisation sat in as she stared up at Jaune. Not unable to believe the words that left her. "Have you been fighting without aura to defend yourself this entire time? Are you mad?"
"Yes." Jaune replied swiftly, cold calculated cruelty in his eyes. "You are predictable. Sloppy. And you lack resolve." Licking his lips, Jaune spat out a blob of clear phlegm. "I let you hit me straight in the face, and you didn't even break my nose, or cut my teeth. Why should I waste my aura fighting you?"
The words stung; doubt gnawed at her. Jaune, silly, goofy, kind and smiling Jaune, stared down at he with nothing but apathy. While he wasn't that much taller than her, he felt colossal.
"You are good, but you aren't great." He continued, freely turning and showing her his back. Fire burned a hole in her chest, her fist came up in a punch, but before she could throw it Crocea Mors rested on her throat. "And if you keep up like you are, you will never be."
"When was the last time you trained properly?" Jaune asked indifferently, sheathing his sword. "And I don't mean working out in the gym. I mean hitting the bag, practicing your punches, using a speed ball, or just shadowboxing."
"Why do that matter?" Yang spat, glaring at Jaune.
"Because only sparring in combat training isn't enough." Jaune replied coldly. "While your technique has stagnated, your biggest problems is your resolve. Your temper can be controlled, focus. Your punches will get better with training. But none of that mean's jack if you don't have resolve."
"And who are you to question me about my resolve, huh?" Yang spat, hair aflame.
Jaune looked at her, through her, weighing the answer in his mind before sighing. The coldness bleeding from him as a soft smile forced it's way onto his face. Instead of answering her, he turned around, gesturing for her to follow. "You know, I didn't have my Aura during initiation." He said simply, as if he was discussing the weather and not shattering her view on him.
"Huh?" Was her eloquent response.
"It's true." Jaune chuckled, bending down to pick up Violet. Who for her sake glared bloody death at her. But Violet wasn't the cause for concern now. Jaune was. "I don't really remember his name, but I got my hands on some fake transcripts, and signed up. You know, I never got to thank you Pyrrha. I really would have died that day if you hadn't decided to nail me to that tree."
Throwing a quick glance over to the girl in question, the only thing Yang saw was a soft smile as Pyrrha nodded along. Almost as if Pyrrha had known, or guessed, that Jaune hadn't gotten in trough normal means. But had chosen against saying anything.
"Are you insane?" Yang asked, staring at Jaune as if he had grown another head.
"No, Yang. I have felt more alive these last months than I have in my entire life. Even if I had to fake my way into Beacons a hundred, a thousand times only to splat against the forest floor, I would do it a thousand times over. In a heartbeat." Jaune's eyes shone clear as day, clearer than a beautiful summers sky. Not a hint of doubt, a smidgen of hesitancy, or a dash of fear in his eyes.
'He's dead serious.' Yang noted, caught between a frown and a gulp. Not knowing what to feel.
"And that's your problem." Jaune continued uncaringly, staring down at her with apathy. His eyes not looking at her but an unmarked grave. "I don't know when it happened. But sometime before, or after, enrolling, you stopped wanting to win. When was the last time you wailed at a bag late into the night? When did you start wanting to have fun more than you wanted to train? Yang, you aren't stupid. The docks, Roman working with the Fang, bringing down a bridge, and now the 'Breach' as they call it. Something is going to happen, and it's not going to be pretty. And unless you want to die in the coming storm, being good simply isn't enough."
Yang stared Jaune down, anger blooming in her chest. Blood caked her nails, her knuckles long gone white. It took all her willpower not to lash out at Jaune. The only thing stopping her was the last bit of self-perseverance instincts she had. Jaune might have hid the maliciousness in his eyes behind layer of apathy, but she wasn't as naive to think it was gone.
"And what do you want me to do, huh?" Yang spat, snarling the words out as the fire grew white hot. "It's not like you have ground to stand on when you cheated your way in."
"Train, be better, focus, stop letting your temper control you, apply yourself, stop playing around and take your education seriously. Or don't, and die." Jaune shrugged. "Honestly, after everything your team have been through, I shouldn't have to tell you this. If getting your teeth kicked in multiple times isn't enough to get you to think, then I don't know what will."
With that he turned his back on her. "Violet, bring out your weapon. I'm going to teach you how to properly hold use it."
"We aren't done her Jaune." Yang snarled, running more on emotion than logic.
"We are. We were done the moment you brought up Aurora." Jaune shot back, heat creeping into his voice. Lips pulled into a thin line. "Being angry doesn't excuse you. You chose those words. You knew exactly what you were doing."
"That's enough." Pyrrha said sternly, voice cutting up the tension. Moving in between them and pushing them apart. "You are both stressed from yesterday, and some of us are hurting from recent passings. But this have gone on long enough. If you can't be civil to one another, then it's best you don't speak. Is that understood?"
Hard emerald eyes darted between the two of them, before Pyrrha sighed. Shoulders falling as she rubbed her eyes. "Yang, you are with me. Jaune, you know Violet best, work with her."
All the anger, frustration, together with the weird agglomeration of feelings that creeped and crawled in her stomach puttered out as Yang followed after Pyrrha like a kicked puppy. They didn't walk long, just to the other side of the clearing, enough to give them some space, while still being close enough to help reinforce them if a Grimm decided to wander close by.
"Pyr-" Yang tried, only to be shot down by a sharp glance. "No. I don't want to hear it. You are both in the wrong, Jaune for aggreging to this while grieving, and you for letting your emotions get the better of you. I don't know what you were thinking, or if you were thinking at all. Just because you weren't' as emotionally close with Aurora, doesn't mean we weren't. Even if just for some days, she was quick to grow on us."
Yang flinched as Pyrrha spoke, each words out of the champions mouth feeling like a sharp arrow biting into her skin. She had never seen Pyrrha so emotional, hurt burned in those green orbs.
"Now, square up." Pyrrha ordered, fishing out her weapons as she sank into a stance. "Come at me. I won't retaliate. We will just work on sharpening your punches and tightening up your guard."
Getting into her stance, Yang breathed out, starting up with a simple one-two combo. Pyrrha effortlessly deflecting them to the side. "Good. Just like that, you want to be quick and sharp. Power comes later, again, quick and sharp."
Falling into a familiar rhythm, Yang threw her punches one after another. Her fists cutting trough the air as she focused. Anger, rage, frustration, stress, guilt, punch after punch they were vented out of her. From the focused smile Pyrrha wore, Yang wasn't the only one who felt progress.
"While I don't like how he explained it, Jaune is right in one thing. You have traded power for finesse. A common pitfall brawlers fall into, but one that's easy to fix. Just spar or hit the bag. Right now you are not sparring often enough for that to be your only method of form training." The words felt different when Pyrrha said them. Maybe it was because she wasn't as angry, or it was just who Pyrrha was. It was a lot easier to take critique from a world-renowned champion than from just some guy. 'A guy who cheated his way into Beacon but can still kick your ass while grieving.' Her mind supplied.
"So that's what I need, just practice form and get control over my temper?" Yang asked, sending out a one-two-three-hock combo.
"Yes and no." Pyrrha sighed. Pushing her back, even when she was completely on the defensive. "Don't mindlessly train, if you throw a thousand half-hearted punches, you only learn to throw half-hearted punches. You are in a slump, and that's ok. There are multiple times I have been in a slump as well, not knowing if I am good enough, or seeing any progress."
"You? Don't pull my leg." Yang said, tsking when the tip of Pyrrha's spear touched her gently on her right arm, pushing her arm into a better position.
"I wasn't born skilled, you know." Pyrrha replied, a pearl of laughter escaping her. "But, just liking to fight isn't enough. Because eventually you will stumble upon a person that likes to fight more than you. What will you do then? When your anger, heart, or training doesn't match up."
"I… don't know." Yang spat out, familiar warm anger coming up in her defence. Yang knew herself well enough to know that she didn't like dealing with her emotions. That she was terrible at it not helping her.
"Because that's what happened yesterday." Pyrrha continued, only giving her a frown when her form began faltering. Her confusion and indecision sneaking into her punches, making them sloppy and unfocused. "Neapolitan, Roman's accomplice, is a battle junkie just like you. That smirk, the way she relishes in fighting, she didn't have any formal training. But she is better than you, and next time, your mother won't be interfering."
'And you will be dead.'
Pyrrha didn't need to say the words, they had been ringing inside her mind since yesterday. Staying with her from the moment she woke up. A constant companion trough the entire morning. They were why she asked to spar with Jaune yesterday. They were why she said what she did.
"Let's take a five-minute break." Pyrrha called out, gently tapping Ember Cicilia with her spear and breaking her guard open without effort. Looking up with a frown, the spartan frowned. The skies were darker, and Yang was certain she saw flashes in the clouds. "And we should get inside before the weather gets worse."
"Yes, lets." Yang nodded hollowly, Pyrrha's earlier words still bouncing around in her mind. A shiver raced down her back, her teeth clattered loudly, having been too focused to notice how moist she had gotten. Her borrowed hoodie clung to her back, water and sweat raced down her face, and she had some clumps of dirt and twigs stuck in her hair.
"Just… promise me that the two of you won't get into another fight."
"I can promise that I won't be starting another fight." Yang answered diplomatically, forcing herself to shoot Pyrrha a cheeky smirk. Missing it's mark entirely as Pyrrha only gave her a flat, if slightly disappointed stare.
Looking over at the other side of the clearing, Yang had to stop in her tracks. A laugh bubbling up in her throat at the familiar sight. Fond memories pushing themselves forward. A soft smirk stretched her lips as she did her best to stifle the bark of laughter that threatened to escape.
Violet glared defiantly at Jaune. Holding her arms out before her, as if to push him away with nothing but her mind. Behind her, impaled in the mud was a beautifully carved slab of granite, longer that Violet was tall, with a hilt sticking out from the top.
"No." Jaune called out patiently, giving his daughter a tired look. "No." He repeated, ignoring Violet's pout. "Violet. I'm not letting you try and carry your weapon back with you. It's both taller and heavier than you. I don't see why we can't fashion some sort of sheath for the blade until you get older. But you are not crushing yourself under that chunk of stone on my watch."
"But." Violet called out with the self-righteousness only a child was capable out. Stamping her foot in the mud as she glared.
"No. And that's final Violet." Jaune said sternly, before kneeling down before her. "I know you want to carry a piece of Aurora around with you, but you also need to be realistic. Maybe a pocket boutonniere of white lilies. How does that sound? Or laying a bouquet on her grave to say goodbye?"
"ok." Violet whispered softly into Jaune's neck. Blue eyes peering over his shoulders. Her brows furrowing as Violet glared at her. Hurt and anger shining in her eyes. And so did malice. What goodwill she had with her having gone up in flames.
"Is that Violet's new weapon?" Pyrrha asked, a curious glint in her eyes. Running a finger down the granite slab she hummed. "At least it's a proper weapon."
"I didn't know you were a weapon purist Pyrrha." Jaune said, standing up and pulling the blade out. The silverly longsword effortlessly tearing trough the air. "But it's a longsword for all her cutting and slicing needs, and when she needs some more oomph." Sheathing the blade into the large stone slab, a silent *click* was followed by the sound of sputtering mud. Jaune lifting the greatsword out of the ground with a single arm. "And a greatsword for all her crushing needs. When she needs something with more heft."
"Nora will be so proud." Pyrrha smiled, before sighing and turning to Jaune with falling shoulders. "And I won't call myself a 'weapon pursuit', but Jaune, you have to agree that that 'saw cleaver' of yours isn't a weapon."
"Saw what now?" Yang asked, breaking into the conversation.
Silvery motes of light gathered in Violet's hand, before a saw-blade connected to a wooden stick with a hinge appeared in her hands. The saw was rusty, and blood splotches from yesterday coated it together with grey matter, ripped of pieces of muscles and flesh. An eye was impaled on a tooth. The hinge looked busted, shoddily put together and one puff of wind away from breaking.
"Ok. I'm going to be in that bush over there, emptying my guts if anyone needs me." Yang said, green. Hastily marching over to the bush and following her own advice. Pyrrha quick to keep her company, bending down beside her and emptying her own stomach.
"I think I'm going to have nightmares." Yang managed to groan out when she got her composure under control. A weird, disgusting, shiver raced down her spine. Not one brough on by the weather.
"I killed about thirty people yesterday." Pyrrha groaned hollowly, realisation creeping into her voice as the emotions she had bottled seeped out. The sight of Violet's bloody weapon wasn't only forcing back memories in her. Snapshots of yesterday's event's raced through her mind. Ember Cecilia roaring, a skull reduced to nothing. Bones shattering under her fists. She remembered vividly how her fist pierced into a liver after a blow. How a woman crumbled over her fist as she puked blood.
Bile escaped out of her, followed by gagging and tears as the taste hit her tongue.
"How 'bout we go inside, get dressed in something warm and comfy, I set up some hot cocoa and you get to have a good cry? Maybe a cuddle pile, or a movie marathon." Jaune's voice echoed out, a gentle hand placed on Pyrrha's back. Tears fell as Pyrrha emptied her guts until nothing was left. "Maybe it was a bit too optimistic of me to force everyone to work through it like I do. When we all feel differently and need different ways to cope."
"That… that sound's grand." Pyrrha whispered softly. Forcing herself to straighten up, only to accidentally throw a look at Violet. Breaking as bits of bile was forced out.
"For what it's worth, you are invited as well." Looking into Jaune's eyes, it was clear as day he was only extending a hand to be polite. What friendship between them having been reduced to cinders. But an outstretched hand was an outstretched hand. And Yang wasn't in the mind to care who it came from. Not with yesterdays events playing on repeat in her mind.
######
Note: Adrenaline is one hell of a drug. Trust me, I know. So while Violet can sprint through all of Yharnam, adrenaline and being chased by mad people is one hell of a way of surpassing one's limitation. Not healthy, in either the short or long run.
Note: It was interesting writing this chapter. Some bits feel a bit forced, but instead of using the spar as a throwaway line, I wanted to experiment with how Yang handles her emotions and put that up against how Jaune handles his. Or juggling with two live grenades. But writing Pyrrha stepping up was fun. I really have been sleeping on her, but her time will come. She will get her time to shine and will grow into herself.
Note: And for those curious, we are done with the bachelor report, it's just the thesis defence again. Which is ok. But we ended up with 76 pages, 148 pages including attachments. But that's done.
Note: For those wondering, Jaune's stats are under, bloodtinge & arcana comes from mostly studying and rituals. They are aspect to change, and serve more as guidelines as hard concrete points.
Insight:43
Vitality: 43
Endurance: 28
Strength: 24(+3)
Skill: 17
Bloodtinge: 27
Arcane: 25