Chapter 3: Nevermore
dreadix: She would be, but nobody told on her as someone told on Jaune...
simm36: Thank you and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Robbeeyy: Vernal does know what it's like to be weak and so does Jaune, she just doesn't think he knows, because her weakness is different than Jaune's, but trust me, in this chapter, You'll know what I mean. And true, killing doesn't make your soul dark per se, and it does depend on the situation, but trust me, this is a hint that when Jaune kills, it may not be so justified in a certain sense.
Larval: I do remember that a Semblance can evolve as a person grows, and I admit I am leaning more to the side of keeping his semblance but just making it different as it Evolves, and if I remember right, there was a character from the RWBY books that had a similar semblance to Jaune, so I might look into their semblance and maybe see how I can evolve Jaune's semblance just a little and work it into the story later on.
ArcofUA: As I said, I am leaning more to the side of keeping his semblance, so yeah, I will try and see about what kind of evolved state Aura Amp could have and work it into the story eventually.
Guest: Vernal will be held to the same standards as what she preaches, because I think that, unlike Raven, Vernal tries her best to embody the Philosophy of the tribe, again she tries but you'll see that in this chapter that she's not fully embraced it and is hiding behind a mask, just like Raven, and I also want her to sort of break away from the Branwen philosophy. As for Jaune beating her down to a pulp, while I'm sure it would be satisfying for some, it wouldn't be right for Jaune's Character, remember, Jaune knows that Vernal doesn't like him but he doesn't hate her back, and again while he accepts the reality that he has to be ruthless when in a fight to the death, it's still hard for him to do because he's been taught in Beacon to stop when the enemy is down, so it'll be hard to break away from those habits and be ruthless like The Branwen tribe despite how he says he willing to try. While I do like Raven, by no means am I trying to make her look like a good person, she is a terrible person in every sense of the word, and remember, the only reason she wants Jaune is that she knows how Powerful his father was and sees his potential, and wants to use him for her own tribe's survival, and what she'll do later will show just what lengths she's willing to go to manipulate Jaune to her side. While we might see Raven and her tribe get their just deserts later down the line, this Act, which I've called "The Branwen Act" focuses on the loss of innocence, which we'll be getting a taste of in this chapter.
CriticaofRandomness: I love Jaune and Vernal too and as for them traveling together you'll have to just wait and see
Update:
For now, this story has two halves planned out, (A third half might be planned out). The 1st half is "Jaune's travels" and has 7 Acts planned out.
Branwen Act (Chapters 1-5)
Pine Act (Chapters 6-11)
Spider Act (Chapters 12-15)
Argus Act (Chapters 16-17)
Atlas Act (Chapters 18-)
Patch Act (Chapters ?)
Shade Act (Chapters ?)
Each Act explores a certain theme. The Branwen Act deals with the loss of innocence. Which I'm sure you'll understand in both this chapter and the next one.
Also, a review from AverageReadingEnjoyer, asked if the Vytal Festival and the Fall of Beacon will still happen or if it will be delayed for story purposes.
Yes, it will. The Vytal Festival is set to happen during the second year of this story. As for some events that happen back in Vale, most of Volume 1's events happened as Canon. However, the events of Volume 2 will not be the same, the fight with Roman still occurs and Roman and the Fang are still stealing dust, but since the Ball nor the Breach will happen, Cinder is simply waiting for her time to strike.
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It's been three days since Jaune and Vernal's first spar and since Jaune has been a "guest" of the tribe. Now, on the 4th day, and late that evening, in the Branwen tribe, another spar between Vernal and Jaune was taking place.
Vernal had a few small cuts around her arms but nothing serious, Jaune was a little ragged but was holding up, both were fairing much better than their first spar. Vernal shot at him but Jaune managed to dodge the first few shots and quickly blocked the rest with his shield, but that's when the shots stop and Vernal was out of ammo, so Jaune lowered his shield and charged at her, intending to send her to the ground and "end" her life, as she had put it.
However, with only one pistol now, she could load her weapon faster and quicker, but as she put the magazine in, Jaune swung his sword at her, but she ducked under the swing and quickly fired two shots into his gut, causing him to stagger back, but he regained himself and slashed at her, this time cutting her across the side, not deep but enough to sting.
Vernal winced from the pain, but she spun around and delivered a kick to the side of his head, throwing Jauen to the side and causing him to land on the ground hard, but he looked up and saw Vernal aiming her pistol right at his face, but he rolled out of the way and quickly kicked her feet from under her, causing her to fall onto her back, giving Jaune the chance to get on top of her and pointed her sword down at her.
"I've got you," Jaune told her, ready to deliver the "killing blow".
Vernal looked up and smiled, "Do ya?" Vernal asked.
She then raised her pistol and shot him in the side, causing him to freeze up a little, but gave Vernal the perfect time to kick him off of her and push him to the side, which allowed her to get on top of him, however, she put one knee on his shield arm and used her free hand restrain his sword hand and aimed her pistol right at his face, with a smug smirk.
"Now, I've got you," Vernal said
Jaune sighed and knew she was right, before he could move his arm, Vernal could technically shoot him dead.
"You win," Jaune said with a sigh, not wanting to deal with the pain of being shot in the face, even with his high aura reserves, he could still feel some of the force of a point-blank shot.
Vernal kept smirking and got off of him and holstered his pistol and held out her hand for him to take, which he did, and helped him up, and the blonde knight dusted himself off.
Raven walked down and looked at Vernal with a small smile, "Good job Vernal, You were able to reload much faster than when you had 2 guns, you might want to consider sticking to one while using a bladed weapon as a secondary weapon or invest into a Mecha-shift weapon" Raven told her
Vernal shrugged, "Eh, If I get the money, I'll consider it," she replied
Raven then turned to Jaune, "Your reaction time is getting better, you were able to dodge Vernal's shots, able to land a few cuts, you failed to make sure Vernal was unarmed before declaring your victory, you have to make sure you enemy is completely defeated before delivering the killing blow," Raven told him, "Also, you got a lot more Aura then most Huntsmen, it's possible that if you release a little more around your body you can use it to tank more hits, and it'll be like you don't even feel a thing,"
Jaune rubbed the back of his neck and nodded, "Uh, Right... I'll give it a try next time" Jaune said
Raven nodded, "Now then, since this is done, I've got a job for you two," Raven told them
Jaune looked at her, "What is it?" Jaune asked
"There's a pack of Beowulf wondering around just west of here, a few of the tribesmen were almost attacked," Raven told them, "Since Jaune had decided to take care of any Grimm problem we would get, both of you will be dealing with them,"
Jaune gave her a thumbs up, "You got it," Jaune said
Raven nodded before she looked up to the sky, and then back to the two, "And try to hurry back, despite how it looks, weather reports say that a storm is heading this way later,"
"Got it," Vernal said
With that said, Jaune and Vernal went back to Vernal's tent to get her patched up, and then Jaune grabbed his backpack and took the first aid kit along with a few MREs and they made their way out of the camp and headed west in order to track down the pack of Beowulf and finish the job Raven gave them.
After a while, and as both were pretty far from the tribe, they continued walking through the woods looking for the Pack of Beowulfs, and Jaune looked up to see the sky cloudy and gray, and he turned to Vernal.
"If we don't find them soon, should we head back and wait till tomorrow?" He asked
Vernal shrugged, "Maybe, or we can head to Kūsho and camp there and then start the hunt again," Vernal told him
"Kūsho?" Jaune asked
"An unfinished settlement that's just 2 miles from here," Vernal told him, "Southern Anima's full of unfinished or destroyed towns," She told him
Jaune nodded, "How many of those towns were destroyed by your tribe?" Jaune asked
"Don't know," She replied
Jaune just sort of looked at her while they continued walking, "You ever... think about leaving the tribe?" Jaune asked
Vernal turned to him, "Huh?" She asked
"I mean, h-have you thought about not living the bandit life?" Jaune asked, "Like leaving the tribe and just... living a normal life?"
Vernal turned away from him and looked forward, Jaune taking it as her ignoring his question and the two continued walking.
"Once," Vernal said
Jaune turned at her with a raised brow, Vernal looked back at him with a neutral expression.
"When I first saw what it means to live life as a Branwen, I wanted to leave, I wanted to run away, to go back to what I used to be..." She said, but she tightened her hand into a fist and her expression turned to anger, "But I hated my old life, even more, I hated the person I was... because I was weak," She told him, her tone sounded a mix of anger and sadness
Jaune was surprised to see how he acted, while it was small, it sort of spoke about how she truly must have hated her old life, wondering just what she went through. "What do you mean?" He asked
Vernal opened her mouth but stopped herself and shut it and shook her head, "It doesn't matter," She said, turning away from him, "What about you? You ever consider a life that's not the huntsman lifestyle?" she asked him
"A couple of times, but something inside kept telling me that this is what I was meant to do," Jaune replied, "So... you weren't born into the tribe?" Jaune asked
Vernal nodded, "I... let's say "joined" when I was 14," Vernal said
"Were you forced to join?" Jaune asked
Vernal shook her head, "No, but I... I didn't have many options when Raven found me," Vernal said.
Jaune then noticed that she was squeezing her arms, as if she was cold, and saw a slight shaking to her body, which confused him, wondering if she was remembering something terrible. He was about to ask another question, one that might just stop the conversation in its tracks, however, before he could do that, a loud boom overhead was heard and the sudden droplets of rain began to fall.
"Shit!" Vernal cried as the rain began to pour
Jaune activated his shield over his head, "Guess we're gonna have to head to Kūsho and wait there until the storm stops," He told her
Vernal nodded with a groan and gestured for him to follow her, and he nodded and they began to run through the woods, and as they headed to Kūsho, they turned and began heading northwest. Vernal tried to shield herself from the rain but was getting soaked, while Jaune kept his shield over him to block the rain, but wasn't fairing much better as the rain was coming down hard and blowing like crazy, soaking him just as much as Vernal.
They ran, then walked when they got tired, and then ran again when Vernal said they were getting close, and after a bit more running, Vernal stopped him and pointed at a town that was sure to be Kūsho, based on the opened gate of the town as well as the extreme amount of plant life growing around it and up the walls.
Jaune looked around and saw no Grimm in the Area and quickly entered the abandoned town, and once he entered, Jaune did see that it was unfinished as some of the buildings were half built or looked to be in the process of being put up. plastic drapes hung from some places where walls were being built, and even a few remaining supplies were still around as Jaune noticed a few long boards of wood outside and around some buildings and some inside the buildings themselves, and a few broken-down caravans with supply bags were littered around the town too.
Vernal and Jaune took shelter in a nearby building, which thankfully had the walls and roof done, but the inside was just cement flooring, wooden beams where the setup for inner walls was supposed to be, and a few plastic drapes blocking the vision of a few areas, but the rest of the place was bare.
"Ugh, I'm all soaked," Vernal said
Jaune looked over at her and saw her shivering a little bit and he'd be lying if he wasn't shivering as well. Then, he remember something and quickly dug into his backpack and saw the spare clothes he had packed, he took them out and held them out for Vernal. "Here are some spare clothes," Jaune said
"Hand 'em over," She said as she quickly grabbed them out of his hand, "It's fucking freezing!" she cried
Jaune just chuckled at her actions, and Vernal didn't say a word as she quickly walked into another room and used the plastic drapes to block Jaune's view, not wanting him to see her nude form. Unbeknownst to her, Jaune had already turned to her out of respect and began unstrapping his armor and setting it to the side, he sighed as he too was soaked but decided to just take off his sweater leaving his undershirt, jeans, and shoes on.
He heard the drapes behind him move and he turned around to see Vernal wearing an oversized white shirt with a pair of oversized jeans, she was still wearing her boots, and that's when Jaune saw her belt tightly wrapped around her waist, holding up his pants
Vernal then turned to him and saw his toned Arms, which surprised her, as he always looked so tall and scraggly, but here he was with some pretty good muscle. She smirked, "So you actually do have some muscle, huh?" Vernal teased
Jaune looked at his arms and realized that it was true that he had bulked up since his training with Pyrrha, and realized that the only people who actually knew he had muscle were Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora. Jaune awkwardly smiled, feeling a little bashful, "Oh right, I guess my clothes and armor sort of cover them up," He said awkwardly.
"Just glad to know that me kicking your ass has been paying off," Vernal said, "Anyway, what do we do know, we're sort of stuck here until the storm lets up," She told him
"There are some wood boards stacked in a few of the buildings, I can break some of them up and see if I can start a fire to warm up and dry our clothes, and I can look through some of the Caravans and look through the supply bags to see what's inside," Jaune told her "As for food, I still got the MREs, but we should still look for food just in case," Jaune told her
Vernal nodded, "I'll come with, it's better than just sitting here in the cold," She told him
Jaune nodded and they went to the entrance of the house and quickly prepared themselves to run through the rain. Jaune ran across the street and to another home, which was half built, and found a few dry wood planks, which he quickly broke by propping it against the others and slammed down on it with his foot, breaking it in half before doing it again with the other part.
Meanwhile, Vernal quickly grabbed a few Supply Bags and dragged them into another empty house in order to not get soaked again and she opened them quickly seeing a few canned food in one bag, which was good for them both, however, when she opened the 2nd bag, she was hit with a disgusting smell and saw rotting fruit. She nearly gagged and closed the bag and threw it to the side. She put the canned food next to the entrance, telling her it was good, and she went bag for a few more supply bags.
Opening the 3rd and 4th bags, she thankfully sheets, pillows, and blankets. She picked up those bags and set them next to the entrance, with the bag of food. She then looked through the rest of the bag only to find some rotting bread, moldy vegetables, and some spare clothes, but they were for children. After seeing that the only god bags so far were the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th bags. She grabbed the 2nd bag first and ran back to the building.
When she got back, she saw Jaune constructing a makeshift fireplace. He was arranging the broken plank pieces, up inside a circle that he formed with a few grey bricks he must have found as well.
Hearing her walking in, Jaune looked up to her as he was finishing up placing the wood in the circle of bricks. "What did you find?" he asked
Vernal smiled, "Ya better thank me, cuz I found some canned food and some bedding!" She said with a smirk
"That's good," Jaune said "Need help?" he asked
Vernal shook her head, "Just get that fire started and look through the bag and pick out what ya want, I'll head back and get the bedding," Vernal told him
Jaune nodded and prepared to get the fire going, while Vernal left to get the bags of bedding. Jaune went into his little survival kit and found four small vials of fire dust, he poured one of the vials across the bottom wood, and he took out a rod of flint and a small metal piece and struck it over the fire, a spark hitting some of the dust, igniting it and setting the bottom ablaze, and the small fire slowly began to grow. Seeing it slowly grow, he smiled and moved to the food bag to pick out what he might want.
Vernal came back with the bags of bedding and she saw the fire and smiled, and she set the bags a bit away from the fire and sat near the fire and waited for Jaune to give her the bag for her to pick out the food. Once he was finished, she looked through the bag and saw what she could eat for now and set it to one side of her while setting the bag and the rest of the food to the far side.
Instead of eating the MREs first, the two began to eat the canned food they chose, Jaune used a small knife to open a can of pears, and then he handed Vernal the knife and she used it to open a can of tuna.
They ate in silence, and after their first can they ate a little more of the canned food, still continuing to eat in silence as the fire warmed them. A little while later, the day slowly turned to night, and the two set up their clothes to dry out, laying them flat and close enough to the fire where the heat would hit them and dry them off, but the ash would not touch them, and they sat back near the fire, continuing to warm themselves up.
Jaune looked over to Vernal, who was just staring at the fire, and that's when his mind was brought back to the conversation earlier that day, and that's when he remembered the question he was going to ask, that was either going to make her angry or get her to tell her about her past.
"Vernal?"
"Yeah Arc?"
"What... what was your past life?"
Silence.
Vernal didn't answer his question, making the blonde knight just a little nervous as he continued looking at her.
Vernal looked away from the fire and looked at him with a glare. "Why do you wanna know?" She asked, her tone a little angry
"I-I was just wondering because we're gonna be stuck here for the whole night and well, you told me that you weren't born into the tribe so I... I just wanna get to know you better, that's all," Jaune replied, "I wanna know what... made you think you were weak before joining the tribe?"
She glared at the boy but a smirk graced her lips, "You really wanna know, huh!?" she asked "You think you could stomach looking at me If I told you!?"
Surprised by her outburst, Jaune looked at her with a stunned expression, not really knowing how to reply. "I-I... I don't know!" Jaune cried
"Well since you're so interested Arc, I'll tell you everything! Everything about who I used to be!" Vernal said, "Before I joined the tribe, I was just Vernal, an orphan from a town called Hinan, my home was an Orphanage of the same name, but the owners, they mistreated us, barely fed us, made us work, and the children that starved to death, we were told they were adopted, but you know where they really went?" Vernal asked.
Jaune didn't reply, thinking that if he tried to talk it just make the situation worse, so he just shook his head.
"They buried them in the garden," Vernal said, "And I thought I was gonna end up like them, I thought that I'd just be another body in the ground, and no one would care what happened to me... but that's when I got adopted," she said, her tone sounding a little broken
Jaune looked at her and noticed her expression darkened, which worried him, as an uneasy expression formed on his face.
"A man took me away from the orphanage, and I was glad, I was happy because I thought I was rescued, I thought I had escaped that vicious place... but I was wrong," Vernal said, "The first couple of weeks, he treated me with kindness I never knew before, fed me food I never had in the orphanage, gave me presents that I thought were so pretty and cool, but... it... it was just a fucking facade," She said, her voice sounding more broken.
Jaune became more anxious, "Vernal, you don't-" he began
"A month or so after... I-I started growing," Vernal said "And that's when... it started,"
Jaune's eyes widened with horror knowing where this was going, "Vernal-!"
"At first he said it was just accidents, but then he started getting more aggressive, he started touching me more when we were alone, hugs became longer and his hands got lower, and then... he started coming into my room, at first he would just say he was checking up on me but a few times I pretended to be asleep and some times, he'd slip under the covers and hold me, whispering he loved me, that he wouldn't hurt me, and one night, he tried to go further," Vernal told him, "I tried to stop him but that made him angry and he that's when it happened, he raped me that night, continued to do it for 4 years, over and over again, I pleaded and begged, I told him to stop, but he never did, said that this was him showing his love," Vernal said as tears fell from her eyes and her hands tightened around her knees, her tone now that of sadness.
Jaune raised his hand to try and stop her, knowing the conversation was only making her more upset, "Please, Vernal you don't have to-"
But Vernal continued to cut him off and told him the rest, "A-And then the tribe attack the village he lived in, and Raven saw the way she treated me and she threw down her sword and said that if I wanted to be free and if I wanted to get stronger so that nothing like that ever happened again, then I would kill him, and when I took the sword, that's when I felt it," She said. Vernal wiped the tears away and looked at Jaune, a glare now formed on her face, "It was like I became focused, like all my troubles and my weakness went into the blade, so I turned around and with ease, I turned around and the first place I stabbed him was in his crotch, he cried, begged me to stop, kept telling me how much he loved me, and how he wouldn't harm me again, but that pissed me off more, so I kept slashing and hacking at him, stabbing him over and over again, and I felt three things that day... the blood spilling on my clothes and my skin, the soreness of my arms, and... the joy that I was finally free," Vernal said with a smile
Jaune's expression was... it was a mix of emotions too hard to describe. "I'm... I'm sorry," he said
Vernal glared at him, "You wanted to know," Vernal told him sternly
Jaune looked away, feeling ashamed, "I didn't mean to bring up anything that would upset you," Jaune replied to her.
The bandit teen continued glaring at the blonde knight and saw his expression. It was one she hated. "You know... I hate the look your giving me," Vernal said
Jaune turned back to her with a confused expression now gracing his face, "What?" He asked
"A look of pity," She said, rage slowly building up in her, "I hate that look, I don't need your pity, I survived," She told him
"I'm sorry," Jaune said "I just... I am sorry you had to go through something as vile as that,"
"I survived!" Vernal cried
"Did you?" Jaune asked
Hearing that, Vernal jumped over the fire and tackled him, she was now on top of him looking down at the boy with seething rage, "HE'S DEAD! I'M ALIVE!" Vernal cried as she began punching at him, but he was blocking them with his arms, "I survived! I'm still here! You don't know shit!" She cried
"Vernal!" Jaune cried
"You never had a hard life! Do you know what it's like to starve!? To be weak from the very moment you woke up!? To be taken advantage of!?" Vernal cried, her punches becoming wilder.
Jaune kept blocking her punches, but he felt every blow and his arms were starting to hurt.
"What gives you the right to ask if I survived!?" Vernal cried
Having enough of her wild barrage, Jaune grabbed both of her wrists, shocking the teen bandit before she was rolled to the side, and onto her back. Both of her wrists were pinned to the cold cement floor and she looked up with a glare but suddenly, she froze in fear as Jaune over her with an angry glare.
"Damnit Vernal calm down!" Jaune cried
Vernal's voice was caught in her throat as her anger shattered. She looked at Jaune's face, however, it changed to a much older and stern face, his blonde hair and blue eyes changed to green hair and green eyes.
"Stop struggling Vernal! Don't you see I'm doing this because I love you!?" He cried as he pinned her down, "Why can't you understand that this is love!?"
It was... him.
Based on instinct, based on nothing but the intent to survive, the terror and pain that she was convinced were coming her way.
"L... L-Let go of me," She whispered, in a voice so small and quiet that Jaune couldn't quite hear her.
"What?"
"LET GO OF ME!" Vernal screeched. Quickly, she began to thrash around frantically in Jaune's grip in hopes of getting free from his tight grip. she was too consumed by terror to be rational anymore. All she could see in her mind was the face and eyes of the man she'd tried so hard to forget, she kept fighting back because if she didn't... he was going to hurt her again, "LET GO OF ME! PLEASE! LET ME GO! PLEASE, DADDY! PLEASE! I'LL BE GOOD! I'LL BE A GOOD GIRL! JUST LET ME GOOOOO!" Vernal frantically cried
Jaune's eyes widened in horror as he realized what he had just done. Jaune quickly let go of Vernal's writs and got off her as fast as he could.
That did it, Vernal crawled away from Jaune, attempting to put as much space between herself and him as possible, her eyes wide and terrified as she did so. She scrambled into a wall of beams and pressed herself against them as if trying to shrink more into the room.
Jaune looked in horror as Vernal's icy blue eyes were still widened with dread and her whole body was quivering severely, her breathing was ragged. She looked about ready to pass out or have a terror-induced heart attack.
Jaune stumbled away to the front entrance, leaving the building and giving Vernal much-needed space.
Vernal kept her eyes on him the whole time until he'd left the house until she was sure she was safe. Then she lowered her head, bringing her knees up to rest her chin on them as she curled into a ball, the tears running freely down her face all the while.
"D-Damnit..." She whispered as she continued to sob.
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Gradually, Vernal's eyes opened and she looked around the empty home only to see Jaune sitting next to the fire, facing away from her. The Storm was still raging on as she could still hear the intensity of the rain falling and the booming of thunder and the quick flash of Lightning. She was a bit confused at first, her brain readjusting to her waking up, but the recollection of what occurred earlier and rage rose up inside of her.
Yet, she wasn't angry at Jaune, she was angry at herself, she hated that someone saw that weak and frail side of her, that she allowed herself to be so helpless, so powerless, that she devolved back to the fearful little girl she once was.
However, she calmed down enough to get up and walk over to the fire and saw just near Jaune, warming herself by the fire.
Jaune turned to her but looked back to the fire, "Hey," he said
Vernal didn't respond, she simply looked at the fire.
"Vernal... I'm sorry about what happened earlier," Jaune told her, "I never meant to make you relive what happened to you, I... never meant to make you see him again," Jaune said, staring at the fire with a blank expression.
Hearing him finish, Vernal turned her eyes to look at him, and while his face was empty, his eyes told a separate story, they showed guilt for what happened earlier, regret for what he made her relive, for what he had become in her mind. She looked back at the fire for a few minutes, before deciding to speak.
"You don't have to be sorry, Arc," Vernal told him, "It's my fault I'm weak, that I'm worthless,"
Jaune looked at her with a sad yet confused expression, "Why do you say that?" Jaune asked her.
"Because it is my fault, it's my fault that I... I can't even move on from what happened to me, I can't seem to move on from the pathetic girl I used to be," She said in a sad tone.
Jaune looked at her with a downcast expression, he hated what happened to her, and he hated just how much she condemned herself for what happened, for thinking it was her fault. "I don't think your weak Vernal," Jaune told her
Vernal turned to him and gave him a confused look.
"What you been through, it damages and breaks people, it affects them deep in the soul, but you kept pushing forward," Jaune told her, "Sure you haven't gotten over it, but I don't think you can, not because you're weak, but because you haven't tried to move past it, it'll still be a part of you, but you don't have to let it affect you as much as it does anymore," Jaune told her as he looked at the fire
Vernal turned to the fire as well, staring into it and feeling its warmth, which felt good but also felt the slight burn.
"I'm broken, I can't be fixed,"
"I don't believe that... no one's truly broken, but they can stay that way if they let themselves and don't try to move on or push forward,"
"You really think that?"
"I do, You just need to take the right steps"
She raised a brow with a questioning look, "With the right steps, do you really think I can be whole again? I can be... stronger?"
He thought about it for a second but he nodded, "I do, I think that once you face your past, face your demons... you'll be whole... and you'll truly be strong,"
"It isn't going to be easy," she told him
"It's not, but is anything easy?" he replied
Vernal didn't reply, only thinking about it before she nodded her head in agreement. They continued staring at the fire, not speaking any more words for a while.
"You ever thought about opening up to anyone?" Jaune asked her
"Who could I trust or who would even listen?" Vernal asked back, "Raven would see it as weakness and just tell me to get over it, no way am I fucking trusting Shay... I don't really trust anyone in the tribe,"
Jaune finally looked away from the fire, and turned to Vernal, "You can trust me," Jaune said "I won't tell anyone, Vernal, not a soul,"
Vernal looked away from the fire as well and turned to Jaune, with a raised brow, "You swear?" Vernal asked
"Arc's word," Jaune told her, still looking at her
Vernal continued looking at him for a few minutes, thinking heavily about his proposal.
"I'll consider it, Arc" Vernal told him
Jaune nodded in understanding.
The two continued to get warm before ultimately deciding to head to bed, Jaune put out the fire while Vernal handed him one of the bags that held bedding, and the two laid down the blanket on the ground, put the pillow on the floor, and laid down, using the sheets to cover themselves.
Both faced away from each other.
That morning, Vernal was the first to wake up, rubbing her eyes and feeling the slight sting of the sunlight when she opened her eyes a little, quickly closing them and blinking a few times, allowing her eyes to adjust. he saw the sun in the sky, and if she had to guess, it was most likely around 10 or 11 AM.
When she was fully awake, she got up and went over to her clothes that got drenched in the storm last night, they were finally dry and so she went to the next room, and used the plastic drapes to block any visibility, in case Jaune wake up and decided to change back into her usual attire. After changing, she rolled the clothes up and headed back to the room, stuffed Jaune's spare clothes back in his backpack, and then went over to him and woke him up.
He arose and quickly got up, he too checked his clothes and saw that, like Vernal's, they were dry. He did the same and changed, coming back after and putting his armor on and then strapping Crocea Mors to his belt.
No words were spoken between the bandit girl and the blond knight, they simply packed up, leaving the bedding on the cement floor, the makeshift fireplace, and even the bag of canned food. They left Kūsho and resumed their hunt for the pack of Beowulfs.
After looking around the last area they were seen, Vernal found the tracks of the pack and led Jaune their way. Following the prints, for what seemed like a couple of miles, the two of them eventually did find the pack, simply resting as if they weren't creatures of destruction, simply animals resting after a long day of hunting or waiting for something to happen.
There were 10 of them, and thankful for the rather low number of the pack, Jaune came up with a plan, for Vernal to get up in a tree and shoot down on them and when they were confused, he would come around and stab a few of them, while she would continue to shoot down at any of them he didn't see, Vernal agreed and quickly got up a tree and waited for Jaune to move and get behind the pack.
Vernal waited a few minutes, and then took aim with her pistol, and she quickly fired, and shot one right in the head, killing it instantly.
The pack perked up and the sound of the gunshot and looked around, trying to find her, but Vernal quickly fired two more shots, getting another one in the head, but hitting another one in the leg, wounding it and causing it to howl in pain.
Jaune decided to act quickly and jumped out only to slice one deep in the back, killing it, he then quickly turned around and stabbed another in the stomach, but the 2nd Beowulf swung at him, from the right. Jaune ducked under the attack, pulled out his sword, and then stabbed it through the neck, he quickly turned around only to see that a 3rd jumped at him, but he side-stepped it and spun around and quickly stabbed it in the back, before kicking it off.
Vernal shot down a few that finally found her location, killing two of them, but injuring a few. One clawed up the tree and swung at her, but she quickly jumped down and rolled, before getting up and quickly turning around and aiming her gun back at the Grimm. They turned to her, but Vernal acted much faster and quickly shot the one in the tree, killing it this time, she then quickly turned back to the one on the ground. It charged at her but she fired at it, putting a few rounds in its face as it fell right in front of her dead.
Jaune and Vernal made quick work of the pack and watched as their bodies turned to black dust and faded away.
Jaune and Vernal looked at each other, acknowledging the other for a job well done, and with the pack dead, they headed back to the tribe.
As they walked back, they encountered no other Grimm along the way, only hearing the chirping of birds and the sound of nature. Vernal was walking behind Jaune, and she just stared at the back of his head for a few minutes before she looked up to the sky, it was blue, cloudless, and just simply tranquil.
For Vernal, it was strange, a wild storm had passed the day before, a storm that to Vernal, felt like it was going to last for days, and yet today, it was so clear, so peaceful, so... beautiful.
Vernal looked away from the sky and looked back at Jaune, and she remembered his words from the night before.
"I don't think your weak Vernal,"
'Does he mean that?' Vernal asked herself.
"With the right steps, do you really think I can be whole again? I can be... stronger?"
"I do, I think that once you face your past, face your demons... you'll be whole... and you'll truly be strong,"
Vernal continued to look at him and wonder if she could really open up to him about her past. Could she truly reveal that frail side of her again?
Vernal looked back up to the clear sky and felt the tranquility of it, she closed her eyes, and that's when she felt the gentle breeze of the wind, she opened her eyes and was still staring at the sky. For once, in a long, long time, Vernal felt at peace.
'A storm raged inside of me for years, it still is...' Vernal Thought, 'But if I face my demons, and with the right steps, will my storm stop? will my sky clear? Can I... Can I be as peaceful and tranquil as the sky before my eyes?' Vernal asked
She looked back to Jaune yet again and more of the conversation came back to her.
"Arc," Vernal called out to him
Jaune turned his head back and looked at her, "Yeah?"
"Can I trust you?" She asked
Jaune looked at her, a brave look on his face. He nodded, "You can," He told her.
Vernal looked at him, her face looking a little troubled, but she pushed through and asked him a favor, "Then... will you help me move forward?" Vernal asked him
Jaune was a bit surprised but she gave her a nod, "I'll be there every step of the way,"
Vernal gave him a small smiled and nodded, Jaune smiled back, and the two continued walking, this time, side by side. As partners. From this day forward, Vernal swore to face her past.
Nevermore would a storm cloud her sky again...
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This story was always gonna be dark in certain aspects, and I will be touching on more serious topics in the future. I admit, at first, I was apprehensive about touching on a subject such as Sexual Assault, but someone said that I shouldn't gloss over dark subjects.
Now, I didn't do this for Shock value, I did this because I wanted to show that some of the Characters we come across, don't have a past, and some face serious issues.
Certain characters in Canon have faced serious issues that were never really touched on.
Like Blake, Adam, and Ilia, all three of them suffered from discrimination because of their race, yet nothing was ever really touched on or really seen. We were always told about how the Faunus suffered but never really saw much of anything, sure a couple of bandits shooting at Ghira in Adam's short, and maybe a few scenes with the Faunus workers of the SDC. But CRWBY should have shown us their suffering I felt it would have shown us that the White-Fang and the Faunus in it do have a reason for becoming terrorists and are in between a rock and a hard place.
Like if they showed us Adam's branding, that would have been some dark stuff but would have shown us the cruelty that some Faunus face at the hands of Humans.
Mercury is another example, he faced abuse by his own father to the point that he was so injured he later needed to get prosthetics, he even had his Semblance stolen, I can understand why we heard about it during Vol.6, but I hope they bring it up if he meets up with the others and they try to get him to change.
I simply want to touch on similar subjects that some Characters have experienced, show just how it has affected them, and later see how they are trying to move on from the experience as best as they can.
I hope you can understand and I hope that I have not hurt nor offended anyone by bringing such a subject into the story.
Thank you.