The Grimm Lands Chapter 26
Hunting Grounds
Jaune
There was blood on his hands once more. Soaked so deep into his skin that it would never come off.
He couldn't breathe, the thick smog of smoke choking him, stealing the air in his lungs.
His sword felt heavier, and the sharpened steel in his battered, calloused hands was awkward and clumsy.
It had never ended. The nightmare of that night so long ago was still there. He had never awoken. An endless dream dyed in death and pain was his eternal punishment. The moments of loss of rage had become his only friends, his only comfort in an endless cycle of hate and agony.
He had thought he could escape, put it behind him. But here, once again, was that reminder. The messenger of death and destruction had found him once more. It had invaded his memories and carved itself into his soul. Now, it had finally come to finish what it had started so many years ago.
Those bright Golden Eyes were waiting, patient, and still as they observed him. They watched with silent judgment as they evaluated him and sized him up before delivering the final blow that would tear him in half. He had spent years waiting for this moment, running from it. He had pushed down his fear so deep that, in his happier moments, he had thought it had simply been a bad dream of a child who couldn't reconcile his actions—a figment of his grief and confusion.
He had led Nix to his death. He had killed August. He had left his family to die.
And now, finally, it was his turn to pay for his sins.
Jaune's knees trembled, and his blade started to slip out of his hand. He wanted it to end. He wanted it to be over. Jaune had thought Beacon could be the beginning of a change inside himself. He needed it to be.
But before this monster once more, he finally realized it had been a lie. He didn't need Beacon to be a fresh start; he needed it to be an escape from what he had done. He needed it to be a safe place for him to hide. And now that sham, that comforting lie he had told himself that he could be better, was stripped away, and all that was left was the same small, scared boy he had always been.
He hadn't become stronger. He hadn't changed.
Why fight it? Why bother? What was he even fighting for?
"For whose sake do you swing your sword?"
That had been Ozpin's question. It felt like an eternity ago.
"I want to be a hero."
What a bald-faced lie. He just didn't want to die. He was too afraid to stop and rebuild what he had lost. All he could do was swing his sword at whatever was before him. That was all that gave his life meaning. It was all he could do to atone.
He wasn't a hero.
He wasn't a Huntsman.
He was a coward.
A small, teary-eyed child screaming at how unfair the world was.
He was a curse.
There was no one left to save him, no one left to sacrifice. He could finally let the curse end.
He could finally join those he had failed to save.
"Jaune!" Weiss cried. His focus shifted, the sting of the icy air piercing through the choking smoke in his chest. The bitter cold replaced the numbing dread. The ground shook as his grip instinctively tightened around the hilt of his blade. The Minotaur was upon him. His towering muscular frame loomed over him as it brought its massive fists down upon his head. He managed to jump back in time, but the Grimm merely pushed ahead. Its sharpened horns and thick armored skull smashed into his chest and tossed him backward.
His Aura flickered as the snow broke his fall. Tumbling over himself, he slid to a stop. The Grimm pressed itself into the ground, ripping apart the earth as it readied for another charge. Jaune clambered to his feet, his body heavy. He swayed, struggling to find balance as the blood trickled down the side of his head.
It was a small cut, barely an inconvenience. More importantly, the golden-eyed monster had disappeared. It was close. Jaune knew that for certain. It had planned this hunt, and it would see it through.
Behind the endless numbers of Grimm, somewhere in the darkness, that thing was stalking them, observing and waiting for its chance to finally come in for the kill. It had been years since Jaune had last seen it, years since it had taken everything from him. And now, with the monster that had haunted every waking moment of his life right before him, he couldn't be bothered. The rage and pain that had carried him up to this point was gone. Instead, it was replaced by a deep melancholy. He didn't have the strength to fight, and he just didn't care.
What was it all even for?
What was the pain and suffering, the anger and hate, the endless nights of training and studying all for?
Why was he fighting at all?
The Minotaur charged once more. Its head hung low as its massive body rammed forward. And with a silent breath, Jaune closed his eyes and waited.
But the impact never came. Instead, when he reopened his eyes, the Grimm was stuck, a swirling black glyph beneath its feet. The monster huffed and wailed in total anger as it fought against its invisible restraints. The glyph condensed, swirling in place. The Grimm went shooting back.
In a daze, Jaune looked to his side. Weiss huffed in air, the strain of her Semblance already taking a toll on her still injured body. Her eyes darted to him, and despite her exhaustion, she strode over with purposeful, solid steps. A flicker of anger worked its way over her face, and she slapped him straight across the side of his face.
"I don't know what's happening to you right now," she spat. "But you have to focus. Where is all that bravado from earlier?"
"Run, "Jaune said after a pause. "Run. Get as far away from here as you can."
The Grimm leered from their shadows, waiting for the signal to attack.
'Why are they waiting?' Jaune wondered.
"Run? Are you daft? I'm not leaving you behind." She protested.
"You don't understand!" There it was, the fear and anger. He gripped her arm, squeezing it in his armored grip. She winced but refused to break her gaze on him. "This isn't normal. That thing isn't normal. This isn't just a Grimm anymore. You asked why I was here, well this is it! I can't stop it, I can't beat it. The only option for you is to run and get as far away as you can. Go back, back to Beacon."
She pulled away. Her eyes lowered to the floor, and for a moment, Jaune felt relief as she turned back. At the very least, he could fight long enough to carve open a path for her. It was the least he could do.
He could start to atone before the end.
Weiss spun, her heel digging into the snow as she hit him. The shock hurt more than the impact. His head snapped to the side as she gripped the front of his chest plate and pulled him down to eye level.
"Run away? Like I would ever do something like that. I can't escape this without you; we both know it. You're scared? Well, so am I. I'm beyond terrified. I can barely even stand, but you told me I have someplace to go back to. I'm going back, but not without you. I need you."
Need.
She needed him.
'She'll die like everyone else. You'll be the only one left. All alone. Always alone.'
August had needed him. His mother and sisters, his father….so many had he let down, so many had he failed.
What had it all been for? Who was he fighting for?
The earth trembled as the Minotaur bellowed a roar.
"Jaune!" Weiss said, panic thick.
Who was he fighting for? Why was he fighting? He wasn't a hero. He couldn't be one. So what was he?
This wasn't the time.
This wasn't the place for thinking, for regret.
He had promised he would get her back to where she belonged. He would keep at least this one.
No matter the cost.
"Minotaur's are top heavy. Hard to fight them up close due to their sheer strength, but they can only charge one direction at a time. Remember the Boarbatusk in class?"
Weiss nodded.
"Just like that. I'll take the right flank." He said. Then, he moved, falling back into familiar patterns and old habits. He could worry about the complicated stuff later. Here, at this moment, he could only do one thing. One thing he could be.
A hunter.
The Minotaur tore forward, rushing to meet him. Jaune sidestepped its charge, his blade angling low as he slashed at its ankle.
'What a convenient wish.'
The Minotaur stumbled. The cut had been shallow. He needed to strike deeper.
It was already upon him, its towering frame striking down at him. Its snarling scream was almost deafening.
'Maybe…just this once…'
Jaune spun in close. So close he could feel the thundering pound of its breath rattle against him. His blade struck upwards, cutting into the Minotaur's neck. The thick skin of its hide was too hard to cut through, and the monster thrashed about.
Digging in, Jaune forced himself still. He wouldn't budge. He wouldn't buckle. Not this time.
'Father…is this what you felt back then. You were scared too, right?'
The Grimm readied a heavy fist, bringing it down to crush Jaune entirely. Then the beast froze mid-swing, a fine point of a rapier thrust outward from the back of its neck. The Grimm released a low wail of pain from its snout, and the monster exploded in a burst of ashen dust. From the smoky haze, Weiss stood. The point of her blade extended outward as she stepped back from her strike.
Jaune sighed. The numbness in his body faded as the adrenaline started working its way through him.
"Not bad, Princess."
"I told you to quit with that." Weiss huffed.
Despite the terror, Jaune smiled.
"Hey, Weiss," Jauen started. "I'm going to clear a path when I do make a break for it."
"I already told you I wouldn't," She protested.
"Yeah, you did. But right now, you're in better shape out of the two of us. I can at least buy some time while you get help."
"Don't be stupid. You can't beat all of them on your own."
"Maybe not, I can't kill them all. But I can at least save someone."
"I don't need you to recuse me."
"Not you…" Jaune said.
The shadows shifted. The forest grew quiet as the single heavy steps of eternal darkness pounded forth. The icy air became thick with tension as the monsters of Grimm cowered in fear. The bright golden eyes of death itself loomed above them, the darkness bending around it gave it form. It spoke with a thick, booming voice that nearly drove the air from Jaune's lungs.
"I find it shameful that my first hunt in nearly three hundred years is simply to slaughter mere children. How accursed the tides of fate must be. I shall endeavor to make it quick and painless, but I do hope you at least make an interesting spectacle of it."
It was a monster. In the purest sense. Its human-like frame, a mere illusion, masquerading as a mask for the evil hidden deep underneath.
When Jaune was a child, the stories of knights had been some of his favorite stories. Tall, powerful, and strong. Adorned in shining armor, they pushed back against evil with their bright smiles and gleaming weapons.
The monster before him was like a perversion of every story he had ever been told, a sick distortion of the virtues he had always admired. Its blackened armor caught no light from the shattered moon. It simply stood like a gaping black hole in the world around itself. Its armor-like frame's angular, jutting edges stuck out like sharpened blades. No mortal could wear such dangerous armor. No living thing could hold such untempered malice in its burning eternal gaze.
This wasn't the monster from all those years ago. It was no spider, no frantic mother trying to take revenge for the murder of its children. No, this was an entirely new beast. Every instinct, every scar, and every edge of hard-earned experience told Jaune to flee. There was no winning. There was no hope in fighting.
Only death awaited.
"Wh-what is that…" Weiss muttered. She stepped back, her breathing shaky. The tremble in her body had worsened as she stared unblinkingly at the thing in front of them. With mild amusement, Jaune noticed he was shaking as well.
"Get going…" Jaune took pride in how steady his voice was, if nothing else.
"You'll die…." Weiss stuttered. "I can't…"
Jaune smiled—a genuine, warm smile. With as much control as he could muster, he gently placed a steady hand on her head. He forced the tension and fear away for that one moment. "I was wrong, princess, about you and myself. You're plenty strong already. Now, get going. They're waiting for you."
He gripped Crocea Mors, reveling in the familiar feel of the worn leather. He expanded his shield and turned fully to face the beast before him. Weiss took a step back, the snow shuffling under her foot. Her usual confidence was gone, and her bright blue eyes were shadowed by guilt and uneasiness.
"A wounded hog is limping towards the butcher as it accepts its own predetermined fate." The monster echoed out. There was no motion of its head, its voice projecting into the air. "How cruelly poetic."
The thing raised its metallic arm upwards. Its slender fingers were uncomfortably humanlike.
"Jaune…" Weiss said.
"It'll be ok."
'Father, August…. are you watching?'
The monster dropped its arm. And like a dam bursting from the mounting pressure, like a sudden unspoken booming command, the creatures of darkness charged forward. Howling, ripping, clawing, and snarling, they tore themselves apart in a manic haze of bloodlust, rushing forward like an unchecked storm as they began their hunt.
'For the first time…. if only for today….'
Jaune gave Weiss one last look, then charged headfirst into the coming battle.
'I'm going to be a hero.'
A.N: All responses will be in the next chapter! Please comment and fav if you enjoyed it. The next update is coming!