To the Socially Awkward
Edited 12/08/015
Here we Go!
The only thing he heard was the clicking of his boots, sword against it's sheath, shield against his back, and his breathing. He moved quickly, there wasn't time to watch his step. If there were any traps, he would have to rely on aura and speed to get around them. Still, he shouldn't be worried, it was her after all, and he knew her.
He ran down the long corridor, a dark, concrete hall. He had been scouring the underground complex. It was rough to deal with the members of the unit. They were not the usual rabble, no, they were skilled. He could compare each of them to someone like Mercury or Emerald. Troublesome, strong, but nowhere near unbeatable. But, he fought each them. He killed them.
There was a reason why he was called the White Knight.
'Where' He thought to himself. He kept running forward, ignoring his wounds. They were shallow, easy to heal, but he needed to reserve Aura. It had been twenty minutes since he had gotten here. Taking out the guards had delayed him quite a bit, but it didn't matter. As long as he found her, did what he came here to do. He would be fine.
It would be over.
He dashed forward towards the end of the hallway, bright lights shining from the end. He squinted as he charged forward, the light surrounding him. He blinked rapidly, adjusting his eyes to the light. He was in a larger room. It was barren, empty. Save for one thing. One person.
"My, my" A light voice. Soft. It sent a shiver down his spine. "Isn't this a surprise" A flick of the hair, a black lock shifted backward. Her red cloth swished in the air as she turned. A step to the side. Loud clicks as heels clicked on the floor.
"It's been awhile," The White Knight said. He nodded in greeting. Being polite was his second nature, even to his enemies. But, this situation was a bit more complicated.
"You killed my men." She gave a small glare. But, it only took a few seconds before it faded. She gave a small pout and sighed. "They were good people."
"To most people, sure." He shrugged. "But, to others. Not so much."
"Come now" She gave a bright smile. It made him nostalgic. It reminded of peaceful times, of quieter times, of innocent times. "you know some people need killing, Jaune."
"I know." Jaune nodded. He gripped his sword and pulled the shield off his back. He took a deep breath and called for his aura. Called it just how Pyrrha taught him. Pulling on his gut, just under the skin, feeling the energy that was like water and smoke. Pulling it outwards, inwards, and filling his body. He started to glow white, aura pouring out of his being.
Blue eyes stared into silver eyes.
"It's why I'm here to kill you, Ruby."
She skipped along the ledge, humming a small tune. He followed her slowly, admiring how graceful she was. Her feet lightly tapped the edge, her cloak swishing in the wind. She spun around gently, giggling as she did so.
Jaune smiled, taking in her innocent beauty. It wasn't just looks that made her beautiful or cute, it was her. How she expressed her emotions in such simple expressions. How she was sincere in her want to help. It drew Jaune in. Jaune turned away and looked out into the jungle. They were on the roof of an outpost, just finished a mission. The op had been a small one, just clearing out some grim and investigating a White Fang hide out. It had only taken the two of them. They had left both their teams back in Vale, to let them get some rest. Ozpin was pushing them hard, he had to. Ever since Beacon had been attacked, Hunters and Huntresses were called to fight, called to serve.
It had been a long four years. Constantly fighting, constantly chasing after Cinder and her organization. Too long. And they weren't even close. They were being stretched thin and Cinder was getting better at laying out traps. Before, they had been minor annoyances to her. But now, she was paying extra attention to their movements. They were getting closer, but it was becoming more dangerous.
"What's wrong?" A light voice. Soft. It sent a shiver down his spine.
Jaune turned to Ruby and smiled. "Nothing just thinking."
Ruby pouted slightly. "you got that look on your face again. The 'I'm all stressed out' kind of face."
Jaune laughed. "It's nothing. Just the usual stress."
Ruby rolled her eyes. "Usual stress. Bah. Who says that?"
Jaune shrugged. "It'll catch on, trust me." He gave a small wink
Ruby giggled as she jumped at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Jaune caught her and wrapped his arms around her hips. He stepped backward, to keep his balance, and smiled. Their breaths mingled as their eyes met.
"So, we got the rest of the night off." Ruby smiled, her voice quiet.
Jaune smirked. "Really now?"
Ruby giggled. "Come on, I need to use the time I have with you."
Jaune pressed his forehead against hers and sighed, happily. "Fine"
They reached in to kiss.
Ruby ducked back as a blade whisked by her cheek. She back-flipped backwards and slid back. Her heels screeched against the ground. They were strong though, and sentimental. The heels were a gift from Weiss. "Funny" Ruby huffed out, Crimson rose held out in front of her. "How the good times didn't last."
Jaune panted as he raised Akoúo̱. His arms parallel to the ground, shoulder leaning forward. Keeping his center of mass behind the brown and gold shield, his sword pointed at her. Her. "The good times were good when they were there."
Ruby gripped her scythe and nodded slowly. She dashed forward, her semblance activating. She became a red blur, fast, almost impossible to track. Jaune had seen it so many times. He focused on himself, covering his skin with aura. It was a shield. A barrier. A protector for him. Jaune felt his right side being bashed with the blade of Crimson Rose. He flew through the air, gritting his teeth. The blow had winded him, but he kept his focused. His eyes rapidly scanned the area, trying to find the red blur.
He caught just at the edge of his vision, a small rose petal. He raised his shield and blocked the follow-up blow. He was slammed into the wall, the concrete cracking from the force. Jaune looked up, the red streak coming right at him. Jaune roared as he pushed against the wall and leaped at her. He twisted his body, gaining momentum, and slashed with his sword. Blade met blade, sparks flew in the air, eyes stared into each other.
Blue eyes filled with anger, determination, and regret.
Silver eyes filled with strength, resolve, and resignation.
Jaune pushed down the blade, his muscles screaming in protest. But, he continued to push, knocking the scythe away. He followed through on his strike, bringing the sword across. Ruby, now off balance, raised Crimson Rose to block. Jaune struck.
Ruby flew downwards, crashing into the ground. The room shook. Smoke filled the air. Jaune landed on the ground, his shoulders shaking. He scanned the smoke, looking for any sign of his opponent. A loud bang was his answer, as a bullet sped towards his head. Jaune lifted up Akouo and let the bullet bounce off the brown shield.
Ruby walked slowly out of the smoke, heels click against the cracked ground. Sweat dripped from her forehead, blood dripped from her mouth. She shook her head, with a small, bitter laugh. She wiped her mouth, with the back of her hand. "Wow, Jaune." She sighed. "You've really come a long way."
Jaune shrugged. "I'm not a loser anymore."
Ruby smiled gently at him. "You were never a loser."
Jaune sighed as he let his stance loosen slightly, neither of them really wanted this. "We had to grow up"
Ruby nodded, sadness drew itself over her face. He hated that look. Hated to see her in pain. But, he knew why. He didn't have time to think about it. Red blurred in his vision and Crimson Rose rapidly approached his face.
Jaune blinked rapidly as he tried to blink away the white spots in his visions.'Shit' He rolled to his side as he tried to catch his breathe. It had been a trap. They had to regroup. They had to find out how many people there were. He needed to find Team RWBY and regroup. 'Focus' Jaune forced himself to a take a breathe. He tried to stand, staggering as he did so.
"Guys!?" He called out, his white shield raised.
"I'm here!" Pyrrha called out.
"Over here!" Nora called out, her voice frantic. Jaune's gut dropped.
"On my way." Jaune dashed forward, towards Nora's voice. He coughed as he inhaled dust and smoke. He ignored the aches in his body, the ringing in his ears.
Nora looked up at him, her face marred by dirt and blood. "Ren's hurt." Her voice quiet, a whimper. She was kneeling next to broken pillar, steel reinforcement bent every which way. One of them protruding from Ren's stomach.
"Dammit." Jaune rushed forward as he moved next to Ren. He was unconcious, the pain must have knocked him out. Jaune assessed the wound. The steel wasn't large itself, but it was lodged into Ren's side. It could already be life threatening. It would certainly be life threatening if they tried to remove it.
"Oh Oum" Pyrrha ran next to him. Kneeling down next to him. Jaune ignored her for now, he focused on assessing Ren's vitals. He was still breathing. Good. But, he needed help fast. They were nearby an outpost, only five clicks. It was an easy run, but Ren wouldn't last that long. If they tried to remove it, they didn't have anything to plug the wound from one side, much less both sides.
'Dammit, think Jaune' He gripped his fists as he looked at the concrete. The metal inside-
'Metal'. Jaune looked over to Pyrrha and Nora. "Alright. Pyrrha, use your magnetism to lift the pillar. Nora, get under there and help carry it. I want you guys to go back to the outpost and get Ren help."
Nora wiped tears in her eyes and nodded, a determined look replacing the fearful one. Pyrrha looked nervous.
"What about you?"
"I need to find team RWBY," Jaune said.
"But-"
"This is not a discussion!" Jaune growled. "I am ordering you to go. Now GO!" Jaune turned and ran off towards RWBY's last position. He didn't have time to argue, Ren's life was at stake and so was Team RWBY's. As he continued to run, he heard the patter of gunfire and screams.
He drew his sword and called on his aura. 'Faster' Jaune dug in his foot and launched himself forward. The world became a blur as he charged forward. The would use his aura to break through the things standing in his path. One of the things he had learned about his aura. It was really strong defensively. But, when he wanted something broken down, he could use his aura to ram it down.
Jaune's world became broken pillars, wood, fire and smoke as he ran. 'How did Cinder know?' They had been working on finding a White fang hideout in the mountains. They had been discrete about it, only communicating through Ironwood. Could their communications be tapped?
"NO!"
Jaune felt his blood chill. That was Ruby's voice. Jaune doubled his efforts, gritting his teeth as his muscles screeched in pain.
He ran forward and saw Team RWBY at the entrance of the mountain. Jaune saw something, something that he knew would haunt him till he died. A remnant of a bridge between a mountain cave and the side he was on. Ruby, Weiss and Blake were near him. Weiss was being held up by Blake, and Ruby was near the edge, crying her lungs out.
Yang was staring at them from the other side. Smiling. Crying. Bleeding.
He saw what was behind her. Hundreds of White Fang members. Mechs. And in his gut he knew, he knew what had happened. Jaune felt himself stagger forward as he approached the edge.
"No, Yang. Please. No!" Ruby cried as she tried to reach for her sister. Trying to will her to come to her. Tears dropped from her face, drenching the ground with water and blood.
Yang simply smiled. She said something. It was too far to hear. But, the way she said it. How slowly she said it. Tenderly.
I love you.
She turned. Faced the opposition.
She burned.
The mountain cracked as flames rocked through the edges, throughout the cave, and into the sky. And then the mountain came crumbling down, collapsing in on itself. Ruby tried to leap off the edge, but Jaune held her back.
"NO!" Ruby cried. "No, let me go. Yang. Please. Yang! No!" Her screams grew louder. Flailing more wildly. Jaune kept pulling her back, holding her. Crying with her.
Minutes passed. The crying became softer. Her voice gone. Her flails became weaker. Her strength gone.
Jaune held her still. Tears down their faces.
A drop of blood ran down his face.
Jaune licked his lips as he felt a single bead of blood drip onto it. She had gotten him on the forehead, a quick shave to the head. That was bad though, it meant he was running low on Aura. Normally, he'd check on his shield, but against someone like Ruby, looking away meant death. A small breeze above him. Jaune dove to he side, rolling as he did so. He drew himself up on his knees and raised his shield.
Ruby stood up slowly, pulling upwards. A small screech resounded through the hall as her scythe cracked the ground. She looked at Jaune, a frown on her face.
"You know, I always wondered" Ruby put her hand on her hips, dragging Crimson Rose on the ground. The blade sliced through the gravel easily, sparks crackled around it. "her shield." Ruby nodded towards Akoúo̱. "you refused to give it to her monument."
Jaune sighed, standing up. "It's because-" Jaune dashed forward, swinging as he did so. Ruby sidestepped the strike, and slicked upwards. Jaune ducked under the counter, and spun around on his left leg. His blade met Ruby's armor. As soon as he did so, he flared his aura, pushing forward.
Ruby flew backwards and crashed into one of the walls in a loud crunch. Ruby groaned as she struggled to get back on her feet. Jaune charged forward, arm raised to stab her. Ruby tilted her head, the blade embedding into the wall. She swung upwards with her left hand, catching Jaune's jaw. He grunted in pain as he staggered backwards. Ruby quickly raised her scythe and sliced downwards. Jaune raised Akoúo̱ and caught the blade, mere inches before his head.
"Because" Jaune coughed. "With this" Jaune's shield arm shook. "her soul is with me."
"Pyrrha." Jaune roared as he sliced an incoming Ursa. He had been fighting his way back towards her position. He had just led a group of civilians through Mistral. Cinder had let loose a huge amount of Grimm into the city. They all had colors around their neck. But, what was worse was the automated defense systems had all gone down. People were dying in the streets. Buildings were burning. Blood stained the ground.
Ironwood said to evacuate the shelters and what they could. Not risk themselves by going in. Team JNPR had only listened for a grand total of 3 minutes. He had ordered Nora and Ren to secure the airport, keeping it safe with the local law enforcement and hunters. While he could use them in the more dangerous parts, Ren had lost a step after his injury. He didn't want to risk anything.
"Pyrrha!" Jaune roared again. He was trying to find her in this mess. His eyes dashed back and forth, trying to look through the smoke, trying to find his partner.
"Over here!" A reply.
Jaune turned to his right, not even hesitating in sprinting towards the voice. He saw Pyrrha defending a large group of civilians. Miló and Akoúo̱ spun beautifully and deadly in her touch. She carved through Grimm with ease, but she was only one person and there were dozens of Grimm. Jaune threw his sword, lodging into a nearby Grimm, which was about to eat a family. He jumped, grasping his sword from the falling corpse, and kept on running towards his partner. Jaune roared as he swiped. Pyrrha, predicting his movement, easily weaved around him to deal with the other Grimm.
They worked in concert. Every step matched each others. Just like their dance so long ago.
The last Grimm fell to the ground in a bloody heap, Jaune panted as he looked over Pyrrha. No injuries, good.
"How much gas you got left in your tank?" Jaune asked. He needed to know how much Aura, how much fight she had left.
Pyrrha was about to respond, but a small cry stopped her.
"Please help!" Jaune and Pyrrha turned to see a small girl crying over an older man. Jaune winced as he saw the man's injuries. Most of his stomach had been ripped open, and he was missing an arm. He wouldn't make it. But, he was still barely breathing. Jaune walked forward, kneeling down on the other side of the man. Jaune nodded towards Pyrrha, who moved behind the girl.
"What's your name?" Jaune asked.
"Jen." She said quietly. "That's my-"
A small smack and the girl fell limp. Pyrrha caught her as she fell. She carried the girl gently towards the other families, and started gathering them together. Denial and sugar coating wouldn't help here. Jaune turned back to the man, blood covering his dark hair. His eyes were filled with pain.
"My daughter-" He coughed.
"Will be fine," Jaune said. "Do you. Do you want me to end it?"
The man squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth. After a few moments, the man looked into Jaune's eyes and nodded. "Take care of her please."
"Of course." Jaune nodded. A swift stab with Corcea Mors through the heart. He reached over and closed the man's eyes. Letting out a sigh, the leader of JNPR stood up and looked at Pyrrha. She was waiting at the ready, searching for more Grimm.
"Let's go!" Jaune yelled and started off. He jogged sighed by side with Pyrrha, leading them through the path he cleared. Pyrrha easily kept up with him, but Jaune noticed a slightly limp in her step, the heavy sweat on her brow. She was out of it, there was no way he could send her back out.
"Alright, this is the last group you take." Jaune spoke quietly.
"But!" Pyrrha protested.
"You're barely holding it together" Jaune bit back. "And, We're almost out of rooms in the ships. I already ordered most of them to take off already. We're down to the reserves."
Pyrrha was silent and looked away.
Their group raced towards the airport, which had turned into a military compound. Makeshift turrets were set up on the columns, shooting down approaching Grimm. Jaune could see hunters rallying the men, and making pushes against the Grimm.
"Jaune, Pyrrha."
Jaune smiled as he waved to Nora and Ren. They approached them on foot, a small truck running slowly behind them.
Ren's face was Grimm. "We're out of ships."
Jaune blinked ."What?" They were down on ships, but they weren't that low on transportation. Just because they didn't have all the ships here, didn't mean they were at the limit. Plus, they could bring back the transports that had finished dropping off refugees.
Nora sighed wearily. "Cinder attacked Atlas."
Jaune groaned. Shit. That meant Ironwood would have to divert his forces there. That meant that the reserves and back up would not be coming. Jaune and Ozpin had planned to evacuate the civilians from Mistral. And then, use a group of hunters and huntresses to take back pockets of Mistral, so the army there could hold it. But, if Atlas was being attacked.
Jaune shook his head. They had to keep going.
"Alright, everyone in the base." Jaune said. Ren passed him the radio. Nora and Pyrrha started pulling people in to the truck. Jaune flicked the radio on. "Team CVFY, CRDL, SSSN Roll call. Let's go."
"CVFY here," Coco responded quickly. He heard gun fire in the background.
"CRDL is by the east wall. We're plugging a hole. Dove is hurt bad." Cardin growled . The truck started to move and team JNPR started to run behind it.
"SSSN all accounted," Scarlett said. "We're doing a sweep on the West and North wall. Do you need help CRDL?"
"No," Cardin responded. "We're just about done. But, I'm sending back Dove to HQ." Jaune heard Dove protest. "Shut up Dove." Cardin growled "You'll lose that arm if you keep fighting. Anyways, what's the plan?"
"We can't keep this up forever." Coco said. "We're down to scrapping the barrel for bullets. I say we grab everyone inside, hole up for reserves and then we can push out to retake the warehouses. I saw some weapons in storage there."
"No good." Jaune said. "Atlas has been attacked. Support won't becoming."
"Fuck" Scarlett cursed. "Do we still have transports on the ground?"
"We do," Cardin responded. "We have three bullheads and a small armored convoy."
"The convoy is a death trap." Jaune murmured to himself. He shook his head and spoke into his radio. "There are multiple Goliath's in the area. They'll never make it out." Beowolves and Ursa's were one thing, a single Goliath took a team of hunters to deal with. Team JNPR entered the base and started filtering people towards the evac. Jaune made a mental count of how many people were there. The bullheads, at full capacity, could hold about fifty people. And that was with throwing everything out.
Jaune shook his head. "Alright. Everyone back in the walls. Everyone on wall duty." He received three confirmations and continued on his way.
Team JNPR entered the hanger bay and saw soldiers emptying the bullheads. They through crates haphazardly out, and started to file people in.
"Sir." A soldier approached Jaune.
"How many people we got?" Jaune asked.
"About, A hundred civilians and whatever you just brought." he said.
"So around 150" Jaune rubbed his chin. They would have to put all of their civilians into the airships, and just let them run. They could then put the soldiers into the convoy and have everyone else evac that way. But, they would need to figure out how to avoid the Goliath's.
"Alright" Jaune looked at the soldier. "Prep that convoy with detachable heavy weapons. I want them to be able to go light and fast at a moment's notice. Do you understand."
"Yes sir." the soldier nodded. He turn and ran towards the garage areas, yelling at soldiers to follow him.
"Jaune." Pyrrha gripped his arm. There was nervousness in her voice.
"One sec" Jaune said. He needed to get the rest of the guys organized. "Ren, Nora, You're on the ships. Go Direct the civilians. I'm sending CRDL with you guys."
"Got it." Ren nodded and leaped down towards the crowd of civilians. Nora started to yell for people to get in a line.
"CRDL Get in the ships. You're directing civilians. " Jaune spoke over the radio. Jaune heard CRDL yelling at his team to pick up the pace."Coco, Start setting charges on the surrounding wall."
"We're blowing the walls?" Coco asked.
Jaune nodded. "Yes. We're going to blow a couple make shift holes through Mistral. Try and make a path out side of the city. If we can do that, we can maybe get to the open area. From there, it's just keeping Grimm from following us."
"Got it," Coco responded.
"SSSN," Jaune called out.
"Sup?" Sun responded over the radio. "Scarlett's a bit busy fighting off some Nevermore."
"Alright. I need you guys to go down to the garage. Help the soldiers set up the convoy. I want heavy weapons initially, but I need them to be able to detach."
"Got it." Sun said. He heard a loud screech in the distance. "Oh, Holy shi-"
Jaune looked up into the sky as he saw Nevermore crash into each other. He saw a red beam rip through them. Looks like Scarlett finally brought out his big guns.
"Jaune!" Pyrrha gripped his arm, tightly. Jaune lowered the radio and turned to Pyrrha.
"Okay. What is it?" He looked into her eyes. She was nervous. Scared.
"You need to go onto the Bulleheads."
Jaune snorted. "No, I'm going onto the convoy. You know I hate flying." he joked, but Pyrrha's expression didn't change. She shook her head slowly.
"If Atlas is attacked, Team RWBY is there." She spoke slowly.
Jaune felt gut dropped. Team RWBY had just picked itself back together. Ruby cried for days. Jaune was by her side for most of it. But he had to go out on missions. They were a shell of themselves.
"I-" Jauen swallowed. Shit. Ruby wasn't mentally ready to fight someone like Cinder. "Fuck" Jaune grunted. He looked at Pyrrha, whose eyes glimmered with understanding.
"I will lead the Convoy." Pyrrha said. "I know my way around Mistral too."
"Look. I trust-" Jaune started.
"Sir, the planes are almost all loaded. We need to divert some civilians into the convoy." A soldier called out to them.
Jaune looked over and nodded. "Do so." He turned back to Pyrrha. "look. I believe in you. But, I need to be there to-" Jaune stopped as Pyrrha wrapped her arms around his neck. Jaune, without hesitation, returned the hug, though he was confused. Pyrrha pulled back and sighed. "Here."
She pushed Akouo into his hands, she slowly grabbed his shield and took it for herself.
Jaune lost his breath.
"There." Pyrrha looked up at him. There was a glimmer in her eyes. "Now, your soul is with me. And you have mine."
"Pyrrha, I-"
"Jaune." Cardin called out. "The Grimm have broken through the walls. Jaune looked past Pyrrha and saw, CVFY entering the ships.
"Go," Pyrrha said. She turned and sprinted towards the garage.
"Dammit" Jaune leaped down, grasping Akouo. He ran and entered one of the bullheads. "Take us up now!"
The pilots started up the engines and flew the ships.
Nora and Ren were by his side. "Where is" Nora's voice was small, nervous. "Where is Pyrrha."
Jaune bit his lip. "She went with the Convoy. She'll be fine."
No one heard from the Convoy for a week. It was expected though. Traveling by ground was difficult, even with hunters and huntresses. They couldn't send out more ships, because most of them were being sent out to defend Atlas. Jaune and the hunters under his command were sent to Atlas to back team RWBY. They hadn't made it in time. Weiss had been captured by the White Fang. Ruby and Blake followed a lead and chased it with desperation. JNPR had to split off and secure Atlas.
But, When they had gone to greet the Convoy...
Jaune took one look at the convoy and knew. He saw SSSN in the front. Sun wrapped in bandages, Scarlett missing an arm. He knew. In his gut, he knew what had happened. He walked forward slowly. Numb.
"Jaune." Scarlett winced. "Pyrrha, she-."
Jaune ignored him. He walked towards the back of the convoy, towards where the civilians were gathered. They were gathered around a person, a corpse.
She looked peaceful.
Eyes closed. Arms clasped. Milo in her hands. And his broken shield on top of her.
"S-she" the small girl, Jen cried. "She stopped those big monsters, the Goliaths."
Jaune knelt down, cradling her head in his arms.
He cried.
He screamed.
He roared.
Ruby leaped as his sword crushed the ground underneath her. She back pedaled away from Jaune. She hated this. Hated fighting him. But she needed to, she had to. She ducked and weaved side to side, her necklace bounced off her armor.
It felt heavy.
She spun on her heel, scratching the ground underneath her. She got used to her lady stilts after a while, Weiss showed her how to fight in them. Her partner was always elegant, smart and sometimes cold. But, she always showed that she cared, always tried to understand.
Sure, she may had been rough around the edges. Sure, she may have been a bit cold and mean sometimes. But, that's just Weiss. Oh, oh dear. Ruby raised Crimson rose as Jaune's sword smashed into it. Her legs almost buckled underneath the pressure. Pyrrha was always right about Jaune. He wasn't a good fighter, not back then. But, ruby stared into the beautiful blue eyes. Ones that made her heart flutter.
He was so strong now.
Ruby dashed backwards, pushing off of the sword. The ground beneath her cracked as Jaune's strike hit the floor. She was lucky. Jaune had to fight through multiple people to get to her. He was wobbly, a bit worn out. And, she had just finished a mission to go hunt down some scum.
They were both tired.
Jaune stood up, aura still whirling around him. He always seemed to have an infinite supply. Something about his bloodline or some cool crap like that. Always used to joke about his heritage. And he would flush in the cutest ways and say he wasn't interested in living up to a legacy or not.
No, Ruby knew something about Jaune. He was greater than any hunter or huntress that had come from his family. He stood slowly, shield in hand, sword in gripped tightly. He looked straight from a fairy tale. A White knight. Her Knight.
"But, I never understood." Ruby sighed, grasping Crimson Rose. "Why you didn't join me in bringing the rest of the White Fang to justice."
"The war is over." Jaune coughed. "Peace was established. We needed to move on."
No. That was a civilian attitude. That was an ignorant opinion. It wasn't shared by those who had witnessed the horrors. Seen it. Felt it. Been ripped apart by it. The people who followed her. They knew what the White Fang were capable of. They knew they had to be put down like the monsters they were.
"You know what they did." Ruby said.
Jaune nodded. "I know." He sighed. "Dammit, I know. But, we needed to be the better people. The-"
"There are no better people" Ruby said. "Just people. Just people in the world who just do whatever they want. Not being held accountable. Not being punished for their actions."
"We aren't judges." Jaune raised his sword.
Ruby gritted her teeth. "No, we're the executioners."
It was them or us. Those bastards or her friends. She had learned that mercy, mercy was for the foolish.
They had been judged the moment they picked up a gun.
Ruby sliced upwards. Cutting into a man's gut, he fell to the ground dead. 'I'm sorry' She whispered in her head. 'I am so sorry.' They had chosen their side, but it still felt wrong to kill them. But, it was them or her team.
'Weiss, where are you!' She scanned the fortress grounds. She had to go in further. Dancing through the guards, she sliced her way through. Killing. She killed as fast as possible. No need to make the suffer.
Blake was beside her, fighting her former brethren. They were here for Weiss. They had been sent to Atlas on a routine mission, to get them back into the fold. Jaune had left reluctantly to go secure Mistral. That's when Cinder struck. She had activated some kind of virus, destroying all the military machinery in Atlas. It had been a nightmare. They had charged out against the White Fang, hoping to hold them off. But, those bastards had brought out their own mechs. Weiss had been captured.
Ruby dashed into the complex, ignoring the rest of the White Fang. Weiss was in here. Penny had tracked her down to this location. Ruby fought her way through the opposing Faunus. Fought her way through the corridors, stairs, and rooms.
"Weiss!" She yelled. Breaking down a door, looking inside. Nothing. Scatters of paper from a hasty evacuation.
She ran out. Wind whipping around her. She ran down the long corridor, a dark, concrete hall. She had been scouring the underground complex. It was rough to deal with the members of the unit. They were not the usual rabble, no they were skilled.
But, she killed them anyways.
Finally, she reached the lowest levels. Prison cells. Weiss had to be here. Ruby dashed through, slicing the doors open as she went. She saw captured soldiers. Men. Women. They were all injured, dirty, and in pain. She could help them later.
She ran down towards the end, the final cell. And she saw white hair.
"Wiess!" She breathed a sigh of relief, cutting the door open.
Ruby froze.
Weiss was lying down on the ground. Eyes open. Still breathing. Still breathing, but...
Ruby scrunched her nose as the smell hit her. She staggered forward, over shredded clothes on the floor. She knelt down the dirt, piss, and dirty water. She grasped Weiss's head. Cradling it in her arms. The red cloak wrapped around them.
"Weiss?" Her voice was small. "Weiss can you hear me?"
She was still breathing. Still alive. Why? Ruby took her cloak off. Wrapped it around Weiss's body. She hugged her for all she was worth. Rocking back and forth.
"Weiss? Please, Please talk to me?" Ruby whispered. "it's me. It's me Ruby. Stupid stupid, Ruby."
Ruby's tears slid down Weiss's face.
The siege ended in a couple minutes. They had taken the White Fang base. Ruby carried Weiss out. Carried her to the medivac and watched it leave. After a few moments, after a few seconds, after a few heartbeats, she turned to search for the commander of this operation.
"Sir."
"Ruby." His voice soft. Pity.
"Do you have the interrogator?"
"Yes." Understanding. Good.
Ruby followed the commander, walking towards the White Fang complex. They entered a back room, with two guards guarding the door. A man was already inside, interrogating the man. He held a clipboard and was grilling the man. Telling him of all the trouble he had gotten himself in.
But the White Fang member was smiling. He was fucking smiling.
"Giovanni." The commander said. "She will take care of the interrogation. Give her your clipboard."
Giovanni nodded and left without a word. Ruby grabbed the clipboard, and let it hang in her hands. Something was bubbling in her stomach. She looked back at the commander.
"Do you need him alive?"
The commander smiled. "What do you mean. We never captured the Lead interrogator of the White Fang. He had been killed in battle."
"Thank you."
The commander left. The door closed with a small click. Ruby heard the two guards walk away as well. It was just them, in this small room. She turned back to the smiling Faunus. She smiled back.
He died from loss of blood, limbs, and multiple wounds. There was no smile on his corpse.
But, he did not die alone.
"We've changed." Ruby coughed as she stood up. Jaune had tempo now, not good. Ruby side stepped to her right, and back pedaled, activating her semblance as she did so. Jaune dashed after her. He was probably moving on pure instinct. Only a few people in the world could do that. Well, Jaune was probably the only active hunter now, everyone else was either dead, disabled or, if they were lucky, retired. He was in the class of his own.
Ruby planted her heels in the ground and bent her knees. She stabbed downwards, embedding Crimson Rose on the ground. Jaune charged straight on. She fired bullet after bullet. Flashes of light spread across Jaune's shield, as the bullet disintegrated from striking the aura enhanced shield.
Jaune leaped, sword shining in the air. Ruby grasped Crimson Rose, using it as a beam. She kicked outwards, pushing against Jaune's shield. Jaune twisted his body, absorbing the strike, and landed on the ground. He slashed upwards at Ruby's chest. She pulled up her scythe parrying the blow inches from her chest.
They dashed away from each other.
"I know." Jaune murmured. "But, that doesn't mean." Taking a large breathe, he stood tall, sweat dripping off of his chin. "It doesn't mean we stop protecting people"
Jaune winced as the bandages was wound tightly around his arm.
"Stupid idiot. Stupid, stupid, stupid, idiot" Nora ridiculed him. Jaune held in a sigh and nodded a long. She was right to call him an idiot. He had dove into the bunker of White Fang, head first. Nora's hair had grown out. It was now long, in a pony tail. She wore green earrings.
Jaune leaned against his round shield. He would need to repaint it later, the brown was starting to chip away. "I'm sorry." Jaune said.
Nora glared at him, but Jaune gave her an apologetic smile. It wore her glare down and she sighed. A resigned look settled on her face. "Just be more careful next time." Her voice was low, reserved, worried.
Jaune winced. It had been two years since Pyrrha had left them. Two years of pain, waking up crying, and a lot of anger. What was worse was Ren's situation. He had been poisened, a spy in the ranks. They had weeded the man out, but he had gotten the drop on them. Ren was currently recovering in a secure hospital. They wanted to be with him as he recovered.
But, they still had to do their job.
"Look, Nora. Since we're done here." Jaune said. "Why don't we go back to-" He paused as he heard jeering and yelling. He looked up and saw soldiers dragging captured White Fang members around. They had captured a lot of them, some of them combatants, but most of the civilian. The soldiers didn't care though. They pushed them, tripped them, spat on them. There was a lot of resentment in the forces for the White Fang. It was justified as well. Letting Grimm loose on civilian areas, bombing public transports, terrorists acts that weren't discriminatory.
But, Jaune had long ago learned to channel that hate into something else.
"Shit." Jaune shook his head as he stood up. One of his legs had taken a bullet, so he had to limp forward towards the soldiers and group of White Fang. He noticed the fear in some of the civilians eyes.
"Pieces of shit" One of the soldiers took out his gun and pressed it against a faunus's head. "you bombed Nexar. That train station had my cousins on it."
"I didn't, I'm not apart-" The faunus stuttered. His ears pressed flat against his head, he was scared.
Jaune sighed as he shook his head. "Alright. Alright" He said. "That's enough." He stepped in between the faunus and the soldiers. The soldier staggered back as he recognized Jaune. Jaune had lead them in the charge.
"S-sir." The soldier stammered.
Jaune shook his head. "Just get these prisoners to transport. We don't need to be jeering them. They're our prisoners. Treat them with respect."
"They didn't give us respect when they bombed Nexar. Or Malar." Someone in the crowd of soldiers yelled out. The soldiers murmured to each other. Jaune heard some of them muttering obscenities and agreeing amongst each other. Jaune agreed too, but that wasn't the point.
"Of course." Jaune nodded. "But, that doesn't mean we get down and start doing this." He waved towards the scared White Fang member.
"But, they deserve it." The soldier said, he waved his pistol at the faunus. The White fang member winced as the barrel was pointed at him.
Jaune didn't respond. Deserve? He honestly didn't know. Maybe, he wasn't smart enough to know. Maybe, he was too tired to think about who deserved what. But really, he just 'felt' it was wrong.
"Look" Jaune called out, raising his voice. He scanned the crowd of soldiers surrounding him. "I don't care whether you got beef with the White Fang or not. I don't care whether you love faunus or hate them. There's a difference between doing things the right way and doing things the easy way." Jaune looked at the soldier and nodded towards his pistol. "We can give in. Teach them a lesson. Make an example of them. But, what would that get us. The White Fang would want pay back. They would do the same thing to their prisoners. And it just goes round and round."
Jaune sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I for one hate this war. I hate killing. I hate people getting hurt. Which is why." Jaune said. "I just want to help." He finished. Jaune winced internally, he never had a silver tongue. But, he felt he got his message across. The soldiers stared at him, lights in their eyes.
"Like a White knight." Someone whispered in the crowd. And then someone yelled. "White knight!"
And they started chanting.
"White Knight"
"White Knight"
Jaune smiled sheepishly, as he looked around. He looked over and saw Nora beaming at him. Jaune chuckled and shoved his hands in his pockets. This would be a good story to tell Ruby.
"So, White knight" Ruby chuckled as she spun Crimson Rose. They were both running on fumes now. Their auras low, and pushing their semblance to the limit. Jaune's shield arm was shaking and Ruby's thighs were stiff.
"What, crater face." Jaune smiled.
Ruby snorted at the nickname. "never going to live that down."
Jaune shook his head. "never."
"Jaune I-" Ruby swallowed. "We could just run."
"I know." Jaune nodded. "But, that's not an option."
Ruby sighed. "And now, we're back to disagreeing."
Jaune twirled his sword. "Yeah, Even if we disagreed, we still..."
Jaune was nervous. It was now or never. But, this choice had come at a really, really bad time. He and Ruby had been fighting more often, seeing each other less. The war led them to different places in the world, fighting on different fronts, using different methods. Jaune didn't like Ruby's executioner style. And Ruby didn't like his forgiveness.
It was awkward at times. When they weren't arguing, they were taking time off or going to see Weiss. Jaune hated going to see Weiss. It ate at him and tore into Ruby. Weiss was still in a catatonic state. Whatever the torturer had done to her, it had traumatized her. The doctors actually put her in an induced coma for a while, hoping to speed her recovery. But, nothing worked.
Ruby would come in and talk to Weiss. It was an one sided conversation. Ruby would start out all chipper, hoping Weiss would tell her to buzz off or make a snide response. But, she would just stare blankly ahead. And Ruby would get more and more desperate, trying to evoke a response.
Jaune hated it.
He didn't want Ruby to go see her. But, Ruby didn't listen. So, they argued again. Jaune sighed as he shook is head. They were approaching the close now. They had tracked down Cinder to the last point. Found her little hideout. Ruby was the one to procure the information. She had captured Mercury and went to work. Jaune had heard the reports, it wasn't pretty.
Jaune sighed. He pushed out the extraneous thoughts and tried to focus on the thing that mattered, Ruby. Jaune walked out onto the balcony, looking at the red caped woman. She was leaning against the railing, looking at the shattered moon in the sky. Jaune walked forward slowly.
"Jaune." Ruby groaned. "I'm not in the mood for another fight. I saw Weiss ok? End of story."
Jaune chuckled. "I'm not here to fight, crater face."
Ruby sighed and lowered her head into her arms. "Then what?" She mumbled out.
Jaune walked up next to her and kissed her on the head. He took in her scent, strawberries and cookies. And he thought to himself. Every day. Every minute. Would he spend it with her?
Yes.
Jaune made up his mind. "Ruby. Look at me."
Ruby let out a huff and turned attention to her long time boyfriend. She placed her hands on her hips and was ready for another argument. But, she blinked as she saw her boyfriend kneeling.
"What are you-" Ruby froze as she saw an item on Jaune's hands.
Jaune merely smiled. "Marry me?"
Jaune gripped his shield, his ring pressing against his left hand. "You know we could just elope" He joked. He stalked carefully, shield raised, sword tip pointed at Ruby's head. He had to use efficient tactics now. They were both exhuasted.
Ruby shook her head, a sad look on her face. "No. No we couldn't"
Jaune indulged himself and looked over her hands. "you" Jaune said slowly. "You're not wearing the ring?"
Ruby shrugged. "Lost it."
"oh." Jaune huffed. That sucked. He had used three months worth of money on those rings.
Ruby rolled her eyes. "So sentimental." Ruby unloaded Crimson Rose, the cartridge clattering on the floor. She reloaded slowly. "What do they call me nowadays?" Ruby asked. She was curious. She knew Jaune was called the White Knight by the majority of the public.
Jaune shrugged. "The Reaper."
"Well little girl" Cinder spat out. "I never thought you'd actually do it. I should've killed you the first time I saw you."
Ruby ignored her, and kept Crimson Rose's blade towards her prisoner's throat. It was finally over.
Cinder still continued. "It's funny. The first trap was set to kill you. But, I only got your poor sister." She grinned madly. Blood marred her face.
Ruby tightened her grip on her scythe. It had been awhile since anyone had brought up Yang.
"And that poor, poor Schnee girl." Cinder cackled. "Oh, I ordered my men to have some fun with her."
Ruby pulled back on her scythe, pushing against Cinder's throat, drawing blood. "Keep talking, And you'll understand why your men cracked so easily. And when we're done with you, it'll be over. This stupid war will be over." And then she could be with Jaune.
Cinder laughed. "You think that stopping me would just end it? It'll never end. There will always be the White Fang. Always haunting your every step. They'll keep killing the ones you love, and you'll never win." Cinder glared at Ruby. "Oh and that ring" She nodded towards the ring on Ruby's finger. "From the blonde kid isn't it. How adorable. Good thing I ordered my men to kill him fi-"
Ruby blinked. A head and a body hit the floor. Blood pooling on the ground. Had she just? Ruby blinked again. Oh, she did. Oh well. Damn. She really wanted to see her go on trial.
"ah man." Ruby tsked. "I let my anger get the better of me."
Ruby stepped over the headless corpse. She had to admit though. Cinder was right. Ruby slowly took the ring off her finger. She twirled it between her finger tips. The White Fang would continue it's work, even without Cinder. Ruby looked up as she heard the soldiers finally entering the base. Ruby had entered alone, and dealt with the White Fang inside.
But, It seemed like she would need to deal with all of the White Fang.
Ruby had gathered a small group. Of soldiers who were still itching to get some payback. They left their lives behind and went hunting. Unsanctioned hunting. They tracked down the White Fang organization and started killing them. Dealing with them. Making sure they would never harm anyone ever again.
"You killed innocent civilians." Jaune's voice was hoarse. "Women, children. You killed them. Just because they were with-"
"The White Fang." Ruby shrugged. "they chose their side. If I let them live, they'll grow up to resent humans. And then round and round it goes. It's better to stop that and just kill all of them."
"But, that-" Jaune started.
"Hey, why did you even come looking for me anyways." Ruby interrupted him. "I mean you probably were ordered to. But, you probably could have refused."
Jaune dropped his shield, it clattered the ground noisely. He grasped his sword in both hands. "Weiss did."
"What." Weiss blinked slowly. Jaune was sitting at her side. It had been two days since she had 'woken up'. Finally coming out of the dark place she had locked herself in. Blake had canceled all of her ambassador meetings and come straight here. She had called everyone and explained the situation. Weiss's room was filled with well wishes and so on.
Jaune had been the one to tell her what had happened to Ruby.
Weiss blinked slowly, her cheeks sunken into her face. There were Iv drops in her body, keeping her healthy, but she had been 'gone' for a long time.
Weiss shook her head. "That idiot." her voice cracked.
"I've followed the reports" Jaune said. "She's been... busy" He had seen the photos. Entire prison buses slaughtered. Outposts destroyed and firebombed. None white fang members in the area, whether they be faunus or human, were not harmed. But, ever White Fang member had been killed, without exception.
"Find her."
"What?" Jaune blinked.
"You're the only one who can." Weiss said. Even after so many years in catatonia, she still held strength in her eyes.
"And why's that."
Weiss smiled. "It takes an idiot to find an idiot"
"The board had ordered me to find you and kill you" Jaune explained. "I had been making excuses to not go. But, Weiss convinced me in the end."
"huh." Ruby said. "well. As much as I enjoyed this trip down memory lane." Her eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't be doing this, if you truly wanted to find me."
Jaune shrugged. "I did say I was here to kill you."
Ruby shook her head. "I don't think you ever could."
The White Knight nodded slowly. "Which is why I planted a two ton bomb on top of us. So it'll bury us, in a couple of minutes."
Ruby blinked. Silence filled the room. Seconds passed. Ruby chuckled. "You still know how surprise a girl." Ruby glared at Jaune, a new light in her eyes. "noble sacrifice?"
Jaune nodded. "something like that."
She pulled back Crimson Rose.
He raised Corcea Mors.
The Reaper dashed forward.
The White Knight charged.
Blade pierced flesh. Ruby blinked. "What are you?" She whispered. She felt Jaune's arms around her shoulders. His sword discarded on the ground. His face pressed into her hair.
Her scythe embedded in his stomach.
He fell backwards, like a puppet that lost its strings. She grabbed him and gently lowered him the ground.
"Why, Jaune?" Ruby whispered. He had accepted the blow. Taken it. Why? Why didn't he fight back? Silver eyes looked into blue ones. They stared at each other.
"Did I ever tell you how beautiful your eyes are?" Jaune slurred. He was dazed, in shock. Ruby pulled her scythe and threw it away. She took off her cloak and started to wrap it around the wound. She had to save him. Her necklace bounced off her chest.
"The ring." Jaune whispered. Ruby nodded. Her engagement ring on her neck. She had hid it there, so no one would connect her to Jaune.
"Of course I kept it you idiot." Ruby whimpered as she tried to press on the wound. Red mixing in with Red.
"You should get out of here." Jaune's voice was light. Soft. It sent a chill down her spine.
"I-" Ruby sniffed. Her eyes were getting blurry. "I thought you were here to kill me?"
Jaune coughed, blood dripping down his cheek. "You said it yourself. I'm one of the last of our caliber. If I couldn't kill you. I made them swear to not have anyone follow."
"Y-you" Ruby swallowed. She let go of her cape and grasped Jaune's head. Pulling it onto her lap, she cradled him in her arms.
"G-get" Jaune's breath grew more shallow. "out of here. Only a minute."
A single drop of water fell into the growing pool of red.
"You idiot." Ruby whispered. She placed her forehead against his. "I'm not going to leave you."
"B-but. The bomb" Jaune grunted.
"It'll be our fireworks." Ruby grinned. Their noses brushed against each other. "Celebrating our marriage or something."
Jaune chuckled, but his breathes were faint.
"I-it'll be to-" he swallowed "To-"
Ruby finished it for him.
"To the socially awkward."
Silence. A small beep. An explosion. Debris crushing down.
…
I hope you guys enjoyed it. I cut down on scenes for pacing, but may add them in. Time for explanations.
This story originated from the request of Sweary, a user on r/Rwby. Sweary wanted one of the member of team RWBY to slowly turn evil or something like that. I decided to do an one shot on it.
As for themes in the story, there are a lot of parallelisms. I have said this before but: I don't think having a single theme makes for a very good one shot. I like to juggle multiple themes like the central pairing, core theme, and a couple commentaries here and there.
One of the themes I want to just shout out is that: People don't do evil things because they think it's evil or for its sake. They do it because they think it will benefit someone or it is the right thing to do. You'll notice that Jaune and Ruby do have similar thoughts, but channeled in different ways. Which is why I deliberately repeated certain lines.
I also tried to add a bit more flair with my transitions. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it. Please drop a review if you have any questions, feedback, or just liked the story.