章 110: 12
Chapter 12 - A Jaune in the woods
"This is a waste of time," Blake complained as she pushed aside another low tree branch, a deep sigh escaping her. "If Torchwick has been stealing all that dust for the White Fang, then we have immediate concerns there – there could be a big attack, or worse."
"I get that Blake, I'm not an idiot." The small bear perched on her shoulder said, its arms gripped in her hair to help it keel balanced.
"Could have fooled me." Couldn't he see how important finding out more about the White Fang was? Couldn't her entire team? What was with them all, playing games, chatting – socialising. Roman Torchwick had been stealing dust for the White Fang, who were now clearly moving into more overt actions.
How could everyone just ignore that!?
"You did promise." He reminded her, even as she rolled her eyes and trudged onwards, making sure to show her frustration in each heavy step.
"I promised to contact your family, nowhere in that was finding your damn sword."
"Crocea Mors is a family heirloom, it needs to be returned to the family."
"I'm out here aren't I?" She snapped, yellow eyes focused on the path ahead. Trying to figure out where she'd landed in the Emerald forest was proving a difficult affair. It had been so much easier when you were launched in, but everything just looked the damn same. She could be going in circles for all she knew, there was literally hundreds of miles of forest to explore.
"Over to the left a little."
Except for that… and she wasn't sure how far she trusted his directions in the matter either, except that – what else was there to do? Wander aimlessly for hours before giving up? At least this way she could blame him if things went wrong.
"This could have waited, you're not going anywhere."
"Neither are the White Fang."
"You don't know that," she snapped, "look at how much dust they've been stealing Jaune – I know you've seen the reports I've been reading through."
"As though there's anything else to do," he sighed as he prodded a furry hand against her cheek, "all you do lately is research and work, it's hardly healthy."
"Some of us seem to realise the danger we're all in, so you'll forgive me if I don't have time for games."
"You won't have time for much if you don't slow down, then again that's why we're here eh?"
"I knew it!" She accused as she grabbed him from her shoulder and held his furry form before her. "You called in that favour now as a way of stopping me, didn't you?" That damn fool, he'd been listening to Yang going on about her workload and no doubt let it get to his undead little head.
"I don't actually feel anything," Jaune sighed, "so if you're trying to show displeasure through crushing me, then you're wasting your time. I can't even the feel the pressure of your fingers on my body."
To make matters worse his spirit slipped free of the bear right as she considered tossing him, making the action pointless anyway. Instead she stuffed the figure back into her bag as she continued on. Damn him for dragging her away from finding out more about Torchwick's crimes, but she wasn't going to leave the task half-finished, not when he could just call it in again.
"I'm not just trying to make your life hard for you though," he floated beside her as he tried to explain, "I do need this doing – the Arc family needs that blade back. But I'll admit that getting you out of the library for a bit was a bonus."
"I'm sure your motives were good," the faunus sighed, "but this really is serious Jaune, you don't know the White Fang like I do. When I left they were just getting into their militaristic style, and even then they were willing to blow up a train and kill all the workers there. What if they try something like that in Vale? Or Beacon!?"
"Then we'll need you rested and in good form to fight, not exhausted from all this late-night reading. Do you even look at yourself, when was the last time you ate?"
She ate plenty enough… Yang had brought her some food in the library a few hours ago… and there's been a quick banana for breakfast too. What did he know? He didn't even need to eat.
The research she was doing was necessary in the face of the school's inaction, or Vale's inaction. Torchwick had stormed the docks with Bullheads and terrorists, and not only did the Council fail to act – but they even suppressed the information. Unless, and she highly doubted it, the local papers didn't find explosions at the docks to be newsworthy.
The White Fang collecting enough dust to start a war wasn't something that would go away if you ignored it. How could they all be so damn stupid?
"Oh," his words broke her train of thought, as she came upon a scene that remained fresh within her mind. And yet it was different now as well.
Before there had lay the body of a young man, still being gnawed upon by a Grimm. Now, all that remained was a darkened patch of dirt, and as a grim reminder, a single bleached bone.
"I-… oh…" his words dwindled off, and she wasn't sure what to say either. Her eyes closed as a soft sigh escaped her. Seeing proof of your own death wasn't something she had much experience in, honestly it wasn't something she ever thought she would have experience in. But she could imagine that it wouldn't be an easy thing. "They ate… of course, how did I think otherwise?"
"Were you hoping it would still be here?" Her anger was not forgotten, merely put aside for now, as she watched his face distort in a myriad of confused emotions. It was hard to focus on one, for he kept flicking between sadness, anger, and a blank expression.
"I don't know what I'd been hoping for," he admitted.
For whatever it had been, it surely couldn't be anymore. As cruel as it might have sounded, Jaune Arc had clearly become food for the carrion. Nothing more.
"I guess I had this stupid idea… if I could possess Sun, I thought… well... never mind."
"It wasn't a bad idea," comfort had never been one of her strong points, but she tried her best. "Let's find your sword and get out of here though."
Jaune nodded his agreement, though his form still hovered over the place where he lay. She watched him for a few moments, before with a sigh she started rummaging in the nearby foliage. It couldn't have gone far, and no Grimm would have taken it.
She didn't recall seeing much of it before initiation. She'd seen him, of course – he'd been the one to help Ruby up when she left, but he'd been such an unimportant person to her. Just another random guy in a school full of them, no more or less than anyone else.
Could things have worked out differently, if she'd just done something else?
It was a fruitless jump of logic that would no doubt only make her miserable. The past was full of regrets, from the White Fang to Adam, to running away from her team. Right down to nearly getting Sun killed at the docks.
She supposed that was what she had over Jaune… the ability to still do something about those regrets.
"Ah," a glint of light, a reflection shining in the bushes. Her fingers dug through leaves and branches alike as she reached towards it, the metal cool against her skin. "I've found it," she called out as she pulled, standing up to admire the craftsmanship. It was a good blade, just weighty enough in her hand to tell her it had some impact, but still light enough to manoeuvre with.
"Crocea Mors," he whispered over her shoulder, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin, those were not words you needed or wanted a ghost to whisper to you. "It's served my family for generations… I suppose it didn't do much for me," he shook his head, "though that's hardly the sword's fault."
"This is it though, right?" Blake confirmed as she hefted the blade up, pulling it free from its sheathe as she gave a few experimental swings. It felt good. "If we give this back to your family, will it be enough?"
"Maybe... what else can I do?"
A fair point… for the price of a son she doubted the blade would be appreciated, but at least it could serve another in the future. Perhaps it would save someone's life one day.
"Let's go then, I've got to get back to checking old newspapers for robberies," Blake waved for him to follow as she moved away from the site. A niggling thought had her consider a grave marker, but the effort would be wasted. There was nothing left of his body, and what remained of his spirit was… well, with her.
"So strange…" his voice sounded distant, distracted, and as she turned back she found him stood at the point where his body might once have lain. Staring down at the ground. The sight of it caused an icy fist to grip her heart, and it took a moment for her to realise what was so wrong with the scene.
He was a good eight metres away from her, further than he could actually go.
Her heart skipped a beat.
"Jaune!" She snapped as she rushed forward, waving one hand before his face to catch his attention. His pale eyes watched her, his head tilting to the side in question, but she simply held the teddy out before her, almost thrusting it into his chest. "Let's go – get back in the bear."
"What's wrong?"
"Get back in the bear!" Her voice was shrill but she didn't care, and thankfully he just rolled his eyes and possessed the stuffed toy once more. She held it up before her eyes for a moment, just to check he was really inside – before rushing away from the place of his death.
"Why are you running so fast?"
"I want to go home," she held him to her chest, his and her blades strapped across her back, "to Beacon. Do you… are you happy with Beacon, Jaune? I never thought to ask."
"Hm?" She felt his head rustle between her breasts as he looked up at her, but she kept her eyes focused on the path ahead, as trees and branches whistled by. "Yeah I like it, it's nice. Anyway, where else can I go?"
"Nowhere," she answered, even as her arms tightened around his small frame, "nowhere."
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