章節 487: 43
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When they finally stepped out of the dark and into the light around Mountain Glenn, what little there was available with the settlement itself, was a welcome guest in their lives. The darkness of the tunnels had been oppressive for everyone, and Jaune especially. He'd experienced a battle before, the pain and emotional shocks that came with it, but it had been short. Maybe a couple hours, and almost exclusively droids the first time and then mostly wounded people the second, with none of the primal fear that the Grimm brought to bear whenever they were on the field.
But the Atlesians and even the White Fang had plenty of Grimm to stir up that instinctive fear, and that had been as sweltering as any heat wave and as painful as any wound. But he was more than used to muscling through that by now, even under the best of times he suffered these sorts of emotions. He could let it overload him later, when he was safe enough to do so without risking anyone around him.
As they approached, he relaxed slightly, he couldn't sense anyone at all from outside the ship, and the 'static' as he called it from the droids obscured who the few on it were. Two on one side and further up, probably the doctor and Neo, and a good few more dotted around the ship.
"That's… an Atlesian frigate." Weiss said as they all emerged, bagginning to make their way down the slight hill toward the lowered ramp where droids were working, loading crates into the cargo bay. The White Fang had clearly left some time ago, and Jaune chalked that to Roman. Weiss stepped closer to him as they walked, turning to give him a wide-eyed look, "How on Remnant did you get hold of an Atlesian frigate?" "And a decently modern one too, Atlas doesn't usually sell these."
"I… Got it from some acquaintances." Jaune admitted with a grimace, Watts' sneering face flashing in his mind's eye at the mention of the small fleet. "He has several, actually, and what it needs to keep moving regularly." She gave him a look and he sighed, "We can do something about it later, Weiss. I promise."
As they approached several droids turned from their tasks, sidearms attached to their hips threateningly. They made no move to touch them though, instead asking Jaune in a robotic, monotone voice, "Arc, Jaune. Authorized to access ship an area. Others, unknown. Identification required."
"These are my friends" Jaune said simply, gesturing at them and naming them each in turn. "Mountain Glenn is falling to pieces, and we're getting out of here before Atlas or the Grimm come down on our heads."
"We have orders to await Fall, Cinder and her companions. As well as the crew of the ship." The droid answered plainly, "Do you have a status update on our orders, Arc, Jaune?"
"Yes." Jaune said quickly, smiling, "Cinder is missing, and we have to get out of here before Atlas sends its forces here to retake this ship. Once we're underway, we'll try to find her and her team before departing and heading north, if we can."
It paused for a long time before nodding its faceless head, "Understood. We will begin preparations for our departure once we have finished loaded these supplies. Mainly food and water remaining, as well as medicines. Torchwick, Roman will arrive shortly. He has requested words with you."
"All right. Send him a message and tell him I'll be waiting for him here then." Jaune said, looking at his friends worriedly as they milled around him, anxiously looking at the woods, Mountain Glenn itself, and the ship as well. "And escort my friends to the guest rooms, let them get some rest and food in them."
"Understood, Arc, Jaune." The three drones addressed the assembled students, "Please, follow me and we will show you to your quarters, Ma'ams and Sirs. You may also relay to me what manner of food you would like. I will send a message to the kitchens. Addendum : Our cooking staff is absent at the moment, we are only accepting simple orders."
"I'm staying." Pyrrha asserted as the others slowly, glaring at Jaune when he opened his mouth to argue. "I spent too long and did too much to let you out of my sight, Jaune. You won't be getting away from me so easily. Now is when we have our discussion, while we wait." Since you were so adamant about having one before, do it now."
The silence after was awkward, but only lasted a few moments before he sighed and spoke, "I told Ozpin no. Told him to leave you and everyone else out of his… His Dust damned games." He jerked a head at his partner, "He told me he would, but I guess he lied about that."
"Ozpin told me you'd been taken, who had taken you, and asked if I wanted the strength to save you." She argued calmly, lifting her rifle in front of her as an example. "This wasn't going to be enough, I understood that with half of what he was going to say to me. I knew that, and I feel you know it now. You've met directly our foes, and know that the Pyrrha you left tied to that chair would do naught to them but elicit a chuckle." "If even that."
"I was dealing with it, trying to figure something out. Ozpin… Ozpin doesn't even know where Salem lives, how on Remnant was he going to get you to where I was?" Jaune argued back hotly, gesturing around them, "That's why Blake was here, and now she's dead. Just like Amber."
"Blake was here because Ozpin asked for her help, and she agreed to it." Pyrrha dismissed easily, "Death is a part of life, and ever more so for a Huntsmen. We die. A lot, frankly. And even more so when you add in a terrorist's past and enemies." "Reformed or not." "Actually," she added at that thought, "reforming probably would add more enemies on top of the normal ones she'd have to deal with. Not to mention the weight of her sins before leaving"
"Blake made mistakes." Jaune defended, gesturing at Mountain Glenn angrily, "And this was not needed for her to redeem that's not the point!"
"Isn't it?" Pyrrha returned easily, smirking and raising her eyebrow at him, hip cocked and her shield-hand resting on it with the bronze disk static on her forearm. "Blake and I share something in common, Jaune. And since you can't deduce what that may be, allow me to explain." She leaned forward, almost touching the tip of her nose to his, "We made our own choices, with information we were given for goals we thought worthy." "Just like you have done times innumerable in recent memory."
"I just…" Jaune paused, grimacing and feeling the failings well up in his chest. A tightness constricting in him, his hands balling into fists at his sides, "I just wanted to… to…"
"Save everyone." Pyrrha finished, smiling warmly at him. He didn't sense any condecension or mockery there, but she kept talking before he could actually retort. "You are so damned eager and demanding that you save everyone around you, and yet you have the nerve to grow irate at the suggestion we'd do the same?"
"And what about Amber?" Jaune demanded, "She's dead, and for what?"
"For you, of course, Jaune." Pyrrha returned instantly, almost chidingly, as though she were explaining something simple and easy to comprehend. Turning and walking towards a crate, she hopped on top of the man-height storage container and sat, crossing her legs and looking at him with a thin, raised eyebrow, "Everything I've done thus far has been under my own volition, but for you. Any decision I made was my own, and in the service of finding you and saving you." Se chuckled, and that same chill went up Jaune's spine, "We're partners, after all." "And I already failed you once."
"Is that what all this is about?" Jaune asked, the woman on the crate blinking owlishly at him for a few seconds before he laughed, a bitter, harsh sound. "All of this obsessiveness-"
"I am not obsessed, Jaune!" She argued back, laughing and flinching back at the insinuation. "I am… perfectly rational. I just-"
"Ladies, ladied!" Jaune flinched, turning at Roman's voice as he sauntered down the ramp with a wide grin and his arms spread wide. "You're both pretty, so relax! Why are you all shouting? Especially considering the warzeon we're in the middle of, keeping your damn voices down might be a bit more important."
"Roman?" Jaune blinked in surprise. How had he missed the man's approach? "I… Sorry, I just got so caught up in my argument I-" His eyes widened in surprise and he spun as he paid more attention to what he sensed around him, so used to ignoring the sensations radiating towards him he'd tuned out everything in the argument's heat.
"Completely missed our approach?" Cinder asked coyly, stepping out from behind one of the stacked crates with a cold smile and her arms crossed under her bust. She gave Pyrrha a look as she dropped down, eyes roving her like a piece of meat before she looked back to Jaune, "My, Jaune, I would wonder at how you got Roman, the Fall Maiden wanna-be, and your friends together, all while abandoning your job…" "If it weren't so painfully obvious."
"Rigged the ship, should be blocking Scroll signals." Roman growled, flicking his cane out in preparation as he joined the other two at the base of the ramp, head tilted towards Jaune slightly, "Took my own plan there. You got any now?" "Since I seriously fucking doubt you planned on Cinder arriving."
"Actually." Jaune returned, drawing his sword and shield before smiling thinly, "I did plan on her being here."
"What?"
"Why?"
"Oh, really? Interesting." "Truly?" Cinder asked, smile at first surprised and then shifting to shocked before settling on bemused finally, "So your plan, if I am right, was to gather everyone I would kill for your betrayal together, and… Hope to face me?"
"He's not that stupid-"
"Yes, that was the plan." Jaune admitted nervously, shrugging when Roman choked on the air he'd been speaking with and looked at him in shock. Jaune turned hard eyes on him, smiling confidently, "I need her out of the way before we leave. Or she'll warn our, um… Our boss, I guess, I'm coming for her, and that would ruin everything."
"You have got to be kidding me, kid!" Roman almost yelled, turning to face him and gesturing with his off had at Cinder, "You want to fight her? Are you insane!" "Oh Dust, and I bet on you too…"
"Yes. I do." Jaune affirmed, nodding his head lightly while the woman in question watched them with a small smile. "And I need you to go and deal with Emerald, she's on the ship right now, in one of the empty medical rooms. Waiting for a good chance to pull something. Probably wanted to wait until the doctor left Neo, and then you showed up. And now a half-dozen people are up there, nearby enough to react if she tries anything on the doctor. She can't do anything without risking herself. Just to be safe though…"
Roman sighed, shaking his head and fishing out a cigar absently before tossing it aside, "Damn doctor won't let it in the room…" "Fine, kid, but you damn well better-"
"I do, Roman." Jaune cut him off, rolling his shoulders to limber up as he sensed Cinder's patience waning as Roman jogged up the ramp. "And do us all a favor, Cinder, and save the theatric indignation. I did everything you people asked me, and you were still going to kill Neo for your own convenience." He sensed Roman hesitating only a moment, before moving on, "But hey, I'll give you one chance to surrender."
"And why would I do that?" She asked, laughing and gesturing around them, "Do you have an army somewhere I don't know about?"
He turned to Pyrrha and she nodded, popping her neck, "I will back you up, Jaune. Always. Just say the word and your enemies will fall before me." "Or I will, one or the other."
"The reason I would suggest you surrender is because if you don't," Jaune smiled, raising his shield and holdingit protectively at his side. "I will break you, just like you did to Amber. And then? I will break you more, for her."
"Ever the virtuous knight, I see." She chuckled, sighing and flicking her hands out, long scimitars forming in her outstretched hands. She smiled at him, cocking her head to the side slightly, "You should know, Jaune, that I won't kill you. But her?" She gestured toward Pyrrha with her chin, "She will die if she faces me, and I will only benefit for it." "Attack me, and you will watch me kill her, a beaten pulp on the ground before you are dragged in front of Salem."
"Pyrrha, I want you to stay out of this." Jaune asked, voice low and calm. She gave him a look of shock and indignation and he smiled, "Don't worry, Pyr, I'll be fine. I have everything planned out. Promise."
"Alright…" She said after a second, stepping backwards up the ramp worriedly. "You better be able to beat her, or I shan't forgive you, Jaune."
"Well, as precious as it is to watch the Maiden fret over you, especially when she's the one dying here, I'd say it is past time we get this little rebellious phase of yours dealt with." She slid into an easy, mocking almost, combat stance with her swords raised on either side and a smirk on her face. Turning her left shoulder to him for the most basic of defensive measures, she inclined her head, "Shall we? I still have to end the Maiden here, and then your little harlot as well, before we can get underway." "And won't that feel good…"
"You won't touch her." Jaune stated calmly, even if his heart wrenched in equal parts anger and worry at the idea of her hurting Neo, asleep in her bed.
"We'll see…" Cinder trailed off, smiling and gesturing for him to come at her, a challenge if he'd ever seen one. "Well then, come on little knight. Let's have our fun."
He nodded, raising his sword so the flat of the blade almost rested against the shield and taking a cautious step towards the amused woman. She was fast, he knew that, and her weapons were meant to shatter and be disposed of and replaced, so while he could disarm her for a moment easy as breathing, she'd summon something new before he could capitalize. She also had more experience than him fighting people, even with his recent encounters, but she and the Faunus from the castle had something in common.
He could win if they traded blows, as long as they were the right blows.
With a shout, he charged her, swinging for her throat and she spun so her right shoulder faced him and put her out of reach, slashing with the same arm at his chest. He blocked and backpedaled as the sword shattered on his shield rim, and she summoned another to replace it with a flick before the shards had even hit the ground. He lunged this time and she countered, bringing one blade up to bat his aside with a flick of her wrist and swinging her off hand for his head, the blade shattering on his Aura when it hit.
Next she clapped her hands together, the haft of a spear emerging as she spread them and twirled it, a long, narrow blade at the top appearing as it spun. The blade lashed out at him rapidly, forcing him back towards the ramp until he ducked down and raised his shield, charging the woman. She leapt over him simply, and he felt the blunt end slam into his back and stagger him as he passed her, the knight almost falling before spinning.
She didn't relent in her assault, spinning the spear over her head at an angle so the blade whistled towards his chest threateningly as she forced him back, until Jaune grimaced and stepped in the way, turning so it struck his breastplate with a screech of glass on steel and shattered. He took the opportunity to push towards her with his shield, raising his sword overhead. She waited until he was close, blasting his shield with a ball of fire and using the force to push herself a foot back for space, while he slammed into a metal container ten away, sinking to his knees and coughing as he tried to regain his breath.
"Come on, Jaune." Cinder teased him as he forced himself upright, shaking her head as she summoned a long knife in her right hand. "I know, and you do as well, that you can't win. Even with the Maiden's help, and you've refused that. So just give up, and maybe I'll give your whore a painless death." "Though letting her off the machines would be so more satisfying… Watching her writhe when the morphine wears off."
"I refused to let her fight." He admitted, looking past Cinder and at Pyrrha, the champion's face etched in worry and her knuckles white on her weapon's grip. "Not to let her help. There's a difference." She blinked in surprise, thoughts racing for a moment before smiling hesitantly and nodding. Cinder turned, looking at her, and Jaune spoke again, "You should have figured out by now, I'm unpredictable. It's all I have."
"What are you-"
Jaune lunged again, stabbing at her stomach and spinning, slashing at her head before spinning again and kicking the woman in the chest. Surprise slammed into him from her, almost breaking his connection to Pyrrha, and he keeps up his assault, slamming shield, blade and his legs into her over and over, driving her to frustration as she staggered away weakly.
After a minute of the irritating, useless attacks scratching away at her, she figured out the trick and hurled a fireball at Pyrrha, "Enough!"
The Mistralian leapt away, the white-painted steel under her scorching black as Cinder turned, summoning two swords and forcing Jaune into defending himself, relentlessly slamming the blade against his shield, sword and even armor, shattering with each hit only to be replaced by a mirror image of it for the next as she hammered away at his defense until is back pressed against a steel container.
He made to move forward, his shield snapping up part in instinct from himself, and part intuition from Pyrrha and Cinder alike, a black knife embedding in the steel with enough force to knock him back physically against the container again, a furious Cinder standing a few feet away, outstretched arm falling and flicking to summon another sword yet again. She raised an eyebrow and he used his sword to dislodge the knife, the point standing a centimeter out of the steel.
"You really should give in, Jaune, before you get hurt." He sensed her aggravation and concern, and knew the cause of both. If he kept pushing forwards like this, she'd have to do something more serious to stop him. And Salem might not appreciate it. Sighing, he let the shield drop off his arm, gripping his sword in both hands, and Cinder rolled her eyes, "Fine, keep resisting, be my guest. And the very first of your pathetic friends I see, will never see anything again."
He ignored her and grit his teeth, rushing towards her with his sword gripped in front of him and she sighed, aiming a lunge at his chest to force him to deflect.
The strength of will needed to force his Aura aside took a lot of his focus, and doubly so not to defend himself as the blade bit into his stomach and he let his sword drop to the ground with a dull thud, pressing his chest against Cinder's and wrapping an arm around her waist to hold her there, dripping surprise as his blood dripped down her arm. Grunting, he met her eyes, close enough to see her pupils reacting to the closeness.
"I win, I guess." She blinked and he reached up with his other arm, grabbing a fistfull of her hair and pressing his palm to her head as he did so, "Now, you will obey me,for your entire life."
The woman spasmed in his grip, hands releasing the weapons they hand and letting one shatter on the ground, arms wrapping around him numbly and squeezing as her legs gave out and he held her, ignoring the pain in his stomach as her eyes trembled, searching for something in his before starting to dull and glaze over.
"W-What are you…" "No, no, no, what is this?" He sensed her try to move, smiling as panic swamped her, forcing his power ever deeper into her mind,rewriting it. "No, you're… Not my mind, please! What are you doing to me?"
"Fixing you." Jaune said shortly, feeling his Aura sap as he ravaged her mind, "And destroying you too, while I'm in there."
"N-No…. I…." Her eyes slid closed, her thoughts fading as he released her and she collapsed to the ground with a thud, Jaune staggering back and almost falling before Pyrrha wrapped her arms around him, a hand gingerly touching at his wound worriedly while Cinder whimpered. "P-Please… not… that…"
"Jaune!" Pyrrha shouted in his ear worriedly, turning to look at the ramp into the ship, eyes searching for something to help him with. When that failed, she turned to looking for something to carry him on, flinching when Cinder rolled over and sluggishly stood, staggering a bit and looking around drunkenly for a moment."Don't worry, I'll protect you, Jaune."
"No need." He grunted, smiling at her and speaking louder, "Cinder, got get my shield for me."
She looked at him, blinking a few times owlishly before her eyes cleared and she nodded, smiling, "Of course, Master." He almost laughed when Pyrrha watched the woman, mouth open in shock, saunter by them to retrieve the weapon. She raised an eyebrow when he took the weapon from her, "Now, would you like me to remove that, or are you content to leave him bleeding out?"
"U-Uh, I…"
"She's my puppet, Pyrrha." Jaune explained, tapping his head and reclining against her chest, looking up at her tiredly, "Part of my Semblance, turns out. I can rewrite a person's mind into doing things for me."
"That's…"
"Master, you're still bleeding out." Cinder chided lightly, kneeling and resting a hand against the blade, "Allow me to remove this, and we can get you onto the ship for medical attention." She spoke in the same confident, silky tone, raising her eyebrow teasingly. "May I?" "Unless you enjoy your current position a bit too much…"
"Yes." Jaune granted, moving the blade aside and letting her grab the handle, looking at him in a worried, deferential way. Like a dog, almost, worrying over her owner. An apt comparison now. "Just get it over with. Don't care if it hurts."
She nodded, using her Semblance to dissolve everything sticking out his back and yanking the grip and what of the blade had lodged itself inside of him. He grunted, groaning loudly, and Cinder looked at Pyrrha, "Lay him on his back, girl, and put pressure on the entry wound. I'll fetch the doctor."
And then he blacked out, smiling at the victory.
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每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票