Shot Through the Heart...
“You’re too late!” Cinder snarked as she witnessed Jaune arrive on the rooftop, glowing with projected aura. Her hand tensed as she pulled back the string of her bow, ready to loose the arrow that would snuff out the life of Pyrrha Nikos.
Pyrrha’s eyes widened in panic, more afraid that Jaune was in danger than she had been staring her own would be murderer in the face. “Jaune! You have to leave! Run aw-”
But the next thing she knew, Jaune was there, the warm glow of his semblance nearly blinding the two women as he seemingly teleported in front of Pyrrha.
He was standing in the basic stance she had drilled into him shield raised to protect them both like a knight of old. Though she could only see his back, his stance was tall and his muscles tense.
“You give villains a bad name!” Jaune declared, bracing himself against the impact of Cinder’s arrow as it strike’s his shield.
The villainess smirked mockingly, even as she struggled against the brightness of Jaune’s aura, “Soon my arrows will drip rubies! Youre only delaying the inevitable, foolish boy!”
“Isn’t that what heroes are supposed to do?” Jaune stated, doing his best to keep his feet after that blow, giving his all to protect his partner.
“Jaune, she’s going to kill you! You can’t keep that level of aura projection up forever!”
The tears were evident in her tone, even though Jaune couldn’t turn around to see them. “It’s too late to apologize, it’s too late. I wouldn’t do it anyway. You’re my partner, and I am here until the end. We protect each other! Arkos, remember?”
This just made Pyrrha want to cry even harder as she tried to will her body to move. Unfortunately, her injuries and lack of aura were now putting her in a position she had rarely found herself: Helpless.
The feeling was only compounded when Cinder, finally having enough of this nonsense, decided to make use of the monstrous Grimm behind her that was simply laying there menacingly, having Grimm babies.
“Ths is the end, you fools! My dragon is like a lion, and you’re gonna hear him Roar!” Cinder declared, gesturing to the pair.
The dragon did indeed roar, but Jaune stood firm, his shield somehow absorbing the heat of the flames as the dragon’s deadly projectile attack parted around him. The flames flickered and sparkled around the teens, lighting the night like ten thousand fireflies.
Cinder, however, was not idle. Once she saw that the dragon’s flames were not lighting them up like a firework, she decided to flank them, managing to get behind the pair while they were distracted.
The pair is completely caught off guard when Cinder rushes them, all their attention on the dragon.
Jaune whirls around to find the mysterious woman hoding a short sword made of some kind of sharp, gleaming material to his partner’s throat. Pyrrha is using what little strength her exhausted body can spare to keep the blade from slicing her throat.
Jaune ignored the dragon, which had gone back to casually spawning lesser Grimm to destroy Beacon, and decided to simply charge Cinder in a desperate attempt to save his partner.
Cinder merely smirked cruelly before slashing her throat.
She was interrupted by a flurry of rose petals.
“Jaune! Pyrrha! Are you okay?”
Ruby had finally arrived, and just in time. Everyone turned to face her as she brandished Crescent Rose at Cinder, confused and shocked at waht was going on. Wasn’t Cinder their friend?
The femme fatale glared menacingly at this latest interruption, “Any more guests I should be expecting to our little get together, boy?”
“What can I say? I’ve got friends in low places.” Jaune replied, trying to mask his fear at Pyrrha’s near death with bravado.
Cinder flared her own aura, launching a fire ball with her off hand to distract Jaune, while her other continued to try to slash Pyrrha’s throat.
That tactic was abandoned as a bullet from Ruby’s rifle impacted the knife, dissolving it in a flash of orange sparks. However Cinder was still determined to kill Pyrrha and claim the remaining Maiden powers for her own.
She brought her hands up and began to choke Pyrrha, as she prepared to snap her neck.
“NOOOOO!” Ruby and Jaune cried shouted.
Jaune’s aura flared desperately, racing forward in an efford to shield his partner, while Ruby was engulfed in a strange silver light…
Pyrrha blinked slowly as she came to. Jaune was crouched over her, hands on her heel and his aura enveloping her foot.
“Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?” she asked in her delerium.
“I don’t think so, Pyr.” Jaune assured her, doing his best to wipe his tears onto his shirt without moving his hands.
“Are you okay, Jaune? What are you doing? What happened? Where are Ruby and the woman that attaced us?”
“Well that’s the good news. I’m not sure what happened after everything started glowing, since I just woke up myself. All I know for sure is that the dragon is frozen, and that woman escaped. Ruby’s uncle found us, and helped me carry you and Ruby to the safe zone set up on the outsikirts of Vale since you were both unconscious. I was trying desperately to recharge your aura with mine when I accidentally discovered my semblance. I think. My aura was boosting yours.”
Now that he mentioned it, Pyrrha did feel much better than she had in what felt like days now. Was Jaune’s semblance some sort of healing multiplier? That would be immensely uselful.
“What is the plan now? We have to stop that woman! There’s no telling what she’ll do if left unchecked!”
“We will, Pyrrha. I promise! No way is Team JNPR gonna let the woman that tried to destroy Vale get away with it! You, Ren, and Nora have been asleep for a couple of days now. Once we’re all back up to full strength we’re going after her. Ruby’s uncle gave us a lead. Ozpin said something about meeting with the headmaster of Sanctum Academy.”
“What about Team RWBY? Will they be joining us?”
“I…don’t think that’s going to be possible for a while. RWBY’s scattered at the moment.”
Pyrrha was horrified and heartbroken at the news. Her friends…
“The good news is though, that Penny is okay!”
The redhead’s heart nearly lept into her throat. How could that be?
Jaune saw the guilt she was carrying. He could see the want to blame herself in her eyes, and quashed it hard. “No, you didn’t, Pyrrha. Penny is a robot. An android that can project aura. Her mind and soul are real, but her body isn’t. Before her body was destryed, she vacated it, and ended up in a spare somewhere in Atlas. General Ironwood is sending her with us to Mistral to meet the headmaster.”
Pyrrha could hardly believe it. She wasn’t a murderer? She was going home. And most importantly, she was not dead.
“Try moving your foot now, Pyrrha. Next we’ll have you stand, see if the leg can supprt you.”
The redhead did as her partner asked, moving on auto-pilot. She was startled when she was able to move the foot as though she had never taken an arrow through her achilles tendon.
Jaune smiled brightly at her.
“Good. I’m glad that’s on the mend. Try to stand.”
She did so, leaning cautiously on Jaune for help. Her leg felt weak, and she was unsteady on her legs like a toddler learning to walk. Her muscles were stiff from fatigue and inactivity, but the leg did support her.
Jaune gave her a proud, excited smile. “Get some rest, Pyrrha. I’ll go see if I can find us some rations from the temporary mess hall.”
The blonde turned back to her expectantly.
“Stay with me. Please. Until I fall asleep.”
The two partners shared a quiet moment together amidst the chaos surrounding them. They did their best to push away all the turmoil, and stress of the last few days, checking their emotional baggage for the moment and taking comfort in each other.
They were alive. They were whole.
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