It was around nine O'clock in Mantle and inside the Happy Huntresses base, specifically, Robyn's Room, she was being informed of some bad news that had happened just yesterday.
[I'm sorry Robyn, I know how bad this is] Ironwood told her over the scroll.
Robyn lets out a sigh. She had just been informed of Bane-saw's escape and while she asked why she wasn't informed earlier, Ironwood said that he had his men look around Atlas for him and wanted to handle it themselves as they felt as if they owed the Huntresses and Jaune, but failed to find him, and she was slightly irritated, but understood.
"It's not as bad as it was thankfully, now we only have to deal with one or possibly two people, if someone did free him," Robyn said, "I'll let the others know, Jaune most of all... thank you, James," She finished.
[Of course] Ironwood replied [Did Will call you about Velvet coming?]
Robyn smiled "He did, and you can bet she's going to see her favorite Aunt," Robyn said with a chuckle.
Ironwood chuckled on the other end, [I know she will] He said, [I have to ask... have you considered my offer?] He asked.
Robyn once again, let out a sigh, "I need a little more time, James," Robyn said.
[I understand] He told her, [I will let you go... talk to you soon, Robyn] He said with a fond tone.
Robyn smiled softly, "Talk to you soon, James," She replied fondly.
With that, the call ended and Robyn walked outside of her room only to enter the common room where thankfully everyone was, Jaune was resting on the couch, still somewhat healing from yesterday's events.
He still had a few bandages around his body, still seemed to be sore, and unfortunately, he didn't have his armor as most of it was damaged by the fire and the collapse of the building. He still had his sword and shield, which was a bit surprising, but Jaune explained how long that sword had been around and heard that it was made way back in the Great War, which made sense, since back then, they really knew how to make weapons, how to make them last for centuries. As he was on the couch, Fiona and Deery were taking care of him, despite his insistence that he was fine and could take care of himself, meanwhile, Joanna and May seemed to be looking through the fridge and eating.
"Good, everyone's here," Robyn said aloud.
They all turned to her, wondering what she was going to say.
Robyn looked at them all, "Listen up, all of you, this is important, mostly for you, kid," Robyn said, looking at Jaune.
Jaune looked at her with a raised brow, "What's wrong?" He asked nonchalantly.
Robyn took a deep breath in before she spoke, "Bane-Saw escaped custody, as it turns out, someone set him free, and from what we can guess... he's coming after you," Robyn said. "Which means we all have to be on guard and make sure Jaune's alright,"
Jaune groaned, "I can take care of myself," Jaune said as he got up, only to slightly wince as he moved his arms.
"I think you mean you can still barely move," Fiona said sternly. "Despite you boosting your aura, you're body still needs rest,"
"I'll rest when Bane-Saw's taken care of, 'cause if he's still out there, he'll not only hunt down me, he'll keep going after the Ex-Fang members," Jaune said.
Robyn sighed, Jaune was stubborn and she knew he wasn't going to simply stay out of trouble. "Then how about this, you stay here, while the rest of us go out on Patrol," Robyn said.
Jaune looked at her, "Sounds fine to me, but keep your eyes out for him, he might try following one of you back here,"
May smiled, "Don't worry blondie, we'll be fine" She told him.
Deery, however, looked at Robyn with a concerned and nervous look, "I-If you guys don't mind, I'd rather stay here and help Jaune recover," Deery said.
Jaune looked at her, "Deery, I'm fine," He said.
Deery then looked at him, "I-I know, I just... I feel like I owe you," she replied, "So please let me help you," He said.
Jaune let out a sigh, "Fine, but only for tomorrow," He said. Jaune then let out a yawn, "I'm gonna get some sleep, I'll see you all in the morning," Jaune told them as he walked to his room.
Fiona watched him walk away with a worried look and let out a sigh, "That man's gonna be the death of me..."
May then wrapped her arm around Deery, "Aw! Look at Fiona, being all worried about her future boyfriend~!" May teased.
Fiona blushed, "Shut up!" she cried.
Deery looked at Fiona with a raised brow, "You like Jaune?" She asked.
Fiona's blush grew as she looked at the newest Huntress, "I-! Uh! Well, I...!"
Joanna began chuckling, "The answer's yes, Deery," Joanna said.
Fiona turned to her with a glare and a blush, "Joanna!" Fiona cried.
Deery smiled, "I think it's sweet," She said, "But what made you fall for him?"
Deery scratched the back of her head with a blush, "Well... this sounds stupid, but he... well he saved my life," She said, "He saved my life and after that, despite how he presented himself, I saw a guy that was only trying to protect others, who did genuinely care about people despite how he acted, and while he was in a dark place, I wanted to help him but..." Fiona began.
"So, Jaune... do you have anyone special back in Vale?" Fiona asked.
Jaune didn't answer her right away, but he eventually did. "I don't think so..." Jaunne replied.
Fiona's brow raised, "Really?" She asked with a bit of a smile.
Jaune nodded, "Yeah, I don't think I have anyone special waiting for me back in Vale," he repeated.
At that moment, Fiona felt a little happy, as to her it meant that he wasn't taken, and when she had the chance, she could ask him out when the time was right, but then, Jaune said something that took her out of those thoughts.
"But... I think there's someone I'm waiting for..." Jaune muttered.
Hearing this, Fiona wondered what he meant, and she began to think that Jaune may have been in love with someone who didn't love him back... or he did have someone he loved and they loved him and well, and for whatever reason, they were separated, perhaps he didn't even realize that he loved them... and that made Fiona a little jealous.
"But I don't think I have a chance," Fiona muttered.
Meanwhile, In his room, Jaune lay in bed, but he couldn't sleep, he simply looked at the dim light of the moon shining into his room, it wasn't so bright that it lit up the room, but it was bright enough to see around the parts of the room, like a nightlight.
As Jaune lay there, wide awake, Vernal came to his head. 'I wonder how she's doing?' Jaune asked herself, 'What is she doing? Are she and Oscar ok? Is Maria still with them?' He asked himself again.
He wanted to see them, in a weird way, he wanted to see them more than he wanted to see his friends at Beacon because he knew they were safe, they were fine... but he didn't know if Vernal, Oscar, or Maria were doing, he had no idea if they were safe or if they were looking for him. He wouldn't blame them if they didn't come after him, he left them behind because he didn't trust himself nor did he think he was strong enough to protect them.
But he's gotten stronger now, he could protect them now, he wasn't going to be the monster.
"You abandoned her and left her in her own sadness,"
Jaune quickly sat up and looked around as he heard the Beowulf's voice, but he didn't see the Grimm anywhere, he didn't even feel it behind him, but it was there... it was all around him
"You were so determined to burn your body with hate that you left them behind because you wanted to keep filling out needed for blood!"
Suddenly, memories of killing Shay and his friends flashed in his mind and Jaune clutched his head, before he could regain his composure, he was hit with another wave of memories, this time, it was the memories of the Spider gangsters he killed on the farm, and the boy who's face he beat in, and then the flashes of the Spider Gang slaughter appeared as well.
Jaune fell forward and out of his bed to his knees as he began to breathe heavily.
"You can tell yourself whatever you want, but you and I know the truth!" The Beowulf's voice taunted. "YOU AND I BOTH KNOW THAT YOU ARE A MONSTER!"
This time, the flashes were of the dead, the people he killed grabbing ahold of him and surrounding him, yelling bloody murder as they dragged him away.
"You can't ever get rid of us!" Shay cried.
"Come with us Jaune!"
"You're gonna suffer like we have!"
"We'll haunt you to the ends of the fucking world!" Noah cried.
"Murderer!"
"You killed us!"
"We'll be waiting in that fucking abyss for you!" Duncan cried.
"Jaune!"
"You'll pay for what you did!"
"You can never be free from us!"
"Our blood is on your hands forever," Malachite told him
"You'll burn in the abyss!"
"Jaune! You're going to be coming with us!"
"Monster! You'll Burn!"
"We'll never forget what you've done!"
Then he also saw himself killing and hurting Oscar, Maria, and Vernal, a version of himself standing over their bodies with their blood dripping from his blade.
His eyes met with the lifeless eyes of Vernal, and they were blank and devoid of life, and that struck him hard. Anger and hatred rose up inside of him and he could feel a dark and black ethereal-like mist wrapping around him, as if it was armor. He could feel the mist that wrapped around him boosting his emotions, his hatred, anger, and sadness, it amplified them.
The mist began to take form, and while it resembled a set of armor, it also appeared to be taking the form of a Beowulf... and all he could think about was killing, destroying, and tearing everything that stood in his way!
"LET GO! LET GO! JUST LET GO!"
'NO! THIS IS ALL JUST A DREAM!' Jaune cried himself.
Slowly, the ethereal mist began to fade away, as Jaune regained himself and kept reminding himself that this was nothing more than some sort of dream or that it was some trick, the mist faded away until he found himself back on the floor of his room inside the Huntresses base.
He was lying on the ground but picked himself up and sat against the edge of his bed, his breathing was ragged and quick, as if he had just run all across mantle and Atlas.
'Why can't I let go of this... "thing" inside of me?' Jaune asked himself.
Jaune then looked at his hands, he saw the scars and small burns on them, and for a split second, he saw his hands stained in blood... the blood of all the lives he had taken. In that moment, that's when he realized that he could never let go of everything that's happened to him nor could he ever truly let go of the anger and hatred that was inside of him.
It was stuck with him, like the scars and burns that now littered his body.
"Is this fear? Hatred? Maybe it's both?" He asked himself. "Whatever it is, I know that now... I can never atone for this thing inside of me, this dark flame, so if I can't atone or escape..." Jaune began.
The image of Bane-Saw flashed in his mind and a small amount of anger surged inside of him.
Jaune balled his hand into a fist, "Then there's only one thing I can do..." Jaune began, "I'll burn myself and my enemies with it..." He said darkly.
Laid down behind him like a loyal dog cuddling up to its owner, was the Borwulf, but this time, it was no longer the size of an average Beowulf, now, the beast was the size was as big as a van, and a dark smile graced the creatures face...
XXX
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The Next day, Jaune woke up, he grabbed Crocea Mors and strapped it to his hip, and then he left his room. once out in the living room, he saw that no one was in the room, he looked over to the kitchen to see Deery simply toasting some waffles.
"Morning, Deery," Jaune greeted.
Deery looked away from the toaster and looked up to see Jaune and she greeted him with a smile, "Morning Jaune!" She said happily.
Jaune couldn't help but smirk at her cheeriness, it kind of reminded him of Ruby or one of his younger sisters. "The other's leave on Patrol?" he asked.
Deery nodded, "Yeah, and they told me to tell you not to worry, they're keeping an eye out for Bane-Saw," She said.
Jaune smiled, "Heh, good," He said. "There any of those left?" He asked.
Deery nodded and Jaune walked over and waited for Deery's waffles to finish toasting once they were done, he grabbed a small plate, put butter on them, and poured some syrup on them. Jaune and Deery ate as they sat on the couch, turned the TV on and began flicking through channels, trying to find something to watch.
{"You'll never defeat me, Human! For I am the King of demons!"}
Click
{"Please... you can't leave... I love you!"}
Click
{"Lisa Lavenader here with the VNN, Today we're talking about apparent sightings of a Grimm that can speak! Hoax or a terrible truth?" She asked}
Click
{"I thought I was a goner till some guy riding a horse and wearing rusted armor saved our village!" The man from Mistral cried "I don't know who he was fighting but it looks like some huge ass Cat! Probably some Grimm, but I ain't never seen a Grimm like that glow!"}
Click
{"~Don't stop! Don't Stop! We're in love now!~"}
Jaune smiled, "Huh, been a while since I've watched Dagon-Z Kai," Jaune said.
Deery smiled, "My older brother was always a fan of the show," she said, "He read the Manga and sometimes I'd use watch it with him,"
Jaune looked at her with a small smile, "You have an older brother?"
Deery nodded and then looked down, "Well... I had an older brother," Deery replied.
Hearing that, Jaune felt he had touched a very bad subject with Deery, "I'm Sorry," He replied.
"It's alright, It happened a long time ago," She said, "I'm mostly over it," she said.
Jaune nodded, "How'd he... die?" Jaune asked.
Deery looked at him, "He was walking home one day from his job and he ran into a group of old men who were drunk, they were known racists of Faunus and they were at first just saying names to my brother, but he ignored them, he never cared what people said about him, as long as they were good people he thought of them as friends... but one of them didn't like that he was ignoring them, and so, they ran up to him and began beating him, my brother fought back but the mans other friends jumped in and they... beat my brother to death," Deery said.
Jaune's face was saddened to hear the story, "Is that why you joined the White Fang?" Jaune asked.
Deery nodded and she gripped the couch cushions hard, anger slightly boiled up inside of her. "I was so angry and those men, those human men who took my brother away from me and so I joined, I wanted to help faunus get the rights they deserved to show why we were equal to humans but after some time and after seeing what the White-Fang were really doing, I started questioning everything and wondered... would my brother be proud of what I was doing?" She asked. "I mean, he was used to being picked on for being a Faunus, but he never truly supported what the White-Fang had become, nor did he think their message of Faunus being greater than Humans to be right, he believed that if one group kept trying to top the other, then there was no equality, and I... I didn't realize that until it was too late," she said.
Jaune saw the pain and anger in her eyes, but most of all, there was sadness, and he couldn't help but feel as if he knew what Deery was going through. "Deery, for what it's worth, I think you're brother would be proud of you," He said.
Deery looked up and turned her head to Jaune with wide eyes.
Jaune looked at her, "I think that you're brother would be proud to see that you're back on the right path and want to help people, want to keep others safe, and want to redeem yourself, so..." Jaune began as he ruffled her hair, something he did with his little sisters. "I think your brother would be proud of you," He said.
Deery smiled a little at the gesture and gave a little chuckle as she wiped a tear that was forming. "Heh... my brother used to do that too," she said with a smile.
Jaune chuckled, "Guess it's just something older brothers do," He said.
Suddenly, a loud bang was heard against the base's door and they both jumped up and turned toward the door. Deery grabbed her staff/crossbow and was about to go see what it was but Jaune stopped her and un quickly unsheathed his sword and walked toward the door, signaling Deery to stay right where she was. As he got closer, he quickly opened the base door only to see nothing, and he felt an uneasy feeling rise up inside of him, so he stepped out.
However, there was still nothing, but then, he felt a tingle in the back of his neck and he quickly turned around only to see that atop the Base was a figure who shot a spiral-like thing at him, but Jaune quickly unsheathed his sword and managed to block the attack. The spiral projectile was pulled back, revealing to Jaune that it was some sort of whip MechaShift weapon.
The woman atop the base jumped down, standing in the front doorway, and Deery saw her and tried to attack her from behind only for Ilia to notice and quickly shut the door on her face, hitting Deery in the head and sending her back on her butt.
Outside, Jaune glared at the woman and activated his shield. "Who are you?" Jaune asked.
The woman looked at him and Jaune finally realized she was wearing a White-Fang mask, however, her outfit was more black, and appeared to be made of tight leather.
"My name is Ilia Amitola, and I'm sure you're acquainted with my friend driving toward us," Ilia said, using her rapier to point behind him.
Jaune quickly turned around to see a hoverbike driving toward him and atop of it was Bane-Saw, who was no doubt planning to run him over, as the other man got closer, he jumped off the bike and it tumbled toward Jaune, however, both the blonde and Ilia jumped out of the way, as the bike smashed into the front door, but thankfully, it didn't bust through, nor did it seem like there was too much damage done to the hoverbike.
Jaune looked behind him and in front of him with a glare, knowing that he was now fighting a 2v1, and unlike the punks he fought, he knew they were skilled, maybe just like Joanna and May.
Bane-Saw unclipped the chainsaw from his back and started it up as he looked at Jaune. "Time for you to pay, human," Bane-Saw said.
Jaune glared at him, "Pissed that I killed all your friends?" Jaune asked.
"What do you think?" Bane-Saw asked.
Jaune turned to look at Ilia, "So, you another of his lackeys?" Jaune asked.
"I work under Adam just like Bane," Ilia said, "And as he said, you'll pay for the faunus blood you spilled!" Ilia told her.
Jaune glared and he could feel his anger grow and the grip on his sword and shield tightened. "What about the blood you spilled? You came here to kill "Traitors" that left your cause, right? Who's going to avenge them!?"
Ilia seemed genuinely surprised by that comment and was about to say something but it was Bane-Saw that cut her off.
"They ran from the cause! They became traitors to their own race!" Bane-Saw cried.
Jaune glared back at Bane-Saw, "They left because of all the terrible shit you've done because you believe harming the innocent will make your cause better!"
Bane-Saw stepped forward with his Chainsaw at the ready, "You wouldn't understand Human! None of you are innocent! None of you!"
Jaune glared and prepared for the fight, "None of us are innocent? What about children and babies? You're telling me, you'd slaughter them too?" Jaune asked.
"We'd never-!" Ilia began only for Bane-Saw to shout over her.
"I would slaughter every human if it meant that the Faunus race could be free!" Bane-Saw cried. "But enough of this! We came to kill you, you damn human monster!"
Jaune's anger grew and he could feel his body heating up, that dark flame inside of him began to burn. "You want to see a Monster... Fine," Jaune said.
Ilia stepped forward only to freeze, as she could feel some sort of dark energy radiating off the blonde teen in front of her. She didn't know why she felt so frightened by him, but there was something about him, something inside of him that didn't feel... right.
Jaune then shot toward Bane-Saw and the Faunus terrorist saw this coming and quickly jabbed his Chainsaw forward as Jaune got close, but Jaune blocked that attack with his shield and pushed the weapon away, and he pulled back his sword. However, his wrist felt something wrap around it and he was pulled back and fell to the ground.
Bane-Saw took this opportunity to try and attack Jaune, however, Jaune saw him and quickly rolled out of the way as Bane-Saw slammed his Chainsaw down to the ground. Jaune quickly kicked him in the side and sent him falling to the ground on his right side and quickly got to his feet, only to hear the buzzing of electricity behind him and quickly turned around only to narrowly dodge the crack of Ilia's whip and she quickly pulled it back and reshaped it back to it's rapier form. Jaune quickly rushed at her and swung his sword sideways once he got close, but Ilia jumped back to avoid the attack.
Once she stepped on the ground, Ilia quickly blended into her surroundings, basically turning invisible. Jaune grimaced at the sight of what he knew was Ilia's Semblance. Jaune then felt a presence from behind and turned around and saw Bane-saw charging at him and Jaune quickly blocked the attack with his shield. Jaune was going to try and slash Bane-Saw but once again, he felt something wrapped around his wrist, knowing it was Ilia's whip and not wanting her to pull him back once again, Jaune ran backward, loosening the hold of Ilia's whip on his wrist and he then quickly turned around and charged at Ilia, who was now visible.
Ilia quickly retracted her Whip just as Jaune got close and was about to swing at her, but she quickly blocked it with her rapier, and the two weapons were locked in a struggle.
Ilia looked at Jaune and when she did, she felt just how powerful his blade was pushing against her rapier, she could feel all the malice and hatred radiating off the blonde, she saw his hot ragged breathing being exposed thanks to the cool air.
She didn't feel like she was holding back a human...
She felt she was trying to hold back the jaws of a Grimm.
Jaune finally managed to break Ilia's stance, sending her back, but from behind, he heard the sound of Banw-Saw's Chainsaw coming closer. Acting quickly, Jaune slashed Ilia across the stomach, only managing to graze her due to her falling back, and he quickly ducked under the swing of Bane-Saw's weapon, and moved to his right, before turning to the Masked terrorist and swinging down at his arm.
In a split second, Bane-Saw's right left hand was cut off and the appendage fell to the ground, and with it, his weapon.
Bane-Saw cried in pain and he fell to his knees and Jaune stood over him, the blonde wasn't going to let up, he quickly raised his sword up to bring it down atop the man's head, however, he then felt a large sharp pain hit his ribs and he winced in pain and stumbled to his left.
he turned to see Ilia, her whip buzzing with electricity and Jaune glared.
Ilia stood up and looked at him, her mask falling to the ground and Jaune now saw her crystal blue eyes and for a split second, Jaune didn't see her face, he saw Vernals and a look of shock graced his face.
Ilia looked at him and saw his shock and wondered why he looked shocked, but she pushed it away and quickly ran at him, pulled her whip back, and then whipped it forward, managing to strike him in the chest and sending him stumbling back.
After the attack, Jaune was taken out of his shock and quickly regained himself and glared at the faunus girl, quickly reading himself for the fight.
Once she was close, Ilia's whip reformed to the Rapier and she quickly jabbed him with great speed. Jaune tried to block and deflect as many attacks as he could, but a few slipped through and struck his aura, causing him to wince at the impact.
Ilia quickly pulled her rapier back and quickly transformed it back to the whip and then threw it back at the blonde, getting it to wrap around his left leg and pulling it, tripping him to the ground and on his back. Jaune grunted and saw Ilia's foot raised and ready to stomp on him, but he raised his shield and blocked the attack, however, Ilia pressed all her weight down on her foot and pushed the shield and the knight's arm down to his chest and she quickly reformed her rapier and pulled it back and activated the electric dust in it and thrust downward, hoping to hit Jaune in the face.
However, a bolt struck the rapier and knocked it out of Ilia's hand, leaving the Chameleon Faunus unarmed.
Ilia quickly turned to her right only for her eyes to widen when she saw who it was that disarmed her.
"Deery?" Ilia asked.
Deery stood there with her staff/crossbow aimed at the fellow faunus and when Deery finally saw who it was that stood atop the blonde teen, her eyes widened in shock as well. "Ilia...?" Deery called.
The only thing that spoke in that moment of shock was the wind, the two faunus stared at each other in shock, until finally, the silence was broken.
Ilia jolted and spat out blood, she turned her head to see Jaune's sword had punctured her stomach. Her eyes drifted away from the sword that speared her and they fell upon the boy's face, when she saw his expression, she was confused as to why he had such a... sad and shocked impression on his face.
She felt the sword being pulled out quickly and once it left her body, she felt weak. She stumbled backward before she fell onto the ground.
"NOOOOO!" she heard Deery cry.
Ilia looked up at the bright blue sky as she heard the running of feet coming toward her and entering her vision was the face of the Deer Faunus, a stunned look on her face.
"I... Didn't... know..." Ilia muttered.
"Shh! Don't talk! Save your strength!" Deery cried as she felt the girl's hand pressed against her wound. "J-Jaune! Call for backup! C-Call for help!"
Ilia slowly shook her head, and that's when she saw the blond entering her vision, his shock gone and he simply looked at her with sadness. "I didn't... know... I'm... sorry," Ilia muttered.
"Shut up!" Deery cried, tears forming in her eyes. Deery then quickly ripped off a piece of her shirt and tried to wrap it around the wound.
"Adam... never told me.... about this... mission," She said. "If I had known... I would've... never-"
"I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Deery cried.
Ilia felt her body getting weaker, and most of the feeling in her limbs was disappearing.
"Deery... take care of yourself..." Ilia began, she then looked at Jaune, "Take care of her... keep her safe..."
Jaune was surprised that she addressed him, but he nodded, letting her know that he would.
Ilia felt at ease by the blonde's response and looked back to the sky only to feel something land on her face, it was cold and frozen before melting into a small droplet.
'It's snowing...' Ilia thought happily.
Ilia hated Atlas, she hated the corruption, she hated how the faunus were treated... she hated that this was the place her parents died, but there was one thing she did miss about the kingdom.
The snow.
Sure it snowed in Vale and Mistral, but the snow falling over the city of Mantle, always brought back the memory of when she was a little girl, sitting atop her father's shoulders as she passed by the people laughing and having fun.
However, the snow also reminded her of ash.
She remembered when she spread her parents ashed over the wall and into the air.
The ash fell fast and hard, but eventually, it flew around in the air before softly and lightly, falling to the ground, just like snow did.
She thought about her parents, her friends at Menagerie, Sienna, and that's when another person came to her mind. The image of the girl she loved entered her mind, like a ghost.
"Blake..." Ilia muttered.
Hearing that name, Jaune's eyes widened with horror and his heart nearly stopped.
"Blake... I... never... I... wanted... Blake..." Ilia muttered, her mind slowly going blank and all feelings slowly disappearing. "I... wanted to... see you... again..." Ilia croaked before finally, everything, all the feeling in her body and thoughts in her head, disappeared.
Ilia Amitola was gone... she died in the very kingdom she hated, the very kingdom in which her parents died in.
Deery looked at Ilia's now dull and lifeless eyes and that's when the dam broke as tears finally fell from her eyes, and Deery quietly sobbed as she removed her hands from the wound.
Jaune looked at the dead Faunus girl and a sense of regret flowed through him. 'She was unarmed, I could've just hit her and held her down, yet... I stabbed her' he thought, 'I could've healed her, boosted her aura but... I didn't... why?' He asked himself.
Jaune then heard something starting up and Jaune quickly turned around only to see Bane-Saw atop the hoverbike and drive away. Jaune glared and he wanted to chase after him, but he wouldn't have caught up to him.
'He got away,' Jaune seethed to himself.
Jaune then turned back around to Deery as she was slowly begging to stop sobbing.
Once again, he looked at Ilia's body and another question came to his mind, 'Was she talking about the Blake I know? She had to have been, right?' Jaune asked himself.
"She didn't deserve to die here," Deery said sadly.
Jaune looked at her, "You knew her, didn't you?" Jaune asked.
Deery nodded, "Y-Yeah," She said, "Her name was Ilia, She worked with Adam on spy missions, and she was friendly with everyone, cared about everyone that worked for her, never wanted anyone to die... she helped me leave, Trifa did too, but Ilia... Ilia was the one that gave me the means to leave, she gave me the money to leave..." Deery sadly told Jaune.
Jaune nodded and understood why Deery was so sad.
"She wanted to try and make the Fang better, try to bring it back to what it once was for her friend... and yet... SHE HAD TO DIE IN THIS FUCKING PLACE!" Deery cried. The deer Faunus allowed more tears to fall from her eyes. "She hated it here... first her parents... now her... she... she didn't deserve this..." Deery sobbed.
Jaune's regret and guilt grew inside of him and he felt as if a dagger had struck his heart. "Deery... I'm sorry..." he told her.
Deery sniffled and wiped her tears away with her forearms as her hands were covered in blood. "I... I don't... I can't..." Deery began through her sobbing, "It's not you're fault..." She told him.
Jaune looked at his sword and saw the blood on it, it was Ilia's blood.
'Not my fault?' Jaune thought.
He then felt something in front of him and he slowly looked away from his sword only to see the Beowulf sitting across from Ilia's body. and looking directly at him, however, he was far larger than he remembered it.
It said nothing, simply sat there like an obedient dog, waiting for its owner to say something or for it to take it for a walk. Jaune simply looked away from it at back to the body of the Faunus, simply regretting everything that he had just done...
XXX
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Jaune with the Huntresses, minus Deery, arrived at the Airship terminal, where Jaune was going to purchase his ticket to Vacuo, with him was a small bag where he had his clothes for warmer weather, despite him wearing clothes, he felt a little naked without his armor, however, he would have to wait to get some new armor as he didn't have the money to buy any.
He looked at the Happy Huntressed with a small smile, "Well, thanks for seeing me off guys," Jaune said.
Robyn smiled, "Don't mention it, kid," She told him, "You're an Honorary member of the Huntresses after all, what kind of team would we be if we didn't see you off," She said.
Jaune nodded, still smiling, "Right," He said.
"Speaking of which, we got you something," Robyn said.
Robyn then pulled out something from her pocket and opened her hand to show what it was. In her hand, was a pin, the Happy Hunress pin, new and shiny.
Jaune took it and looked at it with a smile, feeling happy that he had it and that it would remind him of his time here in Atlas. he looked back at Robyn with a smile, "Thanks," he said.
Robyn smirked, "Don't mention it," She said.
"Ah, there you all are,"
Hearing the familiar voice of General Ironwood, they turned to see him alongside, Winter, Ciel, and Penny.
Robyn smiled at the General, "James, what brings you here?" She asked.
Ironwood smiled back at him, "Just here to bid farewell to Mr. Arc and wish him safe travels," He said. He then looked to Jaune, still smiling, "Sad to see you off so soon, Mr. Arc," Ironwood told him.
Jaune shrugged, "You know what they say, no rest for wicked," He told the General.
Ironwood chuckled, "True," He replied, "I also came to inform you that Bane-Saw hasn't been seen, he may still be in the city but we don't know,"
Jaune grimaced at that information, "I'm sure you'll find him," Jaune said with an irritated tone.
Ironwood decided to inform him of some good news, "As for Ms. Amitola, Robyn will be taking care of her burial," He told Jaune.
Jaune felt a lot better with that, "That's good to hear," he said with a slight smile.
Ironwood nodded, "Indeed," The General replied, "Are you heading directly to Vacuo?" He asked.
Jaune nodded, "That's the plan," he replied.
"Well, if I may, I suggest you actually stop at the Island of Patch and get some rest there before you continue on you're journey, trust me, it's a very nice vacation spot," He said, "Might be able to earn some money there before you head to Vacuo," He replied.
Jaune gave him a quick nod, "I'll think about it," he said.
Ironwood nodded and shook his hand before he stepped back as Winter stepped forward and shook his hand as well, telling him it was nice meeting and working with him and wishing him safe travels and Jaune thanked her.
Penny then stepped forward and smiled at him, "It was a pleasure meeting you, Jaune," Penny told him with a cheerful tone.
Jaune nodded, "You too, Penny, and sorry about the... knocking you out thing," he told her.
Penny smiled and shrugged, "All water under the bridge!" Penny said cheerfully.
Jaune smiled, "Good to hear," He said.
Penny moved away and then Ciel stepped forward and looked at him with a soft smile, "I hope to see you again next year, at the Vytal festival," Ciel said.
Jaune smiled at her a nodded, "Same here," he said.
Ciel nodded and then leaned toward him and kissed him on the cheek, shocking him and a few others.
May leaned toward Fiona with a smile, "Better do something Fi, she's making moves on your man,"
Fiona blushed and glared at May before she decided to step forward and tapped Jaune on his shoulder and Jaune was taken out of his stupor and turned to Fiona with a raised brow before he was shocked once again as Fiona kissed him on his lips for a few seconds.
Ciel was shocked by the other girl's boldness, as Ironwood and Robyn smiled at what Fiona did, while May held out her hand for Joanna, who have her a quick high-five. Penny was confused as to why both Ciel and Fiona kissed Jaune, and Winter simply looked away, never understanding the public display of affection people did.
Fiona broke the kiss and her face was an atomic blush as she looked at the blonde knight, "F-F-For good luck!" She cried as she backed away.
Jaune dorkishly smiled, "R-Right," He said.
"Well, better get going, Mr. Arc," Ironwood said.
Jaune nodded and bid everyone goodbye once again and then walked over to the line to get his ticket. They told him goodbye as he walked away and then they too began to leave the terminal.
As they left the terminal, Ironwood looked over to Robyn, "Our niece is visiting and Will wants us to have dinner together," he told her.
Robyn smiled, "Sounds good to me, it would be good to see Velvet again, and I'm sure the rest of the girls will be happy to finally meet her, I always tell them about her, after all," She said.
Ironwood nodded, "I bet you do," he said, "I also have to ask, Robyn, I'd like to discuss something very important with you," He said.
Robyn sighed but her smile still remained, "As long as it's not anything too boring, James," She told the General.
Ironwood nodded, "Oh trust me, Robyn, I'm sure you'll love what I have to say," he told her with a cheeky grin.
Back at the Terminal, Jaune bought his ticket and was then told that the Airship heading to his destination, was going to be leaving in an hour and was boarding now, so Jaune quickly thanked the man at the booth and ran for his Airship. He showed the ticket, boarded the Airship, and took his seat. Once on the Airship, she let out a large exhale and rested his head on the back of his seat. He then raised his hand and looked at the ticket where he saw his destination.
Island of Patch.
Jaune smiled softly, "Looks like I took Ironwood's advice," he said before he pocketed his ticket and then closed his eyes and took a deep breath in before letting it out, allowing himself to relax, and felt like taking a nap while waiting for the Airship to take off.
Unbeknownst to Jaune, a figure in a dark brown cloak boarded the Airship and sat two seats behind him, their focus on the blonde in front of him.
'You're not getting away from me, so easily,' They thought as they looked at the back of Jaune's seat.
PART 1 - ATLAS ACT END
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Finally! We're moving on! The Atlas Act is over! But what's this!? A Hooded figure is following Jaune!? Could It be Bane-Saw!? What's going to happen on Patch!? Will things really be ok once he gets there!?
What about Vernal and the others? Will they meet Jaune in Patch or head straight to Vacuo once they learn he's already left Atlas!? What will Vernal do once she learns (or if she learns) that Fiona and Ciel kissed Jaune!?
Well guess you'll just have to wait till the next chapter, huh? >:)
Anyway, thank you guys for reading and I'll see you guys in the next Act and Chapter!