Jae was rushing through the town as he used his sabre to block and deflect each strike made by Jaune who had continued to pursue him. "Look around you! There's someone else doing all of this and you're attacking the one person who had nothing to do with it!" He yelled to try and convince the Arc that there was someone else behind this.
Jaune however had a different mindset; His whole life was dedicated to hunting down and killing the other Demons who dared to pose a threat to the world by the mere concept of existing in Remnant. "Demons spew lies just so they can escape…Once they escape, that means they can enact their chaotic violence on others!" He thought to himself and then made for a stab at Jae's shoulder which was thankfully deflected by his Aura shield that somehow remained strong. "You can run away all you want, filthy Demon! But I refuse to let you out of my sights…You are a blot…A stain on Remnant's chance for peace so it is my solemn duty as a Demon Hunter to put you out of your misery and to put Remnant at ease!"
"Just listen to me! People are in danger right now, one of which is my girlfriend who's gone after the lady in charge of all this!" Jae continued to try pleading for Jaune to listen but ultimately pulled out Carmen and Electra to pepper bullets at him. The fact that all of his Demon abilities were acting up for some reason only added to the desperation alongside the constant spasms of pain.
"You mean your victims?" Jaune asked as he shielded himself; "I've seen you around…You've managed to pull not just one girl but nearly any girl you find attractive in Beacon…You must have been hard at work using whatever manipulation that you had to get them to agree with being around you…" He growled and then swung his sword, successfully managing to cut through Jae's Aura to his arm and making it able to damage his skin.
"H-How did you…Do that?" Jae asked as he gripped his arm; He wasn't sure why but he could tell that the sword in Jaune's hands was not normal, when he saw it glint in the moonlight however started to make sense.
"I am a Demon Hunter…Every inch of me is a weapon and the weapons we are given have been specially engraved and runed to ensure that even the lightest nick can make a Demon go running…Are you scared yet?"
"If you're so eager to hunt…You should remember that a cornered animal is the most dangerous." Jae warned as he aimed another shot which hit the wall after Jaune made a break for it. With Jaune now on the move; Jae started a sprint towards the tower, he had no way of finding help in time and the only thing on his mind was saving Pyrrha; "Gotta find the tower…Gotta get to Pyrrha….I can't let her do this alone!"
"I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU!" Jaune yelled as he then sprinted at Jae while his back was turned and then threw his kite shield at him, knocking the retreating teen to the ground. "I already told you…I'm going to make sure you can't infect anyone else with your influence…."
"JAE!" A third voice called out as a wave of ice pushed Jaune away and off of Jae, Weiss had luckily come to his rescue and allowed him some breathing room; "There you are! You cut off the call so quickly I-Oh Gods…What happened to you?!" She asked in growing concern as she saw Jae's side was still red from the drying blood after Cinder stabbed him along with the wounds from Jaune's Demon hunting sword.
"Don't worry about it…We just need to get to Pyrrha and help her!" Jae insisted as he climbed to his feet before wincing and clutching at the underside of his ribcage.
"Are you insane? You're hurt too badly to even walk straight! Let's get the others an-"
"I'd do it if it was you…Or Yang and the others….Please, Weiss…I don't want to lose her…" Jae admitted with his confidence now lowered enough so she could see the concern, worry and emotion plastered on his face.
Weiss hesitated, she knew that if he had the right drive to do it; Jae would move mountains to help her or any of their other friends and admittedly she was worried about Pyrrha too. "Alright…You go on ahead…I'll make sure he doesn't get past." Weiss assured him as she readied Myrtenaster against the now steady Jaune.
"You must be one of it's followers…As a Schnee, you should understand that helping a Demon like that would stain your name irreparably, come back to our side…Join the light and we'll make sure that you can retain your purity and wipe out that creature." Jaune said as he tried to reason with Weiss in the hopes that she was the same as the other Schnees that he heard about.
"Creature?!" Weiss said out loud as every inch of her body burned with anger at hearing someone talk like that about him and even more so when she knew what kind of person he was. "HE is a man! A selfless, kind and wonderful man…If there is anyone who is acting like a monster, it's you!" Weiss growled as she shot fire at him.
"I don't want to fight you! He has you under his spell and the only way that we can help save you from damning yourself is to let it die, don't you see? I've had to watch someone as elegant and beautiful as you and Miss Nikos fall captive to his corruption and now that I can finally set you free….I have more motivation than ever to wipe out any Demon whether they're Recessive, Dormant or Fullblooded!" Jaune pleaded with her like he was genuinely believing that Weiss was trapped.
Weiss watched him and evaded each swing of his sword. "You are insane! You're attacking someone who you don't even know purely because of who they are…I would NEVER allow myself to be "saved" by a delusional knight who thinks that."
"I thought that Schnees were as concerned about their appearances and their reputations as much as they do about money….What kind of vice does he have on you, snow princess…Because I can ensure you that I can be as strong as him AND I can ensure that you stay as pure and as perfect as you look when on stage."
Weiss then summoned up a Gravity Glyph to pin the armoured boy to the ground. "I don't need saving…Just like I don't need you telling me who the better person is because I know who it is…And it's not you." She stated with a cold expression.
——Meanwhile——
Jae was using his sword to climb up the side of the wall as fast as he could to get to the top of the tower after the Dragon Grimm managed to shatter the top. Each new strain on his body made him nearly pass out and in turn made him all the more motivated to push even harder. By the time that he got to the top of the tower, he saw Ruby jumping over the side as well which made him both confused and happy to see a friend; "Ru-"
A harsh sound broke the tone as Cinder unloaded an arrow into Pyrrha's chest; the sound of sizzling and her slowly dying gasps rang in Jae's and Ruby's ears like they were explosions.
With a satisfied smirk at both winning her fight and the added bonus at seeing that she had an audience gave her more of a satisfaction than anything else…Or it should have as something in the back of her mind screamed for her to run, to escape or to do anything but stay where she was.
Jae was unable to utter a single word; His eyes had the image of Pyrrha disintegrating before his very eyes, the voices that normally guided or harassed him were muted into barely anything. The only thing he saw was Ruby and Cinder, first everything went numb as Ruby's eyes practically erupted with a powerful and blinding flash of light.
"What?!" Was all Cinder could say as her body was awash in that white light until she felt it fade, only to see a black mass with dark purple lightning on the other side of her peripheral vision…The only problem was that the light made it hard for her to see but what she could feel from the haze was just as bad…If not worse. "WHAT?!"
As the Dragon Grimm turned to stone; it let a small pearl of white light glimmer from it's eye like a tear and vanish into the blackness as the Tower, the grounds shook violently and anyone who was still evacuating Vale could hear a monstrous roar echoing into the night sky that seemed to blur that fine line between a man's deafening cry of grief…And the howl of an abyssal monster.
——Days later——
It was everywhere…
People who watched the broadcast of the Fall of Beacon could barely even believe that it really happened; The School fell, Beacon's Headmaster was deemed dead and Atlas's military was crunching down on itself to bulk security.
For the students who couldn't go home; Parents who couldn't be contacted, home destroyed meant that an evacuation to outside of Vale was needed and for some people it was for a good reason. Jae was one of those who needed to stay out of Vale or at the very least needed to stay under the radar; With no home of his own to go back to and no other options, Qrow figured that it was probably for the best that what remained of Ozpin's group set the Cielo kid up in a safe house with Nora and Ren since they too had nowhere to go, the fact that Ironwood helped get a small squadron out to build up a temporary abode on Patch added to help keep the trio out of the limelight.
"He still hasn't woken up yet or even come out of that room…Shouldn't we be worried?" Nora asked as she had stationed herself by Jae's bedroom door since both her and Ren were awake before he was. The news about losing Pyrrha hit them both unbelievably hard; Nora ended up letting out her frustrations and feelings by smashing down a few trees near their "backyard" while Ren quietly processed the news, their biggest concern right now was with their leader and the fact that he hadn't said anything or even left the room was starting to worry them. Especially after they were told about Weiss going back to Atlas, Blake now on the run and Yang's despondent coping the loss of her arm, they were concerned about how he was taking things.
"General Ironwood said that he had to be given time to heal…Those injuries that he sustained back at Beacon were bad, even for him…" Ren explained solemnly as he tried to cook pancakes to take his mind off of things, since he wasn't the type to physically lash out or hit something to calm down; His methods to trying to maintain his own inner peace was meditation and ensuring that Nora had someone to talk to.
Nora nodded since he had a point but that did nothing to help stop how she felt; "I suppose…But what do we do now? We don't have a full team anymore and with Beacon gone, we…We can't be any help at all…"
Ren couldn't find the right words either but the sound of the door knocking was enough to get Nora distracted from their talk.
——Outside——
Ruby was still trying to recover equally as much if not more than the others at Beacon; She had seen Pyrrha perish at Cinder's hands much like Jae had but she also had to come to terms with the fact that she had seen the fallout of her own team and Yang's descent into depression following the loss of her arm and Blake running away. She had accepted and knew that what happened with Penny was not Jae's fault but she had yet to tell him that she didn't blame him for any of it.
"Hey Ruby." Nora said as she opened up the door and smiled when she saw the other Team Leader; After the Fall and when she heard that the remainder of Team JNPR were staying on Patch, Ruby made sure she visited them often to make sure they were okay. "How's Yang doing?"
Ruby's small smile faltered a little; "It's…It's taking time for her to process but…I don't know…" She sighed as she sat outside, noticing that Ren was peeking out of the doorway as well.
"We all got hit hard by everything, Ruby…Trust me, we know exactly what you're going through." Nora assured her as she sat next to Ruby; "Which is why we both check in on each other." Nora remarked with that same smile she always had.
"Speaking of, how's Jae doing? I don't think I've heard much about him since the General had him fixed up." Ruby asked as she saw Ren and Nora frequently but the last time that she saw Jae face to face was….was on top of the Tower.
This time it was Ren and Nora who looked a little down; "We uh…We don't know…He never leaves his room and the food we leave him barely gets touched…It's kind of worrying, I'm not going to lie." Ren mentioned as he couldn't help but let his own concern slip.
"Well…I think I have an idea that might be able help us get out of here." Ruby mentioned as the last words that Qrow left her got her thinking.
"Well, if you have stuff you wanna do, let's hear it." Jae's voice came out from behind them as he was dressed and looked like he had finished training.
"JAE!" Nora squealed out in both surprise and happiness before practically tackling him in a tight hug.
"There you are!" Ruby was feeling the same as she jumped in surprise since he had been behind her.
"Of course, I've just been training…I needed to get out of the house." Jae admitted as he went to sit with them. "And look." He pointed and then summoned up Fenrir like he used to before. "Turns out I can summon my weapons again…Just kicked in while I was practicing."
"And you're okay? You're feeling…better?" Ren asked as he looked Jae up and down to check him; Jae looked pretty normal from a basic glance though he did have some bags under his eyes that looked like they were fading.
"Yeah…Of course I'm okay, I've got you guys." Jae shrugged it off a little too quickly and smiled as he looked to Ruby; "So what's the idea?"
"Well…You remember how Beacon's undergoing repairs and Nora mentioned that she felt like she could do more?" Ruby asked and watched the trio nod; "Well, Uncle Qrow told me that he's picking up where Professor Ozpin left off and that the enemy's next step leads into Haven…So we can do our part to help too!"
"So this means that…." Ren started to say and started to feel motivated at the idea of moving out of the house.
"We get to go on an adventure!" Both Jae and Nora cheered as they started to get excited at the prospect.
"Mhm, so let's gather our stuff and we can get going soon." Ruby offered and got to her feet. "We can leave tomorrow and get the first boat out to the mainland." She explained as she started to feel better than she did in a while.
"Well, it's your plan so you lead the way, Ruby." Jae assured her and flashed her a small smile, getting to his feet as he then went inside to start preparing.
Ruby looked to the others who shared the sentiment as they both went in to prepare and were now more eager since they could get out. "Alright, Now I just have to be ready…"
——That Night——
Yang was sat in her bed as she didn't find the motivation to move much since…well, everything happened. Losing Pyrrha and Penny was one thing since they were both a part of the polycule and a dear friend respectively but the fact that Blake ran out on her while she was at her most vulnerable and the added sight of seeing her boyfriend suffering on that broadcast dragged her deeper into that pit. She gazed at the last part of her Ember Celica that sat on her nightstand with an almost regretful reminder of her failures but found herself oddly surprised when a knock came at the door; It wasn't her dad knocking and it wasn't Ruby but she certainly wasn't expecting that voice.
"Yang…Can I come in?" Jae's voice came from behind the door, Tai-Yang had finally decided to allow him to visit Yang thanks to Qrow's vouching and a large amount of convincing that he wasn't there to cause trouble. "Look…I just want to make sure you're okay…."
"You can…" Yang said with an uncharacteristically downtrodden voice as the door opened up and she saw Jae coming in, the fact that his face practically lit up when he saw her there made her feel a small amount better but she couldn't help but wonder if this was out of pity. "Hey, Jae…"
"Yang…" He began; When Ironwood took him for his emergency medical attention, he had seen Yang getting taken in to have the connector attached to where her right arm used to be so he wasn't as shocked to see her like this, though the fact that the fiery, passionate girl that he had fallen for was reduced to this made him ache for her. "I just realised that I've never actually been in your room before…I must be a lucky guy." He said to try and joke.
Yang nodded with a slight glance out of the window; "Yeah…Dad normally gives anyone I used to take over a talking to before we get to this point so I…Yeah you are.." She said before looking to him and showing him to a nearby chair, "So what are you doing here…Because I'm not sure I have the mood or the energy to…you know…" She said sardonically as he sat down.
"Yeah, I don't think it'd feel right while you're…still trying to recover." He said with a somewhat good point. "I just wanted to see you...With Weiss back in Atlas and Ruby's trying to refocus, I though that maybe you and I could have a chance to talk because I…" He remarked but then felt his words catch in his throat, something that Yang recognised all too well. "B-Because I think right now, you and I both know what each other's going through."
"Yeah, I lose an arm, a teammate and what made me me…Yeah, you really know…" Yang grumbled bitterly and looked at him with an equally harsh expression but that quickly faltered when she saw that pained look on his face. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say it like that…I just…Everyone who comes here to see me always seems to say that one thing: "I hope you get better" or "I'm sorry for your loss" but they don't really know or understand WHAT it is that I lost!" She ranted.
"It hasn't been easy, Yang…But we've all lost something at Beacon…" Jae pointed out as he felt the creeping wistfulness in his voice. "I've been put out here because I'm pretty much seen as the reason why everything happened…."
"But you're not…I know you're not, Coco and her team know that too and the rest of our friends know that you have…things going on before that point…" She tried to reassure him but then felt her body shake in grief. "Penny…Pyrrha...My arm…It's all gone!" Yang said in a wavering voice and even Jae was feeling her anguish.
"I know about Weiss going back to Atlas…But what about Blake?" Jae asked since he was sure that Blake would've checked in on the others and especially with Yang and him.
"I don't know…" Yang mumbled quietly before gripping her bedsheets hard. "And I don't care! No one outside of Vale knows what happened here. Before the tower fell, the last thing people saw was you in the stadium and then Atlas attacking innocent people alongside Grimm destroying the city. Everyone's scared out of their minds. No one knows who to trust at this point. So she RAN! I don't blame her…I'm not able to fight anymore and with all the things she's read about Demons, that's just as much a reason…"
"But…If we can find her and talk to her…Yang, there has to be a reason that sh-"
"No, there doesn't! Bad things happen, Jae and there's nothing we can do to fix it!" Yang snapped at him as she faced him. "Look…I think it's better you leave…You've got other people to look out for…I'm just gonna weigh you down…"
Hearing those words made Jae feel like he was punched in the head. "Wh..What are you talking about? Yang, there is no way that I'm gonna just walk away from you like that! I don't care about if you're missing your arm or if you feel like this but I still care about you more than anything! I…I lo-"
"Just leave me alone, Jae…"
Jae wanted to argue more, to yell all the wonderful things that he felt about her and to reassure her that nothing ever changed, but if he did then it'd just make it worse. "…Alright…Just remember that I love you….I'll always be here here for you if you need it whether it's a letter or not…No matter what you say to me…" Jae mentioned sadly as he slipped in his confession before placing a sunflower in a vase next to her bed and left her to think, feeling all the worse for them both as he heard Yang try and fail to contain a sob through the door.
——Early, the next morning——
Ruby was shutting the door as carefully as she could since she left her letter for Yang and her dad to see when Jae showed up as promised; "Hey Jae…You sure you want to hang around me all the way?"
"Come on, you act like I would just say no to hanging out with you for an adventure." Jae rebuffed her and laughed a little as he adjusted the straps on his bag while Nora and Ren showed up.
"It's true that the journey will be perilous but we won't get answers if we don't take the chance." Ren explained with a calm tone as he stood to the side while Ruby and Jae caught up.
Nora soon followed alongside in between Jae and Ren; "But there's no way that we'd do this if we weren't up for it." She stated with both a resolute grin and confident sense of determination.
Ruby could feel herself getting more eager to go as she marched along with them; "Then let's get going!" She accepted as the four wandered off towards the docks as Team RNJR.