Ashes of Light

Silence rang out throughout the room. All sounds of the bloodthirsty fight surrounding him stopped dead in their tracks. "Not again." Jaune whispered to himself. "Please. Not this time." He shot a glare filled with wrath towards Cinder, and took off in the direction of his fallen friend. His head swam with all of the memories he and Weiss shared together, all while running top speed and suppressing his tears from falling. "Let me save her. Please let me save her." He thought to himself.

There she lay soaking in a pool of her own blood, desperately clinging to life and the remaining breath in her lungs. Pain coursed through every fiber of her being as her mind, scrambled and racing, struggled to maintain her senses of sight and sound. The rancid taste of iron slowly filled her mouth. Hard despair slowly washed from her as Jaune finally reached her battered body and gently cradled her in his arms.

"It's gonna be okay Weiss. I'm not going to let you leave us, too. I just need you to hang on the best you can." Jaune raggedly whispered in her hair. "Ren! I need you!" Nora responded "Go to him. I'll hold this oaf while you handle her." Ren curtly nodded and ran to Jaune's side, ready to do anything to help. "I need you to calm her emotions so we can slow the blood loss, her mind being in a panic isn't helping her case." relayed Jaune. "I'll use what I can to make a compress and slow the bleeding." Jaune knew very well that he was in no position to save this girl. Jaune had training for all sorts of situations: cuts, poisonings, burns, shallow stabs, a finger or two being lost, but not like this. Weiss was impaled by a red-hot spear that disintegrated while it was still within her. He ripped his sleeves off and tied them to make the best make-shift gauze he could. He lifted her waist and placed the compress under the point of blood rush. Jaune pressed his hands upon her abdomen over the point of entry and told her pleadingly "Be still." His mix of emotions flooded his mind at once and he finally released the tears he had been holding back. "I won't let you go. I can't let you go." he repeatedly said as he held her. The participants of the battle around them resumed their hard-wrought fight.

As tears flooded his vision, he felt a surge of white-hot energy rising within him as his tears dripped down face and felt the work of a thousand hands lifting weight from his shoulders he didn't know was there. Jaune unknowingly glowed and willed this energy towards Weiss. He felt Weiss's breath shift in his arms as she started to convulse. "Dammit, I'm losing her!" as breathed as he continued to cry. "N-No, Jaune. You're saving her. Look!" stammered Ren.

Weiss was slowly being covered in an ebbing wave of mysterious white aura. The flow of blood spouting from the gaping hole in her center began to lose its force, eventually succumbing to the white aura, eventually stopping. Upon closer inspection, her flesh began to reform and twist itself, as if it was in a state of regression. As Jaune's tears continued to flow, Weiss started to regain her senses. She was overcome by a series of thoughts and emotions as air flowed into her lungs, and Jaune into her sight.

"What happened to me? I thought I was done for?" coughed Weiss. "I don't understand it myself, but you're here now." said Jaune through his still flowing tears. "And that's all I wanted. Let me see your wound." Weiss's wound had finished reforming into what was once her smooth skin.

The healed flesh all converged into one point: a single gold rose with an eye within the center nest of its petals. Such an intricate pattern in such a small space, and yet so tantalizing. While still holding her with one arm, Jaune moved his free hand to test the wound for any pain. Upon lightly grazing the golden insignia with his index finger, he witnessed Weiss's face flush red and she recoiled into the fetal position. "Did I hurt you? Are you in pain? What's wrong?!" he frantically asked as he retracted his hand from her skin. Weiss stammered out "N-no. It f-felt really weird. It was like my whole body was dipped a warm milk bath. But there was no pain. Jaune you saved my life. " She failed to mention to him the amount of awakened pleasure she experienced. She decided to keep quiet about it.

Jaune's tears slowed to a stop and he wiped them away as he adjusted his hold on her in his arms. "I'm just glad you're back. I almost lost you. I'll be stronger from now on. I promise I'll pull my weight on this team." Weiss looked at him with a sense of longing. "You've pulled your weight this whole time. Now you are here pulling mine. You're my hero Jaune." "Just you wait, and I'll prove it to you." Jaune beamed with new resolve. "Now let me help turn the tide of this fight."

Jaune scooped Weiss into his arms and carried her to Ren. "She's in your care now. Guard her with your life. I have something I need to take care of."

Ren nodded firmly. "Don't worry about us. I got her covered." stated Ren. "I have full faith in you." Jaune turned toward the elevator Cinder and company took and hardened his face in anticipation. A calm settled over Jaune as he started toward the elevator. A calm before the storm the storm he was about to unleash. He stole a glance at Weiss, smiled, and rushed to handle his unfinished business. He lost Pyrrha to her before. She tried to take Weiss from him. She was going to pay. Cinder was about to meet her maker.

"I'm scared for him." Weiss noted to Ren. "Not only is she unbelievably strong, but Raven and her lackey are with her too." Weiss coughed out. "He'll be just fine. I sense a new force within him. A very calm, yet, powerful force.