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Started writing this while ill, triple digit temps. Will hopefully be better by the time it's done, but meh, is getting done.

Once a Rookie is also as of writing this halfway done on its new chapter. Just… Lookin for creative energy, right now, and better to get something done out of order than not getting anything done at all.

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Cinder came to in an old room she didn't recognize, staring up at an old, flaking, cracked and yellowing ceiling and blinking owlishly. Her head felt heavy and thick, like ice cold syrup sloshing around lazily in a bottle. For a while that infuriating realization was all her foggy head could register, could process, beyond tracing out the myriad cracks that spider-webbed the ceiling above her.

Then, she heard a voice.

"Ah, you're finally awake." The man said, his voice nothing but condescension and smarm. "I was wondering when you would decide to wake up, Cindy. Having to smuggle out an unconscious, wanted woman wasn't something I looked forward to."

She tried to speak first, to say something to the man, but her mouth felt like cotton. Dry and rough, and certainly not about to let her speak. Giving up on that, she tried to turn to look at the man, following the sound of his heels on the floorboard, but all that accomplished was sending a lance of agony through her shoulder and into her neck and head. The white hot agony dragged a hiss of pain from her and set stars in her eyes.

And earned a low, mocking laugh from the man for her efforts.

"Your head feels heavy and thick, your mind is a bit on the slow side and your mouth is drier than a Vacuoan summer." The man informed her dryly and simply, dragging a chair over to her and sitting down beside her. "Morphine," he explained, leaning forward so she could see him smile down at her, "for your rather, well, extensive injuries."

Injuries...?

Ah, yes, she remembered now, lances of pain slamming into her from the side of her face and her shoulder. It was sudden, like a switch had been thrown, and drew another hiss from her. Then, the pain started to fade again and she turned, ever so slightly, to see the man's hands withdrawing from her.

"Very extensive injuries." He reiterated, inspecting the empty syringe in his hand and then dropping it into a little bag on the bed beside her. Sighing, the man met her gaze and held it, gravely serious for once, "Normally I'd enjoy this, but time is a bit of a commodity for the moment, so I'll be frank. Do you remember what happened?"

Remember what… Ah.

"The… Maiden." She murmured, voice rough and gravelly. Her dry throat seized and she coughed, pain flaring along her side and through her head as she did. As the stars settled she felt a straw press to her lips and leaned up, sucking the cool water down greedily until it was withdrawn. "P-Please-"

"Normally, I'd rather enjoy your begging, but again, time." Watts sighed, withdrawing the water and giving her a look, "What happened? Do you remember?"

"Went for the Maiden." She explained weakly, "Killed Ozpin, beat most of them, but…"

"But?"

"The… Blonde." What was his name? She couldn't remember it and growled for it, closing her eyes and sighing weakly. "Head's… Foggy, I can't remember his name."

"Describe him." Watts ordered simply, drawing his Scroll out and flicking it open.

"Blonde." She started simply, coughing once before going on, "Black robes, with light armor I… Think." What the hell kind of morphine had the man put her under with? "Nikos' partner. Adam beat Nikos, then he went… Ballistic."

"Explain." Watts ordered simply, adding, "As best you can, at least."

"It was… Like fighting Ozpin, almost." Not quite, but Watts could at least get the idea from the description. Still, she tried to think and offer more, as difficult as either was for her, "He was less skilled. Sloppy. But… He shot lightning from his fingers and-and he ripped down stones from the ceiling, threw them at me."

"Lightning…?"

"Yes." She remembered watching him use it on Adam, before he treated him like a dirty room, beating it against the wall to clean it. "I hit him with everything I had, e-even called on the Maiden power some, but he… Didn't care. He just kept coming and- Emerald!"

The sudden shout set off a coughing fit that had the man sighing and pressing the bottle of water back to her lips. He let her have a couple sips before withdrawing it again and saying, quietly, "Emerald was the little girl you kept with you, yes?"

"Y-Yes." She answered, "I- He tricked me and I-"

"Shot her, yes." He nodded, raising his Scroll and smiling thinly. Condescending and pleased with himself, almost, but like he knew better than to really show it. Quietly, he said, "I have access to Atlas' after action reports. Her body was recovered with a couple of glass arrows lodged in it, after everything was said and done."

"Her body…?"

"Oh yes." He nodded, "She is very, very dead I'm afraid. Atlas' reports make that very clear."

"Damn it…" So she'd killed her after all, then. Whether or not the blonde bastard had tricked her into it didn't matter, not to her. She'd still taken the shots. Still killed her with her own arrows, with her own two hands.

Her own two hands…

Head throbbing she grit her teeth and put all her meager energy into lifting her hand. Looking at it. Her right arm was injured, covered in bandages and a cast around her wrist. But for the most part, it was nothing too severe. Letting the arm rest at her side she turned her head and blinked, not seeing the bed even as her face ached for her rubbing her cheek against it. For the moment, she ignored that, and tried to lift her other arm to inspect it.

All she got in answer was a searing pain and a strange… Tingle. Like she was trying to move a numb limb, and her brain couldn't quite register if it was there or not.

When she didn't see anything for a moment her heart began to race and she murmured, "W-Watts, what's wrong with my-"

"I'm afraid I couldn't save the arm. Or the eye, for that matter, though I did try." The man answered, her head snapping around to meet his impassive, resigned gaze with a wide eye. Raisin his eyebrows he asked, quietly, "Are you going to have a panic attack? If you are, I can put you back under for a while."

"Y-You couldn't save my... " She blinked, chest heaving and eye blinking rapidly. Why couldn't she see out of her other eye? How hadn't she noticed that? "Watts, t-this isn't funny. What do you mean-?"

"Panic attack it is, then, I suppose." The man sighed, drawing another long, thin needle from somewhere and snapping a hand out to grip her wrist. This time she struggled but he only sighed and squeezed, sending bolts of pain up her arm from her broken wrist and making her freeze long enough to jab the needle into her arm.

"We'll talk again when you're calmer." The man assured her as her breathing slowed and her head became heavy. Soon, she was slipping into unconsciousness, only a single thought persisting until she faded away entirely.

'Jaune Arc…'

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He left the mangled amputee in her bed, once he was certain she would remain unconscious, and moved across the squat little motel room to sit on his own ratty bed. Setting his case on the floor he paused for the shortest moment to take a deep, steadying breath. Then, his hands trembling ever so slightly, he unclasped the top and pushed it away, to give it the space it needed.

Or rather, the space he wanted.

The Seer inside emerged like the nightmare it very much was. Its long, barbed tendrils shot up out of the darkness and then down, embedding in the old, ratty floor for the purchase it wanted to tug itself free of the bag. Once it was free it floated freely, tendrils relaxing under it as it stretched and shuddered in the cool air of the motel room.

"Mistress?" He was fairly certain she'd been listening the whole time but, with the Grimm in the room, it bore making sure.

"Doctor." She greeted, sounding simultaneously amused and agitated. Languidly, the creature drifted away from him, hovering low over the still woman in her bed. Then the ancient woman sighed, though it sounded somehow less sad and more… Disappointed. "Poor, pathetic little thing. You couldn't save the arm?"

"No, Mistress, I could not." He answered, thankful for the chance to talk science rather than… Well, rather than about his mistress' foiled plans. "The shoulder bone was mostly, well, melted where the joint connected. It would have been surgery beyond what I was able to do to save it."

"You lacked the skills?"

"The supplies." He corrected, bristling instinctively and then balking when he remembered who he was talking to. Coughing to clear his throat he explained, "I would have needed an operating room, and specialised tools, to repair the melted bone and ligaments. I lacked the proper equipment to attempt such a venture without risking killing the girl."

"Truly?"

"The damage was extensive, my Queen." He nodded, standing and joining her Seer, looking down on the bandage wrapped young woman. In truth, he doubted he'd have even been able to save the arm with the condition it had been in. "Melted bone, blackened skin with a texture approaching burnt pork and nonexistent ligaments… I'm not quite sure what hit her, but I would very much like to avoid ever encountering it myself."

"A wise thing to hope for, I imagine." She murmured, asking after a moment, "She said that the person that did this was Nikos' partner, yes?"

"Indeed." He nodded, bringing up his Scroll and looking at the file, "A blonde, she said. The blonde on her team is one Jaune Arc. And, apparently, he uses two weapons interchangeably. A more classic glaive of sorts and a twin bladed 'energy saber' of sorts. That," he noted as he closed the Scroll, "could very easily have done the damage I'm seeing."

"I remember her name, but not his." Salem said, "Cinder included her in a list of women that Ozpin might seek to give the Maidenhood to."

"She was, yes." Along with half a dozen other young women skilled and 'honorable' enough for Cinder to worry about them. "I don't believe that she was the one chosen to take on the power, though."

"No?" The Seer echoed, turning slightly to regard him and ignoring the fallen woman. "How can you be so sure, Doctor? Nikos' partner did this to Cinder, after all. Isn't that evidence she took the power?"

"Evidence, yes." He nodded, returning to his bed and shaking his head, "Proof, no."

"Explain." The Seer ordered, floating closer to him in an old, if not ineffective, show of her power over him.

"Miss Nikos lost her legs in the fighting." He said simply, easing back on the ratty bed if only for more space between him and the Grimm. It followed, though, hovering over him threateningly for whatever purpose the Grimm Queen ordered it to. "But she lost them to the White Fang leader Cinder… Persuaded into her service."

"Not to Cinder herself, then." Salem answered, the Grimm pulling away from him to hover in the open space in front of the cheap little television. "If Nikos had the power, or was trying to get it, then Cinder would have dealt with her herself. Not sent some peon to fight her."

"Indeed." Watts nodded, taking the empty space to breathe and collect himself. "Further, she isn't being protected terribly in the hospital."

"The hospital?"

"She lost her legs in the fighting." He answered simply, "Taurus' Semblance is rather powerful, as it turns out. He took them."

"I see." She answered, seemingly making the easy connection that Adam Taurus was the White Fang leader he'd mentioned. "And how is Mister Taurus?"

"Under arrest and very, very heavy guard." He'd considered rescuing him already, if only to cause some confusion and chaos. The cost and risk had been prohibitive, but if she ordered it… Well, best to try a change of subject, he supposed, "Miss Nikos, and those others involved in the altercation, are under the same level of guard. The General's personal part time Hunters, full time thugs, the Ace Ops, have taken over protection duty of one of them, though."

"A woman?"

"Indeed." He nodded, "Blake Belladonna, who is-"

"The Maiden. She interrupted tiredly, sighing. "Yes, it's fairly obvious."

"Yes, well…" That hadn't been what he was going to say, but his queen sounded quite finished with the conversation at hand, so he wouldn't press his luck. Instead he asked, quietly, "Shall I have her dealt with? It would be a challenge but if it would be-"

"No." Salem answered quickly, "That won't be necessary, right now. Without Cinder on hand with the parasite to ensure she gets the full Maidenhood there's little point."

"I see." He said, trying to hide the relief in his voice. Going up against the Ace Ops did not sound like something he wanted to have to do with things as they were… "Your orders then, my Queen?"

"Withdraw." She said simply, "Bring Cinder home, Doctor. We will tend to her wounds and then decide on our next course of action. I know you have your own work in Vale," work that would, apparently, need to be abandoned, "but the Maidens and the Relics take priority. For what it's worth, I'm sorry to have wasted your time sending you there only to recall you so abruptly."

"No apologies needed, my lady." She never apologized to anyone but him, he knew, and that brought a smile to his face. "I'm just glad that I was lucky enough to be here when young Cinder needed me."

"Indeed." The Grimm answered, moving towards his back and curling its tendrils in. As it settled in she sighed, adding a final, "I shall see you when you get here, Watts. Do not return without young Cinder in tow, or you will pay for the lost investment personally."

"Y-Yes, my Queen." Somehow, he didn't think she meant in Lien. "I will bring her to you quickly."

She didn't answer, settling the Grimm into place and then putting the creature to sleep. After a moment, he allowed himself to collapse back onto his own ratty bed. Then, he heaved a great sigh.

"I'll make you pay for putting me in this situation, Ironwood…" He swore quietly for very distinctly not the first time, "If you'd just chosen me then everything would be fine."

Of course, he hadn't, and nothing could change that now. But at least he had a goal to focus on, for a while. Even if it did mean having to put up with the entitled, self-important little tart that was Cinder, it would be a decent enough distraction. At least, it would be in a few days, when Atlas calmed down the tiniest bit.

XxX-XxX-XxX

Great Vale was an old hospital, even Ruby could tell that much just from looking at it. Old hallways with old style brick walls made up most of its wings and rooms, and the windows were barred. An old security measure from the Great War, she remembered Doctor Oobleck telling them, since hospitals would be filled by wounded and their families if the Grimm attacked the city.

Or if something else did, though Oobleck hadn't specified what that might be in his lesson.

Now, after everything that had happened the day before, Ruby had a feeling she knew what that 'something else' had been...

"You good, kid?" The halls of the old hospital were surprisingly empty, ater everything had happened, but her uncle still didn't want her off on her own. So, sharp eyes scanning every nurse, doctor and passerby they, well, passed by, he joined her. He spared her a worried little look, though, adding, "You look like someone just stole your cookies, then banned 'em in the whole Kingdom."

"They wouldn't do that." She blinked, turning a wide-eyed look on him and asking, hands held up 'kung fu style' like Heise Chan from Mistral Rush, "W-Would they?! I'll fight 'em off if they try!"

"Ruby, I'm bein' serious right now." Her uncle growled warningly, Ruby blinking in surprise at his flat, unamused and completely unconvinced stare. "Put your hands down, and stop tryin' to brush me off, kiddo."

"I'm not-"

"I helped raise you, kid, don't pretend you can lie to me." He cut her off, turning his sharp gaze back on the people they were passing by as they rounded a corner.

Ahead of them were the heavy, armored doors that led into the secure wing, where prisoners were normally kept when they were sick or hurt. And now, where her friends were staying. Where they had to stay, right now, under heavy guard provided by Atlas' finest and a selection of Hunters Miss Goodwitch had sent to help. Ironwood hadn't spared any effort or expense protecting even just the first door, seven of his soldiers standing outside it in a disciplined, quiet formation. Three Atlesian Navy to either side, in their shining silver armor and blue underlining, with a Specialist leaning against the door itself between them.

Seeing them, the dark skinned man smiled and raised a hand, waving a hello and pushing off the door while his tail swished along behind him.

"Before we go in," Qrow grunted, laying a hand on her shoulder and pushing her to the side, out of the 'path' in the center of the hall and closer to the wall, "you think it might be a good idea to let me know what's up?"

"I… I-I don't..." She gave him a look and froze, her emotions suddenly flaring up inside of her, harder than she had expected and more than she could control. Anger, pain, fear and above it all, confusion, they all welled up like a tidal wave slamming into a fracturing dam. Yanking her shoulder back, out of his grip, she snapped, "Isn't it obvious 'what's up' Uncle Qrow?"

"I-"

"Beacon is half destroyed, it's been closed for days! All those things Ozpin told us about-" Qrow's eyes widened warningly, his head snapping to either side to see if anyone was listening, and she hissed, "See? You aren't listening, too worried about his frickin' secrets! My home is gone, my friends are hospitalized, one of them might never be able to fight again, b-because of these secrets."

"Ruby, the Battle of Beacon wasn't Ozpin's fault…."

"I know that, Uncle!" She hissed, pressing her face into the palms of her hands and sucking in a deep, deep breath, fighting back the tears that threatened to break there. Letting out the shaky breath she gave him a look, her smile forced and eyes burning, "But it's still because of his secrets. Yang can barely move, Pyrrha lost her legs, so many people died… J-Jaune killed people, and laughed while he was doing it."

"Yeah…" Qrow sighed, giving her a soft look and, after a moment, reaching for her again. This time she let him touch her, let him pull her in for a hug she returned. Running rough, calloused hands through her hair, Qrow murmured, "S'war, kid. People get hurt, bad sometimes, and people die. Some people snap, like your friend, too. S'just… S'war."

"I hate war." She murmured into his chest, squeezing her arms around him. He smelled like oil, and grease, and alcohol and, now that she knew what it smelled like, blood. But he was there, and the smell proved it. "I was so scared, watching them fight, Uncle… It was incredible, what Jaune could do- Can Maidens do that too?"

"They can." He answered, voice rumbling through his chest, "Oz can too, when he needs to. There's… A lot out there."

"I want to know everything you do." She said quietly, pulling away and giving her uncle a hard look when he stammered out the start of a denial. "This is a war, right?" He nodded, "Then I deserve to know everything I can, if I'm going to fight it."

"Ruby you don't have to fight-"

"I'm a Huntress, Uncle Qrow." She said, pushing off him and standing straighter, more than aware of the Specialist's confused gaze from down the hall.

"You're a kid." Her uncle argued, "A student, not a Huntress. Not yet."

"Did that matter to Cinder?" She asked quietly, the man's jaw clicking shut at the simple question. In his silence she pressed on, "Pyrrha lost her legs even though she was only a student. Yang's back is covered in burns and she can barely walk. Cinder would have killed me to get to Blake, and we're both students. And Blake won't even-"

"Okay, okay, I get it." The man sighed, shoving one hand in a pocket and reaching for his flask with the other. The hospital had forbidden it, though, so his hands came up empty and he scowled. Instead, he shoved the other hand in a pocket and sighed, quietly, "Fine, kid. I'll tell you everything I know once we're outta here. I know a quiet little diner where we can talk it all out. What Oz told you n' what he didn't both."

"Thank you." She was terrified of what he'd have to say, but… Well, the truth hurt, sometimes.

And she needed to know to do this right.

"Sure." The man sighed, bobbing his head towards the door, "Let's go see your team now, then, hm?"

"Yeah…" She smiled again, and this time it was a bit more natural feeling to her. "Yeah, let's go see 'em."

"Hey." Specialist Amin said as they approached, waving a hand to make the other six guards relax while his other took their identification. While he looked them over, meticulous as always even through she'd come by him half a dozen times by now, he asked, "You good, kid?"

"Not really, goin' to see my friends in the hospital and all, but…" She smiled, "I'll be okay."

"I hope so. You helped protect the General after all. Atlas owes you a big thank you for that." Handing back their identification he sighed and grimaced, uncomfortable but resigned to the normal routine. "We're, uh, still restricting visitation to teams and family only, though. For, uh, security reasons."

"Yeah, I figured." She hated it, too, even if it had been explained already and made plenty of sense. "Are there, um, any changes?"

"Miss Xiao Long is moving around a bit more easily, and Miss Schnee has started physical therapy for her broken arm. Aura is great for healing breaks like hers, but…" He shrugged, "You still have to work on getting your strength back."

"Yeah." She nodded, "That can be the hardest part, right?"

"It can, yeah." He nodded, pushing the door aside and smiling for them, welcoming them through, "The Schnee and your sister are in Miss Xiao Long's room right now, doing their therapy with Nurse Freya."

They thanked him quietly, as always, and brushed by, into the quiet of the maximum security wing.

Here, the halls were empty of the 'creature comforts' in the rest of the hospital's halls and wings. Chairs, cabinets, paintings and even the ceiling mounted televisions were all absent, here. The security cameras were even different, black little half-circles every few feet encased in wire fencing with little signs hanging beside them warning that they were electrified. It didn't even have its nurse's station in its wing. Instead it'd been built back, through the armored doors and up the hall, tucked into a little office room.

Not for the first time it struck her that this was probably what a prison felt like...

The guards, one Human and one droid at each reinforced door they passed, didn't pay them any mind as they passed. Most of the rooms were empty, she knew, or used as temporary quarters for the guards so that they were kept safe and monitored. But by guarding each door, General Ironwood had told her, they made it harder for anyone attacking them to know where exactly her friends were staying.

Which meant they were safer.

"Hey Yang! Weiss!" Ruby cheered brightly as the guard by her door let them both in, paying them little nods of respect as they brushed by. "How are you?"

"Doin' good." The blonde grunted shortly, sat on a mat on the floor and slowly, gingerly doing sit-ups while the nurse watched over her. Like Weiss, she was dressed in loose fitting trousers and a loose fitting shirt, both grey and marked out with the hospital's logo. Grunting and sweating for the effort of the no doubt painful exercise, she growled, "Back hurts but s'not new."

"Great!" She said, taking a spot on her sister's freshly made bed since she wasn't using it. Turning to her partner in the chair beside it she asked, "How's your arm?"

"It's sore and stiff." The woman complained, grimacing as she raised and lowered a little weight. "But getting better."

"Glad to hear it." Ruby smiled, turning a look on the old, frail looking woman that was their nurse. The old woman, who'd told her she'd been born during the Great War when she asked about her name, smiled, sitting in her own chair and taking notes, and Ruby asked, "How, um, are they doing?"

"Very well." The woman nodded, glancing down at her notes and smiling even more widely. "I would guess that Miss Xiao Long will be back to her prime, or very near to it, by the end of next week. Two weeks to recover is perfectly normal for moderate dermal electrical damage with Aura treatments, so she's just fine, by my metrics."

"Yeah I am." She laughed, groaning as she sat up once more and then began slowly lowering herself down, "Takes more 'n super taser lasers to slow me down."

"Don't get cocky, kid." Qrow warned, resting against the wall by the door. Still, when Yang and Ruby stuck their tongues out at him, he smiled.

"Miss Schnee's break was clean and healed up inside a few days, thanks to Aura treatments." The ancient nurse went on, completely unperturbed by what was by now the norm for these visits. "Another week and change, which is well within the norm as well, and I believe she will be back in fighting form as well. I'm sure your father will be pleased, the bill for treatment will be notably low."

"As if he would care…" The mention of her father seemed to sour Weiss' mood a bit, her lifting slowing for a moment before she sighed. "I'd have rather used Beacon's insurance, really, than rely on his money."

"Yeah…" She only hadn't because she knew that there were a lot of people hurt by the attacks, so public insurance was straining.

"I mean, at least you didn't have to fill out all that paperwork." Yang grumbled morosely, finally rolling over and standing with a grimace. Catching Ruby's worried gaze the blonde rolled her eyes and explained, not for the first time, "Moving around hurts a bit, sometimes. If I have to twist or anything."

"That reminds me," the nurse smiled, "your next exercise set will incorporate gentle stretching."

"Oh fuck me…"

"Sweetheart you're about twenty years too young for me." Yang actually choked on the water she'd been drinking, laughing quietly amid hisses of pain while the doctor scratched out more notes. "I see your back still hurts whenever you laugh, too. Breathing exercises will be a must as well then, to get you back to full strength faster."

"That was-" She grunted, hand on her side and then relaxed, letting out a weak breath. "That was a test?"

"Mhm." The woman nodded, smiling gently and raising a single thin, grey eyebrow, "That's my job, after all. Did you forget? Is the uniform not enough for you? I can send for an 'I work here, Yang Xiao Long' sign if you need me to."

Yang snorted, shaking her head and holding up her inner and middle fingers at the woman, smiling all the while, "You know you love me, Grannie."

"Sure, sure. I suppose that explains why I am working so hard to get you on the mend. And out of my patients list." Yang laughed and the woman joined her, turning a silent, questioning look on Ruby.

It was a soft, kind of sad look, and one Ruby knew pretty well by now. The nurse was their regular one and very attuned to them by now. And as much as she hated to ruin the mood, she needed to know… "How… How is Blake doing?"

"She's still not woken up." Nurse freya answered quietly, smiling weakly and rushing to add, "However, tests using stimuli are showing improvements. Both in simple physical reactions, tapping joints and the like, and in neurological scans. Her brain is reacting more and more to whatever we stimulate her with."

"So she's… Getting better?"

"Comas are always fickle, so while I can't definitively state anything…" The doctor smiled, "I would say that she is. Or, well, I'd bet my money on it at least. I've been told a highly esteemed neurological specialist from Atlas will be flying in tomorrow, with some things for your other friend as well, to see to her."

"Okay." A specialist and she was seeing improvement? Ruby took a deep breath and let herself feel hopeful, finally, that Blake was really, really going to be okay. "Thanks, Nurse Freya. I'm… I'm really happy to hear she's doing better."

"I can understand that." Nurse Freya smiled, turning a smile on Yang sitting beside Ruby on the bed. "Oh, did I forget to mention, your stretching exercises start today. Right now." Yang whined and the nurse clapped her hands, smiling, "Hop to it, chop chop."

XxX-XxX-XxX

It took several hours before the Battle of Beacon, which was now officially being called that by Atlas and Vale both, had finally come to an end. Long enough that Pyrrha's legs weren't safely reattachable, at least without some undefined, nebulous 'loss of functionality' that no one had been able to properly explain to them. But according to the doctors, she'd almost certainly lose some of the functionality, even if everything went well and they had luck on their side.

Neither of them had been feeling particularly lucky after the battle, though.

So now, instead of the long, lean muscle of a Huntress, her legs ended mid-thigh. To get ready for her coming prosthetics, which he'd been told were already well on their way, she'd already been through surgery to 'even up' her legs and install the cybernetic connectors. They were both simple little silver half-circles, set into a bracketed frame that had been bolted onto an internal frame and then her thigh bone.

Which sounded incredibly painful to him, but she assured him it didn't hurt at all. According to her, they even dealt with her phantom pain somehow, taking in her brain's impulses to move her legs and check on their condition and responding properly. He didn't understand it, really, but-

"Jaune." The woman murmured, sitting up in her bed and giving him a flat, disapproving stare. He blinked and grimaced, and she sighed, "You're staring at them, Jaune. Again. Even though you promised you wouldn't."

"S-Sorry, Pyr." He sighed, masking his embarrassment in taking a drink from his bottle of green tea. It was a bit bitter but, according to Ren, would help him relax.

He didn't think it was working, though, he still felt as tense as ever.

"Jaune, you know this isn't your-"

"I know it isn't, Pyr." She'd made certain he knew her losing her legs was no fault of his, or hers. Semblances were random, and often ludicrously powerful, and she'd been taken off guard by her enemy's. "I was just-"

"Brooding?"

"Thinking." He corrected her, chuckling at the sarcastic little roll of her eyes. "I'm a Revanite, Pyr. I don't brood over anything."

"No, no, you don't brood." She demurred, taking a strand of her loose, untied and wild hair and playing with it with a hand. "No, you just stare very intently at my, er, my stumps. While thinking. And glaring."

"Okay, maybe I was brooding a little bit." The admission drew a laugh from her, bright and happy, which made him relax a bit. She was still pale, a little, from what had happened. And she couldn't move around very easily. But that she could still laugh bolstered his spirits, some.

Or, well, a lot.

"What were you thinking about, then?" She finally asked, smiling when he gave her a confused look, "When you were totally not brooding, I mean. What was on your mind?"

"Well…" He sighed, shaking his head and buying a moment to gather his thoughts with another drink of his bitter tea. It didn't help, much, and the maneuver must have been obvious since Pyrrha's brows furrowed at it. She really was too good at reading him, sometimes… "Cinder, the archer, I mean, she's still out there."

"Jaune…"

"You're still in danger, Pyrrha." She grimaced and shifted in her seat to face him a bit more, to argue with him, and he asked, "When your new legs get here, are you going to stay out of the fight?"

"No." She answered quietly, "We've been over that already, though. With the prosthetics, I'll be back in top form, sooner or later. And so long as I can fight, my duty remains."

"Then we need to think about Cinder, the archer." He nodded, the woman grimacing at his words. The logic itself was simple, really, and she either agreed with it or didn't see a way to argue against it. "I beat her, but she escaped. I killed her team, but-"

"I wish you wouldn't talk about that so flippantly…" Pyrrha sighed, giving him an altogether sad look. "You took lives, Jaune. Two of them, in fact, and, Force, you wanted to take a third. I had to argue with you to stop you."

"He took your legs, Pyr." He argued simply, holding up a hand for peace when she made to respond. "It was a battle, Pyrrha, and I'm a Force Warrior. My beliefs on life and death, and killing, are just… Different to yours. In Revanism, and most Force teachings, our destinies are defined by the will of the Force. Dying in a fight, then, would be that destiny."

"I suppose…" She blinked, "Wouldn't my fate be something to accept too, then?"

"The Force willed me to be warned of your possible future." He argued simply, shrugging, "If it wanted to warn me, it doesn't necessarily will you to die that way. Why warn someone of something that you don't want them to prevent, after all?"

"A fair point, I suppose." She sighed, both in relief and something else he couldn't quite discern. He considered reaching out to 'probe' her wake in the Force, for a moment, before letting it go. "What do you propose we do, then?"

"Find her and either somehow remove her as a threat, or kill her." He answered simply, shrugging and taking another sip of his tea. "I doubt it'll be that simple, of course, but ultimately? Dealing with her will be better for everyone."

"I'd prefer we arrest her, not kill her…"

"If we can manage it, we will." Though he sincerely doubted that would ever, ever be possible. She didn't strike him as the surrendering type and, if push came to shove, he wouldn't lose any sleep over resolving the problem permanently. "For now, though, we need a plan. To keep getting stronger, and deal with the threats coming for us."

"Indeed." Pyrrha nodded, "The Archive, then?"

"That's what I was thinking, yeah. At least as a starting point." He nodded, grimacing and then adding, quietly, "I… Don't think being at Beacon will be very conducive to our goals, though."

"No?"

"No." He affirmed, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "I think… It's hard to phrase what I think we should do, really, but… I think that we need to forge our own path, outside the Academies' lines. Between the Temple I was trained in, and the Archive, and even the Maidens and how their power and Ozpin's powers felt to me, in the Battle, there's… Something bigger than us going on here, on Remnant."

"And you aim to find out what." Pyrrha concluded, "Correct?"

"Yeah." He nodded, giving her a small smile and offering, gently, "You don't have to come with me, if you don't want to, Pyr. I wouldn't-"

"Jaune Arc if you imply for one moment that I will let you go on some life changing, world rocking journey without me, then once my prosthetics arrive I will break one over your head." The woman threatened lightly, smiling when he turned to give her a look. Reaching out for one of his hands, and squeezing it gently when he gave it to her, "If you feel you need to do this, then by whatever gods that be, I will be there with you."

"Yeah?" She nodded and he smiled, a strange sort of warmth blooming in his chest. Scooting his chair closer so he could hold her hand more comfortably, he sighed, "Well, I suppose this means that Nora and Ren will… Probably want to come, too."

"Quite likely." She nodded, "For now, let's just… Enjoy what time we have."

"Yeah." He nodded, taking another sip of his tea and sighing contently. "Let's do that. At least until Ren and Nora get back and-"

"Heeere's Nora!" The woman suddenly shouted, throwing open the door with an exasperated Ren and an exasperated guard standing behind her.

"She spent ten minutes waiting for a moment…" The guard sighed, pointing a long, gloved finger at Jaune and adding, tiredly, "She's your problem now, Sir. Please, at least try to keep her contained."

Jaune could only laugh, as the man pulled the door shut behind the duo.

No one kept Nora contained, after all.

XxX-XxX-XxX

Is this… The rare happy ending? At least to the first 'book' of a series?

My god, I think it might be.

Hope you all enjoy and look forward to the next 'book' in this series. Might continue off the same story, might make a new one. We shall see, so make sure you are Following me so you can get the update either way~!

XxX-XxX-XxX

Scrub Lord :

Glad you liked it! As for Emerald getting to him, rationalize as you like. Personally, I think it was partially him being distracted as you said, and partially him assuming she was dead.

Lord Owl :

She lost a lot of assets, in fact.

Glad you enjoyed!

Zenith Tempest :

So. *sips tea* Still think I lost my inspiration for this~? XD

Hirshja :

Yeah, I wanted to strike a good balance of damage to power growth, bubt not call attention to it. That's part of why the fight scene was from Cinder's POV actually. Less fluff with the Force to describe and give away the subtleties.

Insane Wombat :

Their Hunters. Pyrrha and co are in the right, sticking by their duty and trying to do what's right. Sometimes, it ain't fun for you when you do what's right. But as shown throughout, these people aren't the types to abandon their duties to save their own hides.

John Killa 100 :

Expect it soonish! Dunno if I will make a separate story for it or post a continuation here, but it will be here soonish. I'm having too much fun not to!

Joeyginise :

As you can see, she ded.

Wright Knight :

Reattaching limbs is tricky and hard for anything bigger than a finger. For two entire legs, the loss of functionality that would certainly occur would be too much to risk. Even just a moderate permanent loss in utility could be damning to her career, which makes it a less than desirable option.

Also, robot limbs are kewl.