G.N. Chapter 45 (Patreon)

Chapter 45 Like Company

He walked down the stairs with precise steps, his eyes peering over the shapes in the smoke, the clusters of statues and the beacons that were lit pyres. He saw the movement of the Beasts as they stirred, their forms hunched and stalking.

He took another step and watched as the gathering responded in kind, a tension swelling in their ranks as he approached closer and closer.

It was too much for one of them.

It shoved off a statue, clawed feet padding across the cracked stones as it raced forward, drooling maw set in a snarl.

Jaune paused, a show of hesitation.

Bait for the trap.

It joined him on the stairs, its charge shifting as it needed to compensate for the elevation of the individual steps.

That was when Jaune swung, when its footing shifted, and the Beast nearly stumbled on its approach. The serrated bite of his Saw Cleaver took the Beast’s face apart with a shredding proficiency that left its features in tatters.

The Beast’s skin fell off like strips of thick, hairy streamers and clung to the bone by narrow, fleshy threads.

Blood splashed down the stairs. The Beast flinched away from the pain, clutching at its now destroyed face, and gave a muffled howl. Jaune cleared two more steps and brought his arm back around, catching the creature under its raised arms.

The exposed soft spot of the Beast’s armpit ruptured beneath the biting strike, and the creature crumpled, blood gushing from its left to its right.

Its knees hitting the steps might as well have been the ringing of a bell as the rest of the waiting monsters began approaching at varying paces.

Jaune stepped off the stairs and didn’t even break his stride.

Another charged him the same as the first, scraggly limbs up as it threw itself forward with all its somewhat lacking weight.

Jaune lunged, his Threaded Cane stabbing forward, impacting the pitiful Beast’s solar plexus with a crack that had it gagging as its whole momentum came to a halt. Jaune drew his arm back and stepped into the Beast's space, his now bent elbow driving up into its throat.

It gagged, and Jaune twisted.

Another Beast, adjacent to a pyre, was rapidly closing. Its bigger frame and cloaked face indicated it was the other kind of Beast to inhabit Old Yharnam. Jaune hooked his Saw Cleaver around the Beast’s dented torso and shoved it back into its ally, keen on halting any attempts to surround himself.

His ploy worked, and they both stalled as they collided.

But another came from behind the cowled Beast, quick and frenzied. It flung itself forward, leaping at its quarry with vigour, swiping as it flew.

Jaune crossed his weapons above his head, catching its sickly frame and tossing it onto some scaffolding to his left, the wood breaking beneath the sudden impact. Jaune was happily surprised when the whole structure collapsed on the Beast, crushing it completely.

He was soon forced to return his attention to the remaining two as he ducked a swipe from the cowled Beast and kicked the diminutive one back. He had learned his lesson from the first Cowled Beast and knew not to discount either threat.

Then, a third showed up.

Jawn took a blow on his raised arm, grateful it kept the claws from reaching his relatively unprotected face, though his hat was knocked off once more.

Jaune staggered, quickly putting distance between himself and the Beasts, but the smaller one pursued furiously. Jaune hissed through his teeth and slammed his Cane into the stones, feeling the mechanisms move as it transformed in his grasp.

Soon, it was the Beasts who were backpedalling as the air between them became filled with steel fangs that danced and snapped.

Jaune flourished the Threaded Cane and pushed the larger Beasts back, putting space between them and the smaller one.

The smaller Beast, no longer the focus of his warding, attacked as Jaune knew its frenzied self would.

Before it got its arms up, Jaune brought his leg around in a pointed kick that left its knee bending from the force. It was brought low, and Jaune ceased his protective swipes, turned his attention to the kneeling foe, and drove his boot into its chin.

It staggered back and into the lit pyre of another burning beast. The filthy bandages on its person caught, and soon it was flailing wildly as it burned alive Jaune returning to the still-standing Beasts.

Both seemed stunned.

Jaune was the one to attack this time.

With the Threaded Cane leading, he began to lash out, and soon, the Beasts eagerly tried to avoid his swings, as he knew they would. They separated, breaking their united front, and it was there that Jaune attacked.

With his Cane, he swiped left, but with his body, he went right.

His Saw Cleaver swiped as the right Cowled Beast attempted to land a blow, and Jaune revelled as its flesh yielded to the biting metal of his weapon. Then his shoulder collided with the right one, hurtling it to the floor, its bloodied arm trapped beneath it as it fell uncontrollably.

No sooner had he done so than he was forced to duck and move, his Threaded Cane trailing behind him as he avoided a lunging bite. He caught sight of dark, hungry eyes beneath the cowl and responded to them the only way he could.

His Threaded Cane came up in his hand, and the length responded, coiling swiftly around the Left Beast’s ankle.

Jaune tugged, flesh shredded; the bone did not yield so easily.

But balance did.

The Beast fell, and Jaune transformed his saw cleaver.

Pulling on the Threaded Cane, he dragged the Beast to him and brought his Saw Cleaver down in a butcher's arc. The weapon doing as a cleaver should as it sunk between its legs and below its sternum.

The noise it made was quiet and wet as Jaune jerked back on his Saw Cleaver and split its lower anatomy in twain.

The other Beast stalled in its movements at the sight.

Jaune did not.

He jumped over the dying Beast and swiped with his cleaver, the Beast scrambling away desperately. Jaune swiped twice, but the Beast fled urgently to avoid his attacks.

Jaune felt the Threaded Cane go taught and heaved.

Still coiled about the dying Cowled Beast’s leg, it came to his movement, but so did the near corpse, trailing blood and innards as it was pulled along the floor. Jaunes enhanced strength, emboldened by the Blood Echoes, the same strength that allowed him to use a weapon as unwieldy as the Kirk Hammer, lifted the corpse.

Jaune watched on, half surprised, as the near corpse crashed into the Beast, and both went down with a crunch and a splatter of still-hot blood.

One or both made some kind of groaning.

Jaune paid it no heed.

He yanked on the Cane, pulling the now indeed a corpse body off the second part of the collision, revealing the blood-coated thing beneath.

It raised its arms to shield itself.

Jaune parted them from its body, leaving it with two bloody stumps.

It did not even have time to express its pain before Jaune brought his weapon back up, and the serrated part of his Saw Cleaver entered its brain cavity from below.

It stilled.

Jaune did likewise, taking a moment.

He breathed in, ignoring the scents and the burn that attacked his nostrils.

The sigh he let out was the release of tension and the comfort of knowing he kept his cool; he maintained control even in the thick of it.

‘Better…’ Jaune thought, keeping his mind from edging back towards the time he had lost, throwing himself senselessly at the abomination of the Grand Cathedral.

Swiftly, he returned his weapons to their base states and sheathed his Threaded Cane once more, but his Saw Cleaver gave him trouble. As he manipulated it, he was reminded of the claw he had blocked with his arm, and pain flared upon his upper bicep.

Jaune switched his Saw Cleaver to his other arm, looking down to the injury that had managed to carve through his protective coat and into the meat of his limb.

He was happily surprised to find that despite the injury clearing his outermost layer of protection, it was, in fact, minor. Jaune frowned as he rolled his shoulder, maneuvering the long coat off his arm to inspect the inured spot, only for the pain to flare anew.

Despite the hurt, it was still a minor cut… but it didn’t feel as such.

In the short time he had been a Hunter and a resident of the Dream, he had earned the distinct displeasure of enduring many savage wounds. Scratches and lacerations from beastly claws made up a large percentage of such hurts as a vast swath of his quarry wielded them.

He knew well the pain of deep, slashing claw wounds, and though this felt like one… it lacked the same severity.

“Odd,” Jaume mumbled, pulling his coat back up, the holes in his attire as damning as the blood around the injury. Jaune decided to ignore it; such a small wound was, in truth, not something he could afford to focus on for the time being.

Jaune, now setting to right himself, quickly moved to recover his hat, picking the tricorn from the floor and dusting it off. As he inspected it for further damage, he was once more met with the voice that had greeted him at the entrance.

“You are a skilled Hunter, adept, merciless…” the voice rang out, and Jaune stopped, looking around as the sound echoed from the buildings, but this time with far less resonance. Jaune kept his eyes up, scouring through the smoky grey air, hunting for the source.

He continued to walk forward, hunting for the owner of the voice.

“Half-cut with blood, as the best Hunters are,” the voice continued, drawing Jaune to the end of his present path. Jaune stood at the edge of a broken courtyard overlooking the ruins of Old Yharnam, knowing well now that the voice was indeed upward.

“Which is why I must stop you…”

The cackling roar was almost as stunning as the explosion of agony that ripped through his torso and flung him back into a blazing pyre. Jaune couldn’t even scream as the tearing punctures tore air from his breast and brutalised his lungs.

So furious was the sudden attack that he was forced through the flame-ravaged wood of the pyre to lay on the floor, ruined and broken. Around him, charred meat and blazing charcoal flared and flickered, a pool of blood growing from his centre to douse and drown the resilient flames.

Jaune tried to breathe, but it was pointless as he ended up gargling and choking on the veritable flood of his own blood that filled his trachea and gushed from his mouth. His pained, spasming diaphragm was doing little more than squeezing the blood from his ruined chest and hastening his death.

Jaune clumsily searched for his hip, his arm moving, searching for the Blood Vials he had saved for this exact situation.

The voice began speaking again, and Jaune’s eyes finally landed on the source.

“I should think you still have dreams, well the next time you dream…”

The pain returned, but Jaune witnessed the cause of his demise: the flashes of bullets exiting the barrel followed by the percussive, repetitive roar of gunfire at a terrifying rate. The bullets from the shooter's nest ripped through his arm and back, damn near cutting him in two and ceasing his body's movements utterly as death closed in.

Yet still they spoke.

“Give some thought, to the Hunt.”

Jaune perished yet again, his body amidst the corpses of Beasts, and just as the voice had wished, his thoughts went to the Hunt.

Just likely not in the way the voice would have wished.

YVYVYVYVY

Jaune was first into the kitchen, his senses taking in the abandoned room and the heavily ransacked manner in which it was left. The people who were here cleared out quick and fast… Jaune found himself struck by a sense of envy.

How he wished to follow in their steps.

He turned back and watched as the last of ‘his’ group made it through the door, the trailing member being the hotel’s manager, Mr Keppel. Jaune spared this moment to look the man over and saw that he was cradling his arm but otherwise showed no other apparent injuries. Jaune sniffed, catching no further whiff of blood on his sister’s strays.

At least that was one positive thing of note in their spiralling disaster he was now a part of.

“I need your belt,” Jaune declared, resting his free hand on Mr Keppel’s uninjured shoulder. The shorter man started and looked up half-panicked.

“Um, okay,” the man responded, confused but clearly having learned to get with the program, he began to fumble with the latch.

“Why do-“

“We need to block the door,” Jaune explained, if only to hush Jade. He was still fighting to keep his cool, and his sister seemed to be trying everything to make him lose it. Mr Keppel showed good haste when getting the leather strap from around his waist and handed it to Jaune, who quickly began to use it to bar the kitchen doors.

“Buy what if others are trying to get through!”

Jaune turned to respond to his sister but was cut off as something large impacted the door, and only Jaune’s person being there to keep it closed stopped them from slamming it open. Jaune looked to the clouded windows, seeing the bloody smears as a sizeable shadowy beast rammed the doors, trying to gain entry.

Jaune grunted as the force of the Grimm was nearly enough to make him stumble, his hands working double time to wrap the handles. No sooner had he sealed the door than he was moving back to Mr Keppel and ignoring the terrified looks of the others, though he did spare Sky a glance.

He refused to look at Jade, who was stunned and silent.

“You need to get us to the security room,” Jaune stated urgently. Mr Keppel was quick to nod his head, his eyes locked on the shaking doors as more blood smeared across the windows.

“It's through the doors over there,” the man pointed shakily, moving in the direction without turning his head.

Jaune put his hand up, breaking his line of sight and nodding his head to the others. Sky raced to his side, dragging Jade along, who could not decide which way to look.

Ayame and Tara were both pointedly looking at the floor.

They were making their way through the kitchen when the sound of a crash had Jaune hauling his sisters about with one arm, placing himself between them and the noise. The source was a group of three, one man bellowing and another giving chase. The third, the one the other two were pursuing, was doing everything in his power to keep a Nevermore from his face as the avian Grimm ravaged his arms.

Jaune looked at the entry they used and realised he needed to act immediately.

He flew past Ayame and Tara, the younger of the two women, letting out a scream of “Egg!”

Jaune paid it no heed, grabbing a cleaver from a nearby bench. It was still half lodged in a piece of tenderloin, but Jaune paid no heed to it and hurled it through the air. The sound of the steel lodging itself in Nevermore’s spine was music to his ears as he leapt over another bench to close in on the group.

He had no sooner stuck the bird than one of the three, the biggest of them, swung at the bird Grimm with a crowbar to brutal effect. Jaune watched critically as the large Faunus beat the human-sized Grimm into the kitchen tiles with savage blows that splattered oily blood all around.

Jaune ran past the three, barging past the last of the trio to reach the service entrance they had entered through. He was quick to wrench the door down, sparing a cursory look outside and spotting no signs of any other Grimm pursuing the trio.

A small miracle.

Jaune stepped back from the door, cautious, waiting, but despite his worry, no impact came. He did not need to concern himself with another source of pursuit… yet.

He turned back and found that his sisters and the others had moved to help the other three, Tara and Ayame quickly embracing two of the trio while Mr Keppel had run to the far wall for a first aid kit.

Jaune inhaled deeply, the thick stench of blood being the most overpowering of the scents from the three.

He also found all of them to be Faunus.

Jaune marched over, his axe hanging at his side. He saw the conflict in Jade's gaze. On the other hand, Sky dashed to grasp at him, an arm wrapping around his hip quickly. Jaune placed a hand on her back in turn.

“Shit, he’s cut up bad we need to see to his arms-“

“Here!” Mr Keppel shouted, slamming the first aid kit on the bench, wrenching the case open, and fumbling around with his one good arm.

The noise and flailing did nothing to settle Jaune’s racing ire.

Breaking away from his sister, he gestured at Jade with his head to join him; Mr Keppel stepped back even before Jaune had reached him, letting Jaune take over.

“We’re helping them?” Jade questioned, looking up at her brother.

Jaune didn’t miss her look and replied sternly, “You have already made up your mind; I am simply accelerating the matter.”

If she was pleased by her brother’s response, she didn’t show it. After sniffing the antiseptic, Jaune handed her a bottle and some gauze. It wasn’t very pungent; they would need to find something else to cover the scent better, but it was better than nothing.

“Thanks for the help,” the largest of the trio spoke up, his deep voice bouncing off the tiles.

“You seemed to have it handled,” Jaune responded as Jade moved between them to see the Faunus with whiskers and badly lacerated arms.

“Thanks to your throw,” the big one nodded.

Jaune eyed him warily. He was big, about a head and a bit shorter than Jaune and twice as broad. The man’s crowbar was placed on the kitchen workbench next to him. It was old but now coated in a fresh layer of Grimm blood.

His appearance was rough: well-worn jeans with more than a few scuffs to the fabric and solid boots that looked like they had been more than broken in. The cleanest part of his attire was a faded red t-shirt with long sleeves, but even that bore a few tears.

Jaune would have described his face, but it was heavily concealed by a bushy brown beard that hung to the top of his chest. It was matched in volume by a full head of lightly curled hair.

“Jaune, his arms… they’re bad,” Jade announced to her brother, seeming hesitant even to touch the bloodied limbs.

“No, no, they’re fine. I swear they just-“

“Shut it, Egg, listen to the girl,” the big man said, not taking his eyes off Jaune.

Jaune had felt displeased with the addition of the two women to their group; he had been irritated by the hotel manager joining them.

This was the first time Jaune felt worry, though.

Jaune continued to stare at the bigger of the three Faunus, not even moving when Sky once more clung to his side, her small hand wrapping around his shirt.

“…”

The big man was not blind to this, meeting Jaune’s gaze steadily. Then his eyes moved to the crowbar next to him, and Jaune’s grip tightened about the haft of his weapon. The big man wasted no time taking a huge step away from the crowbar, and Jaune relaxed by the smallest of margins as he did so.

“… My friend needs help. I ain’t no good with first aid things…” the big man proclaimed.

The other member of the trio, who was uninjured and unarmed, quickly moved to the big man’s side. “Please, can you help us…”

At this point, Jade turned back to her brother and met his gaze with the same steel she had in the lobby, and Jaune buried the desire to slam his axe into something.

The standoff was ended by the doors Jaune had sealed, banging loudly as something impacted them heavily and more frequently.

Jaune swallowed his frustrations and moved past his sister. “Pick him up. We need to move. Get his arms in the sink.”

The big man was so quick to follow his instructions that he actually fell in step with Jaune, and for the first time tonight, Jaune was confronted by someone capable.

He didn’t know how to feel about such a thing.

“Hey, wait, I- Argh!”

“Ye can blubber after the girls got you wrapped up; till then, shut ya trap and listen,” the biggest of the Faunus said, hefting the boy up by his waist.

“Keep his blood off you if you can,” Jaune ordered.

At this point, the uninjured one spoke up, “What, afraid of a little Faunus blood?”

Jaune shot him a venomous look that had him stumbling back and nearly tripping over his own feet.

But it was the big one that answered.

“Grimm can smell the blood; gets em riled,” he grunted, placing the injured one on the kitchen bench, his arms in one of the deep sinks.

Jaune said nothing turning the tap to max and blasting the bloodied arms much to the injured one’s protests.

“Argh- Fuck, the stings!”

Jaune was about to instruct his friend to shut up when the big one already had his meaty paw wrapped around his mouth. Jaune didn’t miss that the man's hands were the size of dinner plates, and his nails were claws.

If anyone noticed the scent of the sea suddenly growing stronger they didn’t comment on such a phenomenon. After all, it was hardly strange for a coastal city to smell like the ocean.

Jaune turned off the tap and grabbed two towels, handing them to Jade, who was forced to pass the bandages and bottle of anti-sceptic to Sky. “Tourniquets, as tight as you can make them, up above the injuries.”

Jade nodded, moving quickly to start tying off the spots as tightly as she could, Sky watching on curiously. The large Faunus, who was proving to be of interest to Jaune, was helping, taking a knee and holding his injured friend steady for Jade to work on.

“You, get over here,” Jaune barked, pointing at the last of the trio.

“Me-“

“Teak! Now!” the large Faunus boomed, causing the Sky to let out a tiny squeak and hide behind Jade ineffectually.

Jaune stepped back, letting the other Faunus move in, “Pick him up; keep him flat and steady; we need to move.”

“Jaune, his arms!” Jade exclaimed, still tying the second tourniquet. Jaune could tell from a glance that they were rough, but they would suffice for the time being.

“No time,” Jaune shook his head at Jade, moving to grab the crowbar the big one had used. “Keppel!”

“Yes!” the man startled.

“Lead,” Jaune ordered crisply.

“R-right,” Mr Keppel took off, hurrying towards a door that looked like it led to a service corridor.

“You’re heading into the hotel?” the big one asked.

“Need weapons,” Jaune answered succinctly.

“… Good idea.”

“Hmm.”

The lobby door shook again, and Jaune thanked Kos for not letting the Ursa take a swipe at it. The giant Grimm could have splintered the door quickly, and then Jaune would have a whole new set of issues to handle.

Once more, he waited at the door until everyone had piled through; once it was closed, he eyed it but couldn’t find any decent way to block it without sacrificing a weapon. With a scowl, he turned away and moved back to the head of the group just behind Mt Keppel.

“How far?”

“Just up around here, do you still have my pass-“

Jaune didn’t respond, just handing it to the man without a word. They walked a few more meters to a T-intersection, where the scent of fear suddenly struck Jaune anew.

By instinct alone, he grappled the back of Mr Keppel’s shirt, jerking him back as he moved around the corner. A faction of an instant later, the sound of a gunshot rocked the hall, and Jaune’s eyes pinned the new bullet hole in the stone with fury.

Jaune shoved Mr Keppel back into the group and put himself flush against the wall at the edge, handing the crowbar to shaking Tara. “Jade, knife,” Jaune ordered, his sister passing him one with shaky hands, the gunshot evidently getting to her.

Jaune took a breath before speaking, “I don’t know who’s down there, but we aren’t Grimm.”

“S-stay back, this is a secure a-area and n-no unauthorised personal a-are allowed-“

“Pear! Pear, is that you?” Keppel practically screamed, the man's voice carrying a mix of fury and panic.

“M-Mr Keppel!”

“You crazy idiot! You nearly shot me!” Mr Keppel moved to turn the corner once more, but Jaune brought his axe up to stop him and shook his head. The Manager stalled and seemed to settle, “Pear, we are coming down. You are not to shoot-“

“But sir-“

“Pear, just put the fucking gun down!” Keppel roared.

There was silence, and Keppel looked at Jaune. The shorter man was searching for direction, uncertain about how to proceed.

Jaune gave a calming gesture, “Pear, was it?”

Silence persisted before a shaky voice spoke, “… Y-yeah.”

“I am a guest at this hotel and am being escorted to retrieve my property by your employer, Mr Keppel… I am going to turn the corner with Mr Keppel… is that all right?”

“… Alright, s-slowly now!”

“Hold this,” Jaune ordered, passing his fire axe to Tara, who fumbled to take it, already holding the crowbar. “Stay behind me,” Jaune ordered Keppel.

The hotel manager nodded his head, his fury now wholly drowned in the fear of entering a hallway with an unstable gunman. Jaune took a step out and, when no gunshot rang out, moved his body into the hallway.

He spotted the man in question with ease. Half hidden behind a desk, his arms shaking, a pistol clasped in a too-tight grip, Jaune could smell the fear from the other end of the hall, and it was sickening in its volume.

Jaune took a step, which frightened the security guard into screaming, “Don’t move!”

“Pear, stop this-“

“Shut up, don’t move! I know there are more of you, so bring them out!”

Jaune’s patience died unceremoniously, and all that was left stirred his blood.

“No.”

The guard was taken aback as Jaune’s words easily carried down the hall.

“I said-“

“No,” Jaune cut him off, still not moving from his spot. Keppel half hid behind his tall form, and the guard was shaking on the spot. Jaune watched as the barrel of his firearm continued to drift in his outstretched arms at points, not even pointing at him.

“I will-“

“Do nothing, now put the gun down,” Jaune demanded as calmly as he could, his tone glacial.

“I’m not playing!”

“…”

“I will sho-“

Jaune struck faster than a serpent, his arm blurring as it lanced out, and a knife hidden in between his fingers was launched through the air.

It found its mark perfectly, slamming home and jerking the panicked man's arm to the side.

The gunshot rang out deafeningly in the narrow corridor, and the bullet whizzed by Jaune, never even coming close to his person. This did not stop Mr Keppel from diving to the floor despite his injured arm. Jaune, however, was already moving, listening to the sounds of his sisters crying out his name as he marched forward, seeing red.

“Stay there,” Jaune ordered over his shoulder, not even checking to see if his order was followed. His entire focus was on approaching the guard named Pear.

The guard was groaning, clutching at his arm with a bloody hand, and blubbering, “Fuck, I’m bleeding-“

Jaune planted his foot into the desk and kicked it, launching it forward and slamming it into the guard, who was busy grasping at his injured arm. His attention was forced away from the knife stuck in his elbow joint as the desk crashed into him, forcing him back until he bounced off the heavy security door.

Jaune was vaulting the desk before the man could even make sense of what was happening. The gun held limply in his hand became the target of Jaune’s focus. Jaune darted forward, his hand wrapping around Pear’s injured arm, blood painting his fingers red as he tugged and jerked on Pear’s arm.

The gun hit the floor, and Pear let out a cry of pain.

Jaune didn’t stop at a superficial jerk, though, going so far as to bodily lift the guard into the air by his wounded limb to the point his legs dangled in the air.

Jaune, thinking only of the fact that this cowardly thing had dared to shoot in the direction of his sisters, hauled the man about like a dog would a ragdoll.

His body went up…, and then Jaune brought it down.

He flung the guard into his desk with a crash, the whole thing collapsing in two as the impact force broke it down the centre. Pear lay there still and unmoving, and the things that hadn’t fallen off the desk from Jaune’s kicking piled atop him where he lay.

Jaune stared at Pear; this man ruled by fear to the point where he was maddened enough to shoot at him and, more importantly, in the direction of his sisters.

Jaune considered lifting his foot above this pathetic man's skull for a moment.

“Jaune?”

As he looked away from the unconscious guard, such thoughts were washed away in the tide of his love for his sisters.

“It’s safe!” he bellowed, looking down the hall to see Jade sprint around the corner, with Sky not far behind.

“Jaune, are you ok!” Sky cried out, running right past Keppel, who was lifting himself off the hallway floor.

“I am unharmed,” Jaune answered calmly, catching Jade as she flung herself into him.

She was quick to begin looking him over, “Are you sure? He shot at you.”

“And missed,” Jaune shrugged with one arm, bending down to retrieve his sister's knife from the unconscious man’s arm.

“Jaune!” Jade cried out, shocked as he pulled the blade out and offered it to her.

Jaune blinked, “What’s wrong?”

Jade seemed stumped for words before she hesitantly took the blade. " We need to bandage his arm…”

“Little thing like that? Nah. I’ll handle it if you don’t mind seeing to Egg ‘ere,” the large Faunus offered, gesturing to his pale friend.

“But you said you weren’t good with first aid?” Jade recalled, confused by the offer.

The large Faunus scoffed, “He don’t need first aid; he needs a bandage and a slap up the head, both of which I am more than capable of handling.”

“Oh, well, sure, I guess-“

“Thank you. Put your friend to the side,” Jaune directed, pointing to the wall beside the broken desk. Keppel! Get down here and open this door. I will feel a lot better if I have something besides a fire axe to use if any Grimm finds us.”

Keppel didn’t say anything, just hurrying past, only slowing to look down on Pear, who the large Faunus was seeing too. The sound of fabric ripping was enough to make even Jaune curious, who witnessed the man take off the guard's sleeve to use as a bandage for his arm.

The Faunus looked to Jaune with a quirked brow and received only a nod in response; both men understood that, at best, it was for appearances to appease the others.

The sound of beeping returned Jaune’s attention to the security door as Keppel swiped his card and pushed on the handle, the heavy click sounding almost welcoming. “H-here we are, the secure lock up…”

Jaune wasted no more time moving to Keppel and following the man inside. He was immediately met by the sight of the many secure weapon safes, tall black metal locker-like structures bolted to the concrete floor and with similar security features to the one that protected the room itself.

It was almost enough to make Jaune smile.

Jaune passed Keppel a ticket he had not taken off his person since checking in, “Here is our ticket.”

Keppel took the ticket with a nod, “Very good, I will-“

“Retrieve ours first, then open the others; we need to move quickly as we still have to find some transportation,” Jaune directed, looking back to the hall where Jade was finishing her work bandaging.

“Umm… others?” Keppel muttered.

Jaune returned his gaze to Keppel and watched the man flinch beneath his attention. “Yes, the others… the other lockers holding weapons… or would you prefer to punch your way past the Grimm?”

Jaune’s rare showcase of sarcasm was effective as Keppel hurried to find the safe holding Jaune’s and Jade’s weapons without further complaint.

Jaune was beginning to believe that he really should have just grabbed the girls and ran; Jade’s hate be damned; these fools were going to be the death of him.

YVYVYVYVY

“So… what’s the plan?” The Faunus Jaune had learned was called Salmon enquired from the doorway to the secure room.

Jaune, who was checking his firearms, ceased his efforts to address the newest addition to their group properly. Jade also looked up but quickly returned her attention to her gun, slotting the magazines into her armoured vest that she kept in her gun case.

The armoured vest was light, but Jaune knew it would stop a stray feather from a Nevermore; he and Orr had tested it personally before buying a set for all the girls. Notably, their protective ability was significantly diminished in terms of Alpha Nevermore plumage and any weapon approaching Tier-3.

“We will need to locate transportation, something sturdy and large enough to carry all of us… then we make for the evacuation point to the north,” Jaune explained.

Salmon nodded but was quick to ask questions, “Why not settle for multiple vehicles?”

Jaune nodded his head, “A capital idea. Should the opportunity present itself, you are more than welcome to take advantage-“

“Jaune,” Jade intoned warningly.

Salmon cracked a smile under his bearded visage, “That eager to be rid of us?”

“… If you do depart, would it be too much to ask that you take the women and the hotel manager with you?” Jaune asked.

“Jaune!”

“Ay… we are a rather juicy target,” Salmon sighed, proving that Jaune was not the only one who understood the issue at hand.

“… It is a concern, yes. Your companion, Egg, is also a worry… the Manager’s arm yet another on top.”

“I am sorry to be burdensome; I dislocated it at the entrance and-“

“Wait,” Jaune snapped, turning to Keppel, who now dearly wished he had kept his mouth shut, “it is only dislocated?”

“Yes, but-“

“But nothing. Come here,” Jaune instructed, placing his weapons back in their bag.

“I thought it was broken the way you were cradling it,” Salmon said, frowning.

“It's not like setting it is going to make it hurt any less!” Keppel argued.

Salmon facepalmed, “No, but hurting and useable is better than crippled, ya fool.”

“I-“

Keppel was silenced as Jaune grabbed his arm and shoulder and quickly put the man's arm to rights with his vastly superior strength. It was a testament to his knowledge that doing so seemed almost effortless as he restored the limb to its socket with an audible pop.

It was also telling that he had enough forethought to quickly muffle Keppel’s cry of pain, the man screaming into Jaune’s hand instead of out loud.

“There, now, if you are forced to fight a Grimm, you will be able to do so with two arms,” Jaune sniffed dismissively, returning to his weapons.

“Is everything ok?” Ayame asked from the door, having heard the commotion.

“It's fine. The tall one was just fixing up Mr Keppel,” Salmon waved away the younger girls' worries.

“Oh, that’s… good?”

“It is,” Salmon reinforces. “How’s Egg?” Salmon asked, concern colouring his words.

Ayame appeared more stricken at the mention of the other Faunus, “He is… woozy…”

“Fuck,” Salmon cursed, scratching his hairy chin.

Jaune didn’t bother hiding his scowl at the news; instead, he slid on his own gear, satisfied that his weapons were all in prime condition. With practised ease, he was soon fully equipped, and he would be lying if he were to say that he was not in a better mood with ready access to firearms.

They might not have been his guns…

But they were still weapons he had come to appreciate all the same.

Jade was also now ready, having shifted her throwing knives to be situated across her torso while her holster for her Hard-light blade and Tier-1 Bolto rested around her waist. Unlike Saphron, who had come to favour revolvers and, more specifically, the Vasto, Jade came to enjoy more modern firearms.

It was ironic that she enjoyed using the M3 Bolto, which was based on one of the earliest guns ever made. It was so old, in fact, that the original Bolto, a flintlock, was the forefather of the Vasto, and Mistrali Gunsmiths repurposed the name to make the M2.

The M3 improved massively on the M2 while still retaining its original purpose of honouring one of the oldest known firearms. But it did so with a Mistrali flare, keeping a shape reminiscent of its original flintlock nature while still allowing it to function as a semi-automatic pistol with a flared magwell and a sturdier slide.

The final product was the Tier-3 ESS-M3 Bolto, the ‘historic’ sidearm.

Jaune was glad Jade had not gone for some of the more… ‘artistically’ ornate of Mistral’s many firearms.

‘There needs to be a line,’ Jaune thought with a shake of his head, recalling some of the more flowery Mistali designs.

Like his sister, Jaune was adorned with a belt and a harness, though both of his were for firearms. On his belt were several magazines, larger individual rounds, and a single holster in which sat a Tier-1 Lex. It was the sidearm of choice for Valeans, being a gun almost entirely originating from the country and boasting exquisite firepower.

Jaune’s harness was adorned similarly. Resting along his right side were a holster and a sheathe, and his left had a few more slots for magazines. In the holster sat the reason for Jaune’s belt to carry individual rounds: the weapon he owned that came closest to his firearms of old.

It had been a personal gift from Orr and easily one of the most thoughtful and heartfelt he had received. Even his parents were shocked by his earnest reaction. Of course, the moment was ruined when Orr jested about their future wedding gifts having to meet the high bar, and Hella responded violently as usual, but Jaune loved the memory all the same.

It was his very own Tier-2 Challenger. A break-action, single-shot pistol that could well and truly be called a hand cannon, it was powerful enough that even Jaune felt the recoil. While it was not anywhere near powerful enough to be in the realms of Tier-3, which is to say restricted to Huntsman, it was still mighty.

It was yet another utterly Valean firearm, and though it did boast some slight modifications to make it better suited to Jaune, it was still mostly true to its original design.

And it was only half the package.

The second part was the custom-order ammunition that had forced Jaune to sign a whole litany of forms before checking into the hotel. Jaune had been driven to silent rage at having to explain the logic behind lugging around explosive ammunition.

He couldn’t begin to reason with some people; he was poorly equipped to understand their ignorance.

Jaune caressed the weapon, laughing softly when he found the inscription under the barrel.

‘Even death will think twice.’

Jaune spared a moment to recall that he still had yet to buy Orr a gift in return, he would have to find something most fitting for her next birthday.

A slow whistle broke Jaune from his happier thoughts as Salmon saw the weapon in his hand. Jaune, remembering the situation at hand, quickly opened the weapon and slid a single Combustion Round into the chamber before closing it up and holstering it.

“You came prepared…” Salmon nodded.

“No… I didn’t. Otherwise, I assure you, I would not be nearly so under-equipped,” Jaune replied, pulling the last item from his pack. The sheath on his side was soon filled with a broad-shaped machete, perfect for cutting and hacking.

Before Slamon could respond, Keppel spoke up, still rubbing his shoulder. “Right, that’s the last of the lockers… it's not much.”

Jaune moved to inspect the table, finding that the Keppel was not, in fact, wrong. The score was a single pistol with two magazines, a rifle, and a shotgun with only a handful of ammo each.

“Damn,” Salmon voiced, seeing the somewhat lacking arsenal.

“… There is nothing for it… but first, we need to settle something,” Jaune declared, just as Salmon’s friend Teak meandered into the room, guiding the one called Egg.

“Yeah, what’s that?”

Jaune turned his gaze to Salmon and noted that the Faunus didn’t even react to being the centre of his attention. “Do you have Aura?”

“What?”

“I watched you beat a Grimm to death with a crowbar,” Jaune explained, carefully watching the man. “So answer me, do you have Aura?”

“… You worried about me being a bigger lure than Egg out there,” Salmon guessed, looking back at his pale friend, who seemed to grimace at the statement.

“Answer the question.”

Salmon smiled, “No, I don’t got Aura, but I do have these.”

Jaune watched as the Faunus rolled up his sleeves, revealing his massive bulging arms covered in thick fur. “How's that? Not nearly as intricate as what you got on your arms but eye-catching all the same.”

“Your trait?” Jaune questioned, fighting to keep his thoughts on the here and now.

“Yep, not what most people think of when they hear ‘bear arms’, but I promise ye they get the job done,” Salmon smirked.

“So, no Aura?”

“Nope.”

“Good,” Jaune said, drawing his Challenger and pointing it right between Salmon’s eyes, making the Faunus go stock still. “Who are you?” Jaune interrogated his face the visage of calm.

“Jaune!”

“What the fuck!”

“What are you doing!”

Only Salmon didn’t make a loud exclamation, his eyes shifting between the barrel of the loaded gun and Jaune’s blue stare. “I’m Salmon-“

Jaune’s frown grew even more severe, “Don’t do that, answer my question. Who are you? You swung for the Nevermore’s neck precisely, showing knowledge of Grimm anatomy. You know what attracts them, showing a knowledge of surviving outside cities. You’ve been too calm, showing an adeptness to the present chaos that speaks of experience.”

“Jaune put the gun down-“

“Listen to your-“

Jaune thumbed back the hammer without so much as blinking.

“Lastly is the fact that you… are a killer.”

Jaune’s words were met with silence.

Salmon didn’t speak, but his eyes told a story as he no longer looked at the gun barrel but instead stared deep into Jaune’s eyes.

What he saw in them made him relent. He looked away and rolled the sleeve of his right arm up even further, revealing a bare patch of flesh.

A scar.

Jaune saw it and knew right then that it was self-inflicted.

“Bandit?” Jaune asked, looking at what he presumed was once some indicator of allegiance.

“No… though sometimes I wonder if that wouldn’t ‘ave been better,” Salmon admitted.

Jaunes frown shifted to a scowl, “White Fang.”

“Good guess…”

“Fucking hell,” Keppel, the only other human of the group, gasped, moving away from the Faunus.

“Salmon…” Tara whispered.

Jaune took note that Teak said nothing and didn’t even look surprised.

Ayame looked outright stunned.

“That… is very inconvenient,” Jaune declared.

“If it is of any value, I haven’t been one of ‘em in years… not since I was a kid with more balls than brains,” Salmon admitted.

“… White Fang's presence in Vale back then was nearly non-existent, and you are too young to be from the Faunus Rights Revolution,” Jaune pointed out, his gun not wavering from where it was aimed.

“Wasn’t born in Vale…”

Jaune nodded, “Vacuo?”

“Maybe… but it's where I grew up, and over there, White Fang was just another group… hell, back then, they weren’t even worth a second glance,” Salmon snorted.

“… Took you in young?”

“Practically as soon as I could run,” Salmon admitted sourly.

Jaune could hear it; hell, he could practically taste the old hate, the betrayal, the hurt.

“Why leave? They clearly taught you well; you would have been a boon to them…” Jaune asked, eyeing the Faunus’s thick arms.

“… You ever been to Vacuo?” Salmon asked, looking at his palm.

“Haven’t yet had the pleasure,” Jaune answered honestly.

“The desert doesn’t allow for stationary settlements; if you don’t live on a coast, you move, you carry your whole life on your back and do what you must to survive… but there are still lines you don’t cross,” Salmon spat.

Jaune didn’t interrupt.

“They told me we was a brotherhood, Faunus fighting for what was good and righteous or some bullshit like that…” Salmon mocked, “But we weren’t anything like that… we weren’t even mercenaries…”

“You were worse?”

“Like ye said before… Bandits. Thieves, killers, fucking scum…” The words fell from Salmon’s mouth like noxious bile.

“That how you get that blood on your hands?” Jaune pressed.

Salmon was hesitant, but it didn’t hold up in the face of Jaune’s presence, and the gun pointed at his head. “They gassed me up, took me out half tipsy, shoved a gun in me hands and told me we were going to hit a group that was against the brotherhood…”

“Were they?”

Salmon spat on the floor, “Yeah… in the sense that they didn’t pay the ‘tax’.”

“Ahh… you hit a caravan,” Jaune nodded.

“… Yeah… my first kill, some poor fuck just trying to protect everything they own,” Salmon admitted, his face aging as he admitted his guilt for all to hear.

“That when you left?”

Salmon could have lied, made a big show about how he parted ways then and there, or seen them for what they were.

But he didn’t.

“No… we made it to shitty little place called Schist, with all our stolen gear an stuff and immediately began looking for somewhere to offload it… one of em dropped a box… there was a photo in it,” Salmon swallowed loudly, “It was the man who I killed… holding his little un… tiny thing, just a baby… and I killed their daddy.”

Others around the room were affected by his words, but Jaune… Jaune didn’t even blink.

If this surprised Salmon, he didn’t show it and just continued to speak, “I ran off… must have been sick at least twice, half sobbing and looking like a mess… found a scrap worker who had a forge… didn’t even notice me slip into his shop and snag a piece of metal until he smelt my meat cooking.”

Jaune watched Salmon paw the burn, looking at it like a hideous blemish. He knew for a fact that he wasn’t seeing the injury but recalling what once held its place.

The room was quiet when Salmon finished telling his story, but Jaune still had yet to lower his Challenger. Instead, he asked a question, “If I was to tell you that not even a handful of hours ago, I killed three Faunus with that fire axe, all of them members of the White Fang… what would you think?”

It was almost impressive how the silence seemed to double somehow.

Salmon looked over to the weapon in question and then back to Jaune, his eyes roaming over Jaune’s face searchingly.

“… I don’t think I can rightly say anything about it… just that I assume they had it coming,” Salmon shrugged.

Jaune nodded, and finally, he lowered his gun.

“Pick a weapon,” Jaune ordered, reholstering his Challenger.

The reaction was immediate.

“What?” Teak questioned, looking at Jaune and his friend in a confused manner.

“You can't be serious, right? He is White Fang!” Keppel cried out, looking at Salmon like he might suddenly decide to kill him.

“Jaune… are you sure?” Jade asked, looking shaken at the revelations.

Jaune, however, was entirely relaxed and gestured for Salmon to come forward and take his pick of the remaining weapons.

Sky finally got her brother to respond, “Do you trust him?”

“Marginally,” Jaune supplied, “at least I know he isn’t a bold-faced liar.”

“But he is a murderer!” Keppel argued.

Jaune turned to the manger, his face blank, “and he is in like company; now be silent.”

Keppel paled, recalling what Jaune had said about killing three Faunus with the fire axe; the man backpedalled until he hit a wall and slid down it. “I’m going to die,” he whispered.

“I can't speak to that, but if you don’t cut that shit out, you will be getting left behind,” Jaune spoke, offering Salmon the shotgun.

“Huh… Vacuan,” Salmon commented, taking the weapon.

“I figured there was a chance of familiarity,” Jaune reasoned.

Salmon shook his head, “Nah, but it's not unlike Valean makes… bit heftier.”

Jaune nodded, “They say you can use them as clubs if need be, but I would ask you to try to avoid doing so… at least until you manage to use all your ammunition.”

Salmon nodded his head, shouldering the weapon and turning with it. "Are you sure about this? Giving me a gun, I mean?”

“Better one who knows how to use it and can then the alternative,” Jaune reasoned.

“Yeah… but what if the moment you turn your back, I just up and shoot ya in the back of your head?” Salmon asked, lowering it and giving Jaune a confused shrug.

Jaune then did something that solidified that Salmon would do no such thing even if he suddenly developed the inclination to do so.

Jaune smiled.

With his lips peeled back, revealing his ivory-perfect teeth, the tall boy leaned over with his arms crossed, grinned, and spoke softly. “If you decide to follow through on that… then I have only one thing to say to you.”

Salmon could feel his heart racing in his chest, the hairs on the back of his neck rising, and the desire to cross his arms and puff up his chest. But he didn’t. Instead, he managed to regain control of his mouth.

“And… what would that be?”

Jaune’s smile became even wider, and Salmon swore that, for a moment, he had somehow gained a second animal trait. He could smell the coppery tang of blood with such clarity that it almost lingered on his tongue. The tall blond only spoke two words, but the wave of fear that locked up his joints solidified that Salmon would at no point aim his gun anywhere near Jaune.

With a grin that didn’t entirely look right, Jaune gave his answer to Salmon’s question.

“Don’t miss.”