A Semblance of Emotion 031

They found a nice flat piece of land on the banks of the river and set up their tent. The water was crystal clear and only about waist deep at its deepest point, though it was running quite quickly. Nevertheless, Jaune spotted plenty of fish and eels swimming, and set to fashioning some spears from the thorny, strong branches from some nearby trees.

“I have a theory,” he said as Nora unrolled their sleeping bags.

“About what?”

“About this test,” he snapped off a branch that looked promising, the width around the standard size of a branding iron. Not too thin but not too thick. “Beacon probably expects all of us to pass. Accidents do happen,” he amended. “But I think they’re pretty confident that all of us will make it back.”

He found another suitable branch and snapped it off before carrying it over to their camp. Pulling out his knife, he started whittling them down. “Which means unless we are getting grades as pass or fail, they might be judging us on how many of the supplies we use.”

Nora blinked. “Oh,” she looked at the tent and sleeping bags. “So we shouldn’t use them?

“I think those are okay,” Jaune removed all the bark and made the shaft as smooth as possible before starting on the tip. “But things like our rations, the stove, even the water purification tablets – they can tell if we use them, and how much we use.”

Nora nodded. “Right. They can see how much Dust from the stove has been consumed and the others – well, that’s obvious.”

“The fewer supplies we use and the more we use what’s around us,” he waved his knife. “I think the higher score we’ll receive.”

“Makes sense,” she sighed. “For a moment, I thought you were going to say we are sleeping on the ground without a sleeping bag. I’d have mutinied.”

Jaune laughed. “I see. You don’t trust your leader?”

She sniffed, attempting to act haughty like Weiss but it just looked weird coming from her. “Any leader that tells me to sleep in the dirt is no leader of mine~!”

When the spears were ready, Jaune prepared to undress but hesitated, glancing at Nora uncertainly. She grinned at him evilly.

“You’ve seen mine,” she said, elated. “Now it’s my turn to see yours.”

Jaune felt his cheeks heat up as he undressed, first removing his armor before starting on his clothes. When he was left in nothing but his boxer-briefs, he stood there awkwardly for a moment as Nora was completely silent.

He was facing away from her but could feel her eyes on his skin, making it prickle.

He’d undressed in front of two of his teammates now. It was becoming a little bit of a habit. It wasn’t his fault though. With Blake, they’d been in a tight spot with no one out. This time… well, he could have walked down the river a bit so she couldn’t see him but in the wilderness, it was safer to stick together.

“Nice butt,” Nora suddenly said.

Jaune rushed into the water as she laughed. It was freezing cold, a sharp shock to the system but not unexpected. Freshwater tended to be cold and it wasn’t anything he wasn’t used to. The bottom of the river was filled with smooth, rounded stones that went easy on his feet.

It didn’t take him long until he had four fish skewered and ready to cook, and Nora had collected wood in the meantime, as well as rocks that she set down in a ring. She had already arranged some fallen logs to use as makeshift benches, giving them somewhere to sit. His aura helped keep him relatively warm but there was nothing quite like a campfire, and she already had the flame beginning to spread as he returned.

Her eyes darted up from the budding fire to meet his eyes before dipping down his chest, and then lower. They quickly snapped back up, and he saw her cheeks redden furiously.

“Uh – the fire is almost ready,” she managed to get out, very much not looking at his crotch for which he was grateful. Apparently looking at his butt was okay but looking there had embarrassed her into submission.

Jaune cut open the bellies of the fish and removed their innards before arranging them two to a spear. When the fire was in full force, he stabbed the ends into the moist dirt and angled them above the flame.

“I saw some berries over there,” she pointed towards the treeline. “I’ll go pick some while you dress.”

She hurried away, and Jaune spotted that even the back of her neck was red. He had half a mind to tease her about it but decided to take the victory, as unearned as it was, and stripped down naked before throwing on a clean pair of underwear, his jeans and shirt. He left his boots and socks off, instead choosing to sit down and let the fire warm up his toes, wiggling them absentmindedly.

He was happy that Nora was acting more like herself but that didn’t erase the concern he felt for his partner. Something about being out here had clearly rubbed her the wrong way and it wasn’t nerves about having to survive in the wilds. She’d shown in class that she was very capable of camping out, identifying edible plants and doing basic but important things like start a fire.

No, it was something else that had her rattled – something buried in her past.

Ren and Nora didn’t speak of it. That wasn’t unusual. Pyrrha didn’t speak about her childhood at all, and Blake hadn’t either, and Weiss… only Ruby and Yang did, and even then, it was tinged with sadness whenever they talked about their mom.

They all had their demons, in some shape or form. Jaune’s were the Grimm, an easy enough target to vent his anger on. They’d tried to take his family, and if not for his aura and semblance awakening in the knick of time, things would have been even worse. While time and distance had softened the trauma of that event, he thought about it every day. He didn’t have nightmares any more but occasionally, he could hear his sister’s screaming in his mind. A sudden recollection that he didn’t enjoy.

Jaune didn’t mind sharing his past but that didn’t mean other people did. Nora was a happy girl by all accounts, filled with a zest for life that was infectious. He loved that about her. Being her partner, being near her – Jaune enjoyed it. She made him laugh and feel good about himself, and her friendship meant the world to him.

He just didn’t know how to broach the subject.

When she returned, her hands were filled with wild blackberries.

“Those look good,” he said.

She beamed. “Don’t they just?”

“I’m surprised they are still in season.”

They tended to ripen in late summer and carried through fall, and while it was still fall right now, it was the latter half.

Berries and fish were an unusual combination but fresh food was fresh food. The berries were sweet with the perfect hint of tartness. The smoke of the campfire and the slight charring of the skin gave the fish a wider flavor profile, and even though they didn’t have salt and pepper or any other type of seasoning, it tasted primal and comforting and good, Jaune’s mouth salivating as the scent hit him moments before he tore into it.

Nora was just as enthusiastic and they both finished their fish in record time before boiling water in their pots for drinking. Jaune was beyond thirsty, having walked and fought all day. The only water they’d had was what was already in the water bottles, and they’d finish them quickly.

It had been an unavoidable use of their supplies but he wondered if they filled their bottles up before the end, if they’d be able to tell the difference. Would they test the water? Were they that pedantic?

Maybe. But Jaune wasn’t concerned about it. He wasn’t even sure they were going to judge them on their supplies, anyway. It was just a theory.

The darkening sky quickly filled with stars, a blanket of glittering gems upon an ebony canvas. It was the new moon and so it was absent in the sky, Remnant devoid of light. Without their campfire, it would be pitch black, and they both huddled near it for warmth as the temperature sharply dropped.

It wasn’t long until they both climbed into their sleeping bags. They both chose to remain in their combat attire just in case, though Jaune left off his armor. Their weapons were within arms reach, and with the orange glow lighting up the thin material of their tent, the events of the day caught up with them,

They slept until morning, uninterrupted – at least for Jaune. At some point during the night, Nora shifted and with some surprise, Jaune found her inside his sleeping bag. She was facing away from him, her back to his front, one of his arms curled around where she held his hand against her belly. The soft rise and fall of her chest told him that she was still asleep as he blinked blearily, confused.

What?

He froze, unable to comprehend their new position. His hand flexed involuntarily and with even more shock, his fingers felt bare skin.

Her shirt had ridden up, her soft, smooth skin warm beneath his hand. Jaune swallowed nervously, trying to ignore the fact that one of his fingers could feel the slope of her belly button. Her generous butt was settled against his crotch, her plump warmth and softness greeting a certain bodily function that men couldn’t control.

Morning wood.

He was rock hard against the curve of her ass, straining against the material of his jeans. Much like her shirt, her combat skirt had ridden up and he was settled against her panty-clad rump.

This was not good.

Birdsong filled their camp as he carefully extracted himself from their awkward positioning, and Jaune thanked all the Gods in existence that Nora was a heavy sleeper. She barely twitched as he crawled out of their tent, his erection throbbing angrily at being contained.

A cold shower was needed – or better yet, a cold bath. He had the perfect water source and so moving far enough away from camp with a fresh pair of underwear, he stripped off and shocked his body into compliance. His cock tried to remain rigid but eventually it calmed down, beaten into submission by the frigid water.

Jaune had to drip dry before dressing which took longer than he wished, knowing that she could come across him at any moment. Thankfully that never happened and when he slipped back into camp, Nora was still fast asleep.

He let her sleep for half an hour more before waking her. Skipping breakfast, they packed up camp and started their journey early. Nora never mentioned crawling into his sleeping bag and Jaune didn’t bring it up.

Their days continued in a similar fashion. Sometimes they encountered Grimm but sometimes they didn’t. They followed the river all the way to the lake, and on their second day before they reached it, they got lucky. A doe was drinking from the river and before it could dash away, Nora had moved to box it in, understanding the assignment after a quick glance between them. It panicked and ran straight at him, and Jaune finished it with a swift sword stroke.

The advantages of being aura users. They were fast enough to run down animals that ordinary people couldn’t.

It gave them more than enough meat to last them the rest of their test, and Jaune hung it from a tree to drain the blood before he field dressed it how he’d been taught, removing its insides and skinning it, removing any useless parts they couldn’t or wouldn’t eat. It was messy work so he removed his armor and shirt before washing off in the river.

He carved it up as best he could, emptying their personal bags and stuffing their clothes into the supply pack before using those bags to carry the meat. Nora had packed some Ice Dust so that was used to keep it cold, the crystals radiating enough frost to ensure the meat didn’t go bad. Even then, there wasn’t enough space so he strapped the legs from the supply pack using their rope.

They ate like kings going forward.

They roasted one of the legs over the fire and went to bed with a full stomach. Once again, Jaune woke up with Nora inside his sleeping bag, pressed against him in a troublesome fashion. She was facing him this time, her nose buried in his neck and every hot breath tickled, sending a shiver down his spine. His morning wood was at full mast once again, a hard line of steel against her stomach.

Even without shampoo and soap, Nora still smelt like girl. Jaune tried to ignore it but it was difficult when she was practically wrapped around him, her scent filling his lungs every time he breathed. Again, he thanked the Gods that she was a heavy sleeper and managed to extract himself without waking her. Another cold bath – this time in the lake – cured him of his problem, but unlike the last time, Nora hadn’t slept in.

“Oh,” he heard her exclaim from the bank, and Jaune spun around on instinct.

Luckily his waist was below the waterline or she’d have gotten a complete view of his crotch. As it was, she saw enough, Nora covering her face with her hands, though Jaune saw her peeking through her fingers.

“Uh,” Jaune tried, brain seizing up.

“Ehehehe,” Nora giggled nervously. “Um – I was going to have a bath.”

“Er – right, yeah,” Jaune flailed momentarily for something to say. “I’ll just – get out. Don’t look.”

“I won’t~!”

Jaune didn’t exactly trust her words, not with the way she said them but he covered his crotch as he left the water, giving her a wide berth. To her credit, she didn’t turn and watch him, for which he was grateful.

He started a fire to help dry off faster and then dressed. His mind wandered and against his will, it lingered on Nora. He imagined her naked and wet, the cold water perking up her nipples before he shut it down ruthlessly, but it was too late. It wasn’t something he could easily forget so he busied himself with preparing breakfast. They hadn’t eaten the entire leg from the night before so it was leftovers, carved from the bone and chopped up, and fried in one of the pots.

A little butter and garlic would really make it pop but he didn’t have any of that.

He heard Nora behind him and didn’t dare look, knowing that she was without clothes.

“I’ll go scout around,” he stood, keeping his eyes forward. “Breakfast is ready.”

“Thanks,” she said softly.

Day three was following the edge of the lake without much happening, making good time without any interruptions. Day four was the beginning of the incline, the terrain becoming rocky and uneven. They made sure to drink as much water as possible before the trek, refilling their bottles before moving on.

According to the map, there wasn’t another water source until they passed through this area.

There was a lot of loose rock, pebbles shifting beneath their feet. Spires of stone speared out of the earth at points, and Jaune kept his eyes peeled for danger. There was something odd about some of the rock formations.

Eventually he stopped in his tracks.

“You see it too?” Nora asked. Jaune nodded. “What do you think it is?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted.

Some of the piles looked unnatural, as if they’d been piled up atop each other by someone – or something. They were very high and whatever did it was attempting to make it look natural but didn’t quite manage it.

They did their best to avoid them but the further they traveled, the more they encountered until they couldn’t continue without being surrounded.

“Let me try something,” Nora leaned down and picked up a loose stone about the size of her fist. Tossing it up and down to measure its weight, she nodded. “Get ready.”

She threw it at one of the piles and the reaction was instant. The ground opened up like a trapdoor, springing open as soon as the stone landed. From within came a mass of black with eight burning red eyes, lunging out at potential prey. A matching number of hairy legs scuttled as black, venomous fangs oozed with green venom, its cephalothorax and abdomen shielded by thick white bone inscribed with those familiar red markings.

Grimm.

A type he had never seen before.

The spider paused as if confused for a moment before it spotted them, its legs bristling. It let out a shriek that made them flinch, high and piercing – and then suddenly, the ground was opening up all around them as more spider Grimm sprung from their hiding spots.

“I’ll go right, you go left,” Jaune commanded and Nora obeyed instantly, springing into action. They dropped their packs and moved, Crocea Mors singing.

The Grimm were fast and crafty, attacking and retreating with a caution rarely seen in their kind. Jaune instantly identified their weak spots; legs and under their bodies, unprotected by their thick bone plating. Darting in, he feinted to draw a lunge before stepping back, cleaving through a pair of legs before moving on, unwilling to stop for more than an instant. They lunged at him from all sides, trying to pile on but he powered through another, slamming his shield into its face and lifting it up with his amplified strength. Crocea Mors plunged into its belly, and Jaune gave it a vicious twist before ripping it free. Tossing the flailing spider Grimm aside, he dodged, taking the legs of another that tried to bite him.

Several meters away, he heard the horrible sound of crunching bone as Nora plowed through her enemies with pure power, Magnhild slamming Grimm aside with thundering force. Crushing one of them beneath a powerful downward swing, she vaulted up and used the shaft to balance herself upside down before flipping aside as one of them launched itself at her. It missed as she sailed through the air before she landed atop another Grimm, standing on its abdomen before slamming her hammer down and driving it into the dirt with a laugh.

She was enjoying herself.

Jaune ducked beneath one as it leapt at him, sword carving out its stomach before he rolled, the edge of his shield lancing out and striking one of them in the face, pulverizing its eyes. It wailed horribly before he finished it off, and then another tried to leap on his back.

Gathering his aura, he slashed and cleaved it in two. Black blood rained down on him and then he was moving again, taking them apart one by one until the final Grimm was demolished by one of Nora’s wild swings, as if she were in a batting cage.

“Homerun~!” she cheered, the spider Grimm crumpling as it flew several dozen feet at least before being impaled on one of the stone spires jutting from the earth.

Nora panted as she set her hammer down, hands on hips, proud of her effort. Jaune smiled at her, sheathing his sword and collapsing his shield.

“Good work.”

The bodies were already decaying around them, black smoke rising in wispy tendrils. The blood on his face and armor disappeared until he was unblemished, and the splatters on Nora’s combat skirt and cheek peeling off into the air like ash.

“That was fun,” she chirped.

They were easier to deal with than those two Geist from their first day, that was for sure. These Grimm used ambush tactics and weren’t that strong otherwise, though one bite from their fangs was sure to be a really bad time.

“Let’s keep moving,” he said and Nora nodded, collapsing her weapon. They collected their things and moved on, continuing their climb until they reached the top.

They made camp there that night.

Jaune was no longer surprised when he woke up with Nora in his arms but he wasn’t getting used to it. It was putting a bit of strain on him, her beautiful, full body resting against him and enticing his instincts to make a move. He never did – but it felt like every morning he woke up, his cock was harder than the last.

He no longer had the lake, so he had to sit around and wait for it to go down on its own. Feeling pent up was a bit of an understatement. Sharing a room with three gorgeous girls was bad enough but this was a greater torture.

A sweet torture, but a torture all the same.

Day five was spent descending down the other side of the rocky region before passing through an area that contained few trees, a clearing filled instead with wild flowers. Consulting the map, he saw that they were close to the abandoned village.

They hit it the next morning, an old path still visible despite the overgrowth. Not a paved path but an old track that had been walked by men and beasts of burden, horses and oxen, so much so that even decades later, it was still visible.

The village was ringed by a rotting wooden wall about ten feet high, the tops cut into points. The gate had fallen from rusty hinges long ago, and as they passed through it, Jaune counted more than two dozen buildings. Most of them were houses but he made out what could only be a blacksmiths and a bakery, the brickwork still intact. For a moment they stood there, looking around, slightly in awe.

Once upon a time, people – families – had lived here. Now there were nothing but ghosts.

Aside from the bakery, blacksmith and houses, there was a stable, and what must have been an inn. It was the biggest building in the entire settlement, two floors high with a long porch that stretched the entire length of the establishment. As they got closer, Jaune saw that the sign was still legible.

“The Copper Kettle,” he read aloud. Beneath the name was a copper colored kettle set between two horses standing upon their hind legs.

The village was in serious disrepair because of age but even then, the visible signs of a struggle were still clear. There were claw marks slashed through walls, splintered doors lay in pieces between door frames and if he looked close enough, dry blood was still present, deep stains that spoke of gruesome deaths.

Nora approached the inn, expression stiff as she climbed the old steps. Jaune followed her, worried by the blank look in her eyes.

“Nora?” he asked.

She ignored him, entering the building. Her boots crunched broken glass under heel, upturned tables and broken chairs telling a story of panic and desperation. The bar counter was in pieces, a large rend running down the length, cracked as if struck with incredible force. The shelves behind the bar had mostly collapsed but one still remained, old dusty bottles perched, waiting for a pour that would never come again.

The stairs were completely ruined, fallen in on itself, and the kitchen behind the bar was worse; the second floor had collapsed here, large beams blocking the entryway.

There was more dried blood here, staining the floor. A lot more. A few bones remained, the Grimm having devoured most everything else.

Nora inhaled shakily.

His hand found her shoulder.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded once, and then shook her head. “It just… brings back bad memories.”

He squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. “Do you want to go?”

Nora swallowed. “I – I’d like to look around.”

“Okay.”

The blacksmith was filled with various works; horse shoes were plentiful here, but there were also a plethora of tools. Shovels and hoes, mining picks, rakes, pitchforks, axes and more. There were also weapons; swords most commonly but also spear tips and arrowheads. And armor; chest plates, pauldrons and greaves, shields and helmets. It was just as much an armory as a blacksmiths, yet the weapons and armor remained here instead of in the hands of the people.

They’d been attacked suddenly, without warning. Possibly in the night.

They hadn’t been able to mount any type of defense.

This was the fate of many who dared live outside the protection of the kingdoms.

Nora walked around in a daze, stopping to inspect things at random. The houses were too much, filled with old keepsakes, a view into the lives of the people that lived here. Old photographs. Toys. It made Jaune feel uneasy.

His home very nearly became this.

Would people have walked through his home, seeing snippets of their lives cut all too short? Picture frames on the walls, covered in dust and grime, lost memories faded from the world. What would they have thought? A family of ten, no more.

His hand tightened on the pommel of his sword, the leather of his gloves stretching across his knuckles. His eyes fell upon an old crib, a few of the slats broken. An old teddy bear was all that remained, sitting atop the soiled blankets, the fur black from mold. Without thought, Jaune leaned down and grabbed it, and it fell to pieces in his hand, crumbling between his fingers.

He returned to the living room where Nora was staring at a wall, unseeing.

“We should go,” he said quietly and she followed along without a word.

Not far from the village was a small stream. Jaune could see that they’d developed the area extensively, the forest cleared and the ground worked over, flattened, though it was now overgrown with weeds and bush. There were a few towering fruit trees that had continued to blossom, thriving despite the death that had visited the people here.

It had been the beginnings of an orchard. The rest of the land was probably for crops; corn, potatoes, simple things. There were some fences, though they were in complete ruin. The type of fences to keep livestock contained. When they nearly tripped over some bones in the long grass, Jaune saw that they’d kept cattle.

They crossed the stream and set up camp, feeling drained. Not physically but emotionally. Jaune hadn’t expected it to hit him as hard as it did, and after they boiled more water and bottled it, he stared at his hands, flexing his fingers.

“Do you think any of them got away?” Nora asked out of the blue.

Jaune looked up and met her eyes. They were still distant but more aware, her face troubled.

He shrugged. “It’s impossible to know. I think they were attacked in the night. All the weapons were still in the armory – the blacksmiths. They were well armed but I don’t think they got the chance to fight – it’s possible some got away. I hope some did.”

Nora nodded slowly. “Sometimes when you get away, not all of you leaves.”

Jaune approached her. “Nora, do you want to talk about it?”

Her mouth opened but no sound came out, her hands clasped together tightly. He could see the struggle playing out on her face, the uncertainty, the fear, the anguish. But he also saw resolve, the firming of her jaw as she set her shoulders.

“I – can I?”

Jaune nodded.

But what she was going to say next was lost. A sound unlike anything Jaune had ever heard before echoed from the distance, the roar of something large and deadly. The closest thing he could describe it as was like the sound of fire licking at wood made but more menacing, darker, filled with an endless rage that instantly raised the hairs on the back of his neck.

What followed was the unmistakable sound of gunfire.

“What…” Nora said dumbly, eyes wide.

Someone was in danger.

Someone needed their help.

Whoever it was, they weren’t close. They moved quickly, dashing through the forest as fast as they could, heading in the direction of the sounds. Jaune glanced at his scroll as they ran, and saw that it was in the direction of their finishing point.

His stomach dropped in realization.

Even empowered by aura, they had to cross a large distance of overgrown forest. Jaune took the lead, his aura reinforcing his body as he slammed through low hanging branches and bushes, charging like a bull. Several more shots sounded followed by that menacing roar, the air shaking.

Jaune had never run so fast in his life, heart pounding in his chest as he pushed his semblance to the limit. Nora started lagging behind, unable to keep up with his enhanced speed.

The sight that greeted him was straight out of a nightmare.

The trees thinned out before he reached a clearing, the ground sloped downwards. Jaune slid to a stop, gasping for air as he spotted the Grimm – and the Huntsman. It had the body of a horse but larger than any horse he had ever seen, rippling with rock hard muscle. The fronts of its legs and along its sides and back were covered in white bone plates, its tail a series of whip-like tendrils that moved with a life of their own, the tips encased in razor sharp bone. Instead of a horse’s head, though, a humanoid torso rose upwards, more bone plating protecting its stomach and chest like a breastplate, arms thick and powerful. Its face was terrible, the jaw split down the middle and open, the mandible spreading out like a starfish with a series of gleaming white fangs running almost down its throat. The top of its head was like a cracked egg, dark flame pouring from its skull with a single broken horn protruding from its forehead.

It looked like those creatures from old folktales; Centaurs. But only if it had spawned in the darkest pits of Grimm hell, born of spite and rage and death.

Just looking at it sent a bolt of terror through him and he had to release his semblance or he would be overwhelmed. Its forearms were covered in thick bone, almost like a pair of gauntlets, two long, sharp spikes lancing out like a pair of blades.

And impaled on those spikes was the Huntsman, rich crimson blood spilling from his stomach and mouth as he gasped desperately for air.

He still had his weapon clasped in hand, a spear-rifle combination. With his last breath, he thrust the tip and tried to bury it in the Grimm’s neck but he didn’t have the strength required, the bladed end glancing off.

Jaune flinched in horror as with a twitch of its arms, the man was torn asunder, blood and guts spilling across the ground, a mess of gore. The sound of his innards hitting the ground made him want to throw up, the man’s legs twisted awkwardly as they landed, his torso flung away without a care.

This Grimm was powerful.

More than the Hydra they’d faced during initiation.

Jaune could feel it in his bones. His instincts were screaming at him to run.

Nora finally caught up, sliding beside him. “Jaune, what is…”

She inhaled sharply as she caught sight of the carnage but when Jaune glanced her way, he saw that her face was ashen white. As if she’d seen a ghost. Her eyes were wide, her mouth falling open and her terror was palpable.

She was scared. Truly scared, in a way born from experience, not the unknown.

The Centaur whipped its head around suddenly, as if smelling Nora’s terror on the air. Glowing eyes locked onto them and as it turned, Jaune realized there was no running now.

“Nora,” Jaune said urgently. “Get ready.”

She didn’t move.

“Nora!” he shouted but she was transfixed, frozen in horror.

Jaune made his decision.

There was no time for hesitation.

With a roar, he charged, Crocea Mors singing from its sheath as his aura exploded in a blinding golden light. The ground sunk from the power of his stride, his speed and strength boosted to their absolute limit. His fear skyrocketed, almost blinding him as his vision turned white – but the thought of this creature getting to them first, with Nora unprepared…

It focused his mind in a way he’d never felt before, the fear beat down by his desire to protect.

He would not let Nora come to harm.

He would not.

The Grimm screamed in challenge, that horrible crackling sound that made his brain tremble. Jaune slammed into the Centaur with every ounce of strength he had, his shield acting as a ram. The Grimm rocked back and slid several feet before it dug itself in, and Jaune grit his teeth as his charge was stopped dead.

He ducked on instinct and heard the bone-blade from one of its arms whistle by, his hair shifting from the force. Swinging with all his might, his blade slashed across its two front legs before he rolled away frantically, another wild slash of its bone-blades nearly taking his head off. He saw a potential weakness, the underbelly unprotected by bone, and set his feet under him as he completed his roll, springing forward in a swift lunge.

Crocea Mors sunk only an inch into the black hide, even with all of his strength behind it.

The Centaur bucked, twisting away as it roared in a mixture of rage and pain, and his sword was almost wrenched from his hand. Stumbling, he hastily raised his shield and tanked a powerful stab from its bladed arms. The force was so great that even with his semblance, he was lifted off his feet and plowed through a tree, his aura flaring brightly in protection as the trunk splintered around him.

The exchange only took fifteen seconds at most and Jaune already knew more than enough.

He was out of his league.

He couldn’t beat this creature alone.

Even with help…

But its attention was solely focused on him, the dark flame pouring from its head growing in its excitement. It pawed at the ground with its hooves before charging at him, a freight train in Grimm form. Jaune moved out of the way, slashing along its side as he dodged but it barely cut through its skin, a thin line of blood all that he was given.

As it passed by, its tendril-like tails lashed out, slashing at him. He felt the bite across his face but he ignored it, creating space between them. It wasn’t the most mobile Grimm, and it took its time to turn.

Jaune tried to think of something, anything to bring it down.

It charged once more and Jaune moved in the same way, channeling his aura into his sword. Golden light poured off it, sharpening beyond the limits of a normal blade but this Grimm wasn’t like others. It was old, ancient. It had learned, and when he struck at its side as it passed by, it swung an arm around with a backfist that slammed into the back of his head.

Jaune grunted as he flew through the air before he hit the ground, rolling several feet. His vision was rattled, though the pain of the blow quickly dulled. Rolling over, he only had a moment before he saw the Centaur above him, reared up on its hind legs before a crushing weight slammed down on his chest.

“Arrrgh~!” he screamed as an enormous pressure crushed him into the ground, his aura shuddering as it stopped his body from being completely turned to paste. Even amplified, he could feel it struggling against the weight and strength of the beast, trying to breathe.

He desperately grabbed at the hoof pinning him down and roared with everything he had, straining to lift it. The pressure lessened but he couldn’t remove it, the Grimm’s alien mouth opening in delight as it leered down at him.

He couldn’t get away.

“Get away from him you fucking piece of shit,” Nora screamed, her voice cracking as she entered the fray, decending from the heavens in a flash of Lightning Dust. Magnhild slammed into its hindquarters like a meteor, and when she pulled the trigger, the Centair buckled with a howl. The shift in weight was enough and Jaune rolled free, grabbing his sword and gathering his aura.

He slashed wildly, up towards its belly. This time he found greater fortune, biting deep into its flesh with his aura slash. Jaune quickly moved as it flailed in agony, nearly stomping him as it screamed.

Nora didn’t let up, twirling and using the momentum to strike. Her hammer crunched into its back leg, and on ordinary Grimm, it would have disabled it. Yet even with enough force to shatter stone, it withstood the attack.

“Die,” she screamed, going for another blow. This one hit its side and she fired, the explosion staggering it. Blood seeped from the burnt flesh, the bone plating cracked. “Why won’t you die!”

It swung at her but she ducked before bringing her weapon under her before again pulling the trigger. The recoil sent it slamming up into its underside, a call back to her fight against Gray but this found the chest of the horse body, and Jaune heard the unmistakable sound of a cracked rib.

Jaune joined her in blitzing it, the pair of them dancing in and out, fighting for their lives. The Grimm had regained its footing and swung at them wildly. Crocea Mors struck at its elbow, another aura slash biting into its flesh but not enough to cut all the way through. Nora hit the other arm, closer to the shoulder, stopping it in its tracks.

But it was fruitless.

It swung around and kicked out with tremendous force. Nora managed to get her weapon between the strike and her body, but she still screamed as she was hit, the power behind its kick sending her tumbling through the air.

“Nora!” Jaune lunged and slashed at its face as it spun back around, and it recoiled, his aura cutting across its collarbone.

“I’m okay,” she shouted moments before Jaune was hit with a fist, the blade missing his neck by an inch. His jaw rattled as he flung away, sliding across the ground. “Jaune!”

“I’m fine!” he replied hurriedly, getting to his feet, mind still sharp, his emotions clamped and under control.

The Centaur followed after him, the ground shaking as it galloped. Nora flew in from the side but was battered away, her aura flaring as she hit a tree, the trunk cracking from the force.

Jaune dashed in, sword glowing. The Grimm met him gladly, and their blades clashed with a shockwave. He grit his teeth as his arms screamed, and swung again. Steel on bone was a horrible sound, rasping in his ears as they traded strikes. It fell into a pattern of attack, and at the earliest moment, Jaune took advantage.

Instead of meeting its swing, he deflected it with a deft hand, parrying it before leaping at its face. Crocea Mors lanced out, attempting to impale it through the mouth but its head moved at the last possible moment.

Jaune only had a second to realize his error before a highly pressured stream of vile toxic sludge sprayed him in the face. The instant it touched his skin, it felt like he was on fire.

He screamed.

“Jaune!”

He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t think. The burning sensation quickly turned to numbness and as he hit the ground, he noted that his body wouldn’t listen to him.

He couldn’t move.

His vision wavered and then darkness greeted him.