Honor and Duty

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Several days blended into a week or so after Blake's in a vicious, familiar cycle of training his body to breaking, and then swapping to do the same with his mind. Weekends were spent meditating and resting, so neither body nor mind would break under the strain, but even then he trained. Or, well, studied would be more accurate. Readings on Grimm physiologies, as much as could be observed at least since they tended to kill themselves trying to break out of their need to get at their captors, as well as history and mythology.

Pyrrha made good on her threat to drill him into the ground, and only relenting when the weekends came around.

"What are you reading?" As always, the woman was his escort out to the little pond for his meditation and rest. By now she knew it as a formality, though, once they got to the idyllic place. She straightened on the long rock he'd moved out into the water below his stone for her, her leg armor laid out beside her and her feet resting in the cool water. Fall in Vale was a season of swings and roundabouts, and today was hot enough for her to enjoy the cool water. "You've been at it for some time yet, and with your brow furrowed like a father observing a misbehaving child."

"The book could fit that definition easily enough…" It wasn't making any sense to him, or clearing up any of his questions. Or his confusions.

"Well I quite doubt you can ground or beat the book for its misbehavior." She smiled and rolled her eyes at his snort of derision and sighed, watching the clouds drift by overhead. "What is it failing to cooperate on?"

"The Dark Raven." The man, or woman as some of these tales implied and stated as contradictory to history as that was, was called that in full in Mistral's history. And in others, the person called 'Raven' who he believed to be Revan was called very different things. "The Black Fate, the Imperial Blade, the Red Severance… So many names, but the stories are so similar."

"You think them the same person?"

"I don't know for certain, but the elements… They are all there. All as similar as different versions of the Dark Raven, at least." And given the presence of space faring vessels in the truth of Revan's visits to this world, if indeed he had come here, the distance was a moot point. Twenty minutes in a fighter and the journey between Atlas and Menagerie would be through with. "And that would answer a few things, though it would also raise a thousand and one questions."

"Such as?"

"If this legend is in reference to Revan, every legend is called into question." And he did mean every legend. Or at least the ones that weren't clearly fables. "The Girl in the Tower could be about a woman forced into isolation for over Force sensitivity. It can, when that happens, manifest violently, which would seem as magic."

"And a noble could see his daughter locked away rather than, well…" The woman grimaced and her distaste and anger flared through the Force around him for a moment before it sputtered and then winked out, washed away by her general attitude and the strength of the Force here. "Tried."

"Indeed." They all knew what a 'witch' could expect back then, when superstition reigned. "But there's more. The Force can manifest spirits, and even the Brothers reflect that. Light and Dark, starkly represented. It's obvious, looking now."

"So much history would be changed, if this ever came to light…" She murmured, before a thought crossed her mind and she added in an afterthought, "Assuming they were real."

"Of course. Assuming they were real." And that was an assumption, there. It could as easily have been people with Force powers acting the part, or just pure myth and coincidence. The word rankled him, but it was bound to be the case with some of these stories. "My hope was that these stories would mention specific places that I could reference in future. Maybe see if temples are buried near them, or something."

"Planning for the future?"

"The immediate future, if things start looking grim." He met her eyes and she grimaced in understanding. "Pyr, you know that there's no sense in dying, you or anyone else, if we can just leave."

"I suppose… Though I fear what could push us both to that manner of flight." The concern was an evident one. Both of them were formidable fighters, and only growing more so as they trained and studied. And backed by an academy's worth of students, there should have been few things that could frighten them, much less force them to flee. "And what of our friends?"

"I would rather they come with us than stay behind." As much for their benefit as his, adding strong allies and friends to his group and protecting them from… Whatever might come, he supposed. "And team Ruby as well, if they're willing or… Or seemingly in danger, or anything like that."

"And Velvet?" She pressed, eyes hard chips of jade that bored into his own in sudden challenge. "What of her team? And what of their friends? Team Ruby are getting on with Sun and Neptune, so will they be along as well? If we are to run, how much of the student body will be invited along?"

"What is your point?" He demanded, knowing better from his gaggle of siblings than to argue against her making her points.

"That I won't abandon anyone to save my own skin, Jaune." She answered simply, along with a sad smile that she offered him when he tensed. His mouth opened to argue, but she was there first, speaking over his stammered protests. "I am a Huntress, Jaune. Afraid to die but unwilling to leave people to do the same in my stead. Perish all thoughts of flight."

"Limiting our options is a poor choice, Pyr." He growled, good mood gone as he closed his heavy book and slid it into his bag. She didn't answer beyond a simple nod and grimace, clearly aware of the implications. "You've been thinking about this for a while… Haven't you?"

"You phrased it as a question, but your eyes speak of certainty." Force or not, the woman was perceptive.

Distantly, he wondered just how powerful she'd be with training in the arts, but he banished the thought as quickly as it had come. She wasn't Sensitive, he knew it for certain after so long in such proximity to her. Or as certain as he could ever be, untrained to test that as he was. A sad loss of power that could have furthered their purposes, to her survival and beyond, but such was life.

"I've sensed how distraught you've been, when you're left alone especially." As a result, he'd avoided leaving her alone at all. As losing a battle as that had been, he'd still fought it, and the hypocrisy he felt at his not wanting her to do the same here gnawed at him. "I'd thought it about the vision itself. Now, I would change my guess to it being about what you will do when it comes to pass."

"You'd be half right." She responded quietly, face turning forlorn for a moment before she sighed and began to elaborate. "For a few days, and some even after I moved to thinking about what to do, that was all I could focus on if something wasn't forced onto me. Then, I asked myself what I should do about it. What I should plan to do, terrified or not."

"And you chose 'die with honor' instead of trying to get away alive?" He asked, his tone none too gentle. Or subtle about how he felt about it, judging from her small smile.

"I'm Mistralian, Jaune." She said, as though that should explain everything about her decision. When his eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed in confusion, she added, "Honor and duty matter to me. As much as anything else."

"But what do those matter if you're-"

"If I cast those aside to save my own life, then I wouldn't be me. I'd die as surely as I would to any blade or arrow." He wanted to argue that she literally would not, but bit his tongue at the last moment and scowled at the water instead. Seeing how upset he was, Pyrrha sat up and offered him a smile. "Don't be angry or upset yet, Jaune. You know it's not good for you to be, with your abilities. And besides, it is not as if I intend to go quietly into that grim blackness of death."

"I guess that's the plan regardless." Even if her taking away retreat as an option set him off in a way he couldn't explain, he knew arguing now would be pointless. She was set with her decision and wouldn't change it if he started yelling, even if he so wanted to start yelling. "As long as you're sure, Pyr."

"I am, Jaune." And he could sense as well as see it, etched into her face and the way she squared her shoulders.

"Absolutely sure." He had to check and she seemed to understand, though she grimaced. At him second guessing her, he supposed, so he rushed to add. "I just want us to do this right. The risks are way too high not to check every last thing and make sure."

"I am as certain of this as I am of my desire to be a Huntress." And that echoed of a kind of certainty in her that mirrored how certain it was that what went up came down again. Her face softened and she added, gently, "I know what may come, Jaune. Please, I need my partner to support my decisions."

"All right then… That just makes our need of power more desperate, really. If we can't run, we'll just have to go ahead and win." With a resigned sigh he gave up fully, at least for now and apparently for her, and ran his fingers through his short beard, idly scratching in thought. Pyrrha gave him a look when he did, equal parts amusement and dislike, and he sighed at the old irk for her that was his short little braid beard. "I'm not shaving it off, Pyr."

"But you would look so handsome without it…"

"My mother says I look handsome with it." He argued, knowing full well she'd likely say he was handsome, no matter what he wore or what kind of hair he grew. A mother was wont to compliment her children already, and when you added in his disappearance and near-miraculous reappearance it only worsened. She knew it too, judging by her smirk, and he added a gruff, "I happen to like it, too."

"I suppose you do wear it well enough." He blinked at the compliment and gave her a look, but she turned away to pull her greaves back on boredly and ignored his unasked question. "We should head back. I promised Weiss that I would spend some time with her studying."

"I-I'm planning to challenge Yang to a spar later, too." She hummed and he grimaced at his stammer, taken aback by her suddenly complimenting him. What had spurred that on? Yang was the tease, not Pyrrha. Eventually, he gave up and simply agreed, "We should head back. We don't want to be out too long or Miss Goodwitch will get upset, especially if she finds out I'm reading old fairy tales."

"It's studying." Pyrrha argued, which was a fair point to make. "She shouldn't mind you studying while you meditate."

"These aren't exactly on the curriculum, Pyr." He countered, standing and calling his saber to his hand before sliding it home in his pack. "But even if you're right, which you might be," he added that to make sure she knew he wasn't debating the matter, and avoid that potential landmine, "I would still rather not have to deal with the argument in the first place."

"Fair enough, I suppose." She conceded, turning when he leapt down from the rock to join her on hers.

As always, before they left, he gave the boulder a long and pensive look, wondering what exactly made it so special. Eventually though, also as always, he turned and left with not a single answer to his questions.

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"You sure 'bout this? Our last fight went pretty damn badly for you." There was guilt in Yang's eyes as she said that, leaning against the door of her dorm in her sleeping clothes. He caught sight of silver eyes behind her, peeking out from under a blanket anxiously, and she added, "Don't wanna, you know, take off your arm or nothin'. Losing a limb can end a Huntsman's career, and over a spar? Not worth it."

"You don't have to worry about it." He assured her. Pyrrha had spent hours, over days, hucking rocks at him hard enough to leave welts, and left plenty until he could snap back and forth alternating Aura and the Force. "I'm working on that problem, you won't hurt me again. And I want a real spar against you. One that isn't ended for some scratches."

"I shot you, Jaune." Yang argued, "With shrapnel shells."

"You grazed me at best, Yang." Pyrrh scoffed and pushed her their dorm's door open, heading off to rest or get some alone time to cope with everything.

"I saw bone!" She countered loudly, running a hand over her face when he waved the concern off and asking instead, "Why does something like that not even phase you? Wait, do I even want to know?"

"Probably not, no. I doubt you would approve my Master's, er, training style." She was ever the maternal, nurturing kind, he knew. And for that reason, he doubted she would be happy with the way he'd been trained, even if it had worked out. "Let's just say I'm very, very tolerant to pain. And it can fuel my abilities as well, pain and anger I mean, so I don't mind."

"I do, though…"

"I've been training specifically to fix what happened in our spar. And have you seen it occur since that time? Even once?" She opened her mouth to speak and he cut her off, "You can break someone's nose through Aura, and mine didn't even break all the way. It just got tweaked bad enough to bleed."

"You really wanna spar?"

"I do, yeah." He needed to prove to himself that he could take her on, for purely petty reasons. And he was very aware they were petty, him simply not liking that their fight hadn't actually reached a satisfactory conclusion. "And you can't honestly mean to tell me that you were satisfied by the end of our match."

"Satisfied…?"

"I mean, I know I can beat you easily, now." He saw her concern vanish as his teasing barb took shape but ignored it, sighing theatrically and turning to leave. The woman followed a step behind as he reached for his door, and he could sense her emotions whirl with his words, cleverly placed to tease her into her competitive bent. "I guess Nora may prefer to spar with me instead, since you're scared to lose."

"Scared?" She laughed, "I'm not scared to lose to you, Shaggy."

"Oh?" Hook, line, and so the saying went, he supposed as he turned to give her a surprised look. He could seen in her eyes she knew he was teasing, and sense it as well, of course. But such was the game. "If you feel that way, then meet me in say… Twenty minutes? Sparring arena three?"

"I'll be there, and I'll beat you into a square. Just remember that you asked for it, Jauney Boy." She promised hotly, grinning ear to ear as she shut the door to get dressed and tell her team where she was going.

Rather than wait for her to be ready and walk with him, he turned to head that way and smile. It would be nice not to have to deal with her walking on eggshells around him after what had happened. For a while, he focused on the fight to come, and how he planned on moving and countering against Yang to vett how he would do so against others who fought like her in the future.

An important step, to be sure.

But sadly it was not that which dominated his mind as, still armed and armored from his trek into the woods, he sat down in the small arena's surrounding seats to wait for her. Like the far larger main arena where classes were held, students were sitting around it to watch whatever spars came while they studied. Whether studying books or other styles, it was ultimately the same in being the pursuit of power.

And it was also all the same in that none of it managed to hold his attention either.

Swiftly, as always, his thoughts turned inward and to his partner, and his vision. He'd tried a dozen times to reach out for that vision and glean more from it, but always to no avail. Once, he managed to hear it again, but only an echo of words he'd already heard. So echoing and samey as what he'd already heard and felt, in fact, that even now he wondered if that had been merely a dream.

So for now, he'd given up, and turned to how to survive his vision with his partner intact. And she'd shot down fully half his plans, for 'honor' and 'duty'. Virtues he did value, but not when it led to someone being wasted so blatantly. What good was the kind of honor that sent someone to die pointlessly, after all? Like Instructor had said in between beating him into the hard Temple floor, 'honor is as pointless as everything else for the dead'.

"Not that she would listen to that… Too much Mistralian honor baked into her head." Alone, he allowed himself to almost snarl, and slammed a hand down into the bench beside him. No one paid him any mind, of course, too enraptured by the students testing out flashy moves on the floor of the training arena. "The stubborn idiot! She's going to get herself killed for some petty sense of honor, going like that."

"Did I… Come at a bad time?" He flinched and rose, the Force instinctively reaching out for his saber before he could catch himself. Blake blinked, startled, and stepped back from him with an eye on the weapon, wary in the way someone used to fighting was but comfortable in the way of someone used to being safe. "I believe the saying is 'don't take my head off'? I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's… Fine." He sighed, returning to his seat and waving off the looks the other students were giving him now. "I was just distracted, Blake. I'm sorry." Enough that he'd reacted on instinct, and not even noticed her coming… "You know how reactions can be, when you get lost in thought."

"It happens to the best of us." She shrugged finally, taking a seat beside him when he offered it and smiling, "Ruby does it often, in fact. She's nearly broken lockers quite a few times with Crescent Rose."

"Yeah, she gets nervous about spars or field work and suddenly a door has a new dent." It had happened at least half a dozen times already, which while not terrible was definitely not a mark of success. "Like you said, though. Happens to the best of us."

"So are you nervous, then?" He gave her a look and she shrugged, "Since you reacted that way, and Ruby's reason is nerves, is yours the same? Or something else?"

"Nerves, I guess." He answered, which wasn't actually untrue, even if she couldn't possibly have any idea about what had him nervous. "I'll be fine, though."

"Yang isn't that bad…"

"I'm not nervous about sparring with Yang." He snorted, shaking his head at her reaching the obvious conclusion.

"Then what has you so nervous?" She asked, her ears, now bare, flicking at the disparate sounds in the room but simultaneously turning towards him. A tell of hers that she was paying attention, he supposed. Like an actual cat's tell, the little bastards always well aware that you were talking to them. "If you don't mind me asking, I mean."

"And if I do?" She only shrugged in answer and he snorted a laugh. For once, he went with the out and out lie, and simply shrugged himself and said, "It's nothing. Just stupid stuff with my team. It's fine."

"Are you sure?" She asked, pushing only as far as he knew she felt she ought to in order to be a good friend. "I'm here if you need to talk. I got my own problems off my chest, more or less, so there's space on the shelf now."

"It's not something I can talk about by myself even if I wanted to." Which he really, really didn't. Just the sheer mass of questions that would be asked was more than enough of a prohibiting factor for that to be the case. "Kinda like if Yang had gone off to me to talk about your ears."

"Ah. I-I see what you mean..." As usual, she seemed to nearly shut down at the words, still not quite used to them being brought up. Her ears flattened and, anxious, her eyes flicked around the room like she was looking for Grimm. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be nosy or anything, Jaune. I only wanted to-"

"Offer me help." He acknowledged, already understanding her reasoning and smiling to show his gratitude. "It's fine, you're a good friend to do that, even when you're clearly uncomfortable doing it. Not for bad reasons, I'm sure, but rather because you just aren't one to prod."

"I'm not, no…" She grimaced and added quickly, before he could presumably take offense. "But if you need to talk, and choose to speak to me, that's fine. I won't turn you away. It would be wrong of me to do that, after everything Yang did for me."

"I know, Blake. I know." She was a good friend, if a more standoffish one. He spotted Yang approaching and pointed to her where only the Faunus could see and, gently as he could manage, added, "Yang's here."

"Oh?" As expected, she sat up straighter and her ears shot up taut, flicking the way he pointed before she could even turn. It was adorable in a way and sad in another how much the Faunus fed on Yang's aura, pun not intended, waving and calling a gentle, "Hey, Yang."

"Sup, Kitty Cat." She jerked her head in greeting and rolled a shoulder, stretching as she turned a bemused face on her sparring partner. "You ready for some bruises, or trying to get to pet the kitty over here?"

"Yang!"

"I'm not saying you'll win, obviously, but yes. I'm ready to collect a few bruises finally finishing our long awaited spar." He rose with the words and smiled, then bobbed his head towards the arena. "I didn't reserve a spot, though, so we should probably get in line. Who knows how long it will take, but-"

"Oi, assorted cucks and cunts!" Yang shouted down at the arena and, around its edge, the waiting fighters eager to get a bout in. The students, to a man and woman, turned at her recognizable voice, some with exasperation and more than a handful with anxiety at Yang's… Reputation regarding those who ignored her. "Me and Shaggy over here are 'bout to get our spar from a couple weeks back up and running. Place your betsm and fuck off outta the ring, the show's in town."

Whether because they were scared of Yang or because they wanted to see the fight, they did as she told them and he shrugged. A fight now or a fight later, it was all the same to him in the end.

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"She's a first year, Ozpin." Ironwood argued, his face grim and scowling on the widescreen Ozpin had put him up on. "Miss Nikos is an admirable champion, and a brave woman by all accounts. But so young… I don't know."

"She's Mistralian, though, so playing up the whole 'honor and duty' angle will be useful." Beside the Atlesian, a frozen picture of Qrow took up the other half of the screen, the man out in the sticks at some tavern and not able to connect well enough for a live feed. "Not sayin' to change anything, mind you. Just say what you would've before and she'll agree."

"Every Huntress should feel the same bond to honor and duty, and the same need to protect." Ozpin pointed out, even as he very much knew how true the opposite was. Hunters were just as selfish and cowardly as any others, in a comparable scope to civilians. "And yes, she is very young, but approaching her means four solid, safe years with her here. To master the Power, safe from Salem's claws."

"Still…" The old general sighed, scratching at his neck where, Ozpin knew, his cybernetics combined with his flesh to make his whole. Something which, the man had said a lot of times, led to a lot of discomfort. "I don't like it. Children should be free to be children, not heaped with these kinds of jobs."

"Don't you bring up yours to be soldiers, Jim?" Qrow barbed sharply, the man's scowl only deepening at the not technically incorrect statement. "Sucks but this is how this stuff has to go. Salem can steal Maiden Powers, or do something like it, and we have to nip that in the butt."

"And we do need an excuse to keep her safe and in an environment where we can train her." The man agreed, frowning all the while in his distaste filled way.

"And I need to know if Miss Nikos is the candidate we all believe to be the best first year." It was better to go ahead and specify he meant among the first years, now that they'd agreed that it was a useful idea. Now, for his choice. "I believe Miss Nikos will agree to aid us, given her dutiful nature. And her skills are-"

"Only locked around fighting in arenas, Oz." Qrow cut in to point out in the way he was wont to do. "Nothin' in the field. I'd prefer a Frontierswoman over one that, for the most part at least. Someone with Grimm experience."

"As would I." Ironwood agreed swiftly, in one of the rarer instances of how the duo's conversations tended to go. Usually, they ended with scowls, glares, shouts and long drinks from their flasks. "Ozpin, if you really think she's the best option, we need to test her mettle first. And thoroughly, at that."

"Her team, too." Qrow added, "They'll be with her for years at the Academy, and probably after, too. We need to vett them or they could turn her from us."

"You don't mean to tell them about the Maidens as well, surely." Such hadn't even crossed his mind, and the concept certainly did not appeal. And he didn't hesitate to make the reasons known there, "That would expose our secrets to far more than I had hoped. Far, far more. It would be far safer to keep the circle closed."

"And when they find out anyway?" Qrow asked, a question he had no real answer to. Which was not a rarity, though the man pushing on to make an argument was somewhat rarer. "Oz, you have to know that they'll talk eventually. Especially since they gotta notice the 'extra sessions' she's gonna need to train her new power. And the stuff outside their Semblance she can do."

"I don't like it either, but…" Ironwood sighed, "Qrow is right. Make sure you can trust the team as well, or we'll lose her down the line to that."

"...Very well, your arguments are sound. And I cannot refute them." Ozpin sighed, set on Pyrrha as his choice and grimacing at the implications beyond. "I will send them out on ranging missions, then. With Miss Goodwitch. She can watch and prime Miss Nikos for the role, as best as is possible without out and saying it."

"And the experience will bond them, better than the sparring sessions and light camping trips with their class could." Ironwood said it for him, and he smiled pleasantly as though he'd not realized. He had, of course, but this made it more their idea collectively than his alone. "If they seem proper, we can approach them collectively, and put the choice to them."

"Indeed." Ozpin smiled, leaning back in his chair and taking a sip of his cocoa idly. "I shall make the arrangements as needed, then."

All according to plan, more or less.

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AN

Who missed the cliff-hangers? I missed the cliffhangers.

Also, yes, I will be including a full on yang and Jaune fight next chapter as the starter. And it will be different from the last to make points ahead of, uh, *checks notes* It says here 'ahead of all the V2/3 stuff and craziness, since things will be different to canon.'

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REVIEW RESPONSES

Red Demon Eye :

*reads first half of review and starts sweating profusely*

Congrats, you're right! I won't answer that directly. But Jaune has a theory. A Force Theory! Haha, yeah, no, I know where the door is. Thanks.

Epic Weaver :

Good advice!

Old Steamer :

I mean, my name is legitimately 'Twisted Fate', so…