Weisser Ritter - Three

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Requested By : Polemoduke

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Instead of rescue, come the early darkening ahead of nightfall they had found a shallow cave. Nothing more than five or so feet in, and with a roof that was so low Jaune had to get down on a knee and sort of hobble forward, from one knee to another, to lay her down at the back. Dripping in sweat from two hours of carrying her - and their packs, too, of course - he shuffled back and knelt at the ragged, dirty entrance, shouldering off his pack and fishing out one of the little bottles of water Ruby had gotten for them. And then another, which he reached across the cave to hand to her.

"Thank you…"

"Mhm." He nodded, eyes searching the sky for… Something before he frowned and turned back to her, "Got an hour of light left. We'll want a fire, and I need to get a look around. Maybe see if I can find… Something."

"You're leaving me?"

"I have to." He nodded, turning and picking up her pack, reaching in on a hand and his knees to set it right beside her. Then he withdrew, nodded at Myrtenaster in her arms and said, "Anything comes up without announcing it, you put out a fireball."

"What if it's-"

"Ruby or Pyrrha should be following standard procedure, which means calling out before they approach a cave. Also, we were thrown a different direction than them, so they shouldn't get to us yet. Not on foot." Jaune answered absently, paying more attention to his pack as he looked for… Something before he sighed and grunted. "Guess I lost that, too…"

"Lost what?"

"Binoculars." He sighed, resting at the entrance with his arm draped over his knee, like a knight. A knight in hoodied armor, maybe, but a knight nonetheless. Turning to her, he asked, "You didn't bring any, did you?"

"I… Did not think to, no."

"Joy." He sighed, "Alright, well, I'll be back as soon as I can with wood and whatever else. Alright?"

"I don't have much choice, I suppose." She sighed, letting her head rest back against the dirty rock behind her.

"If you want me to stay, I will." He grunted, taking what had been meant as a joke on its face and shrugging. "Just means no fire. So it might get a little chilly."

"N-No, I- I was just-"

"Weiss, I'm joking." He smiled a lopsided smile and snorted at her, and shook his head before he pointed at her and said, "You focus on your leg, and your ribs. I'll handle whatever else. Don't stress out, okay? It's bad for your healing."

"Where did you learn that?" She chuckled weakly, anxiety over… Well, everything, robbing her of much of her mirth. Jaune flicked her a look, eyes narrowing, and she ducked her head, "I-I don't mean to- I'm not questioning you, I just-"

"My mother."

"I'm sorry?"

"My mom taught me that stress made you ill." He shrugged simply, drawing Crocea Mors and checking it over before he turned to leave, shuffling to the exit where he sat in the dirt and went on, "She said 'if you're stressed, you aren't focusing on healing, and your body feels that and reacts'. So… Relax, best as you can, and focus on that."

"Right." She smiled, "I suppose Aura makes your mum's advice even stronger. Hm?"

"Why?"

"Because if you focus, and your control is adequate, you can direct Aura into injuries to speed up the passive healing aspect inherent to Aura?" Weiss offered, raising an eyebrow, "Did you not-" She caught herself before she could finish, sighed, and said instead, "I'm sorry."

"Old habits die hard, huh?"

"I suppose you could say that…" She grimaced, "But I am trying."

"I appreciate it." He nodded, "Take care, back as soon as I can."

And with that, he was gone.

And Weiss was all alone again, hiding in a dirty, dingey little cave with dirt for a floor and uneven, broken stone for a roof. And nothing for protection but Myrtenaster, with only a tiny bit of Ice Dust to use if it came down to it. And nothing even for her to do but sit there, and think about how vulnerable she was. And, when that got tiring, Jaune.

A man who, even after everything - and in spite of her assumptions - had saved her, and brought her here, and even now was pushing himself to keep her safe.

But not just here. He'd been pushing himself for weeks now, she realized. Before they knew about his transcripts, even. Or so she assumed - and by now, she'd learned not to under-estimate the man. School lessons, their sparring and study time after he was found out, and on top of that, taking supplementals online? He was pushing himself harder than even she had been pushed, back in Atlas. Farther than she'd assumed he was willing to go.

But then, he had already gone so far, coming to Beacon as he had…

"Perhaps I was wrong entirely…" She murmured, reaching down to massage the dull ache out of her thigh and letting her eyes close. "No… No, I was most certainly wrong."

And if she'd been so terribly wrong about him…

What else had she been wrong about, she wondered?

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Jaune grunted as he came back, dropping both armfuls of logs onto the ground beside the cave's entrance and taking a brief second to catch his breath. Around him, the woods were quiet, lit by the faint rusty light of the dying sun which cast long, deep shadows into the trees. And above him he could hear birds and wind in the trees. Somewhere, a wolf howled, long and quiet. But far enough away he wasn't too terribly worried about it.

But, unfortunately, he didn't hear any engines…

Or voices calling out to them.

"Oh well. Hoping for a rescue on day one is probably way too optimistic anyways." He sighed at the end, still listening in spite of his own words. On the off chance he did catch something on the wind. Some promise of relief, before things could get bad. But when he heard nothing, as he'd expected, he ducked his head and peered into the dark cave, smiling as best he could. "Hey, Ice Queen. Feeling better?"

"Not when you call me that…" The dirty heiress huffed, crossing her arms and frowning as she added, more quietly, "Better. My ribs don't hurt anymore, but…"

"Leg should take the better part of a day before you can walk on it, even if that's only if you're careful when you do." He grunted, settling down at the edge of the cave and drawing Crocea Mors, using the blade to dig a pit out at the front while the Heiress watched. Sensing curiosity from the eyebrow she raised, and knowing she'd never ask - she was too prideful to look ignorant, he knew - he explained, "I'm digging out an embankment at the front of the cave, to shelter it from wind and make it harder to see from the forest. And to keep the heat in better."

"Wouldn't we want it to be seen from the forest?"

"Depends." He smirked and flicked her a look, "You think there are more people looking for us, or more Grimm that'd be lured by a fire-light?"

"Grimm can be lured by that…?"

"According to Port," he shrugged, "yeah."

"As reliable as his stories are." She actually smiled, and that made him feel a bit better - if only because it meant she must not have been in much pain. Sighing, she asked, "How are you going to light it?"

"With my homework and a lighter." He chuckled, fishing out a long stick lighter with a flexible head, and the patrol description folder Goodwitch had given them to fill out 'for marks'. Hopefully, she'd understand him not saving it in favor of making sure he could get the very much not dry wood he'd gathered up to burn. When Weiss didn't say anything, he paid her a look, "Nothing?"

"What is there to say?" She shrugged, "It's your decision. And I… Already said I'd trust you, out here."

"Alright…" He hadn't expected her to stick quite that hard to it, but… Well, he wasn't going to argue with her. It took about ten minutes to properly dig out the fire-pit and line its bottom and outside in a bunch of flat enough stones to work. He saw Weiss looking again, leaning forward to see, and smiled as he gestured at the little tiny 'ridge' the rocks made and explained, "The rocks help keep the moisture from the ground from messing with the fire, and help direct the heat in, towards us, so we can have a smaller fire and be just as warm."

"You learn that from your mother, too?"

"No." He shook his head, "Survivalist documentary. 'Evading the Hazards of Novicehood'."

"I'll have to look it up."

"Mhm." He grunted, making a little stack of thin sticks, twigs and some dry moss he'd found. After that, it was only a couple more minutes of lining the outside in paper and lighting it to get the fire going. And then he sat back, gently feeding sticks into it to coax it to life, crackling warmly at the edge of the open mouth of their cave, pressed in against one corner while he leaned against the other. Finally, satisfied, he asked, "Hungry?"

"Is that a joke, Arc?" Weiss rolled her eyes, which glinted in the firelight now, but nodded and answered simply, "I would enjoy some of the chicken Ruby packed. If we have any."

"We do."

"You know that so certainly?"

"First thing I did when we, uh… Landed? Yeah, I'm gonna go with 'landed'." He shrugged, fishing out one of the little aluminium wrapped cuts of meat and setting it beside the fire carefully. Next he grabbed a little pot out of his pack and set it on top of another flat rock, right beside the fire, and filled it with water. "You told Ruby you liked peppermint tea, right?"

"I did." Weiss nodded, "Why?"

He answered by holding up one of the little green instant-tea packets and smirking, "I like peppermint, too."

"Oh?" She smiled, watching him rip open the packet and pour the contents into the little kettle. It was cheap, dried leaves ground up so they'd dissolve into the water, but it would do. And Weiss didn't seem willing to complain, instead saying, "I didn't take you for a tea drinker."

"I don't often." He shrugged, "Coffee hits the caffeine fix for me, when I need it."

"Mhm." Weiss hummed, watching the first bits of steam come leaking out of the whistle-cork at the end of the kettle's mouth. After a minute of comfortable quiet, Weiss finally spoke up, "I need to apologize to you, Arc."

"Oh really??" He flicked her a look and saw just how serious she seemed, staring up at the ceiling with a frown and grimacing at his sarcasm. Sighing, he said, "Sorry, sorry, I just… Sorry, I shouldn't joke when you're being serious. What for, though?"

"Everything." She answered simply, flicking him an unsure look and then turning away again, seemingly unable to keep talking while they were still looking at each other. Quietly, she went on, "The way I have treated you, most specifically. I assumed, based on your past, that you were… Well, useless, in terms of knowledge. Ability."

"I mean… It's fine-"

"It's not." She snapped, turning to glare at him until he gave up and threw his hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry, but…"

"But…?"

"I'm bad at this." She sighed, shaking her head and reaching up to fiddle with her messy ponytail, grimacing at every flaw she found. While she did, she went on, "In Atlas, in my so called home, admissions of fault, of failure, was… Not something I could risk."

"Because of your dad." He asked, hand curling into a fist as he fed a stick into the fire. "Right?"

"Right. You… Saw him." She sighed, shaking her head and frowning more deeply, "After what you did, what it almost cost you, I wanted to… Help you. Help you get to where you needed to be, to be able to make it in Beacon. And I realize now you… Already knew you needed to work, and were, and I just made it worse."

"You didn't make it worse."

"Oh, please, Jaune, I was dreadful."

"Yes you were." She shot him a look, both brows raised, and he shrugged. "What? You said it."

"You're not supposed to agree when a lady is self-deprecating…"

"Why not?"

"You just aren't!"

"Alright, alright, I'll remember that for the next time I save a princess after her airship comes apart around her. Better?" Weiss scoffed and rolled her eyes and Jaune smiled as the top edge of the little aluminium wrappers turned red, which meant the food inside was done. Using a stick to knock them away and let them cool, he said, "Don't worry about it, Weiss. You were trying to help."

"Well, yes, but…"

"But nothing." He smiled as the kettle whistled, picking it up and setting it aside like the chicken, fishing out both their thermoses. Filling them up he said, "If I didn't want help with the training, I'd have said so."

"Really, now."

"I would have." He shrugged, "Or if I didn't want you doing it, I'd have asked Pyr to do it. But as mean, overly critical, over-bearing, pushy-"

"Oh for the love of Atlas' snow, I get it." The woman sighed, "Must you beat the dead horse?"

"I mean, yeah, kinda."

"Why, though?"

"It's funny?" Yet again she scoffed, smiling ever so slightly as she shook her head and accepted the thermos and pack of chicken and rice he handed over to her. Nodding, she mumbled, "Thank you. For dinner."

"Hey, I know a princess like you is more used to restaurants with a few stars." She shot him a look but he just smiled and went on, pitching her a fork as he did. "And a broader menu. And real tea. And chairs… But! I like to think that Casa de Arc here is the finest establishment in these here parts."

"Indeed." Weiss smiled, brighter and warmer than he'd seen before as she sipped at their crummy ration tea. And she even had the good graces not to grimace, too. At least not that badly. Shaking her head, she offered, "Best place I've ever been to on this side of the Vale Mountains."

"That feels a bit backhanded," he pointed his fork at her, "but I'll take it."

They laughed and ate, until Jaune grunted and turned, fishing out the medical case and then her medicine for the night in turn. He handed it over and she sighed, "I hate this…"

"Pills?"

"Being an invalid." She sighed, ripping open the packets and dropping them into her hands, frowning down at it. "And taking drugs… I, well, have some history with… Nevermind."

"I'm here if you want someone to listen." Jaune said, earning a look from her he couldn't understand as he settled back in to eat and turned to look out at the now dark woods. He couldn't see more than a few feet and, above them, lights from the city. But he ignored it as he went on, "I won't push you, of course, but I'm here. Not a lot of rooms here at Casa de Arc, you know?"

"I thought this was a restaurant?" Weiss chuckled, "Not a hotel."

"It's both." He shrugged, "In this economy? You know how it is. Man's gotta work to feed the little 'ns!"

Weiss actually snorted around her drink at that, turning away and wiping her chin and she laughed and choked out, "Gods, Arc, I just imagined half a dozen small yous running around, swinging wooden swords at people."

"That funny, eh?"

"It merely caught me off guard is all." Weiss sighed, taking another quick drink and frowning. "It's getting late. Isn't it?"

"Mhm."

"I don't think I have a bed-roll." Weiss frowned, bobbing her head at her bag sitting across from her. "I seem to have lost it in the crash. Not that we have enough room in here for two."

"I lost mine, too." He shrugged, turning and digging out a huge tarp lined on the inside with a softer sort of cloth. Stretching it out, he pitched one end to her and nodded at it, "Thermal. It'll keep us warm. Forecast before we left was in the fifties, but between this and the fire, we'll be nice and toasty in here."

"Alright…"

"Not crazy about sharing?" She flushed and he smirked, gesturing at the wall across from her and saying, "Don't worry, it's big enough I can lay at this end."

"I see…" She flicked him another look he couldn't read, then she pursed her lips and nodded, returning to her meal. Quietly, tiredly, she said, "Very well, then. I suppose there's not much point in complaining about the unavoidable, is there?"

"Yeah. You're right." He nodded, turning back to his own food, "Anyway, we need to finish up and get some rest while we can. Hopefully tomorrow I can find someone out there, to get us out of here."

"I'm sure you will." He blinked but didn't turn as Weiss said, "You've gotten us this far, have you not?"

"Yeah…" He smiled again, something warmer burning in his chest as he processed her words - the trust in them - and tucked into his food. Nodding, he added, "Don't worry. We'll get through this. Arc's word. And an Arc never goes back on his word."

"I look forward to you proving that." Weiss chuckled, "And when we get back, I'll take you to a proper restaurant. With real food."

"Hey," Jaune feigned offence, turning to her and pressing a hand to his chest, "imagine if the chef could hear you!"

"Who even is the chef?"

"Oh, no idea." Jaune smiled, "But imagine if they heard you!"

Weiss blinked… Then snorted another laugh and set her empty food container aside, tugging the pseudo blanket around her and easing down. Sighing, she said, "Good night, Arc."

"Yeah." He nodded, "Gnight, Schnee."

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Geralt Rex :

By now, days and days of Weiss constantly degrading him, passively insulting him, and hounding him for more practice and more study ON TOP of already extra studies he revealed he was already doing. He got frustrated and snapped. Also, yes, he was tired - as implied, he isn't taking proper rest periods and is instead heavily over-working himself.

Someoneorsomething :

Correct! XD