A dying Arc's wish.

17: Heartache

The next day after Ruby came back from the headmaster's tower, the rest of her team swarmed her with questions on what had happened to her last night after the ball. It was all quite chaotic for her as she recalled the events but scarcely shared the details with her team. All they were told was that Ruby left to get some air, fought against a mysterious woman, and was questioned all night by the general and headmaster. She never revealed Jaune's Aura Rot or impending death.

Yang: "Yikes, sounds very hectic."

Ruby: "That's one way of putting it."

Weiss: "Okay, but that still doesn't fully explain why you left the ball all of a sudden." She said as a look of anxiety washed over Ruby. "What else happened during the dance? Did you even talk to Jaune at all?"

Ruby: Jaune's words echoed in her head as the image of him and Pyrrha popped in her mind. "I don't want to talk about it." She said looking away from her partner.

Weiss: "Ruby..."

Ruby: "Please Weiss, just... not now... besides, we have a mission to prepare for." Weiss was about to say something more until Blake put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head.

Blake: "Look she's probably still very tired after what happened, give her some space." She said as Weiss relented. "And, Ruby's right, we've got work to do."

Yang: "Agreed, oh wait!" She said as she grabbed a tube package off one of the desks. "Ruby, I got something that might cheer you up. Something from dad, want to open it with me?"

Ruby: "You go ahead Yang, I'm going to go gear up for today." She said as she walked out of the room.

Yang: "Rubes, wait..." she said as the door closed in front of them.

Weiss: "Do you think she'll be okay?" She asked as team RWBY grew ever more concerned for their leader.

Later after mission selection:

Nora: "Aw come on! Just think of how fun it'd be to shadow a sheriff!" Nora complained. "We beat up some bandits, ride some horses, maybe even-"

Pyrrha: "Nora try to keep in mind there's an impending war on the horizon." Pyrrha replied as team JNPR walked out of the amphitheater.

Nora: "And while I TOTALLY get and understand that, why do we have to stick with boring patrol missions?"

Jaune: "Because Ruby and Marilyn's teams already volunteered to search for the hideout and escort Atlas tech across the country." He replied while walking next to Pyrrha. "And someone should stay close to the city in case things go sideways. Besides, I could go for some casual tasks for once."

Ren: "That might be for the best given your condition."

Jaune: "Yeah..." Jaune replied as he recalled his team's reaction to his Aura Rot. "Thanks for not making a big deal out of it guys."

Ren: "No problem, although I will admit it was quite shocking when you told us."

Nora: "Yeah! I mean, our fearless leader DYING?! That's unthinkable! Well maybe not unthinkable since we're huntsmen and all. But COME ON! You can't die on us now, how else are we going to win at the tournament."

Ren: "Nora! Not so loudly."

Pyrrha: "Look, all it means is that we've got to give Jaune our support where it's needed." She said as she held Jaune's hand and gave him a warm smile. "Besides, you're not dying on us anytime soon, right?"

Jaune: "Yeah, you're right." He replied as he returned that warm smile to her under his mask. "Come on, let's go see what everyone else is up to." And thus, team JNPR made their way to see MWDS and RWBY off on their own missions.