It's All Changed

Volume 4 Ep. 2 - Remembrance

Narration
-RUBY-

"Do you believe in destiny?"

"Yes."

"Jaune..."

"PYRRHA!"

Ruby gasps as she wakes from her slumber. Nora and Ren were still sleeping in their sleeping bags. Magnhild rests beside Nora. Ruby sits up and looks around. Birds tweeted and all seems peaceful. Ruby, however, puts her hand to the side of her head and sighs as though she's in pain.

. . .

All four members of Team RNJR walk down a sunny road. Ruby is in front, looking at a map. "So the next town is... uh-huh... uh-huh..." She drags. "We're lost." Ruby confessed.

"We're not lost. The next town is Shion. My family used to visit it all the time." Jaune assured. "Oh yeah. Don't you have, like, four sisters?" Ruby asks. "Uh, seven." Jaune corrected. Ruby giggles. "You know, that actually explains a lot." Nora lets out.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Jaune asks slightly offended. "So, what did you guys what did you guys do there?" Ruby asks in an attempt to change the subject.

"Oh, all sorts of stuff!" Jaune exclaims. "Over here is a great hiking trail, and over here is where we went camping all the time. I got my own tent because I was special. Also, so my sisters would stop braiding my hair." Jaune pointed out on the map.

"Didn't like the look?" Ruby teasingly asks. "Yeah, they just kept doing pigtails, but personally, I think I'm more of a "warrior's wolftail" kind of guy." Jaune says as he flips his hair.

"That's just a ponytail." Ruby lets out. "I stand by what I said." Jaune says, ignoring Ruby's comment. The group continues to walk the path. Jaune and Ruby were oblivious to Ren and Nora's state of shock. Nora stops short, raising her hands to her lips as her eyes widen. Ren stops, visibly tense.

"Uh, guys?" Nora lets out. "Huh?" Ruby replies and looks up from the map. Jaune does the same. "Their eyes widen and jaws drop. In front of them is a desolated village.

The sky is gray and two columns of smoke rose in the air. A gazebo has a broken tower and lampposts are askew from the ground. One body laid dead on the side of the road approaching the town.

Team RNJR rushes into the village and drops their map along the way. They briskly move into the village, looking around. Ren tosses his backpack on the ground and moves ahead while the other three gather in the middle of a road.

"There could be survivors!" Ruby shouts to the group. "Over here!" Ren alarms the group. The other three rush to where Ren is leading them. On the ground, sitting propped against a broken building wall is a young man in armor.

He breathes heavily and holds his hand against a bleeding wound in his abdomen. Ren drops by his side and puts his hand on his shoulder. "A Hunstman!" Ruby lets out.

"What happened? Who killed all these people?" Jaune asks the wounded Huntsman. "Bandits. The whole tribe... then, with all the panic..." The Huntsman coughed.

"Grimm." Ren let out. He stands and walks a few paces away, placing his hands atop his head. Ruby, Jaune, and Nora step away to confer. "Alright, we can get him to the next village and try to find a doctor there!" Ruby tells the group.

"Yeah. Ren and I can take turns carrying him there." Jaune added. "I don't know if he'll make it." Nora sadly lets out. "He will. He has to." Jaune thought optimistically.

Ren turns back and walks over to the Huntsman. "If we get going now, our chances will be better. I can run ahead and look for help!" Ruby suggested. "Guys." Ren calls to his group.

The other three turn and discover that the Huntsman has already died. "Should we bury him?" Nora asks. Ren walks right past them without a backward glance. "We should go. It's not safe here." Ren tells the group. "Ren..." Nora frowns.

Nora turns and follows him. Ruby puts her hands on Jaune's arm. He is looking stressed and sad. "It'll be okay." Ruby assured him. "I'm just tired of losing everything." Jaune confessed.

As Ren walks away, he stops and looks at something on the ground, his eyes widen. A cloven hoofprint is impressed into the ground. Nora comes up to his side. She sees the same mark and her eyes also widen in recognition. The two of them silently make eye contact.

. . .

Jaune!

The sound of a sword being drawn was evident.

Jaune! Jaune!

Ruby opens her eyes slowly at the sudden urgency. "Jaune." The familiar voice calls out to her teammate again. Ruby sits up and looks around. The campfire still burning but has died down.

Ren and Nora are asleep while their weapons are once again at their sides. Jaune's sleeping bag, however, is empty. Through the trees beyond Jaune's sleeping bag, Pyrrha's voice can still be heard, but it is muffled.

"Alright, Jaune, just like we practiced. Follow these instructions." Pyrrha's voice instructs. Ruby gets up and walks toward the voice. She takes a moment to play with one of the wisps as she looks around, uncertain.

Moving forward, she spots something and her mouth falls open. Gazing with concern, Ruby moves next to a tree and watches from there. A slight distance in front of Ruby, but facing away, Jaune draws his sword.

He poses with it and the shield, before dropping his shoulders and turning to his right. His scroll is set up on a stump. "Alright, Jaune, just like we practiced. Follow these instructions. Shield up." Pyrrha starts. Jaune lifts his shield.

"Keep your grip tight." Pyrrha continued. Jaune tightens his hand on his weapon, Crocea Mors. "Don't forget to keep your front foot forward." Pyrrha reminded. Jaune hasn't forgotten and doesn't need to move.

"Ready? Go." Pyrrha instructs. Jaune steps forward with the sword, cutting at the air and making a fighting cry. "Again!" Pyrrha continued. Jaune moves forward with his other foot, again slashing the air and releasing a cry. "And again." Pyrrha repeated.

Jaune spins in a circle, putting a lot of feeling and effort into his next cry and slash. "Okay. Now, assuming you aren't cheating, we can take a break." Pyrrha says with a slight chuckle. Jaune stands upright and lets his head fall forward a bit, closing his eyes.

"I know this can be frustrating..." Pyrrha started as Jaune turns toward Pyrrha's image on his scroll. "...and it can feel like so much effort to progress such a small amount, but I want you to know that I'm proud of you. I've never met someone so determined to better themselves. You've grown so much since we started training." Pyrrha tells him as if she was there with him.

"And I know this is just the beginning." Pyrrha turns her head, struggling with her thoughts for a moment before continuing. "Jaune, I... I want you to know that I'm just happy to be a part of your life. I'll always be here for you, Jaune." Pyrrha sincerely tells him through the recording.

The scroll rewinds the video of Pyrrha without being touched. Jaune stands before it, holding his sword and shield, his head bowed. "Alright, Jaune, just like we practiced. Follow these instructions. Shield up." The recording started.

Jaune sighs in pain before belatedly re-following the instructions. "Keep your grip tight. Don't forget to keep your front foot forward. Ready? Go." Pyrrha instructs. Jaune resumes the exercise. Ruby watches with pained eyes before turning away.

"Again. And Again."