Jaune threw his scroll to the ground. Its glass cover cracked and splintered, the metal warped. Not that it mattered: it was useless to him now, just as he was useless to Weiss and Ruby. He couldn't help them, he couldn't get to Pyrrha, he couldn't do anything, except maybe die.

But there was still a chance that Pyrrha would make it out, that Ruby and Weiss would get to her in time to stop that bitch. Until he knew for certain that he left nothing behind, and until he knew that falling on his sword right now wouldn't be a waste, he wouldn't do it. It didn't help that being stabbed really sucked.

There was a growl behind him. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Six months ago, he might have watered the ground at his feet in fear at that sound.

Six months ago, he hadn't spent hundreds of hours drilling, training, suffering.

Six months ago, he hadn't died.

It took him a handful of seconds to cut the Beowolf's throat, and watch its corpse turn to ash drifting away in the draft from the burning buildings. It took him a few more to notice that it hadn't been alone. Jaune's eyes narrowed, and he stalked forwards, going in the direction of the air docks. If he couldn't help his friends in person, he could at least keep some of the Grimm off their backs.

Everything was painful. Nora could barely move, and nearby she saw Yang and Blake lying on the floor together. Jaune and Pyrrha were nowhere to be seen. They hadn't been there since before the fight against the mechs. Sun and Neptune had carried her to safety, with Ren hobbling along next to them, and they were evacuating. Ruby and Weiss had left to save the other half of JNPR, but they'd been gone so long. There was a white flash from on top of Beacon, but nobody knew what it was. She clenched her teeth in agony, her ribs aching from where she'd taken the blow for Ren, only for the silly boy to stand there and get hit anyway. She glanced over at him, if only to see for herself that he was still breathing, however unevenly.

Then she saw Jaune walk in. His arm was held stiff, painfully, and his front chest plate looked battered, with black ooze steaming from it, where he'd obviously been fighting grimm. He limped towards the pair when he saw them on the ground and sheathed his sword. Ren looked up, but remained still, having long since given up trying to move.

"Jaune! You're ok!" Nora cried out, hissing afterwards at the sharp stab in her chest.

He winced, clenching and unclenching his hand while pushing aura into it. "Yeah, just a few bruises. Nothing seri-" He stopped, having caught sight of Blake and Yang. Even from there, a dozen metres away, it was easy to see Yang wasn't whole, and Blake had bandages around her stomach, bloody and soiled. Sun stood over them, tail twitching nervously. Jaune's face went slack and his hand fell to his side, processing the sight, before his face grew pinched, tight.

"Where's Pyrrha?" Nora asked, cutting into his thoughts.

"I don't know." Jaune's voice became cracked, weak, and on the edge of despair. "She shoved me in a locker so I wouldn't stop her, and went to fight the woman responsible for this. Weiss and Ruby went after her, but... I broke my scroll."

"So you don't know where they are? How they are?" Ren asked quickly. His emotions were getting the better of him for once.

"No. I haven't heard-" Jaune was cut off by a sudden arrival.

A scruffy man she recognised from Beacon, with a grey shirt and a tattered red cape. Trailing behind him was Weiss, hurrying desperately and without her normal poise.

And in his arms was Ruby. Out cold or dead, she didn't know, but based on the way they were rushing to one of the airships, it was serious.

Jaune ran towards them, with Ren and Nora hobbling after him, pain pushed aside, if not forgotten.

"Weiss!" Jaune cried out after them. She glanced over at them, and she looked as if there were tears already forming in her eyes, waiting for one last push to fall. The scruffy man looked back as well, still striding forwards towards a bullhead.

"Go, they need you more now, Ice Princess."

Weiss looked stricken. She obviously wanted to be with Ruby, but the scruffy man nodded, and she reluctantly departed. She stopped and waited for the three, still looking at their departing form.

"What happened, is Ruby OK?" Jaune gasped out, still gazing on as the man leapt into a Bullhead, before it quickly took off. He started looking around frantically? "Where's Pyrrha?"

"Ruby was at the top of Beacon," Weiss spoke hastily, without her usual confidence, and still looking at the bullhead as it faded away. "I don't know what happened, Qrow - Ruby's uncle, that man - he wouldn't tell me exactly what happened. But he said she's okay, just exhausted and out cold from expenditure."

Weiss looked back to the remainder of Juniper. Her eyes were filled to the brim.

"All Qrow said was they fought the woman who did this." Her voice was beginning to break now. Jaune grabbed her shoulders, though not aggressively.

"Weiss... where. Is. Pyrrha?" Jaune begged.

"She... Qrow said she... s... she didn't make it." Weiss stuttered out. The dam broke and tears streaked her pristine cheeks, shattering the image of a perfect girl. "I'm sorry." She sobbed.

Jaune's eyes glazed over. They became unfocussed, as if they could no longer see her. His mouth slightly open. "No..."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Weiss sobbed out again.

Nora's breath caught, it felt like she was choking. She couldn't breathe and her vision blurred. She fell to her knees, pitching forward when Ren caught her.

Ren's face was pale, his jaw clenched and lips pursed.

He wrapped his arms around her as she tried to suck air in, but every time she did it came back as a coughing sob.

But she didn't pass out, although the pain was agonising. Her chest hurt, like it had all those years ago as she watched Kuroyuri be destroyed, burned to the ground.

Jaune was shaking. His arms dropped, and he turned back towards Beacon. He staggered towards it, barely making it a few paces before he stumbled and fell to his knees. His face was to the floor, almost like he was in prayer.

His fist slammed into the ground, with a loud noise as it impacted. And again. And again. And again and again, each time louder and louder, and he began to scream in a broken, animalistic wail.

There was a loud crack, and Nora sucked in her breath as she thought she heard his bones break.

Then she noticed he was glowing white.

And he kept slamming into the ground again and again, each time the cracking noise repeated, and his voice grew louder and soon they saw the cracks in the solid marble floor radiate outwards.

Cracked and broken, Nora thought.

Just like her family, again.

Weiss looked on as Jaune smashed his fist into the ground, over and over, leaving the once-pure white marble - now grey and smeared with dirt - rubble and dust. She didn't know how long it would last, how long it could go on.

Until, suddenly, he stopped. It wasn't a slowing down, he didn't take his time coming to a slow halt. It was like a light being switched off: chaotic and violent one moment, complete stillness and calm the next. It was as if she watched a stormy lake become placid and still in an instant, and every bit as strange.

Jaune stood, eyes unfocussed, distant, but gazing in the direction of beacon tower. Weiss could still feel the tears streak down her face, and fall into the dirt at her feet.

She jolted when Jaune suddenly took a step forward. And another.

"Where are you going?!" Nora wheezed out, her body wracked with sobs and pain. "Jaune, she's gone! You can't bring her back!"

Jaune froze.

"Yes." He spoke plainly. Forcefully. "I can." He said it with such confidence that Weiss was almost convinced.

Almost.

When he started walking again, she grabbed his hand. He looked at her, and she looked eyes with him. She expected sorrow, fear, anger, confusion, something that showed he understood.

Instead, all she saw was a dark look, that spoke only of conviction, as if nothing else mattered in the world except that he walk away, along with a glint of something... broken. It scared her. She hesitated, and Jaune pulled his arm away, though not unkindly. He walked onwards, back towards the tower.

"Whoa, hey! Stop!" Sun cried out, dashing over to stand in front of Jaune, waving his arms. He left Blake and Yang in the care of a pair of paramedics, and it looked like Blake had passed out too, though she still clutched Yang's remaining hand desperately. Jaune tried to push past, but Sun simply grabbed his shoulder. "You can't go back there! There's Grimm everywhere, and nobody is still out there!" Sun spoke hastily, begging Jaune to see reason.

Instead, Jaune tried to jerk away from the hold, and became more fierce and frantic as his efforts were thwarted again and again, with Sun wrapping his arms around Jaune to keep him still.

Weiss stood frozen, unable to bring herself to do anything but watch as a bear hug became a desperate struggle, Jaune bucking and fighting with all the strength he had. Sun could barely hold on, and she heard Nora cry out to the medics standing over Weiss' other teammates, though she didn't process what was said. They rushed over, and tried to help Sun.

And then Jaune had his sword out, in both his hands, one on the blade and the other on the handle. He suddenly thrust it, sharply and forcefully, and Weiss finally reacted.

"Hey! Can you sedate him?! He's going crazy!"

Jaune heard one of his best friends cry out, and the words registered in Jaune's head just in time to feel two more pairs of hands on him. One of them let go, to pull out a syringe. His eyes widened. He couldn't let them do that, or he'd never be able to save her. His friend, partner, whatever else they were. All he knew was that if they put that in him, she was gone forever.

Jaune struggled against their hold, desperately trying to pull away. In the confused fumbling, with the aid of a backhand to one of the medics, he drew his sword, causing both of them to sharply pull back. Jaune shifted his grip, half-handing it as Sun hung on desperately, though even he shied away from the sharp edge.

But Jaune wasn't trying to attack Sun. He turned the blade inwards, at himself, and thrust it home under his chest plate. This wasn't his first time having to do the exact same thing - he'd had to do it at the docks already, and that time it had taken so very long to work up the courage, the will - and even though it wasn't as bad as he'd expected, it was still excruciating. The cold metal leaching the warmth, the stab of pain, every haggard breath drawn out and slow.

He could feel none of that.

Jaune looked down, and saw a pristine white snowflake spinning slowly just above his heart, trapping the blade.

He felt something hit the back of his heard, heard the sound of the impact, felt his teeth clack together from the force. And watched as the ground rose up to meet him. He barely felt the impact, and could see black creeping into the edges of his vision. He tried to push himself up, but only managed to slump onto his side. He looked up, his vision fading.

The last thing he saw was Weiss, her knuckles white over the handle of her sword.

Oh my...

There is some shameful self-plagiarisation in this chapter, but I liked how I wrote this part before, and wanted to use it again, so sue me.

There is effectively one last chapter rounding out this section. It should be posted next Saturday, so hopefully you can read the conclusion there.

Thanks for reading!