40

Chapter 40 - Bears on a Train

"Uhh," Ruby groaned quietly, "What am I supposed to do with you?" The girl fiddled with the object in her hands as though it were some particularly volatile explosive. "Maybe I can offload you onto Yang?"

"Since when did I become the hot potato?" Jaune kept his voice low even if Blake was sleeping peacefully away. "I'm not some terrible calamity you can pass onto whomever is stupid enough to accept me."

"Arf."

"Shut up mutt. This is all your fault anyway." The corgi lowered its head, one paw coming across its eyes as it whined. That the thing could hear him didn't come as any big surprise, since it could also see him in spirit form too. "Yeah, you're not fooling anyone with the guilty act. So cut it." To his annoyance the dog did just that, going from upset to happy in a nano-second. He was starting to understand why Blake felt so poorly of them all.

"Argh," Ruby held him in one hand as the other came up to ruffle her own hair. "I don't know what to do… if Blake sees you. Okay, she can't see you."

"I won't argue with that," Jaune sighed. Their last conversation hadn't been a pleasant one and he still wasn't sure what he was supposed to do about that. Didn't she understand? He had placed every person he'd ever possessed in danger – pushing them to risk their lives or fight beyond what their bodies really allowed.

He'd possessed her too… though she still didn't realise it, back when he had been held by Cardin. What if ended up doing that again and getting her killed?

"I just need to keep you hidden in my pack for the rest of the mission. So don't go wandering around, kay?"

"Kay." He doubted she expected a reply, though he had to wonder what her face might have looked like if she could have heard him.

"Arf!"

"Zwei?" Ruby looked over his head, and Jaune could just about hear the sound of four legs scurrying away. "Zwei, come back!"

"R-Ruby, wait!" Jaune tried to shout, only for the words to be muffled as he was pushed down into her backpack, the girl swinging it on and speeding out after her dog. With her so focused on the corgi, it gave him the chance to push his way back up over her packed supplies, peeking his head out the top. It was still dark in Mountain Glenn, ruined buildings and scattered signs of civilisation dotting the area. Over the girl's shoulder he could just make out the damn dog running ahead, Ruby chasing after it. He doubted she wanted to risk activating her semblance in the low light… it would be a quick way to trip and injure herself.

"Come back Zwei!"

"Ruby, come on – why are you running around alone in Grimm-infested ruins!? What is this… am I cursed? Does everyone I come into contact with suddenly lose their marbles?" Had he gone and possessed some kind of witch-craft doll or something? Because between Blake being suicidal and now Ruby, he was starting to see a pattern. "Zwei, you ass! Get back here before your master attracts some Grimm or something!"

Eventually, Ruby was able to catch up with the dog – only to sigh as Jaune peeked out her pack. The damn thing was literally taking a pee against a piece of ruined girder. "Zwei… you could have done that anywhere."

"I hate this dog so much…"

"What's that?" Jaune and Ruby both stiffened, heads whipping in the direction of the gruff voice. Neither needed to be told such shouldn't have been possible, since this was an abandoned town. To her credit, Ruby backed away, grabbing hold of Zwei and drawing them behind cover. Damn it, if it were Blake then I could scout for her. No, don't think about her.

"Zwei, tell me if they're gone," Ruby whispered. If Jaune could have, then he would have sweat dropped, as the young girl lifted the dog out from behind cover.

"You do realise that a domesticated dog is just as out of place in a city like this?" he asked. "More so if it's floating a good two feet in the air!"

"Bark once if they're gone. Maybe it would be best if you just don't bark if they're still here."

The dog barked, and thankfully the people were gone. He wasn't sure what they'd have done if Zwei had just barked for the sake of it, but then again Ruby was armed. So she should have been able to handle whatever came her way.

"Do you think they're the ones causing the Grimm in the area to go wild?" she whispered, though he wasn't sure if she was asking him, the dog, or herself. "Grimm get active when there's people nearby with negativity… but why would the White Fang be here?"

"Two guesses, and collecting sweets for all the good little humans doesn't count."

"We have to stop them."

"Oh Gods, don't you dare pull a Blake on me." Luckily Ruby must have agreed with him, which ought to have been a little embarrassing for Blake. The reaper knelt down and drew her scroll out, dialling in her team's number.

"Low signal?" she whined, "Why is it always low signal at times like this? Darn it…" Her expression was agonised, as she looked down at the device and then back to where the faunus had gone. He could see the cogs whirling in her brain, the desire to rush out there and dispense justice.

"For the love of… Ruby, no. Come on, utilise that thing known as a brain. The rest of the team is still asleep. You can't just rush off and-"

"We're going back." Ruby's voice was firm.

"What!?"

"I'll have to wake the others and Doctor Oobleck. They'll know what to do, then we can attack as a team." If Jaune had been in possession of a jaw, it would have been dangling around his ankles. Was this… was this the mythical thing known as common sense? Was someone he was travelling around with honestly about to show even the slightest bit of self-preservation!?

Had he passed on to the afterlife when he wasn't looking?

"Well, you know what… it's nice to be in a situation where we won't be throwing ourselves into needless danger for onc-"

"Whoah, what!?" Ruby took a step back, as the floor underneath her started to crack and give way. Zwei barked and leapt out of her arms, right as it finally fell, the girl scraping and scrabbling as she tried to catch onto something to keep her up.

"I just jinxed this, didn't I? Though it has to be said, how is a damned dog faster to dodge this than the girl with a speed semblance?"

"Arf!" Zwei agreed. Probably.

"Zwei," Ruby hissed, as her fingers slowly started to slip. "I need you to get help… fetch the others, tell them what happened! I'm trusting you!"

"Welp. We're boned then. Hey Ruby, how's your landing strategy nowadays?"

"Arghhhh!"

"Yeah… that sounds about right…"

It turned out that, intelligence aside, Ruby was actually pretty useless without her weapon. That had been a bit of a surprise, mostly because a) she was Yang's sister and b) you'd have thought a speed semblance would have made up for the lack of a weapon. Surely anything would do damage if it hit hard and fast enough?

Not so… at least when Ruby got her arse handed to her by two White Fang grunts. He remained silent through it all, doing his best to remain in her bag as she was hauled off somewhere. Not like I could possess her anyway, he sighed. She was on the edge of consciousness, so it probably wouldn't stick. But even if she was out for the count, he was trapped in the damn bear.

Plus, it would be just like that soldier, Adrian, wouldn't it? A name few would remember. A name Blake didn't even know or recognise. To her he was just a nameless Atlas grunt who had died doing his duty.

But to Jaune… for a few moments Jaune had been Adrian. He knew the man had a family, a girlfriend he desperately loved – who he had spent the last five years trying to ask out, only to finally succeed. He had hopes and dreams, wishes for the future. Well, he'd once had those… apart from himself, the dead didn't tend to want for much.

And if I did possess Ruby, what's to say I could do any better? If she can't stop these people, then I doubt me in her body could.

He would just make things worse.

"Oh for…" a familiar voice sighed, "Hey there Red, what brings you to our neck of the woods?"

"Torchwick? What are you doing here?"

"Now, now Red – do you really expect me to answer that?"

I need to see what's going on, Jaune realised, climbing up the inside of the pack and peeking his eyes from beneath the flap. Torchwick was no doubt in front of Ruby, which meant he couldn't see the man. But what he could see was a train, along with the various boxes the White Fang were moving into it.

Why would there have been a working train in a ruined city? Or if the White Fang had built it, the question was how the hell they'd managed to smuggle the many tonnes of steel required for the track!

Was Vale's police force really that incompetent?

"Now that I think about it, why are we always the first to find all the criminal and terrorist operations anyway? My God… they really are useless, aren't they?"

"We won't let you get away with this Torchwck!" Ruby had no doubt come to the conclusion that threatening the dangerous man holding her hostage was the correct choice. Jaune would have disagreed, but for the fact his record on survival really wasn't any better. He heard Torchwick's laughter at that.

"Ruby, you can't beat him in a fight… not without your damn weapon. Use your brain for a moment an- whoah!" the world lurched as he fell back into the bag, the girl it was attached to flying into action. And judging from Torchwick's shouting, she was running away from them. "Sheesh, you really are like better than Blake in every regard. She'd have tried to bite his nose off or something." He could hear the gunfire behind them, and as he poked his face out of the bag once more it was just in time to see Torchwick spin the cane in his hand, firing the handle towards them.

Ruby tripped as it settled on the handle of her pack. This is the worst idea I've had yet, Jaune sighed as he reached over.

It was so small that no one noticed. Ruby halted, about to trip, but for the tiny bear pushing the strap on her shoulder down her arm. The arm came loose, spinning the girl on the spot as the bag was torn from her shoulder. The momentum of it span her the rest of the way round, her other arm slipping loose.

Torchwick cursed, as the White Fang took aim once more. But Ruby was already moving, going from stumble to sprint as fast as she could, weaving and ducking all the way.

Despite that, Jaune couldn't help but feel a thrill of fear as the bag – and he – were reeled in towards Torchwick. He didn't even notice him as the thief gripped the bag, swearing angrily and throwing it away. Jaune's form tumbled out, scattering across the floor as the White Fang surged for the train, the engine roaring to life. In the distance he could just about make our Team RWBY too, rushing to meet with their leader.

"Too far for me to run," Jaune scowled, pushing his furry body onto two feet. "There's no way in hell I'm staying here either, and since we all know Blake and the others are going to chase Torchwick no matter what." It was with a sigh that he turned his body to look at the train. It hadn't started to move yet, but the pistons by the wheels were slowly churning to life.

Jaune slapped one blunt paw against his face.

"This is the kind of stupid plan Blake would come up with."

He had a train to catch.