Jaune to Joan Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Joan hit the ground with a hard thud. It hurt, and she expected she would have one fucked ankle by the time she arrived at the boat Cinder had advised her of, but she would be able to make through it. With a glance over her shoulder to see if any friendly or opposing half maidens might be following, she ran.

It hurt, it stung. It burned, it ached. It fueled Joan. The pain of it all had her running that much faster. Exhausted from lending so much of her strength to Cinder, Joan tripped, she regularly tripped and stumbled. But ever time she faltered, she threw herself back up and ran faster. The trees gave cover, but they also came with gnarled roots and harder terrain. Barely able to keep her aura up at all, Joan felt her bare feet cut up every time she made a wrong step. But she had an extra dress or two to use to wrap them up with after she made it past the river.

The sun, high in the sky made for good orientation. Joan wasn’t certain she was going exactly south, but with the sun on her back left shoulder, she knew she couldn’t be too far off. Thankfully, the climate was hospitable for such a trek. Without being fridged or scalding, Joan knew she could get as far as was possible on her atrophied legs.

Excitement and a second second wind rushed through Joan as she heard the water running. She was exhausted, dehydrated, and starving. Her aura was strong, but it was only strong when it was nourished. She had been skipping meals since Mercury’s intrusion, and she had been exhausted from her surgery even before she helped Cinder. She didn’t regret it. Even though Cinder chose to stay, she didn’t regret what she had done. If saving Cinder meant Salem’s grimm captured her, then… then it was a fair trade; a life for a life. But, if she could make it across the river, she was better positioned to escape. If the Grimm really couldn’t track her past the river, she would even be able to rest.

Fear built in Joan the longer it took for her to find the river. As she approached, the rushing water only grew louder. The fear proved itself to be founded when she arrived to see something more akin to white water rapids than the lazy river she had anticipated. Of course the grimm wouldn’t be able to follow her past this! They would need a fucking battleship!

She knew it was a mistake, Joan knew that in her state, crossing the river was dangerous, but the promise of freedom was too sweet, too alluring. Joan found the best point to launch from and summoned all her aura to protect her before diving into the river. Immediately, she felt like she had landed in a washing machine’s spin cycle. Not only was she not strong enough to swim against the current, but her aura was fading and -”Ahhh!” Joan screamed into the water, the liquid filling her lungs. She fought to swim to the surface, but only tumbled into another rock.

Was this it? Was this how she would die? After fighting so hard while captive, to drown in the rapids? It was a cruel ironic fate and Joan had no idea how to evade it. She did, until the bag slung over her shoulder caught a tree fallen into the river.

With just enough strength to pull herself up to the surface. She coughed and hacked up what water she had inhaled when she first collided with a rock. It was improvement, but her strength was waning, and the rapids were not. Fearful, Joan prayed she could claw her way back to the river’s edge when- the tree's branch! It was moving! But!

“Joan! Joan, just hold on! I- I’m coming!” Cinder yelled as she fought with the large log, striving to pull it back to dry land. She seemed to get it most of the way, but when Joan was within reach, she reached out and grabbed Joan’s hand to pull her back to the land.

Joan took quite a minute to come back together, but when she did, a blurry Cinder stood over her. “Fucking hell! You scared the shit out of me!”

“I-” Joan coughed up water.

“Do- do you need CPR or something! Joan, what do I do!”

“I’m- I’m fine, that was the last of it.” Joan sighed and sat up. She closed her eyes and covered her face. “Fuck, you couldn’t have told me how bad the river was?”

“It clears out in a couple hundred yards! I didn’t think you were that stupid that you would-”

Joan began to laugh. “Didn’t think I was enough of a moron or a Beacon brat to try and swim across a dangerous river?”

Cinder laughed with her and sat down next to Joan. “Yeah, guess I should have known, you Beacon brat.”

“You know, you went there too.”

“As a mission.” Cinder scoffed.

“Is that the same reason why you followed me?” Joan turned to Cinder, blinking as her vision slowly came back inot view.

“No Joan, it’s not a mission. I- I made the right decision.” Cinder smiled. “I’m coming with you. Not like you don’t need me; idiot who thought she could swim through the river.”

“Yeah, well I- I-” Joan’s vision finally came to and she saw Cinder. She was covered in blood. Like she was a fucking butcher. “Cinder, I-” Joan’s expression sunk, but Cinder seemed to have no idea what was wrong. “You killed them didn’t you? No- no, I won’t! I told you, I would be happy to take you with me, but not with blood on your hands.”

Cinder glanced down to her hands, a horrified look on her face. “Joan- no, no, I can explain.”

“I- I love you, but I will not stay around and hope for the day you choose to no longer be a murder-”

“Joan, no, it’s not- Watts and Mercury are fine- well, they’re fucked in the head, but they are fine! I- I was late to catch up because of this…” Cinder presented Joan’s sword, her shield, and five recently slain squirrels. “You need your weapon, and, it wasn’t like you had a big breakfast after healing me. So I hunted what I could find on the way out here tracking you.”

“Oh thank brothers.” Joan collapsed backward. “I don’t think I could have left you again.”

“I don’t think I could have managed being left again.” Cinder admitted.

“Good.” Joan sighed and inched her way over so she could rest her head on Cinder’s lap.

“You are soaked.”

“That’s what happens when I jump in a roaring river.”

“Yeah, well.” Cinder used her flames to slowly dry Joan without burning her.

“Mhmm… warm…” Joan cooed and nearly fell asleep.

“Hey, hey, no! You gotta eat and then we can cross the river! I may have left peacefully, but that doesn’t mean that I am not going to be followed soon.”

End of Chapter 28