Night time was peaceful in the Branwen camp grounds.
A handful of bandits patrolled the outer areas, but there was no hurry or attentiveness to their movements. No one would even think about trying to attack the tribe at this day and age. Raven had made them a name to be feared, something many of them were grateful for.
So it didn't take much effort for Saphron to gather her things and stuff them into a pack in the middle of the night and take off, slipping in between a rotating shift.
A couple changes of clothing, some ration bars that the tribe kept on hand for extended raiding, and a wicked looking knife that Saphron had planned on giving Jaune when he came back home.
Planning, Saphron corrected in her mind. Jaune had to be alive still. She could feel it. And even if he wasn't...
Well, Saphron would bury the knife with him, once she found him.
"You know, even us bandits wouldn't try and take a midnight stroll into the woods by ourselves."
Saphron's shoulders dropped a little at Vernal's voice. She wasn't really surprised to hear it though. Vernal seemed to always know what Saphron was doing.
"You know, stalking isn't a very flattering look on you." Saphron ground out, fists balling around the straps of the backpack she had on. She tried not to turn to look at Vernal, but couldn't help a quick glance her way.
Vernal stood against a nearby tree trunk, arms crossed. Saphron averted her eyes to quickly to see the expression on her face, but she could guess that it wasn't going to be a very positive one.
The silence dragged on farther than either one would've liked, but neither of them knew what to say to the other. Finally, Vernal broke the silence.
"Do you even know where in Atlas Jaune could be right now?" Saphron heard her shift. "It's a pretty big place after all. Cold, too."
"I have a jacket." Saphron said tersely.
"Oh good," Vernal scoffed, "so that's one of a million things that could go wrong taken care of then."
"I have to go." Saphron murmured. "I can't just abandon him like that."
"You can't abandon a dead body."
"He's alive!" Saphron glared at Vernal, fists held to her side. Vernal didn't move, simply staring at Saphron, her expression tinged with a slight sadness.
"Saph..."
"No!" Saphron held out her hands, stopping Vernal. "No! Stop trying to convince me! I know he's alive, I know it!" Vernal raised her hands, trying her best to ignore the crack in Saphron's voice.
"Ok, ok." Vernal spoke soothingly, not wanting to deal with a hysterical Saphron. "I get it. He's your brother. You need to believe he's alive, I get it."
"I know he's alive." Saphron hissed out, teeth bared. "And you can't stop me from leaving."
The challenge sparked something nasty in Vernal's eyes, her face turning to stone. "Do you really think I couldn't?" Her voice leaned on a dangerous edge, daring Saphron to lean back.
"No." Saphron drew the knife out. "Because I won't stop fighting you. The only way you'll stop me is if you kill me."
Vernal's eyes widened at the conviction in Saphron's voice. She was serious. It was enough to wipe away Vernal's momentary pride, concern surfacing again.
"I'm not going to kill you." Vernal said softly.
"Then let me go." The tone was almost pleading.
"I can't let you do that either."
Saphron opened her mouth to shoot another angry retort, but Vernal continued speaking.
"At least, not on your own."
What? Saphron stared at the girl standing in front of her.
"What?" Saphron repeated the thought out loud. Vernal sighed, lowering her crossed arms and kicking herself off of the tree trunk. Along with the movement revealed a backpack not unlike Saphron's, previously hid by the way Vernal had been standing. The thought of what Vernal was about to do struck Saphron, humbling her for a second.
"Are you really...?"
Vernal glared at the girl, hefting the pack across her shoulders. "Raven ordered me to keep an eye on you. I can't do that if I just let you skip off by yourself."
Warmth suffused Saphron, a bit of red dusting her cheeks as well.
"Thank you."
Vernal eyed Saphron, her expression resigned.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't thank me yet. We still don't have any idea where that brat is, and that's not taking into account the fact that we're going to have to find away to cross over the fucking sea either."
"We'll figure something out," Saphron said reassuringly, trying to silence Vernal's worries quickly. She didn't want Vernal to change her mind, and leave her all alone on this journey. She would've been willing to go alone if that was the only option, but she certainly welcomed Vernal's company all the same.
"We better, and we better do it fast. Raven's not going to be happy, and she can move a lot faster than the both of us can."
Saphron hesitated, glancing at Vernal.
"How fast could she possibly be?"
"Very."
The answer didn't come from Vernal, like Saphron expected, instead originating from back behind Saphron's left shoulder. The voice was distinctive enough for Saphron to recognize, her heart dropping. Her eyes wide, she looked at Vernal, wondering if she had just been trying to stall her until Raven arrived. In her state of mind, that was what she was going to assume, until she spotted Vernal sporting the same shocked look on her face that she had.
Turning, she saw Raven standing a few feet away, arms crossed, expression flat.
Jutting out her chin, Saphron crossed her arms as well, summoning the meanest scowl she could.
"You can't stop me from leaving, Raven. You don't have anything to hold against me anymore, so either you can let me leave, or you can kill me." Saphron glowered at her. "Take it, or leave it."
Raven tilted her head to the side, an almost bored expression on her face.
"He's alive, girl."
The words caused Saphron to freeze, her mind trying to process what Raven meant by that. How would she even know? Was she lying to Saphron? That couldn't be right. Raven was a lot of things, but throughout the many years that Saphron had gotten to know the woman, she very rarely lied, especially when it came to something like this. But then...
"Then it's especially important I try and find him then." Saphron said, the words Raven offered only spurring her further.
"No."
Saphron blinked at the blatant refusal.
"No?" The blonde repeated, the word so brazen that she wasn't completely sure what Raven meant.
The leader of the Branwen clan looked at the starry night, eyes unfocused, almost glazed over. Just as quickly, Raven's eyes snapped back into focus, her face settling back into immense boredom.
"You have laundry to finish up. Mine, to be specific. It's been dirtied since the last raid, and my armor needs to be maintained."
Saphron had to bite her lip hard, hands trembling at how casually Raven was speaking. Jaune didn't even matter to her, did he?
"I am leaving." Saphron ground out, interrupting the laundry list Raven was listing out. "You might not care about Jaune, but I do, and if you still want me to be your little servant, then you're just going to have to wait until I get back." Saphron sucked in a breath. "So fuck. you."
Confident that she had said enough to unbalance both Raven and Vernal, Saphron turned around, only to meet Raven, the woman moving so fast that Saphron didn't even have enough time to cry out in surprise, let alone bring her Aura up. Down came Raven's hand, chopping Saphron across the neck and knocking her out cold.
Saphron fell into a heap at Raven's feet, the whole action happening in less than a second.
Vernal stood nearby, hands balled into fists, knuckles white as she watched the whole thing with apprehension.
After making sure that Saphron was well and truly under, Raven nodded at Vernal. "Take her back to her tent. Make sure she does not leave camp grounds." Vernal nodded, moving quickly to obey orders, making sure she was completely silent as she did so. Gathering Saphron up into her arms, Vernal turned, pausing when Raven called her name again, the hair on the back of her neck rising as Raven leaned down to whisper into her ear.
"And I would like to speak with you in my tent after you drop the girl off. Privately."
Vernal nodded, face pale as she tried her best not to break out into a panicked run. One last glance showed Raven tilted towards the sky, eyes closed, as if listening to the world around her.
Jaune was in trouble.
Panting heavily, Jaune ducked a low hanging branch, wincing as a heard air shear through a tree trunk near him.
"You're dead!"
Jaune cursed, taking a sharp left turn in hopes to break his assailant's line of sight.
For a few beautiful brief seconds, there was quiet, before Jaune heard the high pitched whine of another attack approaching. Diving to the side, the red afterimage of a blade struck a tree close to him, slicing neatly through.
To stay still in a fight was death, and Jaune took the saying to heart as he popped up from his roll running, continuing to duck and weave through trees and bushes.
How did it end up like this, Jaune thought to himself, suppressing a yelp as Adam's semblance barely missed his right ear.
He and Blake were a handful of miles away from a habitable city when Blake decided to take a bathroom break. There was intense amounts of arguing, Jaune trying to convince her to hold it until they made it into the city, and Blake insisting that she needed to go right now. They were so close, Jaune had tried to reason, surely she could afford to brave on.
In the end, Blake told him that she needed to go, and that she was going to go. If he was so excited to get to the city, he could leave without her.
And while Jaune was trying to be a good Samaritan, a very bedraggled Adam appeared out of nowhere, intent on taking his head off. Jaune hadn't even had the time to ask why Adam wanted to murder him, what with the too busy trying to stay alive.
Jaune vaulted neatly over a fallen trunk, taking another random turn before hearing something ahead of him, causing him to tuck and roll once again, before facing a bewildered looking Blake.
"Jaune, what's going on, why're you so out of breath?"
Jaune dropped his hands on his knees, trying to get his breathing steadied as he tried to explain what was going on.
"Crazy—hah, hah, crazy Fang man, hah, big sword, hah, HELP," Jaune yelled, taking off again when he felt the hair on the back of his neck rise, narrowly dodging yet another attack. Blake twisted to face the attacker, eyes growing wide.
"Adam? Is that you?"
There wasn't much that could stop the homicidal rage that Adam was flying through, but Blake's voice definitely cut through better than anything else. Faltering in his step, Adam turned slowly, surprise visible.
"Blake? You're... alive?" The wonder in his voice brought a tingle to Blake's heart. Breaking into a small smile, Blake nodded, taking a step forwards.
Unfortunately, this was also around the same time that Jaune decided to go on the offensive. After all, if the crazy guy wasn't going to stop chasing after him, Jaune was going to have to do it himself. Seeing the older teen falter like that was an opportunity in his mind, and there was a quick one-eighty as Jaune jumped into the air, both of his feet landing on Adam's face.
A strange noise escaped Adam as he fell backwards, Jaune following suit but able to recover a little faster, pulling out one of his blades. Adam rolled onto his feet just a second later, just in time to block one of Jaune's blows with a growl.
"Wait, guys, please!"
Blake's plea went ignored as the two boys traded blows back and forth, neither of them really putting any finesse into the scuffle.
Separating was also a messy affair, the two practically yapping angrily at each other as they did so. Blake stepped in between the two of them, holding her hands out.
"Stop!" She yelled, eyes shooting back and forth between the two of them. With great reluctance, the two of them lowered their weapons, trying to watch both Blake and their opponents, waiting to see if they would attack out of the blue. Making sure that neither was going to try and rush past her to get to the other one, Blake let out a sigh, lowering her arms.
"I'm glad to see you, Adam." Blake turned fully to look at her partner, putting on a tentative smile in hopes that it would lower his defenses a little more. "This is Jaune. He's saved my life several times now." The hint wasn't quiet, nor subtle.
Adam's glare softened a little, but there was still doubt on his face when he looked back at Jaune. Opening and closing his mouth, Adam tried to find a way to thank the boy, but couldn't find it in himself to do so. Instead, he turned to Blake, striding up to her and wrapping her into a tight hug.
"I am glad you're safe, Blake." The words were delivered with a warmth that didn't match Adam's eyes, constantly tracking Jaune, a hardened glare over the unscarred side of his face. "The remaining White Fang have gathered at our old rendezvous point. You should head there as well."
Separating from Blake, Adam's face morphed quickly into one of obvious concern, the molding so sudden and so disturbing that Jaune had to suppress a shiver. Adam was not a good person, Jaune thought to himself. Nevertheless, it wasn't his fight to fight, and if it got Blake out of his hands (and into safety), then Jaune wasn't going to be the one to complain about it.
Blake gripped the underside of Adam's arm, a brief smile on her face before she nodded, glancing at Jaune for a second.
"Do you think... Jaune helped me quite a bit," Blake managed, turning back to her partner. "Do you think that he could come with us?"
Adam stiffened at the request, a second or two passing before he seemed to relax muscle by muscle, the smile on his face turning more plastic. Jaune's hackles rose, the leather on his knife creaking as he gripped it tightly.
"I- I don't think that's a good idea, Blake," Adam continued quickly before Blake could interrupt him, ears perked. "I certainly don't have a problem with it, Blake. It's just..." Adam rubbed the back of his neck, face morphing into something apologetic. "I just don't think it would be a good idea to have a human on the same truck as us. We're all injured and frustrated that everything kind of went south. I simply don't think we should poke the nest anymore than we have to." Dead eyes met Jaune's. "Surely you would understand, Blake."
He was good, Jaune could admit that much. If Jaune wasn't so jaded and on guard, the reasons would make complete sense, Adam only refusing because he cared for the faunus under him. And maybe that was true to some extent.
But Jaune could also see the simmering rage underneath Adam's eyes, and that only drove his paranoia to higher, unspoken levels.
Blake didn't seem to catch it, however, taking everything Adam had said at face value. Still though, she bit her lip, casting a glance at Jaune. She didn't want to leave Jaune empty-handed and in the dust, especially after he had been so patient with her.
"You should go," Jaune finally spoke, a wan smile on his face. Blake didn't look very convinced, but Jaune waved her concern off. "You've found your group. Make sure everyone's alright." Jaune smirked just a little. "I'm sure no one wants to spend any more time with a monster like me anyways."
There was still conflict splayed on her face, but she nodded, disappearing into the trees. Adam gave Jaune one last glance, filled with hatred, before taking his leave as well.
And so, Jaune was alone again, left standing in silence as he strained his hearing to make sure nothing or no one was sneaking up on him. Satisfied with the quick assessment, Jaune headed towards the direction of the town, shoving the brief feeling of sadness away as he did so.
He knew that Blake would leave his company eventually, but he never really pursued that line of thought, more concerned about survival than anything else. She was skittish, and didn't really have an idea of how to be polite, and never apologized outright for shooting him, but... she was company.
And it was nice to have company every once in a while.
Jaune stopped his brisk jog, closing his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he tried to clear his mind of those thoughts. Getting distracted would only hurt him right now. There would be plenty of time to reflect later.
Segmenting the thoughts in his mind, he put them away neatly, allowing the sounds of nature to overtake him instead, overwriting the thoughts that plagued him.
He listened to the sound of the swaying trees and the winds that blew across them.
He heard the faint sounds of insects and small animals moving.
He heard the sound of...
The sound of...
Why did that sound so familiar?
Jaune's eyes snapped open as he dived away from where he was standing, the pressure of a red streak destroying everything in its path as it flew past him.
Turning, Jaune faced an emerging Adam, face set into a snarl, blade clenched in his fist.
"You're dead, human."
