AN: One of the shorter interludes but plenty happened here. I'm sorry if the first scene offends anyone. You have been warned that it's offensive once now. Also, I'm sorry for the lateness. I just kind of suck at schedules.
WARNING! CONTAINS SENSITIVE CONTENT. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED TWICE NOW.
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Grimm souls chapter 12
The others
The town of Brightbrook. It was a town located on the border of the eastern islands. The town was made rich from the industry provided by the abundant dust mines by the river. Sometimes the dust would leak into the river and townspeople would wonder at the river that seemed to be made of all the colors above and below. However… so would the neighboring town of Sayuri across the river.
Between these two villages Brightbrook was Valean and Sayuri was Mistralian. The river was considered by the kings to be the border of this particular island. This made problems occur.
Neither of the two towns could pan the river when a dust spill occured. This was profit floating down that neither of the two tons could touch because of border laws. In addition neither of the two towns could mine under the river, where a rich vein of water dust lay. Of course the towns were rich and fat from the quantity and quality of the dust they mined around the river yet still the two sides yearned for more wealth. More dust.
Not only was dust the deciding tension. Sayuri practiced slavery. Faunus slavery. Brightbrook children would watch as faunus laborers toiled under the sun by the waters and in great mining trenches. When the trenches occasionally flooded the water would rush in. If the water had dust in it some faunus could accidentally inhale some dust. Watching slaves die by dust consummation was something neither side wanted to see and yet Sayuri would continue to mine with slaves.
The negativity caused by the slaves and their harsh conditions would attract strong grimm to both Sayuri and Brightbrook. Nightly attacks were common on both sides. However, Brightbrook would be filled with miners tired from their day's labor and what guards the town provided from taxes that, while sizable, were not enough to completely prevent casualties. There was also a younger huntsman who would help when he could. Sayuri, with the extra profit from slaves, afforded not only guards but two fully fledged hunters as well. One huntsman and one huntress named Havar and Kierra. They were safe and fat from their slaves while the miners of Brightbrook could only weather their competitors' indirect attacks.
"This has to stop!" Roared a large muscular man. "The Missies know that we get their grimm attacks! They know the dust is wasted as well as well as do! Why can't they repay their slavery by letting us pan the river?!"
The townsmen cheered at that except for one short woman. "The Mistralians deal with attacks as well. They work hard to bring dust in as we do."
"Oh do they?" The muscular man mocked. "Then why do they let slaves toil at the banks in their trenches? Why do the Missies consort with the animals even for labor? Why do they have two huntsmen while we only have one?"
The townspeople were yelling their support now. "We aren't allowed slavery here, Ralph. We-"
"Of course we aren't allowed slavery! None of us would consort with the animals! What I'm suggesting is we go over there and kill the animals! They're dyin' anyways working away in their trenches. Why not take some of their dust while we're at it? After all the good folk of Brightbrook they've allowed to die for their slavery why shouldn't we be entitled to their profit?"
The short woman made to speak up but she couldn't speak over the roar of the crowd. Ralph could be heard though. "WE WORK LONG HOURS FOR OUR LABOR AND WE GET LESS THAN THEY DO! WHAT RIGHT DO THEY HAVE TO WORK THE ANIMALS? TO LIVE LIKE THEY'RE BETTER THAN US?!"
"I'll bet they're panning the river too!" Someone in the crowd called out. The crowd called their agreement.
"We should go over there and take for what blood they've spilled! Teller are you with us?!"
Teller, the local huntsman was in the crowd with a bloodthirsty grin on his face. "Hell yeah! With us together we'll take what we deserve!"
The short woman saw what was happening and stepped off the stage. She would have no part in this mess her fellow villagers would get into.
"Let's go give the Missies what they deserve!" The crowd, a bloodthirsty swarm of angry townspeople cried agreement with their mining tools collected and rushed to the river crossing with Ralph at the head. Mistralian guardsmen at the gate panicked at the sight of the mob and pounded to get inside. The guards inside were too paralysed by fear to open the door. As the crowd of Valean villagers swarmed and beat the guardsmen Ralph the young huntsman used his semblance, physical burst, which temporarily granted immense strength and stamina, to blow open the door to the town.
At the boom of the opened door the two huntsmen of Mistral came out of their homes armed for a large strike of grimm. When they saw the mob of more than a hundred villagers they froze in surprise and confusion. Tell rushed forward. In their surprised state Ralph was able to knock out Havar and subdue Kierra, their huntress.
"Stop! Why are you attacking?!" Kierra cried at the villagers. The crowd didn't respond. They were too frenzied to do so coherently. In groups the crowd rushed down the streets looking for dust or blood to spill. Ralph called them on, only increasing their bloodlust.
Teller calmed himself somewhat and looked at what he had done. He had knocked out one huntsman and had a huntress at his mercy. He looked to his fellow citizens and saw fires starting out on Mistralian homes. Had he really been that worked up?
Looking down again to the huntress he saw her crying out to him to stop. He looked back to the crowd for a moment and he realized that all the anger and hatred of his fellow villagers… It would attract grimm. The villages had no huntsmen or huntresses to defend it. Then he noticed that villagers were dragging women out of the houses and stripping them. Ralph was about to stop them but… then again… He looked to Kierra. She was rather pretty…
Ralph decided that he couldn't kill the grimm that were sure to come. He might as well enjoy himself. He dragged Kierra to the stables to his left and tore his clothes off along the way. She noticed halfway what was going on but Ralph's physical burst was still active. Not to mention she was out of aura. She stopped fighting after the first minute and was silent.
An eerie call came from the distance. Grimm. Only a few people survived the night in either of the few villages. Luckily Ralph was not one of them.
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"NO!" The god-king of Mistral roared in his office. Two villages ruined! Brightbrook he could care less about but Sayuri was a prime supplier of Dust for colonisation of the eastern islands! The more industrial villages needed that supply! Dust would be shipped overseas back towards Anima to be used in the blossoming industry starting there. The schematics he had negotiated from Atlas would be useless without the means to use them.
Fuming the king looked further through the reports. Both Brightbrook and Sayuri razed to the ground. Dust dumped in the river. Survivors don't know who started the fight. The only survivors were those who were asleep or otherwise occupied. All they know is that something chaotic happened to attract a horde of grimm into the area. They all fled after seeing the grimm. There were 8 survivors who fled to Mistral during the incident. 8 survivors out of a town bordering 500 people. Currently the survivors were staying with relatives in Mistral or their hometowns.
The king snarled as he leafed through the reports. He knew it was a bad idea to try to share the islands with Vale but he needed the dust from the islands and couldn't afford a war at the time. He still does need that dust but… After this, though, there were two outcomes. War or a cover up. Normally war would be inadvisable. Now, though, he wasn't really given much of a choice.
The king looked towards one more piece of paper on his desk. It was a letter. People had been handing them out in the streets. It detailed eyewitness reports of what had happened at Sayuri and Brightbrook. The whole thing was full of speculations and finger pointing at Vale. Seven people had barged in already and encouraged the king to start war with Vale. To show those heathens the proper way of life. The king was inclined to agree.
Mistral was on extremely good terms with Mantle right now. A little rolling over policy-wise and Mantle was happy. They helped to settle northern anima and Mistral sent food, weapons, and whatever else they needed. It may sound unfair but Mistral had been trying to settle northern anima for generations and yet it had never been done. For the first time in history anima was extending into the north and reaping the dust, gold, and silver of the mountains. Most of all, though, was the morale the settling provided. Plenty of people were singing the praises of Mistral across Anima. It was proof of the king being descended from a god in their eyes. That was more valuable than any settlement they had made.
Vale, though, was on extremely bad terms with Mistral. Slavery is bad is completely untrue. The suffering of some for the advancement of many was what the god-king thought. He truly didn't hate the faunus but they were necessary for the advancement of the world. Mantle was of a similar perspective.
With so many similarities it was no wonder that Mistral and Mantle were in an alliance.
Besides the reasons of economics and excuses there was also the hunter agreement. The agreement stipulated that with the exception of large scale combat huntsmen and huntresses were not allowed to kill soldiers or each other. War couldn't be done if humanity lost their protectors. It had plenty of stipulations such as what constituted as a major battle and what a huntsman really was but at it's core it kept huntsmen fighting the grimm rather than each other or normal soldiers.
Of course every kingdom broke the rules one way or another. Vale and Vacuo had spec-ops forces of hunters to commit stealth strikes against opposing kingdoms. Mistral used huntsmen to transport supplies mostly. No soldier wanted to attack a caravan when huntsmen are guarding it whether they're allowed to attack or not.
Vale had numerous huntsmen of quality yet it's standing army is rather weak. This makes it the perfect target for warfare from more prepared kingdoms such as Mantle and Mistral despite the ocean between them.
At the heart of the matter Mistral and Mantle needed dust. Dust Vale has. With such an excuse to war was there any wonder that the god-king should attack?
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The warrior king looked tiredly at the lady in front of him. He remembered when she was in her teens. Red hair and blue eyes like ice with mirth right before the surface. Now they were cooler with less innocence. Still, though, there was a happiness in them that he hadn't seen before. Perhaps Kat had managed to bed her? He knew Kat had shown a large amount of interest in bedding Laura though she had never realised. Or perhaps she simply didn't swing that way.
"You normally take more time to show up. What happened to 'Oh no! I will not be your pet bitch you ass'? Your words exactly." Laura rolled her eyes at him.
"Half the time you summon me it's because you want to show off a pretty lady that doesn't want into your trousers. Or manly skirts in your case." The king tsked at that. He should have never agreed with his tailor that day. Kilts were not in fashion despite what he had said. The fool had embarrassed him and been executed but the blow stayed.
"Besides," Laura continued. "This is actually important. I promised my services should something serious ever happen. If a war is truly going on then I gave my word to be there." The king frowned at that.
"I had thought you dead for the past four years. Why didn't you check in? You were supposed to do so bi-yearly."
Laura winced at that. "Well… You see… I, um, forgot. Sorry." The king slouched back a little in his uncomfortable chair.
"You forgot the literal only thing you were supposed to do as a citizen of the kingdom." Laura nodded a little bit. The king sighed.
"Where did you even get the money? Did Kat steal things for you?" Laura's face saddened. Oh no.
"Kat betrayed me sir. I woke up with a knife above me and I killed her."
For a moment the king stilled. Kat a traitor? She was one of his most loyal agents. She would do anything for the kingdom. For a moment he thought. Then it struck him. Kat would do anything for the kingdom. That includes kill the woman she loved for the power to better help the kingdom. Laura was more the wander and strike a deal kind of maiden than the hide in a city and train. Kat you idiot.
"I'm sorry." The king said. Laura nodded. For a moment neither of them talked as they descended into an awkward silence. The king broke it.
"Are you travelling alone now, then?" Laura glanced up to him.
"Well… I have a wolf named Dexter with me. I actually call him Fluffy since he seems to dislike the name. He's heterochromic with one red and one purple eye so he was kicked out of the pack he was born in. At least I'm pretty sure that's why he was exiled from his pack. I adopted him and trained him to he a huntsman hound. He's very good at it. On that note could I bring him to the war with me?"
The king blinked at that. He hadn't considered allowing a dog to Laura. He supposed it made sense. A dog would defend a master as loyally if not more loyally than any of his agents. Probably more, actually. Kat showed she was loyal to Vale above all rather than Laura. Besides that Laura never really was a social person. She preferred a more solitary existence than others, which served her well as a maiden. Her friends were few. A dog suited her perfectly. A wolf even more so. Same thing, really.
"I see no problem with that. However…" The king had intended to send her to the front lines where she could best use her powers for wide scale destruction. With a dog, though… Laura had seen a lot of loss. Losing yet another companion would be devastating in all likelihood. He had seen people break that way before. Not a pretty thing. If she had a dog she damn well would keep a dog.
"You won't be going into the front lines. You'll be going into a sweeping crew division. Cleaning up after people have done their deeds and killing all the grimm."
"I know what a sweeping crew is." She said tersely. "But why not the frontlines? Isn't that where I'd be the most effective?"
"The most effective maybe but not the most safe. I'd prefer to keep you as a sort of ace up my sleeve anyways. Unless Mistral reveals their maiden we'll keep you on standby. For this reason you'll be going with three companions in a standard huntsman setup despite your lack of formal training." Laura looked curiously at the king. He worried for a moment. He thought he sounded quite good with that lie. Telling her she was staying back because she might be mentally unstable if her dog dies would likely make her push harder to be on the frontlines. It would also irritate her. A scary Laura was a bad thing for everyone. A sad Laura just pissed him off.
Laura sighed slightly. "Alright… but can't we take it down to two guards?" The king rolled his eyes.
"No, Laura. And they're not guards. They're squadmates. Teammates." Laura rolled her eyes as she walked out the door. "I'll send you a mission dossier tomorrow!" The door shut. Well her belligerence was refreshing at least… and irritating.
The king sighed. Now where to send her? Ugh. Keeping maidens safe was always a pain in his royal ass. Laura Frost always seemed to leave a headache one way or another.
AN: Mistralian villages are typically a flower's name. Oniyuri, for example, means wealth, which is fitting since the village of Oniyuri was made by and for the wealthy. Sayuri, on the other hand, means hatred and revenge. I found it fitting since the villagers of Brightbrook were taking "revenge" on the village of Sayuri. I'll continue naming any Mistralian villages based on the flower language. The writers of RWBY do the same in every Mistralian village they make with the exception of Wind path and Mistral itself. So far as I've seen Valean villages take after plain and practical English names like Mountain glen and Patch. Mistralian villages take after romanized japanese flower language names like those I mentioned above. I don't know about Vacuo and Atlas/Mantle but if I have to make some villages for those two I'm planning on using romanized Arabic for Vacuo and possibly romanized Russian for Atlas. Like Vladvistok if that wasn't a city on earth already.