The Order Ch. 29
The Black Knight was standing outside of the dinning hall. Kanji's mercs, Upstart's New Industry fighters, teams RWBY and JNPR, and Sun were all mixing well with the knights. He smiled at the sight of this. If the chemistry was bad now, they wouldn't stand a chance in a fight. He felt someone walk up behind him, and he turned to see Beauty standing there.
"You've been standing here for a while," she said. "Aren't you going to join them?"
"I've already eaten," he simply replied. "What are you doing here?"
"I finished eating. You told me to come and see you after I was done eating, remember?"
"Of course. Follow me Beauty." He sharply turned and left to enter the throne room. Beauty was right behind him, and he quickly searched for something. Upon finding it, he pulled a small lever that was concealed behind a tapestry. An entrance opened up at the back of the room, and the Black Knight gestured for her to enter. She entered the room and say a large staircase leading down. She followed it, and saw that the Black Knight was right behind her. At the bottom was a large room, filled with old knights armor in display cases. Beauty looked at one of them, and her eyes widened. She looked back at the Black Knight.
"What is this place?" She asked.
"Welcome to the Hall of Kings," the Black Knight replied. "The oldest goes back to our first king, and the most recent goes to whoever was king before the current one. In our case, the Knight of Wisdom." Beauty looked over the silver armor that had once belonged to their king. Her eyes brought her further down, inspecting every set of armor that was in the room. Some of the kings only reigned for a few months, while others ruled for years.
"Why are you showing me this?" She asked.
"As king, it's my duty to prepare you. In the even of my death, you'd take over and my armor would be moved down here. I should of have told you about this place long ago Jess, but I never thought of it possible that I would die. Then I came to the doorstep of death, and Smiths would of have had to tell you of this place. I was going to tell you sooner, but I never did."
"When did you learn about this place?"
"When I became hand. He was always well prepared."
"You don't really think you'll die, do you? I mean, we've seen your strength now."
"A strength that almost killed me."
"But we solved that. You're better now."
"That does nothing to ease my mind. I almost died before, and it could very easily happen again." Beauty was silent.
"You won't die. I know you won't. Not this time. You're armor will not be put up here for many years. I know that."
"It doesn't matter to me, Jess. We should go back up." Beauty nodded and they left to return to the others.
Night Time: The Order's Temporary Living quarters
The New Industry and Kanji's mercs were being led to some sleeping quarters by Jacks and Beauty. They finally reached a fairly long hallway, and they looked around it.
"Alright kids," Jacks said. "New Industry on the left."
"And Kanji's mercs on the right," Beauty said. Both teams nodded and went about sorting where they were going to sleep for now. Beauty turned to Jacks.
"Do you think the other two teams remember where the quarters were?" Asked Beauty.
"I'm gonna go with a hard no," Jacks said. Beauty sighed and they both left to go find the two teams.
Elsewhere in the Living Quarters
"I told you we should of have gone right."
"I know we went left at that point, and not right."
"We're lost right now Ruby, clearly it was right."
"I know what I'm doing Weiss." As they both continued on with their argument, Yang leaned over to Pyrrha.
"Young love," she said. Pyrrha let out a small laugh. Beauty and Jacks weren't very far away, just watching the whole thing play out.
"When they stop arguing," Jacks said. "We'll intervene."
"Deal," Beauty replied. They were enjoying themselves far too much to interrupt something like this. Ruby and Weiss went on for several more minutes after this, and then they noticed Beauty and Jacks.
"Let's ask them!" Weiss said. "They'll prove that I'm right!"
"Fine!" Ruby said back. They walked up to Beauty and Jacks and looked at them.
"Where did you make the left?" Asked Beauty.
"The painting of the knight in gold armor," Weiss said. Beauty tilted her head slightly.
"What did the knight have as a weapon?"
"A sword." Beauty and Jacks both started laughing. "What?"
"You had the knight in gold armor right, and it should of have been a left. But you have to get to the knight in gold armor with a halberd. You passed that a while ago." Weiss and Ruby just stared at each other. Beauty and Jacks gestured for them to follow.
The King's Quarters
The Black Knight had changed into his sleeping wear, and Blake was wearing her night blouse. He was just waiting on Beauty to enter the room. Blake was off in her bed, reading a book. The Black Knight was polishing his armor, and testing out the functionality, resupplying every compartment with dust crystals.
"James," Blake said, putting down her book.
"Yes?" He responded.
"When are we leaving tomorrow?"
"Morning. With all of the people we're bringing, we should arrive by night. Plus, now we have the New Industry and Kanji's mercs to go along with us. They'll slow down our pace considerably. Your friends won't slow our pace as much."
"How many people are you leaving behind?"
"In total? About 20 of them. Of those 20, 10 of them are archers. The other 10 are out 10 lowest rated fighters that aren't archers. Plus our two newest recruits are there."
"Newest recruits?"
"I guess I never did tell you. Two kids came running to us from Beowolves. They're 12 and 6 years old. We let them in, and harbored them. We found the bodies of their parents in the woods, so I took them in. I couldn't let them go into the world on their own." Blake looked up at him.
"I'm glad you did that."
"I knew I couldn't leave them. Did I mention that they're fish faunus?"
"Aren't those incredibly rare?"
"Rare enough to help convince the others to let them in, even though they have very little combat experience. The boy, Johnny, has taken to a sword while the girl, Alexis, has grown partial to dust." They both heard the door open, and Beauty slipped inside. She was dressed in red pajama bottoms with a red pajama top.
"Hey you two," she said. "Sorry it took me so long. Your friends managed to get quite lost, and Ruby and Weiss were arguing. Me and Jacks watched until they asked us for help." She quickly hopped into bed and turned out her light.
"I'll see you when you get back," she said. Blake looked questioningly at the Black Knight.
"I generally have to stretch the other three," he explained. "Tonight, there is no such need Jess." He lay back in his bed, and closed his eyes. Blake looked at the both of them, and she turned out her light.
The Next Morning: Outside of the Knight's Castle
The large war party was gathered outside. Everyone was buzzing with anticipation for what they knew was coming. Patch was walking amongst the fighters, handing out a vial of quick gate. Telling them how to use it, and how much energy it would take. The idea was to get them out of the fight and elsewhere if they needed to. The Black Knight, Beauty, Jacks, Scarlet, Kanji, Upstart, Sun, RWBY, JNPR, and Grimm were all at the front. Grimm was up front to utilize his more impressive sense of smell. He was already in his wolf form, with his shotgun strapped to his back. Patch ran up to the front of the party and gave a slight nod. The Black Knight faced Scarlet and gave a nod. She threw up her hands, and fire shot straight up to the sky. The entire war party started to march forward, moving right to where the Legion was hidden.
End: Questions, comments, and feedback is appreciated.
