Frontier Ch. 10 - Tunnel Snakes
Jaune walked through a burning township, smoke clung to the air, and burned his throat.
He coughed into his hand and continued through the burning town. Throughout it, there were remnants of the people who had lived there. He saw an unfinished meal here, a half sewn cloak there, in what looked like a blacksmiths shop there was a half-finished sword with the blade still red with heat.
"Where am I?" He thought to himself.
He made his way through the burning town and soon found a single body. They wore a black cloak and had and had what looked like an arrow sticking out of their shoulder.
Jaune frowned and made his way over to the body. He could see the figures back rise and fall with shallow breaths, with a slight hesitance he grabbed the figure's shoulder and turned them over slightly. When he saw her face he jumped back, it was Summer!
Jaune went white with shock and stared at the woman. Wasn't she dead, hadn't Cinder killed her?!
"...remember…" She uttered, "Remember the promise…"
Jaune's eyes snapped open and he looked around with a start. He was still at the camp from the day before, with the group of Faunus. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
From there he got up from his spot and grabbed his sword and shield, he would spend the time before they move out training his skills with Crocea Mors. Who knew when he would need it.
As he made his way down the hill the sounds of clashing blades made themselves known. Jaune continued down until he found Adam and blake, the two going through a sort of morning sparring match.
Adam swung his katana in a downward slash, Blake answered by deflecting the blade with her sword and stopped her dagger just short of his neck.
Adam sighed and stepped back, "You win."
"Want to have another try?" Blake smirked.
"I want to see what this human wants," Adam spoke, turning his gaze to Jaune, who now felt as if he was being examined with a telescope.
"I-uh, I was going to train a little bit, but then I saw you two sparring and I didn't want to interrupt." Jaune nervously answered.
"I'll spar with you." Adam spoke, "We'll be dealing with Grimm in a couple of hours, I want to see how well you can fight."
"Uh, okay." Jaune agreed.
He made his way so that he was across from Adam and took his sword out of his sheath, "Go easy on me."
"No promises," Adam said with a small frown. Jaune could feel Adam's cold gaze from behind his steel mask.
Adam brought his sword up and held it out at an angle.
Jaune raised his shield in front of him and took a nervous breath before taking a few steps toward Adam.
Adam held his position and didn't move a muscle.
Jaune glanced at Blake for a moment, who wore a blank expression before turning his gaze back toward Adam, who still hadn't moved.
With one final step toward Adam, Jaune lunged toward the Faunus with a stab from his sword.
Adam sidestepped the stab and sent his elbow into Jaune's cheek.
The blonde stumbled backward and brought his shield up to cover his head from a downward slash from Adam.
The katana slammed against Jaunes shield, the blonde's teeth rattled in his skull from the weight of the attack.
Once more Jaune took the weight of Adam's strike, this time it was a diagonal strike toward his left shoulder.
When the third swing came on his right, Jaune pivoted to block the swing and spun with a swing toward Adam's neck.
Before the blonde knew it, Adam and he had switched places.
The Faunus swung at Jaune's left shoulder again, and when the blonde blocked the attack Adam stepped into Jaune's and guard and kicked him to the ground.
Jaune tried to get up but Adam pointed his blade down toward the blonde's neck, "I win."
"No point in arguing that," Jaune smirked. When neither laughed at his joke Jaune frowned.
"There were two big things that you did wrong." Adam told him, "You left yourself wide open multiple times, and you let me dictate the pace of the battle."
"I'll have to work on that."
Blake looked up at the sky and crossed her arms, "It's time we moved on, we need to reach the tunnel by dusk."
Adam left Jaune on the ground as he made his way over to blake, "Let's get moving."
Mountain Glenn
Coco sent her spear through a beowolf and kicked it back over the top of the wall. She turned to her next Grimm and quickly worked to dispatch another it. She swung the blunt end of her spear behind the Grimm and knocked it off its feet, in the next moment she plunged the spear into the Grimm's chest and turned it to dust.
"Coco!" A familiar voice spoke.
The brunette in question turned and saw a Faunus in brown leather armor with a metal bo staff, she had two large bunny ears. Coco smiled, "Velvet, it's so good to see you again!"
Velvet hugged her comrade and pointed to the eastern side of the wall, "Yatsuhashi is helping a group of soldiers over on that side of the wall."
"Fox is on the other side, helping to hold there."
A terrifying screech from some of the soldiers brought their attention back to the battle around them.
A score of Grimm had climbed up the wall once again, but this time a group of nevermore were circling overhead. Some of them began to shoot feathers down to the wall, killing many soldiers instantly.
"Archers!" Coco began, "Focus your fire on the nevermore, Spearmen, cover the wall don't let any get through!"
With that, the huntsman charged back into the fray, fighting against darkness itself.
Jaune stared at the large tunnel in front of him. It was large enough that an entire army could move through it if they wanted. The blonde shook his head free of those spots, he had a job to do!
"How long are we going to be going through the tunnel?" Jaune asked Blake.
The cat glanced at him for a moment and sighed, "Probably half a day at a good pace."
Jaune smiled at the Faunus. It was Nora who asked the next question, "So why aren't we going through then?"
"We're waiting for the guides to let us through," Adam answered, irritation clear in his voice.
As if on cue a group of fifteen soldiers made their way out from the cave. They wore bronze armor and had red capes, in the front of the group was a tall man who wore a large bronze helmet which covered most of his face. He, like the entire group, was equipped with a spear and a shield.
"Welcome," He greeted, "I am Leon, the leader of the Bronze Company. I take it you are here to answer the call to defend the Mountain Glenn?"
"Yes, we are," Jaune nodded.
"Then follow us." Another one of the soldiers spoke. This one was a woman, she had long scarlet hair and vivid green eyes. Jaune nodded to the woman and followed the rest of the group into the cave.
For what seemed like hours they made their way into the abyss, the only light source being the torches that the bronze company had lit. Throughout the cave, Jaune could see tiny pieces of iron peaking out of the rock.
"Shouldn't this have been mined by now?" Jaune asked one of the soldiers, the redheaded girl from before.
"If it had, the tunnel wouldn't exist, it would have collapsed a long time ago." She answered.
"So," one of the soldiers began, "Are all of you from the frontier?"
"Yes," Jaune responded.
One of the soldiers laughed, "Of course the faunus would, no civilized place would allow a faunus inside its borders, not unless they were a slave."
Jaune saw Adam growl in response and glance over his shoulder toward one of the larger faunus in their group.
"They're animals after all," Said another, a mocking tone in his voice, "Need to be careful of them spreading sickness."
Jaune watched as the large faunus pulled out a dagger and brought his arm back.
"Watch out!"
The knife pierced the bronze armor and embedded itself in the soldiers back, with a scream the man fell to the ground.
Within an instant, most of the faunus charged the Bronze Company. In response, the Bronze Company had turned around and created a shield wall.
"Wait!" Blake cried out to her comrades, "Stop! What are you doing?"
"Adam!" Jaune unsheathed his sword and pointed it toward the faunus, "What do you think you're doing?!"
"I'm showing them what we're made of!" Adam growled, hostility clear in his voice.
"There are other ways to do that!" Jaune frowned, "By killing them all you'll do is make things worse."
"Humans never understand…" Adam frowned and lowered his katana, "Your kind has never been enslaved, your kind has never known true hunger, your kind is not treated like trash and thrown into gutters on the daily," his frown turned into a scowl, "Your kind has never been massacred for wanting equal treatment!"
With a sudden swing, the Katana slammed against Jaune's shield.
The Blonde pushed the katana off and lunged at his opponent, blade outstretched.
Adam spun on his heel and kicked Jaune in the chest. Jaune gasped for air, the air had been knocked out of him.
"You saw how outmatched you were when you sparred with me this morning, stay down."
Jaune could hear Ren and Nora fighting, as well as the Bronze Company, he took in a breath and got back to his feet.
Jaune grit his teeth and charged at Adam.
The faunus swung at Jaune's right side, the blonde parried with his sword and slammed his shield into the faunus's chest. Jaune forced Adam into the wall of the tunnel, successfully knocking the wind out of Adam.
The blonde took a step back and brought back his sword, "Adam, tell them to stop."
The faunus turned his gaze up toward Jaune.
Before the blonde could react, Adam threw a rock at Jaune. The blonde dropped his sword and clutched his head, a scream filled the cave.
"Adam!" Blake yelled, "Stop this!"
Adam pointed into the tunnel, toward mountain Glenn, "Their people are the ones who threw us in cages for generations, and you want us to spare them when they're stuck in a cage?"
"It isn't right!" Blake pleaded, "Please, don't do this!"
"Blake…" Adam caressed the girl's cheek, "I knew you wouldn't understand."
With a backhanded slap, Blake fell to the ground. She grabbed her dagger and stabbed Adam's foot, "Stop!"
The faunus kicked Blake, "You know as much as I do that this needs to be done!"
"Are you crazy!" Jaune pushed himself up to his feet, the left side of his face was covered his blood, "She's your friend!"
"She's the one who doesn't understand!" Adam yelled, pointing to her gasping friend.
"This isn't how you get results!" Jaune protested.
"I disagree." A new voice spoke.
Silence filled the cave as the final of the Faunus attackers had either been incapacitated or killed. As a result, all eyes turned toward the new figure, a woman with a flame in her palm.
Jaune's eyes went wide.
Nora growled, "Cinder."
"I'm surprised." As Cinder spoke, pairs of red eyes filled the abyss behind her. A herd of Grimm! As the sinister red light filled the area, the Bronze Company ran past Jaune, Ren, Nora, and the others and formed yet another shield wall. Leon turned to the redheaded soldier from before, "Phyrra, take these four and use your semblance to close the gateway behind you! We'll hold them off for as long as we can!"
Ren grabbed Jaune and Nora grabbed Blake, Leon watched as Phyrra led them into the darkness and collapsed the cave behind them. He closed his eyes and turned toward the woman named Cinder and her herd of Grimm, "Bronze Company! Hold position!"
As the five ran from the collapsing tunnel, it became a tomb for fourteen brave souls.