Ok, I got it this time. Last schedule revision, do to my increased work load, but this one I can keep. I am confident in this 15th and 30th or 31st of each month. If I get more time, I may release another chapter somewhere in there on occasion. I apologize for my ever-shifting schedule, but this one I have the most confidence in because it lines up with my job.
On to other things, thanks for the reviews as always, please leave more a love to read them and improve where I can. Crime Jaune is something else, picked up three crime stories that I didn't think I would like but find myself enjoying, Smoke and Mirrors by Alvaaron, cool time skip story with little elements of crime. The Self Made Man By Coeur Al'Aran, of course some if not most of you are familiar with this, if not the story than the writer. But this last one made me read the other ones A Man of Honor by That Guy Smoking a Pipe, this mob story about Jaune is top. Once again thank you for reading and look forward to hearing from you guys.
Beta Readers: BlackJackHero, IN5URGANC3
Chapter 10
Team AACC vigilantly follows the path that their dust slinger Reese is carving for them. "I don't like this," voices Cardin looking around at the white expanse between the edge of the forest and the mouth of the massive cave. "We are way to exposed."
"Yea but there isn't anything to give us some cover," Arslan speaks up. "If it helps, I don't sense anything nearby with my semblance."
"Anything ever gotten by your semblance before?"
"Not so far, but there is a first time for everything."
"Yea, let's hope it's not today."
Despite their concern, they cross the exposed area without any issue, looking up and around for any grimm that may be waiting to swoop down on them. Jaune has four arrows at the ready, while Arslan has her semblance and chakram at the ready. Traveling at a moderate pace, thanks to Reese they arrive at the front gate after traveling for an hour.
Approaching the gate, they see a couple of guards standing watch and present their Identification. Shay is not able to present a form of identification, claiming to have lost it when he was separated from the group he travels with. The guards stare at the dirty blond clearly not trusting his word.
"He is with us; we are escorting him here to see if his group arrived," Jaune speaks up. "We have taken his scroll and weapon. We even did a thorough search to make sure we didn't miss any hidden weapons or communication device."
The guards still didn't seem sold on the idea of letting the shady man into the settlement. "Look, if you guys got a place you lock people up, you can stick him in there," Cardin suggest.
"What!? Wait a minute. I ain't no criminal, you can't just-" Shay begins to protest, before a quick elbow to the gut makes him stop talking, curtesy of Reese.
"Does that work for you guys?" Jaune asks receiving nods as affirmation. "Good, as long as you let him out, if his group shows up."
"Y'all can't do that," Shay once again argues.
"It's either that or we give you back your gun and you take your chances out there with the grimm," Arslan reminds him. "What's a day or two in jail for safety and a warm bed?"
Holding up one hand in protest Shay tries to think of something to say only to let his hand fall with no defense to voice. "Fine I get it, I'll stay in whatever little hole you have, until my travel group shows up."
"Good now that it's settled, would you mind calling a huntress by the name of Elly? We are supposed to report to her upon arrival," Jaune says getting back to their actual objective.
The guards nod to each other and the younger of the two leads Shay away, while saying he will notify her. "Good we will wait here, she is supposed to meet us right when we arrive," continuing his role as leader Jaune directs his team to wait.
Soon they see a woman dressed in blue stained leathers, a bandelier of icy blue needles, and a white duster, approaching with the guard that took Shay away. She is short around Reese's height with white eyes, and light blue hair. Closing in they notice her duster has glowing blue lines running along the sleeves.
"Hi, you guys must be team AACC," her melodic voice calls out to them.
Stepping forward Jaune extends his hand, "Yes mam, we are."
Humming at his response, she extends her hand to shake the blonde's extended one. "You made it here quicker than we thought you would, and you don't look any worse for the wear."
"We were able to plan out a quick path and the grimm numbers don't seem to be as high as normal."
"Really?" she questions, ending the handshake she begins to point at their packs. "Well come on show me the goods."
Team AACC pull off and open up their packs putting all their supplies on display. Pulling out her scroll and swiping a few times Elly seems to pull up a list and begins to click off things that she sees, adding a number next to some of the items. This goes on for a few minutes, "So what was your watch rotation like, you all look very well rested."
This time Arslan steps forward, "We took shifts of three and half hours, with a thirty-minute overlap where there was two of us keeping an eye out. This was done to give us thirty minutes to wind down and equal time for the person coming on watch to wake up."
"Ok, ok, seems like you've got that covered," the blue haired woman presses on. "Now tell me about your meals."
Cardin steps up, "We ate mainly stew during the trip."
"Oh, why? And what was in it?"
"It's a filling meal that can be made with different ingredients, if you get tired of the taste just add another ingredient. Plus, it's pretty easy to transport, as long as you got the stuff. As for what went into it; carrots, potatoes, radish, onion, turnips, garlic, bacon, and pork lion."
Whistling at the list, she stops in surprise, "Wait, you had pork? Did you cure it ahead of time?"
"No mam, we caught it on the first night. Was lucky enough that it wandered into camp on my watch," Reese says getting the huntress's attention. "Went right for the throat and bled it dry before boss man broke it down. Oh, that reminds me, we salted and packed the rest if you want. It's the brown package in the big guy's pack," she points to Cardin
Blinking and trying wrap her mind around what was just offered, she closes her scroll and motions for them to pick up their stuff. "I'll have to pass on that for now," she then motions for team AACC to follow her into the settlement.
"Do you know a place where we can smoke these then, don't want them to go bad," Cardin asks.
"Sure, I think one of the places you can eat at around here offers smoked foods. I'm sure if you gave them some of your cuts, they would let you smoke the rest," Elly suggests to the ginger knight, earning a nod.
"Miss," Jaune starts
"You can just call me Elly, no need to be so formal. We are all huntsmen anyway."
"Elly, what's it like being the assigned huntress for a settlement?" Jaune inquires.
"It nice you get to know all the people and it's a steady income. One of the few huntsmen jobs where you know how much you'll get paid and when," she gestures to the people they walk by with her hands.
Looking around Reese notices a little girl looking at them rather intensely. "Do the people around here not like outsiders?" the nymph questions.
"No, everyone is welcome here," answers the huntress, "Why?"
"There was a little girl just staring at us really intensely."
"That must've been Annabelle, she got lost in the forest last week. Was missing for almost a day before we found her again. She was really lucky, but I guess something really scared her, she hasn't really been the same since," Elly clarifies.
"Poor girl, I wish things like that didn't happen."
"That's why huntsmen and huntresses exist, to stop things like this from happening," Arslan says with a hard look on her face.
"Again, she was lucky we managed to find her at all. A lot of cases like her turn out far worse. Those are the types of things you will have to deal with. Missions where it's more about finding out a person fate than it is about finding that person."
Cardin asks the question on the team mind, "How often do you get missions like that?"
Silence is his answer and Elly's face hardens, after walking for another minute or so she finally answers. "The worst is when you go looking for other huntsmen and huntresses, because there is always that bit of hope that their training and aura will let them live till you get there. You arrive seeing signs of struggle and your hope only grows, but all you find is a broken weapon."
Team AACC is silent as the experienced huntress lays all this out for them, a series of dry swallows sounds from each members throats. Jaune seems to readjust himself and swallow once more before speaking up, "What about missions where you have to kill another person?"
Letting out a big sigh, Elly follows it with a morbid chuckle. "Damn you guys are asking the hard questions. At least you realize it's something you'll have to face, most first years don't even think about it. Why couldn't you just ask about your grades or my love life or something, it would be easier than this."
"We want to be huntsmen Elly, and that means knowing what we are up against. Whether that be grimm or people," Cardin answers for the team.
"Well first things first, you will never receive a "kill" mission. The mission's first objective will always be to capture the target and bring them to "justice". Sometimes that just isn't possible, so some of them come with a kill tag, which means it is ok if the target is killed."
"Why did you did you put such harsh emphasis on justice?" Jaune ask
"That because people slip through the cracks and it happens more often than it should. There are killers that just disappear from imprisonment, only to pop back up years later. If you ask me, those type should be killed on site."
"Isn't that wrong? We can't play executioner, that's for the law to decide."
Giving him a sideways glance, Elly cringes at the look in the blonde's eyes. "This job is going to be hard for you," she whispers. "Look I'm not here to debate morality with you, just telling you sometimes capture isn't the best option. Sometimes it cost more than you're willing to give up."
They finally arrive at the inn, and the huntress shows them where they are staying for the next couple of days. "You guys should take the rest of the day to wind down, you will be going out with the morning patrol from six to noon. The area you're patrolling will be the south eastern edge of the forest. Make sure to eat, and then meet me outside at five thirty," without waiting for a reply she turns and leaves the room.
I hope this goes ok; I think we will be fine. I'm more worried about how things will look in the future now. Will I be able to kill another person? Should I even be considering it? Will I just avoid bounty missions? Coming out of his thoughts Jaune looks around and sees the rest of team AACC thinking about the things the huntress told them today.
"What do you guys think?" Jaune dives right into the topic.
"I'm going to be honest," Cardin starts. "I don't know how I'm gonna feel after it's done, but I'm not gonna deny it either. We will kill at some point."
"It's going to be pretty hard to avoid," Arslan says looking over at Reese.
"I know, but-" Jaune begins only for Reese to speak up.
"Especially if we do any search and rescue missions," says the nymph. "Most time those people or things are taken by bandits, smugglers, and human traffickers."
"And I'm guessing village security missions like this one aren't just for grimm?"ask the blonde archer.
"Most likely not, human or faunus interference can occur on any mission. We will just need to adapt," the lioness sits down on her bed sighing.
"So, the only important question is; will we be able to do it when the time comes?" Cardin throws out looking at the other members of the team. Silence is the answer as they all consider if they will be able to take a human or faunus life. Jaune pulls his arrow pouch off of his leg and begins to lay out the arrow heads.
"What are you doing?" Arslan inquires.
"Counting my arrows, I want to know my options. I'm going to think of how I can use each arrow to capture or... kill," Jaune responds saying the last word softly.
"Why?"
"I want to always know my options, the more options I can think of, the better." Arslan can only admire the look on the other blondes face as he goes deep into thought.
"Will encasing someone in ice kill them?" Reese ask out of the blue. This sparks a new train of conversation, all aware of the weight that their actions can have in certain situations. Each member knowing that Cardin's question is still unanswered.
Four alarms going off simultaneously wake the inhabitants of the room. A series of groans echo in the room as team AACC sits up in their beds, and begin their morning routine. "Remember we have forty-five minutes to get ready and grab some breakfast, then we have to hit meet Elly out front," calls the lioness while digging in her pack for the basics like a tooth brush, and deodorant.
"Yes mom," sings the nymph in response, before a wash cloth hits her in face.
Cardin scratches his stomach, after gathering his basics and walks to stand next to his partner, who is brushing his teeth. He quickly begins doing the same while making small talk, "So what you got planned for the break?" he asks with garbled speech.
"Don't really know, can't go home, and going to Vale feels like a waste since we will be there soon enough," Jaune spits out toothpaste and answers.
"Yea I'm in the same boat, don't wanna risk running into the old man right now. Though he might be busy with the Vytal Festival stuff right now."
"Maybe ask the girls and see what they have planned," Jaune suggest as he wipes his face with a towel after washing it.
"Sounds like as good as any other plan. Did you girls hear that?" asks the ginger as he leaves the bathroom with his partner right behind him.
"We heard," answers the still groggy Reese, "I don't think you guy want to go to Windpath, it doesn't have the best reputation."
With that the boys turn to the last member of team AACC, "From here it would take us a few days to even get close to my home. The Argus Limited doesn't run to it directly."
"The Argus Limited?" questions the ginger knight.
"It's a train that runs through Anima, it has a station in the settlement not too far from here. It's about another day's journey according to the map we saw."
"Did you say Argus?" Jaune asks something clicking in his head.
"It's where the train starts, so they ended up naming it that," responds the platinum blonde girl.
"We should go there for break. The city is great and they have a hot springs resort."
"Oh, that sounds amazing!" the nymph jumps in excitement finally waking up. "I've heard about those, they have heated pools, springs, slides, and so much more."
"Everybody good with that?" asks the blonde leader, earning a nod of conformation from his partner and the lioness. "Alright now that it's decided let's get dressed and eat some breakfast."
The girls shut the door as they brush their teeth and wash of their faces, and the boys take the chance to change into their combat gear. Once they're done changing, they step outside and the girls come back into the room, letting them change into their gear.
Reese watches Arslan put on the Pumpkin Pete hoodie that Jaune is letting her use, "Already wearing his clothes, how did you do it?"
"We are on a mission; can't you wait to do this?" Arslan trying to stay focused. "And besides he will get it back."
"Uh huh sure he will," Reese fakes a realization. "Oh, I get it. Gonna give it back to him with your smell on it. That way everyone will smell you on him and know he's taken."
"Once we get back, I'm running you into to ground."
Reese begins to laugh loudly causing the boys just outside to jump in surprise. It isn't much longer till the girls exit. "What was so funny?" questions the larger of the boys.
"Nothing just some girl talk, anyway Jaune where'd you get that hoodie anyway?" Reese redirects the conversation.
"I sent in a bunch of box tops for it," answers their leader while leading them down to the small dining area. "It took me a while, and it's one of only 1000 in remnant. They said it's made to survive just about anything, huntsmen grade."
"I bet you just bought the cereal for Nikkos's picture, I heard it isn't even good," Arslan jokes.
Laughing at himself and scratching the back of his head Jaune responds, "I didn't even know who Pyrrha was till she introduced herself to me. I barely even noticed her though, I was too busy trying to flirt with Weiss, not really my best moment."
"You and Weiss Schnee had a thing?"
"Oum no, and seeing what she's like on the inside I'm kind of glad we never even came close," he says while sitting down at a table.
Soon they order breakfast, Cardin eats ham steak and eggs with fried potatoes, while Jaune gets some eggs, chicken and waffles. Reese orders a breakfast sandwich and promptly adds jelly to it and Arslan orders omurice, and some tea, while everyone else has hot cocoa. They finish their meals while talking about their plans for after the test is over, and briefly mention Shay and his situation.
Stepping out of the Inn, darkness and crisp air greet the team of would-be huntsmen, sending a small shiver down their spines. Glancing around they manage to spot Elly standing a little down the path speaking with who they can only assume is another huntsman.
Seeing them approaching Elly dismisses the other huntsman before greeting them, "Good you know how to be on time. Did you rest and eat well?"
"Yes, we just finished eating not long ago," Arslan answers.
"Was there a problem last night," Jaune jumps in. "That other huntsman seemed to be worried about something."
"Don't worry about it just a drop in the grimm population in the area. We are sending him and his partner out to do some scouting, map out the movements of the small packs around here. It's not something we would ask you to do, so don't worry about it," says the older huntress.
"You said yesterday that we would be patrolling from six to noon, right?" Arslan asks. "That is not a short trek across the at open area, and you asked us to be here only thirty minutes before the start."
"You're right, but seeing as you as doing work for this town you get to use the same resources we do," with that she leads team AACC over to what appears to be a small garage.
Cardin tears down the mountain on the back of a snowmobile with Reese wrapping her arms around his waist. The sound of a second engine and screaming draws his attention to his left, as Jaune and Arslan clinging to her fellow blonde, fall into his line of sight on the back of their own snowmobile. "Was the jump necessary?" he yells to his partner.
"It was an accident! That bank came out of nowhere!" Jaune yells back.
"Eyes forward! Eyes forward!" yells Arslan from the behind Jaune.
Turning back towards the forest, the blonde sees the tree line quickly approaching, and hits the brake on their transport, Cardin doing the same. The two snow transports eventually slide to a stop on a flat part of the area. Dismounting the huntsmen-in-training draw their weapons and do a quick scan of the surrounding forest. "Next time I'm driving," states the platinum blonde girl.
"Go ahead, I only drove down because you said you didn't know how," shrugs the blonde boy in response. "I can teach you."
"Thank you," says Arslan completely regaining her normal composure. "Grimm incoming!", she points straight ahead.
Reese rushes past Arslan and plants the flat of her board on the emerging creep's head. She then fires a pulse from her board sending the creature of grimm flying back into the one behind it. Jaune and Arslan charge at the two downed grimm, both delivering a series of small swift cuts, Jaune using the baselard form of Libellule, and Arslan using one of Delhkiin Del. After turning the two creeps to smoke, the blondes jump back as two more pounce on their previous position, and Cardin jumps down from a nearby tree crushing the last two under Guillotine.
Jaune, Arslan and Reese soon stand with him in a diamond formation looking around for more grimm, only for none to show up. "There are no more grimm nearby," Arslan stands up out of her combat stance. "My semblance isn't picking up anything."
"You sure? I know you can only send out a pulse for better distance," Jaune tries to confirm.
"Yea I'm pretty sure," she answers with a slight roll of the eyes. "I've checked three times now."
With this reassurance, Cardin shift his weapon back down to its mace and shield form, putting the mace on his hip, but leaving his shield deployed. Jaune sheaths his baselord but reaches into his pouch and pulls out three arrow heads. Arslan hangs a chakram on each wrist and leaves the other two on the small of her back, while Reese stays on Fairy Fire hovering a few inches off the ground.
"Don't use your semblance too often, we want to preserve our resources, and having to restart your semblance to make that pulse does eat some aura," Jaune reminds her.
"I know, I'll keep the use down," Arslan answers. "Let's get this patrol started, do you remember the turnaround point?"
"I remember it but I've also got it saved here on my scroll," holding up his scroll the blonde archer taps the screen a few times. "Huh, that's weird."
"What's up boss man?" questions the nymph.
"Pull out your scrolls and check if you have a connection."
The rest of team AACC pulls out their scrolls and checks for a connection. "Mine isn't connecting to the CCT I only have short radio available."
"Same here," Cardin answers
"Me too," confirms the lioness. "Maybe the signal is just too weak, this far away from the booster in Donguri."
"No, I was able to report to the teachers before we entered the forest a day ago." Jaune gripping his chin in thought. He clicks a few things on his scroll bringing up the Radio function for short distance communication. "Elly, this is Jaune calling for a communication update."
Static begins to sound from his scroll briefly before, "Jaune this Elly, it seems long distance communication is a no go right now."
"Any idea of the cause?"
"My guess is the CCT is down for some maintenance."
"Without sending out a warning?" questions the blonde leader
"It could happen, sudden outage of the like," reasons the older huntress
"Ok, should we return to the settlement?"
"No, I need you out there more than ever, the people's worry about the sudden outage should draw in more grimm. Stay alert and be ready for an increase in numbers."
"We'll stay on our toes. Speaking of the numbers, did the scout group return yet?"
"No, but I told them to go out a bit further so it will take them a little bit longer to get back to us. Stick with your assignment and return at noon, you can give an update on the numbers in your area when you return," Elly clicks her line off leaving team AACC standing in the snow.
"Well, you heard the her," Arslan speaks up. "Let's get back to it."
The rest of their patrol is uneventful, with only a few grimm showing themselves. "This is weird," Reese says while changing her guns back into a board after putting a bullet in a beowolf's skull. "It doesn't feel like the numbers have increased and the long-range connection to the CCT is still not up. It's been hours!"
"It is starting to becoming worrying," Arslan agrees. "The longer the CCT is down the more scared the people of Donguri become."
"Which means more Grimm," Cardin finishes for her.
"But there hasn't been any-" Jaune begins only for static to burst to life from his scroll.
"This is an emergency broadcast, I'm with the scouting team. The rest of my team has been wiped out and I got grimm on my tail."
Team AACC rush over to the snowmobiles, "Arslan, Cardin, you two are driving! Reese, we're on long range support the moment the scout enters our vision light up those grim."
"Still don't know how to drive," Arslan responds.
Jaune starts pointing at the snowmobile giving quick instructions on how to drive. Arslan nods a little unsure but focuses on helping the running scout, a minute later she drives the snowmobile with some confidence, Jaune holding onto her waist. "This is Jaune, what was your heading!?"
"I'm going straight north; I should hit the gap in around three minutes!"
"We should be able to get there after he clears the trees," Cardin yells
"It's better for us that way, we get the drop on the Grimm," Reese follows, letting go of Cardin, and standing up drawing her twin pistols. Jaune soon follows her example releasing Arslan and standing up to his full height, drawing his bow, and nocking an arrow with three more in hand.
Looking over the white expanse with aura infused eyes, Reese spots a snowmobile crossing the snow trying desperately to make it to Donguri. "There!"
As soon as Jaune own aura enhanced sight is pointed in the right direction, he and Reese fire a volley of projectiles. The blonde adjusts his grip and fires four arrows simultaneously, and Reese begins to fire rapidly both aiming for the lead Horse Grimm. Their combination brings it crashing down into the snow causing the one right behind it to fall on top of it.
The remaining grimm manages to circumvent the pile, and continue after the scout. "Little Green switch with me!" Cardin calls out, and in a smooth motion the two manage to switch positions without slowing. Reaching into his pouch the ginger knight pulls out a red dust crystal and quickly switches it with the purple one in his mace.
He shifts his weapon into the double-sided axe and points the head forward. With a quick pumping motion, he sends a glowing red bolt flying aimed right at the rear of the only grimm still in the chase. The bolt strikes home, blowing the backside of the horse grimm into the air sending it skidding forward.
Using this opening they manage to pull the snowmobiles in front of the now recovering grimm, putting themselves between to the creatures and the scout. Each huntsmen-in-training keeping their weapon at the ready, to start things off Jaune fires another arrow, but instead of taking it the closest horse grimm stomps the ground. This causes a wall of snow to shoot up and take the arrow, absorbing the blast from the exploding arrow.
As the snow curtain falls away, the huntsmen-in-training can't hide the shock on their faces as the grimm are in full retreat. "Why did they run?" questions the blonde archer.
"I don't think I've ever heard of them running. I've heard of the older one avoiding people but never running from them," Arslan answers.
"Guys," Reese gets everybody's attention, and points to a trail let behind in the snow. "I think he went ahead."
Team AACC jump back on their vehicles and speed off trying to catch up to the scout that fled to the settlement. They arrive not long after the scout who is frantically talking to Elly, his voice so loud it can be heard from a good distance.
"...hoard. Nothing like I've ever seen. It's not the largest but they seem almost organized."
"That's impossible, the grimm cannot line up like an Oum damned army," responds Elly with a biting tone.
"No, no I wouldn't say army but more like some thought was put into what they are doing. They are lined up and are waiting for something. Even when we got caught it was a small unit that chased us down and killed my team," corrects the scared hunter.
"Ok, calm down. This is not a conversation we should be having here. These people are still on edge with the CCT down, we do not need you adding fuel to that fire."
Approaching the experienced huntress, Team AACC asks about the situation. Looking around Elly directs the students to follow her to a private area, "Look normally I wouldn't involve you guys in something like this, but I'm now down almost a whole team and you guys are the only ones on the morning patrol who've returned."
"What, that can't be right," Cardin nearly yells.
"Shit," Jaune curses, "That's why we didn't hear any other huntsmen respond to the emergency signal. How many do we have left?"
"My teammates are the ones who haven't come back from their morning patrol and we just lost three more. So right now, you're looking at what we have left, the six of us," answers the blue haired woman.
"Your team may still be out there, maybe we-" Elly cut that train of thought of before he became to invested in it.
"As much as I would like to agree, I'm gonna stop you there. If they are not back and haven't tried to radio in, I have to assume the worst, and I don't want to waste the little man power we have on a futile search."
"Right," answers the blonde somberly.
At this moment the mayor of the settlement enters the conversation, having walked up while everyone was invested in the conversation. She is a tan-skinned older woman, with green eyes, and greying hair. "What is going on? The people are asking me all manner of questions I have no answer too."
"We are trying to figure it out," answers the fully licensed huntress almost hissing.
"Ok let's break down what we know so far," Arslan says.
"We have no long-range communication," Reese points out.
"Only two fully licensed huntsmen," Cardin adds.
"An organized hoard of grimm, just waiting on something," voices the other huntsman.
"Any bullhead deliveries due soon?" Arslan questions.
"No, we just had one the morning you got here; we aren't due for another week," Elly begins pacing back and forth.
"We need something," Cardin speaks panic beginning to creep into his voice.
"I'm trying to think," responds Arslan with venom in her voice. This causes Cardin to give her a questioning look. "We might be able to evacuate all the people and move them to the next settlement. It was only around one day away," Arslan continues to think aloud.
"No, we can't do that," Jaune counters. "To many people and the conditions are too harsh, half the people can't even make that trek."
"Also, I don't think the grimm would let us, they would probably be on us before we got everything ready," Cardin says.
"We should-" Reese begins only to be cut off by Arslan.
"We could have sleds made for people who can't walk it, and use the snowmobiles to pull it. We would just have to fend off the grimm in the path."
"Reese what-" Jaune tries to ask again only for Arslan to speak again.
"No, that wouldn't work. Is there a way to cut through the mountain? Gather up the earth dust and use it to carve a tunnel."
"Arslan are you-" Reese reaches out for her friend only to have her hand swatted away.
"What!? I'm trying to figure out a way to save everyone," snaps the platinum blonde.
"We all are, just talk with us."
"What good would that do? He would probably sell us to the grimm, he barely has any training, and you've never even led a team! It's up to m-"
Jaune slams the unsuspecting lioness into the wall pinning her with his forearm, staring her in the eyes, fury marring his face. "Reese go ahead," he says without breaking eye contact with the girl he's pinned to the wall, "And Cardin, calm down."
Arslan looks past the blonde to see the ginger boy standing there mid swing, looking just as angry as the boy pinning her.
"Ok, what's the distance on the short-range radio? Do you think it could reach the next settlement?"
The mayor answers, "It should be able to," and then something clicks with the mayor. "We can use it to call for help!"
"Exactly! With that back up we might be able to use one of those plans."
Cardin nods along after calming down, "That could work, they may not be able to send everybody, but anything would help at this point just a few huntsmen."
Jaune releases Arslan and turns around to face Elly, "We also need to check if they can contact Haven, they would be our best bet against the hoard."
At this prompting the mayor pulls out her scroll and walks a small distance away trying to reach the next settlement.
"You're right, but we still need and actual plan," Elly explains.
"We could hold out," Cardin says. "The settlement is almost a fortress anyway; it shouldn't be that hard to shore up."
"That wouldn't be the largest problem, it's the time and man power. We don't know when they will attack," says the scout huntsman.
"You said they were in some kind of formation, right, about how far out?" Jaune questions
"It took us a couple of hours by snowmobile, and even when we were seen we were still a good distance away from the main force. It was only a small pack of horse grimm that caught us by surprise and chased us back."
The mayor walks back over with a slightly dejected look on her face. "Their long-range communication is down. They did say they would send over some huntsmen but it won't be a large group, and it will only be volunteers."
"They need to make sure they're safe, and don't want to waste to much manpower on us. They think we aren't going to make it," Cardin say hitting his fist against the wall.
"Ok, better than nothing right. Did they at least send word for help? Maybe they could use the train to deliver a message?" Reese suggest.
The mayor shakes her head, "No the train just left towards Argus. They won't be seeing it till tomorrow."
"We need to start getting ready, move the children, elderly, and sick towards the back of the cave. The deeper the better, we don't want them anywhere near combat," Jaune plans.
"Let the people know what's going on and take any volunteers willing to help. Tell them it's not just to fight, we need builders," Elly follows up. "Get them to meet us at the main gate."
The mayor nods and heads towards her office building, and it isn't long till the alarm rings out. It soon cuts off and the mayor's voice broadcast across the settlement, "All children, elderly and sick need to be moved to the farming areas. Any able-bodied person needs to report to the gate as soon as possible. I'm sorry to say this but a grimm hoard is approaching and we are left to protect ourselves."
The streets burst to life, people quickly making their way home. Everyone moves with a practiced ease even though clearly in a hurry. Those who can't fight or build are ushered to the rear of the massive cave, some of the older children trying to head to the gate only to be turned around by their elders.
They argue but, in the end, go with the others, with the mission of being the last line of defense. Families gather saying their goodbyes, as people walk away from their mother, fathers, brother, sister, sons, and daughters. "I wish the grimm didn't exist," Reese says somberly watching these scenes play out.
Cardin walks up, and puts his arm around the small girl pulling her in for a side hug, "We got this, we'll make sure these people see each other again." They begin to walk towards the gate with Elly and the scout huntsman, only to notice Jaune and Arslan aren't following.
Turning around they see Jaune stopping Arslan from following with an outstretched arm, "You guys go ahead, we'll catch up." Nodding the ginger knight prompts the group to keep moving walking through the now busy streets.
"What?" asks the platinum blonde crossing her arms.
"I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt here, and say that whatever that was," he motions with his hands at the girl, "was a panic induced fit or something." Arslan just looks away not meeting his eyes. "Really? That's how this is going?"
"I don't know what to say," she responds after a few second of silence.
"Sorry is probably a good start. Me and Cardin don't really need apologies, we know what we did, and how we got here, but Reese is a different story. We can get to that later though, what's going on with you. Ever since we started this mission, it's like you're trying to carry everything on your shoulders."
"Well, that is what a leader needs to do, they have to shoulder everything and make the right calls."
"Arslan, you aren't the leader, I am," says Jaune sternly. "I know you've been watching me and waiting to step up when you think I can't handle things."
"Don't you think it would be better for someone more experienced to lead in this situation?"
"I agree with that but do you have experience in defending a settlement? Do you know what defenses we have available? This is just like before; you don't know everything and you can't handle everything by yourself."
"You don't know that stuff either," snaps the lioness
"Yea but I'm willing to listen to the ideas of the people around me. Any leader worth the name knows you have to listen just as much as you ask. If you ignore the people around you, you're no better that a dictator."
Arslan looks away at those words
"Now we have a plan, it's time you got involved. If you still want the leader position than we can talk after this is over but for now," Jaune marches up to the platinum blonde and plants his hands on the wall trapping her. "Accept that I'm the leader."
She nods while staring into his eyes, she can see a fire burning, one that will not accept anything short of a yes. "Good let's go, we all need to discuss the plans to fortify Donguri."
Approaching the gate, the two blondes notice the crowd is silent. Walking up Jaune catches Cardin attention, "What's going on?"
"Well, they let Shay out to help with the prep and most of the people gathered he stood up trying to get attention on," Cardin answers never taking his eyes off the dirty blonde man.
Clearing his throat loudly, "Hello, I bet you guys are wonderin what I'm doing up here. Let's start with some introductions. My name is Shay D. Mann, and I'm here to help you in your time of need."
"What can you do?" yells one of the civilians.
"Protect you of course," he responds with a wide smile.
"Why don't I believe that?" Reese voices her skepticism.
"We just require something in return," Shay says while stepping to the side, flourishing his arms like a presenter.
Soon a red portal rips itself into existence, and tall womanly figure steps through. She is wearing a short black and red dress, with a pair of black shorts, and a belt that holds a large sheath on her left side and what looks to be feathers on her right. On her arms red gauntlets with fingerless black gloves underneath, on her legs are pitch black leggings leading down to equally black heels, but as she shifts her weight to soles show blood red.
The most eye-catching feature though, is the grimm mask with four eye slits and red markings lining it. Her aura glows red as she activates it in a show of strength, while hoping to add to her intimidation. Her long black pony tail seems to absorb that little bit of color adding another layer of intimidation.
She struts back and forth in front of the people looking down on them, inspecting them. Jaune sees her measuring the value of these people and begins to scowl. "I believe that only the strong belong in this world."
At these words Cardin's eyes narrow not liking where this is going. "The strong do not help the weak for free, for the effort it takes to protect you we must be compensated. My tribe is willing to protect you, for a price of course."
"How do we know your tribe is strong? Who are you?" another resident asks.
Throwing her head back an almost malicious laugh rings out, causing the huntsmen and huntsmen-in-training to reach for their weapons. "We are the Branwen tribe! The Strongest! And I -" removing her mask to reveal crimson eyes that reflect the amount of innocent blood she has spilled, and the haughty look to match. Jaune and Cardin only stare not believing their eyes. "Am Raven Branwen! The Leader! The Strongest!"
With her declaration finished, the bandit queen scans the crowd again, still assessing the worth of the people, but it isn't long before her eyes lock on to team AACC and the other huntsmen at their side, who have frozen speechless. She intensely studies each one, and a shill runs down their spines, when she finishes, smirks, and turns back to the jabbering crowd.
"Something's off." Cardin comments, and it echoes in the minds of the huntsmen around him, as they watch more of the mysterious woman's tribe emerge from the portal behind her, each one looking surlier than the last.
"Maybe they are just rough mercenaries," Jaune says not even believing his own words.
"These guys aren't a mercenary group, they're something so much worse," Reese voices while becoming aware of the bead of sweat rolling down her face, and the clenching of her teeth, the longer the woman with the grimm mask ignores their presence.
"Jaune, she looks like-" Cardin starts.
"I know," Jaune responds swallowing a lump in his throat.
"Reese, who are they?" questions Arslan, her semblance flaring briefly to count their numbers.
Reese growls through her clenched teeth, one word bringing the severity of their situation to light, "Bandits."
So... that's a thing. As for introducing the Branwen tribe to team AACC so soon. Well, I mean they are a big deal in Anima and were bound to clash at some point, it just came so much sooner than anyone thought (Insert evil laughter here).