Here we go. Just to let you know, the story that will be replacing this one when it's done is actually already released – Arc Royale. It's currently on the every two weeks Tuesday slot. It's on my profile and is definitely a very "odd" kind of story that I know might turn some people off. Still, give it a go if you like, or maybe wait for it to be a bit longer, try it and see if you like it. It features Relic of the Future Jaune, but not in the first chapter despite what some have thought so far.

Cover Art: Jack Wayne

Chapter 175

Raven looked down on him uncomprehendingly. She obviously hadn't expected it, but she also looked like she couldn't understand what he was doing. There was no response. No anger, no arguments, just stunned silence and an overbearing apathy.

For a moment it looked like she wouldn't rise to the challenge. Raven's eyes met his, tired and heavy. Her whole life had been defined by her constant flight from Salem, and now that she was dead what did Raven have left? In another life, a world where Summer had long since passed, she might have gone back to Taiyang. This wasn't that life, and that door was closed to her forever. All that remained was the tribe.

If she cared enough to keep it.

Her eyes slid from him to the tribe, sensing their anticipation, or maybe their ire. To his disappointment, her eyes closed, and she made to turn away and dismiss his challenge entirely. The tribe muttered angrily. Men who had loyally followed Raven for years reached for their weapons and fancied their chances.

No. You're not running away this time.

Jaune's boots thudded on the wooden ramp as he charged up. People shouted their glee and Raven turned, shocked at the sudden attack. Even if she didn't want to fight, her huntress instincts refused to let be. Her sword came up and struck his away, her right foot sliding back to catch her weight as she turned the swing into a thrust aimed for his shoulder.

Better.

The flat of his left hand struck the flat of her sword and slapped it away. The sigil that had once flared with Salem's magic lay inert and dull, but his old strength – the skill he'd relied on for so long and which Pyrrha first taught him – was his and his alone. Jaune slammed into Raven's body with a mighty tackle, using all his strength to overpower her and drive her to the edge of the wooden platform. Her foot found the empty air and she gasped, wheeled her arms and began to topple back. In the last second, she looked to him for help.

Jaune planted a foot in the middle of her chest.

Raven Branwen sailed off the platform and crashed into a cluster of tents. Wooden struts cracked and the stretched fabric wrapped around her like a net, swallowing her whole. Inside, there must have been pots and pans because the loud clatter was deafening. Almost as deafening as the raucous laughter as Jaune, instead of chasing, stood mighty on Raven's dais and raised his sword in the air. The tribe jeered and roared their approval, loving a good humiliation to go with their drink and food.

Less appreciative was the jester. Raven struggled and flailed, then gave up and slashed her way out the tent. She rose, black hair messy and eyes wild. Glowing, too. That was probably a sign that Ozma and his magic still existed in the world, likely trapped within his final incarnation. Even without the Relics, the maidens persisted. For now.

That's it, Jaune thought. Get angry. Get emotional.

"How's the weather down there?" Jaune called. Smack talk had never been his strong suit. It didn't appear to matter as patience had never been hers. "Maybe that's where you belong, Raven. Tell you what, if you bend knee and beg for my forgiveness then I might let you off."

"Ashari!" she roared. "I will fucking kill you!"

Jaune stabbed Crocea Mors down into the wood and leaned tauntingly over the pommel. He pointed. "Not from down there you won't."

A snarl and she was up, bouncing off a rock and vaulting up to face him. Still not enough. Raven was angry but not enraged, and she wasn't fighting as well as she could. Instead of letting her up for another round, Jaune stood his ground and struck his sword against hers, bleeding her energy and forcing her to fall down again. This time, she landed on all fours before the dais, down on her knees.

The crowds of Branwen bandits burst out laughing. More were coming, drawn by the promise of violence and the lure of a good fight. They'd always supported Raven in the past. To see them outwardly mocking them now was a sign of how bad things were going. If Raven didn't have the strength to keep them loyal then it really was best if she left. By choice or not.

"Weak!" Jaune shouted. Raven's entire body flinched, and her fingers dug into the ground. "The weak cower and the strong rule. Isn't that what you always said, Raven? If so, maybe down on your hands and knees is where you should stay."

Raven's fist slammed down and ground into the dirt. She stood, bristling with rage. This time, however, she didn't try and jump back up. She knew it his height and strength would let him fend her off. Instead, she stomped back to the stairs, knocked Winter and Vernal aside and strode up them. Boots began to stamp across the camp as people offered a beat, smashed bottles and cans together and generally made as much noise as they could.

Amidst the cacophony there was little chance of hearing the cues of Raven's movement. Only sight remained. Her left foot slid sideways, and he was dodging, avoiding her thrust by the barest of margins. His sweep sliced off strands of hair as she ducked and dragged her sword back over his right thigh, scoring a line across his aura. Jaune's foot lashed out and caught her shoulder, knocking her back.

Raven rolled across wood, slashed the tent peg closest to her and caused her own tent to spring out and descend over him, blocking his view. He leapt back regardless, glad he did a second later when red metal slashed through the material where he'd been standing. Suddenly, a gust of wind picked up and hurled the remains of the tent at him. Maiden power. The wind had been still before. The tent buffeted and slammed into him like a weighted net, dragged him back and to the edge of the platform before he was able to wrest it off and toss it aside.

The second he did, the very instant, red light was flashing for his eyes. Both his hands shot up, but he wasn't able to fully deflect it in time. He saved his eyes, but Raven's sword point sliced across his forehead and through his hair, shaving off a good inch of his fringe. While he was recovering from that, her other hand came around, still clenched into a fist. Jaune gritted his teeth for the blow that never came.

Just when she was completing her swing, her hand opened, and his face was swallowed in a thick cloud of grit and sand.

"Argh!" He stumbled back – which proved a bad idea when there wasn't anything to back onto. It was his turn to fall, and Raven proved just as merciless as he, aiding him with a powerful punch to his jaw.

The short drop and impact still hurt less than his eyes. Jaune wiped his arm across them, forced the lids open and blinked tears against his blurred vision. It was the same trick he'd used against Qrow in this very same camp near the ruins of Kuroyuri.

Looks I taught her a thing or two. Guess she wasn't punching the ground at all. She was picking up some dirt. Damn, that stings.

The tip of a sharp blade tickled his throat. Where he'd let Raven fall and taken time for mockery, she'd followed up to end the fight. Probably because she knew she might not otherwise. No reason for her to risk it.

"Anyone else!?" she roared, glaring back at their audience. Many of them had gone quiet and still. "Is there anyone else?" she demanded again. "You were all keen to whisper behind my back where you thought I wouldn't hear you. Come on. If you think I'm weak, come make your challenge!"

No one did. No one dared.

"Weaklings." Raven sneered at them, sheathed her sword and looked down on Jaune. She had to know he'd done this to help her, and that he'd been holding back. He could have used guns, grenades or just pinned her while she was stuck in the tent. The knowledge didn't seem to please her however, and she planted a foot on his stomach, leaning down over him with a dark look. "And you!" she hissed. "Do you care to explain yourself?"

Jaune wheezed and grinned. "I can see up your skirt."

"Get a good look then." Raven wasn't Yang or an embarrassed schoolgirl, despite the short skirt reminding him of one. "Depending on your next answer, it might be the closest you ever get to a woman." Her foot shifted further down his stomach in a worrying manner. "Perhaps I should give you a little stomp to remember me by."

"Ahem." Winter Schnee coughed, having approached with Vernal and Emerald. "I'll thank you to not do that. I have need of what you're threatening."

"Too much information," Vernal said. Raven seemed to agree, lips twisting in displeasure. She did step off him, however.

"You held back." she accused. "Why?"

Jaune offered his hand to be pulled up. Raven stared at it, raised an eyebrow and then crossed her arms. It was left to Emerald and Vernal to help their old man up. "What would I do with the tribe?" Jaune said. "I don't want to be in charge here."

"You shouldn't be here at all." Raven hissed. "Why are you?"

"You know why."

"…"

"You know." Jaune repeated.

"I know!" she snapped, eyes clenched shut. "Damn your bleeding heart, Jaune. This wasn't necessary. I… We are done. Salem is dead, the world is saved, Ozma got fucked. Yang gets to live a long, happy life without worrying about some bastard taking her arm and an even bigger bastard taking her life. We did everything we were supposed to. It's over. You're over." She glared at him. "You have, what, weeks left? A month at best? Why waste that in this shithole?"

"At the risk of becoming repetitive, you already know the answer to that."

"Of course I do. Blasted Jinn-granted memories. She couldn't have just told me the answer to my question. No, she had to show me. Cram this crap into my head." Raven growled angrily. "Yes, I know. I know you better than anyone else does. I know how stupid you are. I'm not Pyrrha!" she snarled. "I'm not them. What we had was nothing. We were allies of convenience. You were useful to me, as I was to you. We worked together to deal with something both of us wanted dead." Raven sighed and turned her head away. "Don't make this any more complicated than it has to be-"

"Bullshit!" It wasn't he who spoke. Vernal was up in Raven's face, finger stabbing into her chest. "Bull and shit! You think you can lie to dad? You can't even lie to me! I got to sit and watch jealously as the two of you spent time together. As you opened portals to go see him whenever the fuck you wanted-"

"Vernal!" she snarled.

"And that was often!" Vernal continued unafraid. "Not a week went by without you vanishing from your tent. You think we never noticed? You think we were fucking stupid?"

"I-"

"Of course we noticed! Oh look," Vernal mimicked a male voice, "There goes the boss again. Off for her weekly fuck with Ashari. You reckon she'll come back preggers?"

Raven's mouth dropped open. It was honestly hilarious, though maybe less so for Winter, who was giving him the raised eyebrow. He shook his head and mimed `later`. Luckily, Raven did it for him.

"W-We never…"

"Yeah, maybe not," Vernal said, "But everyone figured you two were. Kinda obvious you had a thing for him, boss. Strong man, spends all day in your tent, is let go without recruitment but you keep going off to visit him. What were we supposed to think?"

"I was reminding him of his debt to me! I was taking his booze!"

"As if we didn't have kegs of beer around here." Vernal sounded so much like a mother rolling her eyes at the excuse of a girl caught making out with a boy. Jaune smothered his laughter in one hand. "Fuck, I can't believe how much I used to respect you. At least the Schnee here had the balls to get down on one knee and propose. You did nothing, lost your chance, and now you're hiding away because you're not brave enough to face the prospect of dad dying. Well news flash!" she yelled. "It's worse for me! For us! We're losing our dad!"

"I think she gets it." Jaune drew Vernal back by both shoulders and kissed her hair. "Thank you, sweetie. Not quite how I would have broken through to her-"

"She's a Branwen." Vernal said as if that explained everything. It really kind of did. "Subtlety doesn't work. They lie, cheat and run away." Under her breath, Vernal muttered, "As if she can say it was an alliance of convenience when even her freaking Semblance demands you be more."

Raven trembled with anger, face burning a hot shade of red. They all knew Vernal was right – especially on the Semblance angle – but even if she was, she could have maybe been a little more tactful.

Jaune tried. "You're my friend Raven. I'm not using you as a replacement for Pyrrha or anyone. You, Raven Branwen, are my friend. Honestly, I've known you longer than I ever did my teammates. I've been here over ten years and you've been a constant fixture. A pain in my ass at times, a sofa and beer-thief at others, but however reluctantly it was, I wouldn't change anything."

"Stop…"

"And I don't want to go off without being able to see you again. You're important to me. If I'm going to die, I want it to be surrounded by my friends. Like it or not, that includes you."

"And what if I don't want to?" she asked in a whisper. "What if I don't want to see you die? Isn't it easier this way? We cut ties, walk away and never have to see each other again. We can be through right here and now. If you'd just stayed away, neither of us would have to deal with this."

"What if I want to…?"

Raven barked and ordered her men to fix her tent up. They were her men once more, cowed by her display of violence even if it wasn't much by either of their standards. He'd seen her fighter harder, and she had him, but the Branwen tribe were mostly bandits and thugs. To them the battle might as well have seemed superhuman.

While her behaviour towards the tribe was back to normal, her attitude around them felt much more subdued. Almost defeated. She didn't try to send them away nor to escape, and instead let them dictate that they wouldn't leave her be.

"You were an instrumental part of our victory, and you deserve recognition for it." Winter said. "I do not care what feelings you have for my fiancé. You are his companion, his friend, and that is enough. That you've saved his life on numerous occasions is enough for me as well."

"Do I not get a say in this?" Raven asked.

"No." Jaune said. "Because we both know your choice would be to hide away til I'm dead and gone, then regret it after. I'm not Taiyang and there's no Ozma or Salem to be afraid of anymore. It's time to stop running."

"I wasn't…" They all stared at her. Raven wilted, surrendered, but would obviously not admit to it. "Whatever…"

She could argue and complain all she wanted, but she was already looking more alive than she had before. More herself. I wonder what she was like back in Beacon. If Taiyang fell for her, she must have been different back then. Back before she decided running away was the solution to all life's problems.

"We want you at the wedding." Winter said.

Raven flinched. "Is that a good idea?"

"Whatever your feelings-"

"I meant with Summer and Taiyang there."

"They'll not have a problem." If they did, he'd talk to them. "Fighting Salem won you a lot of points with them. Besides, they won't dare cause anything at an event like this."

"I… I am not one for weddings…"

"You won't have to do anything. Just show up, drink and be there. It'll mean a lot to me if you are," he said seriously.

"You…" Raven let out a long sigh. "Fine. There's no arguing with you at this point, and you might just come back and bother me even more if I do." Raven stood and gripped her sheathed sword, turned away from them and stalked to the tent flap. "I'll be there. After I've whipped this sorry lot into shape. They've grown lazy with nothing to do." She flipped it open and growled into the cool night air. "Lazy and insolent."

Disappearing through, they all heard the loud shouting of orders. Barks and commands to gather wood and water in preparation for marching. Someone argued back and Jaune winced at the loud thwack of flesh on flesh, likely a backhand or punch to someone's jaw. He rubbed his own at the faint reminder.

"She can't admit when she cares, can she?" Winter sighed. "It's hard to believe she's older than me."

"Raven cares." Vernal said. "She says she doesn't, but she cared enough to look out for me, enough to risk her life for dad. It's the tribe. We – they – respect strength."

"There's strength in being able to show emotion."

"Not out here there isn't. Only thing a crying session gets you is a boot on your back and someone rifling through your belongings." Her expression soured. "Or worse."

Jaune didn't dare ask what. "She's a prickly one, but I still care for her." He squeezed Winter's hand. "Thanks for coming out here. Come on, we'll see if Raven can't lend us a tent for the night."

"Two tents." Winter said meaningfully. "One for the children."

Emerald and Vernal rolled their eyes.

/-/

Jaune knew more than to think it was over, which was why he snuck out of their shared tent when Winter was fast asleep. The camp was quiet but not still. Not everyone slept at one time, but most of the drinking was done and the majority were at rest, either sleeping or passed out. Moving to the edge of the camp, he sat on a rocky outcropping and waited.

It didn't take long for a black bird to settle beside him, then transform into a fully clothed woman. Her legs settled over the edge next to his in what was a far more relaxed posture than she'd been forced to show before her people.

"Heard you two going at it," she said. "The Schnee isn't nearly as quiet and demure in bed as she is outside it."

Jaune chuckled around his blush. "Sorry. Does it bother you?"

"Not really. Summer had to sit and watch as I took Taiyang. Only fair I have to do the same here." Raven said it bluntly, as was her usual style. She didn't appear too torn up about it though. "If anything, I feel sorry for her. You're going to die soon."

"Yeah. I'm sorry…"

"So am I. If there was a way to stop it, I'd help you find it…"

"I know." They sat in silence for a moment, staring out over the forest and toward the shattered moon. The same moon that existed on his Remnant. "Hey Raven."

"Hm?"

"Do you think I ran away from my problems as well?"

"In coming back?"

"Yeah."

"Tch." She spread her hands back on the rock and stared upwards. "Yeah. Probably."

Zero tact. It was why he appreciated her opinions so much. "You think I was a coward?"

"Probably. Your lot killed Salem, but you didn't like the outcome, so you undid it all like a little bitch. No different than what I did, is it? I didn't want to face you dying so I ran. You couldn't face life without them, so you ran. Made a deal with the devil in this case, but it's the same thing."

Jaune breathed out harshly. He'd been thinking the same of late. It was easy to say there hadn't been anything left, but there had been. His teammates and friends had all died, but people still existed. People who had pinned their hopes and dreams on them. Rather than face them and give them happiness and peace, he threw away everything to come here. He didn't regret it, not one moment of it, but he couldn't help but feel hypocritical to be calling Raven out like this.

"Course, who could blame you?" she said. "World was fucked. Everyone we – you – cared about died. Ugh, these memories. Makes me feel like Pyr is my best friend sometimes." She frowned. "Pyrrha. Point is, I'm probably the only person alive who truly knows what was going through your head then. Fuck anyone else who wants to judge."

"But you can. What do you think? What's your judgment?"

"You care that much?"

"Yes. I've been… I don't know. Looking back. Reflecting. There would have been people left alive who would mourn my death there, just as people would here. I could have come back to them alive, and it would have meant the world to my family… and yet I chose not to. I chose to die. That feels… unfair. Now that I'm seeing how my death will hurt others…"

"Enough." Raven cut him off with a growl. "That kind of thinking is pointless. Yeah, they'd be pissed off if they knew. I'd be pissed if you had a way to not die here and didn't take it. You made a mistake. People make mistakes all the time. I know I have."

He wondered if she'd say Taiyang or Yang's name, but she didn't.

"Point is, there's only going forward. We can look back and regret all we want, but there's no changing what happened. Most of the time, anyway. You left. Maybe that was wrong and maybe it hurt people, but there's no changing that. Whether it was a mistake or not won't change a damn thing. All you can do is forget about it and keep going."

"Or learn from my mistakes," he countered.

"Or that." Raven waved a hand in the air. "Pah. Learning is for school. I was done with that shit twenty years ago."

"Yes, and things have gone so very well for you out here."

"Can it, asshole. Things aren't that bad. I got to save the world, see Salem's end and travel. I got to watch Ozpin be revealed as the shit he is, then go down an even bigger shit than I could have ever imagined."

"And you got to make friends and meet me," he prodded.

"Yeah. Every story has its downs to go with its ups, I guess."

Jaune laughed and punched her arm. In the dark, he could just about make out her grin. He was pleased to see her feeling herself again, her usual insulting, bitchy self. Not the pale imitation she'd been before their fight.

"I'm glad we came to break you out your funk," he said. "I'd have missed this."

"Hmm…"

"That's the part where you say you're glad as well, Raven. That was your moment."

"Don't push your luck. You know how I feel. Why do I need to say it?"

"Because then you'll not be left with any regrets."

The proud woman closed her eyes and sighed heavily. "Fine," she grunted. "I'm glad you came. I wasn't happy. I am now. Tell anyone I said that, especially Summer, and you won't live to see your wedding."

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Winter had woken up. Woken up and found him absent. Dressed in a white nightdress and with remarkable lack of concern for having walked through a camp of rowdy and dangerous men with it, she stood cross-armed watching them. "Should I be concerned when my fiancé sneaks out to see another woman?"

"No."

"Maybe."

He punched Raven's arm.

"We were just settling things," he told her. "I didn't want to wake you when the doctor said you need your rest."

"Yes, well, rest without my pillow isn't easy. We have a busy day tomorrow, then back to Vale to see your friends and Atlas for the wedding ceremony. If Raven wants, she can come with us." Winter let the offer hang. "I'm sure her tribe would be fine without her for a while."

"No. I'll come hang around with my Semblance, but right now these louts need me. Or I need to show face." Raven made to leave, then said. "Can I speak with you in private?"

Winter raised an eyebrow. "Me?"

"Hn." Her eyes slid to Jaune.

"Sure. Jaune, go back to our tent."

"Yes dear." He rolled his eyes and climbed off the rock. "You two aren't going to have problems, are you?"

"I'm not going to attack someone recovering from a coma." Raven snorted. "And if I was, I wouldn't do it in such an obvious manner. I want to talk to her about the wedding. Girl stuff." She ushered him away with one hand. "I'm not wearing a fucking dress or dealing with bridesmaid shit. Saw Summer do that for me, and I want no part of it. Just making that clear."

Yeah, that was probably a bit much. He personally thought Raven might pull off the look well – he'd seen the wedding photos Summer kept from her first, even if Taiyang burned his own. Raven had been younger then, softer-looking, but she'd looked incredible in a white wedding gown. Incredible, but out of character for sure.

Winter shooed him away as well, trusting enough of Raven. He didn't think she would do anything either, so he nodded and left, watching out the corner of one eye as Raven and Winter immediately started talking quietly, moving away from him as they did. He had a feeling they were talking about more than bridal fashion, and an even stronger feeling he didn't want to hear what they were talking about.

Last chapter next week.

Next Chapter: 13th November

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur