Yeah, last chapter got about the response I was expecting. I have to say I was very relieved people were saying "Jaune is right" or "Jaune is wrong" as opposed to "You're stupid" since, you know, this isn't a self-insert. Thanks all for that! :D

As thanks, here's a nice uplifting chapter.


Beta: College Fool

Cover Art: Dishwasher1910

Book 5: Chapter 11


"The sabotage of the siege towers has put us in a perilous position," General Corvo said. "Our food stores will not last, but there is a small village nearby still under Vale's control. If we were to take that, we could use its stores to bolster our own, at least for a few days."

"You bypassed a village held by Vale?" I had to ask. Wasn't that considered something of a faux-pas in military terms? You didn't want to leave a force behind you, after all.

"It's a small village and one with a garrison only strong enough to defend itself from the Grimm. Even if we'd taken it, we would have had to place our own troops there, not to mention news might have reached Magnis and given them more time to prepare. I had no need of the village or its supplies – until now – so I decided to leave it be."

"And that's changed now…"

I wasn't sure what to make of that, particularly since it would be my faulty entirely. I'd sabotaged the siege towers, so whatever happened as a result was something I'd need to face. I'd already heard the cries of sentries flogged this morning and spent the time with my eyes clenched shut and gritted teeth. I imagined they'd had it much worse because of me. Now, a village was going to be attacked because of what I'd done.

But it was still better than the siege of Magnis starting today. It gave us time to look for the Greycloaks, and Cinder and Ozpin more time to broker a ceasefire. Besides, an attack on a village wouldn't necessitate all that much bloodshed, not if it was cut off and greatly outnumbered.

"I'm not sure why you're telling me all of this, General," I said.

"Well, while I expect the village to surrender there is still the possibility that they will not. It would be remiss of me not to alert you of that."

Ah, the Grimm. "I get it. You want us to send some people with them."

"Yes. I shouldn't think it too many as I'll only be sending thirty or so of my own men, and I expect the garrison to be fifteen or so. I'd say two Heroes. Does that sound about right?"

"Two sounds like enough. How far away is this place?"

"Not far. Three to four hours, perhaps. I expect the journey back would be longer, but you need not stay for that. I'm sure my men can handle the shipping of grain without needing your assistance and your presence would be better served here."

I nodded. "Thank you. I'll talk to the others and pick out a team to handle it." Nora and Ren came to mind and would be more than enough for anything they came across. I was almost out of the tent when a hand caught my shoulder, Corvo having stopped me.

"Actually, I would feel more at ease if you were a part of the party send with my men."

"Me?"

"Yes. You're somewhat of the leader to them and your Skills as a Knight might make things easier. We wouldn't want unnecessary bloodshed after all, so if you can convince the defenders to surrender, it would go a little smoother."

"Wouldn't that be against the Treaty?"

I didn't reject the idea so much as make a note of the concern. It would have been too hypocritical of me otherwise.

"I'll leave that decision up to you," Corvo said. "I will be sending enough men to slaughter every Soldier there if required, however. It would be in their best interest to surrender. I'm not suggesting you force the issue so much as facilitate it. Finn will demand their surrender, and as a Hero you would be welcomed in the village. All I ask is that you deliver it and truthfully tell them how many men we have. I'm sure given that knowledge, they will make the correct choice themselves."

He made it sound so easy and it probably was, but Blake's anger the night before – and her cold shoulder this morning – had me considering every angle. I'd broken the Treaty to delay the attack, but that was to help a lot of people. Doing so here, was it the same? Maybe, but Corvo was right in saying that if I just told the truth and explained the situation, I wouldn't be influencing anyone. I'd just be acting as a messenger.

"Alright, I'll find someone to go with me and be ready when you need me. Where should we meet your men?"

"Outside the southern side of the encampment in two hours. Lieutenant Finn will be in charge and will meet you there. You may have recognised him from our previous meeting."

"The one who accused me of taking down the siege towers?"

Corvo winced but did nod. "He was stressed last night and frustrated over the damage. I apologise on his behalf."

Well, I didn't have to like him to work with him, and realistically speaking I deserved all the accusations I got. With a nod and an assurance it would be okay, I left the command tent and thanked the soldier who had come by to summon and guide me to Corvo that morning.

The walk back to our small camp gave me ample time to run over who should be my partner for the mission, and even more time to sulk over my telling off the night before. Despite Blake's words, things hadn't been better in the morning. Her raw anger had cooled, but it had turned into her avoiding me and refusing to talk. Everyone had noticed; the camp being too small for us to stay away and refuse to meet one another's eyes without being seen. It had left a stilted and awkward air on the entire Guild with no one quite knowing what to say or who to support.

Obviously, we couldn't explain what was going on between us without throwing me to the wolves, and angry or not Blake wasn't prepared to go that far.

I understood her anger, I really did. I hadn't considered it at the time because I didn't see things the same way she did. Blake was worried that I'd be caught for my crimes, but that possibility hadn't even crossed my mind. How could I, a Knight, be caught for bringing down the siege towers? They'd been melted and scarred with clear signs of magic. A Knight just couldn't do that; it was impossible.

A Blacksmith might have been able to, but no one knew of a Blacksmith around here, so as long as I kept my amulet on I was completely safe. Of course, I couldn't explain that to her. Maybe the whole thing could have been avoided if I'd told her the truth sooner, but that was hindsight for you.

And I wasn't sure what Blake would think of my true Class. Would she respect me still? Would she encourage me? I'd made it a point of not judging her for her Class, so a part of me thought she'd do so in return, but it wasn't quite the same thing.

I was refusing to accept that Assassin automatically meant morally bankrupt, which was obvious nonsense. But in return, I'd be asking her to accept that a Blacksmith – a Labour Caste member – could be as strong as a Hero. I'd also be asking her to break the law again in keeping said secret, and I'd already seen how much she respected and clung to those laws.

"After the war," I promised, not for the first time. "I'll tell her after the war, and everyone else after her. She deserves to know first but I can't keep this much longer."

Something was bound to go wrong. I could feel it breaking at the seams. Blake knew I'd done something to the towers, and she must have known it was something I shouldn't have been capable of. She wasn't stupid. There was no way she'd leap to me being a Blacksmith, but she was bound to keep thinking about the discrepancy.

Ruby and Yang met me at the outskirts of the camp. "What did he say?" Yang asked.

"He wants two of us to accompany some men to a nearby village to demand their surrender. I'm to go with them along with one other."

"Any chance of a fight?"

"I hope not, but if so, it'll be small."

"Hm, well I guess they need the food," Yang said, sighing. "Whoever stays here will have to keep looking for the Greycloaks. So, you decided who you'll be taking with you?"

"I was thinking Ruby or Pyrrha."

Ruby and Yang shared a quick glance between them followed by a grimace. It wasn't subtle, not by any means. If anything, it was obvious enough as to be made so for me to notice. I raised an eyebrow.

"No good?"

"It's not that," Ruby said.

Yang agreed. "It's just… well…" The blonde's eyes flickered elsewhere. "Oh hey, I think I see Ren calling me. I'll leave this to you, Rubes."

Ren wasn't calling her at all; he was busy reading a book, but Yang still fled. That left me and Ruby, with the Reaper looking more than a little out of place. "So," she began, "you and Blake…"

My smile fell. "Do we really need to talk about this?" I asked.

"I think we do." Ruby replied, surprising me. I'd expected her to back off, not push back. "Look, everyone's noticed you two acting up and it's weird. You've always been so happy together. Is… are you breaking up?"

"I… I hope not…"

Ruby looked anguished.

"Blake didn't say we were breaking up, just that… we had a bit of a fight. That's normal, right? She said things might be better in the morning and maybe she just needs time to cool off. Maybe we both do."

"Yeah, maybe, but don't you think she might be waiting for you to say something?"

The novelty of receiving dating advice from Ruby aside, I had considered that. I wasn't a complete idiot. It was just that I wasn't sure what it was she wanted. An apology would have been nice, but since I didn't actually feel sorry about what I'd done, it would be hollow. Blake would notice and that would drive us further apart.

"I just think maybe the two of you should go on this," Ruby went on, nervously tapping one foot against the other. "People do fight, but they normally talk afterwards. Even Yang was saying you two should have talked it out by now. If you're not going to here, maybe you could on a small Quest together. It can't be easy for her to say her mind with us all around."

"That's true, though I'm not sure if she'd just use the peace to shout at me."

"Well maybe she should," Ruby said, shocking me. Her smile took the edge off her words, but she didn't relent. "If you've done something to upset her, maybe she should shout at you. It's better than keeping it in – and that's what she has to do with everyone else here. If you spend some time together you might be able to sort this out."

"Do you think that would work?"

"It's got to be better than doing nothing…"

It was, and she was right. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, not at all happy about the prospect, but knowing deep inside that Ruby was on the right track. Even if I couldn't apologise, maybe Blake and I could find common ground. But that wasn't going to happen unless we talked, and right now we couldn't. There was too much risk in someone overhearing what was said.

Unsure if I was going to agree or not, Ruby drove the final nail in. "I want the two of you to get back together. You… you love one another. I know this war is making things harder, but… I don't think the war should be allowed to ruin things between you." She tugged on my sleeve. "I just want you to be happy."

Ah, there was the guilt. I'd almost forgotten it. I had to wonder if Ruby's Passive extended beyond Scythes and to puppy-dog eyes as well. Either way, if I'd been on the fence before her words now tore it out from under me.

"Okay, okay, I'll do it." Another suffering sigh escaped me. "You're not wrong and if Blake or I stay here, we're just going to make everyone else miserable. Do you think she'll agree to come with me, though?"

"Blake would never go back on a Quest."

True. She was more a stickler for the rules than Weiss. I was fast running out of excuses and fast running out of time too. With a heavy weight in my stomach, belied by the small smile on my face, I patted Ruby's head and stepped by.

She really was a good friend, both to me and to Blake. Now it was time to prove I could be worthy of that, and worthy of Blake as well.

/-/

"It's cold out."

"Hm."

"Do you think it will rain?"

"Perhaps."

"I hope not. Faith doesn't like the rain much."

"Hm."

I patted my mare's neck, hiding my agonised expression in her mane for a moment. We'd been travelling for a little over two hours now, and I'd still been unable to get more than a single word out of Blake, even with direct questions. Our issues were so obvious even the Soldiers nearby gave us a wide berth, doing their best to pretend not to notice us or the cold shoulder I was receiving.

Even Faith, devil horse that she was, hadn't done so much as try to buck me. At first I'd thought it pity, but I was starting to wonder if even my horse was refusing to acknowledge the awkward mess on her back.

Blake had regarded me with stony silence when I told her about the Quest and a single nod had been the only sign of her acceptance. She'd prepared stoically and headed out alone, slipping away to the meeting point when I'd come to find her. There had been something deeply humiliating about leaving her tent alone, realising I'd been ditched, and then being forced to deal with everyone's sympathetic expressions. No one had quite met my eyes.

Damn it, Ruby. A part of me wanted to go back and strangle her, even if I knew this was still the best course of action. If Blake was this angry, I couldn't let it fester. I just wished she'd say something more. Berate me, shout at me, accuse me of being a bastard, but anything more than this constant silence. It hurt more than I thought it should.

"Corvo wants us to monitor the situation in case a battle happens, but he also asked me to act as a messenger if needs be," I explained. Though there was no obvious reaction from Blake, I knew she was listening. "He asked me to try and push the defenders towards surrendering if I could…"

"That's against the Treaty."

A reaction! I tried to keep my entire body from lifting up even if I couldn't quite stop my heart soaring. Okay, it was a negative reaction, but it was a reaction nonetheless and the suspicion wasn't aimed at me. Sorry, Corvo. I'd throw you under the chariot any day.

"That's what I said to him. He told me it wouldn't be if all I did was point out how outnumbered they were and left the defenders to make the decision, but, well…" I trailed off and shrugged. "I wanted to ask your opinion on it."

Blake's eyes met mine for the first time, and they were sharp – incredibly sharp. I knew immediately what she was thinking.

"Like I didn't last night," I said weakly, slumping. "I know I messed up, Blake. I'm trying not to make the same mistake again."

"And the first step is asking my permission on every little thing you do?"

"If I have to."

"You idiot." The insult wasn't quite as harsh as it had been last night, uttered more with exasperation. It was a desperate moment when I wanted to cling onto that. "It's not technically against the Treaty, at least in terms of the words, but one could argue it's against the spirit of it."

"What do you think?" I asked.

"Since when have my thoughts mattered?"

I cringed.

"They didn't matter last night," she went on, voice a harsh whisper so that those nearby couldn't hear. "They didn't matter then, and they didn't matter when you cheated to let that girl into Beacon. They didn't even matter when I told you not to go on that blasted Quest to Atlas. So, tell me Jaune, when have my thoughts ever counted?"

She cracked her reins and ushered her horse ahead, leaving me behind before I could reply. Not that I had any way of doing so, or any idea what to say. One hand came up to cup my face and I breathed heavily through the fingers. Gods, I was such a screw up.

"Trouble in paradise?" Finn, the man who'd accused me the night before, asked, riding up alongside. The anger he'd shown the night before was gone and it looked like he now wanted to make up for it a little, or perhaps just pretend it had never happened. That was fine with me. I had much bigger issues to deal with.

"You could say that…"

"I don't know what the story is, but if you want my advice I'd suggest letting her cool off a little."

"My friends said I shouldn't ignore the issue."

"I didn't say ignore it. Give her an hour to calm down and then approach again."

While I wasn't sure I liked the comparison between my girlfriend and a skittish horse, I nodded along. Approaching now would be a disaster, I knew, and Blake had taken an obvious position alone at the head of the small force. If I pushed her again, there'd be nowhere for her to run to get away from me. Something told me backing her into a corner right now would be a bad idea.

Finn took my silence for what it was – a teenager angsting over relationship problems – and swiftly returned to his men, chatting on happier topics with them. We rode like that for another ninety minutes or so, Blake never once relaxing her stiff-shouldered stance, and I not taking my eyes off her until one of the women in the force loudly remarked that maybe she looked that way precisely because `someone` wouldn't stop staring.

It really was a bad sign when an invading army felt the need to give you relationship advice. I tore my eyes away from Blake, cursing internally. Forcing myself to focus on the road ahead was hard. Even so, I managed it, albeit with a huge scowl and a healthy dose of frustration.

Eventually, we came across sight of the village. It was a small thing barely ten or so houses in total without even a palisade to protect it. Instead, it had spikes pointing outwards with wooden stakes driven into the ground, the entire thing surrounded on three sides by a shallow river. Some farmland and woodland outside spoke to its supplies, and judging from the state of it, they'd only just started to plough the fields. It was known as Euford, and like its name, it served as a ford across the river Eu.

Finn called a halt and had his men arrange a small camp, making their presence obvious. In the village, numerous armed figures ran to and fro. We'd been spotted.

"We'll rest here for two hours before we attack," Finn told me. "That's your time window to go in and explain the situation to them. They can't hope to hold against us, so surrender is their best option. If I don't see them laying down arms in two hours' time, we will attack."

"Two hours isn't a lot of time…"

"The main camp doesn't have much time either. Whatever food we get here will need to be shipped back and that'll take time to organise. Two hours is all I can give you." He said it regretfully, but with a sense of steel that made it clear he wouldn't be moved. It was more than he had to give, and I accepted it with a quick word of thanks.

Blake met me outside the small camp. "I heard," she said. She'd no doubt been hiding nearby.

"What do we do?" I asked.

"Are you asking me, or do you already have a plan you intend to do regardless?" Something of my anguish must have shown on my face. Blake sighed and looked away. "I'm sorry, that was childish. It's… it wouldn't be against the Treaty to talk to them. So long as we don't influence their decision."

"I do value your opinion," I said, ignoring the latter, unable to stop focusing on what she'd almost said. Blake meant the world to me, or at least it felt like she did. To learn how many times I'd ignored her, even without realising it, left me feeling like scum. "I'm sorry if I never made it clear, but I trust you more than anyone else in Beacon."

"Just not enough to-" Blake cut herself off with clenched teeth. "Forget it," she said. "We only have two hours and we shouldn't waste any of that arguing."

"Can't we not argue at all?"

Blake stopped. "We could have if you'd chosen not to make me come on this Quest with you! Why did you? Isn't it obvious I'm still angry at you?" The outpouring of anger was as sudden as it was surprising, especially from someone as reticent as her. "I told you to leave it be and… and I didn't need this. Why not take someone else?"

Better than it being bottled up, he thought, recalling Ruby's words.

"Because I wanted to try and fix this. I didn't want to ignore the issue and let it fester."

"Fester? It's been less than a day! It hasn't had time to fester. I'm still furious at you!"

"And I deserve it."

"You didn't consult me at all."

"I… I know."

"This is supposed to be a partnership!"

"I messed up," I said honestly. Rather than sit back and take more of her accusations, I pushed on. "I completely messed up, but I still love you. I don't want this to ruin everything between us. I love you, Blake."

The sudden attack, if it could be called such, silenced her. Before, her cheeks might have darkened but she was in too bad a mood to feel embarrassed. She scowled instead, not quite meeting my eyes and crossing her arms over her chest.

"It hasn't ruined everything," she mumbled.

My ears caught it. My eyes lit up. "Blake?"

"I'm angry," she said. "I'm incredibly angry, and more than that I'm hurt. You… I'll admit I'm not perfect and I know I have my own issues, but what you did just wasn't fair. It broke the law and just by my being there, you've forced me to become an accomplice, and this isn't even the first time! Keeping Ellayne in Beacon was also breaking the law. How many times are you going to make me ignore my morals to cover for yours?"

"I never wanted to make you do that," I promised. "I didn't even realise…"

"You didn't, and that's the problem. You never seem to think about what happens to me or anyone else by your actions. I'd call you selfish, but I'm convinced you honestly don't realise, so I'll call you an absolute idiot instead."

I deserved that. I really did. I hadn't even considered it with Ellayne, hadn't even realised. I could remember thanking her and Blake smiling awkwardly. Even then, she'd probably been expecting a talk in private later, maybe for me to apologise or a chance for her to explain why it made her uncomfortable.

I'd given her neither. I'd instead run off to train Ellayne and become her Apprentice. Had that offer from Yang and Ruby to hunt in the Emerald Forest been less a money-making attempt and more them trying to cheer Blake up?

And why hadn't I noticed…?

I was such a bastard…

"It's this war," Blake continued with a heavy sigh. "It's making things complicated. Most of my anger isn't even at you. If this happened back in Beacon I'd be angry, but I'd corner you in private. This… I'm upset, stressed," she added. "This whole Greycloak thing is a nightmare already, even before we ended up as being solely responsible for what happens to an entire fortress."

"I know; I feel it too." Not just the fear, but also the overwhelming pressure. The fate of the war didn't rely on us, that was too arrogant to think, but it sometimes felt like it. We were the only ones who seemed to be focused on ending it. "You're not angry at me, then?"

"I am," she snapped, eyes zeroing in on mine once more. They didn't soften per se, but they grew a little less murderous. "That said, I think it's worse because of everything going on. It's… this is just bad timing. Can we come back to this another time?"

"Back in Beacon?"

Blake nodded.

I wasn't a fan of the idea. It could be a week or more until we went home and I didn't want to leave this over our heads. On the other hand, pushing Blake would just make things ten times worse. I nodded with a glum expression, shoulders falling somewhat.

"Don't be so pathetic," she said. Her hand touched mine, fingers intertwining gently. "I don't… I still… we're still together. I just think trying to fix this now, with everything else going on, is only going to lead to more arguments. I don't want us to rush into something and ruin what we had. What we have. Maybe we should take some time apart, just for now. Just to sort things out."

"Maybe…" I sighed heavily and firmed my expression. "Maybe you're right. I really am sorry, but I'll make it up to you when we're out of this mess. Just please, don't forget how much you mean to me."

Blake stepped back and nodded. One hand came up to touch the golden locket around her neck. It was confirmation enough, at least for now. While I'd have liked for everything to go back to how it was, I could recognise that such thinking was optimistic. It would basically be asking her to pretend she was fine with all the things I'd done.

She wasn't, and we would have to address that, just not here in the middle of a war where we were both on edge and angry at the world around us.

I released her hand with a sigh.

"Let's go meet with these defenders, then. But if I say or do something you disagree with, tell me. We're partners here."

Blake smiled.

"I'll make sure you know."

/-/

Tense didn't begin to describe the meeting with the defenders, who met us with weapons drawn and angry expressions, lessening only slightly once they realised we weren't envoys, but Heroes sent to protect them from Grimm. We were quickly ushered into a meeting with the commander, who only had about fifteen men to his name. Many of them looked young and fresh, while some of the veterans were old enough to have grandchildren.

He listened in silence as we explained the situation. I kept it factual, pointing out the number of men outside, the proximity of the main army – thousands of men only three hours away – and how if Mistral didn't receive the food that was stored here, they would send a much larger force to take it.

Throughout, I was careful to keep an eye on Blake, but she didn't seem to find any fault in what I was saying, or if she did she hid it well. I hoped it was the former.

"We will have to think on this," the one in charge said. "Please leave us. You can feel free to walk around the village if you like."

We nodded to him. "Thank you."

Outside, many of the villagers refused to meet our eyes, hidden in their homes in the face of the army, as small as it was, just across the shallow river.

"I'm not sure they will take the offer of surrender," Blake said.

"Really? They're outnumbered three to one."

"I'm not saying they shouldn't. This position is defensible, at least against the Grimm. If they were to knock something into the deeper parts of the river it would be swept away. I wonder if that is misleading them into thinking they have a chance here."

The river did look strong an deep a little along, and there was only two spots Mistral's army could attack from – or one since they couldn't cross the river itself. Even so, Mistral's small force was made of more than just its numbers. They were elite troops and I'd seen a Mage or two among them.

"There's nothing we can do if they decide to hold," Blake said, no doubt concerned I'd do something stupid again. "We can't force them to surrender and we can't stop Mistral taking this location."

"I know. I'm not going to do anything."

She held my gaze for a second longer and nodded. "That's good."

There wasn't much we could do in Euford to wile the time away. The only inn was closed and barred, the people inside boarding it up so that no one could enter. The local shop also had a closed front door and its curtains drawn, and we couldn't head back to the Mistral camp because we needed to wait for the defender's final decisions.

Instead, we milled around uselessly, dancing around the topic of our argument and talking instead about Beacon and how much we were both looking forward to going back. It wasn't perfect but it was so much better than our silence before that I couldn't help but cherish it.

During that conversation, we ended up moving to Magnis and the Quest there. "Corvo asked me to head this mission here, but I originally wanted to bring Pyrrha or Ruby. Mostly because I wanted to give you space," I admitted. "Ruby said I shouldn't ignore the issue, though."

"Her hearts in the right place."

I wasn't sure whether that sounded like a threat or not coming from an Assassin.

"It seems Corvo still suspects you, too."

"Huh?"

"Did you not find it odd he wanted you to personally lead this Quest?" she asked.

"Yeah, but he told me it was because my high Charisma and Knight Skills would help me convince the defenders to surrender. Or because they'd believe me more, I guess."

"That's hardly necessary with the disparity in forces here. Mistral could crush Euford without a single thought. He sent you here to get rid of you." Blake's eyes pierced mine. "He sent you here because he thinks you're responsible for what happened to his siege towers, and because he wants you out of the way while he makes more."

My throat constricted. "Do you-? Should I… do something?"

"No. He can't prove anything."

And to think I'd looked the man in the eye and never realised. I swallowed but trusted in her words. In the end, it wouldn't make much difference. Mistral would take Magnis and Corvo would be victorious. In that regard, it was understandable that he not bother to determine whether I was guilty or not. It was just easier to get rid of me so I couldn't do it again.

"It's almost time," Blake said. "We should see if they have a decision."

With a nod, I followed her, the two of us making our way back over to the building that Euford considered its barracks. It was a small and flimsy little thing made of wood, mud and stone. Even the tents in the distance looked of higher quality, and in them I could see the Mistral force preparing itself for battle.

The man in charge of Euford's militia regarded us with a nod as we entered; or rather he gave that courtesy to me. As an Assassin, Blake went ignored. I'd have normally called him out on that but the sight of his full armour had my stomach dropping down to my ankles.

"You've decided, then…"

"We have," he said, drawing his sword. "We shall fight."

"Ten against thirty or more?" I snapped. "This is-" I cut off with a gasp as Blake's elbow caught my flank. Her eyes were sharp. My body shook as I bit back on my anger and forced a calm expression onto my face. "This is your choice," I said through gritted teeth. "I'm just not sure it's the choice I would make in your situation."

"Well, you are not in my situation, are you? You may leave now. I have a village to defend."

"There's nothing we can do," Blake whispered, drawing me out of the building. "We can't force people to see the world our way."

"They're going to die."

"And how would you save them? Would you fight back the Mistral army, or maybe you would fight them back and knock them out, granting Mistral the victory?" Blake's logic was as cruel as ever. It was also very apt here. "Unless you can control water to make the river run harsher, this will happen. And even if you could do that, you'd just flood the village and sweep them away."

"Y-You're right," I admitted, eyes closing slowly. For once, there was nothing I could do. No sabotage would delay this and no amount of fancy words would convince Finn to hold off, not when Corvo's army needed the food in Euford.

As the second hour ticked to a close, Lieutenant Finn moved his force against the proud defenders of Euford.

They didn't last fifteen minutes.

/-/

"No Grimm," Blake remarked some time later, when we were back on our mounts and with the advance party leaving Euford to head back to Magnis. "The battle didn't last long enough to summon any, or maybe there just wasn't enough negativity. I suppose we should count ourselves fortunate for that."

"Hm." It was my turn for the one word answers, though more because I was lost in my own thoughts than any ill-will towards Blake.

After the fall of Euford, and the capture of some soldiers who had surrendered, Finn had instructed half of his men to stay behind and act as the new militia, he among them. They were to arrange the food transport which would head out as soon as possible. We were to accompany the advance party bringing word of Mistral's success back to the main camp.

Since the battle was already over, no Grimm were likely to spawn, which meant we didn't have to stay. Besides, Euford now had a larger garrison than it had before, which was good for the citizens there. Not that they would feel that way…

"It's not something to be proud of," Blake said, mistaking my silence for something else. "I know it hurts to not be able to do anything, but so few people fell in the battle. We should take comfort in that."

"I know. I just…"

"Wish this didn't have to happen?" Blake laughed when I nodded. "I think we all do. Let's just hope Ozpin and Cinder can find a way to end this war once and for all. Then things can go back to normal." She reached over to touch my hand. The meaning wasn't lost on me and I smiled gratefully.

"Normal sounds good. It sounds perfect."

The Soldiers ahead suddenly called a halt, the one left in charge by Finn motioning for everyone to dismount. Blake and I shared a confused look before we did the same and moved towards the man.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"We're calling a short break," he said, removing his helmet. "The men are exhausted, not to mention the prisoners aren't doing so well." He indicated the four or so captives, three men and a single woman. They'd been badly hurt from the fight alone, and the travel didn't look to be doing them any good. "We can afford to take an hour, so we'll rest our horses and carry on after."

I didn't feel tired at all, but then again I hadn't been in a battle so maybe that was unfair. Blake didn't seem bothered so I nodded. "Alright. We'll wait."

"The two of you could go on ahead if you wanted," the man offered.

It was Blake who answered. "We have to remain with you in case Grimm spawn."

"You'd know best, I guess. If you're going to be staying here with us, do you mind gathering water from the river? I wouldn't normally ask Heroes but…" He gestured to the much diminished numbers, not by battle but by necessity of leaving a garrison for Euford. With their prisoners among them, it would be hard enough for the small group to manage their own camp, let alone handle every single task and cater for us as well.

"I guess that's not a problem." It wasn't like we'd have to go far, and we'd hear any Grimm approach. "We won't be long."

"We appreciate it." The man moved on to bark some orders, leaving Blake and I to collect some containers and make our way to the west, in the direction of the river that could be heard easily over the ambient noise of the forest.

The river wasn't hard to find, and luckily wasn't too difficult to approach as one of the banks had eroded, giving us a nice pebbled area to crouch on while we filled the flasks. They'd probably need to be boiled for safe consumption, but it was more the rest itself the soldiers needed.

"This wasn't so bad," Blake mused.

"Hm?"

"I expected this Quest to be worse," she said, and her pointed glance at me made it clear why she'd expected it to be bad. "Maybe Ruby was right, though. Maybe we needed to talk things out. We wouldn't have been able to do that with everyone else around." She sighed. "I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders."

"I didn't realise me being your boyfriend was a weight."

"That's not what I meant, idiot." Blake laughed, as did I for once. "It's just… I think this will be good for us. We might as well be relaxed if we're going to have this big talk. We'll just shelve the bad for now and come back to it later. It's a relief to not have to deal with it now; that's what I meant by the weight."

I couldn't agree more, and even if we weren't back on normal terms, I appreciated what we had. We'd fix things back in Beacon.

An ear-piercing scream tore through our smiles.

"What was that?" Blake demanded, already on her feet. The container she'd been filling splashed into the river and there was a knife in her hand.

"It sounded like it came from the camp. You think…?"

"Grimm?" she hazarded.

There was no telling. Abandoning the flasks behind, the two of us rushed back in the direction of the camp. Had a Grimm slipped through while we weren't looking, or worse, spawned inside of the camp? Surely not. We were far away from where the battle had happened and no Grimm spawned before. Another cry, long and wailing before it was suddenly cut off, pushed us harder.

I burst from the treeline back into the camp first, Blake hot on my heels. We were in time to see a man, a Soldier from Euford, slump to the floor in a puddle of blood. He lay beside one of his fellows, empty eyes staring glassily up towards the sky, and the Mistral soldiers standing around them all.

There was no Grimm, only a sword that protruded from the man's back, held by the hands that had killed him.

They were executing the prisoners.


Um, well… uh… nice uplifting chapter?

Jaune and Blake really can't catch a break – or is it that they can't catch a Blake!? I'll see myself out. This chapter was an odd one for me because I wanted the Quest to be over quite quick, which isn't usually what I do (making the Quests much longer). Hopefully it didn't feel too rushed.

Most of the focus was on Jaune and Blake anyway, who have at least realised that `the middle of a war` isn't the right place to try and fix their relationship issues. And those issues have existed for a while, as plenty of people noticed and as Blake pointed out here. While a relationship should never be mentioned in terms of how much one "gives" or "owes", it's undeniable that Blake seems to give a lot more than Jaune does, and he always ends up asking in return, whether it be for help, her strength or her to keep a secret on Ellayne and thus force her to be complicit in his guilt or rat him out.

Neither of which are fair decisions to force on poor Blake with no time for her to prepare or decide which she wants.


Next Chapter: 23rd April

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