Troll in Reviews

As has been noted, there is a troll in reviews spamming guest reviews and trying to frame people by writing their name in the name slot. Just ignore it. It's not worth the effort of paying attention to and I'm only writing this message so people are aware.

He's also pretending to be me by writing my name in guest review slots. I would only ever review something from this (logged-in) account.


Chapter 7


Jaune heard the footsteps on the deck of the vessel long before Blake announced her presence. Given how stealthy she could be, it must have been intentional. They paused a few feet away, silently asking if he wanted to be alone or not. He turned in answer, flashing her a fragile smile. Blake approached, leant her hands down on the ship's railing and looked out over the waves with him.

"I didn't think you'd want to talk to me," he said. "After what happened."

"I needed time to think." Her eyes didn't meet his. "How is Coral?"

"Sleeping for now. She likes being brought up on deck – the smell of the air, the warmth of the sun." His hands tightened on the railings. "All the things we were denied." Sighing, he shook his head. "I won't apologise, Blake. That man – he deserved to die."

"No one deserves to die."

They'd have to agree to disagree on that one. Blake's silence ever since the execution of Doctor Clementine had been noticed but not a bother, not when he spent all day looking after Coral anyway. Adam had been the one to do the deed, not that Jaune thought that absolved him of any responsibility. Those people stole his family away, killed his father and put them through hell.

Jail time would have been nice if they could rely on it, but these bastards were sponsored by Atlas. As far as the world cared, they hadn't committed any crimes. According to Atlas, he was the criminal. The madman. The terrorist.

"What are you thinking?" she asked.

"One of the Bullheads went back to Atlas…"

"You're not abandoning them by leaving, Jaune."

"I know. Adam explained it. We know where the facility is in Mistral but we don't with the one in Atlas. It makes sense to go to Mistral, find it and see if they know where the other Atlas one is. I'm not saying I don't understand that, it's just – would they understand it?"

"They?"

"Whichever one of them was on that Bullhead. Would they understand if they knew I was leaving Atlas right now?" His head dropped. "What if it's Amber? She was screaming my name. What if she still is, and I'm just sailing away like this…?"

Blake didn't have an answer. It wasn't a scenario that had one. They were doing the right thing – the sensible thing – but Amber wouldn't know that. Or whomever was on that aircraft. All they'd know is that as the days passed and he didn't come, the cold reality of their abandonment would sink in. It wouldn't be abandonment because he'd becoming back, but they had no way of knowing.

"The only thing you can do is focus on the end result."

Jaune looked at her out the corner of one eye. "The end…?"

"I didn't leave Menagerie with my parents' blessing. We stole the White Fang out from under them and twisted it. They must have been horrified. To be honest, telling them about Lavender was the first time I'd contacted them in over a year."

"How was it?"

"Tense." She laughed. "Very tense. They were happy to see me safe but I can't say they approved. They did promise to look after Lavender, though. The point I'm trying to make is that I knew they wouldn't ever be happy with my decision, but I did what I thought was best for faunus everywhere. And if things worked out like I thought they would, I knew they'd be happy when it all ended and I came home safe."

"It's the same for you," she continued. "There's simply no point thinking about what your family is like now because they're all going to be miserable. Whether they know you're coming or not won't change what they're put through, so try not to focus on what they may be feeling. Focus on how happy they'll be when you save them."

"Easier said than done…"

"I didn't say it would be easy. Going against Atlas is anything but and your Semblance – it's useful, Jaune, don't get me wrong, but not as useful as all the resources they have. You're just one man."

His shoulders tensed. "Are you saying I should give up?"

"I don't have the right to decide what you should do," she said, leaning on the railing again. "It's your life and your family. I… I'm not even sure what I want to do."

"Is this about the killing? It's a war, Blake-"

"It's not!" she spat, rounding on him. "This isn't a war. We've had our war – and we won it! We won it and nothing changed, so what's the point of having another? And even wars have rules, Jaune. Killing that man-"

"He wanted to rape my sister!"

"But he didn't!"

"Does that make it any better!?"

"You want to kill people," she said, slapping his chest. "Does that mean I should kill you now? If we're talking about killing people for crimes they haven't committed yet then that applies to you as well. You're a murderer for planning it!"

"I'm already a murderer."

He turned away, unable to deal with her… he didn't know what it was. Hypocrisy? Anger? Justified rage? Blake wasn't wrong – they'd killed that man for intending a crime that he hadn't yet fulfilled, and while he'd done a lot of other horrible things, those would have earned him jail time in any other Kingdom. Maybe twenty years, maybe less, but not a death penalty.

Did he regret it…?

No. That was the problem.

"You're acting like judge, jury and executioner," she said, trying for a calmer voice. "And I'll be the first to say you've been through terrible things and the people responsible deserve to suffer, but is it really all of them? Are you going to slaughter hundreds of people for this?"

"No. Only those responsible."

"And was a Junior Doctor responsible?"

"He planned to-" He saw Blake's eyes narrow and amended it. "He touched Coral."

"Do we punish sexual harassment with death now?"

"Are you asking me to forgive him?"

"No." Blake pushed off. "I'm asking you not to focus on the big picture. Your sister is safe. Whatever happened to her has already happened. Maybe you should focus more on saving them and less on hurting the people who get in your way."

Angrily, Jaune stepped back and shouted after her. "Are you saying I don't care about them?"

Without looking back, she spoke. "I'm saying you should prioritise. You claim you only want to save them but killing that person didn't save anyone. It was you satisfying your thirst for vengeance, just like some people here do when they kill humans. The White Fang is supposed to be helping faunus, and you're supposed to be helping your family." Blake walked away, though not before saying, "I don't understand where killing everyone who gets in your way helps either objective."

He thought about following her, about grabbing her shoulder, throwing her back against a wall and demanding she not walk away until they were done. The image burned like a fire in his gut, before he tore himself back toward the ocean and forced himself to lean forward. His hands were shaking over the railing, his teeth gritted.

That man deserved to die, and it wasn't like he'd been merciless. He let the pilot go. Wasn't that enough? The innocent – or innocent-ish – person got to live, the guilty one didn't.

Judge, jury and executioner.

No. That was wrong. He was only that because Atlas wasn't going to be any of them. This group had power – money, men and political resources – so they weren't ever going to come into the light, let alone be held responsible. It was just like Adam said, just like how it was with the White Fang. When two sides of an argument weren't equal in terms of strength, the Kingdom would side with the stronger. Between supporting him and hunting down all these people that could be powerful members of Atlas, or calling him, a regular guy not even from Atlas, a psychopath and killing him, the option was clear.

I didn't want to kill anyone. I never wanted any of this. Can't she see that? Jaune sighed, glaring down into the water lapping against the ship's hull. I'm only doing this because I need to. Because there's no other choice.

The waves and ocean froth held no answer, nor did the seagulls crying in the distance, signalling their arrival to Mistral, and the continent of Anima.

/-/

"Sable!"

Ironwood made to catch Saphron but thought better of it, letting the girl's hands slam up against the glass screen dividing them from the rescued victim. Saphron bashed her hands on the glass as though to smash through, and it was then that he had to act, drawing her firmly – but also gently – back with one hand.

"Your sister is safe and sound, Mrs Cotta-Arc. We're only keeping her isolated until we can be sure there aren't any infections." Doctors in the room were already checking her, each of them vetted and watched by a second team. Winter and Clover stood at the inside of the doors, guns at the ready. If one of the doctors so much as moved to inject something untoward into the girl without permission, they would be subdued immediately. "I promise that you shall have time to speak with her and look after her once she is awake."

Saphron looked up to him, tears running down her cheeks. Her voice was incredibly small and frail. "B-But she's okay?"

He squeezed her shoulder. "I swear it. Your sister is safe now."

That made for two secured now, and if their records were accurate, another two secured by Arc himself. He couldn't publicly state or condone that, nor could he comment on it in any official manner. That those two had been whisked away spoke of the boy's mistrust for Atlas. A founded mistrust, he had to admit. The treachery he'd seen so far only proved that.

"You called her Sable," he murmured. "She is Sable Arc, then? The… second eldest?"

"Yes." Saphron nodded but was back to staring through the window at her sister. "I'm the oldest and then it's Sable and Coral as twins."

"Does she have any medical conditions we should know of?"

"No. Or… I mean, she didn't. That might have changed…"

"We'll see to if they have, and you will be alerted as her guardian. I hope you understand she won't be allowed off base, however. Not because we doubt her," he said when Saphron whirled on him, eyebrows drawn down. "It is for her own safety. Yours as well."

"Then what will happen in the long run? Will we be prisoners forever?"

"No. I will find the ones responsible for this, bring them to justice and see you and your family safe and sound. Whether you choose to live in Atlas or move away after will be a decision for your own making."

"We don't stay here. We can't."

He'd known that would be the decision long before making the offer and couldn't blame her for it. If the situation were reversed, he'd not want to remain either. Stepping back, he looked to the Ace Ops by the door. "Marrow, Elm. Please guard Mrs Cotta-Arc. Once the doctors have given the all clear, feel free to escort her in to see her sister. Make sure Winter and Clover know they are not to leave Sable's side during this time."

"Sir." The two saluted.

Saphron was too distracted to care and her wife and child were being guarded by Vine and Harriet. Ironwood made his way to the door and out, earning a quick nod from the guards outside, steadily watching everyone who came and went. If tensions had been high before, the betrayal of one of their own on the landing pad had ratchetted it up to eleven. Soldiers who had known each other for years now watched one another as well as outsiders. Trust, and morale, was at an all-time low.

If it wasn't for the sentiment of the men, we'd be in trouble. The only reason they're still focused is because they're in the know. Luckily, many of those that remained personally hated the thought of what Atlas was doing and agreed with his drive for justice.

Many, but he knew it would not be all of them.

Ironwood frowned at the open door to his office, touching his sidearm as he opened it and then pausing, eyes wide. "Sol?"

"James." Former General Aldrin Sol turned his way, smiling briefly. There was another man in the room, quiet and reserved, head down. "I'd come looking for you but no one could say for sure where you were."

"Intentional." He didn't elaborate. "What are you doing here, Sol?"

"You're guarded, James. I suppose this affair has us all feeling the same. I heard about the debacle on the landing pad. How is the young private?"

"Wounded but alive, cheerful and promoted."

"Good. Such quick thinking deserves recognition. Always hard to find those willing to make the difficult choices." Sol moved aside, allowing Ironwood to take his seat. "The Military Council are antsy, James. They're not pleased with proceedings."

"With what exactly?"

"The Vytal Festival is coming up and not enough preparation is being done on our end."

"The festival can wait," he snapped. "We have traitors in our midst!"

"I agree, but you know the world is bigger than that. Bigger than Atlas. I took the liberty of delegating some of the prep detail for the festival for you. I hope you don't mind? It's only manpower, Knight units and the like."

"If it keeps my workload low, I'm grateful. I have to focus on this, Sol."

"I recognise that, but not everyone will." Sol sighed. "The Council is putting out a bounty for the boy's head."

Ironwood slammed his hands down. "What!?"

"I tried to stop them," Sol said, spreading his hands wide. "I told them this would only exacerbate the situation, but they're determined. Worse, the Schnee are funding half of it."

"Jacques," Ironwood growled. "Why…?"

"Likely the boy's connection to the White Fang. I doubt Jacques Schnee of all people is in bed with this shadowy organisation you're hunting, not when it also struck at his family. An unhappy coincidence, or perhaps an inevitable result of the man's personal campaign against the faunus." Sol rolled his eyes. "Either way, there will soon be a reward on the boy, five million alive, two and a half dead."

Those idiots. Didn't they understand how much harder that would make it to convince Arc to give himself in? Of course they did – they just didn't care. Justice was decided by those in power, history by the victor. Better Jaune Arc die than live as a constant stain against Atlas' honour, and a threat against its people.

"Do you only come to deliver bad news, Sol?"

"Not only. Aside from being willing to lighten your load by dealing with the Vytal Festival, I've also managed to find this young man." He gestured to the man in uniform, who still looked afraid. "He claims to be a survivor from the White Fang's raid on that recent facility."

Ironwood sucked in a sharp breath.

"Coming right back to Atlas and admitting that." Sol chuckled and shook his head. "It's wonder he wasn't gunned down immediately, but I suppose it came as a surprise even to them. They might not have had the time to retaliate and I moved in quickly, securing him before he could be sent to incarceration."

It went unsaid that the man would have surely died there, removed in the same way the other witnesses had. Aldrin had certainly saved him that fate, and in doing so presented Ironwood a living witness at last.

"Who knows you took him?"

"Too many. I had to sign forms, James. There's a paper trail." Aldrin stepped back toward the door. "Work him quick. Get whatever you can out of him. And boy," he addressed the prisoner, "I would encourage you to work with General Ironwood. If you are useful, he will keep you safe. I shouldn't need to say what your former employers will do to you should they have the chance."

The young man nodded urgently. Aldrin sent one to Ironwood and moved to the door. Before he left, however, he sent a parting message.

"I wasn't able to stop news from spreading, James. The young man told his story and gossip will see everyone know before the day is out. He survived, but another did not. Your young escapee ordered the execution of an Atlesian citizen."

James' eyes drifted shut and he swore lightly.

"No matter how just his crusade is, no matter how sympathetic we might be, that is an action we cannot ignore. It is an act of war." He opened the door and stepped out. "I will try and delay the Council, but I cannot control them, nor can I convince them to ignore this."

The door closed with a swish.

Ironwood's eyes fell on the young man, who even now still wore the distinctive uniform of a pilot.

"Tell me everything."

There was no defiance. The pilot spoke.

/-/

The White Fang camp set up on the north-west coast of Anima was quiet. Small dust-powered stoves cooked food, while sentries scouted wide and far. The tents they normally erected in a circle had been built up in the shadow of a large cliff face. Jaune focused on helping Coral into Fitch's medical tent, chatting quietly over dinner and reminiscing about the past.

"Can you trust these people you're sending me with?" Coral asked.

"Adam says we can. They'll get you to Menagerie. It'll be safe there."

"Will it? Can you honestly say they won't come for us?"

"I… well, no." He couldn't lie to her. "But it's the place where Atlas has the least power, and I'm going to keep looking for the others. They'll be so focused on trying to stop me that they won't even care about you."

Coral chuckled tiredly. "That's likely. You're going to get yourself killed."

"Not until I've saved everyone."

"Don't," she hissed. "Don't talk like that." Her eyes were unfocused, as much a result of not having her glasses as the painkillers she was still on. Her hand gripped his tightly, however. "It means nothing if you die doing this. It has to be you and us safe, or it's not worth it."

"I know." He closed his other hand over hers. "I didn't mean I'd save them, then die. I fully intend to come back to Menagerie when everyone's safe. We'll start up there. Maybe I can get a job working as a fisherman. Blake says they do a lot of fishing, being an island and all."

"You're a wanted criminal, Jaune…"

"Ah." His mouth suddenly felt dry. "Right." He laughed. Nervously. "Well, maybe it won't be that simple."

He'd not even considered it. Considered what it might mean in the end. Could he retire in Menagerie? Wouldn't Atlas be hunting him for what he'd done? They almost had to, and that kind of political pressure – it was Adam's talk about strength all over again. If Atlas pushed, Menagerie had to fold. It couldn't be seen to host someone wanted for murder against the superpower that was Atlas.

What was going to happen when this was all over?

"I-I guess I'll have to clear my name…"

Coral's flat stare told what she thought of that. He couldn't blame her. How would he prove it? Even if he found evidence, they'd just bury it, kill him and move on. Atlas wouldn't accept it because they couldn't be seen to. How ridiculous would it look if a single man outsmarted a whole Kingdom and proved they'd been running illegal human experimentation?

Atlas would be seen as villains globally. They couldn't allow that.

"Maybe I can make a deal with them. My silence for theirs. I don't know." He forced a smile and shook his head. "Anyway, it's a little early to be talking about that. Let me focus on finding the others first. If needs be, I can always fake my death and you can welcome James D'Arc into the family. I hear he's an awesome guy, really handsome."

"Say that and no one will believe it's you."

"Harsh." He laughed. "Mom always said I was handsome."

"You're such – ack – a mommy's boy!" Coral's laughter descended into a coughing fit, with Jaune rubbing her back to help get it all out. Once she was done, he made to bring a glass of water to her lips only for her to take it off him with a tired glare. "I'm not useless."

"I know. I just worry." He watched her hackles lower as she drank. "You'll be safe in Menagerie. Lavender is there and she's with Blake's parents. Look after her, okay? You're older than her and it's bad enough me leaving her there alone. You can trust Ilia, too. She promised to help look after Lav."

"Hmm." Coral finished her water. "You better look after yourself. We can't save them if you fail."

No pressure then. He nodded, knowing she wasn't trying to be mean and instead making it clear, in her own way, that she wanted him to stay safe. "I won't take any risks, sis. I can't afford to."

"Good." Her lips curled up. "When did my little brother become this responsible?"

When I became the man of the family, he didn't say. There was no use ruining the mood by bringing up their father. "I was always this responsible," he said instead, grinning. "I just never had to show it. Maybe I was always super cool and you just never realised."

"Idiot." Coral smiled and leaned back onto the bed. "I'm going to sleep. Don't let them take me away without waking up. I… I want to say goodbye properly."

"It's not goodbye. It's `see you later`." He helped pull the blanket up over her. "But I'll wake you up, I promise. Have a good night's sleep, Coral."

"G'night…"

Her breathing evened out quickly, the fatigue and drugs doing their job. Fitch sent him a quick nod and a smile, silently promising to keep an eye on her. The poor medic of the White Fang hadn't exactly signed up for this, but Jaune appreciated the effort. He was a good man. Faunus. However they preferred it said.

On his way out to find some food, a faunus in a mask hurried up. "Masks on. We've got guests."

Guests? To a hidden terrorist camp? Jaune swore and pulled his up, securing it behind his ears and following. It couldn't have been an attack or the alarm would have been sounded, but who the hell came up to the White Fang to talk?

The group we're meeting with? No, it can't be. We wouldn't need masks in that case.

A crowd huddled a respectable distance from Adam's tent. It was the kind of distance that implied they weren't watching even if everyone knew they were. Pushing through, he saw Adam facing off against three people.

Three humans.

Adam was tense. Guarded. Conversely, the humans were surprisingly relaxed, especially the one in the lead, a woman with dark hair like Blake's. They were talking, though at that distance he couldn't hear a word. The woman's companions were equally outlandish, one having grey-silver hair and the other with green hair. Their outfits screamed huntsmen. The leathers and cloth too loose-fitting and bright to be travellers. Then there were the weapons.

Jaune nudged his way over to Blake and whispered, "Who are they?"

"I don't know." She replied without looking his way. "Came into camp and asked to speak to Adam by name. Took out a sentry on their way in."

"Killed?"

"No. Disabled and brought him back safe. It's the only reason Adam was willing to listen; in case they did something to their prisoner if he didn't."

Said prisoner clearly wasn't in their grasp now, so it must have been a gesture of good will. Why? Huntsmen wouldn't bother doing that when they could just attack while they were asleep. They were clearly good enough to do that if they'd taken out a sentry without signalling the alarm.

The woman continued speaking to Adam, with Adam looking less and less impressed as it went on. He swept an arm to the side, a clear denial, but the woman only laughed and said something in response that had Adam grasping Wilt and falling back with one foot. Everyone in the camp tensed.

She did not. Speaking on without showing any fear, she turned away, signalling for her two companions to follow and then walking away with a parting comment. Briefly, her eyes spread over the crowd, over his face, but she didn't linger and their masks kept their identity safe. The three huntsmen walked into the treeline and vanished.

The camp dispersed back to its tasks, though now with a lingering sense of wrongness. Muffled conversation remained quiet. Tense. Adam shook his head and walked back, Blake and Jaune meeting him halfway.

"Who was that?" Blake asked.

"No one." Adam's eyes were narrowed. "No one important."


Cinder and Co make their appearance, while Jaune and the White Fang arrive in Menagerie. This may give a small hint as to the timeline, since this was, to my memory, a canon scene.

I'm still sickly and pathetic and resting, etc, hence the low word count.


Also, due to my work event there will be no updates 23rd – 29th March. Hoping I'm even healthy enough to attend that, and currently working to see if we shouldn't postpone it anyway, but certain sponsors want it going ahead before the virus gets much worse, and I do understand. It's going to be even harder to run an event after this month, but safety should come first.

Discussions are tense and I personally hate the bravado some people are using. Literal idiots saying things like, "We beat back Hitler, so we can beat back coronavirus" and I'm just wanting to smash my head against a wall because I live in a world with such idiots.


Next Chapter: 30th March (TWO WEEKS)

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur