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Requested by:

Scrublord Yoda

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The house was a small thing, built into a cleared circle of down brown, rich earth ringed by a waist-high wall made of heavy, naturally cut stone. The stone fence was broken up by four paths wide enough to fit a tractor - and their borrowed quads - through, which split the fields of corn and tomatoes up neatly. Come the start of the next summer Jaune knew from old, old lessons they'd be sewn with beans and oats and other cover crops, to breathe life back into the soil for the heavier crops that thrived in the mid and late summer.

Any other time, he would have sat on the stone wall, breathed in the scent of living crops, and been at ease for nostalgia. He might even have asked the farmer if he wanted a hand walking for weeds, like he'd done back in Ansel so long ago. Then, later, he'd chat with the farmer's daughter. Let himself indulge in an imagined life here, in the quiet country, where he only drew his sword in defense of his kin and those near him. He'd always shake the dreams off eventually, though, and say his farewells come the next day.

But here… There was no farmer's daughter to dream of.

Or a farmer to weed for.

There was only a field crossed by trampled paths, and broken stone fencing, and a burnt out husk left behind in place of a house and barn and silo. Half a man lay outside the door to his house, blood, bone and gore sprayed around the ruined entrance and a broken shotgun at his side. Most of the rest of the house had been burned out, but there was more than one spare room, he could tell by the shape of the skeleton. The way the walls were outlined, which he read from how the building had collapsed into itself, held up by the supports left behind by the fire.

The farmer's daughter, he supposed, had never made it out…

If only they'd had a Hunter here, they'd be alive. Even if they lost the farm, or the Hunter died, they could have run. Escaped. But...

"I'm too late." He murmured, kneeling by the body and pressing a fist to his heart in salute. "I'm sorry…"

"Jaune…" Mort whispered, "It's not your fault."

He knew that, but…

Knowing didn't help.

He rose quietly and turned to Pyrrha, who was standing a few feet away in respectful silence, the base of her shield resting on the ground beside her, her hand resting over the rim comfortably. When he turned, she smiled thinly, "Lord."

"Pyr."

"You are… Well?"

"Not really."

"I suppose you wouldn't be, given… Well, given the obvious." She sighed, nodding and amending, "You are well enough, at least?"

"No." Mort answered quietly.

"Yeah, I am." He nodded, ignoring the spirit and asking, "Did you find any tracks you couldn't identify?"

"No." She answered, "Beowolves, Ursai, Creeps and Boarbatusk. The expected faces, as they say."

That made sense. At best, she'd have spotted pachyderm tracks, too, but he hadn't held up a lot of hope for that. The damage here didn't match up. Turning, he asked, "And which way did they go?"

"South, Lord." She answered simply, turning to point the exact direction - which was a bit to the West as well - with her spear. "I believe they meander through the other farms nearby as well, they all appear damaged from here, and then into the woods."

"But they don't head North?"

"No." She answered quietly, "But there are tracks headed back South. Towards the forest."

"Hmm…" It was odd, for Grimm to turn back once they were on a rampage, but not unheard of.

Especially in places like this, with the wide, open spaces provided by the fields themselves stretching often for acres before the next homestead or cluster of workmen's houses. When that happened, the people in the nearest homes often… Couldn't even hear the gunshots and roars through the distance. And the crops, which themselves broke the sound up way better than one might expect at first.

Which meant there was no panic, luring the Grimm away towards more prey.

Without Human prey to orient on, the Grimm… Mostly were simple, dumb animals. Creatures of habit and comfort, that preferred to roam the same, safe and comfortable territories rather than wander off. And why wouldn't they? He was sure your average Beowolf enjoyed a dip in the cool water of a river on a summer's day as much as your average wolf would.

So, like wolves who wandered in to eat a fat cow they caught the scent of, they wandered home once they were done.

"Do you want to head back?" He asked, "Or see where the tracks lead?"

"Is there a reason we should not do the latter?"

"Nora would kill us if we found the Goliath without her around to blow it up?" Jaune snorted around his own joke, shaking his head, "I'm just asking your opinion, Pyr. So. Forward, or back?"

"...Back." She answered after a moment, "Nora would not be best pleased if she missed a fight. And besides, we'd be foolish not to bring all our forces to bear. No?"

"You're not wrong, no." He murmured, tapping his hand on Mort's hilt and settling on a plan. "The sky is clear, so we'll head back, for now. But first…"

"My Lord...?"

He nodded and paced past her to the sturdy, workhorse quad-bike they'd used to get here. It was a rugged thing, with a reinforced front and a large rear end complete with a large lock crate for storage. But most importantly, it came with tools. A woodsman's axe on a rack on one side of the crate, and a sturdy trench-shovel hook on the other. He grabbed the second and turned to the woman, holding it up.

"Do you want to dig the burning pit, or carry the body over?"

"Disgust or fatigue." She snorted, taking the shovel from him with a smile. "Truly, you offer the most wonderful of choices."

"I try." He sighed, turning towards the body with a grimace. "Well, time to get this done…"

It wouldn't be the first time he'd done this sort of thing, after all. Or even the tenth, for that matter... But such was life.

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Jaune returned the next day, with Pyrrha on the back of his quad holding onto him tightly and Ren doing the same to Nora on the quad behind them. They reached the burnt out, ruined farmhouse to find a dozen of the neighboring farmers at work on it, hauling the ruined wood away to a pile of debris and extracting whatever could be salvaged. A small group of guards about a dozen strong stood at the perimeter of the farmstead, just behind the stone wall, and kept watch on the lands around them while they worked.

And, overlooking it all in a fine, light field dress made of layered, grey cloth and a black corset with the Winchester emblem emblazoned on her breasts, stood the Lady Winchester. Leaning on a dark oaken traveling cane and glowering at them as they approached. She turned back to the work being done as they kicked the engines of their quads off and held her place as Jaune approached her, his Shield just behind him while the others kept watch.

"Overseeing clean-up and repairs." She explained when he reached her, "The man who lived here was… A friend, so, funerary rites as well. Though you began as much yourself."

"I was here." He answered coldly, looking the woman up and down for a moment before turning and standing at her side, watching the men at work. "You knew the farmer?"

"Quite intimately."

"My sympathies, then."

"Why?" She asked with a hugg of laughter, "I'm a Winchester."

"Empathy is for all, in times of loss." Jaune answered simply, refraining from adding a snipe about how appropriate it was that a Winchester didn't understand his empathy. Because what was their familiar rivalry if not a disagreement on empathy? Regardless, "You can accept my sympathies, or reject them. Whatever you decide, you have them."

"I see…" The woman was silent, for a moment, before she saw her men dragging a body from the rubble and stiffened. When she spoke again, her voice was tight. "Thank you, then. If you are amenable, I will ask that you turn your sympathy to your task and grant me leave. I have… A matter to attend to."

He only nodded, and the woman stalked away, marching on too stiff legs. She reached the men and laid a hand on the body they were carrying, and he could swear he saw her tremble. After a silent moment, though, she backed away and the silent workers went about their task, laying the body out in the shallow pyre pit he and Pyrrha had used the day before. As smoke began to wind into the sky, Jaune turned to leave.

"Lord Arc." The Lady's voice called out from behind him and dragged him to a stop. He turned, and she asked, voice pained, "Slaughter the beasts that did this, and your reward will be raised, Arc."

Jaune only nodded, hand tight around Mort's pommel.

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It took another hour to follow the meandering, muddy tracks through winding fields, and past more ruined farm-steads surrounded by quiet workers cleaning the aftermath away. The tracks wound through one of a dozen gates that let through the high, weathered, stone wall that ran along the forest's edge. It was higher than Jaune was tall in most places, and once upon a time had no doubt been a formidable border that kept the inland farms safe from the beasts of the wood.

But now, it was old, weak and dilapidated. The next iron gate out into the forest wasn't for at least fifty yards to either direction, but Jaune could see a hundred holes, fallen stones, and leaning sections ready to give way between himself and either of them.

It was little wonder the Grimm had gotten through…

"What do you want to do?" Ren asked after Jaune spent more than a few moments staring out, into the thick brush and shrubbery of the temperate woodlands beyond the weak wall.

"Kill every Grimm in existence, retire, and settle down in a nice village with a beautiful woman in my lap?" He joked, earning a chuckle from the man before he sighed and answered more seriously, "Ren, you packed the kit?"

"I did."

"And 'sides, we can rough it with the best of 'em." Nora added from in front of him, grinning widely. "Thinkin' of headin' out there?"

"Even though you don't need to." Mort added, chuckling, "But that's just your style, isn't it?"

"Yeah." He, as always, answered both their questions in the same breath. Turning back to the forest he rolled his shoulders and turned his quad in, through the gate. "Keep the engines in low gear, though. The noise might attract attention…"

"Got it."

The engines were still too loud for Jaune's comfort, but in low gear, they still moved just quickly enough to make it worthwhile. Jaune led the way for tracking experience, moving along to the side of the tracks and keeping a side-eye on them as they meandered through the woods. A mile out, the dense shrubbery thinned out, and the trees grew great, towering high over them and with trucks as wide as moderately sized cars. Shrubs and vines clutched to their bottoms but, between them, the shade of the thick canopy overhead left the ground mostly bare but for the short, stubby grass under them.

It was… Strangely beautiful, and if he hadn't been on a Hunt, he'd have loved to take in the sight of it all.

But, more importantly…

He'd lost the tracks.

"Damn it..." He grunted, turning to a stop beside one of the massive trees and kicking the engine off.

Stepping off the quad, he paced around, eyes scouring the ground for any tracks. But the stubby grass didn't offer him anything, too small to really show depressions properly. He slammed a boot down to test it, and when he moved his foot, it all propped right back up, as if he'd never stepped there at all.

"Jaune…?"

"Pyrrha, can you climb?"

"Not exceptionally well, no." The woman answered while Nora parked behind Jaune's own quad and climbed off. Cocking her head, the fighter asked, "Why?"

"We need someone to get up, into the canopy." Jaune explained quietly, walking up to one of the massive trees and frowning, one hand tugging at the thick vines to test their hold. They held fine, even when he yanked, and he nodded. "Maybe whoever gets up there can see a watering hole, or even the Goliath, if it's nearby. Or signs of either."

"Like a gap in the canopy." Nora guessed, shrugging off her pack and pressing her hands against her hips, stretching back and bending her shoulders back in a way that pushed her chest out and had Mort chuckling.

He flicked the gem at the end of his pommel like he often did, and Mort hissed, "Oi! I can't not see it!"

He could refrain from commenting, though…

"I'll get up there and see what I see, boss." Nora promised once she was done stretching. Turning, she asked, "Renny?"

"Here." He grunted, handing her a little hatchet and a long curl of rope that she looped over her shoulder. She paced away, looking around at the trunks while Ren explained quietly, "Nora used to climb a lot, back in our wandering days. Before Beacon, I mean. Even before… Well, it's been a long habit."

Again, Jaune heard the mystery in their past, and had to fight the itch to probe at it.

Instead, he nodded and said, "Good. Hopefully, she'll spot something."

"What of us, then?" Pyrrha asked as Nora started to climb one of the great trees.

Looking around, they were in a small clearing between a handful of the massive trees. Which was about as good shelter as he expected to find, frankly, in this sparse region of the forest. A couple of them had grown closer to each other than elsewhere, with a thick clutch of brush and bush between them, and he pointed it out with a nod. "Ren, Pyr, set up camp over there, tents backed to the trees and a fire between them."

"And you'll be doing…?"

"Hunting." He shrugged, "With a lower case 'h'. Some foraging, too. We have rations, but I'd prefer to make them last."

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Witha family of rabbits hanging off his belt, and several heads of mushroom in a bag over his shoulder, Jaune came back to a crackling fire, a pair of squat but sturdy looking tents, and Nora and Ren chatting. Pyrrha kept watch over it all, which didn't surprise him, and paid him a respectful nod as he came in and fell onto one of the logs someone had hauled over to set beside the fire. Ren took one look at the rabbits and fungus and stood, heading over to the quads and coming back with a moderately sized pot and some packets.

"Seasoning, and some potatoes." He explained when Jaune raised an eyebrow. He held out a hand and asked, "One of the rabbits? I'll skin it while you take the other, unless you would prefer otherwise."

"Sure." Why would Jaune argue against that? He had three, but that was one less he needed to fret over. While they both worked, Jaune asked, "Did you see anything, Nora?"

"Couple o'long, snaky breaks in the trees a couple miles ahead of us. Rivers, I figure." The woman answered, leaning over to steal the last rabbit and going to work on it. "No sign of anything else, though. Figured we'd check around the river for more tracks or something tomorrow."

"Mhm." He blinked and then asked, "No sign at all of the Goliath?"

"Not that I could see, no." Nora answered with a shrug, "Might have come into the forest somewhere else, though."

"Maybe…" But Goliaths had wide, obvious tread paths… That they weren't seeing anything yet, even in the woods, didn't seem right. It all felt off, and made him anxious. But without a reason, he couldn't do anything, so he answered, "We'll take a look tomorrow and if not, head back to the mountain and see if we can find another direction to head in. Eye witnesses, tracks- Something."

"You sound on edge…"

"Do I?" Was he that easy to read? He shook it off and shrugged, "I am, a bit. I don't like how the Grimm are acting. It isn't normal."

"Why not…?"

"Wandering back to the woods makes sense." Jaune explained simply, "But we're so far in. Why haven't we seen just some Boarbatusks? Or Ursai, even? The sound of our engines should have attracted some attention from Grimm nearby, but there's absolutely nothing. It's… Wrong."

"The magic feels weird here, too, Jaune." Mort added quietly, "I can't place it, but there's a… Quiet to the natural mana around us. I'm only noticing it now that I'm looking."

That felt like useful information… Useful but troublesome. What could even do something like that? Jaune didn't know and, with his team here, he couldn't ask, either. Not directly, at least. But if Mort had any answers, he would have told him already, so asking was probably not going to be helpful.

Which brought him back to… Why?

Maybe they'd find out tomorrow… For now, he and Ren had a stew to piece together. Potatoes, mushrooms and rabbit. What more could he need right now?

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Sebine :

Oh my lord-