A/N: R.I.P Az-Laar the Demolisher from the Shadow of War gameplay footage.
This chapter a bit on the shorter side, compared to my more recent entries of late. It doesn't even break the 10K word mark. However, I have a lot of stuff that will soon happen in the story, and I needed to break it up so I didn't have this uber-super-mega chapter of 40K words or more. Ha! Unplanned Warhammer reference.
Also, it's sort of an apology for last chapter's delay.
SHOWTIME!
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Chapter 16: A Hamlet With No Fish
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While scarfing down breakfast after the morning warm up and before classes, Jaune and the others had the news playing on the TV for background noise, it for once being something interesting.
"Lisa Lavender here, continuing to follow the Grimm migration." The reporter with the hair matching her name spoke to the camera from a Bullhead, another camera aiming down to capture said event below them. Grimm littered the landscape, moving at full speeds.
"This is Day Two of the emptying of Forever Fall Forest as the creatures of Grimm head north for reasons unknown, doubtless heading to the several towns and hamlets dotting the countryside."
At the safer location of a news studio, Lavender's co-anchor, Cyril Ian carried on. "Thank you Lisa. Though this abnormal behavior is troubling, the situation is already well under hand. Thanks to advance notice from the Recon Corps, what may have been disastrous is no more than a training exercise for the Huntsmen and Huntresses, supported by the full force of Beacon Academy's students."
On screen, a map detailing the location of villages outside Vale in harm's way of this Migration came into view, along with stylized icons of armed figures… That was all that was viewed before the two teams left the room.
Jaune wanted to bang his head against a wall in frustration. As a stroke of bad luck, this event came at the same time as their mid-season exams. Following protocol, the senior students were deployed first, bearing the brunt of the Migration before returning to complete their exams. Then it would be third years, and on until they would be stuck with the dregs, if they got to kill any at all. Sighing wistfully, "Some people get all the fun."
To make matters worse was how their exam schedule was shifted as a result. While normally well-paced over two weeks, theirs had been compacted into five days instead. Twelve straight hours of a variety pack of written assessments, on the spot essays, and arduous feats of physical and aura was not fun at all. Nora had complained after the first day that if it wasn't for the physical challenges, her brain might have turned to oatmeal; the bland kind without sprinkles.
"Don't say that. I'm sure we'll get plenty of work." Pyrrha offered her consolation, attempting to raise his morale. "Reports indicate that the whole forest is draining out. It is very unlikely that they will all be eradicated before we get a turn."
"The fact that it's being reported at all is evidence otherwise. Propaganda to keep fear at a minimum." Ren, ever the realist, pointed out. News outside of Vale was rarely reported, and bad news was even more rare. Case in point, the destruction of the Mountain Glenn expansion thirty years ago never got airtime. One day, it was all about how this would help reduce crowding in the lower districts and drop unemployment, and total silence the next.
The entire topic was completely censored to the public, and the only reason people, Jaune included, knew about it is because of the lucky survivors. In his case, it had been the home of his maternal grandparents, of which only one had survived.
"Exactly. Does no one else find it strange that this started the day after Councilor Winchester's coronation?" Blake asked as they power walked to their history exam. She had been intensely aware of Winchester's campaign, scrutinizing every detail of his words, claims and promises. As a whole, they sounded uplifting to the crowds, but they made her skin crawl with suspicion. She even theorized that he was using this so-far averted tragedy to bolster his support.
"Yes, it's so obvious that this whole thing is a public protest from the politically inclined, mindless creatures of Dark." Weiss retorted, Blake's paranoia stale to her. While it was odd timing, her Faunus friend had been obsessing over politics for some time now. "It's far more likely that the Malathyst is the root cause this. The hordes of Grimm might lack true intelligence, but even insects have the survival instinct to run and hide from predators. But they can't say that because Jaegers are a secret form the public."
"We can have this conversation later." Ruby gently put her foot down, showing more confidence in herself as a leader. A rule that she had put forth was that no infighting was to occur in public. Any disagreements could wait until they had privacy. With that put on the back burner, they entered the dreaded lecture hall for the History exam.
Speaking of Winchester, Jaune recalled the written report Dove had given him the morning after the Gala, hours before the news of this Migration reached public ears, that had sparked Blake's outrage. Whilst Jaune was dancing, pacing in the hospital, and becoming an uncle, a few celebration rallies had turned ugly, and in one case had formed a mob attacking a protest against the election. Several businesses across the city, whether Faunus owned or employed Faunus, had been ransacked, and not a peep had made the news because of the Migration taking the lion's share of screen time.
While that had been cause for concern, Jaune knew there wasn't really anything substantial he could do about it at present. What did hold his interest were the more personal touches, including Cardin's reaction. Recognizing several of the firebrands as Eagles, he was beginning to see that the integrity of the GE was not as 'pristine' as he had been led to believe.
'Seems that my hare-brained plan worked out much better than I had ever dreamed of. No, scheme, that sounds much better' he thought as he began the exam, taking his mind off the more personal details in the report. Though he breezed through it, the length and the amount of detail required in every answer was tedious and numbing.
He had used Cardin's debt to send them to The Bloody Jewel. At first glance, it would be seen as an exhibition of disproving the stereotypes of Faunus as criminals and terrorists. However, he had asked the twins to plant seeds of doubt by subtly informing the four of the oppression that their brother had stopped.
The subtlety had appeared to go over the quartets' heads, but Cardin's continued investigation spoke otherwise. The thought of success put a smile on his face, even against the cursed ink on paper with Professor Oobleck watching them all in silence, for once not darting around the room like a maniac.
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After another grueling day, it was finally over. The dulcet bell of freedom was ringing, and Jaune wasted no time in sprinting to and up the stairs to the mission moderator office to plan an outing and relieve all the accumulated stress. These exams had been tough not just in their content, but also in how interactions between his squad members were declining. It wasn't much, but it was there; small spats of bickering, higher tension, lack of proper sleep, but all could be alleviated with the proper outlet.
The mission office was in the CCT tower, a few floors below Ozpin's office. The staff of administrators there organized and conducted not only student-run missions, but also tracked missions and filed reports all across the kingdom.
"Irene, please let me hear some good news." Jaune spoke at a volume just below shouting with an abundance of cheer and charm upon entering the office of his team's and RWBY's assigned agent, Irene Scale. She was, all in all a plain but pretty looking woman in her early thirties. Brown hair tied back in a ponytail, leaving her slate grey-scaled cheeks on full display, as well as her hospitable smile from his exuberance.
"How good to see you again so soon, Jaune. Exams done already?" She asked as she casually adjusted her glasses, having fully expected his appearance. He had been here every day this week, trying to secure a good spot, or bad depending on one's point of view. That, and she saw him hauling ass not two minutes ago from her window.
"Well, I do indeed have a place for both teams JNPR and RWBY. And let me tell you, it was not easy given that you are first years. However, it's not until… hold on a second." She paused her informal debriefing with her office phone ringing. Picking up, "Irene Scale speaking… of course, sir."
"Not until…" Jaune picked up where the conversation had left off, eager to know.
"The headmaster wishes to speak with you. I hope that you haven't gotten yourself in trouble." She teased, but it garnered no embarrassment like she had hoped.
"Come now, when have I ever caused you trouble?" Jaune asked, being a long acquaintance with the reptilian Faunus.
"When I was forced to babysit you for a week and you forgot to leave your room to eat for a couple of days." Irene was originally from Crow's Hill. Lacking the resolve to be a Huntress, yet still desiring to help, she chose to make the lives the many who had defended their town growing up less of a hassle; hence her position here.
"Come on, that was one time." Jaune groaned, making her smile a bit wider at finally having success. The silver lining in this was that it was far more likely now that the squad would all be sent to the same place.
"Well, go on then. I'd rather you not keep the big boss waiting."
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Needless to say, that meeting did not even come close to how Jaune had imagined it would go. But there was no use complaining about it, since it was better than nothing.
"So, did you get us a good place?" Nora asked, as she was the first to see that he'd come back.
"I got us a spot, but good is relative." He grumbled, uncaring about the news talking about something other than the Migration for once. Instead, they were talking yet again about their previous main story, the string of Dust robberies across the city conducted by Roman Torchwick. By sheer coincidence, he had never seen an image of the man until that moment. It was a video taken by a hidden surveillance camera of…
"Ruby, when did you encounter Roman Torchwick?" The distinctive red hood and scythe were also present, fighting against goons in decent suits hired by the man with bright orange hair and a self-assured smirk that seemed oddly familiar. 'Probably of my own. Then again, that outfit looks familiar too. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that he's wearing Mom's work. Then again, she probably would choke him like a bitch for wearing a grey ascot, of all things.'
"About a week before the New Year. It was how I got invited to attend here early." She replied under her closed hood, somewhat embarrassed that so much attention was focused on her. She would be lucky if half the school didn't know by now, and she wasn't feeling particularly lucky at this moment.
"Oh, cheer up! It's not like you broke any legs; that might be a tad awkward~." Nora exclaimed as she watched the action, before seeing the man's explosive flare shot. Her eyes twinkled with delight at the distinctive whistling before the explosion. "Oooh, I want it."
"Nora, no." Ren tried to halt the inevitable, seeing that familiar look and knowing nothing safe had ever come of it, by turning off the TV. He had just regrown his hair back to his desired length.
"Nora YES!" She giggled back with a smile that mirrored the orangehead on screen. He might give a bad name to the orange hair color, but he had good taste nonetheless.
"Ruby, what can you tell me about that magnificent cane that gives birth to such works of art?" She asked her fellow couch lounger sweetly.
With the source of her discomfort gone, and a much more pleasant topic in its place, her head became visible once more like a turtle coming out of its shell. "It's a pretty simple design, all things considered, but it's frustrating. I couldn't figure out is what's in the cane handle besides the handle being a grappling hook. Maybe it's an extended ammo clip? Nor how he makes the Dust rounds unstable without them exploding in the barrel. They're made from solid Fire Dust crystals, really cheap ones now that I think about it."
She may not, but Nora did. "High-quality Wind Dust crystal smashing into base-grade Fire Dust crystal. The imbalance of purities causes the noise, and leaves the higher grade unscathed for continued use."
Nora gasped before squealing, "By Oum, I've got it! I've been trying to increase the grade for a bigger boom. But using a Wind crystal as a firing pin, and lowering the Fire Dust grade in the primer and payload, I can make the explosion inversely proportional to how low I can get it, and less expensive as well. I can compact them to increase my ammunition capacity. Best of all, I can even keep the most important part, the Pink! It's Perfect! Eeee!"
Blinking at the sudden bombardment of technical jargon, which ended as she pulled Ren and Ruby into the death grip called The Valkyrie Hug, trademark pending, Jaune asked, "Since when could you pull a Weiss?"
"Oh, that's right, thanks for reminding me Jaune-Jaune." Clearing her throat and releasing the two victims of her affection, she inhaled deeply before crowing, "SUCK IT, Princess! I figured it out first!"
"Drat!" Weiss' voice came like an echo after, but from Blake and Yang's room. "And it's heiress."
"Then why do you wear a tiara?" Weiss had no answer to her odd logic.
"Can someone please explain what's going on this time?" Pyrrha asked rubbing her eyes, having only caught the last part as she had been woken up from her post-exam nap. Weiss came out; only for Nora to drag her into the room she shared with Ren to fine tune the concept.
Ren obliged her. "Nora and Weiss had a shared project slash competition for their Advanced Dust Mechanics class to figure out this very conundrum."
"I suppose the debriefing can wait until dinner then." Jaune would let the two Dust aficionados indulge in their passion for a while. After all, there would be plenty of time to prepare for indulging in his own tomorrow.
"I'm just glad you two aren't fighting like cats and dogs anymore." Yang whispered to Blake.
"Hilarious." Blake's feline ears twitched in annoyance. "Besides, that's an overreaction. We were… debating."
"Again with this?" Jaune asked her, but Yang answered in her partner's stead. "Yup."
The cherry on top of their sundae of stress was that throughout the week, the monochromatic duo of RWBY had been in a tiff. It had all started with a few choice words without the intention of harm during Noire's visit, but it had been interpreted as such. Then it snowballed into a near constant barrage of arguments when in private and tense silences when they weren't. They looked to have vastly opposing ideas, and this high stress situation merely brought it out sooner.
"Change of plans then." He took a deep, calming breath but it didn't work. "I need the room with just Blake, Weiss, Ruby, and me. Weiss, if you would be so kind as to join us?"
"But we can help." Pyrrha offered, but he shook his head as he went to lock the patio door.
"No, the less people that are involved the better. Bystanders will inevitably take sides; it's in our nature, and they'll dig in their heels as a result. I need Ruby here because she's their leader." With the subtle reminder that she should have nipped this in the bud, Ruby gave the floor a sad look. She had tried, but she didn't know how with her poor social skills and lack of experience. Seeing the effect of his words, he raised his hands apologetically.
"I apologize, that was not meant as a rebuke. You did well in keeping this issue contained. Think of this is an opportunity for you to learn, like I did. I wasn't born a leader, you know." So many varied personalities under one roof was not always a peaceful time growing up. He also asked Professor Matin for some tips on conflict resolution during one of their sessions, just in case. Picking up chairs, he placed two of them side by side by the couch arm closest to the patio, and another facing them by the other arm.
"I'll call you when we're done. Here" He gave Pyrrha his debit card. "Would you kindly get a few pizzas from Gramps? We can still celebrate the end of those fucking pain in the ass exams, as well as rekindled friendship." She looked conflicted, but she nodded and left.
"Yang, could you go with her and get some booze?" Seeing where he was going with this, she and the rest of JNPR followed suit. "Ren and I will get candy and ice cream!"
"Thank you. I'll call you all when we've cleaned up this mess."
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The next few minutes were in silence. Blake and Weiss sat in the pair of chairs, so close that they were touching and all the more tense for it, with a pad of paper and a pen in their laps. Ruby was on the couch with her hood covering her face; but this time it was by necessity than by an act of avoidance. She didn't feel that she could appear neutral throughout this conflict resolution, so she took her face out of the equation, leaving only her eyes visible. Jaune, however, sat like nothing was wrong in the slightest, with a cup of tea in his hand.
But the two were not quite in conflict with each other at the moment. Instead, they had to wait in silence while he had brewed that tea because of a rule he had set. If either of them, in his words, picked up their ass off of their chair, then they would concede defeat in their 'debate'. Despite their irritation with the decree, both of them were too stubborn to see if his statement held any weight to it.
"Here is how this is going to work. I will ask a question, and you two will write your answer. You then will have a chance to rebut in written form, and we will discuss both. However, there will be no interruptions of one another. Am I clear?" He said as sternly as Goodwitch.
"Why must we suffer this indignity? You are treating us like children!" Weiss spoke, her face reddening as her temper began to flare once more.
"Because you two are acting like children, and this must be resolved now. We have a mission tomorrow, and I would rather you two not get yourselves or others hurt and or killed because of petty differences."
"Petty?" Blake scoffed, shocked that she had to explain this. "I thought that you would understand my point of view."
"It's a matter of perspective, really. The Grimm won't care if you two are having a tiff. What they will care about is your irritation and that will draw more of them to our position."
"Why do you care? That will mean more for you." It was Weiss' turn to scoff, this time at his supposed hypocrisy. Her teammate reluctantly agreed. It was no secret that Jaune despised the Grimm and relished the opportunity to kill them. Before either of them could say another word, he stopped them with a cold glare.
His eyes gave both of them a sharp reminder of the strength of his sheer, unadulterated will. That no matter how stubborn they might be regarding his little experiment, he was more so. As each of the pair had extended exposure with another man cut from the same cloth, the quieted and let him make his point; at least Jaune was more reasonable in that regard.
"Let me make myself abundantly clear. Just because I enjoy my job does not mean that I will risk innocent lives to do so. So far, the ones with lives directly on the line have been us, but it is different when those unable to protect themselves are involved. The fact that both of you seem to think otherwise is both disheartening and disgusting to me, as is your lack of regard to others suffering from your little war."
"War? I thought that this was just a debate." Ruby spoke for the first time, as it wasn't compromising her neutrality.
"War is but a conflict of the ideals of those blinded to the bigger picture by their own pride and self-righteousness. Which brings me to my first question. How does a war end?"
Taking a moment to think about it, they wrote and showed their answers. Weiss had 'When the cost becomes too high to continue', while Blake simply had 'Suffering and Death'. Blake glared at her opponent's paper, but Weiss looked frustrated with herself.
Jaune, displaying no opinion of either answer, "And your rebuttals?"
…
Blake had, 'Costs? That's what you deem important? Lives are nothing to the almighty lien.'
Weiss, looking less angry, scribed 'There is more to cost than money. I apologize for my lack of clarity.'
Jaune just smiled. "This, right here, is a perfect diagram of why you're fighting. You are both imposing your past preconceptions of each other and putting words into each other's mouth; imagining an enemy where none exists."
Weiss felt pride, feeling that she was in the right. Jaune debunked that immediately. "I said both of you. Don't think that I'm siding with either you because of your blunt pathos. Besides, if this was being scored, neither of you would have earned a point because neither of you answered the question, though it is a good sign that your answers were essentially the same. I didn't ask why do people end war, I asked how does a war end. They end when people pull their heads out of their ass to sit down and talk, like we are doing now."
"I still don't think that this could be considered a war, so the comparison is invalid."
"Isn't it? Both of you claim to be fully in the right, and you don't seem to care how your friends are affected. If it weren't for Ruby, you two would be doing so in public, and would suffer much harsher repercussions than a dressing down. For instance, how would the public perceive the SDC if its heiress seems incapable of being professional? And Blake, people would question why you are so hostile against her? Would it be because of something recent, or perhaps an underlying status of yours is the reason? What if she's Faunus? Why is she hiding? What if she's White Fang?"
"I'm not with them!" She denied the hypothetical line of inquiry, not the message he was sending.
"I know that, and you know that, but do they? People form and hoard prejudices, whether benign or malignant, and it is damn hard to break free of them. I thought that both of you would understand that." He flippantly handed her words back to both of them. "Now, are you both willing to try to put aside your differences?"
For the first time since this exercise began, they looked to each other, then back to him and nodded. "Good. No one can help someone who doesn't want help. Let's begin."
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It was a good, long hour that felt stretched into three, but it was done. The non-related half of RWBY had come to a mutual understanding, and was all the stronger for it. It had taken a lot of yelling, gritted teeth, and backhanded insults, but Jaune had brokered peace between them. 'Honestly, I'd rather go through another week of exams than be forced into that again.'
The hardest part for him was to be the bad guy. At the end of their talk, Jaune had explained his method to the three of them. By giving both of them a common 'enemy', they would unite against it. With the arrangement of the chairs, the two sitting literally side by side would feel united, even subconsciously, against him. It wasn't perfect, of course. They still disagreed on some things, but that was free will at work. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and the freedom to make their own choice. But nothing united people like the phrase 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'.
While waiting for the party supplies to arrive, and the counseling session officially over, Jaune began a line of inquiry that would test this reformed bond of friendship. "So Ruby, how do you think Torchwick is getting away with so many robberies?"
"Well, he hired goons for that one time. Maybe he has some more henchmen?"
"Like the White Fang?" Jaune asked, correctly anticipating the gazes of yellow and blue that silently asked if he was stupid.
"That would be retarded." Blake rebuked without doubt.
"Exactly. Why would they agree to work with a human, given the organizations less than friendly platform on inter-racial relations?" Weiss supplemented.
"Finally, common ground at last." Jaune hummed in approval, knowing that the White Fang was a sore spot for both of them.
"I thought you said that you were done." Ruby commented. She didn't think that she would be able to do it, but she was happy to see that it worked.
Hearing the door open, Jaune smiled, "I am, for real this time. It was just a matter of seeing their progress. But for now, it's time to party!"
For the rest of the night, all stress had vanished. There was no more bickering, no more debating, and no more of those fucking thrice-damned exams. It was just the eight of them having a good time, and he relished it for as long as he could.
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The next morning, bright and early, the eight were headed to the Bullhead that would take them flying over the Forever Fall to their mission destination. On the way, they ran into team JORN on a morning run. Jack greeted with a hearty, "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen."
"What's up?" Jaune replied with equal enthusiasm.
"I see that you're being deployed. Where are you all headed?" The normally taciturn Beau asked; his voice had a filtered effect from wearing his mask.
"Some small town called Evergreen." Yang confided, her mind sharp despite the early hour with a cup of coffee.
"Now ain't that a coincidence?" Jack asked rhetorically with a wide smile. "That's where we went. Got back day before yesterday."
"How we looking in terms of Grimm?" Ruby inquired.
"Unlikely, Miss Rose." Mr. Onyx asked. He may have been a student, but everyone called him by his last name. It was both from his formal, all-business persona and the unfortunate fact that he shared the same first name at the infamous Roman Torchwick. "After the first day, the most dangerous thing out that way is a stray dog."
"Oh, don't be like that." His team leader lightly chided, clearly a dog person, ignoring Roman's grunt in response. "She was just hungry, is all. Ate all those T-bone steaks like a living garbage disposal."
He seemed to find his own joke, or the memory, hilarious.
"Well, it's been fun, but we need to go. See you around, boys." Nora was disappointed in the high potential of a shortage of things to smash, but she was still riding the high from last night. She managed to sneak some alcohol into Ren's soda, and had fallen asleep cuddling her like a Teddy Ursa.
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Near the halfway point of their flight, an interesting conversation had come about. Going over her exams, Weiss was a bit upset over a question marked wrong in history; to be more specific, the one covering Ludwig Glanz. While her education spoke of him in one light, Beacon's exam was in another.
"Hey, Jaune?" Pyrrha, getting her partner's attention, "Isn't that who you named your greatsword after?"
"What?" The Atlas-born squawked.
"Yep." Jaune borderline grunted, on the verge of being lost in his own thoughts as he steeled his focus for the mission ahead. That, and it was to serve a distraction for his motion sickness. In their haste to leave, he had, once again, forgot to bring the handy pill, or even gum to curtail the storm brewing in his gut, bottled up only by sheer will.
"Yep?" The slang felt and sounded odd coming from the prim girl of white hair. That's all your going to say about naming a weapon after one of the most notorious butchers in history? A man who has been called 'The Accursed' even to this day?"
Sensing that a repeat experience of yesterday was soon to take place, Ruby felt that she should intervene. "Can we not argue? It might draw in Grimm."
"Sure thing, Rubes." Jaune agreed.
However, desiring to understand others' points of view, Pyrrha asked while temporarily under the spell of wild curiosity, "What exactly did he do that would label him as 'Accursed'? Before Beacon, I don't think that I've heard of him."
That was strange, as Pyrrha also enjoyed reading history. Like a certain Doctor said, 'Those who fail to understand history are doomed to repeat it.'
"My grandfathers knew him very well." Jaune admitted. "My paternal, the one not making pizza, and he were distant cousins. The Arc clan was quite large before the War… less so after. They were the ones to stop what his closest friend had become."
And so for the remaining hour of their flight, Jaune weaved the tragic tale of Ludwig Glanz, né Arc, pulling out Iosefka to play and set the mood. Ludwig Glanz had founded an independent military group, The Order of the Shining Blade, in Solitas, the first Faunus to do so for any order of a similar nature, and its influence had spread to Mistral as well at its peak under his leadership.
"Think of them as a prototype Huntsmen organization." Jaune clarified before returning to his story.
As it happened, the horse Faunus carried the name of the order well, for he could use his aura to augment the size and capacity for damage of his weapon, turning his silver longsword into a sword much like Jaune's, only it looked forged from moonlight and it lacked any modern technological upgrades. With his code of honor, his dedication to protecting the defenseless, his oath to never kill a person, and his skill as a warrior against the Grimm, he had earned the epithet 'The Holy Blade'.
However, he had risen to prominence in a time of great uncertainty. After leading the Shining Blades for thirteen years, the suppressionist doctrine had take root in Mantle's territories, and had begun to spread throughout Anima. He beseeched the leaders of that alliance to abandon such folly, hoping that all of the good he had done would sway them. Mistral's emperor had laughed in his face, for he had no interest in losing the power and wealth he had amassed from settling nearly the entire continent.
The response he received in Mantle was gunfire and betrayal. His once loyal second, seeing opportunity, had poisoned the ears of Mantle's High Council against Ludwig, persuading them to 'save' humanity at the low cost of what made life worth living, and adding a religious element to their cause. With Ludwig exiled from half of the world and out of Abraham Sinthe's way, he reformed The Shining Blades into his vision, The Golden Eagles.
But all hope was not lost, for Ludwig learned from men still loyal to him that the alliance was soon to expand into Sanus, spreading their 'enlightened' way of life. Knowing a war on a scale beyond any before it was inevitable, he beseeched Vacuo to make peace with Vale, but he arrived too late. Sinthe had gotten their first, and had begun to brand Ludwig a heathen and a criminal guilty of countless crimes and atrocities, much like he had in Mantle. But they did not believe him, for even on the other side of Remnant they knew the reputation Ludwig had garnered. Settlements of Mistral and Mantle were also strong-arming Vacuo into siding with them instead of remaining neutral, and they weren't happy about it.
Left with only one option, Ludwig and Sinthe engaged in a trial by combat. In Vacuo, only those who could survive were welcome, so more often than not might made right. The only rule was that if one surrendered, no further harm would come to them.
The founder of the Golden Eagles, knowing that he was no match, told Ludwig right before the duel began that wife had died with a smug, satisfied gleam in his eyes that implied responsibility. Mad with grief, he did not hear Sinthe utter his surrender until after the blade split him in two. It was the first person that he had ever killed. Though Vacuo would have Vale's back, and sickened by Sinthe's craven tactic, they were bound by ancient law to curse Ludwig as an oath-breaker.
With the belief that his wife was dead, as well as their child, he plunged into war. He steeped his shining blade in blood, sacrificing his inner peace so that innocents might be spared. In the three years that followed, his mind began to go astray. He saw so much hate and suffering and wrong with the world that it corrupted him.
He often traveled alone, with only his sword as his companion. The sword was the only constant in his life. Ever since he had found it, it had remained the only constant. He trusted no one and nothing else, for they too might betray him. He could not even trust himself, for he began to hear a voice in his mind after one battle left him blind. When he traveled with armies, others would see and hear that he would talk to his sword at night, as if it were talking back.
On the final battle, the largest battle of history, he was a force to be reckoned with, still fighting for what he believed was right. What he did not know, was that his, and Jaune's, family fought on both sides of the war. He learned that painful truth when he fought and killed another Arc. Upon earning the name kinslayer, whatever had kept him sane up until then had abandoned him. He slaughtered all in his path. Friend, foe, and kin alike, all who got near him were cut down without mercy or hesitation, until he approached the King of Vale himself.
Before he could stab him in the back, three men stopped him, Monty Arc, Gehrman, and Dante; the former two once serving under Ludwig challenged him. At the cost of Gehrman's right leg, they had subdued the man who had become little more than a beast wearing the same skin.
Near death with his blood watering the sand beneath him, Ludwig had regained a shred of his former self and had asked how his wife had died. It had been a lie, as she had waited for him in Vale all that time, with their twin daughters. He gave his sword to Dante, who still had it to this day, and died in peace.
"My sister published a book on it. You might like it, as it is not blood-curdling horror." It was actually Noire's first book, titled 'The Holy Blade'. "It's banned in Atlas and Mistral."
"Why?" Ruby didn't understand. Though Jaune might have been telling the truth about his capabilities as a bard, it was still a very good story.
"He played a large part in how the war ended. If not for him, we might have been living in a vastly different Remnant, if we existed at all. You never know, butterfly effect and all. Anyway, is it any wonder that Ludwig would be a sore topic in their upper crust? They probably either demonized or removed him from history out of spite and sheer butt hurt." Giggles and chortles all around, bringing the mood back up.
The intercom turned on with the pilot's curt voice, "Story time's over, kids. Get off. Happy hunting, and I'll see you tomorrow."
The pilot was rather disgruntled about having to fly on what was supposed to be a day off. This Grimm Migration was rather inconvenient like that, but there were worse ways to pass the time than music and a story. Besides, it's hard to say no to a man like Ozpin. Rather than land, she opened the hatch twenty feet above ground at a slow, cruising speed about half a mile outside of the town. Checking to see eight bodies on the ground, she accelerated back to Vale.
On the other hand, it was an unexpected stroke of luck.
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With both feet planted firmly on the ground once more, Jaune breathed deeply in relief. "At long last, we're here."
With their mission officially started, Ruby and Jaune turned on their cameras. They were no bigger than a finger, and were secured to their ears. As their first mission without shadowing a Huntsman, they wore these for later assessment to determine if they were ready to continue that trend. They also each had a small pack containing a few days of supplies. Mission extensions happened all the time, and it couldn't hurt to be prepared.
Blake, fond of stating the obvious, made her observations of the terrain. "The town looks in good shape, so no Grimm thus far just like JORN said."
"Wonderful, a whole two days of boredom." Yang grumbled.
"Let's not think of it as boredom." Pyrrha offered a silver lining, though her tone suggested that she didn't quite believe her own words. "Think of it as a… time to relax?"
"I guess. I just really want to punch something right now."
"All right, let's go talk to the town leader and get settled in." Ruby led the charge. Hike would have been more appropriate given their walking pace, but charge sounded more heroic to her. Upon reaching the town's edge, Evergreen looked much larger than expected. It was around the same area of five city blocks, all surrounding a large, ancient looking cathedral. So large, that it seemed oversized in the center of the one and two-story sized buildings around it. With no windows, it looked to be more of a fortress with fancy architecture.
But something was amiss. Walking into the town, not a single person was there to greet them, or was visible at all. The town was oddly quiet for a sunny day following a rainstorm. No children were playing in puddles, nothing but the wind and the creaking of a swinging tavern sign.
"Where is everyone?" Weiss asked.
"Maybe everyone went to the temple, to pray and give thanks for their good fortune?" If Pyrrha was a civilian in a town like this, that's where she would likely be.
"It's a start." Jaune was tense, with one hand on Orion, ready to draw at a moment's notice. After making their way to the town square, the ancient cathedral had one sign of modernity. A thick, metal vault-like door barricaded the only entrance. "Lockdown, then. Guess they weren't so lucky."
"Lockdown?" Ruby asked for clarification. The island of Patch, hosting Signal Academy and a low population, boasted one of the lowest Grimm populations in the world. Of those Grimm, it was rare indeed that a newborn survived long enough to ascend to D-class.
"Most towns have at least one sanctum, a place of safety in case of a Grimm attack. Huntsmen can't be everywhere all the time." Ren explained, having been in more than a few in his travels.
"Hmm." Jaune hummed and gave a nod in agreement. "With a town this size, this is likely the only one. What better place than somewhere that inspires hope and safety, even in peace? Let's let them know it's safe."
"But there might be people left outside." Ruby said.
"Doubtful. Haven't seen any signs of Grimm. They probably all went in as a precaution, since there's been a whole day since JORN left and we arrived." Blake said as Jaune walked up to the intercom.
Unfortunately, it wasn't working, and not even static sounded from the speaker to indicate that it was working. "It's dead, and there's no camera. Of all the times… Well, looks like we're searching the town after all."
They took a few moments to plan for their search, and detail what to look for; stragglers, anything out of the ordinary, and emergency evacuation plans. With vault doors like this, they could only be opened from both the inside and the outside. Jaune was hoping they had planned an escape tunnel, and the instructions for accessing it were in one of the homes.
They split into their teams, Jaune feeling too paranoid to split in pairs. They could take their time, as the stocking of supplies in vaults was always a priority. Grimm attacks could happen at any moment, and people could last for weeks until their home was cleansed.
"I want constant radio communication. We'll each take a section, and meet back here in a couple of hours unless something pops up."
"Why so jumpy, Jaune? Everything's fine." Yang remarked on how tightly wound up Jaune seemed to be.
"As the cliché saying goes, I've just got a bad feeling about this. This is starting to look like something in the horror genre." With that, teams RWBY and JNPR went in opposite directions.
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Regrouping as the sun was going down at the tavern they passed, they used it to 'camp' for the night. As they were heading for a town, they didn't bring anything like tents or a sleeping bag. Part of their mission pay covered for room and board, so they might as well use it.
"Well, at least the kitchen's well stocked, so there's something going right today." Yang said. In their search, they hadn't found anything of use. No stragglers were expected, but also any sign of a secret passage? Since it must have been a word of mouth thing, that wasn't too out of the ordinary. It was like this town was abandoned.
Taking a sniff, "Water's not smelling too good." Jaune stated before setting a glass down to drink from his own canteen. As Blake had emptied hers earlier, she went to go fill it up, but suddenly jumped back and bumping into Yang.
"Whoa, there. What's -" She stopped, seeing her face almost frozen in terror.
Shaking her to snap her out of it, "Blake, what's wrong?"
Blake shouted in fear, "No one drink the water!"
Gathering everyone else, she explained why. "The water's been drugged."
"Really?" Nora took a whiff. "I don't smell anything."
Blake pointed to the ears hidden underneath her bow to point out that her senses were sharper. Jaune smelled it as well, but he didn't know what it was.
"I don't know it's proper name, but what it does is forcibly activate a person's aura." Blake explained, taking a deep breath to steady her nerves.
"You don't have to explain, you know." Weiss, unexpectedly, offered her support. It was a stark change, compared to recent events.
"No, no I do. I know because I… I was forced to take it. When I was younger, I used to be in the White Fang peaceful rallies."
That was certainly unexpected to everyone, and yet it wasn't. It had come up in the 'counseling' session yesterday, but Jaune hadn't expected the private Faunus to come out about it so soon. 'Maybe since everyone knows she's a Faunus, she trusts us. Or maybe since it's mission relevant and she doesn't want to lie. I can respect that.'
Seeing how uncomfortable her partner was, Yang slowly pulled her into a hug, showing her support. Feeling a bit easier, Blake pressed on. "At one protest, there was a more violent response."
She took off one of her shoes and pulled up one of her leggings to expose her ankle, and the faint crescent scar of a bite mark. "The police set dogs on us, and I just so happened to be on the front lines, just like at every protest I went to in Vale. A lot of people were arrested, including my parents, but not me. I was 'spared' the experience of a prisoner because of my injury and my age. Whether through 'misplaced paperwork' or just plain bad luck, I was in a SDC mine for over two weeks before I was freed. They forced us to take this, and I'll never forget its stench. It makes me nauseous just smelling it again."
Others were expecting for Weiss to defend the SDC, but she didn't. Yesterday, using her security access on her scroll, she discovered that particular mine had been closed for such activities in an effort to raise good PR. It might have been an outlier for their forced child labor, an extreme example, but it had happened nonetheless.
"It's called 'Soul Fertilizer'." Ren filled the lack of a name. "Like Blake, I don't know it's original name, but that's the translation of what it's called on Vytal. It's for medicinal purposes; temporarily activating aura to speed the healing process, but it becomes locked again once it runs out."
"What's it doing here?" Ruby asked to highlight that obviously something was very wrong in Evergreen.
"I don't know, but we'll investigate after dinner. Eat you own rations, we have no way of knowing if the food is contaminated as well." Jaune ordered. It was a very tense meal.
Jaune took Blake and Ren with him to go investigate the water supply, as they had the best senses, whether physical or of aura, and knew what to look for. The other five held down the fort, in case whoever had tainted the town came back.
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As she was still the self-appointed morale officer, Yang tried to carry out her duties. "I'd say this situation was pretty grim, but it's still missing something."
Nora, finding that pretty funny, giggled before asking, "Let me guess, Grimm?"
"My god, I'm becoming predictable." Yang realized.
"We need to focus, Yang. Your jokes are as distracting as they are subpar." Weiss admonished.
"No need to be so Weiss cold. Besides, there's nothing here." To prove her wrong, someone burst through the front door. With the sudden noise, they were all jumpy enough to ready their weapons at the source. It was an unarmed woman, barely older than them, in a purple hooded traveling cloak, looking more than a bit scared with so much potential death pointed her way.
"Please, don't shoot. I'm unarmed and I don't have any valuables." She screamed at a whisper, her voice sounding brittle from lack of use.
The Hunters-in-Training looked amongst themselves in confusion, before lowering their weapons. Pyrrha apologized, "We're from Beacon, not bandits. We're sorry that we scared you, but we're just a bit jumpy with this ghost town. Do you live here?"
Slowly, the woman relaxed as well. "Once, yes. I decided to visit after travelling for a while, but I couldn't hear anyone around." She was about to say more, but Weiss interrupted her.
"Traveling? You are aware that a Grimm Migration is happening right now, correct?"
"No, my scroll died a week ago. My horse died en route here from wolves." She explained hastily, before slowly showing her pistol, engraved with a jackal head on the side. "Regular wolves, not the Grimm kind. I had barely enough ammo to fend them off."
"All right, well you're safe here, Miss…?" Yang comforted the stranger, but also asked for her name.
"Oh, do excuse me. I seem to have left my manners in a cave with the bats." She jokingly admonished herself before lowering her hood, revealing the top half of her head. She was a blond-haired canine Faunus, with pointed ears sticking straight up. Her eyes were covered with a black blindfold, with two eye designs in red over where her eyes would be. Her face was a bit gaunt, but still attractive despite some scarring.
"Everyone calls me Jackie. But never mind that, I think I heard some bandits skulking on the other side of town. They smelled like blood."
"How many?" Nora asked, excited at the chance to crack some bandit femurs.
"Three of them, two male and one female. They sounded young, about our age."
Thinking about it, Pyrrha repressed a groan. "Did you happen to hear what they sounded like?"
"Not well, I was too far away even for my ears, but I think I heard the girl call one of the others… John?" She sounded unsure, but it was a bit of a weird name.
"Jaune." Nora said, not asked, but said with disappointment, putting her hammer back down as she pouted.
"Yes, that's it. Are they notorious or something?" Jackie asked, tentatively sitting down after Ruby slowly helped her to a chair, guiding her around the mattresses that they had brought down from upstairs.
"No, they are our teammates. I apologize for the confusion." Pyrrha apologized yet again, this time on Jaune's behalf.
"But why does he smell like blood?" Jackie asked, and they couldn't blame her. It was odd, but so was he. "With the town being empty, and that smell, I thought the worst."
"It's his aura. Don't worry about it. I'll ask him if he can put on something to mask it."
"That would be most kind of you." She said, both to Pyrrha and Yang for handing her some water.
"Speaking of which, I'm going to call him. Please don't be alarmed." Pyrrha let her know, so that the blind woman wouldn't be startled by the sudden extra voice. "Jaune, we found a-"
"Argh, fucking-!" His voice faded out for a moment, but returned much calmer. "Apologies, but could you repeat that? Spider just bit me."
"A local found us. She's scared because she's a blind Faunus and she caught your scent."
"Ah, please convey my apologies. We'll finish up and be back in about… five minutes."
After that time passed, the three had returned. Jaune's hair and clothes were damp, and he looked disgruntled. "Spider bite startled him and he slipped in some mud. He took a dip in the stream." Ren explained.
"Oh, did you get to see him naked then, Blake?" Yang teased.
"No." Blake looked and sounded aloof, but Yang still kept smiling as she detected a small tremor of what must be disappointment. She kept staring at Jackie, but she's always been wary of strangers.
"Father, is that you?" Jackie said out of nowhere.
"Just us three." Jaune almost whispered, eyeing the stranger.
"Oh… I just thought, with the lumenflower…" She sounded disappointed.
"I apologize for the false hope, but it's mine. Best way to cover up my natural scent. The good news is that no bodies have been found, so they're probably in the vault." He spoke, still just above a whisper.
She looked heavily relieved at the news. "Oh, thank you sir. With the quiet and the blood, I thought the worst. Also, thank you for lowering your voice."
"One of my sisters is blind, so I understand. It must be worse with your enhanced hearing, considering that you're a Faunus." The others winced, not having considered that.
"It's fine everyone, it's not your fault that you didn't know." Jackie mollified. "But, do I know you… Jaune was it? You sound familiar."
"I don't believe we've ever spoken to each other. Perhaps we've passed each other by? Have you been to Crow's Hill?"
"Not recently. Perhaps it'll come to me later on."
"Are you hungry?" Pyrrha asked; the hospitable culture of Mistral ingrained in her.
"No thanks, I ate earlier. I'd just like to get some rest, if it isn't too much trouble. I haven't slept well for a while, and there's no place like home."
"Of course. We should do the same soon enough." Jaune said. "Here, let me help you to a room."
"Thank you kindly." After helping her up the stairs and to a room where they hadn't borrowed a mattress, he came right back down to debrief the others, sitting down on the mattress nearest the stairs.
"Water was tainted at the pump and filter station. Based on the container size, we estimated that it's been a few days, but it'll run out soon."
"Why would someone do that?" Ruby asked. Out of courtesy for their unexpected extra, they kept their voices down.
"It's a bandit trick." Ren explained, having seen it before. "Lure Grimm into village with the overabundance of aura, wait for them to leave, and then loot the spoils. Or kill the Grimm and be rewarded for their 'heroism'. This Migration was a perfect time for it to go unnoticed."
But it had gotten pretty dark, and even with night vision they might have missed something. "If she's a local, maybe she'll know of a secret entrance, and we can ask them ourselves."
"I bet that'll be a breath of fresh air for the townsfolk." Yang punned.
"Very funny, Yang." Jaune complimented dryly as he set down most of his weapons next to his mattress.
They set up their patrol rotation, assigned to partners, and everybody else went to sleep. That is, everyone except Jaune. Throughout the night, though had lucked out on patrol duty, his eyes were wide open as he breathed to feign sleep. His stony gaze remained fixed on the stairs, dagger in hand underneath the pillow.
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Chapter End
The throw away line about Jaune later being at the hospital after the Gala, I'm thinking about doing a separate one-shot. If you guys want me to type it up, let me know when you review. Which gives me another idea.
If you have ever heard of the story 'The Havoc side of the force' by Tsu Doh Nimh, the author has a side story of events from other perspectives to the main story called 'The Unsuspecting side of the force'; both of which I can whole-heartedly recommend, the latter after the former of course if only to understand what's going on. Anyway, I think that I'll start recommending some of the more impressive stories that I've read and/or continue to read.
I added the mission moderator office because I thought about how would an entire industry of warriors be funded without people like this behind the scenes. Think of the system as similar to the Guild in DanMachi. I also modeled Irene after Eina Tulle, just with the addition of grey snake scales on her cheeks (think Shireen Baratheon).
It's certainly not Ozpin doing all of the work, because he's already running a school, despite the comedic cliché of him foisting all of the work on Goodwitch. Let the bureaucrats handle the daily stuff, whilst he handles the more, shall we say, interesting missions personally.
That whole Nora and Ruby watching the news about Torchwick thing may seem pointless, but hear me out. Something bugged me about the Volume 4 finale fight. Nora's grenades had a whistle when fired at the Nuckalavee. There's no spoiler warning here because it's been long enough. Anyway, upon further research, her grenades had no whistle in Volume 1, but they did in the Volume 3 fight against team BRNZ. So that got me thinking that she had upgraded Magnhild sometime in between, and what better way than seeing an example of a whistling explosive at work. After all, Nora doesn't give a shit about subtlety.
I'm finally investing in what I have felt to be my weakest area with characters, interpersonal conflict. So yeah, there's a lot with Blake and Weiss, especially the former. In her more fleshed out backstory, I'm dipping into American History history, particularly in the 1950's and 60's. Civil rights protestors, and leaders, were often arrested for brief periods of time, and they weren't treated gently before jail either. Hoses, dogs, opposing riots were not out of the norm.
Ludwig Glanz is my way of fleshing out Remnant's history. As I was writing it, I though to myself that it could be it's own story, as this was a cliff notes version compared to my usual writing style. It also keeps to Bloodborne's lore somewhat. If you read the item description, it implies that the trick weapon was made to imitate the Holy Moonlight Sword. Jaune, similarly, imitates the HMS with the expandable greatsword. In addition, by naming the weapon add-on Ludwig, he pays double homage to the tragic hero.
UNTIL NEXT TIME!