Not quite as in pain today – still stiff, but my head now has half the range it usually does when looking left. Maybe I should just give up on being an ambi-turner. Jokes aside, I'm still in a bit of a state. I'll be trying to get a full chapter out regardless.

Cover Art: GWBrex

Chapter 15

The Branwen tribe were hard at training. Jaune sat on a barrel with a wet rag in hand brushing against his sweaty brow as he watched the women repeat the same performance the men just had and clash shield wall on shield wall. They pushed and ground into one another, trying to force the other party back while keeping their own protection up. All around, bandits cheered, rooted and yelled insults or encouragement. It was nothing they hadn't gone through, and Jaune had the bruises to show for the fact. It turned out that brute strength was only half the battle in a shield push. Clever positioning, footwork and teamwork did the rest.

That was what let Yang break through the guard of a woman opposite her and begin the collapse. Rather than rush in to take advantage, Yang shouted out "Push!" and her team took the chance, driving forward and causing the weak spot to buckle. From there, it was a disaster, with the defenders collapsing back and being swiftly routed. Or, in this case, sent to the muddy floor in defeat.

Dad never taught them how to use shields back home – his justification was that they were no use against the Grimm, who would have smashed through a shield wall like this with ease. He either had decided Ansel was too poor to attract bandits, or that their training on spear formations would be enough. To be fair, Ansel had never faced a proper bandit attack. Grain, while valuable, was not exactly what most bandits looked for, and it was easier to steal that when it was in sacks and being transported to market elsewhere. The roads were seldom safe.

For the Branwen tribe, he supposed that a shield wall would be much more valuable. It'd let them approach gates and wooden walls safe from arrows, slings and javelins, the most common weapons used by village folk, and it also kept them together and organised. He imagined discipline was a real problem otherwise.

"You did better today." Ruby appeared as she so often did at these events, smiling brightly and squeezing in next to him. "You were almost able to knock dad down."

Ruby's cheer was appreciated but her encouragement needed work, especially since he'd come nowhere close. Taiyang and Qrow were a force to be reckoned with when side to side, driving anyone out their way with their powerful muscles. At least Taiyang was kind enough to laugh it off and help him up. The rest would lord their victories in training over the heads of the defeated and act like it meant something.

"Not taking part yourself?"

"At my size? You must be joking."

"True. The shield wall would have a ditch in the middle of it."

Ruby punched his arm and pouted, but it didn't last long. "So, does this mean you're joining the tournament in Vale?"

"Heard about that, have you?"

"It's all anyone is talking about. Well, Yang anyway. I've overhead dad talk about it with Raven and Qrow as well. It sounds big. Raven really thinks they can win it, but dad and Qrow aren't as sure. They say it depends on who else enters."

"I guess there are some strong people out there."

"Hmhm." Ruby shook her head. "They're worried about noble retinues."

"Nobles?"

"The prize is the Relic of Knowledge; everyone wants that. Dad says that nobles will hire squads of mercenaries or send their house guard into the tournament. The tribe aren't the only ones who are going to cheat and work together."

For a prize like three answers to any questions you might have, he could see the value. How big was this thing? Could a noble hire an entire army some thousand strong and send them in together? Probably not. There had to be some kind of system for narrowing down the contestants or they'd need a ridiculously sized battlefield to host this on. I guess this is what Raven meant about accidents happening. No one can control several hundred people clashing with steel at once.

"Are you entering?" he asked.

"No way!" Ruby shook her head quickly. "Not with that huntress I stole the horse from probably there. I'll be going, though." She drew her hood up. "Like this."

"You really think a hood will hide you?"

"Everyone is going to be looking at the fighters. No one will care about one girl on the side."

She might have had a point there. The women's side of the tournament promised to be a lot more competitive, what with the possibility for aura and the Goddess' own magic. The Huntresses were barred from entry, but it was possible for other women to unlock the power.

He wasn't sure if Raven, Yang and the other women had a chance if that came true. He hadn't seen any of them use aura, but then Ruby apparently had the talent, and she wasn't using magic like Cinder or Pyrrha had. There must have been a vast difference between possession and understanding. I don't even know how to use mine. It only comes out when Ozma fully takes over.

"You know," Ruby whispered. "You could use a question to figure out about that."

It didn't take a genius to know what she was referring to. "If I won, I'd be using my question to find a place to settle down," he said firmly. Raven's idea was best there. "And that's if I decide to take part at all. The more I hear about this, the more I think we'll all be smashed to pieces. Is a shield wall really going to stand up to a retinue of knights in full armour? Last I checked, bandits got by picking on weak targets."

"Hmm. It's worth a shot, though. Right?"

"I guess." An uncomfortable idea came to him. "You don't think Raven is going to try and steal the Relic, do you?"

"In the middle of Vale surrounded by Huntresses" Ruby laughed. "No way. She's already worried some of the tribe might act out and get them in trouble. Trust me, she's been talking to dad about how to keep everyone on their best behaviour. She isn't going to try and steal from the Eternity Queen herself."

His relief was palpable, even if it raised a question of whether anyone had. He had to imagine someone had tried over the many centuries – people could be desperate, and the Relic would be quite the prize. Maybe it worked and maybe it hadn't. He didn't fancy their chances.

"Why do you think she's offering it as a prize at all?" he asked. "If it can answer any question then why doesn't the Eternity Queen use it herself? She could ask where the Dark Lord is," he said in a whisper. "With three questions per hundred years, she could probably capture every Dark Lord in a century. Assuming they lived at least thirty-three years in captivity each. It seems weird for her to offer that away."

Ruby understood the true reason for his asking and smiled awkwardly. "Does she need to?" she asked. "The Dark Lord hasn't been a problem in forever. Sometimes one crops up and tries something, but when was the last time they actually came close to winning? Three hundred years? Four? From what I heard, the last few didn't get anywhere."

The Goddess had already won. As much as the fact frightened him, there was a part of him that was vindictively pleased about that. Relieved that, even if he should lose himself, the Dark Lord wouldn't win. And really, who was he to question the Eternity Queen when she'd been defeating Ozma for hundreds of years? Maybe she had relied on the Relic of Knowledge once, but it was obvious she didn't need it now. If she was confident enough to hand it away, he didn't have the right to question.

"You could ask how others stayed sane," Ruby whispered.

"Huh?"

"The legends didn't always have him going insane, and you said yourself the guy in the dream sounded normal. I know you can't ask a question for the future and ask what you can do, but you can ask how people in the past had the Dark Lord and didn't lose themselves to him. It could help."

It could, but that was only if he could win, and that was feeling increasingly unlikely. "What if it's something I wouldn't be willing to do? Like if I can stay sane by working with him and trying to kill everyone? Or what if it's by sacrificing people?"

"What if it's not?" she shot back. "What if it's easier?"

Jaune sighed. He appreciated that Ruby tried, he really did, but there were times when she just wouldn't let this go. "Why are you so adamant on this? You're always going on about finding out more or that I should learn more. Why? Do you know something about the Dark Lord I don't?"

"No." Ruby shook her head. "You're the first one I've ever met."

"Then why?"

"Because you're my friend," she said simply. "You saved dad's life and I want to help you."

"That's not…" Jaune sighed, the anger he'd felt building up sapped away by so simple a statement. He shouldn't have been so suspicious when she was just tyring to help. It wasn't like Ruby could have any ulterior motives when, like him, she hadn't been alive long enough to see or hear about the last Dark Lord. "I'm not sure it'll help, Ruby, and that's even assuming I somehow win this whole thing. Even if the tribe gets to the finals somehow, do you think I could beat Qrow or your dad?"

"You couldn't, but he could."

"That's not-"

"Hey." Yang approached, sweaty and flushed red from exercise and with her wild blonde hair pulled back into a thick ponytail. "You're not trying anything weird with my sister, are ya?"

"Do I look like I am…?"

Yang looked confused by the question, at least until Ruby spoke up. "You were amazing, Yang – I knew you could win."

"Y-Yeah. Course." Yang preened and stood taller. "Your sis is the baddest bitch in this place."

"Will you show me more about how to use a knife later? Please?"

"S-Sure I will. You're my sister. After dinner, kay?"

Ruby thanked her profusely and Yang sauntered off looking like she'd been given the reins to the tribe. Jaune watched her go before saying, "Wrapped around your finger much?"

"Yang's alright once you get to know her. She just wants to be an awesome big sister and doesn't know how." Ruby giggled to herself. "It's not so bad. I always wanted an older sibling. I thought it'd be a big brother, but a big sister isn't so bad."

"I guess I have you to thank for her not being as big a bitch to me in training."

"I may have said a few words. I just made it clear you're my friend, and that she'd have never met dad without you." Lowering her voice, she added. "I haven't told anyone about you know what. Neither has dad. Raven doesn't know either."

"Thanks. For both things. And whatever you said to Yang, it's working."

/-/

Taiyang carefully cut the smoking meat and used the knife to slide some onto a copper plate for Ruby, then served some for Jaune and finally himself. He crouched low in the tent, moving over to set the plates down and pour some beer from a wooden tankard. Then he crossed his legs and sat, the three of them close by on the cushions, the scent of cooking meat and spices thick on the air.

"Been a while since we had a chance to eat like this," Taiyang said after taking a hefty bite.

It had. Keeping track of time was both difficult and unnecessary, for Jaune planned to either leave in the spring or after the tournament, whichever he decided, and it didn't much matter how many dies that took. Even so, he figured it had been over a month at the very least.

"I'm sorry you had to stay on your own the whole time," he went on. "Raven's rules. If I had my way, you'd have been staying in our tent. I owe you that much."

"It's a punishment, right?"

Taiyang snorted. "Did Ruby tell you that? You've both got it wrong. What Raven did, she did because she had to. I left the tribe. That I came back is fine, but everyone here knows what she and I had before I left. It'd not look good for her to put us all up in her tent. Her people might start thinking she's favouring me."

"They seem loyal," Jaune said.

"It's the middle of winter. Hardest time to keep them that way. When you're raiding and fighting and swimming in loot, it's easier. A man is either too tired or too drunk to start thinking about how they can lead better. Problem is now, when there's nothing to do but sit around, train and think of better times, that people start wondering if it isn't somehow Raven's fault. Food is scarce, beer even more so, then her old lover shows up with a son and another lad, and she gives them the good treatment? Might be a step too far for some."

Jaune hummed and bit into his meat, listening as he went. It was hard at times to remember the Branwen tribe were bandits. That wasn't because they were particularly good people or friendly – they weren't – but because they sat around drinking, eating and not much else. He could see how that might be boring for some. It wasn't much different from winter back home.

"I got a free pass because of my history," Taiyang went on. "And I've faced a couple of challenges since coming back. Ruby is young and small, and Yang made it clear anyone that harms her will have their arms ripped out. You, though? Different story. I can't make a claim on you like I can Ruby." He shrugged. "Sorry."

"It's fine. I'm not having a bad time on the outskirts."

"So I've heard. Ruby tells me you have your own little tribe out there."

"It's a bunch of hungry people who will defend me for a share of my hunt," he said. "I wouldn't call them friends. If I couldn't hunt as well as I can, they'd as soon stab me in the back as look at me."

"The tribe is what you make of it. You can find loyal blood brothers and sisters here, or, if you see everyone as looking to stab you, you'll make enemies." Taiyang let out a long sigh. "I guess that's not going to be a problem if you don't intend to stay."

"I'm not a bandit, Taiyang."

"I know. Does it bother you I was?"

He wanted to say no but that would be a lie. Bandits might say they had their reasons, but unless Taiyang was literally starving to death then Jaune wasn't sure he could accept it. It doesn't make sense for so bad a man to be so likeable, he thought. Taiyang was funny and loyal and a good father, and yet he'd brought Ruby here. Jaune dodged the question and asked him if he intended to go out raiding come spring.

"Not much choice. It's not as bad as you imagine. It's cruel, I admit, but most the villages we raid surrender and give up goods without bloodshed."

"And those that don't?"

"The tribe doesn't massacre them if that's what you're suggesting. Think about it, if we killed everyone then who would we raid? We beat people down, kill if we have to, but half our raids are on cattle as homes. A farmer's wealth is in his herds and crops. A lot of what we do is just show up, steal animals and leave. Some villages pay us off instead. You hear the worst of what it means to be a bandit."

He probably wasn't wrong. Jaune had heard the worst of bandits just as he had the worst of those who joined the Dark Lords in the past, but the point remained that both were still against good and innocent people like he'd grown up with. Taiyang might try and soften what they did, but if the tribe had come to Ansel, the people he called neighbours would have suffered. They weren't a rich village. That was to say nothing of the fact his father would have tried to defend his family and might have been killed for it.

"I can't accept that." Jaune said. "I'm sorry, and I won't tell you what you can and can't do, but I'm not someone who can live as a bandit. I just wasn't raised that way."

"Neither was I…" Ruby said softly.

Taiyang grimaced, especially at hearing it from his own daughter. He must have suspected or even known this would be an issue but addressing it couldn't have been easy. Jaune had assumed Ruby would have already. It looked like she'd wanted his moral support.

"Summer and I raised you as how we wished we could be," Taiyang said. "When I fell in love with her, I quit this life. I really did mean to stay on Patch forever with you, Ruby. If it weren't for those Huntresses…"

"I know, dad." Ruby smiled and took his hand. "But you and mom raised me to be a normal person. I can steal a horse if it's to escape what mom made me promise never to get into, but I don't think I can attack innocent people and steal from them. You didn't raise me that way."

"You'll be leaving then," he said. He sounded older than he was. "Alright." Taiyang slammed his fist down, set his plate beside it and grinned. "Alright, I'll do better. We'll find somewhere else. Keep moving. There has to be somewhere we can settle down."

Ruby blinked. "Dad-?"

"What, you think I'm letting you out into the world on your own?" He reached over to grab Ruby and pull her head down, then ran a fist into her hair. Ruby squealed unhappily, for all the good it did her. "Not a chance. I promised Summer I'd give this life up to have a child with her, and I'm not abandoning said child to come back. Can you imagine the look she'll give me in the afterlife if I do?"

"B-But Raven." Ruby argued. "And Yang…"

"Raven was a woman I used to love. I'm still fond of her, sure, but she was an old flame. You're my daughter." Taiyang let out a soft sigh. "As for Yang, I wish I could take you both, I do, but she's happy here. Yang has one parent. You'd have none if I left you to go off alone. I'll offer her the choice, but between the mother she's grown up with and a father who only showed up a month ago, I think we both know what she'll pick."

"Dad, are – are you sure!?" Ruby looked as unsure as she did excited, tears in her eyes. Jaune shifted uncomfortably. It was clear Ruby expected Taiyang to let the two of them go off alone. She might have convinced herself she was okay with that, but it must have hurt all the same. "You're happy here."

"I'm content," he said. "I haven't been happy since Summer died, and I'll be a lot less without you. I said I'd raid because I had to, not because I wanted to. You're not the only one who's spent the last fifteen years living a normal life." He let Ruby up, though he pulled her into his side, and she wrapped her arms around him tightly. "I brought you here because we were out of options," he said. "I knew this would be the safest place we could be. If you don't think you can deal with it though, we'll move on come spring. I promise you."

Ruby squeezed him even tighter and buried her face in his chest. Jaune thought he heard her crying quietly in relief. He looked away, the sight stinging a little. His own father hadn't been in any state to make a similar offer, or even to say goodbye. It was the uncertainty of what Nicholas would have done that hurt the most.

"You okay with this old man coming with you, Jaune?"

"I'm more than okay with it." Jaune offered a smile. "You're the one who actually knows how to travel and camp out. This is further than I've ever been from home."

"True. Course, that means you'll have to come to the city with the rest of the tribe," Taiyang pointed out.

"You still want to compete?"

"Now more than before. With the Chosen wanting Ruby, I want to move off Vale," he explained. "The Church is on every continent obviously, but safer to not be on the same one Summer was from. Charting a ship will cost money though, not to mention travel, finding a place and buying a home or plot of land. It's the same for you, isn't it? Best be far away from Vale once those rumours come out. There's good money to be earned in that tournament, especially if we go far enough to make a shot at the Relic. Enough to see us safely to Mistral. Enough to buy a whole village if we won the damn thing."

To say nothing of being able to ask a question and find the perfect destination. He'd been iffy on the decision himself, but now the choice wasn't between the tournament and not but between travelling alone or with Ruby and Taiyang. The latter would be much safer, not to mention easier, while striking out alone with no knowledge of the land, no experience and no destination in mind was a recipe for disaster. Even if Taiyang didn't know where they were going, having Mistral as a destination at least gave them a direction.

He's right. I don't have much of a choice unless I want to wait for them outside the city while it all goes on. That was at least a little tempting, but if he was going to be spending his time there anyway then he might as well be useful.

"I guess I'm joining you then." Jaune eventually said. "Not much else to do."

Next chapter we'll be arriving in Vale, so another time skip there. I'm going to go have a lay down and see if I can't do some stretches to try and lessen the strain on my shoulder. Kind of glad I wrote half a chapter of tomorrow's Arc Corp ahead of time (last Monday) because it'll give me a good chance to finish that without pushing too hard. Also have Tuesday's Raise chapter already written. Few days to rest and relax.

Next Chapter: 8th May

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