Hello! and here is the long awaited fourth chapter. it's been quite a while, but i am hoping all the editing was of good use. Without any further delay, here is the next chapter.
Initially, upon the ending of the war, Valen's assumed their kingdom would be reconstructed and their lives could begin to heal. They allowed the prospect of peace to cloud their homes for a while, believing there was honor among the Atlesians. That was not the case. A quiet and peacefully morning in the independent villages scattered about the region was nothing but a forgotten memory. Homes were raided, civilians shot in the street for suspicion of assisting both former and still active coalition members. Even years after the fact, rebellion was still the major enemy of the governments. Instilling fear amongst the masses assured that no more ideas flowed into their thoughts. The remaining kingdoms, in hopes of preventing another 'Vale', ruled under a military government. In the unofficial published works of a surviving Vale Hunter, she writes her experiences of the entire war from an unbiased perspective, from beginning towards the end. Although her book was generally banned from kingdom territory, there were copies sold from trade caravans in outer settlements. One particular passage gave a nostalgic feeling to most readers;
The swelling wounds from the war's aftermath are slowly healing, but as I gaze upon the ruins of what was once my home, I can't help but think back to a time when the sun shone and I was able to smile. Living meant; getting up from bed every morning in an ungodly hour, getting a warm cup of coffee, and spend the majority of my time keeping my friends safe from pests. Not like today, when living means wielding a gun and shooting the man in front of you before he can pull the trigger on you.
Skies of clear blue, gentle breezes to cool us from the suns heat, and laughter that came from innocence not malice. The air was clean, unlike the ash that lingers. What does remain is a mother's sense of worry for her child's survival, only it is not bullies she has to fear now. Amongst forced enlistment into the army, and whether their current rations are enough to feed their families, the unstable buildings in which many lived in were hazardous enough.
I remember a time when Jaune Arc lived with us, trained with us, and a time when he would truly die for his friends. Even now, I cannot fathom his reasons for turning on his friends. Such a betrayal I doubt he has yet to forgive himself for, nor will he ever. People will say war was his stressor, though only few knew he switched sides before the bombs began falling. His allegiance was to the souls cast aside by the military, innocents used as propaganda for military growth.
The day Vale fell, I spoke to him for what felt like hours. His philosophy was neutral in a sense, his opinions slowly opening to what our society once called; immoral. But I remember what drew my attention to him; when I asked him for his thoughts on our history. He answered me with; "History has and always will be written by the victors, but true history is spoken by the survivors, whether victorious or not." To this day and throughout these many years, I can, without a moment of hesitation, still whole heartily agree with his words. Today I am left to wonder; what would've been, if he was still by our side? What would've become of him, what would've become of us?
-Coco
Her words, and those of an anonymous few, were reminders of the past for both the disgraced and the abandoned. What a future Remnant is left with; cities with slums around every corner, military troopers unable, or rather with no intention, to differentiate the survivors of Vale, and the Coalition members. After the weakened kingdom was split between the other three factions, resentments were cast aside as new rebels struck back at the abuse and intolerance. While Coalition and old Valens would love nothing more than to be at one another's throats with a plethora of weaponry, they would reluctantly stand beside one another against these new aggressors. The betrayal of Atlas was indeed a violent and swift blitz. Though, it was met with grueling months of rejection and heavy casualties. These victories were enough for the uneasy alliance, for a time. But vengeance can only fuel anger for so long, and by then the battles became, skirmishes. And from there, the Atlesians would need only a few minutes to end any form of rebel faction. Indeed, this world was now unjust not to one group, but the remnants living within a nearly forgotten kingdom. This is the new way of life, and it shall always remain so. Or, will it?
The roaring engines of the bullhead echoed throughout the entire village, the nearby cattle reacted to the loud noise, farmers rushing out to calm their cattle. The large machine finally died down in the middle of the village, the rear doors slowly lowering to reveal 6 young hunters, and a single Veteran from the remnants of Vale's army. She wore various armor types, all different colors, pieces from fallen teammates, a single light brown strain of hair on the left side of her face, and a pair of shades to blot out the sun's rays. For a hunter of small stature, it was surprising when she exited the ship wielding a large Gatling gun. The presence of the military was enough for most of the villagers, however many eyes widened when Winter Schnee exited the ship. Some ran, others trembled, for a great majority of these villagers were once coalition soldiers. Many of them bearing the shamed mark on their skins openly; a testament of how the defeated are easily branded for discrimination.
The very sight of fear gave the new heiress a sadistic feeling, the marks on each of these villagers urged her desire to torture them for the pain they once caused, no one would question her actions, and it was done all around what used to be Vale.
Luckily for her, she would only need her own probable cause. "The majority of you dogs, are ex-coalition...but I am willing to put that aside today. All I want to know; where is Emerald Sustrai?" Her voice bounced between joy and anger. When there was no answer, she shifted a pistol to a random man and shot him with her smile remaining. The man, shocked initially, struggled to maintain his stance, but the new heiress wasted no time shooting him again.
"I know she's here! Either you give her up, or I'll burn this entire village to the ground, along with all of you miserable rats in it!" Her voice made her own troops flinch. The initial reactions were the screams of a child clinging to the dead man.
"Daddy! Please, no!" She pleaded, whilst Winter proceeded to aim at her. Her actions showed no remorse, and in truth, she cared little for these lives. Her finger slowly, and with leisure, pressed down on the trigger, firing again. The little ones body fell atop her father's, the heiress pressed her foot down on the dead child's head while glancing around.
"Well?! Where is she?!" When no soul answered, with a gleeful smile she gestured her troops to search the town, by any means necessary. The boy's moved out, waving their weapons about like confused children. However, only the Veteran remained still, angering Winter ever so. "I gave you an order, now go!"
"I heard you." Coco replied coldly, this wasn't what she signed up for, but money was scarce, and morality was just another casualty from the prior war. Rather than partake in the crime being committed by these Atlesian dogs, Coco focused on the escaping villagers. She chased after them, though once out of view, she allowed them to run and save themselves. Her gun fired into the air a few times to make the assumption that she was doing her 'job'. Killing civilians was the one thing that separated her from these new, poor excuses for hunters. If they wanted to burn the village for a single woman who was probably dead during the first blitz, then by all means they could count her out. She swore loyalty to Vale as a Huntress in training, but now, like any who were still active, she was merely a freelancer. Whether fighting with the new rebels, or the Atlesian army, as long as she was paid and never required to kill civilians, she continued to fight. It was all she knew now; her home and family were dead. Teammates; dead, what more could she do even now?
As she continued to walk deeper into the forest, she began to pick up on a rather sweet scent coming from across the river. Coco crossed the only bridge that connected these two sides, then destroyed the long wooden crossing. Those boys, nor the heiress, would be able to cross now; it gave her time to wander about. Whatever the scent was, it wasn't natural, meaning there were innocents unaware of the danger approaching. She came across a meadow, peaceful and tranquil; the sweet smell came from the sap running down the trees surrounding the quaint piece of land. The yellow fields were beautiful, smooth to the touch with the sun's warm shine directly on her face. For a moment, it felt like a dream, or the possibility she was dead. Lost in her gaze, Coco failed to notice a rifle aimed directly towards her. The cocking of the gun snapped her back to reality as she stared down upon the young boy aiming a fully loaded rifle at her. Judging by the way he held it, the young lad had experience, but his eyes were wavering; he was unsure whether to truly pull the trigger. What caught Coco's attention was the boy's pink hair and chocolate brown eyes. His glare was almost identical to one figure of her past; however, she lowered her gun. The boy was a bit astonished, but after she completely released her grip on the weapon, his aim eased ever so slightly.
"Sorry kid, you caught me off guard." Coco joked, hoping to ease the tension.
"You shouldn't be here; papa says outsiders aren't allowed here."
"Mind telling me where here is, or better, why not tell me your name?"
The boy raised his rifle again, though not with too much sign of aggression. "Noa Beilschmidt. Now yours."
"Coco. Now, can you lower your gun? I'm not here to hurt you, I promise."
Noa stared deep into the strange woman's eyes, she spoke the truth, but he was still wary of whether or not to allow her passage in this valley. For one moment, he lowered his rifle; Coco relaxed her arms with a tired sigh. As she was about to question the boy, a knife was suddenly held against her throat with an unknown holding her from behind.
"Don't move." Came the hissing sound behind her, almost instantly Noa raised his rifle aiming, aiming directly for Coco's head. He was confused at first, but the appearance of his father quickly soothed his worried mind. The Veteran Huntress stared with widen eyes as the very target sought by the world, and the boy who once enlightened her with his words was standing before her. Older, weathered, and ruggedly handsome at best. After all this time, he was still alive, and to think he was just south of Vale. For twenty-three years she guessed where he was, and what his actions left him with, and now, she could see in Noa, the same trait his father had; staring closely to his eyes was a trance-like state.
"This morning is full of surprises." Jaune commented as he stared down on his former ally with a heavy expression. It would seem his hiding skills were now fading and very soon his family would be endanger of enemies yet to come. Though rather than receive the usual or expected murderous glare, Coco smiled faintly and replied with "Indeed. It is, Jaune."
A few minutes pass and Neo was instantly confused as to why her husband, son, and best friend were bringing in a stranger by knife point. Out of instinct, she took both Blake and Noa to their rooms, assuring them the punishment for coming out without permission. Coco was stilled retrained by her hands, though her feet were free, she could finally sit eye to eye with this boy again, she wouldn't dare run now. At the very least not without obtaining a few answers.
Neo sat beside Jaune, clinging to his arm, hoping whoever this was would pose no threat to her family. Emerald kept her glare fixed on their new arrival with her fingers nudging the tip of her blades. The blonde himself remembered this girl clearly, the leader of team CVFY, and one of the reasons he enjoyed being in Beacon. She was witty, calm, and often very much like Yang in forms of teasing; however how she viewed the world did indeed spark many conversations between them. To the point when Jaune spoke of her to Neo, the silent girl would often pout or ignore the blonde out of her own fit of jealousy. But, twenty-three years have passed, and no doubt she probably wanted to literally chew him out, perhaps boiling him and adding seasoning for flavor. Any kind of punishment really, but she just stared calmly into his ocean blue eyes, like she did before. Her calm expression slowly weighed down her head "You left us." She muttered very clearly. "All this time I've asked myself; why? What went wrong? Could I have done something? Is he being coerced? But after hearing of your actions these past several years, I am at a lost." Her eyes fixed themselves on his own, "So tell me why…why did you betray us?"
It was the question he never answered, for Jaune felt that there would probably never be a chance for him to explain his sins. Yet here, this woman from his past is willing to listen, but it was a secret he kept even from his wife; the true reason he joined Cinder's Coalition. His quick, and satisfying answer was; because of power. He betrayed his friends only to become stronger, but that wasn't the case, at least not entirely. Jaune cleared his throat, sooner or later this was going to be revealed, though how would Neo feel, if she knew the truth? Would she still love him, or will she fear him? He readied himself, and began;
"Before the start of my second semester in Beacon, I received a message that my family was being held hostage, and if I didn't comply with their demands, they would've killed them. But…after I did as they asked, I soon found out on my own accord that my family was murdered on the same day they were captured. All of them, by two people; Roman Torchwick, and his assistant." For this Jaune's eyes drifted to the woman clinging to him. When she recognized the implication, she remembered her last assignment with Roman; killing an entire family. She shook her head, frightened that her husband knew all this time and yet stayed by her side. Her hold on him withdrew; her eyes were filled with fear that her husband was holding hidden anger towards her.
Jaune continued "I vowed to make myself stronger and avenge my family. To do this, I needed to join Cinder's group, and with my luck, I was partnered with Neo. Every day I smiled because I knew that when the time came I would run my blade through every one of those coalition soldiers, starting with Neo." The silent girl was taken aback by her husband's honesty; he kept this secret hidden from her for so long, but why would he reveal it now? Her mind played a scenario she feared would come to light; he'd act on his long held hatred and leave.
"But as time went on, I got to know many of the Coalition members, all of them were amazing people with many great talents. They were only there because of the promise of a safer and more united kingdom. And, as it turned out, every day I fell more and more in love with Neo to the point where a single scratch was enough to make my over-protective. I fell in love with the woman who, stubbornly, never left my side. But by falling in love, I grew more distant with my own teammates. So when the war began, I was left with two choices; Abide by my loyalty to Vale and kill Neo, or betray Vale and my teammates. In the end; I chose Neo." Jaune turned to face his wife, who was on the verge of tears upon listening to her husband, word for word. "And to this day I'm pleased with the decision I made."
Coco was somewhat surprised; it wasn't an answer she expected, though to be honest she didn't think he'd say anything to begin with. Though looking now, Neo was smiling proudly, her hands folded into a prayer fold. Jaune embraced her, knowing full well how she must feel; for the blood of her past was a stain that would never wash out. Emerald was shocked; she too once asked why the blonde knight from Beacon decided to join Cinder, now it was apparent that he only wished to murder everyone with his own hands. In a way, Neo saved their lives, and brought a valuable ally to their side, sadly it wasn't enough to win the war, or keep Mercury alive.
While the talk amongst the adults went on, Noa and Blake were listening from afar. The two retreated back into their rooms before getting caught, both of them were just as shocked as their aunt. To think their mother assisted the murder of their father's family, and he would've slain her for revenge had he not fallen for her. Blake was relating the scenario to a book, while Noa was lost in his own train of thought. His father was Jaune Arc; one the most powerful hunters to ever walk Remnant, and the sole reason the kingdom of Vale nearly fell to the Coalition. Not to mention, his mother was part of said group, doing Oum knows what. Quite the lineage he had.
Unbeknownst to this small group, the Atlesian Hunters and the heiress had reached the river. Using her sister's weapon abilities, Winter froze a piece of the river, allowing the men to march on.
"Burn it all, I don't care! Flush out the rats." She hollered. The hunters had equipped themselves with flamethrowers, and with the given signal, began burning the forest. A devilish smile widening on the heiress's lips 'Someday I will find you, Jaune Arc.'
And Done! I'm sorry this took so long, thank you all readers for waiting patiently, I have an abundant of material for the future of this story, however due to college and my other stories there will be slight delays. Be that as it may, this story is now officially back on track. Thank you for reading!