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"What happened, Jaune?" Ruby asked quietly when he joined them, voice quiet ad the small woman sitting in a circle of friends, while Cinder and Pyrrha moved away to gather firewood under their own volition. "I thought you didn't want… This to happen."
He looked out at the sea at her gesture and grimace under his helmet. Just under a dozen Atlesian ships were floating in the water, small craft visible even from here buzzing along the water between them on rescue missions. A few ships had probably submerged while he fought Ironwood and made his way to the beach, looking for them, but the number of rescue craft served to comfort him somewhat.
With so many alive and rescuing others, it can't have been that bad, he assured himself.
"Winter." He asked quietly, the Schnee standing a few feet behind him and watching both him and the orb floating behind him in a mixture of apathetic anger, and complete terror. "Can you… Guess how bad things are, out there? You're in the military so, I guess I figure you could tell... How bad was the damage?"
"I… Would wager that twenty ships went down. A dozen are floating, taking time to sink, likely because of interior bulkheads. Simple statistics on their effectiveness merits adding at least five, however." Her eyes flickered to Salem's orb, almost accusing, "The lack of Grimm after the battle is likely mitigating casualties further. Normally, rescue efforts are quite hampered by them."
"They receded with the dragons when they left." Ren said simply, eyeing Jaune carefully as he plopped onto the snow and sand of the beach, "I suppose that means you dealt with Ironwood, to your satisfaction, Jaune. Yes?"
"Nothing about this is satisfying, Ren, you know me better than that." He hoped, though the question did bring to light some uncomfortable questions about his friends' feelings about him, now that no one was actively trying to kill him, at least. He gave Penny a glance, the girl hovering over Weiss like a protective mother would a particularly danger prone child, about twenty feet away with her sister, Nora and Pyrrha, "I still don't know what she is. Not fully, at least. She felt odd, to me, when I met her."
"Some kind of Atlesian android, according to Weiss' sister." Ren explained, wrapping an arm around Nora when she came over and casually pulling her into a hug. Weiss and Winter didn't join them, though, and Cinder finally showed up with Neo in tow, "Are you okay, Jaune?"
"What do you mean?" He asked, leaning back against the tail end of one of the craft, the two sitting nose-to-nose facing the trees, the girls still not sitting with the foursome speaking gathering sticks and logs in the center, "I'm not... hurt or anything."
"Gods, this is what you're like without your Semblance, isn't it?" Ruby groaned, drawing her knees against his chest and scooting to his side, leaning against the ship and resting her head on its cool metal, "Absolutely oblivious."
"I don't-"
"Jaune, you lost a friend, and then went on a literal war path." Ren cut in, shaking his head with a small smile on his lips, amused at something Jaune wasn't sure of. "We're asking about how you're doing, with that, and… Everything else."
He caught the glance at Salem, and sighed, the orb hovering at his side idly, "I… Didn't want all of this, you know? But it's fine. I'll live, with Salem, and Roman… Was a bad person, at the end of the day, but he was my friend and…" Jaune coughed when something felt lodged in his throat, shaking his head, "He's gone, and I'll get over that, now that no one else is going to get killed for knowing me."
"Hopefully…?" Ruby spared Salem a glance, clearly questioning her, "Uh, Miss Salem, you're not… You know…"
"Attack Atlas and raze it unto its foundations, slaughtering the inhabitants I have no use for and enslaving those I do?" She asked, Ruby swallowing nervously and nodding at the suggested idea, "No, why ever would you think I would do that?"
"Well…" Ruby looked to Ren, clearly not sure how to handle this conversation with this particular person. "Ren? Little, you know, help here, teammate?"
"You are the Queen of the Grimm, enemy of all mankind, and you ripped our friend Yang's arm off for interrupting you. You also just crippled the majority of one of Atlas' main fleets with barely any effort and no losses of anything you likely care about." Ren offered simply, rubbing Nora's shoulder with one hand and idly making circles in the sand with the other, smiling at Ruby in spite of everything, "That about do it for you?"
"Yes." Ruby hesitantly offered, looking at Jaune nervously, "Does, uh, that sound like it will make Salem angry?"
"Not so much as speaking about me like I am not present." Salem chided gently, or as gently as Salem could manage to sound. Which still had Ruby blanche and swallow anxiously, Salem actually managing a chuckle at the display, "My, Jaune, are all your friends so skittish? I barely even threaten her and she turns as white as the snow she is sitting on."
"Where are you all going to go from here?" Jaune asked, ignoring Salem's question and drawing a sigh from her for it. "I doubt you can go back to Beacon, and I don't want to risk Ansel anymore. Even if my father would allow me back after all… All of this," he waved an arm at the battlefield indicatively, sighing and letting his arm flop into the sand and snow, metal helmet clanking against the metal of the ship, "Even then, I don't think it's safe to go there. Not, you know, for them."
"Ozpin is still a threat, and people holding a grudge for what has happened here." Salem observed, the rest of them looking at her, "I am, of course, biased in my opinions. But I do genuinely believe that nowhere is safe for any of you now, not really."
"Some of us have the White Fang to worry about, others have Ozpin and whoever he gets together…" Ruby sighed, eyes closing and face pinching as she tried to frame what she wanted to say and eventually gave up, "What do we do now?"
"Salem?" He asked idly, the woman sighing.
"So long as I don't end up being killed again, I don't mind playing hostess to your friends, if need be." She said, adding, "Though they will need to accept their position as my guests, and not attempt to leverage me into going against my goals."
"Which are?" Nora asked quietly, voice low and frankly surprisingly fragile to Jaune. Something that worried him, really, but something he shelved for later after a second's thought.
"To rule, of course." She said simply, laughing at the strange, confused faces they made while Cinder finally set the wood they had gathered aflame with a wave of her hand, and the others joined them at the fire, "I simply wish to rule this world. To hold the entire planet in my thrall, that is my wish."
"And what kind of life will that be for everyone involved?" Winter asked, Weiss sitting at her side on the other end of the fire, and the others scattering around it. Except Neo, who sat directly opposite Jaune, staring into the sand and tucking her knees against her chest, resting her forehead on them.
Tired, after everything, maybe. Or just upset in general and withdrawing. He didn't know and couldn't, not until he took off his helmet. Which wasn't happening, not here. Not in the middle of an actual war zone, created by Jaune himself or not, because that would not be helpful to this conversation.
"I can't imagine it a nice life." Weiss grumbled, shaking her head and brushing sand off her dress, watching the fire and seeming more comfortable with its warmth. "Being lorded over, enslaved… I think I would rather die."
"Is that a request?" Salem asked, a joke to be sure but one that chilled them all more than the barely below freezing temperature did. "I jest, Schnee, relax. I don't mean to enslave this planet, only rule it. I don't care how people under that rulership live their meaningless little lives, so long as when they look up they see my face and know I am their ruler."
"And if I am going to be involved," Jaune cut in, "then their lives will be decent, at least. I won't tolerate you being a heartless dictator, Salem."
"I am aware." She sighed, clearly not very satisfied by that idea but more than willing to accept it. If, he was sure, she got what she wanted in exchange. "As I said, I don't care how they live their little lives. Be they happy lives or sad is of no consequence. I would also rather not have little under a dozen Huntresses and Huntsmen living in my castle, but that, too, is beyond my power to affect."
"And that's the only safe place to go." Ruby added, sighing, "I guess… I guess we have to go, then, but… What about the pilots? They said they'd wait inside, and don't seem to care, but-"
"I'll use my Semblance to erase Salem from their memories." Jaune assured her, grimacing under his helmet at the idea, "I don't like the idea, but short of throwing them in a cell and leaving them there, or killing them, I don't have anything."
"And riding my Grimm would take quite too long. Most of you would die of the weather on the way, you're already shivering even with a fire." Salem added, sounding amused somehow at the last part. "And while I would prefer they simply die, Jaune's solution is as good as any we are likely to agree on. The rest of our… Arrangements can be made at my home, I grow so tired of speaking through this Seer."
"What about Winter, first." Jaune pointed out, the eldest Schnee making a face caught between relief at him thinking about it and something else he didn't recognize, "What are you going to do? Are you going to come with us?"
"No, I am not." She sighed when Weiss made a face, clearly the youngest Schnee didn't like being separated from he sister now. "I have a duty, to Atlas and to the soldiers out there, to try and make something of the mess Ironwood caused. There's no one else who can, if I am frank, without causing a war with at least one of the Kingdoms. But…"
"But I do not wish to leave my sister unattended, so," she stood and turned, looking down at Penny, "I have a favor to ask of you, Penny. Assuming you consent, of course, to a simple favor."
"Friends ask for favors, right?" Winter sighed, but nodded at the question. Which drew a wide, happy smile from the android and an almost adorable tilt of her head along with it, "Then I will do it, whatever it is, for you, Friend Winter."
"Go with my sister, then, and keep her safe. As a friend of mine, I trust you to do this for me, alright?" She asked, Weiss seeming affronted by the implication she needed looking after. She was too polite, or tired, or some combination therein, to say anything. "I will wait until you have left and signal retrieval from here."
After Penny nodded, they all rose, and went their separate ways.
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Dealing with the pilots had been simple as hell, a hand to the backs of their heads when they weren't paying attention and simple directions : Take us where we say to, and then forget all about it up until this point. A simple enough direction, and with an added urging not to question them and just do as they were told, he was soundly sure that this particular step would take care of itself now. Salem, at least, backed up his assertion with a few added suggestions for him, to help him ensure that his little trick wouldn't fall through if something came to push them towards the correct answers.
And so, an hour after General Ironwood died, the two small craft lifted off of the ground and headed towards an Atlesian refuelling base a few miles north. From there, they'd head to wherever Salem directed them, her Seer hovering a few feet away from him near the cockpit door. Cinder and Neo sat to either side of him, the latter leaning against a bulkhead and snoozing gently, and Pyrrha sat across from him, green eyes boring a hole into the metal floor of the craft as it flew.
"Pyrrha, something is bugging you." He half-accused, the Mistralian humming and nodding, but not actually looking at him or responding. "What's wrong? I'm, uh, wearing my helmet because Neo is asleep, and I don't want to intrude, so… Talk about it? Please?"
"I…" She sighed, glancing to his masked face first and then Salem's Seer, before finally sighing again and returning her gaze to the floor of the craft, "This wasn't supposed to go this way, Lokhoi. I thought we were aiming to avoid a war. Avoid a slaughter, even, but… We didn't do that, did we?"
"This wasn't the idea, no. Not behind my plan." He turned to Salem's Seer meaningfully, and when she didn't respond, took a deep breath and asked, "What happened out there, Salem? Why did you attack?"
"Because the good general was going to try and rush past my little blockade, and if he made it to Atlas, then your only recourse to getting to him would have been an outright assault, or a siege." She answered simply, sounding more tired than offended or upset at the line of questioning. "I felt you would prefer a few hundred deaths to thousands, so I took the initiative. Remember, Jaune, you are not my ruler, but my ally. I act of my own accord, even when I act in your defense. And I even withdrew my Grimm, and had my dragons aim to disable rather than destroy the ships, specifically as a favor to you."
"You should have said something first, at least." He argued, but the words sounded weak even to him, and he shook his head after a second, "But… Yeah, I guess. Gods, I hate these disgusting numbers games, but… You're right, I suppose, that I prefer this. And you did try to limit the damage, so… Okay. Pyrrha?"
"If there were no other routes, then… I suppose I have no choice but to support the decisions made, Jaune." She answered, turning and laying on the seats there, against the side of the craft, "I wish to rest, if you do not mind. I am fatigued, after so much, and it feels like days since I last slept."
"You should rest, too, Master." Cinder suggested when Pyrrha's breathing evened out and she looked to be asleep, sliding away from him and gesturing at her lap, the space too confined for anything else but her standing, and smiling innocently. "You can lay your head here, Master. It is better than these hard, cold, metal seats to be certain. If you wish it, though, I will simply stand."
He was exhausted, that much was certain, and after a glance to Salem, the Seer floating silently, he nodded and slid his helmet off, quickly laying down before he could 'hear' anything and closing his eyes. Normally sleep was slow to come for him, especially around people, but instead when his head met Cinder's lap, he found himself nodding off fairly quickly.
Which worsened when she set to running her fingers through his hair, which soothed him a surprising bit. And then he was gone entirely, lost to black, blessedly dreamless sleep.
Once she was sure he was asleep, Cinder turned to look at Salem, "You understand that, if you try to hurt him, hell itself will rise to punish you. Yes?"
"I understand that you and his friends will try, at the least." She answered, sounding amused at the threat from her once-servant. "But you needn't worry, the last thing I want is Jaune hurt. I'm tired of this world, and living alone in it, while everyone around me dies over and over again. I have lived so long that my most heinous of acts, themselves made to memorialize myself, have faded to myths at the best of times."
"So long as you understand." Cinder said, shrugging and continuing in a quiet voice to avoid waking the exhausted young man in her lap, that detail the only reason she believed their conversation wouldn't wake him in the first place. "I don't care why you want him so, only that you don't hurt him or his friends to get there. Neither are tolerable, and I aim to make sure that you are quite aware of that."
"My, but the slave does have some bit to her. Like a dog, beaten into submission and loyalty by her master. I suppose that makes you his bitch, then?" She asked, chuckling to herself at Cinder's attitude. When the half-maiden didn't rise to the obvious bait, she sighed, "Oh very well, Cinder, consider your little message received. As unneeded as it was."
"I am glad we have an understanding." She responded, turning her attention back to Jaune's head on her lap, smoothing out his hair and doing her best to clean it up and straighten it while he slept.
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"We can't leap to conclusions based on how we feel about what happened." Weiss argued, even if the words felt wrong and what she was saying felt wronger still. "For all we know, he may have been out of the loop in regards to Salem's plan. Or maybe she had some detail we don't now, sitting in this cramped little ship."
"I'm surprised you, of all people, are so trusting of someone in Jaune's particular position." Ren argued, eyes narrowed suspiciously. Moreo at her than Jaune, given the young blonde's ability to 'coerce' people. They'd witnessed already how easy it was for him, and how easily he took to actually doing it, with the pilots of these very ships. Weiss looked offended, and he hurried to add, "Given our involvement with someone who quite literally controls minds, I seek to know your reasoning. Please, do share."
"I… Have learned to trust my friends." She made a face, regret and anger mixed with grief, and explained, "When Blake's… situation happened, I was one of the ones to rush to condemn her, For being a Faunus and for what she'd done before that as well, when everything came to light. I judged her based on my feelings, and… And then she-"
"Gave her life when it was called for, to save the Kingdom and help her people." Ren filled in, eyes closing in as much relief as sympathy and grief, "I understand why you would seek to lean on trusting him this time, then. Given what happened when you were… Slightly more quick to judge."
"And he looked upset as well, when he came back and saw the damage." Ruby added, grimacing after a second, "Or, you know, I thought he did, at least. Kinda hard to tell, though, in that helmet, but-"
"He was upset." Ren assured her, "And exhausted as well. I could tell from his body language, the way he flopped on the ground and leaned against the ship's hull, he just wanted to pass out. He's been through quite a bit, in the last few days, and were I a gambling man I would wager he will show his feelings on the matter quite clearly after a few days' time, to rest and absorb everything."
"Maybe." Nora added quietly, taking a deep breath and then smiling, "It was nice, though, to see Jaune and Pyrrha again. Ever since they left, I worried that when we heard about them again they'd be… Gone."
"But they were already gone." Penny murmured, obviously confused at the phrasing. The groups, as a whole, grimaced and Ruby turned towards her.
"She, uh, she meant that she was afraid that when we heard about them again, they'd be, you know…" She made a face, apologetic and awkward at the same time, and whispered, "Dead, Penny."
"Oh!" The android gasped, looking to Nora for confirmation. When the other ginger nodded, agreeing with Ruby, she was quick to respond, "I am so sorry, Friend Nora, I didn't know that is what you meant. I am sorry, my father did not program many conversational tools into my lexicon of language."
"It's fine, Penny. Really, it's okay, don't stress out over it or anything." She assured the young synthetic girl, smiling in spite of everything and feeling genuinely happy in a way. "You're gonna need a study buddy to learn turns of phrase, aren't ya?"
"Nora, no." Ren was quick to say, going ignored by the ginger.
"Yes, please, Friend Nora." Penny nodded, smiling widely and scooting to the edge of her metal seat, "It would be sensational to have a friend to spend time with and learn things like that! Oh! We could have a sleepover together, and watch movies, and paint our nails, and talk about boys, and study language!"
"Gods, help me…" Weiss whimpered, Ruby leaning into the conversation with the other two bubby members, tossing in her own suggestions on what they could do together. When Ruby turned to Weiss, smiling widely, Weiss amended her statement, "Gods, please, kill me now and spare me this."
Of course, the gods didn't seem willing to help her or Ren in any way, the young man leaning his head against the bulkhead and sighing. But still, when he heard Nora chuckle, he couldn't help it.
And he smiled.
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Short chapter this time, mainly serving as a bridge-between, and answering some questions and concerns you precious people raised. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, short as it was, I may have spent too much time on Re:Programmed this week and resulted in a shorter chapter.
Apologies.
Next chapter, the arc against the White Fang begins, and everything that involves with it. I hope you all enjoy it as much as you did this arc. It will also, possibly, be the final arc followed by an epilogue chapter.
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Whuh :
Kinda sorta just happened to him, and he had to adapt. Though, you'll note, he did questio it here.
My Spleen :
Nah, I think to Jaune, meteing out he judgement would be enough. Especially when Ironwood expressed that he himself had caused all these deaths already with his actions. Simply ending it so they could move on felt more 'Jaune' to me.
JCH 529 :
Indeed. And looking at your profile picture, I ship it.