Chapter 3. Offers and Armies
Charles the Black Cat of Fort Castle
"So is that what they say?" Charles voiced, spinning a dagger along his thumb, the double thick leather protecting him despite the blade's thin point. An unsafe habit, but one he had since his father first tossed him a skinning knife. It was these little idiosyncrasies that let him remain who he was, lest the stories about him and false glory trick Charles into thinking himself better than the luckiest superbly unlucky hunter that ever was. Not even a grimm hunter like Miss Thryrm. No, deer and small animals for eating was his prey. How this even started grew more and more distant and confusing as the days went on.
"Yes Sir, they say you turn into cats still and haunt the castle. Say you steal children in our sleep too." The little captured squire girl explained nervously handing Charles a glass of water. She was a sweet little thing, if dreadfully ignorant of his people. She cried a lot early on, earning the poor girl some unwanted attention, but soon the prim and proper knight's daughter turned into common folk. Hair unkempt, smelling somewhat unclean, she had become Charles impromptu serving girl.
Though she always looked so sad, Charles found some interest in her perspective. She was in a way a very good indicator of the moral in Fort Castle, and apparently it had suffered quite a bit over the last few weeks. So from time to time he would bring her under this converted barn, now command center and he used that term lightly, to talk and give her rest from the rain and noise of the outside camps.
"And what would I even do with these children?" Charles ask in a somewhat mocking chuckle, a small smile crossing his lips as he took a sip from the slightly spiked water, just a purifier. It was kind of laughable that they would bother coming up with new reasons to hate him. Seemed being a Faunus was always enough before, a glorified brigand on top of that, and a poacher even before. Yet somehow the silly humans felt the need to add child kidnaping and magic to the list. Charles at least supposed it was a little funny.
"Eat them, least that's what they been saying. You feed on them like wolves and all." Well that felt rather unappealing. No, Charles did no such thing and the thought of it seemed dreadful, not to mention wasteful. 'Why children?' If man eating was really so necessary, wouldn't adults be so much more efficient? The insults did not bother Charles that much before, he could be called a monster by all manner of human opposition, but such a wasteful monster at that, now that was offensive.
"You believe it?" Charles asked directly, kneeling down to the little squire girl. She seemed to feel awkward at this, shifting away just a bit. Child was likely not used to seeing the shimmering yellow eyes of his people. Neither his fine black hairs, nor his cat like ears would likely give her any comfort either. Still the child did not baulk, instead straightened up and looked back at him
"If you did, why would you feed me instead of eating me? Doesn't make much sense, I guess." She replied voice rather hushed in nervousness. The response made Charles smile, and the little squire seemed to take more kindly to that.
"Smart girl. No I don't turn into cats or eat anyone, wouldn't be as hard to feed everyone if I did, must admit." Charles replied reaching out to muss his server's hair. She seized up, this was not surprising for a prisoner, but Charles paid it no mind. His little friend reminded him much of his deceased sister. A pleasant sort of girl. "I like the cat story though, wish I could see where they keep their dust, wouldn't know that would you Pan?" Charles asked considering now a good time to probe for a bit of information. The little girl stood awkwardly thinking for a moment, not saying much.
"Guido use to say a prisoner is only as valuable as the stuff they don't say." She replied, little Pan taking to heart some of that old enforcer's damnable advice. Charles hated Guido; he was an oppressor. Not the worst he admitted. Kind enough to ignore Charles' poaching for food, but cruel enough to abuse his rights. Charles still felt guilty for all the things he had not stopped before this day, maybe made him just as guilty as Guido. Either way the little squire seemed to look up to the old 'knight'. She did not like to speak of him though, little girl missing that drunkard. She awkwardly scratched her head, clearly wanted to change the subject. It was then that Charles noticed something.
"Maybe" He muttered to reply, but reached over quickly pulling part of Pan's shirt up, blue and black bruises blotched across the waistband and small of her back suggesting something he was very much not okay with. "Where you get that from little one?" Charles asked, yellow eyes staring at her with a certain measured anger, of course not directed at the little girl, but present all the same.
"They said not to tell…" She replied in a small hushed voice. Charles felt his blood boil, they were supposed to be better than this. Abuse of prisoners of any kind was strictly forbidden. The realist in him replied that every warband had this sort of evil in them, and the idealist argued that his would not be allowed.
"Who are they?" Charles asked, idealist winning out over the realist. It was clear that was going to be what killed him in the end. He was sure of it.
"Charles, we got some comp'ny. A lot of it actually." A low sort of woman's voice called behind them both from the barn door, sliding open quickly to see in the usual blue engraved steel, Azura Thrym the Wolf. Famed huntress of his warband, and lifelong friend of Charles, his crutch. She stared at them both, a mean scowl forming in her damaged face. "Am I interrupting something?" The indignation on her face showed her true just nature, even if it was an accusation towards Charles. A good woman through and through.
"Azura, no you didn't. Someone's been hurting our friend here." Charles said to quickly explain, dusting off his black leather clothes and sheathing his dagger. Little Pan looked down silently, always afraid of Azura, called her the big bad wolf, despite being anything but.
"Are they now? Give me a name little one and I'll see to it." The blue plated huntress growled in her unnatural deep voice. She was born a little more wolf than the rest of her tribe tended to. It left her with a sort of growl prone voice and unusual teeth. Never the most attractive girl, Azura was feared by most, but Charles knew her from childhood. No one was ever a knight in shining armor more than her. She was the pride of the mines, the real full blooded huntress, and when her people, when her friends, were targeted she came to the rescue. She was no big bad wolf, no matter how much she pretended to be.
"You wait here little one, and when I get back we will sort this out." Charles called back to Pan, whom did nothing, but nodded quietly. Stepping outside the barn, the dim light of an autumn sun greeted him. Same sort of dreary hell that greeted him every fall. "As for you Miss Thrym, what do we have knocking on our door?" Charles replied taking stock of his camp. Outside tents and Faunus were everywhere, some standing watch, others digging trenches, some taking a piss in the direction of Fort Castle, a daily insult to which they replied with the rare cannon blast. Never really struck anything, but with the Walls of Fort Castle so close the separate forces could literally shout at one another. In fact many of them had grown accustomed to.
Charles' cousin had taken to calling them the "Friends on the wall", heckling the gunners of Fort Castle daily, shouting curses and sharing stories about how one would do something to the others mother. It was very clear that neither force was willing to make any move, so both factions simply dug in, taking maybe a shot a day. Fort Castle had not enough dust to shell the sieging Faunus, and his men and women didn't have any guns to knock down the walls. Instead they shouted all sorts of expletives at each other. At least a comment on his mother was less likely to send Charles to an early grave.
Fort Castle itself was something else. Crafted half from what his people called "the old fort", ruins of some previous structure, before Remnant was a remnant, fused with a modern keep. The stone was, at least from the outside, a white sort of cobblestone or marble, mixed with the modern carved stone slants. Either way it was old, founded by some warrior whom human legend had it killed the last of his tribes' kings. In their story that woman just oppressed small Faunus villages. Charles supposed it would be his turn to make up lies when he took the old fort.
"Seems' lot of the Leo clansmen, come in our camps with their targe and claymores, and I mean a load of them." Azura said shaking back Charles to the world of today. 'So the Leo was it?' The Leo were a type of Faunus not native to Vale, pushed into it from something they referred to as the clearances of Mistral. They moved into the lowlands just north of forever falls, taking with them their culture and martial skill. Lion like in looks, and constantly wanting to show off a sort of vain bravery, they were one of the first to raise the flag of rebellion.
"Who is the leader?" Charles asked feeling confused. Leo clansmen would mean more men and women to fight, but the Leo were the ones heading the fight in forever falls. The scattered couriers claimed they were fighting close enough to Vale to make Tyrant Geordie send his own son off to fight them.
"Murray." Azura added as if it was the simplest thing in the world.
"Cithaeron Murray the Fang!? Isn't he supposed to be leading the fight south?" Cithaeron, or Murray as he preferred being called, was the big leader of the fight near Vale's capitol, famous for loses, but ones so bloody it sent the Vale's army home in tatters. He was as legend, as he was tenacious, large and loud. At least so they said.
"Maybe likes the north better Charles." Azura responded thinking nothing of the Faunus hero. She was that sort of type never believing much until she saw it. Something Charles had always inclined to agree with.
"What do we do about the girl's beatings?" Charles said somberly changing the subject to the previous and more emotional one as he pushed through the camp. The ground was mostly flat with trees and mud boundless. This place was rather soaked throughout autumn. Useful when attacking caravans, annoying when sitting on a siege.
"I'll handle that one Charles, don't you worry. Better play everyone's favorite; I can be the big bad wolf." Azura replied. They had always been close. She had pretty much been Charles' bodyguard since he turned five. She beat up school bullies for him, stood up to the mine's guardsmen when they wronged him. She even unlocked his aura, taught him to fight almost like a hunter, though never with the same heroic grace she had. Now she was taking on his devil's work of disciplining the warband. Charles earnestly believed he never deserved as good a companion.
"And here we have the mess." And so it was. Leo all around, men and women, some with reddish hair others with gold, but the lot were all muscle, and had half a foot on any of his people, the tallest of them easily had a foot on Charles. Most of them had fairly tan skin, dressed in loose cloth and furs with bronze armor additions, common of their Mistrailian homeland. Though their weapons were of special significance to the Leo, most armed with traditional Claymore's and round wooden shields similar to the Mistralian bronze ones. Some had more modern equipment, but few wielded them as proudly as their sword and targe.
Out of the corners many of these Leo seemed to start dispersing into the camp, some of the Simian Tribe of Forever Falls in toe as well. The force was slightly overwhelming and strangely professional. Leo marched in orderly lines, though on arrival many broke out to roar defiance against the walls of Fort Castle. Seems his warband had near doubled in size in less than an hour.
"Charlie!" In a sea of Leo and their Simian allies the man of the hour was visible, or more like audible, even over the cacophony of a mass march. Although butchering his name, Charles felt a bit of a smile cross his lips; wasn't often he got to meet a Faunus hero. Seeing the famed Murray was far different than hearing about him. The Faunus was not so much taller than any other Leo, but carried himself with certain gravity. It made him appear a titan among beasts. He had the toothiest smile Charles had ever seen, a band of red hair from the top of his head to the tip of his beard was unmanaged, seeming like one big entity, only interrupted by red round furry ears. He had stuffed himself into bronze armor shaped in the form of a bare chest, much as Mistralians did, but patches of deer furs popped out of the lining a sign the man could not fully deny the cold autumn air.
"Cithaeron Murray I can only assume?" Charles asked with outstretched arm hoping to respectfully grasp his hands in a healthy shake. That audacious mass of bronze however was not so timid. That beast just picked up Charles in a hug crushing the full grown Faunus against said breastplate. Charles thought often about how he would die, never was it in the arms of a bronzed Adonis.
"Lad, we are companions in arms, call me Murray all my friends do!" He gave as his reasoning for the embrace, voice thick with his people's accent. He had no problem lifting Charles, despite his weight, gear, weapons and now shattered authority. Azura as always was there to rescue him, that beautiful armored beast of a woman.
"Murray, put'em down else I'll get mad." She said in a low sort of growl, one Charles was very familiar with. Murray laughed but understood the point, dropping Charles, whom fell gently to his feet. A very nimble person if Charles could gloat about anything. With a cough for air, and quick dust off for comfort, Charles centered himself wanting the bitter business of the day to be the focus.
"Mister, or is it Chief Murray?" He said with a serious, but cordial tone, trying not to offend in the massive warrior. "What are you here north for if I may ask?" His Leo were a pleasant sight for sure, though the issue of food, water, space and other logistical nightmares would likely force a battle on him. More importantly he needed to look this gift horse in the mouth in case it was an omen of something more problematic.
"We're here to help you get yer castle boy!" Murray replied with a laugh and a thump against his breastplate. He spoke as if that was going to be the easiest thing in the world. The man was clearly endlessly endearing.
"What about Forever Falls?" Charles asked in almost unison with Azura, both speaking with a sort of suspicion. Forever Falls was the gateway to the north, and one of the few strong points for the Faunus, rich with small villages, but few cities and forts. Grimm population too high for most people, it was the perfect place for Faunus on the run.
"We lost there, I killed the prince, but some old man at arms rallied them, some sod named Philip Arc. Prefer being beaten by a farm hand than that prick of a prince. Ya should have seen it Charlie boy! I knocked his head off like a petty ornament. Rolled right into river it did, Ha!" Losing the prince of Vale was a massive blow to the royal forces, but not worth another bloody defeat. Especially bad enough for them to actually lose Forever Falls.
"Won't the army follow?!" Charles shouted losing his head a little. The North was finally turning in their favor, with the major regional power staying neutral. The royal army showing up would reverse all this fortune and work. Charles did not show the panic in him, but the paranoia of failure was whispering sweetly into his ear. Damn the self-doubt.
"None can, old Philip pushed us back, but they be bloodied up bad. The kings' pushing for another levy under the bastard Prince Lagune, or General Lagune as I hear he calls it. Calling for the allies too, pulling together a big force. Figure it'll take some time, and if they march up through Forever Falls, the Simians would bleed them like a fine pig. We need us a victory boy, we need this Castle before the bastard comes." The bastard Lagune was an up jumped individual of illegitimate royal descent. The war cost the lives and homes of many of the Faunus people, but it also ended a lot of the royal line. Suddenly an unimportant figure like Lagune became a General, despite no experience. It was strange, before the names of these people meant nothing to Charles, now he paid the utmost attention to Vale's royal politics.
"No pressure. Well we shouldn't have any major problem I'd guess at with these numbers. We need to start building ladders and making ropes… The storming will not be easy." Fort Castle had little in the way of dust, but plenty of soldiers left and arms to fire. The beginning would be bloody and seemingly one sided. Eventually they could break through, knock down the gates most likely. The numbers lost over something called 'Fort Castle' just made him angrier.
"Aye, nothin's easy Charles." Azura said speaking surprisingly softly for her taste. She always seemed to sense when Charles felt the pinnings of self-doubt haunt him. Resting her hand on his shoulders, he felt a little reassurance.
"Nah, it will be, our numbers will easily five to one." Murray said in a low sort of way, raising his brow and stroking his beard as he looked at the camp.
"Count again Leo." Azura added looking at the camp herself, it was very clear, that while Murray had brought a large warband to merge with the besieging force, the manpower was not even close to that, perhaps three, three and a half, but no. They had nowhere near that force. Murray however, turned to them with a twinkle in his eye and a toothy grin.
"Just wait, we got more coming from the north." He let out smiling the biggest Charles had ever seen. The old Leo let out a bellow of laughter, celebrating a victory they had not won yet. "The Taurus. Lad, you're more famous than ya think." Charles could not conceive of how. He built his warband on the concept of fighting without fighting. He won no real pitch battles, fought none either. Now the Taurus were coming, an irate bunch.
"How do you think we are going to feed them all?" Azura said in mild exasperation, sending Charles back to a cold reality. Food was already a problem. Looked like they really had only one choice.
"We'll have to win quickly." Charles said with a harsh breath, the autumn air feeling colder than normal.
It was in that moment, standing with Murray and Azura that a familiar horn rang out like a shock in the sky. Men and women dropped, ran or picked up weapons depending on whether they expected cannons, snipers or men at arms to come streaming down from those white stone structures. That horn used to mean traveling nobility to the mines when Charles was growing up. It was the sound used to signal the start and stop of work, when guards would come. When a poacher like him would need to hide his freshly killed deer. Charles had always run from that noise, now he was running to it.
Cannon shots, mortars, rifle shots, arrows, soldiers from the gates, none of it came. Instead an older man stood next to the lowest portcullis, it was difficult to make out his appearance from a distance, but he clearly had a shaved head and clean beard for the most part. His stance was straight, uncomfortably so, hands open to mark him no gunner or threat, though guards stood to his left and right.
"Faunus, send your leader, we wish to call for terms!" He shouted in a pristine pensive speech, something that always marked the worst kinds of men in Charles' limited experience. His words were met with mostly silence. Clearly not one of the usual 'friends on the wall' his cousin talked about. Didn't stop the hooded idiot from running up and acting like it.
"Fort Castle you can s-" Charles ran out and stopped the fool from saying anymore. If this really was terms, it was the one opportunity to get the castle with no bloodshed. Perhaps they had realized how doomed this fort was. The Lady of Fort Castle likely wanted out, to run away and leave her people. Cowards, but Charles was happy to accept an offer like that.
"I'm Charles, I lead this warband, if you have anything to say, say it!" Charles said rushing out in the clearing, making sure not to go too far as to be lost. His eyes shifted to the gunners along the wall and of course his loyal friend was right there with him, her tower shield larger than he, and strong enough to take any heavy guns they had.
"Charles, the Lady of Fort Castle wishes to give you an offer!" The old man replied with a certain practiced tone on his tongue. He spoke with no pleasure, no joy, but a distaste for this discussion of terms. Clearly the man was not in favor of whatever the situation. His displeasure was not Charles' concern however.
"What offer?!" Charles shot back, trying to keep calm and controlled despite the circumstance. The wind was picking up and the leaves blew with it. The camp behind him stirred with talk and motion, but outside the treeline, in the muddy build up to the castle, there was silence.
"In light of changing conditions we wish you to end your siege and turn your attentions elsewhere, as well as leaving Fort Castle lands to be held traditionally as it has always been held, Ad Infinitum." Poor terms, to demand all things to remain as if the war had never happened. A fools terms by any measure and as such that Charles would be better of hanging himself than accepting and turning back to his good men and women.
"And why would I do that?!' Charles shouted back to the sky and grasslands for all his proud warriors to hear. The muttering behind him turned to some hooting and hollering in his favor, and a small smile crossed his lips. As scary as this was, he felt reassured by those Faunus that put their faith in him.
"In exchange." The man began, and though distant, Charles could almost see the devil's scowl on him. He choked on his words, the disdain for Charles and his kind on the old knight's face was so clear. Still the man had some integrity, his difficult to make out eyes never seeming to leave Charles, nor did his stance ever breaking. "My Lady offers her hand in marriage and the arms and armies of Fort Castle with it."
*** Well hello everyone. First off sorry for the late release, I got rather ill over the course of the last few days, and hopefully I can catch up a bit as we go on. I've decided to describe the Faunus tribes with names based on the family or species of animal they are based on. I.E. Leo for lion-people and Simian for monkey-people.
In announcements Autumn Vale will now be betaed by the illustrious TCR. I can think of no one more fit to be a beta for the Vale series. His support has been unmatched and I have loads of respect for him.
Next is, for those not reading Melting Vale, if anyone one here isn't I'd recommend it, I'm hosting an art competition details on there that I might be spreading to Autumn if anyone would like to submit for there.
Either way Next Chapter Qrow finds employment and perhaps unintentionally the strings of a puppet.
