Fuck me, this is a long chapter...
A few more perspectives, a few more things seen. Please keep in mind that last chapter was entirely Jaune's PoV, so we didn't get to see the thoughts and feelings of the other characters. Yang, for example.
Director: College Fool
Writer: Coeur al'Aran
Chapter 2
It turned out that Conway didn't have the most updated maps to hand, but he did have a way to get them. SDC stores always had printers for speciality products, usually fliers, coupons or wanted posters for the White Fang or those that dared steal from the mines. Making an updated map would just be a matter of selecting from a digital catalogue and printing it off.
Now if only he knew how to do that…
Conway had left to hold the floor again, which meant there was no help from that quarter. Jaune bit his lip and stared down at the overly large thing, wondering if it would be safe just to push buttons and hope for the best, or if he'd somehow break it. Technology really wasn't his thing.
His finger hesitated over a button, but he pulled it back with a sigh. They only had the one printer and it probably cost more than he could repay if he broke it. It really wasn't worth the risk. Stepping past it, he made his way in search of help, not from Conway this time – he still had to man the shop – but instead from Conway's old man, the manager of the store. Stood outside his office, Jaune nodded on the wood and waited.
"Conway, is that you again? I told you, I'm in the middle of an important meeting. Handle it yourself!"
"Mr. Mann?" Jaune called. "Con's at the register, but I was having trouble with the printer. It's for the expedition," he added, just to prevent him from being ignored. "I need maps for it – updated ones. Could you give me a hand?"
There was silence for a moment, and then footsteps echoed as someone approached the door. It opened, and Jaune looked up, expecting to see the tall and imposing figure of Mr Mann. Instead, there was nothing. He blinked and looked to the side, but it wasn't until an imperious huff sounded that his head tilted down.
It was a girl dressed in white, with hair the colour of snow and a ponytail just off-centre. Her icy eyes bore into his, and as his eyes trailed a little lower – to slender legs in a white skirt – and he couldn't help but admire them.
Sorry, Blondie, he thought, thinking back on that huntress. Looks like you just got knocked down to number thirteen.
"It's alright, Mr Mann," the girl was saying in a frosty tone as she examined him back in turn. "I'm interested to know what was so important as to interrupt an important meeting," she said with an irate expression, stressing what Mr Mann had already said.
"Maps," Jaune answered, deciding not to be offended. The girl raised an eyebrow, and he realised he'd already told her about the maps. With a wince, he quickly added. "It's for the expedition with the Huntsmen. We need maps of the surrounding area, but I'm having trouble with the printer."
The word `Huntsmen` seemed to do the trick, and White relaxed. After a visible moment of thought, during which she looked him up and down, she nodded. "Very well, it wouldn't do for a guide to be unprepared, I suppose. Mr Mann, I believe we were finished- but I could use a copy of those maps as well."
"Right away, ma'am," Mr Mann replied, approaching from behind his desk.
White turned back to Jaune as he did so. "And who exactly are you supposed to be?" she asked.
Mr Mann gave Jaune a smile as he approached, which honestly put him on guard. Mr Mann was known for being impartial to the point of uncaring- always charging the Schnee bottom line, no exceptions. A company man at heart, and not the sort who smiled for unimportant company, and certainly not to calm down a mere hunter.
"Ma'am," Mr Mann explained before Jaune had a chance to, "this is Jaune Arc. He'll be one of your guides for the expedition into the Wildlands. He's a freelance independent contractor. He supports our local food procurement operations and terrain investigations," Mr Mann claimed. "He is also the individual who found Sample Seventeen."
Jaune was pretty sure that meant 'someone who does odd jobs, sells food, and looks at places we'd like looked at' in corporate language.
"Seventeen, hm?" White repeated, looking at him with an altogether different expression. "That was the sample that encouraged my father to increase investment and exploration in this region, was it not?"
"Indeed it was," Mr Mann replied, eager to explain. He even had a picture on hand, as proud as if he'd been the one to discover it. "Remarkable purity, especially for a surface deposit. Density unheard of in the kingdoms. We've yet to find another node matching that purity, but I'm sure our mine will find even higher grade dust any month now."
"I heard it came from the Grimmlands," White noted, looking at the picture of the hard, purple crystal that had earned him more in a month than he'd made in years. It had been a good find during a very bad time, but at least it worked out for Edge. Mostly.
"There's no way we can confirm that," Mr Mann hastily interjected. "There's no proof of that, and there were… complications when it came to its delivery."
Jaune frowned at that, just slightly.
"I heard about that too," White admitted, looking Jaune straight in the eye. Her eyes were blue, he noted, but a lighter shade than his own. These eyes looked at him as if evaluating, and with a certain sort of knowing - or presuming to know - that he didn't like.
"You have a sister in Vale, do you not?" she suddenly asked.
Jaune froze for a second before nodding stiffly. "I have several," he admitted.
"I thought so. I hope you are a more capable huntsman than them, at least," White said with a frankness bordering on the condescending.
"They had better things to do than stay outside all day," Jaune said. "I assume you're no different, Miss…?" he trailed off.
White looked at him without comprehension, and then looked at him as if he was an idiot.
"You're joking," she said flatly.
"Not at all. Going outside is important," Jaune said evenly, looking at the tan-less girl in front of him. It didn't look like she'd ever worked a hard day under the sun, but then again, that was obvious from the way she dressed. White… really? Well, it wasn't any of his business. "My Uncle always says that experience is the best teacher," he continued. "I get out a lot."
"No, I meant-" she began, but then stopped and gave him that look again. "You really don't know who I am, do you? Even though you're standing in my store."
Jaune blinked. "I thought this was Mr Mann's store," he said, nodding at the rapidly paling man.
White let out a laugh, and not a kind one. On looks alone, she ranked at number thirteen, but for that cruel sound, she quickly slipped lower – behind even Debbie. "Mr Mann manages this store on my family's behalf. He does not 'own' anything except responsibility befitting his role, and if he is telling anyone otherwise he is in violation of policy." She glanced at the older man, who rapidly paled and shook his head. "No, my family owns this store. My family is the reason this village is even on a map in the first place. Think `dust mine`. Do you understand now?" she asked.
Jaune didn't, and Mr Mann was all but despairing at the horrible introduction that shouldn't have had to be made. "Jaune," Mr Mann said, as embarrassed to be saying this as he was to be associated with the young hunter. "This is Weiss Schnee."
Jaune extended his hand for a shake, just as his parents had drilled into him. "Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you."
She stared at his hand, dirty and calloused as it was, like it was offensive.
"Of the Schnee family," Mr Mann added.
Weiss Schnee of the Schnee family visibly forced herself to shake his hand, and let go as soon as she possibly could.
"The same family which owns the Schnee Dust Corporation," the old man groaned, one hand over his face.
Realisation was quick to dawn, though given the situation, maybe not as quick as anyone in the room would have liked. He glanced down at the girl, who was at that very moment wiping her hand on her skirt. She looked disgusted.
"But… but I thought President Schnee was a man!" he exclaimed.
"I'm his daughter, you ignorant cretin!"
Oh… well that was new.
"Please forgive him, Miss Schnee. Jaune spends most of his time out of town," the Mann all but grovelled to the girl young enough to be his own daughter. Pitiful as it was, she acted like she expected it – and it was up to Mr Mann to lose almost all the respect Jaune had ever held for him to bring peace back.
"I can tell as much," Weiss huffed, slowly picking back the temper (and composure) she had let explode. "Let's just move on and get those maps," she suggested. "I'd rather not waste any more time here."
"Right away, Miss Schnee," Mr Mann said, just as eager to get this over with. That made three of them. They made their way to the printer, where the manager began poking at the boxes on the screen. Oh, it had been one of those `touch-screen` things he'd heard about. It probably was a good job he'd come for help, even if it meant running into such a snappy girl. Mr Mann looked up from the machine. "Do you know which maps you need?"
"Do you even know where we're going?" Weiss Schnee asked doubtfully.
"I know the area," Jaune answered, remembering the message he'd received before. He looked at the map of Remnant that hung on the wall. It was an artist's depiction of Remnant- but while there were crowns for Kingdoms, there were no names. It was all about knowing what continent you were on. But it wasn't hard- there, at the centre as always, was Vale.
He put a finger on it, and slowly drew it to the south west, towards the centre of the continent of Vytal. Across the Forever Falls along the coast and the plains of the interior, over the desert where no rain clouds crossed the barrier mountains further west, and then the Forever Forests that continued seemingly forever until you reached the Vacuo Dead Lands far to the west…
He stopped his finger a bit past the Barrier Mountains, where the map shaded 'the Frontier' from the truly uncharted Grimmlands.
"Can you give me everything you have of Eastern Vytal?" he asked. "Also, the latest of what we have north of the Grimmlands." There was no point in asking for maps of the actual Grimmlands - no one had survived to map them all in centuries, and the over-head aerial shots from airships outrunning Nevermore never changed. Occasionally the random nomadic tribe managed the trip, but they never had the tools to make a proper mapping expedition of it.
"Certainly," Mr Mann answered and tapped several boxes. "But why do you want all of that?"
Jaune shrugged. "I've been wanting to head west for a while," he admitted. "Heard the hunting is better out there. Once this expedition is over, thought I'd catch a ride to Vale and see for myself."
Weiss scoffed. "There's nothing on Vytal west of Vale worth mentioning except for Vacuo," she opined.
Breathe. Hold. Let go…
Jaune said nothing. He hadn't asked for her opinion, after all.
"It might come in handy if a Bullhead has to set down," he added.
"I can do that," Mr Mann said, and even Miss Schnee seemed to like the contingency angle. "How would you like the maps - on paper or scroll?" he asked.
"Paper," Jaune said.
"Scroll," Weiss said at the same time.
They looked at each other, and not kindly.
"A digital copy on scroll would be superior," Weiss Schnee said. "You can read it at any time of day without having to squint in the dark."
"A paper map doesn't have a light-up screen that can be seen by Grimm from afar," Jaune returned. "You can use the light of the moon and stars if you need to read it."
"Unless it's overcast. Besides, maps rip and tear."
"A map doesn't break or run out of power."
"A scroll doesn't get soggy if rained upon."
"A scroll doesn't work at all if dropped in water."
"That's why you have a scroll carrying case."
"Or you could just bring a map bag."
"And put it where? I'm wearing a highly engineered combat mini-skirt, if you haven't noticed."
"I wear something called 'pants' that have these amazing inventions called 'pockets.' Plus, I have a ruck sack for carrying stuff as well."
Weiss glared at the offense to her fashion. Jaune looked back at the lack of practicality.
"Um… if I may?" Mr Mann tentatively butted in.
"What?!" both boy and girl demanded.
"Why not take both?" he offered. He had his hands held up before him, as though he wasn't quite sure which of them would attack first.
Jaune and Weiss shared a quick, embarrassed look.
Weiss broke the staring contest first and turned away, coughing into her fist. "Yes, that would be the most reasonable compromise," she agreed. "That will work, Mr Mann. Good job."
Jaune released a breath. "It would… if I had a scroll," he pointed out.
Mr. Mann's eyes widened as he remembered that fact. Ms. Schnee's eyes widened in surprise that it could be a fact at all. Jaune's eyes didn't widen at all- but then, the most advanced technology back at the cabin was a phone so old you had to spin the ring to dial.
It's not like there was much reception beyond the frontier anyway.
"I'll… just start printing and go get more paper for those maps, then," Mr Mann excused himself after starting the first of the maps. "And map bags."
That left just him and the heiress, and the silence between them.
"You really are a backwoods dunce, aren't you?" she asked, possibly more pity than contempt. "Do you even know how to read? A map, I mean?"
Jaune tensed. Why, oh why, couldn't she have just left the silence? "Of course I do."
"Point out Atlas on that map," she challenged, referring to the world map from before.
Jaune glanced at the map, which had crowns for the Kingdoms but no names. He tried to search his memories for the last time he'd ever needed to know where the four kingdoms were… and couldn't, not before Weiss Schnee casually strode past him.
"Atlas," she casually lectured, "the northernmost kingdom." She pointed to the continent east of Vytal. "Mistral, home of Sanctum. Don't they teach you provincials anything in school out here?" she asked, but didn't give him a chance to respond, which was probably for the best. "We are on the continent of Vytal-"
"I know what continent we're on," Jaune snapped. "I've never had to travel to Atlas, so I have no idea where it is. The Schnee family live there, so of course you would know. You're asking geography, not cartography."
"I'm surprised you know the difference… if you actually do," Weiss Schnee doubted. "If you're supposed to be our guide into the Grimmlands, I'll need a bit more than that if I'm supposed to have faith in you. We're on a dangerous mission, not some casual stroll. This is too serious to leave to amateurs," she reasoned.
"You don't think I know what I'm doing," Jaune realized.
"I believe you are a backwoods hunter who knows how to shoot mindless and relatively harmless animals," Weiss admitted. "This may be a useful skill - indeed a necessary one out here where farmland is so scarce - but this does not qualify you to take part on an expedition in which lives are at stake. Trained professionals - not amateur outdoorsmen - are the best chance for success this mission has. It's for the best for everyone's safety," she concluded.
There was a half of a heartbeat of a pause as she turned away.
"Even yours…"
"You're just going to go into the Wildlands without a guide because you don't trust my skills?" he asked, incredulous. "Are you suicidal?"
"Of course not," she denied, offended herself. "That's why I'm asking my father to send professional huntsmen, people with years of training, to help us. Unlike you, they have credentials and experience that can be relied upon."
Jaune's fingernails curled so hard they would leave marks.
"That's it?" Jaune asked, incredulous. "You have someone stuck in the Wildlands, and you're going to delay and leave them out there as Grimm bait just because you don't have someone with a fancy school diploma? Because I couldn't point at a foreign country on a map? You're not suicidal - you're downright murderous!"
"Do you even know what a map is?" Weiss Schnee asked, ignoring the accusation.
Jaune didn't understand the question, which may have been her point, because she sighed and deigned to explain with her eyes closed. "A map," she began, "is defined as a picture-"
"Graphic representation," Jaune corrected.
Weiss paused, barely opening an eye but giving him a measuring gaze. Jaune continued.
"A map," he began from the start, "is a graphic representation, of a portion of Remnant's surface, drawn to scale, as seen from above. That's the definition. It can be a photograph, or hand-drawn. Or made with sticks and stones and broken bones. But as long as it's drawn to scale, as seen from above, it's a map."
Weiss considered him. "Did you learn that? Or did you just parrot what someone else told you?"
"What's the difference?" Jaune asked, not caring for her answer as he took one of the maps off the printer, the map of their target location.
"I can read maps," Jaune said. "I can draw maps. I know every colour, every symbol, and what they mean. I know the Three Norths, and how to find north even without a compass. Do you? Could you?" he returned. "If I asked you to convert the GM angle, would you know what I was talking about? Could you resection off of nothing but a mountain range?" He looked for a suitable spot, and pointed to a ridgeline. "Could you look at a map and tell me the line of sight from here? Or anywhere? Can you read the curves and see the dead space that's best to hide from Grimm in a valley below?"
"So you do know something," she admitted grudgingly. She looked at the map as well, even as he turned towards her.
"I'll know more than any 'trained expert' you bring in," he said. "You want someone who's been taught for years how to survive in the wilds? I've lived on the frontier since I was eight. You want some who can read a map of the Wildlands? Chances are I've walked them - and if they have a new map, then I'm probably the one who made it. No one's spent more time hunting or ranging west of the Barrier Mountains than me. It's not just a map to me - I've walked it, and nearly every village out here too."
Weiss seriously considered him - or considered him seriously, at least. "Perhaps you might be good for something after all," she conceded, looking for and taking another of the maps. "There's a village we were looking at using as a rally point for the expedition, but haven't been able to raise on the radio. What do you know about the village of Lake Tear?"
Jaune's eyes widened.
Breathe. Hold. Let go…
"I know it doesn't exist," Jaune answered.
Weiss frowned. "It's right here," she said, pointing at the map. And there it was - a little dot in the wilderness beside a lake shaped like a tear.
"Ma'am?" a faint voice said.
"It used to be there," Jaune corrected. "It's gone now. No one lives there."
"Don't be ridiculous," Weiss denied. "Schnee Corp didn't close any mines in the area back then, and I would have heard if someone else's dust mine collapsed."
"Then you didn't hear right," Jaune said. "Grimm overran it five, six years ago."
Weiss didn't believe him. "Don't lie just because you don't know," she said. "No one comes out this far west without a reason, and dust is the only reason that matters. Dust would have seen it restored. I thought I was supposed to take you seriously."
"Ma'am!" the voice was ignored.
"Don't take my word at all, Snow Angel, but you'll still find a graveyard," Jaune bit out. "That town fell. No one cared. No one cared so much that you people forgot to take it off the map. That place belongs to the Grimm now."
"That's impossible," Weiss rejected, temper rising at the asinine nickname. "The SDC keep the most updated frontier maps around. Dust mines are too important not to. And even if a village were being attacked, Huntsmen would have been sent to help evacuate the residents-"
"Miss Schnee!" Mr Mann practically shouted, finally being acknowledged. "Miss Schnee," he repeated once he had her attention, speaking as awkwardly to her as he had to Jaune when introducing her. "The map is wrong. Lake Tear wasn't a dust mine. And-"
He looked at Jaune, who was once again clenching his fists but gave the store owner a short nod.
"Mr Arc was there when it fell."
/-/
Jaune left the Schnee Company Store with a full bag and a sour mood. True, he hadn't had to pay for the maps or other expedition supplies - but he'd almost rather have, if only so he hadn't to take the Schnee's pity along with her money. That had been… unpleasant. How she had danced around what she wanted to say, while refusing to say it aloud, as if expecting him to divine her meaning so she wouldn't have to express it.
She could have just said she was sorry if that was what she meant. "I'm sorry I called you a liar about living through a `Grimm Night`."
She didn't know, he reminded himself. It was fine. It had been five years ago. He'd moved on, and she didn't need to act like he was an eggshell about to crack. They could dislike each other for entirely different reasons. She certainly hadn't held her tongue when deeming him an ignorant hillbilly, or suggesting leaving someone trapped in the Wildlands.
If he'd been the sort to put pride before money - well, more of the sort of person to put pride before money - he'd have refused the offer just to spite her attempt to ease her conscience. As it was, he got his maps, and some better supplies to put in his pack. Every cloud had a silver lining and all that.
He was still in a bad mood, though, even as he made his way towards the expedition's meeting site.
He'd worked with people he disliked before – who hadn't? In a place like Edge, you couldn't afford to be picky, and you had to be ready to forgive people for slights others might drag on for months. It was just a part of life, and as arrogant as the Schnee girl was, she probably hadn't meant all of it. At the very least, their meeting had been frustrating and a little insulting – but nowhere near as antagonistic as the first two Huntresses he'd met today. Maybe that was a sign the day was getting better, but it didn't exactly do much for his mood, and it showed in his expression. Narrowed eyes, his mouth a thin line and his brow smooth, but intentionally so, like he was forcing calm upon himself.
Breathe, hold, let go…
As he walked past the Inn, he tried to distract himself by raising his nose into the air and taking a quick sniff. The air was fresh, unusually so. With the mines nearby, not to mention the inn, and the general populace of Edge – the dogs especially - the air shouldn't really have been so cool and clean. The breeze must have blown it away, and that much of a breeze made him think of rain. He was so lost in it that he failed to notice the disturbance behind and above him, as someone shouted something about red, and then hoods.
He didn't miss the fluttering of a red cloak as it drifted down to the ground beside him. Instead he froze, staring at it, stupefied.
It couldn't be…
Picking the red cloak up, he looked up from where it had fallen from. He could see a clothes line, still wobbling slightly, but no person. Folding the red cloak in his arms, Jaune turned the corner with the intent of taking it to the laundry pool by the back entrance. Return it to the washer at the inn, who'd return it to a guest, and it'd all be set right. Just a good deed by a stranger, help that was free to give, the appropriate sort of behaviour from a-
"Cloak thief! Stop!"
That was about all the warning he had before something caught up and crashed into him from behind. The impact was a total surprise, and the new weight on his pack wasn't welcome. Jaune staggered, felt small hands paw at his head for balance, but didn't panic until he felt tiny fingers claw at the bandana on his arm.
"Get off!" he yelled, trying to throw whoever was on his back off as violently as possible. It didn't work well. He threw his bag off his shoulders more than the attacker off his back. The limpet curled in mid-air and landed on her feet and soon he was looking down silver eyes and the muzzle of a… scythe?
"That's my cloak! Give it back to me!" the tiny black-haired girl demanded, eyes wide, pointing at his arm.
Jaune, heart racing, looked down and gave a disgusted noise. "This is yours," he said, throwing the folded cloak in his hands at the girl. It hit her in the face, forcing her to drop her scythe to take it out of her eyes. "This," Jaune continued, pointing at his makeshift bandana, "-is mine."
The girl ignored him, possibly didn't even hear him, and instead gripped the red cloak tightly with shaking hands and looking at it for a few seconds. After a breath of her own she put it on, and the tense silence gave way to an awkward one that only got worse as she placed the cloak around herself and lowered the hood.
Jaune's initial anger gave way to awkwardness as the girl clutched her cloak unnaturally tight. She was clearly attached to the thing. It was probably as important to her as the bandana was to him, which might have explained her immediate anger, and the equally sudden descent into embarrassed horror once she realised he wasn't stealing it.
Fair's fair, he reminded himself. He'd only gotten upset when she'd reached for his bandana. He shouldn't be too quick to judge, even if he'd never levelled a gun at someone before. She was from the city, as her bright and colourful clothes showed. They did things differently there.
Breathe. Hold. Let go…
"I was trying to return it," he began, at the same moment she said, "I'm sorry."
Their words seemed to cancel each other out. Red took the chance to say it again first.
"I'm sorry," she repeated, hugging the cloak tighter against herself, and Jaune had the sense she had the hood down because she was too ashamed to look him in the eye. "I saw the red on your shoulder, and I thought-" her hood lowered again, but he could see her putting her fingers together awkwardly like Julia used to. "I'm sorry. This cloak is… from someone very important to me," she admitted.
Jaune looked at the red cloak, something clearly well-worn and ragged with time and love and constant repairs. He looked at his make-shift bandana, which was very much the same.
"It's fine," he admitted. His anger dissipated, even if the annoyance lingered faintly. "Just… take care of it in the brush, alright? Wouldn't want to lose it out there."
Red kept looking down, still silent, and once again Jaune was reminded of how his sisters used to do the same thing. Eyes down when she was defeated, or embarrassed, or ashamed…
Jaune sighed. "You're a Huntress, aren't you?" he asked. "Part of one of the rescue teams?" It wasn't hard to figure out. New arrival, unfamiliar face, and an ostentatious weapon no one in Edge could have afforded, let alone hoped to wield.
Red looked up, and he could practically see the pride returning to her face as she nodded. "I'm Ruby!" she greeted. "And I'm technically not a Huntress, just one in training."
"Then there's hope for you yet," Jaune returned. With a sigh, he realised he ought to make a good impression – the irony not being lost on him – and extended a hand. "I'm Jaune. I'm one of the hunters who will be your guides."
If he could see the pride on her face before, he could practically see stars in her eyes now.
What had he done now?
/-/
Jaune didn't realize he'd been inviting company on his way to the rendezvous point, but that's what Ruby had taken it as. Oh, she claimed she needed to be early to think on things, but her version of 'think of what you need' seemed to be 'yammer on about weapons`.
He'd tried to ignore the Huntress-in-training as politely as possible, merely nodding and humming along when he was expected to, and answering the idle question whenever she thought to ask one. It wasn't the worst encounter he'd had today, not by a long shot, but it still wasn't what he'd hoped for. He'd tried to give her the slip too, but the winding dirt roads hadn't lost her, nor had she been distracted by a small group of puppies playing with their mother and some kids in a small patch of grass Edge called a play park.
She was determined, that was for sure. He just wished she didn't have so many questions.
Wasn't her ballistic scythe the coolest thing ever? Yeah, sure. It was also a sniper rifle, which meant he'd been staring down the barrel of a fifty-calibre barrel that could have turned his head to mush, and wasn't that impressive? Oh sure, absolutely fascinating. And she was sorry if she was babbling a bit, she was just a bit of a geek when it came to weapons. He never would have guessed. But they were just so cool, you know, like extensions of the soul and said a lot about people who used them. You don't say. Was she rambling? Yes. She was rambling, wasn't she? Still, yes. Sorry, all the hunters she'd met were so much older, when was the first time he'd gone into the Grimmlands? When he was ten or so - Wow. Could she look at his weapon?
Jaune stumbled back to paying attention at that point.
"I'm sorry?" he asked, not quite sure he'd heard her right.
"Can I look at your weapon?" Ruby repeated. Her eyes were earnest, her face set in a wide, excited smile.
"Why…?" Jaune asked, honestly confused.
"Well, this is my first time to the Grimmlands this far away from Vale, and I'm sixteen, and my Crescent Rose is the best weapon ever. But you've been hunting in the Grimmlands since you were ten? That's so cool! You must have a badass weapon to survive!"
"It… really isn't," Jaune tried to say. "I just went with my Uncle and helped him carry the game he caught and the plants we found. He's the one who taught me everything I know about the Wildlands. I didn't even fire a bow until I was twelve or so."
Not at actual prey, anyway. He'd practised since he was younger but he doubted she'd care much about that.
"Is that your weapon?" Ruby asked, pointing at the short bow that was hooked over his shoulder. It was a stupid question, so it didn't get a stupid answer and she flushed a bit instead. "What does it do?" she asked instead.
"It's a bow," Jaune answered slowly, as if speaking to a small child (which, in a sense, he was). "It shoots arrows."
Ruby pouted. "You know what I mean," she said, though he really didn't. "What sort of special functions does it have?"
Jaune took the weapon off and let it unfold. In a simple motion, what had looked like a very short bow unfolded along its lengths to become… a significantly larger longbow. Woo hoo… Okay, so the longbow was a lot harder to pull, for a lot more power than the short bow form, and it was quite clever to have the option for both. But still – it was nothing compared to a scythe that was also a sniper rifle.
"It can fold for easier carrying," Jaune said, twisting the exceptionally plain metal bow so that Ruby could see. "And it can shoot whatever type of arrows I draw."
"So, you could use dust arrows that go 'boom' or grappling hooks or fire taser darts?" Ruby asked, excited.
"If I could afford any of those, sure," Jaune said. "I occasionally find raw dust in the wild, but I tend to stick to the normal sort that go 'thunk' and kill animals by impact." Some hunters liked to bleed their prey, but that felt wasteful and cruel, and no amount of comments on how the meat tasted better that way would change his mind.
"That's…" Ruby trailed off, probably torn between 'boring' and 'primitive`. It probably said a lot about her that she didn't mention either. "How do you hit people with it?" she asked instead.
He didn't – at least, he never had and never would hunt a person, but he supposed she meant in self-defence, and if something went wrong. Indulgently, he twisted his wrist just so, letting the bow bump against her noggin. "Like so," he said with a slight smirk, even as Ruby rubbed her head and pouted.
Somehow, despite having just been hit over the head with it, she didn't look like she believed him.
"That's it?" she asked. "It doesn't break in half into dual-blades? Or straighten into a bo-staff? Or even nun-chucks?" she asked.
Well… Jaune twisted the centre heft, and it disconnected into two. The metal arms not only folded on themselves but drew in the bowstring from both end. In a matter of moments, the bow collapsed to two short metal polls connected by twine.
"Cool! It really is nun-chucks!" she exclaimed. "Can I try them?" she asked.
"No," Jaune responded, though not harshly. "It's still just a bowstring. If you actually hit something with it, it will break." And while he had more string just in case, he didn't feel like losing one for a demonstration.
"Well, that's boring," Red said. "Why let it break apart like that if you can't hit anything with it? Unless…" she began as a light bulb went off. "Unless… it's actually gun-chucks! That can shoot so they don't have to hit! That would be so awesome!" she cheered.
"What? No, it's just a bow!" Jaune said, incredulous. "It's a bow that collapses and breaks apart to be easier to carry! Why would anyone make a bow out of guns? That'd be like using swords for arrows." Ruby raised a finger and opened her mouth, "-which would also be really stupid," Jaune added. Ruby lowered her finger.
"What happens if a Grimm gets close?" she asked instead.
"Then I either run away or I die," Jaune said simply. Or he could hide, shake it off or a number of other things, but if she was expecting him to say he killed a Grimm with two metal bars, she was up for disappointment. "If you get caught in a battle of attrition with Grimm in the Wildlands, you're dead no matter what weapon you have. There's too many of them, and fighting some just alerts the rest. It's the Wildlands for a reason. My having a fancy weapon wouldn't change that."
Ruby looked confused, or maybe disappointed, even as she looked at his bow.
"Look," Jaune tried to explain, not sure why he was bothering, but somehow feeling like he'd kicked a puppy. "It's just an old family bow, handed down on my Mom's side. I've seen it almost all my life, and all I've seen it do is collapse and fold down to be easier to carry," he demonstrated, allowing the bow to fold down.
It could be a long bow, or a short bow, or fold into two parallel metal sticks linked by the bow string in a fraction of the space. Still weighed the same, but it was convenient, and out in the wild, that was all that mattered.
"It's nothing special," he went on. "You wouldn't even take it to war anymore, not since the invention of dust ammo. All it's good for is hunting. The only advantage is that it's quieter than a gun and I don't need dust." Both of which were useful in the Wildlands, but not the kind of combat she was talking about. "It's nothing special."
"Sounds like a family heirloom to me," Ruby disagreed. "Is there a name or a story behind it?" she asked.
There was, but he wasn't going to share it with someone he'd just met. Ruby was nice enough, but still a stranger – and while he appreciated the fact she understood the importance behind such heirlooms, it was a private affair. He let the silence turn awkward, and this time it was Ruby who tried to move it along.
"Well," she tried again, "you might claim that bow is nothing special, but what about that quiver?"
Jaune's hand instinctively went behind him, checking that it was secured. It looked like an exceptionally wide quiver, a bit blocky but still thick, but… "That's newer," he admitted. "It's-"
"A Type three portable ammunition fabricator, isn't it?" Ruby asked. "Powered by a Dust Battery, it can take raw materials and produce ammunition over a period of hours or days. It's usually used for low-quality dust bullets, but you use yours for arrows, don't you? Using whatever sticks and stones you find. That way your arrows aren't limited to what you carry out with you. You can make more out in the Grimmlands, can't you? I bet that a battery can last for months at a time, can't it?"
Jaune looked at her.
Ruby went just a little red from her recitation. "Sorry. Weapon geek."
Jaune couldn't help the soft smile that came across his face. "It was a gift from my family when I became a teenager and started hunting full-time," he shared. "Everyone chipped in. And yeah, you're right. You sure know your gear."
"Must have been a lot of family," Ruby said, smiling at the subtle praise. "Those things aren't cheap."
"Yeah, they're not," Jaune admitted with a soft smile. It cost almost as much as everything he'd ever made as a hunter over the last half-decade. All his family had chipped in, his parents, his uncle, and every sister - even the ones working in the cities.
"That's cool," Ruby said, nodding to herself. "It's like updating a classic without getting rid of what makes it a classic." She paused. "So, can I get your autograph?"
"I'm sorry?" Jaune asked Ruby.
"Can I have your autograph?" Ruby repeated, just as earnest as the first time.
"Why…?" Jaune asked, honestly confused, and trying to remember what might have been said to warrant one.
"Because you're like the youngest Hunter I've ever met!" Ruby cheered. "Like, most of my classmates haven't been to the Grimmlands, just the forests outside Vale. Heck, I won't graduate Beacon until I'm like, twenty. And you've been hunting in the Grimmlands since you were ten? With a classic weapon? That's so cool! It must have been so exciting!"
"It really wasn't," Jaune tried to demure, remembering the (absence) of epic battles against the enemies of mankind, and far more the fleeing and the hiding from the monsters of Grimm. He'd killed some, sure, but had never gone out of his way to do so.
"Please?" Ruby remembered to ask.
"No."
"Aw, why not?" Ruby whined, doing her best to look adorable. Unfortunately for her, Jaune had seven sisters.
"I don't have a pen," Jaune claimed.
Ruby offered one.
"I don't have anything to write on," Jaune tried again.
Ruby just… did she just offer a ragged corner of her own cloak?
"And I'm a hunter, not a Huntsman," he pointed out, putting emphasis on the capital H and the lack thereof.
Ruby didn't get it. "…what's the difference?" she asked.
"I hunt for a living. I kill animals, skin them, and then sell their meat and skins. I also gather herbs on the side. That sort of thing."
"That's it?" Ruby asked, sounding sceptical.
"Occasionally I carry things between villages, or check out something in the wilderness that someone wants checked," Jaune admitted, "but anything I eat is probably something I killed myself. I don't have a fancy weapon or superpowers or play hero."
"But you've fought Grimm, haven't you?" Ruby asked.
"When I didn't have any other choice," Jaune admitted. "But it's only been in self-defence."
Survival was survival.
"And you help people for a living."
"If it didn't help someone, they probably wouldn't pay me." It was a mutually selfish arrangement, and he was little more than a gopher. Go for this, go for that, find me more meat or medicinal herbs or tell me what's out there…
"But if someone really needed help, you'd stay and help them even if they couldn't pay, right?" Ruby tried again.
It was beginning to get frustrating trying to get through to her. "Yes," Jaune said. "Because that's the right thing to do."
"Even against Grimm?" she asked.
"I'd never abandon someone to the Grimm," Jaune swore. "No matter how much their own fault it may be that they're out there. But that's not because I'm hero." he added. "It's because I'm not a heartless jerk. Got it?"
"Nope," Ruby said easily. Because he wasn't looking at her as they walked, he wasn't sure if she had a cheeky smile or a confused expression on her face. "You hunt," Ruby began to list. "You help people. You try to do the right thing. You'd defend people from the Grimm. You even have a weapon."
He could practically hear her smile.
"You sound like a true Huntsman to me," she admitted shyly.
"I think you could be," someone else – two someone's – had once whispered.
Jaune stopped and pivoted so fast she actually did run into him and bounced off. His heart hammered in his chest, and something pounded inside his skull.
Breathe, hold… no…
"Don't call me that," he whispered. "Don't ever call me that."
Ruby was surprised. "Wha- what's wrong with Huntsmen?" she asked, a little taken aback by his vehemence.
Jaune looked at her. Looked her in the eye, and saw her and her kind. The blonde, the city-girl and the elitist heiress… three encounters, each one of them trying his patience in new and heart-pounding ways. And that was just this morning, even before he'd stared down the barrel of a gun. This could still be a good day. Compared to a typical day when Huntsmen were involved…
"Everything," he spat.
"That's not true!" Ruby rejected instantly, looking affronted. "Huntsmen are Heroes! They save people. Being a Huntsman or a Huntress, that's the best thing you can be," she claimed. She gave her own glare, as full as conviction as she could make it. "I've wanted and worked all my life to be a real Huntress. There's nothing wrong with that," she said, her own grey eyes flashing with resolve and cape fluttering dramatically in the breeze.
Jaune laughed in her face. "A real Huntress? I've met real Huntresses - and you, little girl, aren't one."
Ruby flushed under the scorn and slight against her size, but kept her resolve. "Not yet," she admitted, "but I will be. I'm still just in training, but I'm a student at the best school for Huntsmen there is, Beacon Academy."
If Jaune had laughed before, a look of hate passed his face now.
"Beacon," he all but snarled, "is nothing but a pit of vipers. A place for liars and hypocrites," he accused.
"That's not true!" Ruby shouted back, angry at the accusation towards her friends as much as the insult to her ideals. "My friends go to Beacon! Good people go there to learn how to be better Huntsmen! We're going to fight for all of Remnant!"
Jaune laughed again, bitter as it was. "Are you? When was the last time Beacon sent students to the frontier, and not just the inner territories? What do you even know about the world outside your city walls? Do you know how many settlements were started last year? Can you name even one that failed?"
She didn't answer, and that was all the answer he needed. He let out a single, bitter, laugh.
"I didn't think so. Real Huntsmen don't worry about things like that, not when there's always something more important in the city. You and your kingdoms would rather forget we existed. Beacon's no different. The only person you're here to save is one of your own."
"At least we want to save people!" Ruby finally retorted, anger edging out tears in her eyes. "At least we want to learn how! But you? You're just a jerk! Who have you ever saved?"
Even if she was lashing out in the dark, it clearly struck close to home. Jaune clenched his teeth, and his hands curled instinctively.
"You haven't saved anyone, have you?" the girl half-guessed, half-accused. "You were probably the one who had to be saved - hiding up in a tree or something! That's it, isn't it?" Jaune hissed again, and Ruby knew she was close to the mark.
"Maybe we could do better, but at least we're trying! And we do care about what's right! Risking yourself to help others is something only good people do. Huntsmen are supposed to be that force for good. Being a Huntress is an honour!"
Jaune steadied, took a deep breath, and for a second Ruby felt she'd won the argument. That the self-evident truth was so self-evident that even a meanie like him could see it.
"Huntresses are supposed to be a force for good." Jaune conceded, and Ruby's spirits rose. "Being a good Huntress isn't just an honour, it brings honour to the name. True Huntresses really do protect anyone."
But then his eyes opened, and there was not soft compassion.
"But in all my years, I've only met one Huntress who deserved that title." His eyes narrowed. "And you, Ruby… You aren't her. You aren't even half of what she was."
"I will be," Ruby vowed defiantly. "Me? My Team? My friends? We all will. We'll earn it. We'll save the day and guard the Kingdoms. We'll push back evil-doers and protect the innocent. We'll fight for what's best, and we'll win."
Jaune's eyes narrowed further. "If that's what you think being a Huntress is about, you're just as bad as the rest," he accused. "A real Huntress might think that, but a true Huntress? One who deserved the name?" He leaned forward, and despite herself Ruby flinched back under his glare. "True heroes save lives and guard the weak. They'd push back the Grimm and protect anyone. They'd fight for what's right, even if they'd lose. But you…?"
Jaune shook his head, and he didn't look angry anymore- he looked disappointed, unsurprised even. That was worse somehow.
"You attacked me from behind and held a civilian at gunpoint over some damn laundry. Honour? You? No… you're not a true Huntress. You're not even close."
He spat to the side, and shoved past her with a final mutter.
"None of you are."
/-/
By the time he reached the meeting area, the anger he'd felt had subsided, leaving him with nothing but a bitter taste in his mouth. Compared to the other meetings with her kind, Ruby had been almost pleasant at first. Or well, not pleasant, but ignorant enough to be innocent of any real wrong. Sure, she'd pointed a gun at him, but she hadn't shown the same carelessness as Blonde and City-Girl, and she'd been apologetic. More so than White, at least, and not ashamed to admit it.
But then she had to say all that-
Jaune let out a sharp breath through his nose, limiting himself to a glare at nothing in particular. This was why he preferred to go out alone- or at least stay far away from any Hunters when he went into the Wilds. He'd be in bad shape if he went out like this. He wasn't sure why it was so bad, why he'd snapped worse than usual. Or rather, he was, but it took a little while to accept it.
I let her get to me, he admitted to himself with a more composed breath. Her and her silver eyes and even more silver tongue. He sighed, and a hand came up to pinch his brow as he tried to dispel the lingering distate laced with disappointment. Bad enough that the other three had pissed him off in their own way- she just had bad timing to come after them. But even if she'd been first, he couldn't be sure it'd have gone any better.
You should have known better. You did know better. You should have left her behind when you had the chance, rather than see if she'd be any different from the rest. What a fine time for his anger to peak, and at the only one who hadn't actually meant offense. Not at first, anyway. And the smallest, too.
That probably made him the villain in their little drama, didn't it?
Jaune sighed and pushed himself onwards. To be fair to himself, the entire day had been a trial so far, and maybe they were all a bit tense with their own friend lost in the wilds. That didn't really excuse his or their behaviour, or his reaction, but it explained it. He didn't regret it, per se - and again his hand wanted to clench at the memories of the day so far - but he wasn't proud of it either.
His mother would have wanted him to go back and apologize, but she wasn't here anymore. Besides, what would he even say?
"I should have just avoided them all," he mused out loud. "The first two probably hate me, the Schnee is sceptical and I bit the last girl's head off. And to think, it's not even noon…"
Truly, a fantastic start to the day.
Even though he showed up to the meeting area without Ruby, he wasn't the first one to arrive. Early though he was, someone else was already waiting. Luckily, it wasn't one of the Huntresses he'd met earlier and instead someone that cheered him up immediately.
"Kalie!" Jaune recognized, an honest smile coming to the face. He jogged up to meet her.
She reciprocated, smiling just as much or even more than him. "Jaune!" she returned, rising from a seat. "It's been too long! I haven't seen you since..." she trailed off, trying to remember.
"The New Year… or maybe even the harvest festival," Jaune guessed with a laugh. "You're looking as good as ever," he said, and she did. She was a modest brunette, brown to his blonde, but she wore a similar sort of hunting garb. Not only did she have a quiver and bow as well, she even had a bandana like his- though she wore her green one to keep her hair down, unlike his red arm-band. It wasn't showy, but he'd always found it charming. Classy, even, in a rural sort of way. She never tried to be pretty, but she was.
Kalie smiled a bit more. "Thanks. You too," she returned, and though Jaune smiled too he didn't have even the hint of a blush on his cheeks. "I'm surprised you're actually here. I wasn't sure they'd get a response. We haven't seen each other since-" she stopped, realizing where she'd been going. "Sorry…"
"It's cool," Jaune waved off, not offended or annoyed. "I'm actually here because of her. She called, at least, and left a message asking for help. And well, here I am."
"That's good," Kalie said. "Wish you'd been so punctual in answering my calls. You've been out so much, we never seem to see each other when I'm back in town."
Jaune shrugged, and gave an apologetic smile. "Been out in the frontier, probing the Grimmlands," he explained. "Best views, rarest herbs, and the SDC likes to know where the dust deposits are. What can I say?" he asked.
"You could have said 'yes' when I wanted to go along," Kalie muttered, the first (but brief) drop of her smile as she looked away.
Breathe. Hold. Let go…
His smile was a bit sad, not upset. "It wouldn't have worked out, Kalie," he claimed. "The Grimmlands… they're not like the Wildlands. It would have been too much of a risk."
"It didn't have to be the Grimmlands," she replied, but there was no heat to it.
Their last argument was an old argument. It was something he felt he had to do. It was the only remarkable thing he could do, as well or better than anyone else. Going into the Grimmlands, doing what so few others could or would… it was good work. Not the most profitable, but good. But it was also dangerous for those who weren't fit for it.
Kalie was an admirable hunter, could shoot a lark in mid-air at a hundred yards, could read a map like no one's business and knew all the flowers and fauna out there, but she lacked something necessary to survive out there.
Or rather, didn't lack something. Fear. And in the Grimmlands, fear was death.
"Don't be like that," Jaune urged. "You know you're in my top ten, right?"
She laughed, and it was because she could laugh that they were amicable exes and not just exes. "Jaune, no girl likes being told she's in a guy's top ten." she scolded. "That's just telling them they're not in the top five, or top three. You might get away with claiming Momma as number one, but after that…"
"It's not my fault I have so many sisters." Jaune protested.
"But it totally is your fault you put them first. Seriously, Jaune, `you are a ten` is flattering on a scale of one to ten. Not so much when you're in tenth place."
Despite the scolding, they were both smiling. Or at least she was. Jaune looked a bit sheepish. "Wish you'd told me that before today. Still, better than telling a girl she didn't make the top ten, right?" he asked.
Kalie's jaw dropped. "You didn't," she denied, even as she knew he must have. "No way! Was it-" it occurred to her, but she couldn't believe it. "Please tell me it wasn't a Huntress."
Jaune smiled back, laughter in his eyes. "She wanted me to buy her drinks after crashing Phil's bar, and wouldn't take no for an answer. But hey, look at the bright side - you can be flattered you beat her," he offered.
Kalie laughed. "It's probably better for my health if I don't rub it in… and better for you if we keep you two apart. Guess that makes the team selection easy, then."
Jaune wasn't so sure. "She, er, might not have been the only Huntress I ticked off today." And to think, it wasn't even noon.
Kalie gave him a look. "There's a story behind that, and I want to hear it one day," she said, likely thinking the same thing.
"How about after the expedition when we're safe and far away?" Jaune offered. "Actually," he began, "what are your plans after the expedition? You going to stay around Vale at all?" he asked, thinking of what he'd mentioned back at the store. There was some good hunting outside Vale, and it wasn't the Grimmlands…
"Nah, I'm coming straight back," Kalie denied. "Conway promised me a steak dinner, and I aim to collect. Maybe he'll even make a barbeque of it," she dreamed, a bit of drool all but hanging from the side of her mouth as a gluttonous smile graced her lips.
"You and Conway?" Jaune asked, surprised. "Since when?"
"A couple months ago. Why?" Kalie gave him a confused look, and then slapped her head with the palm of her hand. "Ah, that's right. You got that job in the frontier, playing mailman and rock collector."
Checking on isolated villages and towns to make sure they hadn't fallen off the map, basically. And a bit of surveying and soil samples for SDC. But yeah - carrying a few letters too. Or he assumed they were letters. He hadn't exactly read them.
But still, her and Conway?
Breathe. Hold. Let go…
"That's... good to hear," Jaune said, and found he meant it. "For both of you. Conway's a good guy." Maybe not the most sympathetic to faunus, or miners, or faunus miners, but he didn't play by two sets of rules. Fair's fair, as Uncle would say. Conway was that, and more, and just like today always looking for an excuse to do not just the right thing, but the nice things. He could also provide for her- a rare sort of security in the often insecure frontier. "You're lucky, and so is he."
"I know," Kalie said with a soft smile. "Even if you can't take them with you, it's nice to be able to head back home and know someone's waiting with a smile, you know?"
"Yeah. I know," Jaune said, equally soft.
It wasn't a barb aimed at him, and he didn't take it as one, because he did know. One of the reasons he'd been willing to take this job was because of how lonely it was at the cabin. With Mother and Uncle away at the city, the cabin big enough for ten felt painfully empty. It hadn't always been that way. Once, it had been filled with siblings and sisters, but they'd all gradually drifted away until it was just him and-
Kalie gave his shoulder a squeeze. "You've got people who worry for you, and people who will miss you if you don't come back," she reminded. "As long as you have that, then deep down you're not alone. Not really."
"Thanks," Jaune said, giving an honest smile. Even if they were just amicable exes, even if they weren't as close as they could have been (would have been, if it weren't for him), she was still the closest thing to a friend he had, and a damn true one at that. Even if they barely saw or spoke to each other.
Kalie smiled, even though she probably thought about him when he was gone as much as he thought about her. Which was to say not much. Not anymore. Out of sight, out of mind.
"So, what do you have in mind at Vale?" she asked.
"Not much," Jaune said, banishing his musings. "Thought I'd visit my sisters and see how the hunting was over there. Maybe even visit the Grimmlands on my way back."
"You know, not everyone would prefer almost certain death to a bullhead ride, Jaune," Kalie chided with a knowing smile.
"Hey, motion sickness is a very common-"
She ignored him. "Or maybe you just want to lay low?" she asked, teasing. "You piss off any Huntsmen lately? Today, perhaps?" she asked, leading back to business.
"Not that I know of," Jaune admitted. "How many teams do we have?"
"Two right now, with another one or two maybe coming in late," Kalie said. "Today we've got an all-girl team, and an all-boy team."
"Think I've met the girls," he said. "What do you know about the guys?"
"Not much," Kalie admitted. "They seem to have a team uniform thing going on, and they definitely keep together like a pack. Their leader is supposed to be the son in a line of heroes and Huntsmen, that sort of thing, mace and all. Made me think of you, except less rural."
Made her think of the Arcs, at least. "The pack look wild and crazy?" Jaune asked. Power and unpredictability were a bad combination in his experience.
"Not really," Kalie said. "Come to think of it, they looked like a disciplined bunch… armour, team uniform, stood at attention when they got off the Bullhead and got briefed. Almost military, really."
That… didn't sound too bad, honestly. Armor and uniforms didn't mean they were skilled, but discipline suggested the sort who were used to listening. Certainly, they had to be better than the mix of bad run-ins and arguments waiting to happen that made up the girls' team. "I'll take them," Jaune volunteered. "What's their name?"
Kalie looked at her notes and then back up.
"Team Cardinal."
/-/
Team RWBY showed up on time, at least. Technically they weren't late - maybe even a minute or two early - but they were the last ones there. Even Team CDRL had showed up fifteen minutes early. Considering that the briefing had already started, they might as well have been late. Team CRDL didn't pay them any mind, but the locals were clearly impatient.
The girls fell into position, even as their coordinator went over the mission plan once again for final questions and concerns. They tried to ignore the impatient looks from the locals. They were on time, or as close as they needed to be. What was the big deal? Yang shot a roll of the eyes to Blake, who already seemed to be in a bad mood. Maybe that had something to do with all the barking dogs around Edge. Yang would have asked, but settled down instead as the local before them spoke.
"You will all be taking bullheads to the mission area, with each team taking a separate area of responsibility," their briefer was briefing not very briefly at all. "Because of the uncharted Wildlands and high-danger zones between here and there, we won't be able to fly straight to the objective. We'll have to fly around the known Nevermore nests, which will add several hours to the trip flight time."
There were groans, especially from one blonde bombshell in particular. The briefer continued. "Because of the concern of rousing a murder of Nevermore, the Bullheads won't be able to maintain on station for long. You'll have to stick to the schedule for extraction tomorrow. Call for evacuation only if absolutely necessary." She looked at them, getting to the point. "Find the objective, find a suitable extraction point, and get out alive, in reverse order," she said. "We're here to rescue Lie Ren, and that's what we're going to do. Any questions at this point?"
Blake raised a hand. "Do we know if Ren is still alive?" she asked. "I've heard bullhead crashes in the Grimmlands rarely have survivors, even for Huntsmen."
The briefer shook her head. "You are referring to the uncharted Grimmlands, where survival rates are near zero per cent. Lie Ren activated his scroll's emergency beacon shortly after the report of the Nevermore attack on his Bullhead, and which was in an abandoned portion of the frontier. Over the last two days it has shown minor, but consistent, movement until twelve hours ago - we assess that he has kept it on his person while selecting a good hold-up spot, and is currently awaiting rescue. Our best estimates place him in the Wildlands."
He'd stood still and maintained position. That could be a good thing or a bad thing. Training for those in an unknown area would demand he activate a beacon and await rescue, but there was also a chance he was in one spot because he couldn't move, maybe due to an injury. Or he was dead, and the scroll was on the ground near where he'd been slain. It was either-or, really, but he didn't think anyone would appreciate him pointing that out.
They probably all knew it in the backs of their minds.
Dove from Team CRDL raised a hand. "Why are we going now, then?" he asked. "It sounds like we'd be getting there right before dusk. Wouldn't it be better to search during the daytime?"
The locals shot a glare at him, but Yang found herself nodding. It wasn't just that she'd miss her beauty sleep. It was that searching Grimm-infested woods at night promised to be a bitch. Even with a signal to track. Ren would see them coming, but unless he had some flares, it would be hard for him to signal to them.
"No," the briefer explained. "I know this mission is hasty, but we only have a brief window of opportunity to make this expedition work. We have reports of an approaching storm-front, one that will ground Bullheads for days. We are currently in the middle of the Golden Seventy-Two Hours, the period when the vast majority of all successful search and rescues are completed. A Huntsman is exceptionally strong and resilient to injury, but even your sort struggles to survive more than three days without food or water. We don't know if your friend is injured, or what he has available. If we wait, even if weather permitted, we will eclipse that window, and Lie Ren's chances will drop dramatically. He needs to be found within the next twenty-four hours- or he may not be found at all."
"Since we seem to have time to talk amongst ourselves," the briefer said with a pointed look at Dove and Yang, "I'm going to assume there's no further questions. The mission will start as soon as the Bullheads are ready to take off- until then, I suggest you take the time to get to know your guides. Kalie Sanders and Jaune Arc will be with you in a minute."
There were murmurs of surprise from the Beacon students.
"Jewels has a brother?" Yang asked, unaware.
"Unfortunately, yes," Weiss lamented.
"What's he like?" Yang asked. "Anything like her?" Awkward and inept, but fun in her own way… maybe a bit star-struck with Weiss as an idol, much to the absent Pyrrha's eternal chagrin?
"Unfortunately, no. That might be preferable," Weiss claimed.
"Well, what does he look like?" Yang tried to picture. Tried to think of a blonde, tall, but male…
"Oh no," Ruby whispered, pulling her red cloak over her head.
He looked…like the asshole from the bar, the same one she'd almost gotten into an argument with, right down to the red bandana on his arm.
"No, no, no, not him," Ruby whispered and almost tried to hide herself under the hood, which made Yang's fists curl. Finding Ruby moping-but-trying-to-hide-it had left her worried. Finding the cause made her eyes itch red. Family of a friend or no, Ruby was her family. If that bastard did anything to her…
Fortunately, he didn't make it to them. He stopped well short, not even trading hostile glances with them or anything, but turned to his companion - another hunter (or would it still be huntress?) with a green bandana. They exchanged some words and he left, turning so that he wouldn't even have to look at them as he made his way to Team CRDL. The snub was obvious, even without a dirty look.
"They deserve each other," Blake whispered, which more or less sealed the deal in Yang's book. If Blake didn't like you… well, even if Blake wasn't the warmest person, if she disliked you then you probably deserved it.
Yang saw their guide approaching and quickly washed away the thoughts, replacing them with a friendly grin. It wouldn't do to make a bad impression.
"Hey," the girl with the green bandana greeted them with a smile. "I'm Kalie, and I'll be your guide," she introduced. "I've been a hunter for four years, ever since I got out of school, and I've been to the area we're going once before, back when it was still part of the Frontier. I can't claim to know it like the back of my hand, but I'm familiar with the region as a whole."
She paused, and an embarrassed smile came on her face.
"And can I say it's an honour to be working with Huntresses from Beacon? I've never dealt with more than one Grimm at a time, and only small ones, so I'll be counting on you all if we run into any."
Yang smiled. "No prob, leave it to us," she claimed, pleased to be appreciated. Noticing that Ruby wasn't speaking up, and a bit surprised that Weiss wasn't grilling the girl on her credentials, Yang decided to lead the introductions. "I'm Yang, and this is my partner Blake, my sister Ruby, and her partner Weiss." Perfunctory 'hellos' were given. "I'm glad we got you rather than that asshole," Yang added, indicating Jaune.
Kalie frowned slightly, but held her tongue.
"You should be glad you got us instead of Team CRDL," Blake framed it in a different way.
Kalie frowned more. "Is there a problem with them?" she asked.
Team RWBY, sans Ruby, looked at each other.
"They are… how to say this nicely… stubborn louts," Weiss offered.
"Racists," Blake spat. "And bullies."
"A bunch of jerks," Yang finished. She saw Kalie's concern, and so tempered it a bit. "But they're not weak. And they owe Jewels. Their leader, Cardin, does anyway. He'll pay it back. Your… friend, he'll be safe if he just listens to them."
Kalie crossed her arms and didn't look nearly as impressed as Yang thought she would. "It should be the other way around." she said. "They should be listening to him. He may not look it, but Jaune has more time in the frontier than any hunter I've ever seen or heard of."
"Really?" Yang asked, sceptical. "I know some pretty old Huntsmen," she said, thinking of Uncle Qrow, and the Beacon Faculty.
"Older, sure, but how much time do they really spend out of Vale?" Kalie asked. "How often do you sleep outside walls, or without a bed?" She didn't make it an accusation, more of a rhetorical question. "As for huntsmen, we barely ever see any of them out here. They spend their time protecting the core cities of Vale. We're pretty much left on our own."
Blake flinched for some reason, and even Ruby looked down at the floor. Yang would have bristled, but the way the girl spoke didn't make it sound like a complaint or an insult, just a statement of fact. That stung, but now wasn't the time to dwell on it. Come to think of it, when was the last time she'd heard any news outside the city? They were often reports on how Huntsmen stopped a White Fang robbery or protected a dust shipment, but no one ever mention when a frontier town was saved.
And maybe she could have stood to be less of a bitch to him too, but to be fair, she was as worried about their missing friend as everyone else. Yang hadn't come to Edge to wait and waste time. She'd wanted to be out there straight away, then been forced to cool her heels in a bar. Little wonder her frayed patience snapped.
Still, what was done was done, and she was privately more than a little relieved they'd gotten Kalie instead of him.
"You sound like he's better than you," Weiss noted.
"He is a better hunter," Kalie admitted. "I've been hunting since I was fifteen, and I've only brushed the Wildlands. Jaune's been slipping through them since he was ten, and has even gone into the Grimmlands. He knows the area like the back of his hand. If there's anyone who can find your friend and get out, it's him."
Yang wasn't so convinced, even if she could vaguely remember the guy coming up on her unawares. How had he snuck so close, anyway? She was usually more alert than that, especially after a fight. Sneaking up on a Huntress was no mean feat.
"Wildlands and Grimmlands," Blake said, filling the silence. "The briefer used those terms as well. What's the difference? Isn't all the land out there the Grimmlands."
"Not to us. The Grimmlands are where Grimm territory is so thick, even animals stay away." Kalie explained with a patient smile. "No one survives the Grimmlands - well, almost no one. The Wildlands are more like unclaimed lands. Forests, plains, mountains, you name it - Grimm are there, but you can slip through if you're quick and it's where your friend is lost as far as we can tell, which is pretty lucky all things considered."
Yang had never heard the distinction before, and wasn't sure what to make of it now. They'd always been taught that everywhere outside the city walls belonged to the Grimm, and was thus the Grimmlands. Whatever. Maybe it was just one of those things the locals used to tell the difference. Kind of a `stay away from here, but it's okay to go here` kind of thing.
"Is he really that proficient?" Weiss asked. "He didn't… I'll admit I don't know him as well as you, but he doesn't exactly fit what I'd expect of a professional."
"Well…" Kalie hedged, and of course there was a hedge. More than half of team RWBY had been expecting it. "He's… not very good with people."
Yang snorted. Talk about an understatement. Ruby wasn't very good with people. What he was ranked as something else.
"I think we noticed," Blake muttered.
Kalie waved her hands, both placating and defensively. "Not like that - I mean, he's not the best people person, especially with girls, but what I meant was that he hunts best alone, you know?" she said, as if they, each one of them partnered, would. "He doesn't team up like most hunters do. Says they'll drag him down in the Grimmlands. And he's right," she admitted, a bit sadly. "I- They do drag him down."
There was a story there, but the girl shook her head before Yang could press it. The smile was back, but now looked far more energetic. Kalie giggled and tilted her head to the side.
"He could find your friend on his own, no problem… but getting him out? He'd need help for that, so that's what those guys will be for. In fact, maybe we should trade teams," Kalie suggested nervously. "I wouldn't mind putting up and listening with this Team CRDL when it comes to Grimm. But if you'd be more inclined to listen to someone better than me-"
"We probably shouldn't," Weiss said. "I believe we've… already started off on a bad foot. Any gains from trading would be offset by our acrimony."
"Good or not, he's still a jerk," Yang remembered.
"That's not-" Kalie tried to defend her friend. "He's not like that with everyone. He's a good guy, really. It's just-"
"Huntresses," Ruby finished, speaking up for the first time. "It's because we're Huntresses, isn't it?" she said, though her silver eyes had no doubt.
"That makes no sense," Blake protested. "Huntsmen and Huntresses defend people from Grimm. Why would he dislike us for that? We didn't do anything."
"Maybe we did," Ruby returned. "And we just didn't realize it. Or maybe we didn't do something we were supposed to, and he blames us for that. Or maybe it was someone else, but we just didn't care because it wasn't happening to us." She looked at Kalie. "It was Hunters like us, wasn't it?"
Kalie looked at them, and Yang felt a sliver of unease at how the rural girl didn't leap to their defence as the guardians of Remnant. Saw herself reflected in those eyes, and wondered what the girl saw aside from the prospective protector from Grimm.
A blonde who'd ensured she'd be lean in stomach and wallet for some time, as game would have to be shared rather than sold because too many already poor men would be out of work for weeks because of one blonde's boredom? The haughty city-girl who'd harassed a blameless boyfriend and innocent shop-keeper about things beyond his control? An elitist heiress who would have happily dismissed her help in volunteering to save someone she'd never met, due to lacking the right sort of diploma? A Reaper who might have raised her scythe in anger at a good deed being done with the wrong color of cloth?
Kalie said none of it, but Yang shuffled awkwardly nonetheless. She felt like she wanted to give an excuse, to explain why she'd done it. It was an unwelcome sensation.
"A Huntress, actually," Kalie admitted. "I don't know all of it, but I do know that he's had a lot of bad encounters with your kind. I don't know if he's ever had a good one. It's… you know, it's not really my place to say."
Yang wanted to ask more, but could take a hint when she saw it. She nudged Ruby just in case she hadn't, and gestured to the Bullhead. "We won't push. Why don't you tell us a little more about yourself and Edge in the Bullhead?"
Kalie looked relieved. "That sounds like a good idea. Let's go save your friend."
Howdy. C.F. again, with another chapter's worth of chapter notes. Big chapter... doesn't necessarily mean big thoughts.
First and foremost, don't expect this size of chapter every time. Edge is an important part of setting up the story, but not so important that it needed three chapters (and six weeks) to do. Coeur chose the pacing, but he was working within the constraints of rewriting an already-written prologue. I initially wrote the first act on the 'post a day' concept, which can be seen in some of the chapter breaks here, like the President Schnee gag. Once we get past what I wrote, Coeur will have more flexibility on how to implement the plan- and thus likely more consistent chapter sizes.
Second... dat character conflict. Some people asked why I'm using an unfamiliar Jaune, rather than create an OC. The answer is- because Jaune is well suited for the role. Jaune typically functions in canon and fanfiction as a blank-slate character who can develop in various different ways. This is a story where Jaune has been developed in a different way from that blank slate. Figuring out the what, how, and why is part of the hook for this story, for the sort of people who enjoy both character exploration and character development. Jaune is familiar enough that you have a basis to work from when seeing the contrasts, while an OC would be defined by first impressions alone and be unlikely to be given any benefit of the doubt. If an OC doesn't like Hunters, you can take that at face value. If Jaune reacts poorly to his canonical dream, it begs the question 'why?'
It's also the same sort of reasoning for why Team RWBY was the choice for, ahem, less than stellar first impressions- because if canon-Jaune gets along with them from the start, you should wonder why non-canon Jaune doesn't click with the same people. Picking Team CRDL for that role would have been indulging in a cliche without contrast. Oh, hey, hunter!Jaune doesn't get along with the known jerks he didn't get along with in canon- who would have thought? Creating OC Hunters whose sole role was to be unpleasant so that the titular protagonist team wasn't would have been even more one-dimensional. If you don't use flawed but sympathetic people for character conflict, not only are you having shallower conflicts but you also invite the utopian fantasy of 'there wouldn't be conflict if the protagonist had a chance to get along with the good apples.' The best way to have flawed but sympathetic characters in fanfiction is to use the ones given to you in canon- who people already know, and so don't have to be (re)developed before they can be used.
Here, Jaune met the good apples, and Team RWBY not being an exception to the rule is what proves there is a rule. Some of that is on them, some of that is on him, enough that it's not just bashing either side. But more importantly, it shows that Jaune's issues go beyond the 'jerk' Hunters. Jaune has issues with Huntsmen in general, even the 'good' ones...
...which not only begs the question 'why,' but sets up future conflict. If Jaune couldn't get along with the 'good' Huntresses of Team RWBY, how well do you think he'll get along with Team CRDL?
And how will that affect the inevitable encounter to justify the story's character tags?
Next Chapter: 7th October
P a treon . com (slash) Coeur