The humming of the engines was almost calming as the soldier looked at the identification-tag in his hands.
With a look out of the cockpit and into the cargo bay he noticed once again the huge difference in how things had been on the day they had first arrived in Vale and how they were now that they left it.
Back then the men had been relaxed as far as possible without breaking protocol, exchanging smokes, bad jokes and stories of what they wanted to get as souvenirs to bring home.
Genuine laughter and comradeship, it had been a pretty standard mission, bring support to the security already in place, escort the General, keep the peace.
Nobody had expected the mission to go so wrong.
Now the cargo bay was full of scared and wounded civilians with only a small group of battered soldiers as escort.
The mood had been nearly cheerful back then, now it was a grim silence only interrupted by small whispers and the occasional coughing.
In his head he could even remember some of the soldiers they had lost.
Private Copper had listened to music from his scroll and hummed badly in tune, all the while annoying Sergeant Rufus next to him.
Who had taken the Privates bad humming in stride and continued a rather shaky game of cards with three other soldiers.
Only two of the three were still alive, and neither Rufus nor Chopper had made it back to camp.
"I heard they have a fine wine on one of their outer islands. I actually hoped to bring a bottle or two of it home. You know, one for me, one for the family!"
Rufus had laughed when he had returned, unusual cheery, from his escort duty on the night the students of Beacon had thrown a dance party.
Not even the news about the attack on the CCT Tower had managed to dim the old veteran's mood.
Sadly, for the Lieutenant it now also reminded him of their first failure.
With the virus that had without doubt been placed that night their enemy had turned nearly everything they brought to defend the people of Vale against them.
He had seen Chopper getting crushed by one of their own Paladins before the mech had unleashed a salvo at a nearby civilian crowd.
Nearly halve of the military casualties alone had been caused by their own robots.
He couldn't help but wonder how the battle would have played out if it hadn't been for that cursed virus.
The Lieutenant shook his head and pinched his nose to shake the useless and unwelcome doubts of before hanging the identification-tag back to the others on the wall of the cockpit.
A song of metal on metal played as the small forest of tags where interrupted by his touch.
He turned around and towards the pilot, out of the window that was reflecting a sinking orange sun.
"All fine Sir. The other two transports are in line and on course. Our two escorts report not a single Grimm in the last two hours. Everything is in the green."
The Pilot reported as soon as he noticed the Lieutenants vicinity.
The Lieutenant in turn nodded appreciatively as he continued to look out of the window and scanned the sky for any possible treat before acknowledging that the Pilot was right and stepping back.
"If you need a rest, I am sure I can find somebody to replace you. You are flying this bird since we left in the morning."
"No worries sir, I had a few hours' worth of sleep back at Okasa. I am fine so far, and... With all due respect sir, you look in worse shape than I do."
The soldier raised an eyebrow, was it that obvious how he felt?
Maybe he should have gotten somebody to watch over Jaune Arc instead of watching out for him all by himself. The few hours he had slept in the Barracks of Osaka had been unsteady and had helped nothing against his weariness as he had always felt at sense of danger that twisted his gut.
Probably and absurdly enough only because it meant that he wasn't awake to keep an eye on the young huntsman.
He stepped outside of the cockpit and looked around, with the night once again drawing closer most of the passengers were already asleep, wounds kept down the injured and exhaustion of body and spirit kept down the rest.
He found two soldiers in a corner to his left Crimson, the female one, was focusing on renewing the bandages on Jonas arm who did his best to remain as stoic as possible.
True enough, most soldiers still able to fight were needed around Vale to ensure the ongoing evacuation that was estimated to last until midnight, if not longer.
This meant that the small escorts of the transports would consist mostly of the ones that were just strong enough to still stand.
He gave the two soldiers a quick nod that they reciprocated before once again looking trough the interior of the transport.
Only a few souls were still awake and either silently whispering among themselves or left in thoughts.
Every single one of their faces, sleeping or awake, was engraved with the shock of losing their homes, many also with the shock of loosing family and friends.
But none of their faces was as painful to look at as the young huntsman to the far right, his eyes were red and swollen and his face that unquestionably had been used to laughter and joy once had turned into a grimace of anger, sorrow and regret.
Even worse his eyes were frantically moving under his eyelids, indication of a nightmare that would haunt him for some time to come.
Just like the soldier wouldn't be able to forget how he had witnessed Jaune Arc being told about Pyrrha Nikos death.
He leaned against the door-frame of the cockpit before deciding to walk over to Jaune and his two friends that hadn't left his side since last night.
He placed himself into the seat opposite of the young man, which he had reserved for himself even thought he barely used it, as he remembered the night before.
As he had expected the young Schnee daughter and her friends were searching for Jaune back then. And he would need to lie if he was going to say he hadn't been relieved to hear that. Breaking the news to the young huntsman would be bad enough, being the only one around to console him was even worse than anything else he could imagine.
Sometimes it seemed easier to fight a giant Nevermore all on your own rather than be the one to bring the news about a loved one's death.
They had found him in the same alley were the soldier had left him, with another soldier nearby who had stood guard by the Lieutenants request.
The other soldier had excused himself with a small nod as they approached and Jaune managed to get on his feet.
He didn't see it on his face, but in the way his eyes lit up by only a small amount when the boy saw his comrades. The boy had still hope left.
But as he looked at them and didn't find who he was waiting for and was instead met with avoiding eyes and downcast faces his eyes changed.
He had looked at the Lieutenant in hopes of getting an answer.
The Soldiers face was once again hidden behind his Visor and he was thankful that the boy couldn't see the anguish on his face.
Even he needed to force himself to look Jaune in the eyes as hope turned to despair.
The only notion he managed was to shake his head distinctly.
Pyrrha Nikos hadn't made it back to camp.
Obviously the boy hadn't believed his simple gesture, shock, despair and denial battling inside him.
Instead of acceptance panic spread on his face.
His eyes looked past him, frantically searching the crowd for a glimmer of red hair, only to find none.
It was easy to see what was happening inside his head.
It couldn't be true, could it? Pyrrha Nikos, the invincible girl couldn't be dead right? Surely she was only wounded and just wasn't able to come herself right?
Only shock and confusion seemed to hold him upright as the Schnee girl approached him cautiously and opened her hands to reveal the golden tiara.
The boys view fixated on it and the soldier wasn't so sure if he even understood the girl in white was apologizing for not getting there in time.
With dead fingers he grabbed the tiara and looked at it with just as dead eyes.
He didn't even seem to recognize how the small girl in pink bolted forward and hugged him, tears rolling down her face.
The boy dressed in green stepped forward and put a hand on Jaunes shoulder as the Schnee girl stepped back, his face was a wavering mask of stoic sadness.
Jaune closed his eyes and pressed the tiara to his chest as the first tears emerged and his lips began to shake.
He finally screamed.
The Soldier had heard a scream like it only a few times in his life.
Once one of their track dogs had been blown up by a mine directly in front of his owner, another time when he had reported the death of a son and comrade to the father.
It was that loud guttural scream of sorrow that nobody with a heart hoped to hear in his life.
Some heads turned towards them but they moved on as the boys scream turned into inaccurate sobbing.
Everyone knew the feeling of loose on this day, they didn't need to be reminded.
Everything that had held the boy upright crumbled under his feet and his legs gave in as he continued to cry.
He dragged his two friends down with him and clenched his arms around himself as he tried to hold on to something.
His friends never left his side, the other boy was rubbing his back while the girl tried to hug him as closely as she could.
For a while nothing changed as Jaune let out his tears and sorrow as he pressed the tiara of the dead girl tightly to his heart like it was the last thing left in the world.
The Schnee daughter approached him and tried once again to apologize for a fault that wasn't here's but the boy only hide himself deeper under his arms and curled himself up.
It was as much a sign of defensiveness as it was a sign of rejection, and the Schnee girl turned away.
"He is in shock. Give him time." The soldier said as she walked by.
The girl tried to wipe the tears from her face, but it was of no use, as she looked up they were still rolling down her face.
"I I don't know when I will meet him again, please just tell him I am sorry. We should..." he could see that she wanted to go on, somehow relieve herself of the guilt she was feeling for not arriving in time, but he cut her off.
"He already knows. I am sure he doesn't blame you or anyone else for what happened."
He had spoken without a thought and only as he finished the sentence did he realize how frighteningly true it was.
The girl however came to a different conclusion than the soldier.
"Then tell him we are going to find whoever did this, and we are going to make them pay!" her voice was fire instead of ice and for a moment the Atleasian wanted to point out the danger in her words, put decided to simply nod.
"I will tell him. Don't worry, he will make it back home safe."
There was no point in overextending himself, they were all struggling to not fall apart as it was.
The girl waved at Jaunes friends that still stood guard over him before she walked away, her head held low to hide her tears.
The night moved on and Janues friends never left his side, just as the soldier left his post beside them only once.
When the morning finally came and the sound of battle in the distance finally grew quieter the three teenagers sat together on a small staircase with a blanked draped around them, Jaune protected in the middle.
As the sun climbed higher the Lieutenant got orders to move another group of civilians to one of their secured save zones.
He insisted on taking the three of them with him and none disagreed.
When they had reached Castle Okasa the Soldier had finally felt his own exhaustion as he moved his group of civilians into their reserved barracks.
A Atlesian Cruiser was hovering over the castle, his armour black from destruction on quite a few spots while smaller ships commuted between the ship and the repair dock.
The fortress was on high alert, every man they could muster and hadn't been send to Vale to assist was prepared for another Grimm attack aimed on their castle or the civilians within.
And when they entered the barracks a group of doctors and helper s already awaited them.
Their faces didn't bother to tell it but soldier had enough experience to see the tiredness in their eyes which told him that these people had focused on helping others all trough the night.
He found a place away from most of the others and signalled the trio to sit down there as he noticed the smell of fresh food and soup entering their department of the barracks.
The girl in pink jumped up and was about to run forward to collect it for them but the Atlesian signalled her to stay and walked forward himself.
The food was nothing world changing but the staff of Okasa had done their best to spice the rations they had and as he was carrying the plate back to their spot he noticed that even the military grade soup smelled a lot better then he remembered.
But maybe that had something to do with the prospect of fresh bread with butter and his own growing hunger that he hadn't even noticed until now.
When he arrived back at their spot a doctor was looking at Jaunes hurt leg and renewed the provisional bandages the soldier had applied before.
Jaune meanwhile was looking at the floor and into the distance at the same time, he either barely noticed what was going on or ignored it as best as he could.
When the doctor was finished and turned around to leave he noticed the soldier and approached him.
"I guess you know what happened to him?" the younger man asked and the soldier nodded.
"Nobody should ever have to be in his place, not at this age … not ever." he replied.
The doctor only shook his head.
"I have seen too many faces like his on a single day."
With a sight he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small plastic bag with a few pills inside.
"We have too many patients to care for to make time for every single one, but I can give you this. They are just some pills to calm his mind, nothing special, not even enough to cause any significant trouble if taken all together.
They should just help him sleep a bit better."
They had boarded their next flight to distribute the civilians to other towns or homes midday and would reach their first destination early in the morning.
The humming of the engines continued as the soldier dropped one of the pills in a glass of water and returned to his seat.
Jaunes nightmare had gotten worse, his hands were frantically grasping at something that seemed to evade him, his whole body was strained and his mouth was silently whispering a certain name, it was a wonder he hadn't woken up one of his friends beside him.
With a heavy heart the Lieutenant reached forward and shook the boys shoulder.
The outside stimuli only made Jaunes movements more frantic, like he was trying to hold on to this dream that only brought him pain, that his thoughts and doubts had build for him even thought he knew himself that whatever he was reaching for would never take his hand again.
When he finally opened his eyes they were full of shock and confusion before he realized where he was.
"I am sorry to wake you, but your nightmare was going on for far too long." The Atlesian apologized and held the glass of water to his hands.
Jaune took it with shaking fingers and clasped them around it like it was an anchor to hold on to.
"I dreamed of her again." The boy admitted.
The soldier only listened, they had talked about this nightmare once before, there were only few things left to be said.
"This time I even managed to bust the locker open and run after her... but she was always just a bit faster than me."
He smiled faintly when he remembered something and whipped his eyes with his sleeve as the first tears emerged again.
"She was always better than the rest of us... always better than me..."
He sighed as more tears emerged. "I thought I ran out of tears... guess I was wrong, sorry."
Jaune tried to hide his sorrow with a wavering smile as the soldier shook his head.
"Nothing wrong with tears Jaune. Nobody can fault you for them."
The Atleasian said with conviction the second time this day.
"I've seen more people afraid when they noticed they weren't able to cry when they lost someone they had fought with for years, but even they cried later on, or mourned them in their own way.
Only a fool who didn't see their worth would not cry if they lost someone important to them."
Jaunes tears only increased and he put his hands on his head to keep himself steady.
The soldier said nothing, he knew that the young man's tears and sorrow would stay with him for a long while.
"I am still afraid." Jaune finally admitted and the soldier only nodded, he hadn't expected anything else.
Back at Okasa things had been mostly calm. No Grimm anywhere around the castle and enough supply's for a few days worth.
It wasn't too difficult to handle the group of civilians he had been ordered to care for and so the soldier had even learned the names of Jaunes friends.
The mostly calm and collected boy in green was called Ren, and while he didn't show his worries as openly as the girl the soldier noticed that his calmness was a pillar of strength for girl and Jaune, who unlike the soldier didn't seem to notice the small signs of utter sadness in the boy's eyes whenever Jaune wasn't looking.
The pink girls name was Nora, and she didn't bother to hide her tears or sadness in any way. She was mourning, that meant there would be tears or you didn't do it properly, no way around it.
But seeing her cry had its own pain to it, after all everything about her, from the way she moved and talked seemed to imply that she usually was the polar opposite of tears.
Still, she remained strong whenever she could, even if somehow a wild bear would have made the mistake to attack Jaune she would have defended him with her bare hands.
Sadly there was no bear, no open enemy to attack and defeat, only the feeling of loss and the painful departure of a dear friend and what could have been.
The soldier had listened to them talk whenever he wasn't busy with watching over the group and his men.
It was then that he heard proof that the girl with fire red hair had been more than just a simple friend.
They shared stories about her like they were trying to keep her memories alive, and for a few moments the soldier could see a extraordinary girl in front of him.
Normally he would have questioned their story's and chalked up a lot of it to them them praising her to recall the good times, but the more he heard about Pyrrha Nikos, the more he was certain that she had just been that way.
Form when she had been the first to unlock Janues Aura to when she had taken on a whole group of bully's all by herself, seldom had he heard so many stories about ones strength, courage and genteelness.
Despite the tears that the stories caused them, they were necessary.
After all, there wasn't even a body left to bury and no place to mourn her, so they did as best as they could with what they had left.
Only story's about a kind young girl that had put her life on the line to help others.
It had gone on for hours and only once did the sight of a new face interrupt them.
Nora had gone to get some food as the black haired faunus girl arrived at the door of the barracks.
Ren spotted her first and intercepted her, leaving the soldier and Jaune alone.
Like his friends had held a tidal wave back the boy's doubts came crashing forward.
"I am afraid." he admitted just loud enough that the Atlesian could hear him, water forming in his eyes once again.
The soldier only leaned forward, by now Jaune knew that he would always have a open ear for him.
"I know they say loss and the feeling of pain fades in time, but somehow that is what I fear the most." he grimaced and moved his hand trough his hair in frustration.
"I fear one day I will have trouble remembering all the story's we share about her now, one day her memory will fade, and I won't even really notice. They say, life moves on, and you will be happy again. But somehow, that seems like the worst, the idea that I might be happy without her being there."
It sputtered out of him, thought's he had held back, worried that his friends might not understand, that it would even hurt them.
"You feel like if you are going on without her it would be like treason. After all she had always been there for you and your friends right?"
The boy only nodded and the soldier sighted, he knew that feeling as well.
"I am certain you won't forget her Jaune. Even if she hadn't kissed you, even if you two never had been so close. I heard you and your friends talk about Pyrrha and I have met only few that remind me of someone like her, but I can certainly say that it is extremely difficult to forget people like them.
Sometimes the world can be a pretty dark place that is why it is so difficult to forget the people that walk on and light the way despite the darkness.
Trust me Jaune, you won't forget her, and even if you would, having heard her story's I doubt she would take kindly to her being a source of sorrow instead of a reminder to always give your best."
Somewhere deep inside him the cynic pointed out that the best one could give was his life and that Pyrrha had given just that.
But he remained silent, just like he didn't mention a old soldier wisdom, "The first wound is always the most painful." which could be applied to nearly every situation of life and also love.
The red haired girl had become Jaunes first wound, and the soldier knew that the boy wouldn't ever really forget her. He could only hope that one day he would fell less sorrow when her name was mentioned and instead be happy that she had enriched his life even if it only was for a short time.
Meanwhile the young man only looked forward lost in thought.
About the soldiers words or something else entirely, the Atlesian couldn't tell.
"I remember how gorgeous her hair looked when she had it all open once." He said with a pained smile on his face.
"And how she laughed when I asked her for a dance." His smile cracked at the memory that once had brought him joy and now only held regret and pain.
"Why did she laugh?" the soldier asked curiously.
"I promised to wear a dress to the dance if she couldn't find a partner…" Jaune said and implied the rest.
The Lieutenant couldn't help but smile even thought his heart hurt at the thought of what kind of future the two teenagers had lost.
It hurt just as well now between dozens of sleeping civilians far above the gorund when Jaune told him about another doubt that was eating at him.
"Sometimes I feel like I hate her for what she did, that I will never forgive her for it..."
The soldier understood, he had felt the same towards a few of his comrades death, not that it had helped him. He was about to speak out and warn the Huntsman who was about to make the same mistakes he had when Jaune spoke again.
"... but I don't think I can. I know all she did was for others, even sending me away and out of danger. But no matter how hard I think, I still don't know why she decided to go that way.
She knew she had no chance against that woman. She defeated Ozpin of all people, there was no way she could hope to defeat her. But Pyrrh... she went to fight her anyway."
He sighed and wiped his eyes before looking straight at the soldier.
"Why did she do it?"
The soldier leaned back and closed his eyes for a moment.
He had known this question would come sooner or later ever since he had heard the boys story.
Jaune had probably spend much of his time thinking about exactly that question. Maybe he had even found parts of the answer. But he still needed to talk about it, find some way to get his worries and thoughts out of his head, at last partly.
Just as the soldier had known that the question would come he was also long since prepared for the answer.
"I had a soldier by my side once. He was everything one could hope for in a soldier, dutiful, dedicated and most of all convinced to protect as many people as he could.
He was a good man, never turned anyone down in the need of help, always a pillar to rely on.
Even remained true to himself and his ideals no matter how hard the mission or bad our orders.
That was until the mission were we fought against extremists in a remote location.
We happened to come across a small village that had been under assault by the enemy and after we pushed the attackers back we found a few dozen survivors.
Mostly civilians, a few armed men, but most of them elders, children or wounded.
We assured them we would get them out of there before the next attack group came for them.
But then we got the order to withdraw, an even bigger force was on their way to attack a main village and command gathered as many soldiers as they could to at last repel them.
Which was why they could only send one transport ship that would barely be able to hold our unit.
They said they would send another one to get the civilians out but we all knew that they had their hands full already and that the transport wouldn't make it in time
I don't blame command, they had made a difficult decision with the few resources they had at their disposal.
We all prepared to leave, expect for the soldier by my side.
He was torn but argued to stay.
The sergeant knew that he wouldn't be able to force him to come with us and three others even came to his aid.
I nearly would have stayed with him, but I was honestly afraid, and I knew as well as they did how their story would end.
They stayed with the civilians and we left.
We barely managed to hold of the bigger attack even thought we paid a high price in blood.
We were also the first to return to the village.
They were all dead, civilians, children and the four men that had decided to stay."
The Lieutenant fell silent as he remembered how the rest of the unit had reacted to the slaughter before them. Some had cried, some had damned their enemy's, and a few of the veterans had simply taken it in sad silence. They had seen this before.
He had been one of the first kind.
"For years I wondered if we had made the right decision back then, despite certain death.
In the end it didn't matter, I wouldn't be able to turn back time or bring the dead back from their grave.
I can only hope to make the right decision should something like it occur again, even thought I still don't know which is which.
In the end I also wondered what had that soldier convinced to take this stand despite knowing full well that his chances of succeeding where as slim as soft rain putting out a wild fire.
I came to the conclusion that it was just who he was.
He knew the people of the village where certainly doomed if we left them, even him staying there brought them only a small chance of survival.
But leaving them to die even though he could give them a small chance at survival wasn't a possibility.
Jut like Pyrrha must have known he chances of success where minimal, she also knew that the black haired woman's success would spell certain doom upon vale.
Pyrrha put everything on one card.
She went and fought just like this soldier, because she had to, because no one else would, no one else could."
Once again Jaune only looked at the floor, left in thought for a long while.
"I guess I understand. I just wish she hadn't. I wish I could have helped." he finally admitted and the soldier nodded.
"It wasn't your fault Jaune, not even Pyrrhas. None of this would have happened whiteout the black haired woman you described. I won't tell you to not blame yourself, I am not in your place. But you and Pyrrha both gave the best you could, trying to find the faults of the past behind reason will only freeze you in inaction and doubt.
And something tells me that the world will need talented huntsman in the future, now more than ever."
They continued talking for a while before Jaune finally drank his glass and came to rest soon after.
The Atlesian looked from one of the trio to another, all three sleeping.
As he decided to close his eyes he thought he saw Nora blink for a moment but that was when sleep finally overtook him.
In his sleep he remembered how he had approached the trio on Osaka one hour before their planned departure.
Jaune had still been sleeping uneasily so only Ren and Nora had been awake to be told when the transport would leave.
"...we will arrive at Jaunes home last, if your home is on the way I will make sure you can come on board with us."
The two only looked at each other only for a short moment before deciding.
"We will come with him, no matter what." the smaller girl exclaimed without leaving place for discussion.
"What she means..." Ren added on. "... is that with the fall of Beacon we don't really have a certain place to go. And we think that Jaune needs us. We will go home with him."
"And you won't separate us." Nora added on.
The soldier didn't know if that was a threat or a certain statement, but he knew it was true regardless.
"Jaune can be happy to have friends like you." he said.
"And we are grateful that you keep looking out for him." Ren answered while Nora gave him a respectful nod that couldn't be weighted in words.
He raised an eyebrow, he had held himself in the background since they arrived but the two had apparently noticed him even there.
"We will be going in an hour, don't forget to tell Jaune when he wakes up."
As he left he knew he was right. Jaune couldn't be more grateful to have friends like them.
Lkjaödlskfjöaldkjsf
The soldier woke up early in the morning when the sound of the engines changed.
For a quick moment he already saw a group of Grimm attacking the convoy but soon noticed that the change of sound was simply the transport reducing its speed for the first landing of the day.
As he looked around he saw that Noras seat was empty and that she was walking around in the small space directly in front of the cockpit, probably to shake the tiredness of her legs.
Ren still seemed to be sleeping as the people around them slowly began to wake up one after another.
But Jaune was awake, even if it seemed like he had just woken up and his look was unusually dark and strained.
There was something in his eyes and his distant look that didn't sit right with the Atlesian.
"What is torturing you?" he asked the young man, straight cutting to the case.
"I dreamed again." he answered, giving a short pause to collect his thoughts before continuing while the soldier only wiped the sleep out of his eyes and changed his position to understand him better.
"It wasn't as much about Pyrrha this time. It was about that black haired woman.
She was mocking me about Pyrrhas death, laughing that I couldn't save her.
I tried to hunt her down, ran after her, but she was always one step ahead."
The woman had been the last thing they had talked about, it was only normal for his mind to try and find closure for the last thing that had bothered him.
Only that there was no closure this time.
"Her time will come sooner or later Jaune. She will pay for what she did, but don't let her cloud your judgment."
The soldier stood up with a feeling of guilt in his stomach. If he hadn't mentioned the woman yesterday maybe Jaune wouldn't have that dark look on his face.
He approached the cockpit and found Nora playing with a little boy.
"... no, he is not the man that saved your mommy." the two interrupted their play as the Atlesian walked by and he could see the child pointing at him out of the corner of his eyes.
"But, he is wearing blue, and he looks the same." the soldier didn't turn around when he heard the child's voice but stopped long enough to hear them.
"That's because they all wear a uniform, the other man you saw is certainly in a hospital right now and the doctors look after him."
He could hear the lie in Noras voice, whatever she knew about the story of the boy, she didn't even believe her own.
The other soldier was probably long dead.
Jaöldkjsföladjsf
A fourth time this day the sounds of the engines changed as they slowed down to their last halt.
"This is our last stop. We refuel and resupply here. And we will change the pilot this time."
The Lieutenant shot the current pilot a determined look, who in turn only shrugged.
"I am flying just fine sir, It's only going to be a problem if we run out of coffee."
"Crimson is going to take your place as soon as we land, get some rest then. Anything new from Vale or Ironwood?"
"Only the usual, they seem to be certain to be able to evacuate the last civilians before the night sets."
"Hopefully, they are right."
The soldier felt a sudden change in his stomach as the transport changed altitude.
With the transport still in descend he walked back out of the cockpit and towards his seat.
It didn't take long for the three transports and their escorts to touch down on the ground and soon the hangar bays opened to let out the first group of civilians.
Local militia was securing the area and kept a few waiting relatives and onlookers in place.
Many more tears where added to the score, both from happiness at seeing a missed one alive and from sadness of hearing about the demise of another.
As the trio was about to emerge the soldier stepped forward once more.
"I know your home is a bit off to the side. Its a bit of a walk and I would like to bring you there.
Make sure that you guys reach your place save and sound, is this alright?"
Ren nodded with a smile and while Jaune agreed without raising his head.
The Atlesian eyed Jaune with worry while the boy packed his bag, the serious look hadn't left his face since the morning.
Only when Nora knocked on his shoulder with a friendly wink and followed Ren and Jaune out of the ship did the soldier notice that was falling behind.
It was only a halve a hour walk towards the Arc home but the soldier was grateful that he could move his legs freely again.
They only spoke rarely as Jaune was still brooding over his thoughts, the woman that had killed Pyrrha and turned his first kiss into a bitter one.
His friends seemed to feel it, and even thought Nora asked him what was wrong he didn't give a straight answer.
He probably didn't wanted to bother his friends with his troubles.
The soldier followed behind them when Ren walked up to Jaune and tried to talk to him.
Nora sighed and let herself fall behind until she was on the same pace as the Lieutenant.
"He hasn't slept very well." she noted with a look at Jaune.
"Few did." the soldier said tight lipped.
"I think you are a good guy you know." he turned towards her and raised an eyebrow in question.
"You didn't need to take care of Jaune, but you did. Even after I and Ren arrived. You seem like a good guy to me." she explained while gesturing with her hands.
"I am only doing my job." he said with less conviction then he had hoped, Nora only looked at him with disarming disbelieve.
They both knew that wasn't the whole truth.
" I heard you two talk last night, I am happy you did, and I am sure that's not necessarily part of the job." She gave him a huge smile that did leave him wondering how she managed it despite the pain she had been trough herself.
"Anyway, I only wanted to thank you for looking after our friend. You did a good Job!" she said and gave him a thumbs up.
He smiled as well when he noticed the answer to his question.
Sometimes the saddest people smiled only so that others would do the same.
"Thank you. I am sure you and Ren will take good care of Jaune." he had nearly said his last sentence as a question, but knew that would have been a unnecessary one.
Nora nodded with certainty as the trees on both sides of the street made enough space so they could see the Arc home not far from them.
"Nora, could I talk with Jaune for a moment before I leave you?"
The girl looked at him like he had asked a utterly silly question.
"Of course, what did you think?" she said and walked towards Ren, pulled him away towards the Arc home and left Jaune behind.
"Jaune, can I talk to you for a moment?" he asked the still worried young man.
For a moment silence stood between the soldier and Jaune until Jaune broke it.
"Thank you for..." he began, but was cut of short.
"No need to thank me. I am thankful that I could be of help to you, its part of my job.
The only thing I want to ask of you now is that you listen to me."
The boy nodded and turned towards him with tiered eyes, the same eyes that the soldier feared would one burn with hatred.
"The Schnee girl in Vale... she asked me to tell you that she is going to do everything she can to find the one who did all this and make them pay."
Jaune blinked as if he remembered her but couldn't say anything as the soldier talked on, trying to not get it wrong and to say it right.
"She felt guilt over what what has happened like many of us. And when she told me that, in that short moment, revenge for Pyrrhas death she wanted, not justice."
Once again the soldier made a short pause so that Jaune could understand what he was trying to say.
"When you told me about your nightmare from last night I hear a similar voice, different but same nonetheless.
I can't tell you that you should search for justice, because I can't even honestly tell you there is any justice for what you lost.
I can't honestly tell you not to search for revenge either, I don't know what I would do in your place.
What I can tell you however is that I have seen a few people who followed the path of revenge and it is a burning path.
If revenge is that great fiery sword that can burn your enemy's, it is also a sword that won't leave you unscathed, if you even manage to survive it.
I can't tell you which path to walk, you have to decide yourself.
I can only warn you and hope that give my words some thought before you start walking or even during it. You don't have to walk a road until it ends."
Jaune nodded slowly and blinked like he tried to wake up again. The soldier wasn't to sure if he had understood his worries or what he had tried to say. But it seemed like at last a part of it was getting to him, and that was all he could hope for now.
"I want to thank you anyway." Jaune said slowly
"You didn't have to help me as much as you did. I hope I can repay you one day." the boy admitted.
"You would do me the greatest favor if you would just look after yourself. Can you do that?"
Jaune nodded and sighted as the soldier made a step back.
"Take good care of your friends, you will need each other. And good look with whatever you do next Jaune Arc."
The Atlesian gave Jaune one last respectful nod and waved at Nora and Ren who already stood at the door bell.
They waved back and the soldier turned around to walk back to the transports.
When he reached the first trees he turned around and saw three girls emerging from the house-door.
They were just as blond as Jaune and pulled him into a hug that would have made a bear proud.
Relieved laughter reached his ears as the sisters saw their brother save and whole in front of them before they moved on to welcome his friends.
When a older woman appeared at the door frame and showered Jaune with affection the soldier knew that Jaune Arc might be in bad shape now but that the ones around him would do their best to keep him from falling apart.
And if given time he would certainly recover, even if some scars would always remind him of what he had lost.
He smiled and turned around before walking down the avenue towards the extraction point while listening to the songs of the bird in the trees.
Despite the short moment of peace he felt he knew that the battle for Remnant was far from being over.