The preparations were complete and the group of huntsmen and mercenaries departed from the battlefield that was once the mercenary camp. The trek to the village was mostly uneventful and quiet, save for the loud roaring of the tank's engine. The mercenaries weren't exactly the kind for casual conversation, it seemed. Nora however was more than happy to end the lack of conversation to try and question the soldiers on everything: their armor, weapons, where they got a tank from, how did it float, and so on. They didn't answer which saddened the hyperactive huntress who instead tried to strike up a conversation with her teammates. Ruby was certainly in the mood for a lighter conversation after what Ren had told her. Luckily for her, Nora had a different version of her recurring dream of selling Beowolf (or Ursa) pelts where instead of Beowolves or Ursai, she sold the pelts of Boarbatusks. Ruby smiled at this. One could always count on Nora to lighten the mood of an awkwardly silent trek.
Ren was keeping an eye on the mercenaries as they walked on, still wary of any sort of ulterior motive. Commander Lazu was also keeping an eye on the four young warriors tagging along with his soldiers. Knowing well enough that if he doesn't kill these four like his master ordered, a scar across the face would be the least of his problems. However he needed to be patient. One of them was already noticeably on guard around them. If he didn't deal with this quickly, it could be a problem for their plans. Perhaps the mercenary story wasn't the best idea. Once the opportunity presented itself, he would ensure that these huntsmen would die.
Once the three hours had passed, the huntsmen and the soldiers arrived at the small village. As the group walked into the small town, they received varying looks from the people. Some looked to the huntsmen with hope, others with confusion, and even some with discontent. The mercenaries received mainly looks of confusion; all of them seemed to ask the same question. Why were these soldiers here? Two of the village's militia accompanied the elder to meet the mercenaries and huntsmen. The village elder was a boar faunus with black hair, blue eyes and wore a black jacket with silver outlines on the collar. One of the man's tusks was broken and both had some form of engraving on them. The two militia men were clad in similar black jackets and armed with simple rifles, the Dust chambers glowing and ready to be fired. The elder walked up to Commander Lazu who removed his helmet and placed it under his arm. "Greetings elder," the commander said, bowing his head.
"Greetings," the elder replied, "Welcome to Arroyo. Now...who are you and why have you come to our village with a military presence? Are you from Atlas?"
"No, we hail from all four kingdoms. Soldiers from Atlas, Vale, Vacuo, and Mistral, all under a single banner. We have orders to defend this village from the Grimm and White Fang."
"So to do this...you brought a tank?"
"Given how aggressive the Grimm are becoming and how many now make up a pack, the tank will be an immeasurable help to us. Besides, on the way here, we were attacked by a massive pack of Beowolves. Would've died if it weren't for the tank...and the timely help of those four," the commander gestures to the four huntsmen behind him.
"Those four?"
"I know; they're children. But...they are well trained and..seemingly they are veterans of the attacks on Vale."
The elder turns to Ruby who nods to confirm this. "We were just on our way to stop and resupply before we go on our way to Mistral," the young Huntress said with a smile.
"I see," the elder replied. He then turned to the commander and questioned, "I assume you and your men will need lodgings while you're here."
"We have a garrison further out but yes; it would be appreciated," the commander replied.
The elder nodded and motioned for the two militia men to each take them to proper lodgings. One of them was another faunus, a young man with brown hair, blue eyes, and tusks that looked like the ones of the older man who stood to his left. Ruby guessed that they're related in some way. The second man was a normal human with green eyes and black hair. The boar faunus approached the four hunters, putting his weapon away. "Follow me. I'll take you to the inn and we can get you four a place to rest," the faunus said as he lead them away from the mercenaries and towards the village's inn.
Shortly after the huntsmen left, the mercenaries were led by the second man to an abandoned building on the edge of the village. According to their guide, it used to be the private retreat of a local wealthy businessman. However, the man died before he could add the retreat to his will so it went forgotten and fell into disrepair. Some of the more superstitious villagers liked to say it was haunted by his ghost. Their guide chuckled as he finished telling the story to the commander, saying he doesn't believe in ghosts. With that, the man turned around and left to let the mercenaries get settled in. Once he was out of earshot, Commander Lazu turned to his men and said, "Set up the runes in each wing. Even if there isn't a spirit here...it always helps to be cautious. " His men nodded in agreement and set to work setting up their base in the village and placing the runes he mentioned.
Back with the huntsmen, the man guiding them,Malcolm Brans, brought the four of them to a room on the third floor of the inn. The room itself was quite spacious and was specifically made for four people to use at once. The beds were nothing fancy, but then again, while at Beacon, Ruby had made improvised bunk-beds for the team using books and rope. Nora was instantly drawn to the balcony and declared herself "queen of the castle." Malcolm raised an eyebrow and turned to the other three. "Is she always like that?" he asked.
"Pretty much," Ruby said with a smile.
"Just don't get her high on sugar. Or give her coffee. Or both," Jaune added.
"...I probably shouldn't mention the coffee machine downstairs then should I?" Malcolm said quietly. Jaune and Ruby both paled as they imagined a repeat of the last time Nora had gotten a hold of coffee. The horror of it, the destruction; it took three days for Nora to crash and by that time...well, that's a story for another time.
"Ok, now that that's done, you guys have GOT to see this view! You can see the whole village from up here! It's AWESOME!" Nora shouted back to the others.
'Well, I'll let you four get settled. Hopefully you can rest a while and get the supplies you need until you get to...where are you going again?" Malcolm asked.
"We'd...rather not say. Call it a secret mission if you want. We can say what we plan on trying to find though." Jaune replied.
"Alright. What are you looking for then?"
"Answers. Answers about what happened. Answers about why Beacon fell and why...why so many had to die," Jaune could feel the pain coming back a bit when he said that. Malcolm could see it, as well.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for those kind of memories to return. I know all too well how...scaring those can be. "
"It's...it's fine. Wait...you said you knew how those memories are. I don't mean to pry but...how?"
"Let's...just say, personal experience. And I'm sorry for whoever it is you lost in that massacre."
"Thanks. She...she was close to us all. She was...one of the best people you could've met. She was a friend, a mentor, someone you'd look up to. Heck, people used to call her invincible."
When he heard it, realization hit him. "No...you mean her? Pyrrha Nikos? The Invincible Girl?"
"Yep...that's her. She was...my partner...my….my…" Jaune couldn't bring himself to continue. Even after all this time, the pain was a bit too much for him to handle.
"Sorry...I shouldn't have pried from the start. Forgive me. "
"It...it's fine," Jaune said trying to regain his composure.
"Again, I'm sorry. I'll let you be now." With that said, Malcolm walked out and closed the door behind him, leaving team RNJR to get settled and rest. Nora was still outside admiring the view and making the joke about a "view fit for royalty. Which is me." That got chuckles from Ruby and Jaune and a small smile from Ren.
A few hours later, the four of them were getting ready to finally sleep in beds and not sleeping rolls. Nora soon plopped down in her bed and was instantly asleep, as was Jaune. Ruby was just about ready to fall asleep as well when Ren walked up to her. "Ruby...I need to ask a favor."
"Oh? Sure. What do you need Ren?" Ruby replied with a smile.
"I...I want to stay here for a few days..keep an eye on the mercenaries."
"You still don't trust them?"
"No...and I probably never will."
"You know...I was actually planning on staying a few days anyway. I saw something out there...something that might SEEM like nothing but…"
"You feel it's connected to them?"
"Kinda. I mean...it has to do with the Grimm."
"The Grimm? The pack we fought?"
"Yeah. Well...one of the Beowolves anyway. It had blue eyes. Only for a second but...I know what I saw."
"Blue eyed Grimm? There was only ever one other mention of Grimm with different coloration. And that was in your report about the mutant Grimm."
"And those were made remember? What if...what if this was all set-up?"
"We meet the mercenaries, get captured by them, and are forced to trust them with a staged Grimm attack. It makes some sense but there's one thing that throws it off: no one can control the Grimm and even if they could how would they?"
"I don't know but...I know what I saw. That Beowolf's eyes flashed blue for a second before I killed it."
"Well you said we would be staying for a few days anyway. Maybe we'll find the answers here first. Hopefully anyway."
"Yeah...well...it's getting late. Night Ren!"
"Goodnight Ruby."
(A/N: Now we're getting the supernatural elements in this. Hopefully, over the next few chapters, those elements won't bring the story down in the eyes of the readers cause those elements will go from being runes set up in a base to creatures of myth. As always, read, review and enjoy.)