(insert dark souls reference)

Also, sorry it took a while, was working on the other story

As a pre-note, uh. I might've said this last chapter. And the chapter before that. And the chapter before that, but this chapter gets a bit trippy. Like, really trippy. Just, needed to note that.


The three of them took a quick breather and had a meal before heading over to the Valean quarter. They were done with a majority of the memorial grounds already. While the Atlas, Mistral, and Vacuan quarters took from their country's landscape, Vale didn't. While Jaune would've appreciated a grassy meadows as a sort of breather, it wasn't meant to be.

The Valean Quarter was full of ashes. The floors and corners were covered in a blanket of ashes and weapons. Hundreds of thousands of thousands of weapons. Swords, spears, axes, rifles, pistols, knives, scythes, hammers, and maces. Each and every weapon was unique and ancient. On top of the weapons, there was rotting wooden platforms and stone towers. There were helmets hanged on handles and smashed pieces of armor under blades. There were Mourners in medieval armor manning ballista and catapults. There were warriors as big as Ursa Majors wielding axes the size of trees. There were archers wielding bows taller than them with arrows as thick and long as rebar. And all the while, there was an ambient rain of ash.

"Woah." Jaune was surprised, to say the least.

"Yea. It's pretty gentle, from where we're standing." They were, in fact, standing in an alleyway. Mostly to get a good look of their surroundings and to also not put themselves out in the open where the massive amounts of artillery and nearby archers could quite easily turn them into pincushions. In fact, on the way there, Jaune had been nailed by one of those insanely large arrows and the only reason he didn't have a new hole in him was because of aura. But it felt like the force of a truck focused on a singular part of him. "Anyways, as I was flying, I could see that there were some Grimm pools near the church. The problem is that the church is heavily guarded. Like, really heavily guarded."

"I'll take your word on that."

As Jaune made a plan of action for how they'd make their way through the ashen area, he thought about Vale's role in the great war. At the time, it was a giant empire that spanned half a continent, only stopping at the mountain ranges that isolated Vacuo. They had fields for farming, were rich in metals and other natural resources, and didn't have as harsh of environments as Mistral and Mantle. But, like any large empire, it couldn't bring all of its forces to bear at once. So, Mantle and Mistral made the first moves. Mantle and Mistral decimated the Valean navy and then set the front lines to the eastern and northern parts of Sanus.

And for decades, that would be where the war was fought, at least until Vacuo came into the war.

Shaking that off, Jaune focused entirely on the road before them. Across from them was another alleyway, but it was blocked off by rubble, so it could really only be used as cover. they couldn't go up, archers and artillery would nail them if they tried. Though, the only artillery nearby them were two ballista across from each other on the rooftops. However, they were down the street and thus, too far for them to reach. Patrolling the street was an absolutely massive figure wearing rusted brass platemail and a sullied and tattered green cloak with a halberd that was about the length of all three of them combined, the blade being as large as Crocea mors and multitudes thicker. The armor didn't look too heavy and it was rusted, so a good thrust or slash could definitely cut through, but it was definitely tanky regardless of the fact.

"Hey, Qrow? What ammo you got?" Qrow revealed that he used dragon breath shotgun shells, the good type. It would work, Jaune supposed. "Alright, here's the idea. The armor on that Giknight-"

"Hold on, is that really what you're calling it?" Was this really the point Qrow was going to raise a fuss about?

"Yes, Giknight. Anyway-"

"Like, it sounds like v-"

"We do not need to know." Winter saved Jaune from having to hear Qrow say that and motioned for Jaune to go on. And so he did. He pointed out the rusts armor and laid out the basic plan. They pierce through it and begin stabbing. It wasn't much of a 'plan' per say, but it was good enough. Qrow could use his shotgun shells, though Jaune felt like they'd need to save those up. Regardless, they just had to break through the armor and keep on hitting until it died and, crucially, before the artillery crews get their act together and fire at them. And with that, they decided to begin their plan as the Giknight passed by them.

Jaune led the charge, making the Giknight turn around to meet the other shorter, less armored knight while Winter and Qrow took the flanks. They immediately rose their halberd and slammed the ground where Jaune stood, only for him to roll away, only feeling small bits of rubble hitting his back as he landed on his feet. The Giknight decided to make a horizontal swing that Jaune rolled over and winter barely dodged before being able to pry off a piece of armor with her saber. The Giknight didn't stop the swing and forced Qrow to hop up to avoid getting slammed, where upon he used gravity to try and get a good strike on the head with Harbinger.

And then, in defiance of all logic and reason, the Giknight grew wings, and used them to pulse themselves backwards, slamming Winter away with the unexpected movement. Jaune's eye twitched as Qrow, seemingly used to fate just being out to screw with him, simply retracted Harbinger and rolled. He looked to Jaune with a cocky smile and said, "More like Halbird, am I right?" Godamnit, it was a good name. Speaking of, Jaune had a clue as to what these were: The first planes used in the great war. Flying vehicles were beginning to become a thing in blimps, hot air balloons, and gliders. But with the Great War and its constant need to gain an edge, the first flying machines with guns were made.

At least the Halbird (Jaune begrudgingly accepted the name) only had a halberd and not light machine guns. Jaune spared just a moment to look past the Halbird to spot the ballista crews loading up their shots into the artillery. Then, Jaune got an idea. He moved to the Halbird's flank as it focused more on the more agile members of his group, putting himself between the ballistas and the Halbird. Then, he entered Calm Waters.

Five seconds passed as he idly kept his footing up, walking back and forth to keep him lined up between the two enemies. Five seconds passed as the footmen winded up the oversized crossbow. And with a minute of waiting, when Jaune's patience was wearing thin, it fired. He sensed the initial ripple far away given its incredible force and turned around, crouching with his shield facing upwards. The ballista, which was aimed vaguely at him, instead met metal as it hit his shield at an angle like a rock about to skip on water.

And to make it bounce like a skipping rockc, Jaune put a bit of force, rising just a bit, and that was all he needed to deflect the momentum of the ballista bolt upwards, piercing the slightly hovering Halbird with incredible force. It impaled it, going straight through armor and black hide to meet Grimm crimson flesh. The Halbird fell and began to disintegrate with black dust. Just as he left Calm Waters, he felt an attack coming towards him. Because of the slight pause that happened because of the switch, he was unable to react as a small black feather needle flew at him.

Luckily, Winter was. With her saber, she stabbed the remarkably sharp needle away before it could hit the neck of Jaune, who was now ready to deal with the new threat. And with the whistling of the marked Nevermore darts, more came. They were thrown from afar and consistently at Jaune from all directions. With his shield, he managed to block them all. They even made sounds to make it more convenient. As he did so, he scouted the area, looking for whoever could've possibly been throwing them.

Qrow had used Harbinger to swat a few out of the air himself and was wondering the same thing, until something landed on the floor before them. Kicking up a small cloud of dust as it landed, something definitely Grimm was their new opponent. They were humanoid, with bone plate armor covering their entire body. Their head had a bone mask of a Geist, while from it flowed a cloud of black dust. Even without attuning his senses, Qrow could tell it was staring directly at Jaune. It rose a hand and pointed at him, to which Jaune simply laughed.

Was the kid that stupid?

"Alright guys, I got this one." Jaune spun Crocea Mors in preparation, keeping his shield up. Qrow decided to trust the kid, if he thought he could fight it, then he'd probably be fine. Though, he was stupid enough to try and fake his way into an academy without any formal training, so he wouldn't bet on his self preservation skills. Immediately, the Grimm gripped its hand and swung in the air, letting lose a few more of those Nevermore feathers, which flew in all directions before homing in on Jaune, who simply kept his shield up.

The thing then, in a move that surprised Qrow and Winter for a moment, opened its mask to reveal a visceral half-rotting human half-Grimm jaw filled with jagged teeth where it shouldn't have any. It then grabbed some and turned them into javelins before tossing them into the air and kicking them at Jaune. This time, Jaune advanced as he swung his blade with every step, cutting each incoming pole as it came. The Grimm pulled out a sword with what looked to be a human spine and charged at Jaune.

Jaune kept his shield up as the Grimm then extended the spinal sword for it to act as a whip, which tried to grip at Jaune's leg. Before that could happen, he frantically stepped back, allowing the Grimm to retract the whip and turn it back into a sword, giving a light stab at Jaune's shield. Jaune pulled back his shield to let the stab meet nothing as he gave a slash of his own, which the Grimm simply rolled away from. Jaune, with his shield hand pulled out his flare gun and shot a flaming projectile towards where the Grimm rolled to, forcing it to put out the flames.

It went on and on. They slashed, thrusted, and blocked. Qrow actually found that the Grimm was taking cues from Jaune, even in how they used ranged attacks to sometimes mix up their patterns. And then, it came to a halt, when Jaune bashed the Grimm with his shield and made a forceful thrust to their head. Likewise, the Grimm slashed with their spinal sword towards Jaune's neck. Both of them stopped, their weapons mere millimeters away from each others vital areas. Qrow and Winter had their hands on their weapons, they were almost too late to intervene. But, Jaune simply lowered his blade, and laughed.

"Hahahahahaahah! Oh my god, you got me again, bud. Nice work with the projectiles, how did you do the stuff with the teeth?" Jaune retracted his weapons and let his sheathed blade rest on his hip while the Grimm put its spinal sword towards their back, which opened up to receive and hold the weapon. Jaune smiled brightly and clapped the Grimm that he obviously knew on the back.

"I've been experimenting what I can do with my body. I thought you'd appreciate the surprise. I hadn't expected to find you here, however." The Grimm's voice was ethereal. Before Jaune could say anything, he noticed Qrow holding Harbinger up at the two of them. His paranoia was yelling at him, why was Jaune speaking like a friend to a Grimm? Was he an agent of Salem? Were he and Winter being lead to a death trap? Winter, who hadn't yet been informed of what Salem was, merely rose an eyebrow and kept a hand on her weapon, but kept an open mind.

"Ok, would you mind telling me what the fuck is going on?" Jaune blinked for a second, almost as if just recognizing the extremely awkward situation he had just been placed in.

"Well." He clicked his tongue. "Uh, ok, so, what if I told you I met a Geist who possessed a dead body?" Qrow and Winter's stares were penetrating. "And I then fought them in the woods. And I may have cultivated their sentience." Their stares were now deadpan. "Shut up guys! It's lonely out there, alright? I got bored, really, really, really bored. Anyways, I don't even think he's Grimm anymore. Grimm don't have souls, but here." Jaune lightly punched Talos' arm, which flickered with orange light at the impact.

"I know myself not to be man, nor am I a Grimm. I am simply Talos, that is what I am." Talos spoke simply. "Also, in other news, I have been working towards acquiring the ability to taste. I simply needed to buy a pig tongue from a marketplace. I was hoping to have a frame of reference."

"Oh, really? Neat! I need to cook you some stuff. I rarely get the chance to cook any of Sable's recipes besides the really basic ones. I still haven't had the chance to cook beef wellington." Jaune's mouth watered as he thought about such foods and he smiled at the thought of witnessing Talos' first time eating food.

"I-"

"Ok, ok, no, fuck it, what!?" Qrow practically tore his hair out as he stared at Jaune in the eye, desperately looking for any form of lie. But he found nothing. "The fuck!? You, Jaune Arc, kid, random guy in the wild, found what I think is the first sentient Grimm, and- wh- you know what, screw it." Qrow popped his flask open and took a sip from it, letting out, "Take it from here, Ice Queen." In response, she merely sighed.

"For once, I wish I was the one who held that flask." She muttered before turning towards Jaune. In the time she knew him, he was never one to lie. And this wasn't exactly the first Grimm to have spoken, she recalled Krampus having done so. But, expanding her aura, she couldn't sense any of the wispy vibes that magic gave off. In fact, she could feel the soul of Talos. It was, to say the least, different from most peoples. It was primal, still undeveloped. "So, I suppose the first question to ask would be, what are you doing here, Talos?" Talos merely shrugged.

"I came here because I could hear the voices from afar. My curiosity overwhelmed me and I ventured here."

"Voices?"

"Of the Elder in the center of this all. From across the lands, I could hear it, but even in its domain, I can't make heads or tails, as you might say, of its mutterings. It's powerful though, powerful enough to convey its message across continents." Qrow paused for a second. He took that in. Then, he asked a question.

"Were there any other voices?"

"Yes. To newkin, older ones would convey messages. I've listened and found a few, how do you say?" Talos paused for a moment. "Frequencies. Frequencies which were to be left alone. I know not what they mean, but if you do, please inform me." That made Qrow halt. Talos could very possibly be a wiretap on Salem. That was, to say the very least, a very interesting and very attractive prospect. And from what Qrow just heard, Talos had a way to find out whoever Salem deemed to be off-limits. "Of course, those frequencies are muddled for me, for I have been altered in my mutation." Qrow, knowing to not be rash, even in a tipsy state, decided to keep cautious around Talos. Even if they proclaimed themselves seperate from Grimm, there was still a chance that Salem could control or see through them. But if she couldn't, there were plenty of ways that they could help the effort against Salem. In fact, this mission would be a perfect way of judging their trustworthiness.

"Hey, Talos, want to help us deal with whatever's here?" And before Qrow could try to subtly (Tai and his nieces would've laughed if he said that) suggest the idea, Jaune just up and did it for him. "I think I'll go insane if I spend any more time alone with these two." Brat.

"It would get the whispering to stop." They hummed idly in thought, as if contemplating the matter. Jaune held his hands together in begging, to which Talos sighed. "Very well. After all, it's a chance to spend more time with you. I'd like to know what you've done since we last saw each other."

"Alright!" Jaune pumped his fist in the air with an earnest smile before noticing something. "Hey, uh, did we deal with the ballista crews?"

"No, why?"

Anything Jaune would've said was swiftly interrupted by an incoming ballista bolt.


"Well, that took a while." Indeed. It turned out that ballistas had enough shooting power to have their bolts be able to pierce the rotten husks of buildings they were trying to hide in. More than a few large holes were created as the ballista crews literally shot through walls and floors in order to nail them. It took them a while for them to make their way up to the roof, deal with a few footmen with broken blades, and destroy the two ballista that were continuously trying to impale them, but they finally managed to do it.

Now, they were on the roof of a one story building, thankfully with no archers on the taller buildings besides them.

Jaune was meditating in Calm Waters, effectively taking a self-reflective nap while Winter and Talos kept guard and Qrow went off to scout.

"Is it normal for humans to turn into corvids?" Talos' ethereal, yet soft voice made Winter jolt slightly, she was still a bit unnerved by them, but she didn't feel like being rude (unlike some people she knew).

"No, it's something only he can do." As far as she knew. "Moving on, I find myself quite curious to how you manipulate your body. Is it an auric art? Or is it a product of your Grimm heritage?" While Winter was mainly a military operative, when she was at home base in Atlas, she often helped out at the labs and checked up on experiments. The heavily adaptable biological weaponry Talos displayed was quite impressive, even for Grimm. No matter how old Grimm got, they never really 'grew' in anything other than size and intelligence. Mutating was unheard of.

"It's a mixture of both. As a Grimm, I'm able to more aptly mutilate myself. But with my soul, I am able to manipulate these bits of me. For example, I am able to do this." Talos, using their right arm, tugged at the fingers on their left hand before ripping one off entirely. Instead of spurting out blood, the space where the index finger previously occupied was shrouded with black mist. Meanwhile, from the finger came out a sharp bone spike, as if Talos had just unsheathed a hidden blade. "I am still experimenting. With my teeth, I have no need to worry for wasting them. But with my fingers, I have reason to worry." Winter could see numerous possibilities for Talos' ability to create weapons out of their own body. It was basically the ultimate concealed weapon, though any chance for stealth would probably be ruined by the conspicuous Grimm mask, bone plate body, and black mist hair.

"Interesting. As for that sword?" She saw how they put it at their back, where upon it essentially became Talos' spine.

"I found a cadaver on the road with their back shredded. I took it as my own, to serve as reinforcement. Being a spare, I began experimenting with it after making it my own." Winter's look became cautious, her hand inched for her saber, even if she didn't recognize the fact. However, Talos did. "I still feel the desire to kill, but I also feel odd things alongside side it. For example, Jaune. While a part of me wishes to simply maul him, I also feel warmth and comfort when seeing him smile. I do believe I am more than Grimm. And through my continued existence, I may find out what I am." Winter, after hearing those words, calmed down just a bit.

"That journey is a long path filled with twists, but I wish you the best of luck in it." Winter sighed, even someone as uptight (Winter preferred to say disciplined) as her was drained by heavy talks like that. So, she changed the subject. "What of human society have you seen so far? What are your thoughts?" Given Talos' very recent coming to be, it'd be interesting to hear their perspective.

"Even Grimm understand the need to group up in packs and shivers and hordes. Goliaths have Ravagers and Nevermore scout so it can send forces of Beowolves and Ursai to appropriate spaces. Ursa Majors serve as last resort protectors to the younger Ursai when hunters come, not interfering normally as to give the younglings experience. So I understand civilization. I suppose there is something that confuses me, why are there these people called 'bandits?' The Grimm don't wander the wild to slaughter other smaller Grimm. It baffles me as to why these people would effectively self-cannibalize humanity. It also creates negativity, which worsens the overall effect on humanity as a whole." Winter wished that wasn't the case and she could honestly understand the grand-scale view Talos had. But, they operated on a false pretense.

"You're assuming humanity is united under one cause."

"Is it not? Survival. For better chances of survival, humanity would be better off cooperating. Banditry, corruption, abuse, bigotry, all of it. Its all so odd. I am used to animals acting in suicidal ways, but those ways are often in pursuit of the betterment of their species. It evades me as to how your kind still lives."

"Humanity and Faunuskind are less of a singular entity and more countless smaller groups all operating under their own logic and morals in pursuit of their own goals. And while they generally all wish to survive, they often don't care about the survival of other groups. Bandits will rob and plunder for their own enrichment and will not care if the villages they do it to fall to Grimm, poverty, disease, or them. They, often enough, do not care about the larger consequences of their actions. They do not care if a village destroyed is more ground given to the Grimm, they do not care if the damages they create contribute to famines and economic decline that will invariably effect their own profits. All they care is their own betterment and survival. The same goes for corruption. A corrupt bureaucrat does not care if, by taking bribes, their actions lead to lethal accidents, or significantly effects the happiness and health of their people. T-" A Qrow landed by Winter and took a seat on the ledge by them before joining the conversation.

"But what if the pencil pusher can't afford rent? Or they can't afford to feed their family? What if they desperately need money to get medicine for their sick kid? Or afford heating during the winter?" Qrow had a trademark sleazy smirk as Winter bristled at the interruption.

"Either way, their actions ultimately are selfish and lead to grander consequences. Does it matter if a secretary has a sickly relative if that secretary sells classified documents?" Talos' eye widened ever so slightly, the conversation being had was very intriguing. Two perspectives clashing, though they predicted neither would give ground.

"And what would you have em do, let their sick family perish? All for the good of the state?" Winter made to say something, but Qrow spoke again first. "And before you mention the tribe, I don't hold any respect for them. The Branwen Tribe raids and plunders because it can. They're stuck in an age in Mistrali history when that was a normal thing. But for the drug runners of the slums and the petty bread loaf thieves, I can't judge. Why starve or go homeless to protect the system that let them rot?" Qrow had moved over to a wall and leaned against it while Winter sat directly across.

"Then that is the mark of a poor system. But there's a difference between a thief stealing bread to feed themselves and a judge taking bribes." Qrow raised his hands.

"Yea, that's fair." Before the conversation could continue on, Talos spoke up.

"How intriguing. Perhaps I was looking at the self-cannibalization of humanity wrong. Instead of a single entity eating itself, its a system of millions of entities. And, in the pursuit of their own survival, an entity on the fringes will clamor and claw towards others near them, invariably dragging others to the edges themselves the harder they claw to enter the stable center. All for their own survival. It's not self destructive, it's just simply that I was unable to see the beast for the hairs on their skin." Talos let out a series of amused wispy chuckles, earning a raised eyebrow from Qrow.

"Uh, what's that about?" Jaune had awaken from his trip into Calm Waters when he noticed Qrow popping in and then saw how Talos was chuckling to themselves.

"It seems that he's had a, revelation, as you may call it." Winter shrugged before turning to Qrow. "Anyways, what did you find on your scouting run?"

"Well, I had to avoid a lot of arrows, but I was able to see a few notable things. First, the church is totally blocked off. There are numerous castle walls blocking off the streets we could've used to enter it. And the roofs have bridges and archers. Too many for us to deal with on our own. We could always go through the buildings themselves, but that runs the risk of fighting the things in the building. That's really all I got." Winter nodded, the report was satisfactory in the details provided.

"Well, I suppose we're spoiled for choice."

"Was tha-"

"Yes, that was sarcasm." Jaune was the one with the witty retorts today.

"Sorry, couldn't tell." He sheepishly smiled as Winter rolled her eyes. "Well, the high ground isn't an option. And going through the streets is just asking for us to be shot at, so I guess we have to go through the buildings and alleys. That or the sewers." Qrow scratched their chin, as if contemplating. "No, Qrow, you haven't tried that yet. I guarantee you there's going to be a thousand Grimm in there and we'll be running for hours. It's not worth it."

"Are sewers always like that?" Talos tipped their head, giving Qrow the opportunity to answer.

"Well, a consistent job Hunters can always do for a little cash would be sewer patrols. It's boring, dirty, and definitely constraining, but it's still necessary. If they didn't do it, then a Taijitu may slip from the toilet and bite someone's ass!" Qrow smiled as Jaune shuddered in disgust. "Oh c'mon kid, you live in the wild, you don't get to be disgusted at things like shit."

"I guess." Jaune shrugged.

Winter cleared her throat. "Getting back on topic, I suppose we shall begin our trek?"


"Why are you wearing a jacket?" As Jaune and Winter were off scouting the nearby building, Qrow and Talos were left in the alley to wait. And Talos was, as Qrow said, wearing a jacket. It was a blue jacket with a hood that fit Talos loosely. "I mean, I don't think you have to worry about being cold. Even if you did, you don't have pants." Qrow pointed towards the lower body of Talos, which while mimicking that of a human's, was still basically naked.

"So, I should wear pants?"

"No-uh, whatever. Where did you even find it, anyways?" The jacket must've been made to last, given how long ago Vytal fell. It was also leather, good leather.

"In that shop over there." Talos pointed to a nearby store window. A store window that was broken. Qrow put two and two together and rose an eyebrow but decided to say nothing, given the Mistralian fabric he had in his pocket. "A lot of humans wear these things for warmth. I decided to try it on. I don't know why, but it makes me feel invigorated." Qrow actually let out a few chuckles at that.

"Power of fashion, Tal. The clothes maketh the man, as they say. Why, if I wasn't dressed like this-"

"You'd be even more of a creep." Winter came out with Jaune in tow. "We've identified that there's a figure lurking in the building. Aside from that, no other Grimm. It's an apartment complex with creaky floors. The Grimm is heavy, given how loud their steps are. We might be able to get through the entire place without an altercation." Qrow ignored the jab in favor of parsing the information given. Meanwhile, Winter turned to Talos. "Are you able to hear anything about the being in the building?" Talos focused on their ears for a second before shaking their head.

"No. It's not a Grimm that speaks. Powerful Grimm do not need to have loud voices, however. And the opposite holds true as well." Winter nodded at the useful information.

"Very well, let's go in." Jaune, always a man of experimentation, had been messing with Calm Waters for a while. He had been testing how he could use it and, in the flexing of his aura, he was able to find a state of half-submergence in Calm Waters. His sight and hearing was hazy, but he could both see and hear still. On top of that, he could still sense all the nearby ripples. It was a delicate state, however. If his focus was broken, he would be forced out of Calm Waters. But being able to see let him avoid making stupid mistakes while also being able to sense nearby movement. As they carefully walked through the halls of the old apartment complex, Jaune's eyes were distant as he walked.

As a Specialist, Winter was trained in using her aura for many things, like Snowfoot, an Atlesian aura art that allowed the user to effectively make their footsteps silent. Well, silent with a lot of training. In the beginning, footsteps are merely somewhat muffled. And it also takes an active effort to apply it to each step. At her level, however, she was able to use it without even thinking to walk silently. She still had to mind accidentally stepping on a creaky floorboard, however, but aside from that, she was fine if she kept an eye on the floor.

Talos tried their best to walk silently and had ended up only stepping where Winter stepped. Though, they did have a bit of experience in stealth, so they were able to get by without making too much noise. And they were walking on a thin rope, considering how they could hear thumps from the floor above them. Thumps, and the sound of armor clattering. It was nervewracking, whatever was up there could hear them at any time.

Qrow kept farther away from the others, lagging almost a yard or so. The reason why became evident when the floor suddenly creaked, making everyone go silent.

And then, the roof broke open as the being above them crashed in. A shower of rubble and sawdust rained down, a cloud of dust was kicked up as Winter, Talos, and Jaune turned back towards the noise with their weapons drawn. All was silent for a moment, except the sounds of something in the cloud.

And when it cleared, they were able to see their new opponent. Qrow had been able to backpedal to avoid being stomped while the newcomer was getting up. They wore knight's armor, not just a piece or two like Jaune did, but a fully set. Their slim chest was covered by platemail, their legs protected by greaves, and their arms covered by arm guards and gauntlets. Their helmet was normal, except there was a rather large knife stuck in the eye slot, thoroughly blinding them. They wore a dark green cloak with an insignia on the back, one of a wheel bearing eyes.

And their weapons was a large two pronged trident, one that practically vibrated as the ring it created as it impacted the ground petered out into nothingness. Jaune thought he recognized the figure, though he couldn't put his finger on it.

For a moment, everything was tense. The Knight slowly helped themselves up with their bident and turned their head as the four hunters stayed silent. And then, it hit a piece of rock with its bident, letting loose an irritatingly loud sound akin to a tuning fork's. Its head immediately turned towards Qrow, noticing the lone Huntsman at its back, but when the three others began charging, it turned its attention towards them.

And so, the fight began.

Jaune lead a charge with his shield while Winter took the flank and Talos provided ranged support. The Listener took it all in and merely gave sharp thrust towards Jaune's shield. The vibrations it created made the shield hard to wield, forcing him to collapse it and put it to his side in order to wait out the noise. Now with only his sword, Jaune made a thrust just in time for Winter to slash at a different side. The Listener swung their tuning bident in such a way so that Winter's saber was batted away while Crocea Mors was caught in between the two prongs, which then impacted onto the blade and caused it to begin vibrating.

Then, Talos began hurling their sharp teeth javelins. The Listener swung its bident in order to block those until Qrow came, Harbinger in hand. He swung with it in scythe form, hooking onto the bident as the Listener tried using it to block and pulling to potentially disarm the Listener. Winter, using the wall as her platform, jumped in order to make a good slash at the Listener's armor, which dented inwards at the powerful strike. Likewise, Jaune made some thrusts at the areas between armor while Talos hurled javelin after javelin, some of which actually managed to pierce the metal with enough force.

Then, the Listener unhooked their bident by letting one hand go and swinging it around, letting Qrow step back with the sudden vanishing of resistance while forcing Winter to pull back and smacking Jaune in the face. The Listener continued to spin their tuning fork a bit, obliterating a few more javelins, before stabbing the wall.

It began to vibrate violently.

And then, it exploded into splinters and dust.

The force of the sudden explosion forced the hunters onto the street, the Listener soon followed. They landed on the roof of a lower building and the archers took notice. Jaune half-entered Calm Waters just because he couldn't keep both the Listener and all the archers in his field of vision. Qrow scowled and turned into his avian form to deal with those while Winter, Jaune, and Talos were left with the Listening Knight. Talos recovered swiftly and began to rapidly throw Nevermore needles and barbed javelins, though all simply met metal as the Listening Knight spun their tuning fork about to block it all.

Jaune used his shield as a platform for Winter to hop off of in order to begin an engagement with the Listener, charging by with her saber from all directions while the knight could merely dodge or deflect. Jaune charged with steady stance and began slashing at the Listener, though his strikes were either nullified by its armor or blocked by its tuning bident. Talos continued to launch barrages of projectiles to continue putting pressure on the Listener, who was unable to deal with them and just tanked the smaller hits. Unfortunately, most were unable to penetrate its armor.

Meanwhile, Qrow was on the roofs, dealing with the archers that were raining arrows upon the three fighters on the floor. To avoid being knocked off course, Winter continuously moved at changing rates of speed to throw off any predictions, Jaune kept half submerged in Calm Waters to kno whenever an arrow is let loose, and Talos simply grabbed them midair. The archers only paid attention to Qrow when he got on the roof or platform they were on, where upon they'd immediately turn and begin a futile effort to fight off the huntsman to waste his time.

On the floor, Jaune had been observing the knight keenly. They obviously fought with an enhanced sense of hearing, given how it consistently blocked Talos' whistling Nevermore needles but often missed their javelins despite the fact the javelins were less in number and did more damage to its armor. A few even managed to penetrate it entirely, making the Listener rend through their own flesh to do some of their more acrobatic actions.

Then, Jaune got an idea.

"WINTER! ATTACK NOW!" Jaune yelled at the top of his lungs while clanging his sword and shield together, overwhelming the Listener and effectively leaving them blind. So it instead turned to eliminate the one who was making the noise, Jaune. As it prepared to skewer him, Winter blitzed by and managed to get a good thrust at its arm, causing its thrust to go off course and allowing Jaune to deflect it before severing the Listener's arm. Jaune tossed up the tuning bident with Crocea Mors and threw it over to Talos, who nodded.

Talos began to rake the fork's two prongs across the paved floor, intensifying the vibrations and even causing cracks in the street. And then, Talos hefted the bident up, and tossed it at the still scrambling Listener.

It struck true and, with its own effect now turned on it, the Listener exploded in metal and Grimm gore. The pieces of armor and black hide flesh began to crumble to dust.

Following that, Winter joined Qrow in mopping up a few more archers while Talos provided some more fire support. Jaune internally snarked that the one with the most ranged weaponry among them was the one who had never used a gun. Well, it wasn't like he could carry a cannon wherever he went.

"Oh yea, nice jacket." Jaune looked closely at the leather piece, thoroughly admiring how it looked on Talos.

"Thank you."

As the fight ended and all was calm, Jaune's focused on his memory to see what the Listener reminded him of. It was only when Qrow and Winter came back when he snapped, revelation having struck.

"Ah! Of course!"


There were many things Qrow thought Jaune was. A bit naive, good natured, a bit stupid, and very good at improvising. What he didn't think was that apparently Jaune was also a huge nerd about the Great War's most famous figures. He justified it in that he knew them mostly because his grandfather had a lot of time to tell stories about the people he knew from the war.

"But yea, that knight we just fought was Knight Herri of the Throne Knights under king Ozymandias. Apparently she was blinded during the war by a cornered soldier with a knife. Anyways, she used a bident like the one that Grimm used. Though the vibrations were a product of her semblance, the weapon was just made to suit it." With that neat bit of trivia out of the way, they moved on.

Going back in the building, they travelled across it, hopped out a window to another building, navigated some half-destroyed terrain, and began their trek towards the center of the Valean quarter. They had to crawl under windows and take cover from sightlines in order to avoid the scarily accurate and perceptive archers. Other than that, they were able to talk as they liked. And Talos did have questions.

"I wonder, what is so special about this city? So special that something with a voice so loud deems it worthy of being occupied? Underneath the influence of the thing in the center, I can feel it as well." To be honest, Jaune had to guess it was because of how important Vytal was for the war effort. Being in the center of the island, protected by mountains and hills, it was essentially a natural fort on the frontlines that would be hard to overtake. The port towns that relied on Vytal's food production would have to either capitulate or find alternative means if their allegiances clashed. But aside from its strategic importance, there was something else.

"Vytal is where the war started, and it's where it ended." Qrow spoke first, sipping from his flask as he stumbled on nothing due to his semblance flaring. Winter took it from there.

"The initial riots between Mistralian, Mantlese, and Valean settlers occured in Vytal. When news got out, tensions swelled in other mixed colonies and more clashes came about. The Mistrali and Mantlese governments demanded the Valean settlers involved be tried in their lands. The king couldn't let that happen, lest they incite revolt over the outward weakness. And the Mistrali and Mantlese governments couldn't back down either, lest their people lose their faith as well." Winter spoke neutrally, detaching herself from the past and speaking as if reading from a textbook.

"Odd, so it escalated because neither side was willing to capitulate? All just a show for the people that brought about war?"

"Yes. That is a good way of seeing it. Tensions existed before that of course. Mistral and Mantle were empires. The dynasty at the time had just consumed all of Mistral, barring some small ports to the east, and had set their sights outward. Mantle, being the primary trade partner of Mistral, were also dependent on conquered lands for food. They had already annexed the entirety of Solitas in order to use whatever land they could for farming. Meanwhile, Vale had their own empire on Eastern Sanus. All three saw themselves as the most civilized. Mantle and Mistral, being frequent trade partners, considered themselves above Valean simpletons and savages. Valeans thought themselves more prosperous than the foolish Mantlese and Mistralians, who lived in horrid conditions and practiced barbaric things like emotional suppression doctrine. When the riots broke out and neither side gave in, the mainlanders on both sides clamored for war."

"And the thing about monarchs, ya see, while it may look like they have all the power, when the people want something, they either have to give it to them, or risk losing it all. That's not to say they didn't want war. Mistral and Mantle would've loved a chance to take a bite out of Vale while Vale probably wouldn't have minded having Mistral and Mantle stay out of Sanus entirely. It's just that they had popular support for this war, and that meant it was an easy decision."

"I see." Talos nodded, as if in understanding, then turned to Jaune. "And your thoughts?"

"Hmm?" Jaune felt the sudden pressure and felt the urge to clam up. "Oh, me? Well, uh, hmm. What about?"

"The war. Winter sees it as a tragic result of building pressure and leadership unable to de-escalate. Qrow sees it as large and greedy beasts fighting over scraps. And you?" Jaune tilted his head and thought for a moment before shrugging.

"Sorry, when I think of the Great War, I can't help but only think about the casuaties." The grim answer shocked Qrow and Winter, who expected the boy to say something about the glory or historic feats. "My grandpa, he's the first person to tell me about it, he never spoke of the fighting with a smile. It was always mentioning of the scary parts. Death, cruelty, tight spaces, poison, and all that other stuff. But he did talk about the people like he was remembering a good meal. Generals, frontlines soldiers, civilians, affable prisoners of war. He talked about a family of farmers he saved from Grimm and how they managed to hide him during an ambush. He also talked about how, when he came back to thank them after all was said and done, their house was burnt to the ground and they were nowhere to be found. There were unwilling conscripts on all sides, people who were birthed and killed during the war, Vacauns coming from the west to provide material and sometimes martial support, only to be left stranded once their government fell apart, farmers who've had to move due to the war leaving their lands torched and unusable, and many others. I know about the larger scale stuff, but I can't help but wonder about what happened to the people." Qrow and Winter blinked, once more surprised at the well thought out answers. Jaune had to pause occasionally to think throughout it, but it was a good one.

Talos would be the one who broke the silence that followed.

"Fascinating. Once more I fail to look closer. The war was a contest between two ravenous beasts, but for every chunk of flesh ripped off by the other, millions died." Talos' Grimm eye blinked, a thin black film covering it for a moment. "Life is so intricate. I wonder how you people live it. The endless layers of complexity are nigh maddening. Each and every life lost is one small, but significant piece of the grand mural. Each is their own life, with their own story, their own lesson, their own reality. And yet, we can only grasp at a few tiny pieces of the picture, the edges." Talos' bone plated hand was reaching out, as if trying to touch the metaphorical mural in question. Then, it gripped into a fist. "As always, how intriguing." Jaune smiled, it was clear that Talos was enjoying the undending mystery that was life. They had so much to experience.

With that conversation reaching its end, they continued on with their journey.


Everything was on fire. Given the fact they were able to realize that, it wasn't always like that. It was when the group was walking down an alleyway when the fires began. Smoke was the first signal. Then it was the fact that the wood began to creak ever more violently. Then, the floors snapped and they fell into a room totally submerged in flames, flames that crept up the building. Flames that, if given enough time, would cause the roof to collapse on them if they didn't move.

And so, they began moving. The group of four ran around in a panic. In the haze and heat, they all took seperate directions. Jaune saw a burning window and leapt out of it, rolling onto the street before the building. He sensed something attacking and dodged without thinking, the action saving him from being clawed by a Beowolf. But it wasn't a normal Beowolf, no. From its skin unnaturally bulged veins glowing like fire. Oversized pimples hiding flame burst in places without the veins. The normal red marks its bone mask were replaced with a line of fire that continuously burned. And from its gaping maw and long limbs spewed out flames.

And it wasn't alone. Jaune could see in the distance that there were more torching the building that his group occupied just a moment ago. So, pulling out Crocea Mors, he began by engaging just this one.

Jaune felt his shield heat up wherever the Beowolf's claw hit. His forearm would definitely need some ice after the fight given how hot the metal was against his flesh. He made a stab towards its chest when an opening presented itself, only for Jaune to be spewed with flames that flew out of the wound. Jaune had to keep his shield up and step back, allowing the Beowolf to go on the offensive. It even angled itself so the fire coming out of its wound would routinely batter against his shield, paired with the flames from its breath.

Jaune sighed and wished that he had water dust or ice dust. Qrow (using his transformation) was going to buy some water dust when they took camp next time, so Jaune was out. His flare gun really wouldn't help here.

Then, he got an idea. If stabbing the flesh, where the veins ran deep, was like stabbing a high pressure pipe, what would popping the pimples be like? So, hiding behind his shield, he gave it a thrust.

And it exploded with fire. The sheer force made Jaune skid a bit, but he had positioned himself so it would affect him minimally. The Beowolf, meanwhile, was mid-swing, its footing was weak. So it actively tumbled as Jaune had just activated one of the explosive weak points on its body. Jaune lept in for the kill and decapitated it, making a small pillar of flame burst out of the neck stump all at once, significantly torching the sidewalk before them.

Jaune went over to see how Qrow was doing. Before he could intervene as Qrow engaged a small group of the altered Beowolves, Jaune was attacked by a lone duo of wolves. As he dealt with it, Qrow was having his own fight. Harbinger was in scythe form, the reason why made evident when he simply ran by a Beowolf and took its arm, causing fire to gush out before the metaphorical valve was tightened and it became a stump. Given the nature of the scythe, Qrow was able to make their attacks guaranteed dismemberment while also avoiding the flames that came as a result. Qrow hopped off of walls, dumpsters, and even the Beowolves themselves in order to cut a charred path through the group.

In the end, he managed to kill the five just in time for Jaune to finish up the two that were attacking him. He killed two by bisecting them, three by dismemberment. One he killed instantly, the other four he took off various limbs. It was a swift battle either way. Before Qrow could make a quip, they heard the sound of battle elsewhere and got to moving.

Theoretically, Winter would've had a lot of trouble given her focus on her saber and using slashes and thrusts. That was not the case. To adapt to the nature of how the Beowolf's wounds behaved, Winter simply created glyphs wherever she stabbed to act as shields. That allowed her to make rapid amounts of thrusts without worrying about the fires. She dodged, deflected, and stabbed through the few that had been attacking her as well. When more came, Jaune and Qrow were in time to back her up.

Jaune focused on lethal blows to the neck to minimize damages sustained during normal attacks and to be quick. Qrow did the same but was a lot faster with both his scythe and his unnatural speed. Winter decided to act as support, using her glyphs to stop the wolves from dodging or blocking. It was only after they finished that when they ran to where Talos was presumably fighting. And there he was, in a small crater burning with a dozen little fires. Before them was obviously the Alpha Beowolf.

From their back and shoulders were flames. From their jaw came clouds of smoke. They were larger and stronger than the beowolves they had just faced. And their ribcage was open, no flesh was in it. Instead, it was flame. From the Alpha's open ribs came out fire. Jaune could just barely see a beating heart in it, which would likely be the weak point to aim for. And, indeed, Talos was throwing Nevermore needles and javelins at the heart to no avail. The needles were burnt to nothing by the flames and the javelins were caught and snapped midair.

Talos had been dodging the strikes and flames of the Alpha while pelting them with ranged attacks. It was a futile effort, but it was mostly meant for stalling. While Talos had bone plate armor covering them from head to toe, they could still burn. The fire would still boil the flesh inside, rendering it useless to them. They'd probably survive, but their legs, arms, and other muscles would cease to work. So, they waited for the others, safe in the knowledge that they were definitely competent enough to deal with the pack that the Alpha lead.

So, with the coming of their allies, Talos took out their spine blade, and the fight began.

The goal was simple, puncture the heart. It was the obvious weak point, after all. But there came the question of how. Winter could charge in and try to stab it, but she'd more than likely be caught and slammed in the ground. Qrow did try to use Harbinger, but the Alpha forced him away with clouds of fire and dodged his other efforts. And while Jaune's shield may have been able to block the short spurts of flame that came from the wounds, a consistent and larger output would be impossible for him to block without burning through his aura.

And Jaune knew better than to waste that stuff. To make matters worse, a few other wolves came, forcing Qrow and Winter to deal with them so Jaune and Talos could take down the Alpha.

The Alpha began slashing towards them, letting out bursts of flame from their claws as they did so. Jaune put up his shield and stepped forward with every firey projectile, tanking them all. Meanwhile, on one of its swings, Talos fully unleashed their spine blade and had it wrape around the paw before yanking it, forcing the Alpha to stumble. Jaune tried a charge, but the Alpha yanked the spine-chain back by lurching back in such a way that is looked like it was breaking its own spine. In doing that, its ribcage was no longer blocked by its head or paws, and it was free to spew out flames towards the charing Arc, forciing him to stop in his tracks from the sheer force of the flames.

Aura and his shield prevented him from fainting from the heat there and then. After what felt like hours, but was really just a few seconds, Talos had yanked the Alpha again to force them to turn around. Jaune took the opportunity and continued the charge as Talos continued to mess with the Alpha like it was an unruly puppet trying to cut its strings. Its flailings almost hit Jaune, but he managed to roll away before any of the wild swings could smash him into the pavement.

And then, when Jaune was trying to swing at its arm, it managed to unhook Talos' spine-chain. From the swing that took, it had turned in such a way so that his slash missed, but also backhanded him from behind and forced him to roll to gain control. When he stopped moving, the Alpha was on him, claw raised up, ready to slash. Jaune put up his shield as the attack came, though the heat from its paw put more and more pressure as he continued to block the incredible force. He tilted the shield to the side, forcing it to slam the floor and causing it to crack, before getting up and dodging a follow-up swing.

On another swing, Talos had wrapped the spine around its paw once more, holding it back as it tried to slash at Jaune. In the brief pause he was afforded, Jaune swung his blade upwards and managed to dismember the Alpha with his aura-sharpened blade. The fires from the Alpha's ribs and the fact it was now unchained forced Jaune to move back.

It had quickly closed the wound, lest it lose all of its flame. Jaune continued to back up and deflect, occasionally making small stabs and thrusts into the Beowolf's hide. He couldn't do anything more, however, as whenever he tried, the Alpha simply let out a blast from its ribcage that sent him flying.

And then, he got an idea.

"GET ITS LEG!" Talos nodded, using their spine whip to wrap around the Alpha's legs. Being rather top heavy, it couldn't do anything as it was forced the floor. Jaune sprinted and lept onto its back, and, with all of his strength, plunged Crocea Mors into where the flaming heart was.

Small jets of flame pushed back against Crocea Mors as he made it further in. Flames began to spew out onto the floor from the ribcage, spreading out and charring the old and weary pavement. But, when he slowly pierced the flesh of the Alpha, ignoring the discomfort in his heat from the pain, all attempts at fighting back had ceased. And, when the flames fully died, so too did the Alpha as it faded away into black dust.

Jaune sheathed Crocea Mors and gave a smile and thumbs up to Talos, who returned the gesture after tilting their head in confusion. Qrow and Winter had just finished up dealing with the other Beowolves as well, with Qrow probably having tripped due to his semblance and getting singed for the stroke of misfortune.

"Ok, so what were those?"

"Uhhhhhhh." Jaune thought back to the stories his grandfather told and shrugged. "Sorry, I only know people. Winter?"

"I believe this was from Operation: Scorched Earth. When Mantlese forces were being pushed out of Vytal, they left behind several convicted pyromaniacs they brought from their mainland and gave them flamethrowers and other tools." Qrow, Jaune, and even Talos were stunned at the very idea. Winter shrugged. "And yes, the city was still occupied at the time. They gave arsonists the tools for arsony and then let them run loose in a city. And yes, this was hardly the worst idea they had."

"What could possibly be worse?"

"Pouring fire dust into streams in order to make the enemy soldiers 'combustible.' That is worse." And it looked like Qrow agreed.


It was inevitable, given that Jaune occasionally played games with Darling to pass the time during their rest periods, that Talos would see the mystical luck deity. It was during one of those games, where Jaune was playing a low-stakes (According to Darling, betting fifty lien is low stakes) game of Settlers. It was half an hour into the game when Talos walked by, back from a scouting trip, and saw the green skinned spirit.

"Oh! A new player, such a curiosity as well. What's your name, good sir? Madam? Whatever works for you." Darling offered a wide smile and enthusiastic handshake to the very confused and high-energy gambler.

"Talos. And, you are?"

"Lord of Chance, Girl of Many Games, and Lady Luck, at your service." Darling eyed up the newcomer. "Ah, you have the mark of the Violet Drake. And somehow, you also bear a gift from that Golden Serpent. A paradox! How lovely~" Darling proceeded to promptly ignore the game she was currently losing at in favor of probably sinking her hooks into another potential gambler.

"Jaune, who is this lady?"

"This is Darling, a luck spirit who lives in this magical deck of cards I carry around." Jaune spoke, kind of used to the madness that was living in the frontier by now. Talos, a being who was still a few months old, somehow managed to convey a deadpan stare.

"Even with the shattered memories and emotions of a dead man and a Grimm, I know that is quite absurd." Talos shrugged before sitting down. "So, what are these 'games' you speak of?" Jaune, for some reason, felt an incredible sense of dread at the incoming fight.

A few hours later, Qrow and Winter would walk into what seemed to be a modified version of chess. Except from the sides were elevated chess boards with miniature games going on at the same time. Pieces were flying across the board, transfering from pocket square to board and then back to the pockets, and both being promoted and then demoted in the space of a few turns. Jaune, who had been there to watch the gradual evolution in complexity, had his eyes turn red and shaking from the sheer amount of weird specific rules there were.

In the end, Darling won after a weird gambit that nobody except Talos understood. Her prize was one of his teeth. In the end, Qrow and Winter were left, motionless on the sidelines, trying to comprehend what unholy abomination of a board game Darling had just pulled out and how in the world Talos had been able to match wits with Darling over it.

"What in the world did we just see?"


BANG!

A rifle shot hit the pavement, causing cracks. Jaune just barely managed to avoid getting his leg slamemd with lead and pulled out his shield in an instant. Observant eyes scoured the land, they were going through a decayed plaza when the gunshot went off. It seemed that they were going to have to contend with a sniper, one that's awfully good at sneaking, given how none of them were able to see the shooter. Windows were open, pieces of rubble provided shade, and holes in walls could make good places to stick barrels through. While Talos put their back to Jaune's, lacking a shield, Winter and Qrow were comfortable enough with their reflexes and auras to take a shot. Given the angle of the bullet, they all looked towards the mass of buildings.

Snap!

As they slowly stepped forward, a thin wire was snapped. Instinctively, Qrow rolled away, barely missing almost being hit by a dart trap. Then, his next step activated a snare hidden between rocks, which he pulled his foot out of before it could clamp onto it. He stumbled for a few more moments before gaining his footing, swearing at his semblance, like always, and putting Harbinger up in a battle stance.

"Hmmmm, any idea where he is?" Jaune's question would've gotten an answer, if it weren't for what happened next.

BANG!

A shot came at Winter's back, who expected it and had created a glyph as a barrier. Jaune then realized something and entered waist deep Calm Waters, keeping his sight but still accessing the world of ripples. He was able to see the slight buzzing of the traps that were set up and waiting to be activated. He also saw the heat coming off of the flattened bullet that fell to the floor. And more importantly, he could feel ever so slight vibrations in a direction. Jaune tilted his head and began moving there, shield ready and wildly scanning for traps.

BOOM!

Jaune stepped on a landmine which flinged him into the air. He curled up and flipped midair while holding up his shield, which turned out to be a good decision when a few rifle shots rang out and they all hit the barrier. He landed on his knees, aura sparking to brace him for the fall. He immediately put his shield up as another shot rang out out of pure instincts, given his concentration was broken and he was pulled out of Calm Waters.

"Alright, this guy is running circles around us. And we're not even in the wilderness." Crickets chirped at Qrow's comment. "It's a reference to- ok whatever. Talos? Can you begin activating traps with your stuff?" Talos nodded, pulling out needles and javelins and, with both Qrow and Winter's guidance, began cutting a path through the traps. Jaune kept his shield up and guarded Talos while he did so and rifle shots rang out. And the traps were getting pretty insane.

From crumbling floors that gave way to spike pits (keep in mind, it was pavement that crumbled) to pulling the pin off of a grenade, there were numerous traps everywhere. A table umbrella would hide a storm of knives waiting to be shot out when the giant umbrella is forced open. Under a rock could be hidden enough explosives to destroy a boulder. It was frankly amazing how a rat hadn't come by and triggered a domino effect that ended with the total destruction of the entire place.

And Talos would nail them with needles and Javelins while Winter and Qrow spotted the traps and Jaune played the role of shielder. After a while, they found themselves in the building where they sensed the enemy to be. Their presence was so minimized that they couldn't get anything better than that. Even Qrow, who was just shy of a silver haired huntsman, had no clue where the hell the trapper was. But, as expected, the building they were in was equally as trapped. It was a desecrated Great War era shopping mall and it was rigged with more deadly mechanisms than most mechashift weapons.

Bone white mannequins would suddenly sprout to life, lurch towards them, and explode in a suicidal charge. The problem was that there were many of the statues in the clothes part of the store and wildly swinging would just open them up for the mannequins to charge in without a care as they left openings. Jaune helped the party navigate through a path with the least mannequins, with Qrow and Winter making sure none popped out of the clothes racks or aisles as they walked by.

They needed to get to the roof. Taking the elevator wasn't an option for numerous reasons, one based on age, and another based on the Grimm they were fighting showing a propensity for traps, and another because it'd take too long in comparison to the stairs. So, they chose the analog option. The trap on the stairs was actually a relatively benign one.

The steps were stupidly slippery. It wasn't ideal, Qrow almost slammed his jaw as he tried walking up, but it wasn't like it was on fire or anything. And with the help of Winter's glyphs (Jaune held the position that her semblance was ridiculously versatile) they managed to ascend to the second floor.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

And then bullets came from the roof. Not from a sniper hiding somewhere, but just through the roof. And the group of them, not having anything with enough penetrative power to really deal with that, had no choice by to dodge and block as they were pelted with sniper fire from above. Qrow picked up a metal tray (immediately tossed the plastic explosive that was strapped under it) and used it in conjunction with aura in order to block the bullets while Winter shielded herself with a glyph.

After going up the stairs, skipping the spikes, hopping over a pit, and using Winter's glyphs to not fall when the stairs suddenly turned into a slick ramp, they burst out the doors and reached the roof, where there was no sniper to be found. They all stepped out cautiously, already incredibly paranoid over potential traps. Jaune stepped on a leaf and stepped back in fear as it a spear shot through the floor, penetrating it. Qrow was fairly sure that there was a machine gun waiting to fire hiding beneath a bucket. Even Winter was keeping an open mind as she tenatively prodded at their surroundings with her saber.

At that point, the traps were so well hidden, they could only guess.

"You know, I think I know how Oz fee-" Qrow's voice was immediately cut off by a voice-activated trap that tried shooting a barbed dart directly down Qrow's throat. He pulled out Harbinger and sliced it away, but it did come out of freaking nowhere. At that point, they were just assuming everything was a trap. The rooftop chair and table were trapped. The pieces of rubble were trapped. Those skeletons were trapped. That healthy looking potted plant was trapped. The door was probably trapped. And-

Wait, a healthy looking potted plant? Wasn't Vytal left for dead for decades by now?

All of them pretty much realized it at once and the Bushman realized they realized when Qrow pulled out Harbinger to do some pruning with Crocea Mors and Winter's saber thirsted for twig flesh. The potted plant promptly grew legs, hopped out of the plant as three huntsmen crashed into it, and began to dodge as Talos began chucking javelins at the Bushman for all of the traps. The bushman then pulled out a sniper rifle as big as a person and began firing at Talos, who was forced to take cover.

Qrow came by, scythe tailing behind, and managed to prune a few branches off as the Bushman used the sniper rifle's recoil to get away from the alcoholic, only to almost be punctured by Winter's saber and bashing into Jaune's shield. The Bushman scrambled away as the three very irritated hunters began chasing it down with frighteningly cold fury and coordination as Talos provided support from afar, a bit more spite in their projectiles than usual.

It pulled every trick in the book. It created clones of itself to confuse its pursuers, threw sands, smoke bombs, tripped them, spread caltrops, threw landmines, constantly set up dart traps, created pits, and even remotely controlled a sniper rifle from another building over as it ran across the ludicrous length of the building's roof, using every vent and large piece of rubble as cover from the unstoppable force that were the hunters it had pissed off with its horrid amount of traps.

But, in the end, no force could stop what was inevitable as the Bushman was stabbed fifty times over (on top of several dozen projectiles from Talos poking out of its flesh) by the hunters before it dissolved into black mist, causing all the traps it had created to disappear with it.

"God damnit that was annoying." Qrow's mumbling, for once, actually got agreement.


"So, you're saying that was Bo Gun, a legendary soldier who washed up on Mistral and survived for ten years in the wild by themselves, waging a geurilla war against them?" Qrow actually looked a bit impressed at the feat. And to be fair, it did have a lot of implications. One, it meant they were able to avoid getting mauled by Grimm in the wild for 10 years. Two, it meant that they were able to do so well in the wild that they became a legend. And three, it meant that the traps they faced might've just been a taste of what they've done.

"Yep."

"That is quite impressive, though I can't imagine it'd do wonders for mental health. Could you imagine ten years spent living in constant paranoia in the wild? Without anyone to talk to?"

"I call that my childhood." Qrow chuckled a bit at the grim joke. "Anyways kids, it's my turn for the campfire story!"

"Alright Uncle," Qrow rolled his eyes as Jaune spouted out the title as ironically as he could. "What's the story for the night? The Boogeygrimm? The Beast of Gevudan? How about that one about the Phantom Nevermore?"

"Watch the fucking anime yourself. No, something more classic. How about, the tale of the Silver Eyed Warriors." That was a new one, although Jaune wasn't really all that big on fairy tales. Regardless, they had to do something to pass the time. Talos instinctively winced at the mention. "Oh, you've heard of em? Not too surprising, but please, keep spoilers out."

"Why do I feel like Qrow will mess up the story half way?

"Oh shut it! Anyways, our story begins in a village far away. Besieged by Grimm, a fate so grim was waiting. For on the hill overseeing the village was a large wolf, the size of a mountain, laying waiting. Their name was Fenrir, Celestial Eater, a Grimm so powerful that the locals said that if they got up, they'd eat the sun and moon. Hundreds of warriors came to try and slay the beast to no avail, for the massive wolf merely ate them all in the end. In exchange for letting the village live, the wolf demanded a hefty sum, one that left the village nigh-starving every harvest."

"But Grimm don't eat."

"Shut up Ice Queen, don't ruin the story." Winter raised an eyebrow as Qrow continued on. "And many came, wielding their weapons and their souls, trying to win their claim to fame by slaying the beast, or simply just to save the town. A great lumberjack known for being able to fell greatoaks with a single blow of their axe was crushed in its maw. A hunter known for being able to loose a hundred arrows in seconds and being able to hit all of them in the same place had their wooden projectiles shatter on its hide and was inevitably crushed by its paw. And a wizard who was known for being able to conjure great flames out of their staff was burnt to a crisp when the mighty Fenrir merely puffed at the flames, causing them to turn on their creator." Qrow told the entire story with a theatrical tone, shifting and using his hands to pantomime some actions and add a little oomph to the tale.

"That staff had a dust crystal, right?"

"Yea."

"Was this elderkin sentient?"

"Eh, it's a story. Take it as you will." Winter's raised eyebrow rose even further when the two others interrupted without verbal reprecussion from Qrow, who merely (immaturely) stuck his tongue out. "Anyways, the beast went unchallenged until there came a woman. A young girl with dark skin contrasting bright silver eyes. The beast laughed at such an opponent, who bore a kitchen knife to battle.

'Hah, is this what the village sends? Go back, young one, greater men have come before you and greater men have failed,' the great wolf Fenrir bellowed out!" Qrow was now voice acting the characters, reminding Jaune of when his grandfather did such a thing for really memorable people. "And the young girl merely asked, 'Why do you eat? You have no stomach.' as if it was fact. Now, the wolf was rather curious, this mortal bore no fear, the wolf could smell nothing from her.

'I subsist off of misery. I demand your harvest so your village starves, but doesn't die out. You may live, but your lives will be miserable. And how did you know I had no stomach? Would you like to personally confirm it?' The great wolf's jaw opened a bit, mockingly inviting the young girl to walk into her death. The girl answered the 2nd question with ease.

'I just know. The village people say I'm touched in the head, for when I see the monsters, I somehow don't feel fear. I am scared, I am quivering in my boots right now, but I also feel as if I know what to do. When a wolf came to slaughter the cattle, I took a scythe and tore it limb from limb.' The girl spoke as if it was the most normal thing in the world. She spoke like a seasoned vetran."

"Huh, so the silver eyes are like, being born able to fight Grimm?" Jaune was a bit jealous, not gonna lie, but it wasn't like it'd feel satisfying or anything if he didn't have to put in the work to be a hunter.

"No, they're born knowing the weak points of Grimm and with some other capabilities. They still need aura, they still need to train their muscles, still need to train their minds. But, anyways, I'll continue. The wolf bellowed out, 'And here you are with but a kitchen knife, what would you do with such a tiny implement? Prepare me my meal? I might enjoy such a thing, leave a little more food for the farmers.' And the girl shrugged before answering. 'With this knife, I could run up to your eyes and stab them out before taking off all of your skin. Then, I'd begin carving a hole into your skull to kill you fully.' The wolf was stunned at such an answer and laughed at the brazenness of such a human. It had long since grown tired of such a complacent life and actually moved their tired muscles for a battle.

'Very well, then go ahead.' And so, the silver eyed girl fought the mountain sized wolf. The wolf tried stomping on her, only for her to dodge every time. He tried clawing her, whacking her with his tail, and even just crushing her directly, but nothing worked. The girl was a master with a knife, cutting through fur, bone, and flesh with ease. The parts of her soul that touched its flesh from the metal of her knife burned the wolf, causing pain for the first time in its long life. After hours of having bits of its body carved up, it spoke once more. 'I tire of this, girl. Meet your end with dignity.' And promptly swallowed her whole. And for a moment, it looked like the battle was lost, at least until something began glowing. The energy locked within the girl's silver eyes began to pour out, flooding the Grimm and causing it to petrify. In the end, with a bright flash of light coming from Fenrir, it was turned into a large stone statue as the girl walked out of its jaw."

"That sounds immensely powerful. I would say too bad it's simply a fairy tale, but you can turn into a crow and Jaune is accompanied by a spirit of luck. So really, anything is possible." Qrow nodded at that.

"And it would only be years later when the girl learned the truth about her eyes. It turned out that the gods themselves touched her. The four relics had their influence in her eyes. They gave her the knowledge of the Grimm's weak points, a nurturing and creative mind, an ability to destroy the monsters of the night, and in the end, the choice of whether or not to answer the call. And while hunters everywhere tell tales to be wary of those who have silver hair, they also say in whispered tones to beware those with silver eyes as well. For those with silver eyes are deemed to be the reincarnations of those with silver hair." And with that, Qrow ended the story. "Well, what do you think?"

"I assume that since, this is a fairy tale, there are few to none with silver eyes?"

"Yea, it's all considered just a story. Most people that are considered to have silver eyes actually just have grey or ash ones. Maybe a few exist, but I don't know where they are at the moment." Qrow shrugged helplessly before looking to Talos. "By the way, would you die if silver eyes gotcha? Cause of your body and all." Talos thought on it for a moment. Instinctively, they felt pure fear at the idea of meeting one with silver eyes. It was just a survival habbit from his days before being named, but he didn't exactly know how his new physiology would react to the silver eyes. So, Talos shrugged.

"I can only hope that my soul protects me." Really, he wasn't sure if he was Grimm or not. His needles and javelins didn't disappear into black smoke and he had a soul, but he wasn't sure if that was because his body changed or he was simply a unique soul inhabiting a Grimm/human hybrid.

"Yea, I dunno what we'd ever do without your wry observations on things and nigh-fetishistic obsession with the word intriguing." Qrow raised his flask, as if offering a toast. That flask would almost drop in the fire with Talos' next words.

"What does fetishistic mean?"


After a very awkward talk which Jaune forced himself to forget about (and which ended with Winter feeling very sorry for Qrow as he was asked uncomfortable question from uncomfortable question.) the group of four made their way further into the Valean quarter. The gothic architecture was getting stronger, as was the armor on their enemies. In between fights, Qrow and Winter were passing around a whetstone laced with water dust to sharpen their weapon before the next armored enemy rendered it dull again.

"Your sword is bullshit, how is it still sharp!?" Qrow grumbled as he looked at the relatively dull Harbinger, which had gone from a razer edge to only being able to make scratches in the armor of their enemies.

"Crocea Mors was forged to be an impenetrable weapon to protect the innocent. At least that's what my grandpa said about it and the shield. Dad just said it was reliable." Jaune shrugged as Winter took the stone and began sharpening her weapon.

"Hey, look alive, another fight's coming up." Qrow's words proved prophetic when the ground began to shake as something stepped around the corner. With a helmet covering their entire face and with large horns, their enemy carried a war axe in a single hand. Aside from the helmet they wore nothing but a loincloth, revealling dense muscle and scars. Scars from whippings, scars from blades, and bruises from hammers and mauls. The gladiator before them raised its axe at the four of them.

They were in a building as it then proceeded to slam the ground with its axe. Quickly, cracks began to creep through the entire building. The floor became rubble, plaster began falling, beams began splintering, pillars began crumbling, and the roof fell tile by tile. Jaune quickly realized who they were facing.

"It's Asterius! He was a Mistralian slave who escaped and joined the Valean forces! He was said to have caused earthquakes on his own!" And like the person he was based on, when the Asterius-look-alike struck, the ground began to shake, shaking them of their footing as the Grimm version of the bull faunus charged at them with their short-handed war axe.

Jaune, being at the front of the ground, barely dodging being cleaved in two by the ridiculously forceful swing of its axe. Jaune put his shield away, knowing it to be useless against such overwhelming force, and focused on wielding Crocea Mors with two hands. Qrow flung himself at the bull while Talos continued to hurl projectiles and Winter used her semblance to direct rubble towards the enemy and away from her allies.

Jaune dodged a strike, only for the resulting cracks made in the ground to cause him to slip up and fall. Qrow hooked the handle of Asterius' waraxe with his scythe before it could go for the killing blow. Jaune got up with Crocea Mors and unleashed a flury of stabs onto the unarmored flesh, but its skin was as tough as steel to pierce and no blood was drawn. Jaune actually had to jump every time the floor shook just to stay on his feet, which was really fun because Asterius' strikes were becoming extremely frequent as they flailed their axe around wildly.

Qrow, having the larger sword and the more strength of the two, was able to cut through Asterius' skin, causing small streams of bright red to flow down the bull's skin, though it didn't do much to deter it from fighting. Hell, it mighv'e made its swings all the more fiercer. Talos' javelins snapped upon hitting their hide, so Talos pulled out their spine-chain and joined the melee with the others.

More and more of the concrete roof began collpasing, rays of sun poked through the holes above, and the fight continued. Jaune had been grazed a few times by the axe, and it had sheered parts of his aura off as it happened. Talos kept their distance, being the least experienced fighter (unless one counts both of their past lives) and the one least suited for close quarters (their spine whip becomes useless at close range) and Asterius knew it. They tried to get closer and deal with the meddlesome one that was tugging at its leg or arm, but Jaune and Qrow weren't going to let that happen.

And Talos was faster than Asterius when Asterius was being stalled by both Qrow and Jaune. So, the group kept on like that for a while. It seemed that the fight would just end with Asterius annihilating them all, except for the fact that Winter seemed to be struggling with something.

"MOVE!" She forced it out as her hands trembled. Then Jaune looked up to see that effectively the entire building had been held up by Winter and directed towards where Asterius was standing at the moment, waiting to be let go. Jaune realized that and immediately rolled away when Winter couldn't keep it up anymore. The glyph disappeared and Asterius was swiftly buried under the rubble.

"Alright, there's just a few things left to do now."


They were close to the church. But the Valean Quarter had essentially turned into a gothic stronghold. All the streets leading to the church were guarded by large stone walls and archers, as well as knights and footmen. With the help of Qrow and Winter, who had scouting and military strategy respectively, they were able to formulate a plan of attack. Trying to scale the walls wasn't ideal, given that Jaune was quite heavy and lacking in mobility. Trying to subvert them was impossible. The sewers proved less than ideal a solution when the water in them grew eyes as they prepared to go in. And the cannons and ballistas made travelling on the roofs dangerous. So, what else were they to do except retrieve a siege engine and tear down the walls themselves?

Ok, it wasn't exactly the sort of thing one comes up with naturally, but they had been in the Vytal Memorial park for weeks by then, the Valean portion for many days. They had been theorizing over what they could do to breach the church's defenses for a long while. And in that time of campfire conspiring they had come up with a huge array of ideas that were gradually shot down by one of the others. So, when Qrow suggested a siege engine like a battering ram, the only problem was that they couldn't get one.

So Qrow went off to 'go get one' while Winter, Jaune, and Talos dealt with the defenses before the wall. And there were a lot of them. There were wooden barricades put up by footmen mourners with crossbows and shortswords, just waiting for any foolish human to come and try to try and slam into it.

So, even without a battering ram, they began an assault. There were rows of wooden walls around the height of vending machines where the footmen and light archers perched from, while the heavier archers and artillery shot down from the roofs. The barricades were made of planks, which made it easy for Jaune to flash his aura and crash through the walls, pulling out Crocea Mors and ready for a battle.

Talos had hucked a javelin through the skulls of a few of the crossbow footmen on the wooden rampart before using their spine-whip to scale it themselves. Winter had also hopped over the barricade and was making quick work of the archers on the low walls. The archers higher up were a problem that Qrow would've dealt with, except he was out taking a walk. Jaune was waist deep in Calm Waters to avoid getting caught off guard by the odd giant arrow.

Then a spear made of thorns flew by. Jaune dodged just in time to avoid getting hooked or stabbed by it. He dodged and blocked, giving ground to the new enemy. They were wearing rusty knight's armor, with bits and pieces entirely chipped off. Most of it was either covered in moss or vines. In fact, a missing finger revealed the entire body was made of black vines with bone plate thorns. The spear was merely a detached part of itself that it was using as a weapon for extra range.

Jaune's shield was wrapped in thorns and then hurled away, so he instead played a defensive game, using Crocea Mors' blade to cut off bits of the thorny spear, only for it to regrow swiftly. He made some stabs at the armor, chipping away more of the rusty plates, but found that the plants matter simply grew out, as if Jaune was simply unshackling it from a limiter. Jaune made a clean swipe at the head, taking off the helmet, and releasing more vines to come out and try and stab him.

Luckily, Talos had noticed the fight Jaune had gotten into and had been able to nail the vines before they could get Jaune. Unfortunately, they simply grew to the side and continued to try attacking him, but that second of grace was all he needed to take cleave the armor in half. Which turned out to be a mistake when he realized that, in doing so, he had just released the limitations of the human form from the Vine Knight. And now, it was a giant shambling mound of black vines and thorns that was currently out for blood.

Winter came by and severed a large tendril of bundled vines while Talos wrapped his spine blade around another before pulling and slicing it as well. Jaune scrambled to retrieve his shield to put at his side (like any hunter in the wild, he'd gotten attached to his weapon) before he entered the fight with them. Calm Waters wasn't revealling any ripples that indicated a weak point, so that was useless. And the amount of noise it made served as a good of a telegraph than the ripples anyways.

So he sliced through vine after vine with Winter and Talos as the shambling mound grew in size and power, cornering them more and more.

And then, the cavalry arrived. Or, to be more specific, Qrow arrived. He looked haggard, out of breath, and half-drunk. So really, he seemed pretty normal. What wasn't normal was the fact that he was running towards them with an expression that was half manic joy and half unexplainable fear. The fear was suddenly explained when a giant flaming goat came from behind him. Everything paused when it rounded the corner. With horns of magma rock and wool of flame, the goat began charging at the three hunters and the shambling mound they were fighting.

"Hey guys! I got a battering ram!" The joke did little alleviate the sudden feeling of dread that entered Jaune's stomach as the flaming ram charged towards the hunters and, probably by accident, the giant shambling mound. As Jaune, Winter, Talos, and Qrow suddenly charged through the mess of vines, cutting a green path through the tangled web of thorns and plant-like Grimm flesh in order to avoid being barbecued by the Battering Ram which was slamming into the giant green blob with the force of, well, a battering ram.

The group of four had made their way out the other side of the shambling mound just in time for the Battering Ram to also make it through at a much fast pace, forcing the hunters to get their sprint on as the giant mad flaming goat chased them towards the wall they were ostensibly trying to make it break. Realistically, they had half forgotten about that and were just trying to not get slammed. As they reached the wall, they skidded to a stop and before any of them could come up with a good solution, the Battering Ram slammed into the wall and them.

Luckily, aura protected them from grievous bodily harm. Unluckily, it didn't help the fact that being slammed into a wall by a giant flaming ram hurt a lot. It didn't help that fact the second time it happened. And the third time. And the fourth wall. It was at that point where they had reached the courtyard where the church lay in the center. The only reason the Battering Ram, with all four hunters either hanging onto it or splatted onto it, fell was because it was sucked up by their newest foe.

And it was a familiar figure that stood before them. In shining gold armor that covered their entire body, the golden crown of thorns of particular note, a knight stood with sword and shield in hand. They were tall, their armor slim, but their movements showed strength and finesse. Their blade, grey metal gleaming under the sun, was stretched towards where the ram previously stood, and now where the four hunters were. Their shield, white with familiar gold linings, as well as two golden crescent moons, was displayed proudly for the four. The figure was one Helios Arc, great-great grandfather to Jaune Arc, and the original wielder of Crocea Mors. Stunned, Jaune communicated the fact that they were now going to face a mimicry of his great-great grandfather.

"Pffft, yea? Well, I've sparred Nick before. He's a bit of a nightmare in combat, but what could his old man's old man do?" And as if on cue, Helios Arc flicked their blade, sparking fires. All of the fire in the Battering ram were absorbed by Helios.

"Well, here's the thing about Crocea Mors. It was made super-duper-duper durable because pops had a semblance, right? They say he was so good with it that we Arc men were forever cursed to have useless ones." Though, his dad appreciated that. He could tell when it would rain, his grandfather could go years without blinking, and his great grandfather was immune to disease (though, given how dirty the Great War was and how many just up and fell because of various plagues, that might've been powerful in its own right), but Helios Arc had something different. "He could steal energy and put it into objects. He just put all of the energy that the goat was made of and put it in his sword."

"Oh." If Qrow thought that Nicholas Arc was a pain to fight because of his incredibly efficient and no-mercy style as well as strength that could make an Ursa Major look like a skinny molerat, then someone with those strengths and a semblance they made full use of would be a thousand times worse. "Fuck."

"Well, no use sitting around, we must fight him." Winter put up her saber. "He's the last thing between us and the church. Let's go."

The courtyard was large and the distance between them and Helios Arc was pretty large as well. But they didn't expect the person from a time when mechashift was in its infancy to suddenly slam their sword into the ground and cause a row of explosions to burst out from the ground, making the group scatter. Jaune went with Winter while Qrow had Talos. Using the chaos, Helios charged towards Jaune and Winter, deeming them to be weaker in comparison to the obviously vetran fighter and the anomalous one.

And he was right. He swung his version of Crocea Mors, a beautiful blade without blemish, down at Jaune, who held his shield up. Crocea Mors met its shield in the future and released a bomb's worth of energy, causing cracks to appear at Jaune's feet as he was pushed towards the ground. He didn't let his stance weaken though, forcing the pressure onto the floor beneath him with the help of a good stance and aura. An unscratched version of Crocea Mors' shield went to the side, blocking Winter's thrusts with her saber before Helios turned his attention to the side, where a javelin came through the barrier of rubble he created with the initial explosion. Qrow came to his back with Harbinger. So, being surrounded, Helios slammed Crocea Mors into the ground and caused a massive explosion, scattering them all once again.

Helios turned towards the weakest fighter, the boy with the sword and shield, and came at him with relentless vigor and strength. The boy in question nervously laughed as he blocked strike after strike, finding them to be stronger in force than he expected with the constant explosions that rang out from the blade. On a slash with poor footwork, Jaune bumped his shield back and made for a stab into the head, forcing Helios to back up and turn around to block the storm of javelins that Helios kicked up and Winter held up before unleashing them all at once. Qrow came under the cover of the storm of bone with Harbinger and Jaune joined in as he began slashing at Helios, even managing to put a scratch in the shining gold armor he wore.

That simply would not do. Helios' strikes became ever more furious and focused on the school child who just managed to make a scratch in the legendary sun knight's armor. Jaune found that this version of his great great grandfather at his prime was letting their discipline slip. Their footwork was sloppy and their strikes were too aggressive. He actually managed to move his shield to make one strike's explosion his Helios in the face, which only further baited him into rage.

Qrow came around but was interrupted when Helios let loose a torrent of energy at their general direction, forcing them to halt. Talos' projecties simply began vaporizing as Helios' armor began to literally shine like the sun as he continued to fight. Jaune was getting incredibly sweaty from the increased heat as he followed his instincts. Duck, roll, side step, block, counter attack, deflect, stab, slash, duck, stab in face, duck, punch, kick, block, bash.

There was no routine, regardless of lost discipline, Helios was truly skilled. Their moves were unpredictable until he saw them about to hit and Jaune could only hide behind his shield. And Helios had one as well! One he wasn't scared about using in conjunction with his semblance to blast Jaune away. Jaune, on a bad block, had his shield cast aside by Helios.

Jaune pulled out his flare gun and tried for a cheap shot in the helmet, but was disappointed when the flare was intercepted by the flat of Helios' Crocea Mors, which quickly ate up the flames of the ammunition. Jaune's punches and kicks became harder to do as the metal on their armor became too hot to physically touch.

Luckily, help would come with a snowflake. A glyph intercepted Helios' blade before it could hit Jaune, distracted the solar knight just in time for Jaune to thrust at him with all his might. It didn't even penetrate the armor, but it did push Helios away. And with slippery glyphs, it made Helios fall down. Just in time for a barrage of Nevermore needles and javelins to hit and vaporize on his armor. Qrow tried cleaving through the ground and him, but was met with disappointment when Helios hopped off the ground with Crocea Mors and shield in hand.

Though, the shield was swiftly grabbed away by Talos' blade. But Helios was more than deadly enough with their sword. Jaune cleaved towards Helios while Qrow was coming from their side to try and bisect the knight, but Crocea Mors met itself in a parry while Helios simply caught the scythe with an armored hand. Qrow had to back up when the heat of the gauntlet began increasing, lest he risk damaging Harbinger.

Helios Arc was a monster in fights. They say he covered for a retreating squad by himself against an entire legion of armed troops with nothing but Crocea Mors. Though Jaune never looked up to him in particular, it was his grandpa and father who were his idols. The only stories he heard of Helios were of his feats of strength during the war and while those were cool, Jaune could never hope to live up to them. No, but he could live up to the expectations of his grandfather. To live and protect would be something he could do. But none of that exactly helped him as he fought Helios Arc's copycat.

The fighting was getting more intense. Rubble was being kicked up into Jaune's face as Helios stabbed his blade into the floor and unleashed a fraction of its energy while he was just blocking Qrow's strikes with his palm. Then, Jaune realized something. Helios' semblance was kind of like Raiden's, it required energy. It was just that Helios, on top of having the ability to expel energy in explosions, also was able to absorb it. So, they should have the same weakness.

"WINTER! TALOS! SHOOT HIM WITH EVERYTHING YOU GOT! IT BURNS HIS ENERGY!" Jaune smiled as he gripped onto Crocea Mors with newfound determination. Helios was currently burning energy with how much heat he was pumping into his armor and blade. It would only be a matter of time until the fire he had stored up from before and had stolen from the ram was used up, leaving him open for a killing blow. Winter and Talos began barraging Helios with even more projectiles. Helios shot his javelins while Winter had used her glyphs to toss pieces of rubble at the sun knight. Each and every projectile vaporized on the armor, but that was the point.

Qrow got the message as well and began using his shotgun in conjunction with his scythe, pelting the solar knight with buckshot that burned into nothingness upon contacting the golden metal.

And Helios realized what they were doing. If he were to continue the fight as he was, then he'd be ground to a halt. Even if he was green, the sword wielding knight was good at blocking, even with Helios adding blasts to his blade. The one with the giant sword was shifty and hard to hit and their shotgun was getting annoying. And the second he'd turned his attention to those who were causing most of the bleeding of his energy reserves, the other two would just focus ever more harder on him. So, there was little other choice than a last ditch attempt to win.

His armor was nigh-molten now as he poured more heat into it. Helios began to fly and glow like the sun, surprising both of the combatants that were engaging him in melee.

Winter used a glyph to propel herself and tackle Talos to the side to avoid the blast of light that came towards them. More beams began to shoot out from Helios, hitting and burning holes into the ground. Jaune barely managed to avoid being blasted by grabbing his shield and holding on despite the horrid amount of heat that was being applied to it. Qrow didn't turn into a crow because Helios was also blasting the air as well and even in bird form, he couldn't suddenly turn on a dime to avoid an instant blast of death. So, he remained human, rolling between pieces of rubble as cover and swearing everytime he tripped before those swears turned into blessings when the area he was about to occupy was scorched.

As time went on, the blasts of energy became dimmer and dimmer, the solar knight was losing the shine in their armor. They were starting to hover downwards as they used less energy to fly and more on trying to kill its pesky enemies. But Winter had tilted glyphs to redirect the energy from her and Talos, Qrow had skill and luck, and Jaune had a shield and frankly ridiculous amounts of aura.

So really, its last attempt to kill them all was in vain as the gold lost its shimmer and Helios fell to the floor properly, armor melting away, and sword crumbling to dust. Nothing was under the armor. Apparently, nobody knew what Helios looked like under there. Legends say that in unlocking his semblance, there were cracks of divine sunlight across his skin. His grandfather said that the man had perished in a barrage of cannonfire and was too mangled to really be recognizable than anything other than a pile of flesh and blood. The only way they were even sure it was him was because of the armor and weapons that somehow survived when he didn't. Though the metal had to be replaced. Gold was useful for Helios' semblance, but it was too expensive otherwise. His great grandfather had replaced it with white metal, but kept some gold linings to commemorate the original wearer.

"Thinking something, kid?" The rest of the group had been straying towards the church after catching their breath. Jaune was looking where Helios' mimic had perished with a thoughtful look.

"Eh, just thinking. Helios was a war hero, only eclipsed by the Warrior King and a few others."

"Yea, when we did a whole section in history about the guy, Nicholas always looked so proud." What remained unsaid was that now, the man was bitter and dismissive of that. And Jaune could understand it. Helios Arc died, leaving his widow and large amount of children without a father and with only his sword, shield, and mangled armor. Then, Arthur Arc, his great grandfather, died, leaving a large family without a father and provider once more. His grandfather, Prometheus Arc, was the only one to avoid that fate, living to silver hair able to talk to his grandchildren. A rarity amongst hunters, even rarer amongst great war vetrans, and rarest for someone like him, who was a legend in his own right. Nicholas Arc only learned his lesson after one too many missions gone wrong. The lesson that pursuing a legacy of great heroism only left a family with another dead family member.

Jaune Arc knew that lesson all too well. But rather than be dissuaded by the despairing sights of the frontier, he was only emboldened by them.

"C'mon, no need to trouble yourself with all the thinking. We got a church to sack." Qrow paused, realized how wrong that sentence sounded, and let out an amused chuckle for himself. Jaune rolled his eyes.

"Yea, alright, let's go."


Whatever Jaune was expecting, a medieval siege, a grand field-side battle, or even a sight out of some fantasy novel, was not what he got. Instead, when they walked into the church, they were enveloped in darkness before that darkness suddenly lacked a floor, whereupon they began to fall into the deep dark void of Vale's nightmare. And that was the least trippy part of the whole thing. They landed on a giant chess board, with each square being miles long at the very least. At one side of the board was a giant figure wearing ornate green robes and wearing a crown fit for a king, though they were blind. He played black. On the other side was someone dressed like a queen, with a veil shrouding their entire face, eerily pale skin and black veins, and wearing a gothic black dress. She was playing white.

Qrow, for some reason, refused to comment.

That wasn't the weirdest bit. Across the entire chessboard were cities, statues of the various academies and their kingdoms. And the pieces of the chessboard were giant forts, easily as large as skyscrapers or battleships, if not larger. They looked like chess pieces and moved like such on the board. And while the giant figures may've controlled them, they moved on their own with legs and wheels.

"Uh, got our targets?" Jaune looked to Winter and Qrow, who, after recovering from the shock of the sheer size of everything, nodded and began trying to sense who they were looking to fight. Meanwhile, Jaune turned to Talos, who seemed to be taking in the sight pretty well. To be fair, it wasn't like he had much of a frame of reference for oddness.

"Hmmm, I can hear voices. Loud voices. Multiple voices. eight voices. Each from one of the forts."

"Yea, can confirm. The black and white king pieces are the loudest, but each and every one of them is crucial, I'd say." The chess game taking place between the blind king and veiled queen seemed like it had been going on for a while. Both sides were missing most of their pieces, each having a few pawns and some others. Both sides had only their king piece, a bishop, a knight, and a rook on top of any pawns they had. Those pieces were valuable, but none of them as dangerous or versatile as the queen. None of them had a trump card yet and were clearly playing for time, with the clock between them revealling the limit to be infinite.

Approaching them was one of the black pawns. And while the pawn was normally the smallest piece, in comparison to the four hunters, it was absolutely massive. It looked like a castle tower moving on treads, with tank cannons on all sides poking out of windows.

"Hey Qrow?"

"Yea kid?"

"Could you board that thing and hijack it? So we can then pilot it?"

"Wait, we're going to pilot a giant chess tank to fight other bigger chess tanks?" Qrow actually seemed excited at the prospect, earning a sigh from Winter and a raised eyebrow from Jaune, who was trying to see if Qrow was drinking.

"Well, more like using it to board them."

"Kid, that was the best idea you've ever had. One second." Qrow turned into his namesake and flew up, with the three hunters left with nothing to do but wait on the perfectly flat checkered plane as Qrow turned into a slightly dark blip in the distance as he approached the giant pawn mech. Jaune could see the flash of muzzles from the pawn's window as well as the occasion Grimm limb lopped off and thrown out the window to splat and turn to dust on the floor. Jaune was pretty sure it was a very one sided fight, but he couldn't really tell from how far he was. The tank was getting closer though, ever closer.

And then, it stopped. And a drawbridge was opened, with Qrow looking no worse for wear standing above them.

"Hah! That was easy. Alright everyone, let's go do some cavalry fighting!" Qrow walked back into the pawn tank, Harbinger pointed out, and walked back in as the rest of the group followed him. Going up the spiral of the tower, they saw cannon after cannon, but at the top was a control center. There was a map of the board, which was essentially a 2d view of a chess board with the pieces moving live on the image. And looking through a camera port, they were able to see how destroying a piece worked.

The white knight appeared over a black pawn and suddenly, a wave of Grimm began pouring onto the black pawn, boarding it, and eventually, something was pressed and it was destroyed, allowing the white knight to take the place of the black pawn. Given the relative positions and how Qrow mentioned a Grimm generator at the base of their pawn that he had to destroy, it'd normally be pretty easy for any piece to beat other pieces through simply bombarding them with infantry. For them, however, that would mean boarding the target piece and manually slaughtering the Grimm inhabiting it, which would almost certainly mean encountering their targets.

Or perhaps the pieces were the targets, Jaune didn't know. What he did know was that a black knight moved diagonal to them. And while in a normal chess match two pieces on the same side wouldn't even consider the thought of betrayal, or really consider anything given they don't have minds, this wasn't a normal chess match. So, a propellor came out of the black pawn's top. The pawn proceeded to hover above the black knight, whereupon a hatch at the bottom of the pawn opened up. A hatch that led to a trapdoor that also opened up in the pawn's command center. Little pins with a rewind insignia were provided near the trapdoor, almost certainly how they'd get back in the pawn after destroying the knight.

"Alright guys, let's do this!" Qrow took his pin and hopped down the chute. Winter, Talos, and Jaune followed soon after. It was only after Jaune had exited the chute and entered the air above the black knight when he realized something.

"Wait, I DON'T HAVE A LANDING STRATEGYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"


The black knight was an absolutely massive mechanical bird. More specifically, it was a bird in resting position that moved around with its bird legs and, when it would move above another piece in preparation to smash it, or more likely, just to hop over other pieces as it moved, it'd simply stretch its massive mechanical wings and fly. Its wings were to its side now, so Jaune couldn't count on landing on those. It really wouldn't help anyways, given the entire thing was made of metal and black stone.

It almost seemed like Talos was struggling for one, until he pulled out his spine blade and just latched onto a gargoyle. Winter used her glyphs and Qrow was a crow. Jaune, meanwhile, had no natural method of breaking his fall or a piece of equipment to help him negate the negative effects of gravity. His aura would probably save him, but the distance of the fall would almost definitely shatter it. And that would both take him out of the fight and leave him vulnerable for any enemy to come and instantly maul him.

"I'm really spoiled for choice, aren't I? Fall unconscious, don't deal with a fight, and probably die in my sleep. I dunno, hey Crocea Mors? Got any tricks up your sleeve?" In the air, Jaune tapped the side of Crocea Mors, rhetorically asking for any help.

He recieved none. Jaune sighed.

"Fine, fine, I'll do it myself." Jaune stretched midair, which was quite the experience given he technically wasn't experiencing gravity. It was almost a bit hard to do it, given how weightless and floaty it was as he was falling to what might've been his death. Honestly, he was getting way too relaxed about this sort of thing. And while he could spend around 10 seconds pondering why that was and if perhaps he should see a therapist (no, Darling does not count) he could also spend those ten seconds of precious life considering how he'll make sure those ten seconds aren't the last ten seconds of his precious life.

So he did, strafed a bit in the air, and spread his aura across his entire body as he angled himself upwards, as if standing midair. And then, he slid on the back of the black bird-knight. Given how birds stand, him sliding on its back worked more like Jaune going down a slide. And like a slide, his back was stinging and very hot as he slowed down due to the friction and the fact that it was not made for sliding down. Jaune managed to come to a dead halt when he clung to an edge on the back of the bird when he was fairly sure he was going slow enough so that doing so wouldn't tear out his arm.

He then proceeded to climb up to a balcony of the black knight, where he could see soldiers' barracks. None were sleeping, probably patrolling the entire base to deal with the intruders. With a shrug, Jaune pulled Crocea Mors out of its sheath and unfolded the shield before going into the barracks itself. He checked through Calm Waters and found that the entire place was brimming with activity, which made sense. It was a mobile mech-fort. So Calm Waters wouldn't really help in detection given how, even for a location with enemies, it was overwhelming with the amount of ripples created.

He'd also have to reunite with the others, mostly because he had a feeling that whatever big fight awaited them in the command center of the crow was probably going to take the efforts of all of them. So, he began to explore the corvid mech. Its workers, strangely enough, mostly consisted of non-combatants. Featureless mourners maintaing the entire thing. Jaune wasn't really looking to pick fights and waste his energy, so he mostly just passed them by.

"Brat?" The man in question turned around to see Qrow, who seemed pretty confused as well.

"Yea? You also weirded out about how nonchalant this place is?"

"Yea. Half sure I'm drunk. Anyways, seen Ice Queen or One Eye?" So that was Qrow's new nickname for Talos. Well, Jaune supposed it fit. Better than when he tried calling them 'Boneface' and 'Sharkmouth.'

"Nope." Qrow nodded at the confirmation. And with that, they wordlessly searched for some stairs. Instead, they found a ladder. It lead to the top, so it it wasn't too much of an issue. They also met Talos on the way up, who was on a platform on a higher level and had just reached the ladder. So, they all went up. Jaune thought a bit about how ladders kind of sucked in terms of usage for multiple people. And they just kind of sucked overall in terms of efficiency in things other than space. But, hey, who was he to complain about the interior design of a weird representation of a collective nightmare?

And when they reached the top, they saw where Winter had gone. It was a large area, with computers, monitors, and control panels lining the walls, as well a central throne where the captain used to sit. The Knight pilot (who Jaune would refer to as Black Knight, or just Knight) was instead fighting Winter, who had used her glyphs to enter the top of the mech immediately. She found herself on even ground, even outmatched by her opponent. They wore a large helmet that really acted more like a hat, but which shrouded the Knight's face in shade. They had sullied metal shoulder guards and gauntlets and wore a brown tunic, pants, and greaves. Their cape was made of bloodied feathers. And for a weapon, they unmistakably wielded Harbinger.

"Uh, Qrow? Did you do something in Vale?" Jaune raised an eyebrow towards him, who had his face in his palm and was muttering something or other.

"Yes, that thing's weapon bears an awfully uncanny resemblance to yours. Well, it might be a bit larger. But it looks like yours regardless." Talos only added to the questioning look on Jaune's face.

"Fuck it, whatever. Let's fight that thing." Jaune shrugged, his secret to keep, Jaune supposed. The Black Knight was fighting well. They were unpredictable, flexible, and wielded their weapon like it was putty in their hands. Harbinger switched from sword to scythe to tonfa to war scythe as the Black Knight swung, stabbed, cleaved, punched, parried, and spun. The Black Knight was also larger than all of them. Winter was definitely relieved to have help. She probably didn't show it as she was busy fighting for her life. Meanwhile, Talos had begun pelting the backside of the Knight with needles and javelins while Qrow and Jaune joined Winter in the melee.

Jaune kept his shield up as a blurb of black feathers bolted at Jaune, spinning with Harbinger in its Tonfa form. Crocea Mors met razor sharp metal as the Knight displayed an incredible amount of strength, keeping him pinned down. While normally, this would spell death for any fighter, as keeping on the defensive was untenable in the long run, Jaune had somethign to help with that, other people.

Harbinger met itself as Qrow came from behind. Winter came to the side, forcing the Knight to roll away as it was stabbed into the side, causing blood to spurt out. Harbinger turned into a scythe the sunk into the floor as the Knight flew by in another blur of feathers, causing a small cut on Jaune's cheek that was quickly sealed. From the spinning scythe cleave, bits of the floor were torn asunder. The Knight then appeared behind Qrow, ready to cleave the man in two with their giant blade, only for it to meet metal in Jaune's shield. Qrow took the opportunity and hooked Harbinger around the Knight's chest before cleaving it. Winter came by and stabbed the Knight through the chest. Several javelins hit it in the neck, causing it to cough up blood.

All of it was in vain, as the profusely bleeding Knight merely stumbled on the floor for a bit, blood pooling, before their wounds closed. From their torn clothes grew feathers. Glowing red eyes peered out from under the helmet. The blood red cape of feathers spread to form crimson wings. And Harbinger flew into its hand, becoming a scythe once more as the blood winged angel looked down at the four fighters.

Its leg was wrapped by Talos' blade as it flew down, ready to cleave them in two, forcing it to go off course and making Talos fly in the air, where it would've then bisected them if not for a glyph appearing to prevent that from happening. Talos stabbed a javelin through the dome roof to avoid splatting on the wall before jumping off and unleashing thousands of needles as they spun in the air. While this was happening the Knight began wildly swinging around their scythe, cleaving into the ground with their red wings becoming blades in their own right as the Knight flung themselves around.

Jaune really just had to step back with every swing of the scythe, his shield being more of an inconvenience against the hook of the scythe. And while he considered himself good at avoiding injuries, the Knight was just so fast that he got cut more than he'd like to admit. He occasionally got a few stabs and slashes in on the Knight, especially when to instead focused on Winter and Qrow. In fact, Jaune was probably deemed as too much trouble as the Knight went after Qrow instead.

When faced with a superpowered opponent with his fighting style and none of the drawbacks (his semblance, for one) Qrow did what he normally did, he just found unorthodox solutions. He pulled a handful of sand out of his pocket and chucked it into the glowing red eyes of the Knight, causing it to recoil and letting Qrow swing at it with his scythe. Winter's use of glyphs to destabilize it (through either forcing its feet to stay or making it slip) were getting less effective when the Knight countered it by simply flying (though she was able to hook it a few times with a midair glyph, though that didn't last very long when the Knight began to simply slash the glyphs, shattering them like glass).

Jaune and Talos were consistent thorns at its side, piercing flesh and drawing blood with their swords and projectiles, but they were weaker and slower than Qrow and Winter, who were dealing significantly more damage. The floors were being painted with the blood drawn from the Knight, though a lot of blood simply went to its blood red wings, which grew in size as it took more damage, which meant that it began shooting sharp feathers of its own to negate Talos', which forced them to rely on their spine whip to do anything useful, as well as using javelins and needles to deal with the feathers.

Qrow ran by with Harbinger, tripped, turned into a crow (which confused the Knight) and flew above the back of the enenmy. Jaune put his shield up as Winter ran by, letting her use it as a ramp to jump off of and stab the Knight. While it was distracted by Jaune and Winter, Qrow turned back into a human in the air, transformed their weapon into its scythe configuration, and spun around while letting gravity do the rest.

The Knight saw what was happening from the edge of its eye and would've tried dodging, if it weren't for the javelins now sticking in its legs and feet and glyphs keeping it in place. It would've tried blocking if it weren't for the spinal whip wrapping around it. And Jaune had ran by while it was trapped to clip its wings with decisive strikes. So, with little else, the Knight stayed still as Qrow personally bisected the Knight, cleaving it clean in two, revealing organless blood red flesh that began to fade into black dust.

"Alright, let's get to the control panel." The group of four was left huffing and puffing from the intensive fight. Jaune had gotten hit quite a few times while Qrow and Winter were just plain exhausted. Talos had used a lot of material in their projectiles and, as Jaune understood it, was using his aura to regenerate the lost teeth and feathers.

"Qrow, would you like to explain why a version of you is here?" Qrow paused as he looked through the control panels for some sort of self destruct button before continuing. "Are you not even going to answer?"

"Winter, it's fine. He can turn into a crow, for gods sake. How weird could this secret be?" Jaune was pretty immune to bizzare shit by now. Qrow actually chuckled at the statement, oh if they knew.

"Eh, I work for some people. They want to deal with the threats normal huntsmen can't. Secrecy is a necessity."

"So, like the Classified Domestic Protection?" If Jaune remembered correctly from spy books, the CPD was a branch of the Atlesian military that served as a domestic espionage organization that kept tracks on potential threats inside the country.

"That's, actually a pretty good way of describing it, actually. We're based mostly in Vale, but we got fingers everywhere and all. We mostly concern ourselves with making sure the Kingdom Walls aren't breached."

"Hmmm, satisfactory, I suppose." Qrow shrugged. He knew that Jimmy was getting conscious about his age and was preparing a successor. Both in his role as general, headmaster, and council member, as well as a member of the Ozluminati (everyone else hated him for calling it that). Qrow personally thought she was a stick in the mud, but so was Jimmy, so there was that. She'd learn eventually about the true nature of the Grimm, maybe. Eh, the future was unpredictable.

"I wonder, how is such a murky and lurking organization kept accountable?"

"That is a very good question."


So, they managed to destroy the Black Knight mech. It wasn't very hard, Qrow just had to search hard enough for a button that said 'self destruct' before they used the return pins to, as the name implied, return to the pawn tank. After seeing the Black Knight be destroyed in a glorious explosion, the pawn tank took its place on the board. And, with that, they officially got the eyes of both black and white, making them enemies of literally every other entity there.

Oh well, they just couldn't get boarded. Even if they were, they might just abandon ship and take some other one. Regardless, they began to move on the chess board. Much like actual pawns, the tank could only move forwards, with its propellor only working to move it diagonally, and only when there was a piece to capture. It was like chess, but it all did feel just a tad arbitrary. Luckily, in capturing the knight, they moved up diagonally on a row where there weren't any other pawns to block or capture them.

So, Jaune practiced his auric techniques (Calm Waters, Sheep Gaze, and Wolf Gaze) while Qrow and Winter piloted the thing. Or, well, Winter and Qrow argued over piloting the thing.

"I am fairly sure these cannons serve a purpose, Qrow. A purpose beyond being decorations." Winter's eyebrow was twitching as Qrow had the pawn tank move slowly foreward as the rest of the board continued moving. Talos was observing the map, remembering the rules of chess from a game with Darling, and making sure that they wouldn't be captured anytime soon.

"Find gunpowder and cannonballs and we'll use them. Otherwise, we'll be going slow for a while." Qrow leaned back in the captain's chair (Which Winter had challenged him for until he spat on the seat) as they waited for anything to get in range of them. Then, the alarms blared. Warnings popped up on the monitors. And a great shadow loomed over the pawn tank. They looked up to see that the white bishop was preparing to destroy the pawn. Knowing defense was impossible, the group immediately took the escape hatch and, after gaining enough distance, turned to watch as the pawn tank was overrun by Grimm before being destroyed fully, where upon the bishop took its place on the board.

The White Bishop looked like a giant bishop's hat, completely white, and with a large upside down cross shaped glass window at the front. It moved and raised itself using large spiderlike legs that could extend seemingly at will. Jaune's mind made some basic observations, like if the black side was supposed to represent whatever secret league of protectors Qrow was a part of, then the white side would be their antithesis. Given they they all were the same color, they probably were a unified, or at least cooperating force. A terrorist organization? It'd probably be secret and the nature of it would be highly sensitive, given how apprehensive Qrow was to reveal anything about it. And they used Grimm when capturing (read, destroying) the black pawns. Maybe people planning to use the Grimm to destroy kingdoms? Eh, he didn't know, and he'd probably learn more by just asking.

Aside from that, there was obviously the matter of how the hell they were going to get in the blasted thing. Climbing up the legs wasn't advisable, given how much they moved and how they didn't have anything to grab onto at all. Qrow could just fly and Winter might be able to use her glyphs to launch herself. But Talos and Jaune were at a loss.

Well, until Talos mutated their own hand to become, for lack of another word, blobby.

"I'll climb it using this. Hold onto my other hand." Talos extended a bone plated arm for Jaune, who took it as they all ascended to the White Bishop. Qrow was taking to the skies while Winter spotted a ventilation shaft she could use. Meanwhile, Talos' arm had clung onto one of the legs of the bishop and began climbing upwards, carrying both Talos and Jaune with it.

Near the base of the legs there were ports, probably maintenance areas for whoever guarded the place to make sure nothing went wrong. It was also, predictably, guarded. Guarded with cloaked figures with numerous eyes wielding guns. Guns which shot bullets. Bullets which pinged off the metal spider legs and also came towards them. they'd gotten to a point where they could stand now, though they needed to be careful to keep their balance. Jaune put up his shield and stood in front of Talos, who shot out some Nevermore Needles that began to fly towards the guards.

The shield and needles were annoying enough as to afford them the opportunity to step on stable ground, where upon they engaged in a fight with the cloaked guards.

They were Grimm, pretty obviously. What Jaune didn't expect was for how, for lack of another word, weird as shit they were. Grimm usually maintained understandable forms. Grim (pun intended) parodies of animals like wolves and bears, mythical animals like sea dragons, or even humanoids! This was not that. It did stand on two thin legs, with shards of pone sticking out of black flesh, and feet more like hooves. The upper half maintained the shape of a torso and spine, except there was no skin except brief patches of black, bone plate and spikes poked out frequently, and there were dozens of glowing red and yellow eyes littered across it. To say nothing of the arms, one of which were mutated to become giant jagged blades of bone. And the other was mutated so the hand incorporated the shape of a rifle.

Their arms were also weirdly stretchy, able to function more like a rope dart than a sword, and very strong, given how when Jaune dodged said extending rope-dart-esque arm, it pierced a hole in the wall behind him. With a sigh, Jaune kept his shield up and advanced with Talos. His needles and javelins didn't do much to the fleshy beings except cause them pain. And given that pain only made them attack faster, it wasn't really a good thing. So Talos kept their spinal blade up as they both began to fight the two guards they were dealing with.

Jaune kept his shield up to cover both him and Talos from the barrage of gunfire the guards unleashed before firing a flare. The fire, when it hit the exposed flesh, made one of the guards flail in pain, accidentally firing on the other guard and causing them to slip up. They used this opportunity to advance, with Jaune making a stab towards the chest of one while Talos wrapped their whip around the gun arm of the other. And while Jaune's stab was met with nothing but sprayed blood, Talos was able to yank on their whip and use the force plus the sharpness of each vertibrae blade to cut off the gun arm, which faded into black dust once hitting the floor.

Jaune noticed this and made to cut off his target's leg instead after pulling Crocea Mors out. Unfortunately, before he could do that, the guard had raised its blade arm, so Jaune had to hold his shield upwards to block the incoming slash.

It bounced off, allowing Jaune the opportunity to cut off its leg. That proved to be a good choice, as with only one bone thin leg left, it flailed and flopped on the ground. But it still had both of its arms, which began to slash and shoot at Jaune's direction and he wasn't able to block all of the frenzied attacks. While Talos had dodged a stab and used that to cut off his guard's remaining limb, Jaune approached carefully and began to methodically dismember the guard, until only the torso and head were left.

And that was all that was left for both of their targets. At least, that was what they thought, until the ribs of the things opened up, protruded, and became spider legs for the frankly nightmarish 'mooks' of the bishop. Jaune had to deflect and stab at the bone legs while Talos was stuck rolling and stepping away. Both of their blades were useless in the face of the legs, with the bone being more than stable enough to endure the constant stabbing and slashing, even enduring a bash with Jaune's shield.

But then Jaune looked up to see the main body and got an idea. Pumping aura into his legs, he then used that extra force to jump a little higher than he normally would and clutched onto Crocea Mors with both hands.

And in the air, he cleaved the limbless torso of the guard in two, killing it fully. Talos got the memo and did the same, except they wrapped the spine blade around the torso before pulling and bisecting it.

"Wow, that was a hairy fight." While Talos had been rather good at dodging, he had also taken a few hits from both forms of the guard. And Jaune made a few slipups as well. Regardless of that, they survived, and they learned something new.

"Incredibly. Now, I suppose we shall venture further forth? I can tell that, whatever it is that's commanding this place, it's in the center. Probably in one of the rooms looking out of the large glass window." Considering how monstrously large both the glass window and the white bishop were, that wasn't much of a help.

"Jee, that narrows it down a bit." Talos' finger raised in questioning. "Yes, that was sarcasm."

And so, they ventured deep into the halls of the white bishop. And Jaune was being generous when he called them 'halls' given how they twisted, turned, and sometimes completely flipped at times. With enemies walking on the floors, walls, and roofs as if the platform was the floor itself. And at that point, Jaune wasn't sure what was up and what was down. And the blobs were just as infuriating to fight as before. Cutting off heir limbs would make them go into a second phase. And the two of them had to deal with a lot of those.

When one of them began with blades of bone sprouting out and growing towards Jaune and Talos, they had to run through the maze so that it would stab itself, because it was just impossible to fight it otherwise. Another one simply exploded, two others grew mouths and legs and became four legged dog-thing monstrosities.

They found Winter, where else, but over a large pile of the dead Monstrosities. He noticed a new presence and turned around, eyes closed, weapon raised. Jaune noticed that he was temporarily blinded by something and spoke to calm the situation down.

"Winter! Don't worry, it's us. Also, are your eyes ok?"

"No, it seems that one of these, things, spat some dust in my eyes. They're irritable now and I would rather not open them. Don't worry, I can fight just fine." Ah yes, Calm Waters. Really, it was quite versatile, now that Jaune was thinking about it. About the only way for an opponent to force someone out of it would be to surprise them, which would be pretty fucking hard considering the effects of the auric art. But, it was possible. Something really fast or even something really slow might be able to put off someone in Calm Waters. And even then, from what he'd heard from Winter, the skilled users of Calm Waters were entirely capable of simply ignoring such a hit, making it incredibly hard to force them out of the state.

Well, unless their aura was disrupted by an attack. Winter also talked about 'pressure point' auric arts, which focused on hitting key points of the body that shift with aura to do extra damage. And apparently, hitting someone in their pressure point actually stopped any auric art automatically. Winter did know it, being a specialist and all, but she was still learning. And anyways, heavy armor pretty much nullified pressure point attacks, so it was rather undeveloped in Vale and Atlas, where heavy armor was the norm. For places like Mistral and Vacuo, where heavy armor was either too cumbersome for the terrain or simply just unfeasible to afford, there were methods of pressure point detecting.

She knew the vague concepts, however. In Mistral, they visualized aura as an energy flowing through the entire body, and the places where the energy flowed from were the spots one should hit. However, being able to percieve the energy and also be able to discern where those spots are were apparently fairly difficult. Apparently, it was easier to see the center points when the target's aura was full, given there would be more action and thus it'd take less effort to percieve where it was all pouring from. In Vacuo, aura was an armor the enveloped the person. But all armors had their cracks, and their method was finding those cracks. The more the target's aura was damaged, the larger the cracks would get.

Yet more things to learn once he left Vytal and after going home for a bit. He had to admit, travelling to Mistral and heading to a monestary to learn ancient auric arts was a pretty appealing picture to him. Mostly considering that Lavendar was a big fan of Mistrali action movies and he watched a lot of them.

"Hey kids!" Qrow interrupted his thoughts when he hopped from a higher platform (or was it lower? Jaune couldn't tell) that was overlooking the floor they were walking on. "I think I found the captain's chamber. Let's just kick his ass and take over the mech, I guess." Qrow shrugged, they really didn't have much of a choice. Walking would certainly give them a higher degree of maneuverability, but it would also be slow as shit. So, instead, they'd just hijack the giant piece.

Anyways, Qrow lead them to a door, which opened up to reveal a balcony overseeing a large hall looking out the gigantic glass pane window. There were symbols and pictures that Jaune didn't understand on it, but his attention was directed downwards, towards the floor, where there was a throne, and a mourner laughing mad on it.

And then, the balcony dropped.

Jaune was too used to falling suddenly to even scream while Qrow instinctively turned into his namesake. Winter managed to break their fall so they landed on the floor with the platform with a loud 'thunk!' They landed before the mourner, who was sitting on the throne and looking out the titanic window of the white bishop.

The hall was empty and the mourner simply looked at the intruders with their nonexistent eyes, and laughed. They got up and began to grow in size, Jaune could practically sense the danger radiating off of them. Winter tensed up with saber in hand while Qrow landed by them and pulled out Harbinger. Jaune's grip on Crocea Mors tightened and Talos prepared his biological arsenal.

And as the mourner took steps towards the group, it grew and grew further away from its humanoid form. They were giant, with the form of a giant pseudo-scoripion. They were more like a gargoyle in structure, but their hands were large and sharp pincers while their tail held a stinger that promised pain. Their face was a bundle of hair and fur that had multiple laughing mouths that drooled poison.

"Well, ain't that a pretty one." That was all Qrow said before it began attacking. Leaping towards them to smash the group with its claws, they split up to draw its attacks in multiple directions. While Talos went back to get room for their javelins, Winter and Qrow did a pincer (pun intended) attack by going to its flanks while Jaune miraculously kept his shield up against the giant pincer that was trying to press him into the floor. Luckily, aura, good stance, and plain old strength won out when Qrow began slashing at its side, forcing it to draw its attention away from Jaune.

All the while, Talos kept on being an annoyance with his javelins. Sure, it used its long and strong tail to simply swat the bolts of bone away, but that meant it couldn't use its fifth apendage to slam him or any of the others into an early grave. And even with its gargoyle esque body, it didn't have the stone flesh of one, so any one of those rapidly chucked javelins could very easily pierce flesh and draw blood as well as hinder any movement by snapping if disturbed, only causing more pain.

But, the javelins were a minor annoyance compared to the two huntsmen, who were dealing massive amounts of damage to it. So, it turned and dealt with Qrow with its pincers and tried smashing or stinging Winter with its tail. Meanwhile, it was Jaune and Talos who assaulted its side. It could only try stepping on the knight and that rarely worked given how sluggish their legs were.

Qrow, swinging with Harbinger, managed to roll up the Bishop's arm while cutting it up pretty badly before spinning over its shoulder and where Winter was, where upon Qrow changed Harbinger's form to become a scythe and hooked it around the tail.

And the Bishop tried turning back to face Qrow, and when it did, it merely added more force as Qrow pulled on his scythe.

With a screech, the tail fell.

"ROOOOOOOOAH!" Its mad laughter was paused by a pained wail before the tail sprouted out a jagged bone blade with a sickening squelch and crack. It began to flail wildly at Winter and Qrow, who had to put up their defensives to dodge the fast and unbelievably strong giant blade. Meanwhile, the Bishop had turned to fight Jaune while it had put pressure on the two hunters. It lunged at Jaune, openings its pincer, ready to snap him up. Jaune jumped above the pincers when they closed and dodged as the other one tried to slam him, making the Bishop essentially slam its own hand, which wasn't exactly pleasant for it.

Jaune kept on using Crocea Mors and its own strength against it while it was beginning to lose ground against the ones at its backside. So, recognizing its current course of action was unsustainable, it leaped away and scraped the ground with its tail-blade as more javelins were hucked at its head. It ignored the pain blossoming in its temple as a purple poison began to leak out of the blade, not as precise as with the stinger, but it worked like a fountain pen.

And the noxious and acidic poison coated the floor, forcing the group to step back as the Bishop charged forward, splashing more of the stuff and forcing them to lose more and more ground. Jaune's shield covered him from being sprayed while his aura-infused boots were protected from acid, though the floor was still quite sticky, but Qrow, Winter, and Talos had to rapidly back up towards the stained glass wall in order to avoid stepping into the acidic ooze. Meanwhile, the Bishop decided to pick off the closest of the four, Jaune, who barely blocked a stab from the massive tail before having to dodge a swing of its pincer.

Qrow transformed and flew towards the fight while Winter used her glyphs to charge in the air, and Talos simply had to put a little more strength into their javelins to make them go farther.

Winter used her glyphs to no longer be bound by gravity or where the floor was in her attacks, charging from all angles and ruthlessly slashing the skin of the monstrous Bishop before using another glyph to bounce off of and slash again. Qrow fell from the sky and began a ruthless attack on the Bishop, trying to give ample time for Jaune to either get out or at least get his footing. The layer of purple poison on the floor was thinning rapidly, so Jaune was able to move more and more.

And, as Jaune ran up the arm of the Bishop, Winter prepared an extra powerful charge in order to lodge her saber into its backside, while Harbinger transformed into it a scythe so Qrow could behead the Bishop. Meanwhile, Talos had torn out an extra leg bone they had in themselves and forged a great bonesword with it before throwing it at at the beast like a dart or javelin. Needless to say, it flew without problem towards the Bishop's head.

And all at once, Jaune and Winter ran it through with their swords. Qrow forcefully beheaded the Bishop, seperating the hairy ball of mouths from its neck. And a great bonesword stabbed into the stump left before anything could pour out or grow from it.

And with that, the Bishop had fallen.


Their new place was nicer, less cramped, and actually had some nice chairs once they dragged them out of a closet. And while they were sitting around, they'd managed to take down the Black Bishop, which was structured more like a church, with its boss being a woman wearing a large dress and witch hat that commanded younger apprentice students. Qrow snorted derisively and muttered something that Jaune didn't understand until Winter explained.

"I believe that is one Glynda Goodwitch."

"Oh, the Beacon one?"

"You're familiar?" She was a rather famous name, being a huntress, a teacher at Beacon, and also smoking hot.

"Uh, not really. I met a huntress once who said something about her."

"I still don't know how or why you became a hunter without knowing basically anything about being a hunter." Jaune shrugged, he lived off of the generations of stories his grandfather had told him in spite of his father's protests.

"Ice Queen, it'd be much easier if you just think like I do."

"And pray tell, what would that line of logic be?"

"That Jaune is the luckiest and dumbest man on Remnant."

"Hey!"

"Well, he didn't immediately slaughter me. Even if I am eternally greatful for that decision, it was quite the poor one considering all the information on hand." Talos dryly remarked as they flipped through a magazine they stole from Qrow.

"And carry nothing but jerky, raisins, and a salt shaker for rations."

"And left home and went into the frontier with a sword, a shield, some armor, a hoodie, and no fucking aura." Jaune was sufficiently cowed by now, muttering how he wasn't that bad. "Kid, you turned out fine, but let's face it, the odds were so stacked against you that the fact you survived is a miracle in of itself. The fact you managed to find someone willing to train you was another miracle. And the fact you managed to survive that training is a dozen fucking miracles, considering the teaching method you've told me your teacher used." If by teaching method, Qrow meant tossing Jaune off cliffs, into fights, into caves, into pits, and towards a very angry Beowolf, then yes.

"Now now, Qrow. His mentor's teaching style rather reminds me of what I've heard you've done to your students. Don't be so quick to cast stones from a glass house." Qrow scowled and muttered for a bit as Winter smiled smugly at the retort.

Talos turned to Jaune and whispered, "These two seem to regularly engage with each other. By all accounts, they should've murdered each other by now if they've known each other for long enough."

"Eh, it's just how they act. Honestly, I'd probably run myself through if they started acting buddy-buddy. It's just wrong." Jaune shivered at the image. It was like imagining himself going to an academy, he wouldn't be stuck in one if he could help it.

"I suppose so. Regardless of any of that, it seems that the last pieces we need to deal with are the Black Rook, the White Rook, the White Knight, and both kings.

"Be glad neither side has a queen. I imagine those'd be a pain to deal with." And so, they began their assault on the White Rook. Given that they still had a good amount of weird fleshy monstrosities still on the White Bishop, they were able to unload most of them onto the White Rook, which shook with fury as they looked through provided security cameras to see the commander of the White Rook, a giant golem made of stone, lava, and various large dust crystals sticking out of it dealt with a wave of discomforting and deadly Grimm before the entire mech exploded and the White Bishop safely landed.

Of course, that was all they had left in terms of fodder to throw at their enemies. Now they'd have to actually board and destroy their targets. And wasn't that a fun thought? Which one to board? The Black Rook? Or the White Knight? Luckily, they had actual recon devices in the White Bishop, which they both used to watch the destruction of the Black Bishop and White Rook while also observing their potential targets that had just entered their view.

The Black Rook was, to put it in simple terms, an absolute fortress. Anti-air guns would likely try plucking them out of the air while they bolted downwards as Atlesian Knights (and oh boy, was it a surprise to see those again) sprayed them with bullets. Other automatons had other weapons that they'd gladly use to hose down the attackers. Meanwhile, the White Knight was more like a clockwork Knight, covered in brass gizmos and gears that clanked, pumped, and hissed as it went in an odd l-shape pattern directly in their line of sights.

"Well, the Black Rook is Jimmy's, obviously."

"General Ironwood is part of this, group, you're in?"

"Yea, don't worry. As much as I poke fun, he's in for good reasons." Qrow waved it off before turning his attention to what mattered. "Dealing with him will probably be a pain. He's both a monster in a fight and has plenty of resources. Meanwhile, whoever this is supposed to be, they'll probably have less troops, at the very least." Zooming in, they could see that the White Knight held Grimm, but Grimm that had odd cybernetic atachments to their claws, their arms, their heads, and their legs. Honestly they looked more like limb pieces of metal that were sewn on than anything that worked, but a Beowolf flailing a defective heavy metal arm with sharp claws was actually about as effective as a Beowolf flailing about with a paw made of flesh and claws made of bone.

"I say we take this Knight on instead. It can't possibly be worse than the staggering amount of forces in the Rook."

"Agreed."


They ate those words. Just like how the bushman thoroughly irritated them a few days earlier, the White Knight was filled with traps, sudden ambushes, puzzles, and obstacles galore! And now, in the command room, in the gigantic mecha of a knight, there was another, smaller but not less dangerous, brass mecha of a knight. One with guns, blades, razor saws, and tasers!

"You know, I think I'd take fighting Jimmy over this."

"I can't help but agree, Qrow." Winter was also very annoyed by the irritation factor of the entire mecha-fort. Even Talos was huffing in homicidal exasperation, claws stretching for something to scratch as they sharpened them on their own arm. Jaune couldn't even keep up his bright smile as he let out an exasperated moan at the thing they were going to fight.

To put it simply, the fight was a lot easier than one might think. The mech was rather slow, its weapons weren't as good as they looked, and they could easily wail on it with their weapons and anger-fuelled strength. The only reason they weren't able to kill it was because something else came in and did the job for them.

And that was the commander of the Black Rook, which jumped from its own mech in order to fight the wild cards that had been tearing up the board for a while. The Rook was a large fighter covered in ancient metal armor, with even their face but a metallic mask. In their hands was a large halberd, sturdier than the cables connecting Atlas and Mantle and its blade as sharp as a razor. It crashed through the window, tore up the metallic mini-mech and impaled the fetus piloting it, letting all the machinery fade away as the commander of the White Knight did as well, before turning to the foreign entities and raising its halberd.

"Huh." Qrow looked closely and saw that the iron was patterned like wood, making Qrow chuckle a bit at the visual pun (damn Tai for infecting his sense of humor with his terrible puns). "Alright then." Qrow tried to move, only for some of the wounds he suffere during the fight with the mech (he slipped at a crucial moment and got slammed by its entire arm) and instead sat on the floor. "Nevermind, back's acting up. Alright kids, do your old man proud." Qrow jokingly laid back and relaxed to let his aura do the healing while the three remaining fighters rolled their eyes and engaged with the Rook.

Between the armor, there was black cloth and slight opening revealling flesh, so they had to keep their attacks to thrusts and stabs into the weak parts. Talos decided to experiment with their bone-weaponry, they had acrued quite the few of the things in their time wandering. Even if they actively avoided fighting, corpses were quite common. And not just human ones, animal bones worked just as well for weapons. So, creating two spears made of bone, Talos engaged in the melee.

It was a hairy fight. The rook was large, tanky, heavy, and unusually fast. Its thrusts were mixed up with punches and kicks and the occasional attempted grab, which even Jaune was able to dodge. Its thrusts and slashes were powerful and quick, almost able to make Jaune trip over even as he held his shield up against the force.

Talos continued to mess with their ability to morph bones which they had incorporated as a part of themselves into weapons. At first, it was just grafting them together to make longer or thicker clubs. Then, it evolved to mimicking the blades of swords like Jaune's. And then, Talos had learned how to make things like Javelins and those throwing needles. But creating bladed weapons like his spine blade took time, but he had managed to refine the process to trade in quality for speed and quantity, so his new femur spears were rather shoddy in look, but were very sharp and fairly durable, durable enough for them to repeatedly stab into the side of the Rook without it snapping.

And then, Talos had an idea regarding their abilities. If the only limit to their weapon creation was material had and ability to wield them, what if he used a majority of the bones he had resting in his 'space' to create a giant weapon, with gravity acting where their muscles couldn't. So, Talos raised their hands to the sky and began to forge a great blade that stood taller than some buildings. It was made of thousands of bones, small, large, and of all shapes and sizes. the ones on the edge were modified to become sharper. And, with a little tilting, it began to fall on the Rook.

Jaune and Winter saw what Talos was doing and tried to keep the Rook busy, make it unable to do anything about the falling greatblade.

And their plan worked, the oversized blade fell and cleaved the Rook in two with a sickening metallic crunch, leaving the mangled corpse to fade into black dust.

And with that, they only had three more voices left.

"Three?" Talos blinked and the two other hunters gave them an odd look. "I sense an additional voice. But why? What could possibl-"

Talos was cut off when, suddenly, the Black Rook piece had been destroyed by a newly ascendant White Queen. Winter, Jaune, and even Qrow blinked as dust clouds blew all over the board as another piece entered the fray. It had reached the other side and promoted itself before immediately disposing of the Black Rook.

"Oh boy, that's not good." Qrow, their wounds now healed, walked over to look with them at the White Queen. It was, effectively, a giant mech of a humanoid with a crown. It was relatively simple compared to the other designs, but it looked highly mobile and incredibly strong. And it was coming over to the White Kni- oh shit. "GUYS! IT'S COMING!"

"I KNOW QROW! We need to board it!"

"But how? It'd surely just flick us away. And it has no surfaces from which we can climb."

Jaune looked around until he noticed one of the quirks of the White Knight mech, it had a large arsenal of old artillery. So, a very conveniently large cannon that was capable of aiming right at the approaching White Knight's cockpit was what they stuffed themselves into.

"HAHA! I haven't had a day this batshit insane since, well, ever!" Qrow laughed as Winter scowled at the sheer insanity of the idea being proposed. To fire themselves out of a cannon? It would surely kill them!

But honestly, it wasn't the weirdest thing the'd done that day. So, with little other plans, Jaune lit the fuse and shoved himself into the cramped space before a loud boom made his ears ring and his face met fresh air.

And his stomach turned inside out with motion sickness. Jaune, luckily, managed to shoot his projectile vomit away from his friends, and the rapid speed at which they were going meant that any remains of vomit was quickly blasted off of him and they literally outsped the smell. Despite the White Queen's attempts to swat at them, they went so fast that they literally crashed through the window that was in its eye and landed in the cockpit.

Where the pilot of the White Queen was. They were a peasant, looking more like a pawn than anything, but they wore a bloodied crown on their head with pride and clutched to it when they stepped forward. And with the ripping of their clothes, they revealled a large and flaming beast. A young dragon, one fiercely protecting what little hoard they had.

And so, the group of four began to fight the drake.

While the fight began, Jaune thought of sheer and utter absurdity of the past, what was it? A month? A week or two? Ah, whatever, it was utterly and completely batshit crazy. First, he was clearing out another infested place! But this time it was a whole godamned city! Second of all, the Grimm here weren't Beowolves and Ursai! They were the weirdest things he'd ever seen in quite a while! And these pocket dimensions were the weirdest bit! In the past few, what was it, hours? Day? Whatever it was, they had entered a giant chess board where a titanic king and queen were playing chess with giant mechas that were piloted by giant monsters that they had to fight by boarding the mechas and hijacking them to fight other mechas! What the fuck was his life at this point? The question remained unanswered as Jaune fought. Its breath contained arcs of lightning as well as flame as the whelp flailed around with its thick tail, trying to swat its attackers. Unfortunately, Winter and Qrow were too quick to be hit while Jaune simply planted his feet and tanked all the scratches and tail swats with his shield, the attacking of which took up the attention of the group. Talos, finding that javelins simply snapped on the scales, broke out a long staff to simply whack the thing. At the very least, they'd prove to be a minor annoyance. Meanwhile, Qrow and Winter found a tad better luck with their blades, which managed to at least scratch the scale armor of the whelp.

Then, Talos had accidentally let loose a Nevermore needle, which managed to find its way into the fleshy maw of the whelp.

Blood spurted out, where upon the ground realized that the area in which the whelp was most vulnerable was its mouth, coincidentally the area that spouted out fire, lightning, and other very dangerous elements. Qrow pelted it with shotgun, which caused damage, but not nearly enough to do anything. Winter used a glyph to spawn some projectiles, but like before, it wasn't enough. And by the time Talos began hurling javelins, the whelp caught on and began only use its outward body to fight. And while that meant that the damage they could do it it amounted to nothing, it did mean that the whelp could also practically do nothing to them.

"Well, this is underwhelming." Qrow actually found the time to speak during the fight as the whelp focused less on him.

"Incredibly." Talos simply backed off, their bone weapons useless against its scales. The only reason Jaune and Winter were fighting it was to keep it occupied. "Though I suppose even with new powers and such a powerful vehicle, at its core, it's weak." Talos shrugged, unknowing. "Regardless, we should probably prepare to defeat the kings of the board."

"Hmm, yea. Though honestly, I can't tell the difference between those king pieces and the players." Talos considered it for a moment and focused on the voices before shrugging.

"Our goal could entirely be to rid the board of their influence by removing their proxy, the king piece."

"Eh, maybe. Well, whatever, let's see this cockpit!" And the whelp noticed the intruders taking control of its hard earned White Queen, so it disengaged from the fight and bolted towards Qrow, who was now sitting on the throne. Winter saw this and activated a black glyph, which the whelp tugged and tugged against before Winter let the force come back, launching the whelp out the other window.

Coincidentally, that was when Talos found the arm control and accidentally slapped the whelp, killing it instantly.

With that done with, Jaune and Winter put their weapons away and looked at the control area for the Queen. Its main seat was a general preformance check, one area controlled arms, another legs, and another weapons. So, seeing the obvious, they took their spots. Winter, having the most experience with this sort of thing, took up general command. Jaune took up the legs, Qrow the arms, and Talos with the on-body weaponry. And with that, they all looked out the 360 cameras and at the board mini-map.

"Hmmm, its just pawns, and the kings. Which one do we go for first?" Talos' words were then undermined when the Back King, which was a still giant metal humanoid with a crown, came to life, and pulled out a sword in preparation to fight the White Queen. Jaune, in a sudden bout of dry observation, noted that they were about to fight a chess based mech with a chess based mech they stole from a baby dragon that they chucked out the window of their own chess mech. Jaune, for a second, wondered if the world had truly gone mad, before shaking himself of the notion. It was probably him.

Regardless, they had a fight to win. The Black King had a sword, they only had fire. A lot of fire. As in their palms and fingers could shoot out large jets of flame. Aside from that, they were going to have to fight with their hands and feet. Qrow, being a well trained huntsman, was more than fine with that fact. Jaune, being someone who used their legs a lot when using Crocea Mors was not an option on top of having strong legs from both constant walking and dancing/footwork was also fine with that.

Winter was a bit stressed though, given the large advantage of the giant sword the Black King was carrying. Still, they had to fight. And so, it began. Well, it began after a comment from Talos.

"Is this normal amongst humans?"

"No, One Eye, no it isn't." And with that, the fight actually began. The Black King tried to smash the head of the White Queen in with the sword, but Jaune managed to make the mech step to the side while Qrow had them give a punch to the Black King's chest.

They heard the sound of an unbelievably large fist colliding against an unbelievably large chest, complimented by the creeking and croaking of punctured and bent metal. Winter acted as their eyes, looking out in all directions and keeping an eye on the board to make sure they weren't flanked for some reason. Meanwhile, Talos was busy blasting the King with all the flamethrowers, slag guns, and spear launchers that were on the blasted White Queen.

Once Qrow manged to punch away the Black King's blade, the two giant mechas effectively began boxing. Qrow was laughing racuously the entire time, Winter rubbed her forehead as if nursing a migraine, and Jaune thought about what alcohol he'd be ordering when this was all over to forget about all of this. Talos was the only one who wasn't affected, but even they couldn't help but snort about the peculiarity of the situation. The Black King wasn't a pushover either, their punches were swift and aimed at the weak points in Qrow's guard, they incorporated kicks and elbows into their offensive to force Jaune to both move their legs to avoid them while also putting up a capable offense.

Because the Black King had pushed them to the edge of the board, an edge that gave way to a nigh-bottomless abyss. The abyss that Jaune was pretty sure would kill them if they fell off.

And then, before they could turn the tides, they realized something, they weren't the only ones of the board.

Creaking their mechanicaly heads to the side, the Black King and White Queen to look over to see that the White King, or, the playing Queen had forwent playing chess in lieu of swatting the upstart pieces with her hands.

Or well, with the monstrous body that she revealed once taking off her veil. She transformed into the Mother of Monsters, an amalglamation of giant Grimm with hair made of giant King Taijitus, arms of all types and sizes and lengths and shapes and strength, a face made of eyes of seer Grimm, and bone plate covering all around her.

The fight between the White Queen and Black King halted in the face of the Grimmmother, and the Black King knew what to do. They forced the mechanical hand of the White Queen open and began to glow.

But instead of self destructing, they transformed into a giant sword.

"What is happening?" Winter murmured as Qrow shrugged and picked up the sword. Talos' control panel immediately expanded, showing the offensive capabilities of the sword. Jaune kept their stance stable so that even a direct charge by the Mother of Monsters wouldn't immediately take them off their feet.

And with that, an epic fight began as the group fought the Mother of Monsters, stabbing her many heads and enduring its blows. The metal and framework of the White Queen screeched and groaned as it suffered hit after hit and the Mother of Monsters wailed as more and more of its limbs were chopped off, one by one.

"Qrow!" Jaune had the feet move as they were running up the extended arm of the Mother of Monsters. Qrow put the Black King blade to the flesh, cutting as they ran up and avoided the panicked assault from the Monster Queen. And with a leap off of the arm, they flew up to the air, and Jaune kicked the Mother of Monsters in the face.

And with the force of a giant mecha slamming into their face, the Mother of Monsters was forced from the board, and kicked into the abyss.

And with that, everything began to fade once more. The Chess Board, the pieces, and the Queen they were in. And soon, they were left in the aisles of the church, morning light peering through the ancient stained glass windows that somehow, by some miracle, survived all this time.

The Valean Quarter was gone. Only one part remained infested.


Basically, think the Ringed City from DS3. As for the chess thing?

Ok, I really didn't know what to do for Vale. Honestly. So I just went with the Ozluminati angle and all. He has done the most there, warrior king, ozpin, and all that stuff.

Also, for inspiration, Qrow was inspired by the Abyss Watchers, Tyrian by the gargoyles and gaping dragon, Ironwood by Gundyr.

Also, is it just me or does this chapter not have a lot of dialogue? Sorry if it's just a lot of fighting. And honestly, the last fight wasn't that good, but I just kind of decided to skip over it.

Also, no, Cinder has not killed Amber. It's just a representation of what she wants to do/become.

Ok, ok, really dumb idea. It involves bringing Pyrrha in for one chapter. Ok before you yell at me, here's the idea. Jaune goes to Argus and sees a cooking competition for Hunters. He joins. He finds himself at an outdoor festival or something and its all nice and flashy and in the drawn lots, he gets assigned to be Pyrrha's partner (or not and its a free for all) and, as it starts, Jaune finds there are no ingredients. Then he's flung into a forest where he learns that he has to forage ingredients in the wild. Cue insanity as he gets and substitutes ingredients for his recipes. If Pyrrha is teaming up with him, Jaune's craftiness and general competence with cooking mixed with her competitiveness and ability to get the rarer ingredients from more dangerous areas leads them to victory.

OK seriously, if I write that idea, I'll probably just have Jaune alone, with either an OC, or maybe even Talos. I'm keeping my oath to not force in canon characters. Anyways, look forward to Jaune getting involved in a cooking contest on the frontier.

God, what has this fic turned into? Like, it started out pretty sane. I think the Vytal Arc is just me on something weird. I am deeply sorry for how weird these chapters have been. Like, seriously.

Also, for 'Arthur Arc' here's some optional lore, he's the one who had Crocea Mors' shield and sheath combined. Yes, that's a nod to Arthurian legend.

Anyways, with all four quarters down, there's only the Vytal Colosseum to go. At the very least, I can promise no trippy shit with the next fight. At least no pocket dimension trippy. It'll be a straight up short buildup and then a fight and then a short epilogue with the whole gang having a dinner together. And then, we're back to our regularly scheduled nonsense!