Hottest day of the year so far in UK; I melt.

Cover Art: GWBrex

Chapter 66

Raven's reaction to him was mixed to say the least. There was a little annoyance despite Qrow's promise that she was fine with him after the White Fang paid his debt; the fact the loss of the relic was squared apparently didn't make up for his betrayal in the first place. That anger was tightly kept in check however, partly due to the knowledge of what he was and also because of the army at his back. Raven had not led the tribe as long as she had without knowing when to not pick a fight.

There was a nervousness to her as well that he could place all too easily. Raven was afraid she and the tribe would be drafted by his army. They were criminals at the end of the day, but fighters all, and any army worth their salt would rather have them among their ranks than at their back. It was the logical decision for him to make as well. Offer them loot or other rewards but force them into his ranks with the understanding that they didn't have a choice.

Jaune cut it off immediately. "I'm not here to force you or yours to fight for us, Raven."

"That's good to hear." He offered the olive branch and she took it, all the better not to upset him. The power dynamic between the two of them was different from how it had once been, and they both knew it. Raven was cautious. "Part of the reason we came here was to avoid the Goddess' drafts. Others may be willing to fight and die for the promise of glory in the next life, but I prefer to be paid in something more immediately useful in this one." The woman nodded to a pile of cushions on the floor, a mirror of what she was sat upon. "Help yourself. Beer? I'd offer wine but good luck finding that out here."

Jaune settled down. Ruby was with Yang, the latter absolutely thrilled to see her, and the others were outside being watched over by Taiyang. Ren and Nora weren't thrilled with where they were, but they trusted Taiyang, and he would keep them safe. That and the simple fact that no one in the tribe would dare cause trouble with an army moored off the coast. Jaune accepted a wooden tankard and the beer that Raven poured out a larger jug, both into his and her own. They drank together, and it was surprisingly nice.

"This is good beer. Did the tribe make it?"

"We found barrels and stock in a nearby village. They'd been abandoned so we helped ourselves."

"I guess the Grimm don't attack storage."

"The Grimm never touched the place," she said. "Everything was in too good condition for that; it looked more like everyone up and left." She sipped. "Maybe they caught wind and left Mistral before things got bad."

"Winter Schnee rounded up people from all the nearby villages and brought them to the capital to be used as bait and meat shields against the rebels. They were all slaughtered by the Grimm after Winter died."

Raven paused, tankard to her lips, then forced herself to drink. After, she said, "Ah. Well, that explains it." The woman set the tankard down on the floor. "The church says you were responsible for that. Didn't believe it myself. Not that you weren't the Dark Lord; I saw that with my own eyes. I simply didn't believe you'd destroy a city that you had just conquered. Didn't make any sense, and then to run away to Menagerie after."

"Salem lied."

"Those in charge often do. It's the way of life. My father used to say you can tell the power a person has by how often they tell the truth. If they lie, then they're still searching for more power. It's the destitute that can afford to tell the truth. And the very rare cases of those powerful enough that they no longer need to lie."

Jaune wondered if he counted as the latter. He didn't feel powerful, and yet he could afford to come here and be brutally honest with Raven, because he knew she couldn't afford to antagonise him. Maybe he did count as that.

"Salem sent the Grimm to Mistral," he said, watching her expression. "And then to Menagerie. The so-called Goddess can control the Grimm, which is why they've never bothered attacking her cities or strongholds."

Raven hummed.

"You don't believe me?"

"I don't think you've any reason to lie to me," she admitted, "but I've also made my place in life by not trusting anyone but myself, and maybe Qrow on occasion. Beyond that, I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes to me either way. Whether you or she controls them, they're still monstrous beats that'd attack us if we draw close. Knowing who to curse as we cut them down is a bonus, I suppose, but that's all." Raven let out a long breath. "What do you want from us?"

"I didn't even know you'd be here."

"I know. This wasn't planned, but it's an opportunity all the same and you know it." Raven leaned forward with an irritated scowl. "All of this isn't so we can trade stories and catch up. I'm asking you, as the leader of this tribe, what we have to do to be kept out of your conflict."

It was a good question, and Raven was right; he might not have planned to use them, but they were here now and he couldn't just pretend they didn't exist. He'd promised not to force them to fight got him though, and he would keep to that. "I need the church to know we're here," he said, at last. "I'll spare you our plans because you probably don't want to hear them, but we need the church to come here and fight us rather than travel to Menagerie."

Raven snorted. "I don't exactly have the ear of the goddess."

"No. But that's what we need, and you want to be away from us before you can be drawn into our fight. You're a smart woman, Raven. I'm sure you can figure out a way to make it happen."

Raven sighed and leant back. It was a demand at the end of the day, but not a bad deal all things considered. He could have demanded supplies, wealth, service or men, and instead he offered a simple task with no strings attached. He could tell she was annoyed at having to cater to him at all, but she'd take it. The deal was too good not to, and it wasn't like she'd want to stay on Mistral now that she knew this was where the war would occur. There'd be much better pickings in Vale with the army out and distracted.

"We can spread the rumour," she said at last. "Can't afford to go and tell her directly or we'll be pressed into the army, but it wouldn't be hard to dress one of ours up as a refugee and have him tell a Chosen. The rest of us can get loud at a tavern and talk of what we saw. News has a way of making it to the church eventually. Would that be enough?"

There was no way to know. If it worked then it was enough, and if it didn't then it wasn't, but by that time they'd have no way of enforcing anything on the tribe. "It's enough to satisfy me," he said. "We'll be doing our own things to let them know as well, so it may not even become necessary. I'd just rather be sure."

"Your own thing, huh? Anything you can give me as a warning? I'd hate to be caught up in it."

"Avoid the coastal towns and villages then. Or at least those closest to Mistral."

"Ah." Raven grimaced. "You intend to raid them. Well, that ought to do a good enough job of raising the alarm. Ought to help us as well if we talk about the ships we saw. Aye, we'll avoid those places. Word of advice, though – you're going to need to raze them. The Church won't pay attention otherwise."

Jaune frowned. "They won't? Why not?"

"There's been an uptick in banditry in the kingdoms. I realise I should be the last to complain about that, but competition is tight and a lot of them are amateur. Deserters, mostly. There are those that took advantage of the lax security when the first army went to Menagerie, and then deserters, draft-dodgers and survivors of that which didn't want to come back and face possible execution. A lot of them don't have homes now, and only had the weapons and armour they carried with them. Not much else for them to do but steal to survive."

"Normally, the Chosen would be taking a dim view on all that and intervening, but with the goddess pushing for another assault on you, they're all recalled to the city for preparation and last-minute training. The kingdom is haemorrhaging, and the church won't bring out the bandages. And what are starving villages supposed to do when the authorities won't help them out? Well, they have to take from others as well. Chain reaction." Raven twirled her forefinger in the air. "And all of a sudden the kingdom is thrown into near-anarchy. At least outside the walls of the capital city. You raid and walk away, and the locals will know there's no point in sending word to the capital. They'll just move back in, count their losses, and try to make the most of a bad situation. You only call for help when you believe it might come."

Things were bad, then. He hadn't put much thought into it, being too focused on his immediate surroundings. The war wasn't good for anyone, but Salem obviously didn't care about the small people. Their lives were the blink of an eye for her. Was Ansel safe? Were his family all right? The only thing that convinced him they would be was that theirs was too small a village to be worth attacking. Less than fifty homes, and only enough grain to pay their taxes and cover themselves. It was no guarantee, though. If people were that desperate then they might not care.

He could see what Raven was suggesting. Burn the village or town, and the survivors would have to travel elsewhere in search of a home. They'd spread out, occupying other towns and villages and even heading to the capital. Some would join the army, both for revenge and because there was nothing else they could do. He'd be swelling Salem's army by a few more people – nothing much in the grand scheme of things, but still something to feel awful about. But the news would reach Salem. By sending actual survivors to her army, she'd find out the Dark Lord had left Menagerie and attacked Vale.

"I'll keep your advice in mind," he eventually said. "And I'll reiterate that you should avoid any coastal towns or villages. Especially those mostly made of wood."

Raven took a long drink and nodded.

/-/

They didn't sleep in the camp despite Raven offering. It was out of polite deference that she did, and they all knew they weren't welcome. Even Taiyang and Ruby knew things would be strained, though apparently Yang had asked to come to the ships to spend some time with them and have a look at the army. He didn't see the need to get involved, and Taiyang let her. He filled in Sienna once he got back; she already knew the basics from Adam and Blake, but he gave her all the added bits and pieces he'd taken from Raven, including news of the condition of life in Vale.

"Things are that bad?" she asked. "I shouldn't be surprised. Mistral is a ruin and Atlas is in shock from their own attack. I suppose we all forgot Vale might have lost people as well. Burning a town down? I don't think anyone is going to be happy with that, but I suppose we can give the residents time to get out with supplies."

Jaune nodded. There was no point being any crueller than they had to be. "I didn't want to force them to fight with us. They don't have the same motivations we do."

"Not sure I'd trust them among our own anyway," she said. "It's fine. We're not looking for a pitched battle, so we don't necessarily need more numbers – let alone any as undisciplined as that. Everyone here is determined. We know the truth, what we're fighting for, and we're ready to lay down our lives if needs be. They don't have that. Never will. Our morale is good now but adding naysayers will drag it down fast."

"Morale is still good?"

"It's holding. No one has died and there hasn't been any open fighting, so there's no reason for anyone to be wavering. I expect news of how bad things are in Vale will only stoke them further; it'll be more proof that Salem can't be trusted to stay in charge. Things won't start getting bad until we start losing people. That'll be when mortality and the realisation of how dangerous this all is starts to kick in. Or if we're arrayed against a force larger than our own."

That was bound to happen eventually. Both of them. They'd done well so far but there was little chance they could keep the conflict bloodless forever, and sooner or later they'd have to fight someone. The faunus were going to see larger numbers arrayed against them as well.

"I think we should make sure everyone knows the plan," said Jaune. "And I mean everyone. A big advantage of our smaller forces is that we know we don't have any spies. If they see a huge army coming then they'll panic, but if they know our plan is to give them the run-around then that should calm them down a little."

"I've already made sure all the various captains know," said Sienna, "and I can have them pass it on to the ones under them and so on. Only reason I hadn't so far is that our plan was always less of a plan and more of a vague idea. Has that changed?"

"Not wholly. We have to see how Salem reacts to us. We can at least share the plan on razing this town, though. Or whichever town we choose. Make sure everyone knows we're going to give the citizens time to leave and not harm them. They might start to ask if we're not just as bad as Salem otherwise."

"Hmm." Sienna leaned back. "I'd planned to inform those we took to do it, but I suppose we can tell everyone. Rumours will spread if we don't. Very well, I'll handle that. These bandits. How far can we trust them?"

"Far enough, I think. I wouldn't say I trust Raven to have my back, but I trust her to honour the most favourable deal she could have hoped for. Stabbing us in the back over something so small feels like a waste."

"I'll take your word on it. We'll stay here two days to resupply before heading for the western coast of Mistral, and from there we'll launch our raid on the east coast of Vale. I'll let you know if anything comes up."

/-/

Ruby was too busy with Yang to spend any time with him, but Taiyang cornered him outside their cabin. The two girls were loudly chatting within. It seemed Yang hadn't forgotten her sister in their time apart, which was nice to hear. Taiyang, however, looked conflicted.

"What's wrong?" asked Jaune.

"Not here. Follow." Taiyang led them out onto the main deck. The sun was down, the cracked moon up, and they stood in the cool evening air. "Yang has been asking about why we're doing all this," he began at last. "Listening to Ruby talk about the Relic of Knowledge, and Salem, and our war against the church. I've a feeling she might want to come with us."

"You don't want her to?"

He shrugged. "It's her choice, and rich of me to think I can make it for her when I was never there for her growing up. Also rich to worry about her, when I've let Ruby do all this. I just wanted to mention it to you. Make sure it didn't catch you by surprise. It'll be your call at the end of the day."

Jaune nodded. He wasn't sure why it was his decision to make but he'd let it go. Sienna would probably just shrug and tell him it was his business anyway; she dealt with faunus, and he could deal with old human allies.

"Why does she want to join us, anyway? Just to be with Ruby?"

"It's more than that. Yang is young, hot-headed and adventurous. Like most kids her age, especially in a tribe like ours. Hearing Ruby talk about grand battles against the church – and the glory of winning them – is bound to have her excited. Especially compared to trudging across a fallen kingdom looting the dead." He sighed. "Kids her age tend to think they're invincible. I know I did at her age. The allure of adventure, glory and excitement is sometimes all you need."

Was it? He must have been a particularly boring child then because he hadn't felt any of that. Maybe it was because his childhood had been spent being seen as mentally unstable or diseased – a child to be avoided. He'd spent his younger years wanting to fit in, but for someone who already did, it made sense they'd pine for other things.

"Will Raven and Qrow let her go? Will it cause issues?"

"Probably not. The tribe is a family but… well… Yang is an adult, which might be another reason she wants to leave. Hard to make much of yourself living under your mother's shadow. She's old enough to make her choices and live with them, and Raven knows that. Whether she'll be happy is another thing entirely, but any arguments will probably be between her and Yang more than her and us. Or you." He laughed. "She might have a few words to say to me."

"I'll unlock her aura if she asks. Ruby can teach her. Is that all you wanted to ask?"

"Not all," Taiyang admitted. "I was wondering if you wanted to do anything regarding your family."

"Ah…"

"Ruby wanted to – she worries about you, you know? – but she didn't know how. Since I'm the only other one who knew then, I figured I should be the one to do it."

"I'm not sure to be honest. I want to see them – of course I do. It's just that I'm… I'm not the same person anymore, am I? I'm the Dark Lord, and whether they believe I did all the terrible things Salem said I did or not, they've always been religious. I don't think they'd hate me but I'm not sure they'd welcome me back, or even feel happy to see me again." Jaune leaned on the ship's wooden railing. "And I'd be putting them at risk if I went near."

"That's all true but if Vale is as bad as I'm hearing it is, then they might not be all that safe as is. Isn't it tempting to try and take them back to Menagerie?"

"Yes, but the only way we're going back is if Salem is beaten, and at that point they'd be safe anyway. Or I wouldn't be putting them at risk to see them." He wouldn't put it past the church to keep an eye on them. Going anywhere near Ansel would be a risk. "Ansel is far enough away from the city that I'm hoping they'll be able to stay out all this."

"All right. I won't push. Just, as a father myself, I think I'd at least like to know my son was still alive. Or himself. A letter, if nothing else, would mean a lot to them." He pushed off the side of the boat. "And I'm sure you can pay someone in the tribe to deliver it for you. Wouldn't cost you much and might mean the world to them."

A letter…

His parents could read, which was something of a rarity in a lot of villages. They'd taught his sisters too, though not everyone had grasped it so well. He had, mostly on account of being ostracised from the other kids and thus having more time alone to practice. His fingers drummed on the wood as he considered it. If it was intercepted then he might get them in trouble, but who was going to challenge someone like Qrow Branwen? No one in Ansel could threaten him.

A single letter…

He owed them that much.

It is ruinously hot here. Or maybe it'd be more accurate to say I'm ruinously bad at handling the heat.

Next Chapter: 18th June

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