Event over. Stress lowered. Mood increased.

Cover Art: GWBrex

Chapter 80

The Grimm meandered and milled outside the city of Vale for two days and two nights before they dispersed. Throughout it all, their ships had stayed close enough to rain hell down upon them. It wasn't just spellfire, but also arrows from the refugees, who had soon joined in on killing the Grimm once they realised it was safe to do so.

They were a common enemy after all, and Salem had as good as handed them the means to recruit these people to their army. After seeing the others that refused his offer cut down, they knew they'd made the right choice in trusting him, and after seeing the gates of Vale remain closed, they knew their only hope was with the Dark Lord.

But Jaune didn't think Salem would count that as a "mistake". Sure, she had filtered a few hundred people into his ranks, but that was it, and she still had legions of Grimm. If her goal really was to wipe the world clean and only save those within her city, then these people had been considered lost anyway, and whether they died with him or died alone didn't matter.

It mattered a lot for those people, however. Even those who had chosen to trust him had done so because they didn't have any other choice, and it was obvious they expected something to go wrong, or for him to have sudden demands he hadn't made clear. As the days went by however, and as they mingled with other refugees he'd rescued and asked nothing of, that sentiment began to fade.

They were protected, well fed, given everything they could need, and not once asked to take to an oar or pick up a weapon. Many offered, both to busy themselves and to pay the faunus back for their kindness, but it was never asked, and the young, old and sickly were cared for without question. There were still some who clung to the goddess and refused to integrate, but even they were polite about it – which was a bit difference on how they'd been before. They kept their heads down, thanked him and the faunus when they were close, and didn't accuse any of being demons, monsters or evil fiends. There were enough of those on land.

If only the refugees were the sole problem.

"We need to decide what we're doing about Vale," said Blake, crossing her arms. The other faunus, and his own allies, around the table grunted their agreement. It might have felt like they were arrayed against him, but for the fact they all looked a little lost. Himself included. "I know I'm stating the obvious," she added, "and I know saying that doesn't make it any easier, but we're meant to be leading everyone and they're starting to feel confused as to what our goals are."

"As confused as we do," said one of Sienna's commanders, drawing a few cynical laughs. "I'm sure we're open to ideas." He bowed his head respectfully. "Dark Lord?"

He wished they would call him by his name, but he knew it was a matter of morale now. Having "Jaune" at the table didn't inspire people as much as the "Dark Lord" did, especially when his legend was practically eternal. Jaune pretended it was a question aimed to Ozma, which wasn't a bad idea since the spirit was listening in.

"Alas, I'm as lost as any of you. How many times do you think I've been able to force Salem back to a single castle like this? In the distant past, this may as well have been the norm, but she was ever immortal, and my best efforts were to keep her forever trapped in her tower and help the world move on around her."

That wasn't an option here. Vale was the seat of power for the whole kingdom, and she had the potential to make full armies out of there. Given time. There was also the fact that most of the world would still side with her if asked, so it wasn't like he could convince everyone to pretend she didn't exist.

"What do we think their food situation is like?" he asked.

"Finite," said Taiyang. "They've almost certainly got some fields within those walls, but they'll be very small and for the most important people. More accurate to call them vegetable gardens and animal pens. The city will have relied on the fields outside, and taxes from other villages and towns, to feed it. If it's starving them out you're thinking of then aye, we could do it. Easily at that. We're not even forming a perimeter and they're keeping themselves locked away, so we could just camp out on the water. It might take months, though. And their plans will surely change as food gets tight. They might decide to risk an engagement."

"Also," said Blake. "If we starve the people within then they'll only band tighter around Salem, won't they? Most of them already see us as evil. Starving them won't improve their opinion of us any."

"Should we do the opposite, then? Give them food?" It was Ruby who asked the question, and it sounded like a stupid suggestion.

And yet everyone considered it.

"They'd probably destroy anything we gave them and consider it poison," said one. "But I can imagine how unhappy that'd make a lot of people seeing it."

"It'd be a waste on our end," said another, "but we have food aplenty, and the fields are close to harvest. The Grimm aren't attacking crops so we could bring in more."

"Harvest Vale's fields for them and deliver the goods?" laughed another. "Oddest siege I've ever heard of. Problem is how to get them close to the walls without being shot on. We'd have to dump wagons out of range and then back off. Trust them to come out and collect them."

It was an idea. That was about the best Jaune could say. It was hard to guess how well it'd be taken by the people inside the city, if the knowledge would be spread at all. "The real problem is that we don't know what's going on in there," said Jaune. "They could be starving or well fed, or they could have a complete information lockdown where no one is allowed out of their homes. We can't plan without knowing."

"Do you want to send spies in?" asked Ren.

"How could we? The gates are sealed, and no one is welcomed inside. They wouldn't open the door when the Grimm were killing those people, so they won't open it just because we send a few people to ask to be let inside."

"Our existing spies could still be in there," said one of the commanders. "I know we all assumed they were dead, but they might just have been trapped inside when the gates were sealed. They may well still be alive."

"I don't know how we would go about contacting them," said Blake.

"Could we even?" asked Nora. "They'd be killed if they tried to leave."

"We assume," added Ren. "There's obviously rules against anyone getting into Vale, but I do wonder if those apply for anyone who wishes to leave. Are the populace trapped inside, or are they hiding inside because of the Grimm running rampant?"

"There's no way for us to know—" began another, only to be interrupted by someone banging once on the door to the cabin and then pushing in.

"I'm sorry!" gasped the faunus, "But you have to see this! There's something going on in the city!"

Ruby was the first out, with Jaune hot on her heels and the others scrambling after, abandoning the meeting in an instant. The deck was already filled with people watching, but Jaune jumped up to the captain's deck where he'd have some elevation.

A thick plume of black smoke was rising over Vale, and the tips of yellowish flames could just about be seen inside the city. The city wasn't burning, but something within it was – a building, or a few buildings. The flames were distorting the air and making it hazy above the walls, and Jaune could see tiny black shapes running across said walls, silhouetted against the fires.

Ruby jogged up beside him. "Is the city on fire!?"

"No. Just a small part of it. Looks like a building or two." Jaune assumed it would be under control soon, and that it wouldn't damage Salem's grasp any, but it still raised a question. "Why, though? That wasn't caused by us, so it must have been someone inside the city. I can't imagine an accidental candle or torch knocked over would make a fire that large before being noticed and put out."

"You think it's arson?"

"I don't know. It would explain why there's so much panic."

Jaune wasn't sure if he should be pleased or not. The fires suggested something was happening in the city, and that not all was peaceful. Could Salem be behind it? He didn't see the angle, but it was a continued case of there being no information from within. It was getting to the point where he was tempted to try and actually bring one of the walls down through the sheer might of their magical onslaught.

He was sure it could be done, but then that would really set the tone of him versus everyone within the city, and they'd all be aligned against him. It would start what would probably be the final battle, and there'd be no turning back at that point.

But what if I'm making things worse by being so risk averse…

It somehow had felt easier when he was on the backfoot, forced to react, and when Salem had every advantage and he'd been forced to reach for the high-risk plays. The odds had been so hugely against them that it was take a risk or face ruin, and Salem had dictated the tempo every time. Now, he was the one who needed to make a move, and he suddenly realised how hard it was to be that person.

"Something is happening!" shouted Ruby.

On the wall, a large group of people could be seen – and it looked like they were fighting. Jaune motioned for Neptune to bring the ship closer, but there wasn't the time for it. Not a minute or two later, several people were pitched over the wall. They dropped, but they did not fall all the way. Rope snapped taut and their bodies hung, swinging morbidly from the walls like small, black fruit hanging from a tree.

Ruby gasped, and the crowds upon the decks were little better.

It was an execution.

The perpetrators of the fire? Some civil disobedience? Looting? Rioting? They didn't know, but the execution was proof enough that not all was well within the city. About an hour later, the smoke thinned as the fires were brought under control, and yet the bodies continued to hang from the walls and none of their ships dared to draw near.

"Looks like things aren't doing so well in there," said Ruby, her voice trembling. She'd fought on Mistral, but only at a distance and hurling magic over the lines. She hadn't seen the carnage up front, and even if she had, this was a different thing.

Even he felt a chill at seeing this.

He couldn't imagine what the refugees were feeling.

"It looks like it. Let's hope those weren't the spies we were just talking about."

He doubted they would be, for any spies Sienna sent would have had the smarts to not cause trouble and get themselves caught. It was more likely someone within the city had upset Salem or the church, or that it was people who had been forced to witness their families trapped outside and slaughtered and who wanted to express their displeasure.

Or, just maybe, the food stores weren't as complete as they expected, and this was people trying to steal more. Yet again, it was the lack of information that thwarted them. They needed a way into the city. Or, failing that, they needed someone from the city.

If they could snatch or lure away someone who could give them a more accurate idea of what was going on, then they could make some decisions for once. Before patience ran out and Jaune was forced to stage an assault of the city walls, and a battle that would decide everything.

"I've come up with a plan," Jaune told the assembled commanders after they had returned to the cabin. "We need information to make a proper plan, and we're not going to get any of that without having some informants."

"We can't risk sending anyone in," said Weiss. "It'd be suicide."

"I know. That's why we're going to get someone out. Namely, the next time they stage an execution, we're going to intervene to save the person being executed. I'm sure they'll be thrilled to share everything and anything they can with us."

There were mutters all around, but none sounded unhappy with the idea.

"How do we pull it off?" asked Blake. "We can't get close without being fired upon, so I assume this is some magical approach. Do you have the ability to hide yourself?"

"Not to make myself invisible, but I—" Or Ozma "—can mess with the weather to create a thick fog. It won't be enough to hide an army, but it'd be enough to sneak some people with aura close. The best part is more refugees will likely be coming, so as long as they're not obviously possessing aura and they stay hidden from any Chosen who do come out, then they'll be able to hide in plain sight. Then when the person swings, we use magic to cut the rope and catch them."

"It'll be the escaping that's the hard part," said Pyrrha. "And not because of any risk to us. We have aura enough to shrug off any arrows, but getting the person out without them becoming a porcupine will be harder. I assume you mean to clear the wall with some offensive magic when this begins."

Jaune nodded. "We'll hide until the execution happens and then respond in force. We'll have a small team whose job it is to keep the soldiers on the walls pinned down while another gets the person – or people – out of there. We'll save as many as we can if only to give ourselves better odds. Then we get them back and let them tell us what's going on in the city." He paused. "Thoughts?"

There was some chatter.

"It's as good an idea as any," Taiyang eventually said. "We need information and hiding among refugees shouldn't be hard."

"The only problem is waiting for them to come along," said Nora. "The existing ones were massacred by the Grimm, so we need to wait for more. And it might be even more waiting before they stage another execution. There's no telling how long it'll take."

"But," said Ruby, "We don't have anything better to do but wait, do we?"

There were shrugs all around. When they had no plan, any suggestion was better than none, especially when everyone was getting antsy. The only real problem he could see was that the people they saved would then be framed as agents of his. Otherwise, why would he save them? But they were being executed anyway, so there was a good chance they were already being tarnished as heathens and blasphemers. It wouldn't matter in the long run.

"I'll assemble volunteers from among the most aura capable," said Pyrrha. "We can also sail a ship down south a bit and drop people off to act as refugees. If they don't see them coming from us, then there won't be any reason to assume they're ours."

"And if they do and fire on them?" asked Yang.

"They'll have aura," answered Weiss. "They will have time to retreat out of range if things go poorly. I highly doubt the Chosen will open the gates to chase after them, and we can ambush and encircle them if they do."

Jaune glanced around to see if there were any other complaints.

There were none.

/-/

Ruby was proud of the fact she was entrusted with being on the mission, especially when Jaune had to stay behind to work on the mist that would, for the most part, shroud them. They wouldn't be invisible, and they weren't meant to be. They were dressed in country clothing with tattered packs of food and belongings – as if they'd taken what they could and fled a farm somewhere. What the mist was really to hide was their reaction to an execution, and the sudden flare of aura as they leapt into action.

And it would hopefully make aiming from the walls difficult when they ran away with their rescued prisoners. It had only been the one day since the brutal execution, but the bodies were still there, left to dangle from the walls with carrion birds pecking at their faces. Ruby avoided the areas underneath them, terrified of bits of human flesh falling down onto her. Luckily, that didn't look all too suspicious to the people on the walls, though she noticed they weren't really looking over all that much either.

It didn't feel like anyone was happy about the hanging corpses. Not even the ones who hung them.

"Kinda exciting, isn't it?" whispered her sister. Yang had insisted she come along even though her aura control wasn't yet that fine.

Ruby liked the older girl, even if they'd never met before her and dad fled Patch. Yang was easy going and adopted her almost immediately, and Ruby liked having an older sister to talk to, and she especially liked being able to teach her aura and magic.

"This is serious, Yang. We have a responsibility here."

"Yeah, sure, but I can see your eyes shining. Admit it, you're excited being in charge of all this."

"Maybe," admitted Ruby, blushing and looking away. "But don't tell anyone. Weiss would get all angry about it and Jaune might be disappointed. This is serious, and the only reason I'm in charge is because I'm the least recognisable. I've been on the back of every fight, usually hooded, and I don't look like I can fight."

That was something Ruby despised, but it was what it was, and it was useful here, so she'd let it go. Being small and underestimated was usually a bad thing, but it occasionally came with its advantages. Yang had dyed her hair black with soot and ash, and they looked like older and younger sisters running from their farms.

Naturally, they'd been turned away at the gates.

"Please, sirs," cried a very convincing faunus. "We've barely survived the Grimm. We have little food and water – please, by the Goddess' mercy."

The human soldier on the other side of the eye-slit replied in a gruff voice. "There isn't much of her mercy in here, farmer. You're better off out there, believe me. The Goddess has ordered none are to be allowed in or out."

So, they were being kept in as well. That was valuable information, if a little worrying. Ruby cleared her throat and piped up. "B—But sir, t—there are bodies above us!" she whined. "Why? What's going on?"

The guard swore. "Don't look at them, child."

"What happened to them?" asked the faunus. "Are they the Dark Lord's servants?"

"More as like they're ones who crossed the Chosen," hissed the guard. "But you didn't hear that from me. There's chaos in here. No one knows what is going on and the Chosen deliver different messages to the bishops. One day it's this, the next it's that, and there's hardly enough food to go around." He raised his voice again. "I meant what I said. You're better off outside. Leave and find shelter elsewhere. Make your way to Vacuo if you can. I wish I could do more, but it'll be all of us swinging if I open these gates."

Apparently done, and unwilling to talk more, the guard slid a wooden plank across the slit and blocked them out. His footsteps echoed away as well. Ruby wondered if he felt bad for those left behind before. Quite possibly. If he'd held the gate closed while the last refugees were slaughtered, then he probably held himself responsible.

"Sounds like it's as chaotic in there as was expected," said the faunus. "Blake will be pleased to hear that."

"It's good information," agreed Ruby. "And I guess it means the executions were as much a way to try and restore order as they were to punish them."

"Could be both," said Yang. "When food is short, a mothering animal will often kill and eat some of her young to reduce competition. They might be punishing even the smallest crimes with death to try and conserve food."

That sounded awful, but she could imagine it being told as "keeping the peace" from "dangerous elements of society" all to excuse what was being done. It sounded more like they wanted to keep everyone afraid and loyal, then let the world burn. Once they came out as the only survivors, they'd naturally thank Salem for guiding them through the apocalypse.

They set up tents under the shadow of the wall and within the mist, and milled about as if they were refugees, calling out for aid and food and huddling together for warmth. Everyone here had aura and experience in it, with Yang being the worst by far. Most of them were the very first faunus that Ruby, Jaune and Pyrrha had helped train, which meant they respected her despite her age. Most of them had learned magic from her.

"Ruby!" one of them gasped and pointed up. "It's happening already!"

"Already!?" she cried and craned her head back. Sure enough, there was a group of people on the wall, with a single struggling person. "How are they executing more people already!?"

"Must have been another person involved in yesterday's arson that they caught today," said Yang, coming up with a reasonable explanation. "Does it matter? You ready, sis? You're going to need to cut the rope before it goes taut or their neck will snap like a twig."

Ruby nodded. Once the person fell, their body weight would drag them down and then when the rope went taut, it'd apply all that pressure to their neck. Ruby had heard that some people could be decapitated by the force of it, and it was said those people were much more fortunate than those who had to slowly suffocate to death.

Fire tingled between her fingertips. "I'm ready."

The lot of them fanned out beneath and to the side of where the person would fall as if they were spectating it. The mist hid the faint glows around hands and bodies as aura was activated, and those on the wall were too busy with the struggling prisoner. It was a woman, that much Ruby could tell from the billowing long skirt and the feminine screams and pleas.

"E—Everyone ready," she ordered. "I'll cut the rope and you'll have to catch her. Leave the archers to me and run."

"Yes, teacher."

"Yes, instructor Rose."

The title gave her a little confidence. On the wall, the soldiers had forced the desperately struggling woman onto the parapet, three men having to control her as she kicked and screamed. Her hands had been tied behind her back. With a mighty push, one sent her out into the open air, and she let off the worst scream Ruby had ever heard.

"NOW!"

Ruby sent a ball of hot fire racing up toward the tip of the wall, aiming for the exact spot the woman had been pushed off of. The fire hit the parapet and burst over it, spraying hot but mostly harmless fire at the soldiers, and sent them diving and scattering in fear. It also incinerated the knotted rope that was attached to the top of the wall, causing the woman to continue falling long after she would have died.

Her students saw to that with powerful gusts of wind that slammed rather harshly into the woman, bouncing, and juggling her in what must have been a painful manner. She was knocked back into the wall, winded, but that slowed her descent a little, and they were able to continue it by bouncing her off the wall to slow her down until she fell the final few feet into a pair of waiting arms. The girl, a faunus with brown hair and long ears, looked bruised and winded and shocked as well, but she was alive.

And still screaming.

"Go! Go! Go!" Yang raced in with her round, wooden shield up and swiftly blocked an arrow meant to end the girl's life. "Get her out of here! Ruby, deal with them!"

The fireball was already flying, striking the wall again and throwing up a sheet of fire that blocked vision and sent people stumbling backwards. She doubted she had killed any, but the threat of it was there, and people didn't stand up to a sudden burst of fire in front of their eyes. If nothing else, it was blinding.

Some arrows came after them anyway, but they were hastily fired or arched, and it wasn't hard to weave between them. A few struck either Yang's shield or the backs of her students, but their aura shielded them.

It only took a few frantic minutes to race out of range, at which point Pyrrha, Weiss, Coco and a hidden contingent of faunus burst from the treeline to receive them. They took the girl, and Coco let out a wild gasp. "Velvet!? Why?"

The girl – Velvet, apparently – was sobbing wildly. "L—L—Lady Coco— I didn't do it. I'm innocent. I didn't. T—They said because I was a faunus—I didn't." Her words descended into wails and sobs, and she was quickly handed off to Coco, who seemed to know her.

"Who?" demanded Coco. "Who accused you? And of what?"

"It was the Goddess herself!" howled Velvet, big, fat tears running down her cheeks. "She just came into the tavern I worked at, saw me, and s—said I was a traitor a—and not fit to live in her new world. T—They didn't even accuse me of anything! They just dragged me away a—and… and…"

Coco dragged Velvet's face into her neck and rubbed her head, shushing her. It was the final straw and the girl lost it, sobbing against Coco before it all became too much, and she fainted entirely. Coco picked her up with an arm under her back and legs and carried her back toward the ships.

Pyrrha motioned for people to follow her and then moved over to Ruby. "It sounds bad in there."

"A gate guard talked to us. He said it was chaos, and that we were better off outside the walls than within."

"That's telling. Most people would never dare question the goddess' wisdom. For them to do that so brazenly suggests that there is open displeasure with her recent decisions."

"Does it surprise you?" snarled Weiss. "The goddess sent thousands of men to Mistral to die, and probably executed most of those who came back alive. There's only so much people can take before they start to feel that things aren't as they should be."

"Hm." Ruby nodded. "We should tell Jaune. This is big. If she really is losing control, then what if she realises it and panics? What then?"

Weiss and Pyrrha shared worried looks. "Then she might just decide her safest bet is to fall back on the only servants who can't turn on her and wipe the city out with them. If she's panicking, she might decide that openly using the Grimm is preferable to maintaining the ruse of her being a benevolent goddess." Pyrrha swallowed. "You're right. We need to tell Jaune. Waiting out a siege isn't an option anymore. We'll see what Velvet has to stay and then…"

"And then we'll do as we have to," said Weiss. "Even if that means tearing down the walls of Vale."

Next Chapter: 8th October

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