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The chapel was a simple enough building, with a smallish entryway inside the main door and another door at the other side, to help keep the cold out. Past it was an open room that had, once, been lined by low wooden seats topped in thin furs. Those had been stacked against the walls to either side, though, to make room for their stored equipment and goods, all mingling with the pews in crates and barrels, and bedrolls for his soldiers. At the far end, opposite the door, was a simple raised platform with a thin fur rug and a simple podium for preaching and, behind it, an open doorway with a thicker curtain covering it. Behind it were stairs, leading up to an attic whose walls sloped up on either side, which was split by a wall that divided two thirds into the priest's quarters and the other into a landing he used for storage.
It had a window, though, just wide enough for Jaune to sit in it and just deep enough for him to do it without opening it, resting on the wooden window-frame. A scant few feet away, linked by a clothesline, was the wall, where he could just peek over and between the pointed tops of the log-palisade. Beyond it, the forest was dark, its snow-laden branches swaying gently in a stiff breeze and their own shifting weight. But…
He didn't see anything.
"Lord Arc…?" He turned, looking at the top of the stairs where Coco was standing. She wasn't in her armor now, dressed instead in a layered brown shirt with furs around her shoulders and her hair hanging loose. Flicking the window - and the forest beyond - a look she asked, "Have you seen anything?"
"Not since we got here yesterday evening." He hummed, turning back to the woods as the sun vanished and darkness crept across the world for their second night there. "Anything from your end?"
"All anyone knows, that I could find, is that if the boats stray too far out of harbor, or anyone tries to reach the woods, they take bolts." Coco said, joining him at the window and flicking his foot a look until he dropped it to the floor to make space for her to sit. She did, frowning and going on, "I… Don't understand it."
"Neither do I." He agreed, frowning and watching the woods vanish into shadow. Into the Faunus' time of power. Turning to her, he said, "Something is wrong here… Like, something's keeping the pieces from welding together."
"Lke…?"
"I don't know."
"Maybe the beasts do not care about the village as much as they care about what it holds?" A calmer, more flatly serene, voice spoke from the door. Peter was standing there, hands clasped behind his waist as he joined them and hummed in thought. "Our stores are full of food. All of it, ear-marked for merchants' caravans, nobles' larders and the like all across the northern stretches of the Kingdom."
"And all of it stuck here…" Coco sighed, "Wonder how many of the locals that will put out of purse."
"Losing their coin isn't the only thing they'll be worried about." Jaune grunted, flicking Coco a look when she raised an eyebrow in question. "First, the food won't last forever. Not only will it start to rot, but the storage space that the locals would start using when it left won't be there. So they can't stockpile for the harsher months."
"Meaning…?"
"They either loot the nobles' caches and risk whatever that brings." And Jaune knew the nobility and the Church wouldn't look on any of that with a lot of kindness. "Or they starve until it all rots and then rush out, desperate to fill the storage halls before the true chill falls."
"Ah…"
"Indeed." Peter nodded, smiling thinly. Grimly. Quietly, he went on, "They starve us and they starve the nobles, who in turn take from elsewhere."
"From people that didn't plan for it." Coco muttered, mind working through it just as fast as he'd hoped. She was smart, like he'd assumed. And quick to put the pieces together if you laid them out. "Which spreads the problem…"
"Like rocks." Jaune nodded, "One rolls down the mountain and hits another on the way. Two becomes four, becomes eight, continues on to bury the village."
"Hometown saying?"
"Sort of." He'd lived in the forest, but Port had traveled plenty and brought the old saying from the west. Almost west enough to reach Vale's furthest reaches, from what he'd been told. Shaking his head, he said, "Coco, put a close watch on our supplies. And get a count on the village's done tomorrow as well."
"Aye, Lord."
"You've a plan?" Peter asked curiously.
"The start of one." He hummed, pursing his lips and watching the darkness. "If you're right, they should make moves against our supplies directly."
"Why would they bother?" Coco asked, "They have us trapped, more or less. Why not just wait?"
"They hardly have shelter out there, or fisheries to keep fed. With so many necessarily tied up watching us, I doubt they have a lot of hunters in the woods." Too many people and you couldn't handle that sort of thing without being obvious about it. Or hunting out an area. Either was fine, if you could move or didn't care about being noticed, but they clearly did. "If they can't do that, and want the nobles' stock to rot to waste time…"
"Stealing what we already have would just mean less to eat in the interim." Coc realised, nodding and turning to leave. "I'll double the guard right away."
Jaune watched her leave and turned to the priest with a thin smile, nodding his head, "Are you retiring?"
"I am." He nodded, "Feel free to enjoy the sights, though. Such as they are."
"No, no, I…" Jaune sighed and stood, "I need my rest, too. But thank you."
Peter only nodded and Jaune took his leave.
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The next morning was dark and grey, and bitingly cold, when he stepped out of the chapel and leaned against the wood railing that enclosed the porch. His armor did decently at keeping the chill out, thanks to the thick cloth under-pieces, but his face was bare. The mail that many of them wore over their faces to fight didn't do much to keep out this kind of cold, either. Instead, they laced thick lengths of cloth into the thin padding on the backs of the mail and kept that over their faces instead, to protect them against the cold and combat at the same time as best it could.
Didn't do anything for their eyes, though - and Gods, his eyes ached.
Srill, he watched the half-opened gate with a flat gaze, his hammer resting against his leg. He heard Cardin join him and rumble, "Nothing yet from the gate."
"I know." He hummed. He hadn't exactly expected any of the raiders to rush the gate or anything, but he had a watchmen outside, watching the woods for movement. Even in the poor weather, they should have seen… Something from the Faunus if they were after the settlement.
Which confirmed as best as he could that it had to be something else.
A gust of wind rushed along the road and he turned to Cardin, frowning and asking, "What are the odds any food from the wagons outside the walls is still edible?"
"Decent. It's cold enough. But…" Cardin's brow furrowed and he crossed his large, armored arms. "Why? We have plenty."
"For now." He nodded, "But… I'm testing a theory. You, myself, and two men you pick are going to go out there and check for food, clothes, hell, coin if we see it. I don't care."
"Again, why?"
"I'm testing a theory." He muttered, stepping past the man and out of the cover of the porch. Cardin followed him to the gate where Jaune peered outside, leaning on one of the larger segments that held the swinging wooden defenses in place and watching the snow build. Quietly, he explained, "Peter thinks that they're locking the food down. Starving the people further south as the winter starts to really hit-"
"Starts?" Cardin huffed, "It's snowing, Arc."
"It'll melt." It wasn't even sticking uniformly outside the walls. There were patches, sure - but mostly it was making mud and ice patches on the open ground. They weren't far off from the first serious, holding frosts, but…
They had time.
"If they're sieging us, trying to take or sack this place, they'll want we Knights dead." Jaune finally said, stressing the word, "If instead they are trying to do something else or… Or can't risk a confrontation, then why bother? Why risk it?"
"I see…"
"Right." Jaune nodded, "So, get them men and we'll-"
"I'll lead them." Cardin cut him off, "But you won't be going."
"I'm sorry?"
"No, just dim." Cardin sighed and shook his head when Jaune scowled and turned to him fully to argue the point. "You're the First, Brother. And the last scion of the Arcs, too. Losing you out here, like this? It's too great a risk."
"I know," he sighed, "but having me out there is bait, Cardin. If they have the manpower to risk a battle, going for me is-"
"Something they'd do even if they didn't have that manpower." Cardin cut him off, shaking his head and joining him at the wooden support, peeking out into the land beyond the village. "If they see you and recognize you, then whatever they're doing here, they may very well strike out at you. You're a ripe target. If this is meant to gain us intel, then you need to send nobodies."
"But…"
"None of your men are nobodies. Not to you, at the least." Cardin nodded, "I understand how you feel."
"But you still think I shouldn't go out there…"
"I don't." He shook his head, "Nor should I. Or Adel even, for that matter. The lowest ranks should go out to scout like you want. It's brutal logistics. I know you… Probably hate it-"
"I can confirm that."
"-but," Cardin chuckled, "it's the smart thing. The soldier thing."
"Yeah…" Jaune sighed and turned away, gnawing at the inside of his cheek while he thought. Cardin was right, of course, but should he really gamble lives away just to check something like this?
Could he?
He didn't have a choice, he supposed. A Lord, an Arc would make the 'right' decision here, too. Would know it. Gods, but they'd probably not even debate it as much as he had, or need Cardin to push him into it. Which made him appreciate the other man all the more. Who else would be willing to be so patient with him but for Cardin?
"Fine." He finally nodded, "But order them to be careful and quick. I don't want to lose anyone over this."
"Understood " Cardin nodded while Jaune turned, looking along the wall past the chapel and frowning while Cardin asked, "Will that be all then?"
"Yes. Actually, no." He shook his head and sighed, "I know he's busy, but… Tell Peter he left his coats on the line from this morning. With the frost coming on, they're liable to ruin. Better to hang them by the fire."
"Right. If I see him I'll say something." He nodded, turning and leaving while Jaune flicked a look to the heavy coat hanging on the line. Frowning, he wondered what kind of poor luck or bad planning made him do laundry today of all days…
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Blake lingered in the shadows the roof cast against the wall, watching her target turn to head further into the village, towards the storehouses. What the young lord was actually planning, she couldn't be sure. And what Adam wanted with him, she couldn't be sure of either. No more than she understood what those in the forest were doing…
But the blonde was already working to find it all out, so all she had to do was follow along.
Melding into the shadows further, she flitted along through the shadow-cast layers between the ice and snow. The spaces were too small to linger, but they did well enough to get her from building to building. And their shadows let her form enough to see and hear around her, forming a dark mask in corners and gaps between crates and barrels to let her eyes and ears reform more fully. Fully enough to use for more than the base perception her shadow-senses gave her, at least.
"Who are they, though…" She wondered, thinking of the forest dwellers while she watched the young Lord doing… Whatever he was doing, talking to one of the storehouse workers. "White Fang or… Independent, perhaps?"
A man's shout cut her thoughts off and she flitted across the muddied road, between a few mounds of mud and frost and snow that cast longer shadows. She reformed in the shadow above them, under the ceiling, in time to catch the last bit of the storehouse worker's words.
"-feed them?" The man scoffed, "We're short 'nough righ' now as is. Why waste food?"
"We need them." Arc grunted, waving him off with a sigh. "It's by my authority. If the higher families come calling, send them to me. But for now, we all need to focus on surviving."
"I guess…" The man sighed, "But it's on your head."
"Right." The Knight nodded, "And… Keep it quiet."
"Eh?"
"Don't tell anyone." Arc explained quietly, stepping closer and speaking lowly enough Blake had to try harder, form her ears in full, to actually hear. "Just take from the crates, put them in ones without… Labels, or anything, and then hand those out. I want everyone to think storage is still being taken up by the Houses' supplies."
"But… Why?"
"I have my reasons." Arc said, "See it done, yeah?"
"I guess…"
With a nod, Arc turned and went on his way and Blake withdrew, back into the shadows. Now what was he up to…?
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