Chapter 19- Might of Karnika Part 1

Raven was perched in a tree, in her bird form once again, waiting for the convoy that the Karnika tribe was preparing to ambush. The ambush area was a tight road surrounded by trees. There wasn't a lot of wiggle room, and provided a suitable spot to trap the prisoner transport. Despite the various skirmishes with the Karnika tribe in the past, Raven didn't know too much about them. They were zealous slavers that preferred numbers over individual strength, and that was about the extent of her knowledge. This would be a good opportunity to learn more about them before their eventual raid on their main camp.

It took a while, but eventually she started to see the Karnika members approach the area and start setting up the ambush. She notices something odd about them, the slaves specifically. They seemed… not all there. Not in a broken way, but more that they're blank. Stoic, inexpressive. It was a little unsettling. She supposed that this was the indoctrination she had heard of in the previous camp she scouted. She put it to the back of her mind for now as she figured she'd find out when she got to their camp.

Soon enough, she head the convoy approaching. Why they were traveling by road instead of taking an airship, she didn't know, but she wasn't going to complain. The lead vehicle was soon taken out by an explosive planted by the slavers, and they rushed out of the tree line to attack the guards who were disembarking their vehicles. The fight didn't last long, and the Karnika tribe quickly claimed victory over the poor guards. But as a few slavers went into the prison transport vehicle to claim their new cannon fodder, a swarm of Grimm came and surrounded the area.

It was startling to see how quickly the Grimm had come in, and in such large numbers. What were the chances of this many Grimm just happening to be in the vicinity? She didn't know, nor care. But as she observed a few Karnika members get slaughtered unusually quickly by the dark creatures, she decided to follow the few that fled, in hope that they retreat to the main Karnika base. As she flew away, she missed the sight of a pale scorpion Faunus leaving the transport vehicle, covered in blood and seemingly ignored by the creatures of Grimm.

She followed the runaway slavers all the way back to a camp, one that certainly looked like a main base. She circled the camp, observing the layout and defenses for a moment before landing on the wall and inspecting it more closely. She could see a lot of people here, most of them slaves. However these slave are like the ones she saw in the convoy ambush, not like Vernal and those with her. There was no resistance, no angry glares or anything of the sort. Just mindless obedience. They were like robots. Raven had her suspicions, that this was some form of semblance. There are a lot of powerful and strange semblances out there, and it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for one to exist that can make people like this.

She scoured the camp, seeing a weapon stash, plentiful dust reserves, and a very large tent at the back of the camp, not too dissimilar to her own. Obviously, that was where the leader stayed. She decided to try and get closer. She flew around the back of the tent, where there was an opening, and peered through it. She saw what looked to be a throne of sorts, with a brown-skinned woman sat upon it. She was dressed in purple robes, with golden jewelry decorating her outfit. This was the leader, Raven presumed. The woman was speaking to who she assumed was one of her lieutenants, and Raven decided to listen in.

"-must not let them take anymore of our territory or our forces. If we lose any more, we won't have the numbers to stand against the other tribes." The leader said firmly, glowering down at her submissive lieutenant.

"I understand, Lady Karnika. Shall we launch a strike against the Oni tribe, or perhaps the Branwen?"

"No!" the lady, who Raven now knew as Karnika herself, snapped at the lieutenant. "We must bolster our forces. Have our scouts search for a bountiful village. Once the inhabitants have been subdued, bring them back for processing."

"My lady, do you have enough aura for that? You've been processing a lot of-"

"I know the limits of my aura, fool!" She interjected harshly. "Do as I ask, and bring us more slaves. We are going to need them for the coming battles."

The lieutenant gave a meek and respectful bow before leaving the tent. Raven made her way out too, flying a safe distance away to use her portal. She was concerned over what she learned. Karnika had a semblance that influenced her slaves. Whether it was mind control, increased suggestibility, or something else, it wasn't good, since it allowed her an obedient, unwavering force. She needed to ensure that Karnika's tribe couldn't be allowed to reinforce their numbers. Luckily, she already had a plan for that.

A Few Days Later…

Corvus and Vernal, along with Adam, Darren and Airin, we're heading to the nearby village of Higanbana on a 'vacation'. They all knew that wasn't truly the reason, but Raven hadn't told them why they were being sent here. "Just stay on your toes and try not to spend all your money" she said to them before sending them off, and so they went to the town. They had been here for a few days already, and hadn't noticed anything odd. Thankfully the townsfolk weren't against their presence here, though only because none of them knew the group of bandits. Higanbana was once of the whitelisted towns for the Branwen tribe, for two reasons. Firstly because it's an important stop to Mistral for anybody, including the Branwen tribe. And secondly, Raven was a little sentimental about the place as it's tavern was a place she and Qrow enjoyed often in the past.

Corvus was with Darren, enjoying lunch after some training. Adam had gone off to who knew where, for the third day in a row, and Airin had dragged Vernal away for some 'girl time', as she told the boys. They were sat at a table, conversing about nothing in particular, before Darren spoke.

"Oh kid, I forgot to mention- woke up to a message from Shay, he's at Botan right now. Y'know, north of where Shion was? But anyway, they spotted some slavers scoping the place out the other night."

"What, the Karnika tribe?" Corvus asked, with Darren nodding at his question.

"Yeah. They backed night and haven't been seen since. Told me we should keep an eye out for them"

Corvus gave a huff in response.

"We'll be fine. They're weak, nothing we can't deal with. Though why come for Higanbana? Botan, I understand, but why risk going for Higan'?"

"Maybe they're getting desperate…" Darren replied absentmindedly as he finished his lunch. "I mean, we did take out one of the villages helping them, and we fended off their attack on us and freed those slaves."

"Yeah… but still, there's gotta be better places for that, right? Surely…"

Before they could debate further on the subject, the raid alarm went off in the village. The civilians began running away, while the guards made their way to the walls.

"Apparently not" Darren said with a smirk on his face. "C'mon kid, I've been itching for payback for a while."

Corvus got up and left the building with Darren and saw a large group of Karnika members already through the gates. The guards wouldn't be able to defeat them alone. Corvus armed himself with his nodachi and prepared to fight the horde of slavers.

'Time to make mom proud…'

A/n

I actually got any chapter up in a decent amount of time. Well done me.

So this was gonna be a larger chapter but I split it in two cos I didn't wanna keep you waiting if I I stopped writing it for a while again. Sorry DragonL0rd but I think I'm better off prioritizing consistency over length at the moment. If I can get chapters out on a regular basis, preferably weekly or fortnightly, then that'll be great and I can start making them longer.

Anyway, I hope you guys did enjoy this brief half-chapter, I'll try to get the next one out soon. Not gonna say when because you know what I'm like by now.

But yeah, feel free to leave a review. I always love to read and reply to them, and follow so you can keep with my completely inconsistent updates.

See you next time!