Note:

I have my stupid awards ceremony and speech coming up again soon (3rd October) and need to take a week off around it to prepare. I really thought the business would be closed before getting to it, but it appears not ffs.

As such, there will be no updates from Monday 1st to Sunday 6th October. Both to let me get some prep down before, and to have a chance to unwind after it's over. Thankfully this is the last time I'll ever have to do it.

Chapter 18

Winter couldn't hold back her shock as the boy raced ahead and crested the ridge. It soon turned to alarm and then anger as the sounds of gunfire opened up and she realised she was still partway down the slope staring in slack jawed surprise.

That damn fool is going to get himself killed!

The boy obviously had some kind of training – Winter had pegged him as a deserter from Vale soon after they first met, but she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, let alone accuse it of being criminal. Still, even she would have hesitated before such a brazen assault. They had no idea what was up there.

Abandoning her own cover, Winter drove her boots down and dug through the loose shale, grinding her way up the slope as orders were barked and magazines unloaded. The fact the gunfire continued told her he was still alive. Even Menagerie's reservists were veterans by now, the war having been on long enough that every soldier had more military experience than even the best officers in peacetime.

Her side ached from where her injury had recently healed, and Winter cursed her own weakness. The thin air and the cold weren't helping any, nor was the loose footing. It took her minutes to scale what he had in seconds, and that forced her to reassess the deserter theory. Special forces? Black Ops? Some Valean version of the Specialists, perhaps? Or just a skilled huntsman who didn't want to be conscripted.

Gasping for air, she crested the sandbags and hauled herself up. The gunners weren't focused on her at all anymore. Landing and rolling into the dugout, she stabbed her sabre down and pushed up to her knees, taking in the scene of battle ahead of her.

There wasn't much blood.

It was strange how that was her first thought, but she'd gotten used to the sight and stench of blood ever since the war began in earnest, and seeing bodies strewn about without it stood out as unusual.

Arc swept a foot up in a roundhouse kick, bending his body backwards as he did, and smacked a gun out of one man's hand. At the same time, his sword – still sheathed – hit a faunus in the gut and bent them double. Before his foot had even touched the ground, he kicked off with his other, twisting his body so as to bring the second foot around like the first. It hit the disarmed faunus in the head and sent him sprawling to the ground, and Arc, body still twisting, somehow managed to get his first foot under himself in time to land on it and not his side.

A female faunus screamed and opened fire with an SMG. The shots pinged off his aura, expected, but it was strange how he tried to dodge anyway. He wasn't fast enough to – no one was – but the way he angled his body made it clear it was a matter of physical speed and not reactions. He could see the shots coming, and he could tell where they were aimed with enough precision to start dodging. He just didn't have the speed necessary to complete it.

But he had aura aplenty and, once the woman clicked dry, he surged in and stamped a foot down, driving an open-palmed strike into her stomach. Winter expected the blow to fold the faunus as air was driven out her lungs, but she was surprised to see the girl in uniform fly away as if she'd been struck by a wrecking ball. She groaned once and rolled onto her side but did not get up.

"Surrender!" Arc shouted. "Thrown down your weapons and let us pass!"

Surrender? It was a little late for that, Winter thought. And he obviously didn't know Menagerie's soldiers as well as she did.

"To the death!" a faunus, wounded from some prior battle and stationed here, ordered. He drew a sword and charged Arc's unprotected back, holding the sword before him in a devastating lunge.

Winter wouldn't have it. Stabbing down, she summoned a glyph followed by three white Nevermore. Her Semblance launched them at the soldier, the first striking his sword to slow him and the second hitting him in the chest. The third, perfectly aimed, sliced across the man's neck and caused a spray of arterial blood. The faunus dropped, gurgling and gasping, and then, suddenly, they were aware of her.

"Schnee! Kill her!"

It was tempting to vault back over the sandbags and roll down the hill to safety, but Winter forced herself to dash sideways instead, throwing out a randomly aimed wave of summoned Nevermore to distract rather than kill. A glyph beneath her feet granted her speed, accelerating her faster than she could otherwise have hoped to. The sudden increase in acceleration threw their aim off, causing shots to slice into the ground behind her.

A one-eyed faunus threw herself in Winter's way, determined to grapple her even if it meant both their deaths. Winter responded with a vicious thrust of her sabre under the woman's ribs and up into her internal organs. Turning, she dragged the dying woman into the path of the gunfire, allowing her allies to finish her off.

Jaune Arc landed among the shooters before she could continue. His sword, feet, and even his free hand lashed out, knocking guns aside and knocking faunus out. It seemed like such a reckless assault, one man among ten, and yet his movements were anything but. Every move was precise and flowed into another, moving him from one faunus to another without pause or jerky motions.

Disarming one, he slid his arm over their gun and around their neck, bent back and hauled them up over his hip and to the ground. He went with them, rolling across the body smashed into the floor and coming up in front of another, swatted their axe aside and locked their elbow back, pushing to near breaking so the faunus dropped it.

A knee to their stomach bent them down in time to dodge a bullet that was shot by a desperate soldier a moment later, ironically saving the life of the one currently gasping for air. Arc let go of the arm and rolled over the man's back, landed on his feet on the other side and then snapped a kick up into the jaw of the shooter, before bouncing back and switching feet to kick the other, who was just recovering. Both dropped like lead weights.

He fights like Menagerie's elite do, she thought, and it was a sobering realisation. Could he be a spy placed for her to bring him back to Atlas? By helping her, he'd almost guaranteed she would want to introduce him to General Ironwood at the very least. The fact he refuses to kill anyone here implies he doesn't see them as enemies. Could he be an assassin sent to kill the general?

He was human, but there were humans fighting for Menagerie in the same way that there were faunus fighting for Atlas. The masses might have made the war a race issue, and that was certainly what sparked it, but to say it was faunus versus humans was inaccurate. This was Atlas against Menagerie.

And Arc fought more like the latter than the former, or like anyone from Vale.

The melee soon put a stop to her ability to think. Winter hacked and slashed her way through foes and was soon caked in blood and gore. The fact that many of her enemies fought better than the average Atlas soldier could frustrated her almost as much as it did high command. Luckily, they were reserves stationed here for a reason. Wounded, crippled and, in some cases, missing limbs altogether. Had they been healthy, Winter didn't think she'd have had much of a chance.

Her last foe, a deer faunus girl with a broken horn and a missing left arm, closed her eyes before Winter's sabre struck, only to be saved as Arc came and deflected it with his sword. The damn thing was still sheathed.

"Enough," he said, "The battle is over. Surrender, miss. You're beaten."

The faunus slid to her knees.

Over? Winter dared to look and sure enough the battle was done. The faunus lay all across the place, unconscious or clutching broken limbs. At least they did so on his side of the battlefield. Hers was much more still, with people lying in pools of blood. Somehow, that bothered her. It wasn't the death – Winter had become desensitised to that long ago – but the idea that he could deal with them all without needing to bloody his hands.

"The moment we leave, she'll shoot on our exposed backs," Winter said.

Jaune stepped between them and pushed her sabre away. "That doesn't matter. Doesn't Atlas have laws protecting injured combatants?"

"Of course we do!" Winter said, offended at the very idea otherwise. "But those don't apply when the injured are actively shooting at us! And you—" The accusations died on her lips, mostly because she realised how bad an idea it would be to accuse him at all when he was so close. "—you ran ahead," she said, changing her tack. "You could have gotten yourself killed."

"I can't fight unless I'm close to my opponents."

Opponents. Not enemies. It was a telling choice of words. Winter was too close to Mistral and the promise of safety to challenge him on them, however. Instead, she sheathed her sabre. "Fine. Then we should move into Mistral before they recover. We can't hold this position or keep them prisoner."

Jaune glanced back at the dead bodies behind her and grimaced. Winter pretended she didn't see it, and that it didn't bother her. This was war, and they'd been prepared to kill her. What was she meant to do? Politely ask them to stop? It had been her life or theirs and she wanted to see her brother and sister again.

In silence, they rounded the ridge and began down the other side.

/-/

The faunus had taken some potshots at their backs as they got to the bottom of the mountain. Winter seemed to take it as some indication that she'd been in the right, shooting Jaune an "I told you so" before they broke into a sprint. The gunshots hadn't come as a surprise to him, however.

Jaune understood that this was war, and these things would happen.

He just refused to be a part of it.

Either way, they were far too distant and the faunus far too few to be a real threat, and the shooting stopped before they got close to Mistral's walls. They fell to a slow jog, Winter breaking into a rare smile as they reached the gates. There, Mistral huntsmen stood guard with judgmental expressions. It looked like, for all the diplomatic treaties, Atlas wasn't seen in a particularly good light by the locals.

Was it just them or were Menagerie's forces equally despised? The dislike didn't prevent them being granted entry, though they were made to listen to some strict warnings on what would happen if they brought "their conflict" into the city.

Inside, Jaune took a moment to look at the city and its sloped and bright rooftops. The architecture was the same as the temple back home, making him feel more at ease than he had in the utilitarian villages and towns of Vale. Shu Ren had never hidden his Mistral roots, but he also never talked about the past, calling it done and over with.

"Learn from the past but do not dwell on it. Focus on the now and the future."

The now was Mistral and the future was… well, the future was less than certain. Jaune hadn't been blind to the looks Winter kept shooting him ever since the fight. Before, he'd been a well-meaning but perhaps naïve traveller who helped her out. Now, he was a mysteriously strong stranger, and it was evident she wasn't comfortable with the change.

Winter had offered to help him use some of Atlas' resources to locate Tyrian, Cinder and her allies, but now he wasn't sure if she'd be willing to let him anywhere close to such confidential information.

"What's next?" he asked, allowing her to make the decision. "Is there somewhere you should report your survival to?"

"My commanding officer."

"Does Atlas have a barracks here?"

"No. Neither side is granted leave to have military infrastructure in the city. Mistral has seen fit to grant us embassies, however. They come with some limited rooms for staff. I can report there."

"Menagerie has one as well?"

"Yes." Winter sighed. "It's across the road from our own. The idea, at least officially, is to grant both sides of the war a location where they can interact. Diplomacy, they say. I'll admit it's made arranging prisoner transfers easier, but Mistral doesn't care about…" She trailed off. "It doesn't matter. There won't be any violence in Mistral. Neither side would dare. We can report to the embassy, and I'll be able to speak to General Ironwood either in person or by call, depending on where he's currently stationed."

Jaune hummed. The idea of two embassies close to one another was an interesting one. He liked the concept of giving each faction a way to communicate, as it would mean more chances for peace, but the war had been going on a long time. Menagerie were winning as far as he could tell, pushing up through Mistral and driving Atlas back.

That might change once Vale joined the war proper and stopped hoarding its forces in its own city. Hence the reasons for the repeated raids on Vale's southern coast, and the migrants being forced there in their thousands. Menagerie were keeping Vale busy.

"Should I come with you?" he asked, offering her a chance to be rid of him if she truly wanted. He didn't mind. Reaching Mistral was help enough on his end. "I don't mind finding my own place to stay if that's easier for you."

"No. General Ironwood will want to speak with you."

"Hmm. As long as he remembers I'm not a part of this war."

"You stormed a faunus encampment."

"I'd storm an Atlas one as well if I needed to." The words must have come across more threatening than he meant to by how Winter stiffened. He tried to soften them. "Don't worry. I'd do my best to be as non-lethal there as I was with the faunus."

Scowling, Winter stomped ahead with a curt command for him to follow.

That came across more arrogant than I meant it to, he thought, with a little sigh. I only meant that I wouldn't be choosing sides or killing people from either faction. Hah. This war really is a pain.

Mistral's streets were crowded for a city essentially under siege. Life continued as normal for the people inside the city, in stark contrast to those who lived out.

It must have been much the same in Vale, and Jaune found himself disquieted by the comparison between it and his home village. How was it that people could act like everything was normal when their own countrymen were struggling to make ends meet or helpless in the face of Grimm? Jaune wondered if it was that they didn't realise, or if they were so lacking in basic human empathy that they ignored everything outside their own walls.

Winter was talking but Jaune zoned most of it out. It was about the diplomatic situation, the rules, and those didn't apply to him. Not because he was above them, but because they were rules for the warring armies and how they were to act in Mistral. That meant they weren't applicable to someone uninvolved like him.

Eventually, they reached the embassies. Two large, three-storey buildings built in a more western style, with black-iron gates out front and tall walls surrounding them for a good distance. They were imposing by design, meant to serve as seats of power and a slice of land that belonged not to the country it was on, but to the country it was gifted to. In a sense, the Atlas embassy was Atlas soil, the same for the Menagerie one across a wide road. White-uniformed Atlas soldiers stood outside, locked in an endless staring contest with faunus soldiers in grey and black across the road.

"Winter Schnee reporting for duty." Winter saluted between the two soldiers. "Specialist A6295. I am requesting debriefing and communications with my commanding officer."

The soldiers looked at her in surprise. "Specialist Schnee. We'd heard you were dead."

"I am prepared to undergo interrogation—"

"I doubt that will be necessary, ma'am. It's easy to tell who you are. A show of your Semblance ought to convince the higher-ups." The man on the left looked at Jaune. "And this is?"

"Jaune Arc. A traveller from Vale who assisted me with medical aid. I would ask for him to be granted temporary access to the embassy for the purposes of speaking with General Ironwood."

"We can let you both in, but we'll have to pass the rest up, ma'am. Welcome back to the world of the living."

/-/

Another soldier had been summoned to take them inside and see them provided with food and drink and a lobby to rest in. Winter was also given a fresh set of clothes before being summoned away both for a medical check, and, most likely, to speak with her commanding officers without Jaune being there to overhear it.

I wonder if they're talking about me…

It was almost a certainty, though the question would be what they'd do with it. Hopefully, they'd just discuss him a little before Winter convinced them to leave him be. Somehow, Jaune doubted it. Yang and Ruby had been given no choice but to try and forcefully conscript him, and that was a kingdom not yet deploying troops. Atlas was far deeper into the conflict and must have had a greater need for fresh men.

Idly, Jaune looked about the lobby he was waiting in and considered the various exits. Any window was good enough, and he could vault the wall outside without difficulty. Given the embassy was Atlas soil, that might even mean he wouldn't have broken any laws in Mistral by doing so.

Maybe…

It really depended on how much Mistral wanted to risk upsetting a kingdom waging war on its land for the safety of a foreigner. Put like that, Jaune couldn't help but think they'd waive the rules and let Atlas track him down. That would be very inconvenient. The choice then would be either to leave or, if he was feeling ballsy, to ask for asylum in the Menagerie embassy. The only problem was that they might demand the same of him.

A door opened and a man stepped through. He was large, taller even than Jaune's six feet, with a long white coat and black hair flecked with grey. His face was square, and he moved with a rigidity that was practically opposed to all Jaune had been taught. If it came to a fight, Jaune knew this man would have only one method of attack – to push forward on and on, and to never give ground.

"Jaune Arc, is it? I am General James Ironwood of the Atlas army. I thank you for bringing back one of our soldiers, and one of my Specialists." He offered his hand, and Jaune rose slowly to grasp it. As he did, his meridians felt the tickle of the other man's aura.

He has his aura up and in place. He's either here ready to start a fight or he thinks I'm here to attack him. I hope that's his own paranoia and not something Winter said.

Jaune doubted the huntsman could feel his own aura the same way he could, but he kept it inactive just in case. "A pleasure, sir. And I didn't go out my way to help her. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time."

"That's not what Winter tells me. You stormed a faunus outpost alone."

"Only because I had to reach Mistral and Winter told me it was the most viable route. We didn't fancy trying to cross an active battlefield."

"Still, you have done Atlas a great favour."

"With all due respect, sir, I'd rather it not be known I did Atlas any favours at all. As Winter has no doubt told you, I'm not interested in being a part of this conflict. I'm looking for the ones who killed my mentor. They were neither Atlas nor Menagerie. They claimed to be from Mistral. I'm here for them, nothing more."

Ironwood hummed and let go of his hand. Jaune felt the tingle of aura still, suggesting the man wasn't lowering his guard anytime soon.

"Winter did tell me that much, yes. I will see what I can do if you can provide me names and details, but I'm afraid I can't spare any resources to help you with them. I'm sure you can appreciate why."

"I do. There's a war on and you're busy."

"I am." Ironwood paused, then, and tilted his head. "If I were less busy then I might be able to do more to assist you. Bring more of Atlas' vaunted information network to the task and help you locate them."

Jaune tensed. "Are you trying to bribe me, sir?"

"I'm trying to hire you. Offering you work in exchange for further support."

"Winter suggested I would receive some help regardless."

"Winter doesn't have the authority to promise anything." The answer made Jaune bristle, and Ironwood held up a hand. "That's not to say I'll renege on her agreement. I will look into our databases either way for these people and point you toward them but if they are from Mistral as you say, then it's unlikely we'll have much on them. Some, if they're criminals, but it'll be outdated. All intelligence divisions have been focused on military concerns since the war began."

"It'll be enough," Jaune repeated. "Anything will be enough."

"I don't doubt that, and you'll receive what we have, but I would like you to keep in mind that we can find more if you are desperate." General Ironwood kept it placid, conversational, as if he wasn't trying to recruit him. "By all means follow what leads we can give you but keep in mind we might be able to help you more if you help us."

"I'm not interested in involving myself in a war, General. Thank you for the offer but no thank you."

General Ironwood stopped him. "It wouldn't necessarily be conflict with our enemy. There are other things we need taking dare of, up to and including dealing with Grimm behind our lines. The more huntsmen we can free up facing Grimm, the more we can send to the front." He smiled. "I trust you have no qualms facing Grimm, young man."

Grimm? He could do that. It would be mindless monsters and protecting people from them. Not at all a problem. The problem came from the suspicion that this was to be his entry point, and that Ironwood might slowly demand more and more as time went on. Ease him into the conflict piece by piece until he was committed.

But if I'm aware of that then it won't have an impact, and I could use help finding Cinder and her allies…

"I'd like to see what information you can get me first and do my own search around Mistral," he said. The taller man nodded. "But if I end up exhausting my leads, I'll be sure to consider your offer."

"Of course. I shall arrange for you to have a room to stay in at a local hotel. Covered by ourselves, of course. Once Winter has been cleared by medical, I'll have our databases dredged for the individuals you're after. You can give their names and any defining features to my assistant on the way out. I have a diplomatic meeting with Menagerie to prepare for."

Jaune couldn't help but ask, "Will there be peace?"

"One day, I hope, but that day won't be today. They will push for our surrender after winning the last battle, and we shall refuse as we always have. It's a farce, but one I have to play along with if it means keeping diplomatic channels open."

Jaune let the man go and spent half an hour with his assistant, providing what details he could on Master Ren's murderers. The woman jotted the information down and promised to have them searched up, and then called a hotel and booked him into it for a full week, all on Atlas' expense.

Given they wanted him working for them, Jaune didn't expect he would get much information. Even if they found any, they might withhold it and drip feed it to him piece by piece. That was frustrating, but it wasn't like Atlas was his only choice.

Cinder and her ilk were huntsmen and had trained somewhere.

Haven Academy felt like a good place to start the hunt.

Next Chapter: 24th September

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