I have my planned dates for the Christmas period finalised now, so there'll be no updates for them. My last update of the year will be Thursday 19th, and I shall return Saturday 4th January. I will be sure to mark dates accurately on the bottom of the last chapters.

Chapter 24

The bandits wasted little time in setting up a camp close to the burned-out manor; tents were set up in a circular pattern around a central one in the middle – a defensive perimeter of sorts. Any attack would hit the outskirts first, giving those in the centre time to gather their wits and then fight their way out. On the far side, on the edge by necessity, the group's many horses were corralled. Weiss' was among them.

And in the centre lay his scrolls, captured by the bandit whom Master has bested what felt like so long ago. There was no rush to regain those; even if she could read them and not dismiss them as Weiss and Cinder had, it would take him weeks to learn a single technique – it'd take Raven longer.

"I count over a hundred," Weiss said, laid flat in the mud with little regard for what it did to her clothing. The whites and blues would have had her sticking out like a sore thumb anyway. His own pale blue robes weren't much better. "Too many for us to take in a direct assault."

"There comes a point where quality can't outmatch quantity," he agreed. Personally, Jaune felt Master Ren could have managed it, but perhaps that was nostalgia speaking. "We can't let them leave with our belongings, though. You want your horse and I need my scrolls back."

"I need my horse as well. Even aside from the fact she's my pet, she has sensitive documents and identification on her from my work. Those could cause problems if they're sold to Menagerie."

"Why are you carrying things like that on you?"

"It's hardly battle plans and strategy," she drawled, rolling her eyes. "I'm talking about identification of who I am and cyphers for letters sent from me to command, to prove myself. If Menagerie got those, they could at the very least send fake information to command. It wouldn't last, but even one ambush caused by my failure will be lives on my conscience."

Troublesome. Had that also been a factor in Wukong's attack on her? There was no way of knowing. In a period of war where both sides were trying to outmanoeuvre the other, it made sense they couldn't trust every letter or email to be real.

"What's our plan?"

Weiss looked at him. "You're asking me!? You're the super martial artist."

"I'm a student of martial arts, not strategy. I wouldn't know the first thing about how to infiltrate a camp and recover our gear – but I suspect you do."

"Hmph. At least you admit that. Yes, I do, though it's rushed. The academies never taught this before the war – it wasn't needed – and after it kicked off, we all got forced into cram sessions. I know the theory but…" Weiss sighed, frustration bleeding through. "Expect it to be flawed."

"Even flawed theory is better than the nothing I have."

"Fine. Our best bet is to do this stealthily, that much is obvious, but I doubt we'll be able to sneak in and out without raising the alarm. Most of them are deserters and that means they'll still have some military training. Enough to have callsigns of spoken passwords. Even being seen in the wrong place at the wrong time will be suspicious, especially at night. And we have to do this at night because we'll have even less chance during the day when most of them will be awake."

"Yes. A hundred isn't so great a number that they can't recognise one another. We'd never blend in."

"We'll need to take two sentries out and steal some clothing to put over ours," she continued. "We'll pick out non-faunus for that, if they use any. These people don't have any reason to mistrust their faunus members so they might have the night watch be entirely faunus. We'll have to play it by ear. Once we have something resembling a disguise, we'll have to go in and then split up."

"Is that wise? We'll be outnumbered and surrounded if we're caught."

"That'll happen even if we stick together, and the point is we have two objectives. We have to complete both and get out without wasting time. Stealth alone won't win this – we need a diversion." Weiss pointed. "Look, they have to keep the animals on the outskirts to graze. I'll sneak in there, reclaim my horse, and cut the rest loose – send them stampeding into the camp. It'll be chaos. Everyone will be running around trying to catch the animals before they knock tents over. That'll be your opportunity to penetrate deeper. No one will pay your face any mind if they have horses and cows running through camp."

"You don't think it'll be suspicious?"

"Of course it will be, but it's not impossible for it to be a mistake. They're bandits. Once they realise there isn't an army attacking them, their first thoughts will be that some idiot didn't secure the animals properly. They'll be angry, blaming one another, fighting. If the initial stampede doesn't draw the leader out her tent, the infighting surely will – she'll have to put a stop to it. That's your opportunity to slip in, get your scrolls, and walk out the other side. If all goes well, you'll walk into the trees where I'll be waiting and we'll ride off."

"If all goes well…"

"Yes." Weiss grimaced. "We'll have to wing it if – or when – things don't. But do you have a better idea?"

He didn't unfortunately. The chaos caused by loose animals would be the best way of keeping everyone busy, and while it wasn't stealthy it'd still do a good job of drawing attention away from him. Even if he and Weiss could sneak into Raven's tent unmolested, they'd have to best her before she could so much as shout out. A single yell and the whole camp would come running.

But if the whole camp was screaming and chasing after frightened animals, they might miss any noise coming from the tent. Even if Raven was there and it came to a fight, it'd be enough to keep it a one-on-one.

"It's a good plan," he said. "Let's see if we can do it justice."

/-/

Weiss had been right about the faunus, the bandits were keen to use their best members for their better-suited jobs. However, there weren't enough to go around. It was Atlas and Vale who were forcing people into a draft; Menagerie was filled with volunteers, and though a few might have changed their minds, they could theoretically return home without disgrace. As such, the bandits were over ninety percent human.

The best they could manage was to have one faunus in every group of two sentries – a good compromise, showing their attention to detail. They may have been deserters, but they weren't idiots. They had the training and they knew they were in Atlas territory, so they were alert and focused.

For the most part.

Weiss and Jaune circled in search of the least attentive, and soon found two sentries necking one another. The faunus woman was pinned to a tree giggling as her male counterpart ran his hands under her top. Weiss grimaced, either at being forced to see something so intimate or the lack of discipline.

But it was convenient they were undressing for them – even if Jaune hated to be a voyeur to such a moment.

Poor Weiss closed her eyes and flushed bright red as the duo got into it, the man pushing the faunus woman forward so she could hold onto the tree while he took position behind her. The slap of flesh had Weiss gritting her teeth, and Jaune averted his own eyes as well.

As tempting as it was to simply attack them while they were… occupied, they'd be even easier to deal with in the afterglow. Sure enough, the two finished and whispered sweet nothings to one another, and then fell asleep in a sweaty heap.

"So much for military discipline," Weiss hissed. "Atlas is better off without them."

Jaune wisely kept quiet, even if his own thoughts were somewhat more sympathetic. It couldn't be easy being taken away from your home and life and told to die on some battlefield against a well-trained foe. He didn't blame them not wanting that, and even felt glad they'd found some small pleasure in one another.

That didn't stop them stealing their clothes. Jaune made to pull the hood on when Weiss slid her rapier free. Jaune's hand instantly snatched the blade near the hilt, stopping her from using it. "What are you doing?" he whispered.

"They're traitors to Atlas. The punishment for that is death."

"Don't be ridiculous. We're here to avoid trouble, not start it, and you don't know anything about their circumstances." He pushed her sword away, knocking her back a few steps from the sleeping couple. "Isn't it punishment enough they're exiles from their homeland? All for the crime of not wanting to fight in a war."

Weiss' teeth were gritted. "It's the law."

"Then it's a law designed to terrify its citizens into compliance, not to protect them. Put that thing away; we have a job to do."

Weiss did so with a silent scoff and a roll of her eyes. It was obvious she didn't agree, but also obvious she thought it not worth the time and effort to argue. He would take that. Most of the clothes were left behind, but the coats and cloaks and hoods, they took and draped over their own. It was more to break up their outfits and give the illusion of fitting in.

Moving quickly, they approached the first ring of tents. Many of them were a similar shade of green, likely designed and manufactured in Atlas and given out to the troops who later turned deserters. Others were of more citizen colours and makes, likely stolen from villages or even perhaps purchased legitimately. The bandits had to have somewhere they went to spend their ill-gotten gains. If they made enemies of everyone, then all the money they stole would serve no purpose as they'd have nowhere to spend it.

Sticking to the outskirts would run them the risk of being spotted by the sentries, but they were looking outwards, so they moved a few rings in. About halfway into the camp. The occasional snore came from the tents, and sometimes quiet chatter, but there were few people outside. Those that were outside ignored them, busy sharpening weapons or repairing clothing by dim firelight. They assumed anyone in the camp was one of them, if only because the sentries would have caught them otherwise.

"This is where we split up," Weiss whispered. "I will go to the animals. Find somewhere close to the main tent but wait for my signal."

"Chaos, I assume."

"If all goes well, yes. If it does not then the signal will likely be my Semblance – which you'll see me use to escape with my horse. With any luck, that should work as a distraction as well."

"Good luck."

"You as well."

Weiss swept away and moved among the tents, and Jaune did the same in the opposite direction. He kept his eyes down so as not to meet anyone's and kept his hands in the open, free of any weapon. Rubbing them together as if he were cold, he moved deeper into the camp.

It almost felt impossible that he hadn't been caught and questioned yet, but these people didn't expect intruders. They were probably more concerned about Grimm or Atlesian forces, both of which would assault the exterior in a pitched battle rather than sneak a single combatant inside. And if they did expect the traveller who had lost a horse to come back, then they obviously weren't too worried about them. It was just one person.

If it were me, I'd have kept the horse in the centre as well. They have to expect the person might come back.

Perhaps they had and perhaps Weiss' horse was kept outside to enable to her, either to trap her or – maybe – because if she was going to come back and fight, then it was better to let her have it. The bandits might have suspected a huntress, and it could be argued it'd be wiser to let her take her horse and leave than cause a scene.

Though if that was the plan then they wouldn't have taken it in the first place.

Either way, Raven Branwen had been a huntress – so she wouldn't fear Weiss.

Jaune eventually stopped about a ring of tents before the platform. There were two people at the bottom of the staircase, one of whom he recognised. The girl, Vernal, from the village. The one he had bested and yet received little thanks for doing. Jaune knelt and sat cross-legged in front of a tent, acting for all the world like it was his and he needed some fresh air. He was close enough to listen in.

"—fancy-looking horse. Not sure it'd be a huntsman's given how posh it looks. Good breeding."

"I wouldn't know," said Vernal. "A horse is a horse."

"That's the wrong attitude to take, Vernal. A good horse – like a racing horse – can be worth a million lien. A pony as little as a hundred. You don't want to be scammed out of good money by not being aware of the value of your loot."

"Tch. No merchant would dare scam me. I'd kill them."

"Like you did that guy back in Vale, eh?"

"Oh, fuck off!" she spat, rounding on him. "You weren't there!"

"Heard all about it, though. Five of you losing to some kid."

"A kid whose teacher was able to put a sword through the boss' aura! Or did you conveniently forget that part? Fucker." Vernal spat to the side. "If he knew half the shit that old man did, we were lucky to make it out alive."

"Heh. Some of the boys are half-convinced that's why we're in Mistral now – that the boss wanted to put as much distance between herself and that old man as possible."

"Share that theory with her, I dare you."

"Ha." The man laughed. "I'm not suicidal."

Vernal chuckled. "Yeah, thought not. Are you saying there's a challenge in the works, then…?"

"Nah. Nah. It's rumours is all. Ain't no one have the balls to up and challenge Raven. Hard to call her weak when that old man was like that. Monsters exist, eh? He was some freak of nature. Being bested by that doesn't mean it's time for a new boss, not unless the challenger thinks he could have done better."

"I thought as much. Chicken shit, the lot of you."

"Yeah, yeah. Big words for a girl who got her ass beat by—"

A horrific squeal came from the far side of the camp. It sounded like a scream and yet was unmistakably bestial in nature. Jaune flinched, as did the two sentries, drawing their weapons.

There was no time for words as more animalistic screams came and suddenly there was fire – campfires, cooking pots, torches. They were bowled over by terrified animals and the fire spread to nearby tents, forcing terrified bandits out. Some were clipped by horses and bowled over, and three cows rampaged through the opening between tents, charging down the aisles as startled men and women scrambled from tents in disarray.

Many came with weapons, expecting an attack, but were faced instead by their herd animals stampeding or even just standing aimlessly around. Some were scared and bowling into tents and people, and others felt penned in and were kicking out. Some, the tamer ones, were just snorting and stamping as bandits moved to soothe them.

It was chaos either way.

Weiss must have used her Semblance to scare them because the panic didn't stop. Horses ploughed through tents and spread fire, and though Jaune doubted anyone would die from it there were surely injuries. Bandits scrambled for water and to stamp out flames, while others raced in various states of undress after the animals.

"The fuck!" yelled Vernal. "Are we under attack!?"

"Doesn't look like it," said the man, groaning. "Some twat has let the animals loose. Fucker is going to be lucky if he isn't castrated by Raven. If I don't get to him first."

The tent flap opened. There she was, Raven Branwen. The woman was as he remembered her. Worryingly, she was fully dressed and armed. "Vernal," she hissed. "Report."

"Animals are loose, boss. Something must have panicked them and they've broken the fence and run into camp."

"Something? if they ran in, then that something was outside the camp." Raven stared, but it wasn't possible to see anything from such a distance. With any luck, she'd go investigate. "It might be they saw or scented a Grimm. Both of you go check it out – and make sure our sentries are safe."

Damn it.

"Yes ma'am!"

"On it, boss."

The two jogged off, weaving and dodging between startled bandits and wild animals on their way to the outskirts. It was a good guess; livestock would normally not be startled by other humans, being trained and domesticated to be used to them. It'd have to be a predator or very scary creature to send them stampeding like this. He just wished Raven would have gone with them. Instead, she turned and stomped back into her tent, letting the flap close behind her.

I can't afford to waste time. I have maybe ten minutes, fifteen if I'm lucky, before they get this all under control. Weiss can't cause a second stampede since they'll know something is up once her horse is missing.

It was now or never. Jaune stood and moved purposefully for the staircase, ascended it, and approached the tent. There was chaos enough all around that no one saw him, but tarrying outside would be a risk. He was on a raised platform and far too visible. Better to test himself against one strong person inside than that same person and however many witnesses saw him if he wasted time.

Jaune ducked into the tent without sweeping it open, his aura circulating rhythmically through his meridians. He closed his eyes, trusting his senses more than he did his vision obstructed by flapping cloth and the difference in light levels.

Aura flared before him.

Jaune dove left.

He struck the wooden floor and rolled to one knee, eyes snapping open in time to see his hood torn away by a blood red sword. As expected, Raven had been ready for him – perhaps even expecting this the moment the animals got loose.

There were no words, no accusations, only a flick of her sword to toss the hood away and then a vicious diagonal slice sent angling across his body. Jaune skipped back and around a wooden pole keeping the tent up, daring her to cut through it and bury them both in a collapsing tent. Raven was too smart for it and instead took her hilt in two hands, feinted left and then thrust right when he moved that way. Jaune tilted his body and let her sword slice across his fingers, gently pushed away by a single inch.

When his other hand reached out, two fingers extended, toward her shoulder, Raven's eyes widened, and she leapt back before he could touch her.

No huntress would normally, not believing a touch could be any threat.

"You remember me, then," he said.

"Is your teacher here," Raven hissed.

"No. I'm delivering something on behalf of him." A lie, but he didn't think it wise to admit Master Ren was gone. "You accidentally picked it up. If I can take my bag and leave, we needn't come to blows."

Raven lowered her sword and stepped back.

"Fine. Take it and go. I've no use for it or you."

So easily? Jaune let his arms fall and moved out slowly. He could sense her aura was still up, which might have been because she didn't trust him either. As he moved past her, he feigned taking his eyes away, even if he didn't truly distract himself.

Her aura flared once more and he ducked under the swing that would have decapitated him. Twisting on the balls of his feet, he lunged under her arm and came up elbow side, looped his own arm and elbow over the inside of hers and pinched it to his side, locking her arm in place. His other hand slid under and struck her ribs, aura slipping from his meridians into hers – but only shutting the flow one way.

Though she didn't know it, he had to be careful where he placed his hits. Master Ren's trick had been to seal off her meridians in a specific part of her body and then stab it, but Raven didn't know that. If she did, she wouldn't have been quite so alarmed.

It was akin to isolating water in a pipe by closing both ends of it. With one hit, Jaune had separated the flow between meridians on the right-hand side of her ribs, but it was still flowing around that point. He needed to hit again in another spot to close the channel, and then a third time with a weapon to capitalise on it.

Raven had only been so reckless the first time because she didn't know what Shu Ren could do. She'd let him hit three times because three hits were nothing to a huntress; it wouldn't be the same with him. The element of surprise had been lost. Jaune went for the second strike all the same, aiming to shut off her aura on her flank while he had her sword arm trapped.

But she quickly transitioned the blade to her left hand.

Ambidextrous!?

No, he could see she was clumsy with it, but not enough to not be a threat. Jaune sighed and twisted her body to make the cut harder; her sword hit his back with less force than it should. Pulling her back, he drove a knee up into her kidneys. He couldn't get through her aura, but she'd still feel the impact, and that was a nasty place to be hit. Sure enough, Raven choked on her breath.

Sadly, she still had her aura, so she yanked her arm out his despite that it would have broken the arm of anyone who tried that normally. Her arm bent but didn't break, reinforced as it was by aura. Jaune was forced to let it go, though he chased after to try and pressure her before she could switch the sword back to her dominant hand.

Each probing strike he made for her body was desperately evaded, Raven going so far as to vault back over a wooden table and put it between them and kick some spare clothing up into his face. While he ripped that aside, she got her sword back into her right hand and slashed for his neck, cutting an inch of his lengthy blonde hair off. He circled the table, but she circled the other way, keeping it between them while using the length of her sword to strike at him.

"You're a skittish one," he taunted, hoping she'd be as undisciplined as the ones outside. "You were a lot cockier the first time you challenged my master. I see my master's lesson stuck with you."

Raven scowled but didn't let herself be baited into surrendering the table. When he placed a foot on it to try and kick it away, she mirrored him on the other side and kept it in place. The table was her lifeline, and if he vaulted it or tried to break it then he'd be open to an attack. At this point, he was beginning to think it would be worth it. She'd tear a chunk from his aura, but he needed to get to her and end this sooner rather than later.

Or did he…?

Jaune stepped back with a tiny smile. "You could have just let me leave with my belongings. This fight is pointless."

"You assault my camp and threaten my rule," she hissed back. "Your very presence calls my leadership into question. This fight is inevitable. Even should you escape, I'll have no choice but to hunt you down to prove myself to my men."

"That's awfully annoying. Isn't there anything we can do to avoid that?"

"Swear yourself to me, join our band and teach my men your secrets."

"I'm afraid that's not an option for many reasons, not all of which are because Master Ren would never accept me becoming a common thief." Jaune reached down to pick up his pack. The problem with Raven circling the table was that she let him dictate where he stood. "But I'll keep the offer in mind."

His fist snapped out and cracked through another of the wooden beams holding the tent up. The wood shattered and splintered, buckling inward. The heavy tent pitched, and the fabric spilled inward. Yanking the top half of the pole down, Jaune launched it at Raven, forcing her to cut it in two. That moment gave him the time he needed to sprint by her without fear of attack and launch himself into a spinning kick, his shin tearing through the second wood post.

One post broken had the tent pitching but the second had it collapsing in on itself. Jaune dove for the exit and out before it fell, trapping Raven inside.

Almost immediately, her bred sword tore through with an angry sound. The woman began ripping the fabric open to pull herself out. But Jaune was already down on the ground having leapt from the wooden platform, and then he was racing through the camp toward the outskirts.

"ATLAS!" Jaune shouted at the confused bandits who turned his way, and who might have challenged him. "ATLAS ARE HERE! There's an assassin with the boss! Raise the alarm! Help her!"

The deserters panicked. They feared Atlas more than anything else, feared the punishment Weiss would have meted out on them before. Raven roared her orders but there was no order to the camp to take it in. People began to scream and search for the enemy soldiers come to kill them, and Raven's words were drowned out.

Circulating aura through his legs, every step carried Jaune closer to the forest, and once there he circled around to find Weiss at the agreed spot. She looked worried, gasping in relief when he appeared.

"Time to go," he said, pushing her up onto her horse. "We have to move fast."

"They won't chase us—"

"They will. Their boss has business with me. Go!" Jaune gave her horse a slap on the rump, but the mare was too well-trained to panic and just looked at him in a judgmental manner. Fortunately, Weiss kicked her heels gently into her side.

"Onward!"

The horse broke out into a gentle trot, and then a canter, while Jaune lunged along beside it. The chaos wouldn't last long and then Raven would be on their heels, and beyond that potentially Wukong and elements of Menagerie's army.

Worse yet, he still had nothing on Cinder and her allies.

"We can only hope to lose them in Mistral," Weiss said. "Anywhere else and we'll be putting innocent people in danger. But they won't dare come close to the capitol."

Back to General Ironwood. Jaune cursed at that but had no better leads. Doubtless Ironwood would have some, provided Jaune was prepared to do some work for him.

"Fine. Mistral it is."

Next Chapter: 14th January

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