If you're reading this wondering where Sister Complex is, then yes I accidentally put the wrong date at the bottom of that chapter. My bad. It's next Tuesday.

Chapter 31

An Ren must have been able to delay their pursuer because they made it a whole week without being challenged by anything stronger than Grimm. The two spent most of it training, Weiss practicing her meditation and aura control while Jaune considered the ethical question that was the technique scrolls he now knew to have been stolen from various sects.

Should he be free to read them or not? He was innocent of the crime of taking them, but he was no longer ignorant of that crime, which left him unsure on how much could be excused as respect and how much was opportunism. He needed the strength within to challenge Cinder and hold his own against the ones that might kill him for his sect, and the risk of the scrolls he had falling into the wrong hands was there as well.

In the end, he forced himself to open a new scroll.

The one from the Blackened Ribbon Sect required he weave a ribbon of his own hair, and he lacked the time to do that. Besides, it was the one he felt most guilty about because his master had killed so many people. And, if their pursuer ever did catch them, trying to fight her with techniques she knew better than he wasn't a winning strategy. Those techniques were ones she would have sparred against since she was a child.

It was time to plan ahead.

Before, he had taken a scroll each time and dedicated himself to learning it, but now that he knew who was chasing him, there was an opportunity to prepare ahead. He took all but the Incarnation scrolls and unsealed them one by one, reading first the title and then a few lines in to get an idea of the promised technique.

There were many varied ones.

The Phoenix Rising Palm promised to let him conjure a burst of intense fire from his palm and, if his mastery grew high enough, even move it independently of his own body. The Four Moons Over One Lake scroll dabbled in aura-created illusions to confuse and mystify an opponent, to hide your real attack among many fake ones. A scroll titled only Heart Severing Strike proposed an aura spike directly through the heart of an opponent, killing instantly.

And those weren't even the Incarnation level scrolls. These were the ones Master Ren considered less dangerous. Jaune dreaded the contents of those above, and the only comfort was knowing Cinder and her allies simply wouldn't be able to understand them. They'd greedily go for the most powerful and waste years trying to decode the contents, never bothering to learn from lesser scrolls that might grant them the necessary foundations.

No killing, Jaune thought. I don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past. Illusions would be useful but they won't be a counter to her, and the fire runs too much risk of harming myself. There has to be something more fitting.

And then he found it.

The Heavenly Rock Purging technique. It espoused the ideals of purity and simplicity, using the ideal of a rock as an example of a perfect life form. Jaune wasn't sure a rock counter as that. Either way, the technique was about standing firm in the face of impossible pressure and distributing that pressure into the earth beneath.

Importantly, it claimed to be an almost ultimate defence, allowing a master to take aura-based attacks and feed them into the earth like a grounding wire in a piece of electronics. It even said it could be used to purge foreign aura from one's own body, and from objects, returning everything to an inert state.

Perfect to use against a sect that relies on infusing cloth with aura, he thought, spreading the scroll across his thighs. I know from their scroll that they weave cloth and infuse it with aura. If I can purge that, they'll lose access to a lot of their techniques.

Weiss couldn't restrain her curiosity. "What does that one do?"

"What it doesn't do is assist you with your meditation, student." His response had her grumbling. "Close your eyes and clear your mind of distractions. Focus on your breathing, your heartbeat, or the wind around you."

"It's hard. My family is trapped in a war. I'm worried about them."

"I know. But if this were easy, more people would have this power. If you can't keep a clear mind now, you won't be able to in the middle of a fight. You need to forget them."

"That's so callous."

"I know," he repeated, smiling faintly. "But these techniques are callous. They're made for combat, and combat is about two people focused only on one another, trading blows until one stops moving." Jaune closed his eyes and focused on his own breathing. "It's not an art form. It's not some honourable sentiment. It's no different from your war. Bloody and meaningless."

"Our war isn't meaningless. It's about defending ourselves."

"If you say so…"

/-/

Weiss had begun to grasp meditation and aura control by the time the week was over. It was an impressive display given how long it had taken him, but she argued her training as a huntress helped and she might have been right about that. He'd had to learn what aura was and how to reach out for it, whereas she already knew all that.

The harder part for her was unlearning old lessons.

Again, she surprised him by doing just that. It helped that she'd seen him, Wukong, An Ren and a whole sect in action by now. Their skills weren't something she could write off as backwards mysticism. Weiss knew it was real. That took care of a lot of the scepticism most huntsmen would feel.

Not all of it.

"This meridian stuff is overly complicated. Isn't it enough I send aura to my legs?"

Weiss was studying a scroll on the meridians s they walked and, much like he, she found it incredibly difficult.

"You need to know it because almost every technique refers to them. You won't read any techniques that say to move aura to your legs. It'll detail the exact meridians. Think of it like learning a new language if that helps."

"It can take years to learn a language!"

"Luckily for you, it takes considerably less to learn your meridians. Break it up with practice if you like. Learn the ones in your arm and then try and see if you can feel them when you move your aura around. Try and touch each one and circulate your aura through them."

"Fine. Fine. Will you be teaching me a technique once I manage it?"

"Once I'm sure you can make use of it, yes."

Master Ren wouldn't have taught him something so soon for something so basic, but this wasn't the same situation. They were in Menagerie-owned territory and he was in the company of their public enemy. Not to mention his own connection to Master Ren. They didn't have time to wait a year for Weiss to become proficient with this.

The question of what technique crossed his mind as they travelled. The Spirit Inhabiting Cloth technique would have been perfect for her, what with her long hair and fine aura control. Weiss might even have been able to use her glyphs through her own cloth.

And yet it felt so wrong to teach her it. Master Ren had already killed over seventy members of that sect to win their scrolls. Him teaching it to a Schnee of all people felt like it would be spitting on their remains. If Blake Belladonna caught them and saw Weiss using her family's techniques, she would be apoplectic. The benefits from her being too angry to think wouldn't outweigh the sheer insult he'd have dealt to her sect. Not that scroll. He would talk Weiss away from it by pointing out she'd have to cut her hair.

The Iron Limb Technique wouldn't fit well since she was a speed-based fighter with her rapier. Best she not be taking hits, rather than turning her arms to metal. Plus, the fine aura control almost caused his arms to exploder. He couldn't deal with that out here.

Her aura control is very advanced, he thought, as Weiss quickly grasped circulating aura through the meridians of her left arm. It's better than mine, in fact. Her Semblance and glyphs must also require it. Weiss would do well with a technique based more around her aura than her body, for she hadn't trained the latter as hard as he had his.

/-/

A small village appeared on the horizon two days later and they made their way toward it to restock. It wasn't the first they'd seen, but it would be the first they felt comfortable taking any time at – as he hadn't sensed any aura pulses from their pursuer.

That worried him a little. He doubted she'd given up, so it might have meant she was circling around ahead of them. They were on foot and alone, but Blake had the might of Menagerie's army at her disposal, so she could be airlifted wherever she wanted to go. All she had to do was find some soldiers.

There was something wrong with the village.

Jaune sensed it the moment they entered, and he knew Weiss had as well. The few civilians watched them with obvious paranoia, and mothers did their best to steer children away. No one challenged their entry, which was unusual enough. Even the smallest villages would normally have someone ask what you were coming for. You never knew who you might meet in the wild and unpoliced parts of the kingdoms.

"Excuse me." Jaune smiled at a woman behind a stall selling vegetables. "We'd like to stock up on supplies—"

"Supplies are for the village folk only. Sorry."

The woman didn't sound sorry.

"I see. Bad harvest?"

"The harvest was fine," she bit out. "But Atlas cleaned us out with a mandatory sale order. We were forced to sell them all our grain and crops at market value. Got to feed that army of theirs. Our supplies won't recover until the next harvest."

Weiss winced.

"I see." Jaune nodded to the woman. "I understand your reasons. Sorry for having bothered you. Can you point us toward an inn or tavern? We'd like to rest the night before moving on. We have our own village to get back to."

The woman's eyes slid to Weiss and she snorted under her breath. "I'm sure. Tavern is over there. Welcome to Mossholme."

They didn't feel particularly welcome. When they approached the only tavern in the village, the man cleaning tables turned to them with a friendly smile that vanished the moment he laid eyes on them. His cheeks sucked in and he took a deep breath before forcing one only half as bright as before.

"Travellers, eh? Welcome. You be looking for a room?"

"Yes. For one night. The village seems tense. Has something happened?"

"Tense? Not sure what you mean. I've a room on the first floor. It'll be 50 lien for the night. Food not included. Kitchen is closed."

It was cheap. Jaune felt he would have been less suspicious if the man had tried to gouge them.

"The people outside weren't overly friendly."

"There's a war on," the man said, shrugging. "What do you expect? Now. About that room…? Will it be one room to share or two singles?"

"One will be fine."

Weiss didn't argue. Her eyes were scanning the tavern. There were one or two people at the bar watching them while drinking. Nothing too suspicious, and they weren't being subtle about it either. It could have just been wariness about outsiders. If they'd had ill-intention, they probably wouldn't have been so blatant about staring. Jaune for them to share a room and he and Weiss scaled the staircase. The man waited for them to reach the top before turning back to his tables.

Once they reached their room, Weiss blurted out. "I don't like this village."

"Neither do I." Jaune set his bag down. "It makes sense they'd be wary of outsiders given what's happened to them. The village has been sucked into a war they have no part of. Is that thing about mandatory purchase orders true?"

"Probably…" Weiss grimaced. "An army marches on its stomach and Atlas has always been a big importer of food. Our climate isn't deal for mass farming. They would have been compensated fairly, however. We don't steal."

It must have felt like stealing to the locals, especially when they didn't want to sell as much as they had. "That woman took a good look at you. How recognisable are you?"

"Very. Even if they've never seen a picture of me, most people know us Schnee for our pure white hair. I doubt she believed your story about us being from a village."

That was frustrating. It was bad enough they were stuck behind Menagerie's lines without Weiss apparently being so instantly recognisable that a village woman in the middle of nowhere could pick her out. Jaune moved to the window and peeked outside. There weren't many people moving around on the dirt road below. He spotted some heading for the forest, carrying baskets, bows, and rudimentary weapons.

"It looks like they have to rely on hunting and gathering to keep everyone fed."

Weiss hunched in her corner. "I guess…"

"It's not your fault." Jaune moved away from the window. "You didn't do this."

"It's not Atlas' fault either!" she countered, before he could even say it. She glared at him defensively. "We were the ones who were attacked. We didn't start this war. If we had, we'd have made sure we had ample food. Our forces are practically living off the land."

Not Atlas' land, though. Jaune managed to resist pointing that out, knowing it would just drive a wedge between them.

"Fair enough. Let's see how far you've gotten with your aura control. I think I've found a technique scrolls that would be perfect for you, but anything less than perfect control will have you hurting yourself."

Just like that, her anger vanished. "Really? What is it!?"

"It's called the Phoenix Rising Palm and it can apparently generate fire form the palm of your hand. And control it if you're good enough."

"That sounds like magic!" she said, eyes sparkling. "You'd need a fire-based Semblance to do that. How does it work?"

"I don't know. I haven't learned it. You'll be reading the scroll before I do."

He still wasn't thrilled about that. It was reckless. But they were being chased and he had to give Weiss something, or she'd forever be beholden to him to protect her. Besides, Master Ren hadn't worried to give Cinder a scroll. If Weiss couldn't manage it, she wouldn't be able to do anything.

"You'll need to show me some good aura control, though. I don't want you burning this place down."

Weiss crossed her legs in front of him and offered her hands, practically shaking with excitement. He took them and closed his eyes, expanding his senses toward her aura and her body.

"Okay. Let's see you complete a loop through your arms to your legs and then hold it for at least thirty seconds."

Weiss got to work.

/-/

Her control was good enough that he felt safe letting her have the scroll, though he kept an eye on her as she read through it. He had to deal with complaints about how archaically it was written and how fanciful the language was – a problem he had with them as well. They weren't very good as instructional manuals and often talked more about the "feel" of a technique than how to apply it.

At the very least he was able to convince her to be cautious with it. The advantage of a fire technique over one like the Iron Limb was that she could very much see the potential danger in harming herself. Especially when it talked about "igniting your own aura" and the possibility of it lashing back inside your own body while it was still on fire.

Weiss was especially careful after reading that.

Jaune practiced with his own new technique but found himself running into a roadblock because he didn't have anything to use it on. Perhaps Weiss could help with that when she grasped hers, as he could try and purge the aura from it. Either way, with nothing else to do, he took to sitting by the window looking outside as she studied.

The hunters and gatherers had come back with a few dead animals and some baskets filled with nuts, berries and roots. These were taken to a central area where some elderly people picked over them, likely using their long experience to dictate which were safe and which might be poisonous. The latter were tossed aside as the former were collected and shared among people.

It's little wonder they won't feed us. They barely have enough for themselves.

He wondered if Menagerie had also come for food, or whether there was none left at that point. It might even have been Atlas' strategy. An army marched on its stomach, as Weiss said, and what better way to slow Menagerie's advance than to strip the land bare of resources? It'd get harder and harder for them to ship food to the front lines as they pushed them further away from the coast. Most of Menagerie's food would come via the sea.

The sound of an engine caught his attention. It was distant at first, but soon a large truck-like vehicle pulled into the village. It was unmarked. No branding. The cabin doors opened and two faunus in the grey uniforms of Menagerie hopped out. The villagers began swarming them, talking loudly and gesturing. He got the feeling they were complaining about something, and that the two soldiers were used to it. The back of the truck opened and a couple more faunus came out, these ones pushing the civilians back. They started handing out sacks – presumably of grain.

Humanitarian care. That's good of them.

It was a relief to see them taking care of the villages they took from Atlas, even if the very reason these people were suffering was because Menagerie declared war in the first place. The two kingdoms could have duked it out on the sea but Menagerie knew it was stronger on land. It had chosen to fight through Mistral precisely because of their sect. It was an advantage they couldn't leverage when Atlas could sink ships filled with capable fighters.

A large man pushed his way to the front of the crowd. It was their own innkeeper. Jaune watched as a faunus offered him food, only for the man to shake his head and say something. He kept pointing back to the inn.

"Weiss." Jaune stood. "I think we have to move."

She let the scroll rest on the bed. "Why? What's happening?"

"I think the innkeeper is selling us out to Menagerie in exchange for more rations." The fact the faunus were now leaving the food to be picked over and collecting their weapons confirmed it. "Wrap the scroll up. Quickly. They could be from the Blackened Ribbon Sect for all we know."

Weiss moved swiftly to roll it up and store it in her pack. They hadn't unpacked anything but a change of clothes and the food they'd eaten, so it took only half a minute. Jaune hurried to the door and out, checked the corridor to the staircase and approached it.

Voices from downstairs beat him to it.

"They're upstairs. First floor room. Give 'em hell for us. Atlas scum."

Jaune sucked in a breath and shepherded Weiss back. "Out the window."

The troops from Menagerie came slowly, wanting to creep up and ambush a pair of sleeping people. That gave them time to get back into their room, and Jaune to drag a table in front of the door to block it. Weiss dragged the window up but hesitated.

"There's a crowd outside," she hissed. "It's a mob."

The door handle rattled. A key turned, likely a master key, but when the door opened it hit the table. Suddenly, the faunus on the other side rammed his shoulder into it, moving the table an inch.

"Better an untrained mob than these people we know nothing about," Jaune hissed, pushing Weiss up and through. "Go!"

Weiss tumbled with a gasp but righted herself with a glyph. She landed gracefully, while Jaune slammed down like a rock. A shockwave of dust came out from his impact, startling the crowd who had formed to watch.

"They're escaping!" shrieked a woman, alerting the faunus. "Help! Help!"

A man rushed in with a golf club of all things, swinging it at their head. Jaune stepped up and raised his arm, the Iron Limb technique turning his forearm as hard as metal. The club's haft bent over it and the metallic sound had the man dropping it and scrambling away. Upstairs, a crash told them the faunus had gotten through the door.

Weiss drew her rapier. "Clear a path, traitors!"

A wall of ice cracked up from the dirt right through the middle of the mob, spilling people left and right. Some got out the way but others were thrown back, landing hard enough to break bones. Weiss sliced the wall down the middle and expanded it two ways, forcefully shoving people out the way and creating a path for them to sprint down.

"Careful!" he hissed. "They're civilians."

"They're trying to hand us over. They're enemy combatants now."

"They were hungry people! Desperate!"

"Desperate to see us killed." Weiss panted and looked behind her. "We should— look out!"

If her warning hadn't come, the sound of the engine would have been enough. The truck came hurtling after them, the driver steering it to try and run them down. Even a huntsman with aura could be killed if the impact was sudden enough, and being dragged under the wheels would chunk anyone's aura to nothing even if they did survive. Jaune and Weiss dove opposite ways, letting it pass. The driver pulled it on for a while before turning for another go, gunning the engine directly at Weiss.

With a click of her tongue, Weiss pointed her rapier and summoned two glyphs under each of the front wheels. They arrested its momentum, sealing the front of the truck to the floor even as the back wheels kept spinning. The result was the axle snapping off and the back of the truck impacting the cabin, smashing it forward and down into the ground with a sickening crunch and squeal of warped metal.

The driver would be lucky to be dead.

"That was an enemy combatant!" she snapped. "Or are you going to—"

A bullet struck past her ear, making her duck.

The man's allies were upon them.

Next Chapter: 22nd April

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