Here we go with another chapter of the war most holy. Of Mankind's struggles against the great and powerful horde.
Beta: College Fool
Cover Art: Jack Wayne
There were several aspects of the war which did not make sense to even me at the time, not least of which some of the decisions made by our female counterparts, which at the time seemed random or unexplained, but upon which later explanation by those involved shed new light.
It is with that in mind that I include this next excerpt, which might help to explain not only why Jaune's almost insignificant run-in with Nora was so important, but also why my own services in translation of Nora's speech is important.
Lie Ren, oft-unappreciated translator
Excerpt:
On Days of War, Chapter 4
Written by Octavia Ember
To assume that the male population of Beacon rolled over and died when we took over is perhaps too simple. Some chose to surrender, giving themselves over to the lavish prisons we ran, where their only sacrifice was to sit and read in confinement while we fed and cared for them, but there were yet more who continued to fight – and some who did so with great honour and ingenuity.
Some sought to gather their forces and rally the men, and were routinely crushed. Others stalked and attacked our convoys, stealing food and inconveniencing us, and they too were hunted as best we were able. Yet more, however, simply waited in silence, remaining hidden away, and for the most part the decision was to leave those men be. So long as they did not make themselves a threat, there was no need to waste resources hunting them.
But there was always a chance they might grow into something more, and it was warning of that which Nora Valkyrie, head of the Valkyrie Unit, brought to the high command one morn.
"There I was," she said, eyes shining. "Surrounded by men – at least thirty of them!"
"Thirty?" High Queen Pyrrha Nikos asked, shocked.
"That's madness," Brigadier General Weiss Schnee agreed. "We would have heard of a force that large gathering, and you're suggesting these were led by Jaune of all people?"
"Excuse me. Am I telling the story or are you? Right, thanks. So, there I was, surrounded by at least forty-five men, each of them driven mad from hunger, each of them driven even madder by my fierce and unrelenting beauty."
"Erm-" Yang, Captain of the Dragoons, tried to intervene, but was silenced by HRH Nikos, who simply pushed her hands down and shook her head meaningfully.
"The situation was bad," Nora continued. "I had no idea what to do, and worse, Jaune said how he was going to keep Ren to himself, preventing us from being together once more. Well, not together-together, but-"
(This continues for a paragraph or three, of which I shall mercifully spare you – Lie Ren)
"And Jaune stood before me, at least six foot-five."
"Six-five?" Yang asked. "What?"
"He's grown," Nora said.
"Even taller?" Pyrrha asked, eyes shining.
"Yep. You'll love it, Pyrrha. Trust me."
"Oh, I think I will…"
"Anyway," Nora continued. "He had fire in his eyes and wielded his mighty sword in one hand, his stalwart shield in the other. I was closed in on every side, left without any hope of retreat, and with his vast horde bearing down on me." Nora paused and swept an arm before her for dramatic effect. "I was trapped!"
The Brigadier General sniffed. "I am not convinced Jaune Arc could trap a fly."
"Yeah," Yang agreed. "And fire in his eyes? Are you sure you weren't fighting a Grimm or something?"
"Look, I know my team leader, okay? It was Jauney, he was armed to the teeth, and he was at the head of at least sixty men."
"How does the number keep growing!?"
"Because of his reputation," Nora explained, as if to a small child. "Duh. People are flocking to his banner, and the fact he managed to get past me and grab the supply drop is only going to help."
"Wait, you didn't even explain `how` he got past you."
"Oh, he jumped out the window," Nora said, waving a hand.
The Brigadier General was left open-mouthed. "And the sixty or more men surrounding you?"
"They ran away."
"Why on Remnant would they run away!? Your story makes absolutely no sense!"
"It's not a story," Nora defended, sounding equally offended. "It's a battle report."
"And we're expected to believe this," Weiss said. "We are expected to believe that Jaune Arc, weakest fighter in Beacon and all-around stalking leech, is somehow able to inspire the defeated men of Beacon into a tribe capable of threatening our rule? Jaune Arc," she repeated, as if that somehow was the main focus. "Jaune. Arc. Tall, blonde and scraggly."
"It makes perfect sense to me," Pyrrha Nikos declared, standing. "Jaune has always been leader material."
"No, he hasn't been!" Weiss howled.
"He's charismatic-"
"He absolutely isn't!"
"Inspiring-"
"You're not even listening, are you?"
"And if there was anyone who could defeat me, it would be him."
"Are we even talking about the same guy anymore?" Yang asked, sighing.
Pyrrha smiled dreamily. "I always knew he'd be a leader of men one day…"
"Okay, never mind." Weiss threw her arms into the air. "I suppose it can't hurt to take this seriously on the off-chance – the very, very, slim chance – that it might be real. At the very least it's better to be safe than sorry."
The Captain of the Dragoons shrugged. "Works for me, Weiss-cream. What do you have in mind?"
"We'll send a few units after him, drag him back and clap him in chains."
"We don't have chains. The prison is a hall filled with bedrooms."
"It's a metaphor. We'll put him in a room, close the window and tell him he isn't allowed to leave."
"Alright, alright," Yang chuckled. "I get it. Still, don't you think we should ask Pyrrha if that's okay? She is technically the leader here."
The two paused and turned to the High Queen, who was busy mumbling to herself with two fingers held against her lips. "-and he'll become a King, and I'll be the Queen, and we'll have to make a diplomatic agreement for peace. Oh no, what if he asks for me? W-Well, if it's for the good of the land…"
"Never mind," Yang said, sighing and raising to her feet. "I'll marshal the army. You tell the others."
"And then he grew great leathery wings and started to spit fire!" Nora crowed, going completely ignored as the meeting came to an end.
Chapter 5 – Centre of Attention
"It was the first time we were called to action, but it would not be the last. It would, however, mark the true beginning of the Beacon Civil War."
Blake Belladonna, Kunoichi of Love
In all honesty, I hadn't expected to see Yatsuhashi again, nor his tiled and lemon-scented domain, and judging from the look on his face, he hadn't expected to see me either, let alone with a trolley of various supplies behind us – Zwei perched on the top like a conquering hero born aloft by beleaguered retainers. I'd like to say I took a moment to gloat as his mouth fell open, but the reality is that I staggered over to a sink and dunked my head under the stream of cold water. After surviving a run-in with Nora, being launched out of a window and then dragged across the gardens back into the school, I felt I deserved an impromptu shower – and by Yang's cleavage (praise be) I was bloody well going to get it!
"What… what is this?" Yatsuhashi asked, approaching haltingly, as though he were unsure what he would find.
"Supplies," I answered, gargled. Whatever. "It's what you asked us to fetch for you, right?"
"Food or medicine, yes." The tall man rummaged through the stacked crates Team CRDL had managed to get from the drop, lifting out not only packets of fruit, nicely organised, but also rows and rows of candy, sandwiches and even some packaged meats with at least a week left before they went off. With loaves of bread stacked on the bottom, not to mention cordial and fizzy drinks, it was a bounty the man had clearly never expected to see, and his eyes watered. "This is… I don't even…" He looked to us, to me. "How?"
Luck, I wanted to say. Blind luck, along with a fair helping of bullshittery.
"Skill," Russel answered, long before I ever had the chance. "Skill, leadership, ability – whatever you want to call it. This is what our Lord offers. This is what he delivers!"
"This is why we follow him," Sky echoed.
"This is why you should follow him," Dove finished. Behind them all, Cardin nodded, looking like a proud parent who had just watched his three bizarre children cycle down the road. It might have been a more wholesome scene were it not for the dark glares I shot them. Thanks, guys. Just thanks.
"You did promise this would be enough to pass your test," Ren said, far more cautious than the others and watching the nearby boys with a keen eye. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that he was worried they'd try and steal our food, our hard-earned bounty, and that he was prepared to fight to defend it. I always appreciated that about him; that even when my attention wavered, he would focus on the important things.
(I like to think my priorities were in order. I'm glad to see Jaune agreed.)
Yatsuhashi looked back to me, then to the food, and finally to his followers, gaunt and hungry, at least in the way young men can after a day or two of eating leftovers. Their eyes stared back longingly, but not at any human figure. Theirs were focused on the bounty before them. The older boy took a deep breath and swallowed.
"I can't fault you this, my friend. I asked of you something all but impossible, and you have delivered."
"I did," I said, sighing in relief. More meat shields would be good, and this would make us – or more importantly, Ren and I – safer. "Are you going to go through with it? Are you going to stick to your promise?"
It took Yatsuhashi only a second to decide. He took a step slowly back, and I heard CRDL and Ren reach for their weapons, only to realise them as the giant fell to one knee, his head bowed towards the floor. What was he doing, I wondered?
"I, Yatsuhashi Daichi, do hereby swear my allegiance to Jaune Arc, my chief, my commander, and the man I shalt follow unto the ends of Beacon."
I stared at him with wide eyes. This wasn't what I'd had in mind – this was nothing like what I'd had in mind. I'd only meant that he agree to come with us and help us out, and a simple `sure, why not` would have sufficed in that regard. He didn't have to swear allegiance to me, and certainly not like I was some kind of terrifying warrior king.
To my horror, his men fell to one knee as well, and the sonorous sounds of their chanting echoed off the blue and white tiled walls. As I stood before the sinks, the eight teenagers knelt in a semi-circle before me, CRDL and Ren by the entrance, I couldn't help but wonder what parallel dimension I'd entered and how the hell I was supposed to get out again.
For crying out loud, I was being worshipped in a public restroom.
And now they were staring at me, waiting for me to say or do something. I glanced to Ren for an answer, but he simply shrugged his shoulders and made the universal motion for `do something`. Realising he was probably right, I coughed into my fist and stepped forwards.
"I, uh, I accept your allegiance, Yatsuhashi Daichi. I accept it from all of you." I waved a hand over the others, vaguely realising I didn't know their names at all. They seemed to all be waiting for something more, and since I had no idea what; I went for the predictably easy choice. "So, let us celebrate this occasion with a feast."
"A feast!" Yatsuhashi agreed, his huge frame bulging with muscle as he stood once more. "Our Lord's suggestion is an excellent one, I feel. This is an occasion rarely seen nowadays, and we are all beleaguered and hungry. Let us tonight forget about such things and think of better times."
"That's the spirit," I said, agreeing wholeheartedly. Feasting wasn't fighting, and I wasn't going to choke on a chocolate bar, which couldn't be said of trying to combat the female horde. I looked to CRDL to see what they thought, knowing they were the most gung-ho about the war.
"It sounds like an awesome idea," Cardin said, already shrugging off his armour. "I could use a rest after all that action, and we need to learn names anyway."
What action? I wanted to ask. You guys just stole a load of food while I had to face the terror that was Nora! Of course, the fact that I'd fully intended them to deal with her wasn't the point, nor that I'd tried to rat them out. Honest!
(In my times with Jaune, I've noticed that he often contradicts himself like this. On the one hand, he tells himself he is selfish and that he does not care if others know it. Yet even in the musings of his journal, he continues to dredge up such times – a sign of guilt, perhaps? Or an attempt to convince himself his actions held no shred of bravery?)
/-/
The Feast of Founding, as it would later come to be known, wasn't really a feast. It was more of a sleepover. We sat in a wide circle on various mattresses and sleeping bags swapping names and stories, and sharing food between us. There was laughter and cheering, echoed by constant munching, slurping and the fizzle and hiss of bottles of pop being opened.
To anyone reading this, it might seem a small thing, but to us it was so much more. I saw tears stain the cheeks of some as they tasted chocolate and gorged on sweet meat, and there was not a one of us who dared call out a fellow man for showing such weakness. Not in times such as these. I can't remember what silly things we spoke of, but as an hour turned into two, and as even our appetites failed to keep up with what was on offer, I was left to lean back and belch contentedly, the satisfied war cry echoed by several others, who burst into laughter soon after. Even the fact we were huddled and hiding in a toilet went forgotten. It had ceased to matter, and at least we didn't have far to go to relieve ourselves.
"I have to admit," Yatsuhashi said, sprawled on the floor and taking up room for two, yet smiling like the jolly giant he was, "I did not expect you to complete my Quest, my Chief."
"Chief?" I asked, laughing. "Don't be silly. Call me Jaune."
"Thank you, Jaune." He nodded. "As for whom you are, well, I think it is only fair that you be the Chieftain of this tribe, for what is what we are."
"I suppose." I didn't have the heart to argue with him, and if such a little thing would make them feel better, then why not.
"I'm glad to hear it," he said, raising his voice. "A cheers to our new leader – Jaune Arc, Warchief!"
"Warchief!" they chanted, plastic cups raised high. "Warchief! Warchief! Warchief!"
As the noise died down and conversation started anew, Cardin and Ren made their way over to us, sitting down on either side of me and forming a small circle between the four of us, including Yatsuhashi since he was still more trusted by his people than I was.
"This is a good first step," Cardin began, indicating the men around us. "Our numbers have swelled from six to fourteen in a day."
"According to the forums, that would make us one of the largest groups around," Ren added, looking at his scroll.
(In lieu of anything else to do, I made it a habit to seek information on the war and our circumstances. Information, after all, is power. Though it was no official designation, I found myself both amused and humbled by CRDL's not-so-secret nickname for me. When they thought me not listening, they would call me the Lord's Spymaster.)
"Fourteen is the biggest?" I asked, surprised.
"By far, I'm afraid. I can't say everything we hear about on the forums is true, but at best people have two teams banding together to form eight. There just isn't enough food to support a larger population."
"That is the problem we faced," Yatsuhashi agreed with a solemn nod. "The larger your group, the further you must roam in search of food. We used to number ten but for two who failed to return from their scavenging hunt." He looked aside, eyes closed in memory of those lost. Perhaps he felt the blame for it lay with him. "I can only assume they ran afoul of patrols and were captured."
"In which case they're probably living it better than us," I pointed out. "They'll be well fed and looked after, at any rate."
"But they will not have their freedom. A man can survive without many things, but freedom is not one of them."
I disagreed – but wasn't about to say that. In terms of surviving, I couldn't help but think it was a little backwards. You could survive without freedom. What you couldn't survive without was food and water, which just so happened to be exactly what the girls were offering. Yet again, if it weren't for the unknown and humiliating horrors that no doubt awaited Ren and I courtesy of our teammates, I'd have hog-tied and hand-delivered myself to them already.
Sadly, the Beacon Civil War was only going to last a week, whereas the consequences of failure – and the pictures taken after Nora had `prettied us up` with make-up and dresses – would last a lifetime. That couldn't be allowed to happen. I still had dreams of getting a girlfriend at some point, and I didn't need that kind of incriminating weighing down on me.
"We should plan out our next steps," Cardin said. He was as gung-ho as ever, and the doubt he'd harboured for me before was gone, replaced instead with a confident smile he shot my way. "Thanks to Jaune's leadership, we have the tempo on our side, but it won't last. We need to strike now while we have the advantage."
While I appreciated his blind (and foolish) faith in me, I couldn't quite say the same about his enthusiasm and shook my head quickly. "Are you nuts? We can't just attack the girls like that. We'll be annihilated."
"Oh, I didn't mean an attack. We need to consolidate our position as a tribe and recruiting more men to the cause."
"We will need to find ways of sustaining them too," Yatsuhashi said. "It will not do to aim too large and find ourselves struggling for food. As it is the one commodity many of the free-men lack, if we can gather enough we can use that to attract new tribesmen."
Cardin regarded the larger man with interest. "That's not a bad idea. You've put some thought into this."
"As a previous chieftain, such things were always at the fore of my mind," Yatsuhashi said, almost bashfully. "It is no great feat, not compared to what our Warchief has achieved. I am not at all upset to have given away my command. Mine was never to lead. I am a follower."
"Good. We'll need to make sure everyone else understands that too." Cardin pulled out his scroll and opened up a map of Beacon. "I'll have Russel spread the news on the forums, but there will still be other men who will be too arrogant to bend knee. We need to make it clear that Jaune is the only salvation for mankind. It's imperative we strike down these false prophets."
The two went on like that for another minute or two, throwing plans back and forth that I could barely grasp, let alone understand. Was this what a leader really was? I'd never had to be one for JNPR, each member being more than capable of looking after themselves, and me being the one who usually needed help.
With a sigh, I made to stand, quickly catching Cardin's attention.
"You're leaving?" he asked.
"Only to stretch my legs outside," I said. It wasn't like I was leaving all the food I'd risked my self-respect for.
"What about the war session?" he asked, already having named their little chat. "How can we create an effective strategy without you here? It's only your cunning that has allowed us to get this far in the first place."
I resisted the urge to sigh and instead tried to think of something they'd accept. I was useless in the little strategy meeting anyway since I didn't understand it. Staying would only make me look like an idiot, and those two seemed more than capable on their own.
Wait a minute…
"I think you give yourselves too little credit," I said, hand on one hip. "I have faith in you. Come up with some plans between yourselves and then tell them to me afterwards. I'll decide what I think of them and offer any ideas I have." Which would be none, of course. Whatever they came up with was bound to be better than anything I could. I felt inordinately pleased with my little ruse, but paused when I realised Cardin was staring up at me with watery eyes.
"You…" He swallowed. "Do you… really mean that?"
I blinked. "Mean what?"
"That you have faith in me," Cardin whispered, as if he couldn't quite believe the concept. "After everything I've done, after all the mistakes I've made, how can you possibly think me capable of filling your shoes?"
Honestly? I didn't have any faith in him at all.
Well, that wasn't quite right. When it came to coming up with plans, Cardin was going to be better than me because anyonewas better than me. I was good at coming up with ideas to keep myself out of trouble, and that wasn't going to change in the future. Whatever plan Cardin had, I'd be sure to put myself at the back of. In fact, if it were to be Cardin's plan, then I could even have a good excuse to put him in charge of it if a battle ever did happen. It would let me watch from the back, nice and safe while he led the charge. I liked the idea more than I cared to admit, and a wide smile spread across my face. First, however, I needed to make sure he liked the idea as well.
"It's because I see potential in you, Cardin," I lied, placing one hand on his shoulder. "If I didn't, I wouldn't be here with you. I wouldn't be fighting by your side. Trust in yourself a little. That goes for Yatsu, too. You've led your people until now, so when it comes to the little details, it would be great if you could keep watching over them." I didn't want to be saddled down with a heap of little things like making sure people were fed and such. I didn't know much about leadership, but I did know what delegating was. It was off-loading difficult or troubling problems onto other people.
(That's not what delegation is, Jaune. Or rather it's not what it should be.)
"You honour me, Warchief," Yatsuhashi said, bowing from the waist up. "In your name, I shall see it done."
"Good. And you focus on the strategy, Cardin," I said, looking back to him. "You're in charge of planning." I nodded, pleased with myself for my clever get-out-of-work plan. I half-expected them to complain, but was instead faced by Cardin's open mouth.
"You're appointing me your General!?"
"Yeah, sure. Why not."
"I… I don't know what to say. Yes, of course." His smile was nothing short of rapturous, but he forced it down and adopted as calm as stern an expression as he could, slamming a fist into his chest in some kind of clumsy salute. "It is my honour to accept your decision, Warchief. I will not let you down."
I returned the salute, just because it felt like it was expected, and then excused myself from the group, slipping out of the toilets and into the relative gloom of the late-night corridor. The insulated and tiled walls cut off the noise of chatter from within, proving another reason as to why Yatsuhashi had been successful in remaining hidden. He'd chosen his base well.
Still, it felt nice to be free of it. To be free of the cold tiles, the loud chatter, and also the adoring looks. To not feel eyes on you from behind and turn around to see someone you didn't recognise make a symbol of allegiance or worship, to look at you as if they expected you to fix all of their problems and right the wrongs they faced.
I wasn't ready for that. I wasn't even capable of righting my own wrongs. Hell, I wouldn't be able to recognise them if I'd tried. A giant sigh escaped me and I placed both hands against a cool window pane, resting my forehead against it as breath misted the glass.
"Lien for your thoughts?" a calm voice asked.
"Nothing too much," I replied, leaning back with a sigh. Out of everyone here, Ren was the only one I felt I could really trust with my thoughts, but even then I wasn't sure. It wasn't that I doubted him, but rather that I doubted the wisdom of revealing them at all. "Do you think we're doing the right thing?" I asked instead.
"Do you mean you taking leadership of them?" Ren asked. I nodded. "It's hard to say," he said. "On the one part, this whole plan appears foolhardy and dangerous. Even now, there are only fourteen of us and if that does make us the largest male group in Beacon, I fear for what this means. It is still not enough to pose a threat to our teammates. Between them, I expect Pyrrha, Nora and all of Team RWBY could take us out in one battle. This is a dangerous path."
I thought the same, and still worried about something like that happening. As a group, I had the protection of everyone around me if something went wrong, but when it had been just Ren and I, we were far less noticeable. We could creep about the hidden corners of the school and avoid danger. Now, the people around us had become a cage, and they were leading us directly to war.
In the end, it all came down to a single point. I didn't want to win the Beacon Civil War. I didn't think we could whoever was in charge. I just wanted to survive it, to endure and outlast.
"But," Ren continued, "even though it's dangerous and even though it seems impossible, we find ourselves feasting and laughing this night." He turned to me, smiling a soft smile he normally reserved for Nora's antics. "When I think back on us skulking around looking for food, I remember the pangs of hunger and think that I'm grateful I don't have to feel that anymore. Time and time again I considered surrendering to Nora and going through whatever humiliation she had in stall for me. There were times I nearly gave up…"
Ren had…? I couldn't believe it. He'd always seemed so indomitable, not in the way Yang or Pyrrha were, but like a silent tree bearing a storm, unyielding, calm.
"Given our circumstances, we should not be where we are now," he said. "We should not be free. We should not be well-fed. We should not be celebrating. Yatsuhashi and his small tribe should be huddled in a bathroom waiting for hunger to drive them into the clutches of the women. They should be considering defeat." He placed a hand on my shoulder. "But they are not. They are happy – and it's because of you."
"It's because they have food," I said. "Not me."
"And without you, they would not have that." Ren chuckled and walked up to stand beside me, looking out over the gardens and towards the edge of the trees that marked the Emerald Forest. "Whether you believe you deserve such praise is your own opinion, but to them you are the one they have chosen to put their trust into."
"I don't feel like I deserve it, Ren."
"Did you think you deserved Team JNPR's trust?"
"No. I still don't."
"And yet we trust you, Jaune. And you have yet to steer us wrong."
The sound of wind whistling through leaves was all that answered him, even the cicadas that chirped in the forest going silent. Was he right? I didn't know. In the end, it didn't really matter, either. I was stuck in this situation whether I wanted it or not, and my feeling good about it wasn't going to make CRDL any less eager for war. Now, there were eight new people to deal with, each of which would expect me to move heaven and Remnant for them.
With a sigh, I leaned against the glass once more, watching the long line of fireflies dancing below. It wasn't the season for them, nor was the right temperature… and come to think of it, they weren't dancing at all. They were moving in a straight line. It was more like a formation.
"No…"
"What's wrong?" Ren asked, not having seen it.
I didn't have the time to explain. I pushed past him, ignoring his startled cry and sprinting back towards the toilets. Had there been a door, it might have slammed open, but my palm striking the cold tiles sounded much the same. It was enough to stop everyone in their tracks and have them looking towards me.
"Pack up," I rasped, eyes wide and afraid. "We're moving!"
Yatsuhashi blinked. "Now…?"
"Now," I agreed, growling as I moved in and started to stuff food into my backpack. "And unless you want to explain to the army of girls on their way what we're doing here, you'll start packing! Get the food – don't leave anything behind. Where's Zwei?" The corgi barked and rushed over to my heels. "Good boy. Don't stray far."
"An army?" Russel asked, the Mohawk-wearing teen hesitating. "There are fourteen of us now. We could take them. This could be the start of our legend!"
I laughed bitterly. "Not likely."
"Jaune's right," Ren gasped, arriving less than a minute after me and now looking as nervous as I felt. Ah, he'd seen it then. "There are at least a hundred of them! There's so many! And I saw faces… Yang, Weiss, Blake." He swallowed. "I even saw Coco."
The names were enough. Not a word was spoken as everyone leapt to their feet, disturbing and spilling cola across the tiles as they hurried to stock up on anything and everything they could. My bags were filled with food, albeit I'd spared a little space for Zwei's dog food. I pulled the straight tight and clipped it shut.
Why were there so many, and why were they heading this way? I had no proof they were after us, but I couldn't think of anything else that might have drawn them to this area. According to the scrolls, the wing we were in was without an objective capture point. There was no reason to be here other than to root someone out.
"Where will we go?" Yatsuhashi asked, lumbering over to me with his pack already filled.
"Anywhere," I said. "As long as it puts distance between us, I'm fine with it." Were they angry because I'd technically stolen the supply drop? It wasn't like they needed it, but maybe they were worried the sudden influx of food on our end would damage their propaganda push. Guys weren't going to be surrendering for food if they knew a bunch was out there for the taking.
Or maybe they just wanted revenge. This was Nora. She wasn't normally the vengeful type, but only because no one was stupid enough to piss her off in the first place. I'd done more than just that; I'd outsmarted her. Would that have made her angry? Or worse, sparked her competitive spirit?
I didn't dare imagine it.
(Good choice.)
"You realise that any other wing will put us into greater danger," Yatsuhashi said. "This is the only part of the academy with no objectives in the war. That is why I brought my people here. If we move to the other wings, we move closer to their seat of power."
I knew that. Damn it, but I knew that. What other choice did we have, however? Well, there was one other choice. I had a feeling that if Ren and I gave ourselves up, these lot would be able to go free. Ha, as if I'd let that happen. I'd been through too much to get this far and I wasn't going to go and get myself captured so these guys could savour the fruit of our labour.
"We don't have a choice. They're coming for us and there are enough of them to sweep every room in the entire wing. I wouldn't be surprised if they lock the entire area down until they find us. We need to leave. Unless you want to tangle with your team leader?" I added.
"I do not," Yatsuhashi replied. He raised his voice to the others. "Hurry now. We are to leave. Look on this not as flight for we are merely becoming something more – like a caterpillar who has yet to become the butterfly."
"And remember," Cardin echoed. "We will right these injustices heaped upon us. We will have our freedom." He held a fist high, and it was quickly echoed by the others. "For the Warchief!" he called.
"Warchief Jaune! Warchief Jaune! Warchief Jaune! Yarghhh!"
I groaned and did my best not to pay any attention to them. I had the terrible feeling that if I did, I might contract the debilitating mental illness that must have been spreading around. It was the only explanation for this.
Excerpt:
Tales of a Wanderer
Yatsuhashi Daichi
And so it was that we bid goodbye to the home we had come to love, and set out for new horizons. Unlike the many times before, we were not filled with despair or defeat, but joy and hope – both that we might find a new place to call home, but also that when we did, it would be one we could hold onto.
As we stepped out of the cold bathroom and into the colder air of Beacon's night time, we too saw the column that would have fallen upon us if not for the Warchief's premonition. So large a horde was enough to scare us deeply, but it also spoke of the Warchief's reputation – and his potential. If even the women feared him so, then who were we to hold a shred of doubt? And, as the sun rose on Beacon, we became nomads once more.
But it would not be for long, and we would not spend the rest of our time wandering the halls as directionless vagabonds. Our calling was greater, and I had the honour to be one of the few there to witness its outset.
War was coming.
And we would be in the thick of it.
And off they go, leaving behind the cosy confines of a wing left out of the action and moving into a wild new world of adventure and danger. I'm sure Jaune is thrilled about it all. He really is.
P a treon . com (slash) Coeur