It's that time again. Time for madness, genius, and the ever-present spectre of bullshit luck. It's time for the Beacon Civil War!
Beta: College Fool
Cover Art: Jack Wayne
Chapter 6 – The Lines are Drawn
"Even without a home, they drew attention. People whispered of them in hallways, while others watched nervously from afar. A group of isolated and directionless men was nothing new, but there was something about those ones. Those nomads were different; they moved not with fear, but with hope.
And for people without any?
That was enough."
Attributed to Unknown Male, West Wing
Looking back, it was only a few hours, but at the time it felt like we marched for days. The night gave way to day, and with it came the baking sun that threatened to overwhelm us as we traversed through Beacon, nothing more than a scroll showing a map, and my half-assed guesses as to a destination to guide us. That we'd managed to avoid trouble so far spoke more of my dogged determination to stay away from any objective points than it did luck, not that anyone else thought that. Russel had already begun to proclaim our fortune divine providence, and I was less than enthused with the sonorous agreements of the congregation.
At least at the front I had Ren and Cardin to talk with, and I'd never thought I would count Cardin on a list of people I wanted at my side.
"Do we have any idea where we're going?" Cardin asked. "Not that I mean to doubt, of course. I'm simply curious to hear my Lord's wisdom."
I glanced at him for that, wondering if he was being sarcastic, but to my horror he wasn't. He was deadly serious. "You'll see when we get there," I said, hedging my bets. "You'll see…"
I had no idea where to go, obviously.
The whole school belonged to the women, and we were entering one of the other wings now, which promised all kinds of questions. To put it in picture, there were four main wings of Beacon Academy, each split off from the centre circle that most people just called the academy proper. The wings pointed out like spokes, with curved architecture reaching down from the central tower to join them. I'd seen Ruby's Uncle and Weiss' sister fight atop those, though I wasn't sure why they had, or why no one else hadn't been at least a little concerned about it.
Either way, Beacon was shaped somewhat like a compass, except that the four spokes that made the wings didn't actually point in the cardinal directions. That felt like more an architectural mistake than anything else, though. When it came to the wings, they still tended to have the points of a compass as names. We'd come from the South Wing, which didn't have any objective points in it. That was where most of the older students bunked on account of them knowing Beacon well enough to not get lost finding their lessons.
Right now, we were in the West Wing, and that was bad because it meant we were not only moving into contested territory, but that we were crossing close to the cafeteria – the seat of the women's powerful empire.
(And what a seat it was. Apart from the obvious advantages of food and supplies, the cafeteria's position as the most central point of the Academy also allowed them to react quickly, taking the direct route to any engagements. It was a powerful place to hold, let alone call your capital.)
"I'm thinking we should maybe try the North Wing," I said, pointing to the map, and coincidentally towards the second-year dorms. "It's opposite the South, so it'll probably be the last place they think to look for us." Nora and the others probably assumed we'd fled into the West or East Wings, which we obviously had, but they wouldn't expect us to dare travel even further. At the moment, they'd still be scouring the South for us. That gave us time, but not much.
"Ren, is there any news on the forums?"
"People have noticed the female army," he reported, flicking his thumb and finger over the display. "There's a lot of noise about it, and it looks like someone on their side spilled the beans. There's a bounty on your head."
"What!?"
Ren showed me the screen, and my mouth fell open as I saw that it was indeed a picture of me, and to my utmost horror, it was a picture of me in my blue onesie. Beneath it, a caption read; "Wanted: Jaune Arc, for crimes and insurrection against the women of Beacon. Reward: One week's worth of food, and the freedom to leave our fortress in peace."
"Crimes against women?" I read, cheeks heating up. "They've made me sound like some kind of sex pest!"
"This is perfect," Cardin crowed.
"No," I denied. "No, it isn't!"
"It is," he said, his enthusiasm too much for even my despair to dent. "Don't you see? This adds to your legitimacy. Before, we probably sounded like arrogant idiots saying we were going to take them down, but now we've captured a supply drop, united a tribe and the enemy are so afraid of you, they've sent out an entire army and declared you wanted across all of Beacon!"
Yeah, and no matter how much he listed those things out, they didn't start to sound any better from my point of view.
"I see," Ren said, nodding. "This adds credence to our claim. Men who doubted us before are now forced to believe us because why else would they send so many people to deal with our little insurrection?"
"Exactly." Cardin laughed. "I don't know how you did it, Jaune – but this is perfect!"
To be fair, I didn't know how I did it either. We'd taken a supply drop, sure, but that didn't seem enough to warrant almost a hundred girls led by Yang and Nora. Nora knew it was just me, Ren and CRDL. Why send so many?
(Jaune, of course, had no idea of the report Nora processed in the excerpt I provided before, but in this regard, Weiss' penchant for caution and Yang's for over-kill served us greatly.)
In the end, it really didn't matter. Ten or a hundred, if Yang, Nora or Pyrrha came our way, we'd best be prepared to fight to the end. Or, well, the others had. I'd be running in very much the opposite direction. On the others, I felt cautiously optimistic that our group could beat them, so long as they didn't have too many with them. Ruby, Weiss and Blake were strong, but there was fourteen of us now and-
My thoughts trailed off as I glanced behind us.
"Ren?" I asked.
My friend looked to me. "Yes?"
"There were fourteen of us, correct?"
"I believe so. Why do you-" He turned to look behind as well, and trailed off as much as I had. "Oh…"
"Yeah…"
We weren't fourteen anymore. I remember that when I was younger, I'd seen a movie where a large column of people moved through dangerous territory, and were dragged down and killed by Grimm without any noticing. If I recall, it was called Grimmic Park or something. The comparison wasn't quite accurate, however, for if it was, then the Beowolves had less dragged people down to their deaths, and more raised up to walk along with them. Basically, I had a lot more than fourteen people following me, and no one seemed to be batting an eye at it.
I looked to Cardin, knowing deep down inside that this was somehow his fault. "Explain."
"It's mostly Russel's doing," Cardin said, more in a manner that suggested he was trying to deflect undeserved praise than anger. "People have started to notice us travelling, and we're the largest male group in Beacon right now. That's turning heads. There are a lot of people stuck on their own without a hope in the world." He shrugged. "Some of those people saw us and just sort of tagged along. Even if they don't know why, they feel they've got a better chance with us."
"And I'm sure the food doesn't hurt," Ren said.
"That too." Cardin nodded to one end of the procession, where Russel was sat atop a pile of supplies. What might have seemed a lazy pose at first was revealed not so by the way he waved one hand, talking loudly to a large group of wide-eyed newcomers.
"What's he doing?" I asked.
"Preaching, I think," Ren said.
"He's informing them of our purpose," Cardin corrected. He made a symbol over his heart with two fingers. "He's teaching them the true path."
I sighed. "He's indoctrinating them, then?"
"I prefer the term `true path` myself, but essentially, yeah."
Great. I'd gone and formed a cult, and mostly because I'd been lost in thought about how to avoid the women, and hadn't paid attention for the last hour or so. Absolutely wonderful. This was exactly what I'd hoped for when I'd woken up today. My teeth started to grate together, not that Cardin noticed.
More people meant more mouths to feed, and that meant more danger if we needed to scout for food. Had we kept our numbers down to just the fourteen of us, I'd thought we might be able to wait out the rest of the war with what resources we'd found. That didn't look to be the case anymore.
As if that wasn't making matters worse, if this kept going we'd end up even bigger by the time we reached the relative safety of the North Wing. That would make it hard to sneak past the women, who'd be much more likely to notice twenty to thirty people than they would ten or so.
There was nothing I could do, however. CRDL and the others were all dead set on the idea of me being their Warchief, and greater numbers would work towards that. If I complained or tried to send people away, they'd realise I was a fraud and Ren and I would be cast out. Cast out without food, support, and now with a hefty reward over my head. I doubted Ren would turn me in for it, but there was no telling if the others wouldn't.
I was stuck. Stuck and smiling a smile filled with teeth, bile and false promise. "That's wonderful, Cardin. Wow. Please make sure to tell Russel how fantastic a job he's doing. Really great."
"I'm sure he'll be honoured by your praise."
The fact that he'd missed the sarcasm didn't even dent me anymore. I shook my head and pointed the next turn, leading the growing procession down the halls. At any other time, we'd have probably been spotted by the women by now, but I guess with a large amount of them making up the army in the South, we were getting an easier run of things.
I knew that wouldn't last. Even assuming we faced no challenge on our route to the North Wing, we'd eventually reach our destination and set up camp, and then everyone would expect the next stage of my master plan.
Which meant it was probably a good time to start piecing together a master plan.
Why did Ozpin make me a team leader again?
/-/
It was inevitable that our good fortune wouldn't hold, and not just in the case of my having somehow accrued forty-five followers by the time we reached the boundary between the West and North Wings. There were essentially two ways to cross; either through the main Academy building, which obviously acted as a bridging point between everything, or over the open gardens and training fields between the two wings. The main building was obviously far more dangerous given that it housed places like the cafeteria, library, and the largest and most hi-tech training rooms, almost all of which were major objective points.
While Russel might normally have had something to say about my audacity winning out, even he wasn't stupid enough to suggest that path.
No, the obvious route was across the gardens, which would put us between the two buildings and in plain sight of anyone who wanted to look our way. That wasn't necessarily a problem since we were obvious enough as it was. There was a bigger problem.
"It looks like they've set up a checkpoint," Yatsuhashi said, crouching low beside Ren and I, and yet somehow managing to look like he was still standing. How he'd managed to fit himself behind the bush, I had no idea.
"It's the obvious path between the two wings," Ren said. "I'm not sure if they're looking for us specifically or not, but this has Weiss' handwriting all over it."
"You mean because it's so organised?" I asked.
"No." Ren pointed to a small patrol of women approaching, who were stopped by others. They brought out their scrolls, and one of those at the checkpoint consulted a clipboard. "I mean the fact that she would somehow see the need to introduce paperwork to something like this. They're clearly female. Why ask for ID?"
"At least that saves us from some kind of `dress like a girl` plan," I said, hoping some humour would make the situation look better. It really didn't.
I took out my scroll and held the camera towards the checkpoint, using the zoom function like an improvised telescope. The checkpoint itself consisted of around thirty-five women, and the patrol an additional ten. To make matters worse, I could see several girls stationed in the windows around the area, watching from afar, possibly with long-range weaponry. We had the numbers advantage, but that wasn't what concerned me most.
It was Ruby. Ruby concerned me more than many of the others in the area, least of all because she was a ticking time bomb.
I'll be frank, Ruby was great – both as a person and as a huntress – but she wasn't the strongest by far. Sure, she could beat me any day, but that wasn't hard. Compared to some others, however, and the numbers we had, I didn't think she would be a problem.
But if we hurt Ruby? If we made her upset?
Hell, if she so much as bruised…
We were dead.
Dead meat. It wouldn't even be just Yang, or even Weiss or Blake – but the rumours would persist long after this was over. "Oh, look at him. Did you know he ordered a huge group of men to attack a fifteen-year-old girl? I know, right? How cruel!"
"Is there any chance we can go around?" I asked. "I don't like our odds here."
"We'd have to pass through the main academy building," Yatsuhashi said, "or back through the Southern Wing and around the entire academy. That would take a long time, not to mention it would send us back into the jaws of the other army."
"They've probably noticed we're missing now, and they'll have split into two forces to try and pincer us," Ren added. "We're on a time limit, and we've been moving slowly due to all the supplies we're lugging. Our pace has been cautious at best. Theirs won't be."
So, they were coming up behind us was what he was saying. I swallowed my fear and looked ahead again, wondering what we could do. If the boundaries hadn't been set earlier, we could have taken our chances with the Grimm and looped through the Emerald Forest. With so many people, that wouldn't have even been a dangerous plan. Sadly, Ozpin had thought of that, and Glynda Goodwitch awaited if we dared. I doubted anyone would follow me into that minefield.
(And he would be right. Miss Goodwitch had spent the better part of a decade perfecting her persona, and such time was not wasted. Few were the men who dared stand against her, and I have heard rumours even General Ironwood is not counted in their number.)
"What do we do?" Yatsuhashi asked.
"I'll defer to your judgment, Jaune," Ren added.
Those damn cowards! Putting the decision on me like that. Well, it wasn't like I hadn't expected it, and a part of me knew better than to try and put it on Cardin, who would surely call for a charge against the checkpoint. While combat was a very possible reality, I wanted to avoid it if possible. Even if we won, all we did was advertise our presence.
Did we chance the main building? I glanced towards it, teasing my lower lip. It was a crazy move, but wasn't there some advantage to that? I'd read comics where tactics so crazy the enemy never expected them worked, but something told me that was reserved to fantasy and fiction. Even if the girls had sent out a hundred to the South Wing, and fifty to both the West and East, that would still leave a sizeable force behind, most of which would be sat in their HQ. To make matters worse, I'd only seen Yang, Blake, Weiss and Coco in that army, which meant that with Ruby being here, Pyrrha and Nora would be in the cafeteria.
I didn't fancy our odds if we ran into Pyrrha and a group of girls. Her moniker as the invincible girl might have been exaggerated, but not by much. She regularly thrashed entire teams in training.
The main building is out of the question. But if fighting these people is as well, then what can we do? There's no way I can disguise my way in. Ruby would recognise me, and might actually laugh herself unconscious, which could work, but that's kind of the whole point of us avoiding capture in the first place.
I did not need a cute girl laughing at my misfortune, and yes, I considered Ruby a [REDACTED] girl. I actually thought she was quite [REDACTED], and had the situation been different I might have [REDACTED]. Sue me. So long as Yang never found out or read my journal, I was safe.
(I have taken the necessary precautions for my good friend here. Yang will never know.)
With a forlorn sigh, I turned back to my two advisors. "Get everyone together and be ready to appear on the edge of the gardens," I said. "I want everyone visible and ready to fight if needs be."
"I shall tell them," Yatsuhashi said. "What about you?"
I wanted to say I'd be with them, or more realistically shouting my support from the back. I really wanted that, but at the same time, I wanted to make it to the safety of the North Wing more. Deep inside, I knew there was only one way I was going to manage that, and much to my horror, it was going to involve some bravery.
Specifically, the stupid kind of bravery.
"I'm going to negotiate with her."
/-/
And so it was that under the morning sun of the third day, I walked out into the warm air with my head held high and my stomach hanging somewhere around my ankles. I'm sure it didn't look that way, since I'd fixed an expression that might have looked like firm discipline on my face. In reality it was the kind of shellshock one feels when walking to your death, but it might have passed at a distance for courage.
The girls noticed me almost immediately, and several reached for weapons, pointing in my direction and fanning out as though they expected me to launch some kind of Remnant-shattering laser from my mouth.
As it was, I held up my true weapon before me.
"Arf!" Zwei barked, suspended from my hands. His stubby tail wagged happily.
"Zwei!"
Yes, good. That's right. Good old predictable Ruby. She'd recognise her beloved pet at any distance, and quickly realise what was going on. True to my suspicions, she held a hand out, urging everyone to stay behind while she approached on her own.
It was a strange feeling, watching a girl walking towards me and realising we were about to speak. Apart from curses, threats and the banter from Nora, I'd not had a real conversation with a girl for days, nor had Ruby with a man, I imagined. I idly wondered if the forums would be alive with news of this within an hour or two, and whether they'd have some dramatic name for it.
(Yes. It would come to be called "The Meeting at the Gates".)
As an unnatural calm descended on us, Ruby and I finally met, only three metres or so of grass and air separating us. To my relief, she'd left Crescent Rose in its undeployed form on her back. To my even greater relief, she smiled at me.
"Hey, Jaune."
"Hi, Ruby. How's it going?"
"Eh, you know." She shrugged. "Just looking after this area, I guess. It's a bit boring, but if it's for that reward, it's okay. How about you?"
"Oh, I'm great," I said. I nodded behind me, to the horde of men I knew had just started to present themselves. I knew because of the way the girls at the checkpoint tensed and drew weapons. "Just leading some guys over to the North Wing. Hey, do you mind if we pass through?"
Ruby's apologetic smile was answer enough. "Weiss would bite my head off if I did."
"You won't chance it?" I asked. "Not even for me?"
"You were my first friend at Beacon, and you're probably still my best guy-friend, but yeah, not even for you. Yang and Blake would be angry, too. I'm…" Ruby hesitated. "I'm going to have to take you in, Jaune. But don't worry," she hurried. "Everyone we capture is looked after. They get food, shared rooms, TV, even sweets and stuff. You'll be okay."
Good old Ruby. Even now with us on opposite sides of the war, she was thinking of my safety. I loved her for that, I really did. But I needed to get through. We couldn't be captured, not with Nora desperate to play dress-up with us.
"I could make a deal, though. If you surrendered, I could let the others through." Ruby smiled happily, and her eyes lit up. "I'd make sure you were okay, and I could protect you from Weiss. We could play video games and read comics… it would be great!"
"And could you keep Nora away from me?" I asked.
Ruby blanched.
"I thought not."
"Well, if it helps I think you might look cute in a dress?"
It didn't help, but I appreciated her effort. A more self-sacrificial man than I might have taken it for the betterment of the tribe. I was not that man. "No deal, Ruby."
"Aww…"
"How are you even in charge of all these people?" I asked, stalling for time and hoping for inspiration to strike. "Most of them are older than you. Even if you're a team leader, it's kind of weird."
"How are you?" Ruby countered, and truer scepticism had never been uttered. She giggled and answered before I could, however. "But yeah, you mean how they'd follow someone so young? I was kinda surprised too, but Pyrrha put me in charge and I guess no one minds. It's not like this is life or death, right? It's easier to all be on the same side and win 2,500 lien each. Anyway," Ruby smiled and reached for her weapon. "Are we going to fight? We could make it a duel between you and me so that no one else has to get hurt. How does that sound?"
Terrible. Awful. Other non-agreeable adjectives. I might as well fight an avalanche for all the good it would do me.
In desperation, I threw up my canine shield.
"Let us through, Ruby. You don't want Zwei to suffer the consequences otherwise."
"Jaune…"
"I'll do it, Ruby. Don't think I won't. I'm a man on the edge – on the edge of my sanity at the moment."
"Jaune…"
"Don't make me a monster, Ruby," I hissed, clutching Zwei's snout.
Ruby sighed. "You're not going to hurt Zwei, Jaune."
"How can you be so sure?" I threatened.
"Uh, because you're you?" She giggled. "You wouldn't hurt him. Not in a million years."
Shit…
She'd called my bluff.
Come to think of it, trying to bluff to someone who was basically your best friend probably wasn't a good idea in the first place, especially not when it was on something so utterly out-of-character for me. I looked down to Zwei, who looked back up with adorable and loving eyes. My heart melted. Damn it, Zwei. Why did he have to look like that?
"I won't attack you now," Ruby said, putting Crescent Rose back. "We're friends, so I'll let you join your guys before we fight. That's fair, right? I want to give you a chance."
"Yeah," I said, feeling my spirits drop. "Thanks, Ruby."
Ruby smiled and skipped away. Before she had gotten more than three paces away, she turned back. "Hey, Jaune."
"Yeah?"
She swallowed nervously. "We're still friends, right?"
The question was so random, but also so Ruby, that I couldn't help but smile. "Of course we are," I said. "Don't be silly, crater-face."
"Vomit-boy!" Ruby returned, giggling. Her smile looked a little more honest. "I'll give it my all, Jaune. You better get ready, because I won't go easy on you."
"Yeah," I whispered, aware that the moment she left, all chances of a non-violent outcome to this would be lost. It would be nothing like anything we had ever fought before, which had been small skirmishes and stumbling scraps at best. This would be a battle, a true battle.
And worse, it would be a battle on a time-limit. Ruby had reinforcements en route, and they'd only be coming all the faster since one of her people must have called this in to the main command by now. Pyrrha would have diverted Yang, or might even be coming herself.
We were out of options.
I was out of options.
"Hey, Ruby," I called, and waited for her to turn around. "Catch!"
Zwei let out a frantic bark as he sailed through the air. Ruby yelped and dropped her weapon to catch him, cuddling the little thing to her chest as she looked to me, no doubt to ask what on Remnant I was doing. She didn't get the chance, since the moment she looked up, my body impacted her midriff, and I swept her up into my arms. Ruby shrieked in equal parts shock and embarrassment, her legs kicking wildly as I secured her against me, one hand on the back of her knees, the other below her shoulders.
"Jaune!" she yelped, and I could practically feel her red cheeks against my chest. "W-What are you doing? Let go! Help! Someone help meee!"
"Don't drop Zwei!" I said, hoping she'd listen to me, or to her own fear of dropping the poor thing. In a fight, Ruby had all kinds of advantages over me, but those required her feet to be on the ground, and her hands to be free. Take those away and we were on even terms, as embarrassing as it was to admit. "You're my prisoner now. Let us through and I'll return you to-"
"He's captured Ruby!" one of the girls yelled.
"Save her!" another shrieked. "Quick! Before Yang finds out!"
"Wait," I shouted, holding Ruby before me like some kind of shield. I tried to raise my voice, but between Ruby's yelps, Zwei's frantic barking and the girls all panicking and shouting between one another, my voice was drowned out. "Let us through and I'll return Ruby to you," I called, trying anyway. "Let us through. No one has to get hurt!"
"He going to hurt her!"
"I didn't say that!"
It was no use. As one, arms were drawn, and a tall girl pointed a spear towards me. "Charge!" she yelled.
"Let me down…" Ruby wailed.
I wasn't about to do that, nor was I about to stand there and take a charge from a force like that with my hands full of Ruby Rose. Instead, I turned and fled towards my own lines, Ruby bumping against my chest and Zwei riding on hers. My intent was only to get back to relative safety, but that wasn't how the men behind me took it. I should have known, really, and naturally there was one particular figure at the front, his armour gleaming brightly.
"It's begun," Cardin roared. "Our Warchief strikes the first blow. To Jaune, men! For Jaune and all mankind!"
"Rarghhh!" the horde cried, charging forwards.
My heart leapt into my throat. It was a disaster, and the exact thing I'd been trying my hardest to avoid. If the battle lines met, it would be a disaster. The fight would be a protracted one, and even if we won, I wasn't sure how many people would be fit and ready to move. The numbers were too even, and the girls were fresh and prepared, while my forces were tired from marching across the school. There was no way we would win…
A loud horn rent the air.
The women paused, hands clutched to ears, even as the guys did the same and I wished I could, as well. I cringed instead, not alone in my misery as Ruby tried to press Zwei against her face to block out the low, droning sound. Was that an air horn?
Yes, it was.
But it did not come from our lines. It did not come from the women's, either, but rather from behind them – from the North Wing. I looked that way, as did everyone else, the girls pausing to see what had made the horrible sound.
My mouth fell open.
"This is our time!" Sun Wukong cried, one foot on a rock and his bare abs revealed to the world. In his left hand, he held an air horn, though I had no idea where he'd found it. In his right, his staff stood. But behind him..?
Behind him stood twenty-five or more men – all armed to the teeth.
Caught between the two forces, the girls warily grouped closer together, forming a tight circle. I even saw those snipers from earlier missing, now replaced with bedraggled and hungry boys lining the windows. Not many, but enough to deal with those standing guard. They watched with gleaming eyes, and a stillness descended on the air.
But how? What was going on?
Everything we knew pointed to the boys in the North Wing being as disjointed and disorganised as any other, tiny groups and teams sticking together, but otherwise holding no kind of organisation or desire to group up. As Ruby whispered her own shock against my chest, I couldn't help but agree. This was unreal. It was impossible.
"For too long have we wallowed in fear and solitude!" Sun shouted, the three other members of Team SSSN beside him, all looking the worse for wear, but no less determined for it. "For too long have we been trodden down and defeated. No more. Today, we change that. Today, we make our stand." He blasted the horn again, and then slowly raised his staff, pointing it towards the heavens. "For new hope! For freedom!" He raised his head and let out a mighty battle cry. "For the Warchief!"
"For the Warchief!" the men behind him, and those lining the windows, roared.
The staff fell, pointing at the now vastly outnumbered girls.
"CHARGE!"
Excerpt:
Scribbled note found in abandoned diary
Anonymous
I didn't know what I expected. I'd heard the rumours, but who hadn't by this point? It wasn't the first time someone had tried to unite the guys into a single force, and it probably wouldn't be the last. One of my teammates tries, and the girls descended on him like dark shadows, the Kunoichi of Love – who dispensed very little of it – had taken him. I hadn't seen him since, and had been left to scrounge and scavenge alone.
I suppose it was morbid curiosity which summoned me and the same again that had me risking what little safety I had to press my nose against the glass and watch the scene unfold.
And then, as the morning mist departed, I saw them.
Their numbers were nothing impressive, though I'll admit to the shock at seeing so many men in one place. There was somewhere between forty and fifty, and they carried a large array of supplies that had my stomach grumbling. Until that point, I'd dismissed all the rumours as nothing but optimistic garbage. An army of women a hundred strong sent to find him, a horde of men allied under one banner, and success claiming a supply drop?
Madness, I thought, and yet to see them there and that proof of it, I felt humbled. Humbled, and also – if I dared to admit it – a little hopeful.
Had they really succeeded?
Were the women truly afraid of them – of him?
I couldn't be sure, but I found myself pressing a little closer, hands joining my nose, and my breath misting the glass. I had to see more. I had to know more. I don't think I even noticed others joining me, not at least until someone gasped and I looked around to see almost six other men watching alongside me.
I thought to run before they noticed me, but I was spellbound before I could. I was bound because HE appeared.
It was just one man. I had no idea why I felt so quietened by him. He didn't even look that impressive. But as he walked out alone towards the army of girls, I couldn't help but breathe a little heavier. There were so many of them, and yet he walked out alone without a care in the world. Why? How? They would surely capture him!
And yet they didn't. To my ever-lasting shock, the girls did not attack, but rather they sent one of their own to meet him, one that I recognised. Ruby Rose – the Red Reaper. They said that her appearance was a herald of death, for while she did not fight the hardest, she was the perfect scout and none could escape her. If she found you, she would hunt you until her allies came, and so like the Grim Reaper himself, her presence heralded defeat and death.
But he faced her – and she faced him.
She faced him like an equal.
And then, it struck me. He was an equal. Jaune Arc was their equal. The reason why they did not attack was because they were cautious, and that was something the girls had never needed to be before now. Before him.
Even though I was up in a corridor and away from combat, I licked my lips and reached for my weapon – to this point unused. I felt like I was a part of his battle-lines, ready for the onslaught and the fight for freedom. For respect. For all the things we had given up.
For the first time in so long, I felt alive.
I felt like a Huntsman.
A warrior.
And when a hand fell on my shoulder, and I looked up into the face of Sun Wukong, I did not flee as I might once have before.
"Come," he said.
"Where?" I asked.
"We are going down there," he said, voice loud enough for all in the corridor to hear. "We're tired of hiding away and hunting for scraps. If we're going to be beaten, then we've decided we want it to be on our terms."
"We're going to fight," Neptune said, standing proudly beside his partner. "Come with us."
I was afraid. I was just one man. I was weak. I'd already run and hid while my partner was taken before my eyes. And yet I pushed back from the window. I pushed back from defeat, and with a shaking hand did I draw my weapon.
My body did not shake with fear.
It shook with excitement.
It shook with hope.
They had my answer. And the answers of all those behind, who felt their own spirits return, that pride and honour which had once drawn us to dedicate our lives to the war against an innumerable, impossible foe. What Huntsmen were we if we laid down and accepted defeat now? I did not know – nor would I ever again.
In a way, the insurrection had always been there, both in myself and the others around me.
All it had been waiting for was a single spark.
And so, the glory of Jaune continues – all of it at least technically due to his genius. And a little to Nora's perhaps, but then again that was only because Jaune outsmarted her. Oh, and Sun – because even the boys need some artillery every now and then.
Next Chapter: 25th November
P a treon . com (slash) Coeur
Chapter 6
It's that time again. Time for madness, genius, and the ever-present spectre of bullshit luck. It's time for the Beacon Civil War!
Beta: College Fool
Cover Art: Jack Wayne
Chapter 6 – The Lines are Drawn
"Even without a home, they drew attention. People whispered of them in hallways, while others watched nervously from afar. A group of isolated and directionless men was nothing new, but there was something about those ones. Those nomads were different; they moved not with fear, but with hope.
And for people without any?
That was enough."
Attributed to Unknown Male, West Wing
Looking back, it was only a few hours, but at the time it felt like we marched for days. The night gave way to day, and with it came the baking sun that threatened to overwhelm us as we traversed through Beacon, nothing more than a scroll showing a map, and my half-assed guesses as to a destination to guide us. That we'd managed to avoid trouble so far spoke more of my dogged determination to stay away from any objective points than it did luck, not that anyone else thought that. Russel had already begun to proclaim our fortune divine providence, and I was less than enthused with the sonorous agreements of the congregation.
At least at the front I had Ren and Cardin to talk with, and I'd never thought I would count Cardin on a list of people I wanted at my side.
"Do we have any idea where we're going?" Cardin asked. "Not that I mean to doubt, of course. I'm simply curious to hear my Lord's wisdom."
I glanced at him for that, wondering if he was being sarcastic, but to my horror he wasn't. He was deadly serious. "You'll see when we get there," I said, hedging my bets. "You'll see…"
I had no idea where to go, obviously.
The whole school belonged to the women, and we were entering one of the other wings now, which promised all kinds of questions. To put it in picture, there were four main wings of Beacon Academy, each split off from the centre circle that most people just called the academy proper. The wings pointed out like spokes, with curved architecture reaching down from the central tower to join them. I'd seen Ruby's Uncle and Weiss' sister fight atop those, though I wasn't sure why they had, or why no one else hadn't been at least a little concerned about it.
Either way, Beacon was shaped somewhat like a compass, except that the four spokes that made the wings didn't actually point in the cardinal directions. That felt like more an architectural mistake than anything else, though. When it came to the wings, they still tended to have the points of a compass as names. We'd come from the South Wing, which didn't have any objective points in it. That was where most of the older students bunked on account of them knowing Beacon well enough to not get lost finding their lessons.
Right now, we were in the West Wing, and that was bad because it meant we were not only moving into contested territory, but that we were crossing close to the cafeteria – the seat of the women's powerful empire.
(And what a seat it was. Apart from the obvious advantages of food and supplies, the cafeteria's position as the most central point of the Academy also allowed them to react quickly, taking the direct route to any engagements. It was a powerful place to hold, let alone call your capital.)
"I'm thinking we should maybe try the North Wing," I said, pointing to the map, and coincidentally towards the second-year dorms. "It's opposite the South, so it'll probably be the last place they think to look for us." Nora and the others probably assumed we'd fled into the West or East Wings, which we obviously had, but they wouldn't expect us to dare travel even further. At the moment, they'd still be scouring the South for us. That gave us time, but not much.
"Ren, is there any news on the forums?"
"People have noticed the female army," he reported, flicking his thumb and finger over the display. "There's a lot of noise about it, and it looks like someone on their side spilled the beans. There's a bounty on your head."
"What!?"
Ren showed me the screen, and my mouth fell open as I saw that it was indeed a picture of me, and to my utmost horror, it was a picture of me in my blue onesie. Beneath it, a caption read; "Wanted: Jaune Arc, for crimes and insurrection against the women of Beacon. Reward: One week's worth of food, and the freedom to leave our fortress in peace."
"Crimes against women?" I read, cheeks heating up. "They've made me sound like some kind of sex pest!"
"This is perfect," Cardin crowed.
"No," I denied. "No, it isn't!"
"It is," he said, his enthusiasm too much for even my despair to dent. "Don't you see? This adds to your legitimacy. Before, we probably sounded like arrogant idiots saying we were going to take them down, but now we've captured a supply drop, united a tribe and the enemy are so afraid of you, they've sent out an entire army and declared you wanted across all of Beacon!"
Yeah, and no matter how much he listed those things out, they didn't start to sound any better from my point of view.
"I see," Ren said, nodding. "This adds credence to our claim. Men who doubted us before are now forced to believe us because why else would they send so many people to deal with our little insurrection?"
"Exactly." Cardin laughed. "I don't know how you did it, Jaune – but this is perfect!"
To be fair, I didn't know how I did it either. We'd taken a supply drop, sure, but that didn't seem enough to warrant almost a hundred girls led by Yang and Nora. Nora knew it was just me, Ren and CRDL. Why send so many?
(Jaune, of course, had no idea of the report Nora processed in the excerpt I provided before, but in this regard, Weiss' penchant for caution and Yang's for over-kill served us greatly.)
In the end, it really didn't matter. Ten or a hundred, if Yang, Nora or Pyrrha came our way, we'd best be prepared to fight to the end. Or, well, the others had. I'd be running in very much the opposite direction. On the others, I felt cautiously optimistic that our group could beat them, so long as they didn't have too many with them. Ruby, Weiss and Blake were strong, but there was fourteen of us now and-
My thoughts trailed off as I glanced behind us.
"Ren?" I asked.
My friend looked to me. "Yes?"
"There were fourteen of us, correct?"
"I believe so. Why do you-" He turned to look behind as well, and trailed off as much as I had. "Oh…"
"Yeah…"
We weren't fourteen anymore. I remember that when I was younger, I'd seen a movie where a large column of people moved through dangerous territory, and were dragged down and killed by Grimm without any noticing. If I recall, it was called Grimmic Park or something. The comparison wasn't quite accurate, however, for if it was, then the Beowolves had less dragged people down to their deaths, and more raised up to walk along with them. Basically, I had a lot more than fourteen people following me, and no one seemed to be batting an eye at it.
I looked to Cardin, knowing deep down inside that this was somehow his fault. "Explain."
"It's mostly Russel's doing," Cardin said, more in a manner that suggested he was trying to deflect undeserved praise than anger. "People have started to notice us travelling, and we're the largest male group in Beacon right now. That's turning heads. There are a lot of people stuck on their own without a hope in the world." He shrugged. "Some of those people saw us and just sort of tagged along. Even if they don't know why, they feel they've got a better chance with us."
"And I'm sure the food doesn't hurt," Ren said.
"That too." Cardin nodded to one end of the procession, where Russel was sat atop a pile of supplies. What might have seemed a lazy pose at first was revealed not so by the way he waved one hand, talking loudly to a large group of wide-eyed newcomers.
"What's he doing?" I asked.
"Preaching, I think," Ren said.
"He's informing them of our purpose," Cardin corrected. He made a symbol over his heart with two fingers. "He's teaching them the true path."
I sighed. "He's indoctrinating them, then?"
"I prefer the term `true path` myself, but essentially, yeah."
Great. I'd gone and formed a cult, and mostly because I'd been lost in thought about how to avoid the women, and hadn't paid attention for the last hour or so. Absolutely wonderful. This was exactly what I'd hoped for when I'd woken up today. My teeth started to grate together, not that Cardin noticed.
More people meant more mouths to feed, and that meant more danger if we needed to scout for food. Had we kept our numbers down to just the fourteen of us, I'd thought we might be able to wait out the rest of the war with what resources we'd found. That didn't look to be the case anymore.
As if that wasn't making matters worse, if this kept going we'd end up even bigger by the time we reached the relative safety of the North Wing. That would make it hard to sneak past the women, who'd be much more likely to notice twenty to thirty people than they would ten or so.
There was nothing I could do, however. CRDL and the others were all dead set on the idea of me being their Warchief, and greater numbers would work towards that. If I complained or tried to send people away, they'd realise I was a fraud and Ren and I would be cast out. Cast out without food, support, and now with a hefty reward over my head. I doubted Ren would turn me in for it, but there was no telling if the others wouldn't.
I was stuck. Stuck and smiling a smile filled with teeth, bile and false promise. "That's wonderful, Cardin. Wow. Please make sure to tell Russel how fantastic a job he's doing. Really great."
"I'm sure he'll be honoured by your praise."
The fact that he'd missed the sarcasm didn't even dent me anymore. I shook my head and pointed the next turn, leading the growing procession down the halls. At any other time, we'd have probably been spotted by the women by now, but I guess with a large amount of them making up the army in the South, we were getting an easier run of things.
I knew that wouldn't last. Even assuming we faced no challenge on our route to the North Wing, we'd eventually reach our destination and set up camp, and then everyone would expect the next stage of my master plan.
Which meant it was probably a good time to start piecing together a master plan.
Why did Ozpin make me a team leader again?
/-/
It was inevitable that our good fortune wouldn't hold, and not just in the case of my having somehow accrued forty-five followers by the time we reached the boundary between the West and North Wings. There were essentially two ways to cross; either through the main Academy building, which obviously acted as a bridging point between everything, or over the open gardens and training fields between the two wings. The main building was obviously far more dangerous given that it housed places like the cafeteria, library, and the largest and most hi-tech training rooms, almost all of which were major objective points.
While Russel might normally have had something to say about my audacity winning out, even he wasn't stupid enough to suggest that path.
No, the obvious route was across the gardens, which would put us between the two buildings and in plain sight of anyone who wanted to look our way. That wasn't necessarily a problem since we were obvious enough as it was. There was a bigger problem.
"It looks like they've set up a checkpoint," Yatsuhashi said, crouching low beside Ren and I, and yet somehow managing to look like he was still standing. How he'd managed to fit himself behind the bush, I had no idea.
"It's the obvious path between the two wings," Ren said. "I'm not sure if they're looking for us specifically or not, but this has Weiss' handwriting all over it."
"You mean because it's so organised?" I asked.
"No." Ren pointed to a small patrol of women approaching, who were stopped by others. They brought out their scrolls, and one of those at the checkpoint consulted a clipboard. "I mean the fact that she would somehow see the need to introduce paperwork to something like this. They're clearly female. Why ask for ID?"
"At least that saves us from some kind of `dress like a girl` plan," I said, hoping some humour would make the situation look better. It really didn't.
I took out my scroll and held the camera towards the checkpoint, using the zoom function like an improvised telescope. The checkpoint itself consisted of around thirty-five women, and the patrol an additional ten. To make matters worse, I could see several girls stationed in the windows around the area, watching from afar, possibly with long-range weaponry. We had the numbers advantage, but that wasn't what concerned me most.
It was Ruby. Ruby concerned me more than many of the others in the area, least of all because she was a ticking time bomb.
I'll be frank, Ruby was great – both as a person and as a huntress – but she wasn't the strongest by far. Sure, she could beat me any day, but that wasn't hard. Compared to some others, however, and the numbers we had, I didn't think she would be a problem.
But if we hurt Ruby? If we made her upset?
Hell, if she so much as bruised…
We were dead.
Dead meat. It wouldn't even be just Yang, or even Weiss or Blake – but the rumours would persist long after this was over. "Oh, look at him. Did you know he ordered a huge group of men to attack a fifteen-year-old girl? I know, right? How cruel!"
"Is there any chance we can go around?" I asked. "I don't like our odds here."
"We'd have to pass through the main academy building," Yatsuhashi said, "or back through the Southern Wing and around the entire academy. That would take a long time, not to mention it would send us back into the jaws of the other army."
"They've probably noticed we're missing now, and they'll have split into two forces to try and pincer us," Ren added. "We're on a time limit, and we've been moving slowly due to all the supplies we're lugging. Our pace has been cautious at best. Theirs won't be."
So, they were coming up behind us was what he was saying. I swallowed my fear and looked ahead again, wondering what we could do. If the boundaries hadn't been set earlier, we could have taken our chances with the Grimm and looped through the Emerald Forest. With so many people, that wouldn't have even been a dangerous plan. Sadly, Ozpin had thought of that, and Glynda Goodwitch awaited if we dared. I doubted anyone would follow me into that minefield.
(And he would be right. Miss Goodwitch had spent the better part of a decade perfecting her persona, and such time was not wasted. Few were the men who dared stand against her, and I have heard rumours even General Ironwood is not counted in their number.)
"What do we do?" Yatsuhashi asked.
"I'll defer to your judgment, Jaune," Ren added.
Those damn cowards! Putting the decision on me like that. Well, it wasn't like I hadn't expected it, and a part of me knew better than to try and put it on Cardin, who would surely call for a charge against the checkpoint. While combat was a very possible reality, I wanted to avoid it if possible. Even if we won, all we did was advertise our presence.
Did we chance the main building? I glanced towards it, teasing my lower lip. It was a crazy move, but wasn't there some advantage to that? I'd read comics where tactics so crazy the enemy never expected them worked, but something told me that was reserved to fantasy and fiction. Even if the girls had sent out a hundred to the South Wing, and fifty to both the West and East, that would still leave a sizeable force behind, most of which would be sat in their HQ. To make matters worse, I'd only seen Yang, Blake, Weiss and Coco in that army, which meant that with Ruby being here, Pyrrha and Nora would be in the cafeteria.
I didn't fancy our odds if we ran into Pyrrha and a group of girls. Her moniker as the invincible girl might have been exaggerated, but not by much. She regularly thrashed entire teams in training.
The main building is out of the question. But if fighting these people is as well, then what can we do? There's no way I can disguise my way in. Ruby would recognise me, and might actually laugh herself unconscious, which could work, but that's kind of the whole point of us avoiding capture in the first place.
I did not need a cute girl laughing at my misfortune, and yes, I considered Ruby a [REDACTED] girl. I actually thought she was quite [REDACTED], and had the situation been different I might have [REDACTED]. Sue me. So long as Yang never found out or read my journal, I was safe.
(I have taken the necessary precautions for my good friend here. Yang will never know.)
With a forlorn sigh, I turned back to my two advisors. "Get everyone together and be ready to appear on the edge of the gardens," I said. "I want everyone visible and ready to fight if needs be."
"I shall tell them," Yatsuhashi said. "What about you?"
I wanted to say I'd be with them, or more realistically shouting my support from the back. I really wanted that, but at the same time, I wanted to make it to the safety of the North Wing more. Deep inside, I knew there was only one way I was going to manage that, and much to my horror, it was going to involve some bravery.
Specifically, the stupid kind of bravery.
"I'm going to negotiate with her."
/-/
And so it was that under the morning sun of the third day, I walked out into the warm air with my head held high and my stomach hanging somewhere around my ankles. I'm sure it didn't look that way, since I'd fixed an expression that might have looked like firm discipline on my face. In reality it was the kind of shellshock one feels when walking to your death, but it might have passed at a distance for courage.
The girls noticed me almost immediately, and several reached for weapons, pointing in my direction and fanning out as though they expected me to launch some kind of Remnant-shattering laser from my mouth.
As it was, I held up my true weapon before me.
"Arf!" Zwei barked, suspended from my hands. His stubby tail wagged happily.
"Zwei!"
Yes, good. That's right. Good old predictable Ruby. She'd recognise her beloved pet at any distance, and quickly realise what was going on. True to my suspicions, she held a hand out, urging everyone to stay behind while she approached on her own.
It was a strange feeling, watching a girl walking towards me and realising we were about to speak. Apart from curses, threats and the banter from Nora, I'd not had a real conversation with a girl for days, nor had Ruby with a man, I imagined. I idly wondered if the forums would be alive with news of this within an hour or two, and whether they'd have some dramatic name for it.
(Yes. It would come to be called "The Meeting at the Gates".)
As an unnatural calm descended on us, Ruby and I finally met, only three metres or so of grass and air separating us. To my relief, she'd left Crescent Rose in its undeployed form on her back. To my even greater relief, she smiled at me.
"Hey, Jaune."
"Hi, Ruby. How's it going?"
"Eh, you know." She shrugged. "Just looking after this area, I guess. It's a bit boring, but if it's for that reward, it's okay. How about you?"
"Oh, I'm great," I said. I nodded behind me, to the horde of men I knew had just started to present themselves. I knew because of the way the girls at the checkpoint tensed and drew weapons. "Just leading some guys over to the North Wing. Hey, do you mind if we pass through?"
Ruby's apologetic smile was answer enough. "Weiss would bite my head off if I did."
"You won't chance it?" I asked. "Not even for me?"
"You were my first friend at Beacon, and you're probably still my best guy-friend, but yeah, not even for you. Yang and Blake would be angry, too. I'm…" Ruby hesitated. "I'm going to have to take you in, Jaune. But don't worry," she hurried. "Everyone we capture is looked after. They get food, shared rooms, TV, even sweets and stuff. You'll be okay."
Good old Ruby. Even now with us on opposite sides of the war, she was thinking of my safety. I loved her for that, I really did. But I needed to get through. We couldn't be captured, not with Nora desperate to play dress-up with us.
"I could make a deal, though. If you surrendered, I could let the others through." Ruby smiled happily, and her eyes lit up. "I'd make sure you were okay, and I could protect you from Weiss. We could play video games and read comics… it would be great!"
"And could you keep Nora away from me?" I asked.
Ruby blanched.
"I thought not."
"Well, if it helps I think you might look cute in a dress?"
It didn't help, but I appreciated her effort. A more self-sacrificial man than I might have taken it for the betterment of the tribe. I was not that man. "No deal, Ruby."
"Aww…"
"How are you even in charge of all these people?" I asked, stalling for time and hoping for inspiration to strike. "Most of them are older than you. Even if you're a team leader, it's kind of weird."
"How are you?" Ruby countered, and truer scepticism had never been uttered. She giggled and answered before I could, however. "But yeah, you mean how they'd follow someone so young? I was kinda surprised too, but Pyrrha put me in charge and I guess no one minds. It's not like this is life or death, right? It's easier to all be on the same side and win 2,500 lien each. Anyway," Ruby smiled and reached for her weapon. "Are we going to fight? We could make it a duel between you and me so that no one else has to get hurt. How does that sound?"
Terrible. Awful. Other non-agreeable adjectives. I might as well fight an avalanche for all the good it would do me.
In desperation, I threw up my canine shield.
"Let us through, Ruby. You don't want Zwei to suffer the consequences otherwise."
"Jaune…"
"I'll do it, Ruby. Don't think I won't. I'm a man on the edge – on the edge of my sanity at the moment."
"Jaune…"
"Don't make me a monster, Ruby," I hissed, clutching Zwei's snout.
Ruby sighed. "You're not going to hurt Zwei, Jaune."
"How can you be so sure?" I threatened.
"Uh, because you're you?" She giggled. "You wouldn't hurt him. Not in a million years."
Shit…
She'd called my bluff.
Come to think of it, trying to bluff to someone who was basically your best friend probably wasn't a good idea in the first place, especially not when it was on something so utterly out-of-character for me. I looked down to Zwei, who looked back up with adorable and loving eyes. My heart melted. Damn it, Zwei. Why did he have to look like that?
"I won't attack you now," Ruby said, putting Crescent Rose back. "We're friends, so I'll let you join your guys before we fight. That's fair, right? I want to give you a chance."
"Yeah," I said, feeling my spirits drop. "Thanks, Ruby."
Ruby smiled and skipped away. Before she had gotten more than three paces away, she turned back. "Hey, Jaune."
"Yeah?"
She swallowed nervously. "We're still friends, right?"
The question was so random, but also so Ruby, that I couldn't help but smile. "Of course we are," I said. "Don't be silly, crater-face."
"Vomit-boy!" Ruby returned, giggling. Her smile looked a little more honest. "I'll give it my all, Jaune. You better get ready, because I won't go easy on you."
"Yeah," I whispered, aware that the moment she left, all chances of a non-violent outcome to this would be lost. It would be nothing like anything we had ever fought before, which had been small skirmishes and stumbling scraps at best. This would be a battle, a true battle.
And worse, it would be a battle on a time-limit. Ruby had reinforcements en route, and they'd only be coming all the faster since one of her people must have called this in to the main command by now. Pyrrha would have diverted Yang, or might even be coming herself.
We were out of options.
I was out of options.
"Hey, Ruby," I called, and waited for her to turn around. "Catch!"
Zwei let out a frantic bark as he sailed through the air. Ruby yelped and dropped her weapon to catch him, cuddling the little thing to her chest as she looked to me, no doubt to ask what on Remnant I was doing. She didn't get the chance, since the moment she looked up, my body impacted her midriff, and I swept her up into my arms. Ruby shrieked in equal parts shock and embarrassment, her legs kicking wildly as I secured her against me, one hand on the back of her knees, the other below her shoulders.
"Jaune!" she yelped, and I could practically feel her red cheeks against my chest. "W-What are you doing? Let go! Help! Someone help meee!"
"Don't drop Zwei!" I said, hoping she'd listen to me, or to her own fear of dropping the poor thing. In a fight, Ruby had all kinds of advantages over me, but those required her feet to be on the ground, and her hands to be free. Take those away and we were on even terms, as embarrassing as it was to admit. "You're my prisoner now. Let us through and I'll return you to-"
"He's captured Ruby!" one of the girls yelled.
"Save her!" another shrieked. "Quick! Before Yang finds out!"
"Wait," I shouted, holding Ruby before me like some kind of shield. I tried to raise my voice, but between Ruby's yelps, Zwei's frantic barking and the girls all panicking and shouting between one another, my voice was drowned out. "Let us through and I'll return Ruby to you," I called, trying anyway. "Let us through. No one has to get hurt!"
"He going to hurt her!"
"I didn't say that!"
It was no use. As one, arms were drawn, and a tall girl pointed a spear towards me. "Charge!" she yelled.
"Let me down…" Ruby wailed.
I wasn't about to do that, nor was I about to stand there and take a charge from a force like that with my hands full of Ruby Rose. Instead, I turned and fled towards my own lines, Ruby bumping against my chest and Zwei riding on hers. My intent was only to get back to relative safety, but that wasn't how the men behind me took it. I should have known, really, and naturally there was one particular figure at the front, his armour gleaming brightly.
"It's begun," Cardin roared. "Our Warchief strikes the first blow. To Jaune, men! For Jaune and all mankind!"
"Rarghhh!" the horde cried, charging forwards.
My heart leapt into my throat. It was a disaster, and the exact thing I'd been trying my hardest to avoid. If the battle lines met, it would be a disaster. The fight would be a protracted one, and even if we won, I wasn't sure how many people would be fit and ready to move. The numbers were too even, and the girls were fresh and prepared, while my forces were tired from marching across the school. There was no way we would win…
A loud horn rent the air.
The women paused, hands clutched to ears, even as the guys did the same and I wished I could, as well. I cringed instead, not alone in my misery as Ruby tried to press Zwei against her face to block out the low, droning sound. Was that an air horn?
Yes, it was.
But it did not come from our lines. It did not come from the women's, either, but rather from behind them – from the North Wing. I looked that way, as did everyone else, the girls pausing to see what had made the horrible sound.
My mouth fell open.
"This is our time!" Sun Wukong cried, one foot on a rock and his bare abs revealed to the world. In his left hand, he held an air horn, though I had no idea where he'd found it. In his right, his staff stood. But behind him..?
Behind him stood twenty-five or more men – all armed to the teeth.
Caught between the two forces, the girls warily grouped closer together, forming a tight circle. I even saw those snipers from earlier missing, now replaced with bedraggled and hungry boys lining the windows. Not many, but enough to deal with those standing guard. They watched with gleaming eyes, and a stillness descended on the air.
But how? What was going on?
Everything we knew pointed to the boys in the North Wing being as disjointed and disorganised as any other, tiny groups and teams sticking together, but otherwise holding no kind of organisation or desire to group up. As Ruby whispered her own shock against my chest, I couldn't help but agree. This was unreal. It was impossible.
"For too long have we wallowed in fear and solitude!" Sun shouted, the three other members of Team SSSN beside him, all looking the worse for wear, but no less determined for it. "For too long have we been trodden down and defeated. No more. Today, we change that. Today, we make our stand." He blasted the horn again, and then slowly raised his staff, pointing it towards the heavens. "For new hope! For freedom!" He raised his head and let out a mighty battle cry. "For the Warchief!"
"For the Warchief!" the men behind him, and those lining the windows, roared.
The staff fell, pointing at the now vastly outnumbered girls.
"CHARGE!"
Excerpt:
Scribbled note found in abandoned diary
Anonymous
I didn't know what I expected. I'd heard the rumours, but who hadn't by this point? It wasn't the first time someone had tried to unite the guys into a single force, and it probably wouldn't be the last. One of my teammates tries, and the girls descended on him like dark shadows, the Kunoichi of Love – who dispensed very little of it – had taken him. I hadn't seen him since, and had been left to scrounge and scavenge alone.
I suppose it was morbid curiosity which summoned me and the same again that had me risking what little safety I had to press my nose against the glass and watch the scene unfold.
And then, as the morning mist departed, I saw them.
Their numbers were nothing impressive, though I'll admit to the shock at seeing so many men in one place. There was somewhere between forty and fifty, and they carried a large array of supplies that had my stomach grumbling. Until that point, I'd dismissed all the rumours as nothing but optimistic garbage. An army of women a hundred strong sent to find him, a horde of men allied under one banner, and success claiming a supply drop?
Madness, I thought, and yet to see them there and that proof of it, I felt humbled. Humbled, and also – if I dared to admit it – a little hopeful.
Had they really succeeded?
Were the women truly afraid of them – of him?
I couldn't be sure, but I found myself pressing a little closer, hands joining my nose, and my breath misting the glass. I had to see more. I had to know more. I don't think I even noticed others joining me, not at least until someone gasped and I looked around to see almost six other men watching alongside me.
I thought to run before they noticed me, but I was spellbound before I could. I was bound because HE appeared.
It was just one man. I had no idea why I felt so quietened by him. He didn't even look that impressive. But as he walked out alone towards the army of girls, I couldn't help but breathe a little heavier. There were so many of them, and yet he walked out alone without a care in the world. Why? How? They would surely capture him!
And yet they didn't. To my ever-lasting shock, the girls did not attack, but rather they sent one of their own to meet him, one that I recognised. Ruby Rose – the Red Reaper. They said that her appearance was a herald of death, for while she did not fight the hardest, she was the perfect scout and none could escape her. If she found you, she would hunt you until her allies came, and so like the Grim Reaper himself, her presence heralded defeat and death.
But he faced her – and she faced him.
She faced him like an equal.
And then, it struck me. He was an equal. Jaune Arc was their equal. The reason why they did not attack was because they were cautious, and that was something the girls had never needed to be before now. Before him.
Even though I was up in a corridor and away from combat, I licked my lips and reached for my weapon – to this point unused. I felt like I was a part of his battle-lines, ready for the onslaught and the fight for freedom. For respect. For all the things we had given up.
For the first time in so long, I felt alive.
I felt like a Huntsman.
A warrior.
And when a hand fell on my shoulder, and I looked up into the face of Sun Wukong, I did not flee as I might once have before.
"Come," he said.
"Where?" I asked.
"We are going down there," he said, voice loud enough for all in the corridor to hear. "We're tired of hiding away and hunting for scraps. If we're going to be beaten, then we've decided we want it to be on our terms."
"We're going to fight," Neptune said, standing proudly beside his partner. "Come with us."
I was afraid. I was just one man. I was weak. I'd already run and hid while my partner was taken before my eyes. And yet I pushed back from the window. I pushed back from defeat, and with a shaking hand did I draw my weapon.
My body did not shake with fear.
It shook with excitement.
It shook with hope.
They had my answer. And the answers of all those behind, who felt their own spirits return, that pride and honour which had once drawn us to dedicate our lives to the war against an innumerable, impossible foe. What Huntsmen were we if we laid down and accepted defeat now? I did not know – nor would I ever again.
In a way, the insurrection had always been there, both in myself and the others around me.
All it had been waiting for was a single spark.
And so, the glory of Jaune continues – all of it at least technically due to his genius. And a little to Nora's perhaps, but then again that was only because Jaune outsmarted her. Oh, and Sun – because even the boys need some artillery every now and then.
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