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"What took you so long to attend me?" Salem demanded when he finally pushed through the door into her council chambers. He froze in spite of himself, tired enough from the last few days of fighting and traveling to freeze up like a deer caught in the headlights at the woman's sharp, reproachful tone. "Half an hour has passed and you didn't even change? What on Remnant were you doing, Hazel, that kept your queen waiting?"
"I apologize, Ma'am." He rumbled, moving to sit on her right across from Tyrian and ignoring the man's manic chuckling. The woman's bright, glowing eyes followed him as he walked, but as always he did his best to ignore it. "Emerald is… Better than before, but in a state. I wanted to make certain she was fed and laid down for her rest before coming to you."
"You made out goddess wait for that child?" Tyrian demanded, affronted on the ancient woman's behalf and glaring across the table at him for it.
"Better a delay in arriving than her getting upset and summoning a hurricane onto our heads, I would argue." Whether Salem herself could live through it or not, the loss of their wealth, knowledge and base would be catastrophic to her. And he and Tyrian would likely die as well, though he didn't need to go into it. "She's doing better than she was, but she seems to have exchanged me for Cinder in terms of who she has latched onto."
"And I'm sure you despise having a young maiden throwing herself at you." He only growled as response to Salem's barb and the woman chuckled dryly and then reclined, her pale, veiny fingers drumming on the arm of her chair. "Oh, just give me my fun, Hazel. I get so very little of it, after all."
"Hm."
"You say she is well then, and that is good." The woman went on after his grunt with barely a nod for acknowledgement, that being the typical of their back and forth. Tyrian beside her also did the typical, his mouth opening to protest his disrespect, but a simple look from her quashed that like water did fire. "How much control does she have for the power within her little frame?"
"It responds to her well, but she doesn't have control over her emotions." Hazel answered, relaxing now he was certain she didn't intend to punish him for his lateness. "I suspect it will become easier for her swiftly. Her Semblance already requires mental acuity and focus to properly deploy it. Once she has rested from what happened when she got the power, I am certain she will master it swiftly."
"Particularly with the proper motivation." Tyrian offered with a feral grin, fingers rapidly drumming against each other. "Let her know we will turn her on those children and that sanctimonious knight. Oh, if we do that then she will fall over herself to see their bodies cooling."
"Or burn out." Hazel argued, meeting his mistress' gaze after she turned back to him. As well as pointedly ignoring Tyrian's petulant glare, of course. "We offer her that blatantly, she may push herself too far. Break herself."
"A broken tool is of no use to anyone, and if one presses a tool too hard it will break before its time. A pick may last decades, unless you take to slamming it into hardened, flat surfaces." Salem almost seemed to muse the two sentences, before she sighed and clicked her tongue. "And so to avoid breaking your new toy, you think going slower may be the prudent option."
"Our enemies are both immortal, Ma'am." He nodded, citing Deacon as an equivalent to Ozpin even with his newness. "Time is on our side, here. Or at least not against us."
"Because even a century from now, Ozpin, myself, and our new little piece on the board will all likely still be at play." Salem concluded, following his line of thought and not even checking to see if she'd done so correctly before nodding. "You're correct about that. And besides, we need to replenish our numbers, now we have lost the good doctor and Cinder both. Even the dear child's team was shattered."
"If I may, I would suggest we focus on that while Emerald rests and recuperates from the power running rampant before." She nodded and he relaxed somewhat, at least internally. Salem wasn't the kind to lash out at suggestions, but one could never be too careful for someone whose existence was older by far than even the naming conventions his people used. "We can focus on replacing our members, rebuilding old connections, finding Ozpin's newest puppet and seeking allies. By the time we are done with that, she should be recovered and well into her training."
"A good plan as any." She nodded, looking between them. "Do either of you have suggestions, then?"
"The White Fang are always a source of soldiers, albeit pathetic ones given the goat's defeat and likely dishonor." Hazel growled at his cohort's insulting, disrespectful tone, but all it earned was a smile from the Faunus and so he didn't argue it. Better not to give him the satisfaction. "We tell them what happened and oh, but they'll definitely want the shit in shining armor dead if only to make a show of it."
"They'd all die." Hazel argued, "And not be able to beat him. Or slow him down."
"And that's our problem?" Tyrian chuckled, head cocked to the side. "They'd be a suitable distraction at least."
"Distractions are used in overall plans, regardless. And so we would need one of those to make this a functioning proposition." Salem cut through the argument she saw forming as always, ending it and making her decision in the same voice. "First, we need a way to use them before we consider recruiting them. So for now, that resource is to be considered shelved. And besides, we need a source of Lien more than anything, now that Watts has fallen and taken the land and shells he held with him."
That, unfortunately, put them at a deadlock while the duo thought. Watts had ever been a businessman, so he did his best to think for him. Or like him, rather, and not allowing the man's incessant stark to leak into his thoughts.
"Jacques… Jacques Schnee." He finally murmured, the pale woman turning to look at him and raising an eyebrow. With a wave of her hand, she beckoned for him to explain, "His daughter, the current heiress to the largest Dust company on the planet, is friends with the woman Ozpin wanted to take the Maiden's power."
"Oh, and we could use him to leverage her for information, if we could bring him aboard." The other man nodded, "Assuming we even could, that is."
"He's famous even outside business for his greed." Much like Watts himself had been, really, albeit lacking the scientific community that had cut the technocrat off. Why that had happened specifically he'd never found out, but the difference should have been small. "Offer him a way to corner the market on Lien even further, it's said he'd sell his own daughter to the Grimm themselves."
"Said by whom?"
"Watts, Ma'am." He answered, remembering that particular visit to Atlas somewhat fondly. "If we offer him a very special set of ways to make more Lien, he'd be willing to give us information at the least."
"Even if what we want is to kill his daughter?" Salem challenged, earning pursed lips from the man. She sighed but then shrugged and smiled, "Well, it's a good plan, really. And there's nothing to say he needs to know our intent…"
"Perhaps we could… Offer to marry her, then?" Tyrian offered with one of those feral grins of his, like he'd had an idea that was absolutely brilliant. Or at least to him it was. "If we pose as some company out of Mistral, where petty Leo can vouch for us, of some sort then we could offer a business marriage."
"And to marry her we would need to know where she is." Salem nodded with a smile that was equal parts warm and wide as it was terrifying and chilling. "From the knowledge of her location will come the knowledge of his location. And even if that doesn't pan out, Leonardo ought to be able to find her for us regardless, which is equally useful now I consider it."
"Albeit without the Lien."
"Other solutions exist for that, Hazel." She waved him off, "But we do need another one to work on… What ever happened to Cinder's little thief?"
"I believe he was arrested by Atlas, and taken to their land." Hazel answered unsurely, having lost track of the thief in the chaos after the attack on Beacon.
"Maybe we ought to make contact with him as well…" She nodded suddenly and waved a hand, the duo rising at the unspoken command to hear her, well, commands. "Both of you, to Atlas. One of you make contact with Schnee and the other with Cinder's little thief, and see what you can find out on both. I shall make a decision when more information is available. From there, be ready to go to Mistral, and see Leonardo and the White Fang, if you can make contact with the downtrodden young man."
"And the girl?"
"I will see her rested and cared for, and train her personally." He nodded, knowing that when it came to magic, Salem would outstrip his qualifications by leagues. As well as the lack of survivability of arguing, of course. With a wave of her hand, she dismissed them, "Fare well, then, and return with results. A total victory would be preferable to a partial one this time, to remember."
"Yes, Ma'am." The two intoned respectfully, turning to leave as she'd ordered.
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"When should I send Ruby out on another run around us?" Arc asked several hours after they'd started walking a day after they'd landed.
The day prior they'd not traveled far, to allow more rest on the day after his mistake. And further, he and Qrow had handled logistics like when to send scouts out, and who those scouts would be. Today, however, young Arc was put in charge of doing such to teach him - and via proxy, his colleagues - leadership managerial methods. Such as, point of fact, when to send your scouts out. Without Qrow around, sadly, it fell to him alone to handle teaching.
The feathered dastard that he was…
"When a party leader, that is to say the leader of the march not the leader of a force, issues forth scouts and when they stop march for rest is on their own shoulders." He answered frankly, taking a deep breath and letting the forest air relax him as they walked. Overhead, the sky was bright and clear, the sun beating down from nearly noon height. "However, as advice, one should typically rotate dependant on terrain, and the risks abounding. If a group is harried often, scouts are more important, for example. Then you weigh it against the last time you sent a patrol."
"Essentially, frequency for fear, and new patrols based upon the timing of your last." Pyrrha offered, always a helpful shoulder for young Jaune to rely on.
"You are leader of the march, so make your decisions." He added gently, offering the blond in front of him a small smile when he looked to him. His face was a mixture of fear and performance anxiety, both more related to making a mistake than anything grimmer, and he offered an assuring, "I and Branwen are here, and so any failing will be a bloodless one. Even if a dragon should arrive, I would summon an army before I allowed you to fall."
"A-All right, then…" Jaune turned and thought for a long moment as they walked through the thinning woods, the sound of the coast far to their left and their armor and equipment shifting all they could hear while he thought. Finally, he spoke, voice raised, "Ruby, Blake, I need you to split up and check our flanks in ten minutes. Nora and Pyrrha, right side to respond if you hear anything. Yang and I will take the left, Ren and Weiss take the middle. Weiss, if one side gets hit, use your glyphs to move the side defenders."
"Don't look to me for support." He chided gently when Jaune turned to him in a clear search for approval. To the rest, he grunted, "And why are you dallying? You have orders, so prepare for them."
"Yes, Sir."
"Yep!"
"Got it, Prof."
The calls continued like that as the students moved into formation as Jaune had ordered. A formation that didn't cover the rear but was overall quite a good one, and he saw Weiss shift to the rear to cover it on her own as best as she could. He, of course, did the same with ash flowing across his arms readily. Tonight, he would chide the young knight for leaving the gap open in his defences, but to do so now would only question what authority he was developing and undermine his leadership.
"Do you not think you are being somewhat callous?" The voice, prim and quiet, murmured in his ears. No hot breath followed it, though, even as Priscilla went on and he slowed to give himself enough space to speak to her and not be heard by any but the Faunus woman. "They are so young, you understand… Children yet."
"Warriors." He corrected gently, feeling her displeasure through his bond to her soul. "A tragedy that. And were I to find solution to it, or the cause of it, I would strive to correct it. Via force of arms if need be."
"But they are so small…"
"Aren't we all compared to you, my Lady?" He heard her huff and could imagine the cute little pout she would no doubt be sporting, were she ashen and animated. Chuckling low in his throat, he smiled and sighed. "I speak a jest, my Lady. No more, no less, and pray take no offense at the words."
"You know I never do, my honorable knight. Ever did and do your jests warm my dames, trapped in a wintry cell or no. I shall never tire of them." He knew it for truth even without their connection, the flame and Ash binding them enough he would tell deceit if he heard it. After a moment, though, he felt disquiet and the half-dragon murmured, "You have a new Lady though, do you not?"
"I… Do." He nodded, "Though that is not to supplant you. I need an oath to keep. Such is my way."
"I do, and yet…" The woman paused, as though unsure of what to say, and her disquiet echoed into him like a tide of anxiety and ache. A familiar kind of the latter, to him at least, from his long time traveling alone when he would fall into envy and despair before he went to visit her. "Is it so wrong of me, to be jealous?"
"You are jealous?" He asked, surprised to hear her voice the words even as he felt their truth resonate within himself.
"I am. I feel wrong, jealous and possessive, and disquieted by it. And yet…" He heard and felt her sigh, col wind on his neck carried from the ocean acting as voice and feel for her sigh. "You were mine first, sworn to me as my protector and companion. And now I am.. Lesser than, as a broken shield or ruined plate. And I both feel and fear to have been replaced."
"You have not been replaced like so much broken armor!" He snapped suddenly, and loudly enough that the students paused and turned to regard them. Surprised at his outburst himself and unsure, he stammered, "I-I, well that is, students you should not pay attention to me. Ignore a man's rambling-"
"Oh, you are so easily set to stammering, dear knight. Flushed like I was the first time you saw me, for matter of fact." This time, the voice was audible to all as, unbidden, ash and dust flowed from him and formed behind him. Only a heartbeat passed as Priscilla came into being, towering high over him and smiling in greeting to the stunned children who now made no move to continue their walk. "Forgive my speaking to him and distracting him. Do not hold anger for the errant knight, he only strove to speak to me, and my words upset him it would seem."
"I am no knight errant…" He grumbled, waving a hand at the children and grunting weakly, "Please, we need to continue. And it is time for the patrols to depart, and check our flanks, besides."
It took a moment but the children did as he bade, and Priscilla allowed herself to once more turn to ash and disappear within himself. An odd thing, that, but one he was quickly growing used to. Adaptability and his natural inclination towards it, he supposed, given his experience and conditioning up until now.
"You have not been replaced, Priscilla." He reiterated as the students began to march again, casting glances between themselves and talking while they kept their watch. No doubt talking about the woman who had so suddenly appeared, but so long as they ket the watch he wouldn't and couldn't justly care. "Not within my heart, at the least. But I needed someone to swear myself to in this world, you understand. And before stepping heartily and fully into war."
"I understand." The woman answered, voice once more placeless and formless but echoing into his ears from somewhere. "Forgive my selfish heart, I suppose. So long was spent with nothing, and then to have so much warmth and need to share... It is a child's greed."
"You are no child."
"Ah, but I am childish all the same. You needn't deceive me for my own happiness, though, for I am happy enough speaking to you." The woman laughed, an airy and light sound that drew a smile from him involuntarily. As always, he found, her mirth was more infectious than any disease could every pray to be. "I believe I ought let you return to your duties, though. We shall have time once we reach that little settlement to speak at more length."
"Indeed we-"
"Grimm!" He heard the young girl's words as she appeared, petals flowing around her as she almost bowled into him. He caught her easily, fingers wrapping around her stomach and bringing her to a stop before she could miss them, and Ruby pointed the way she'd come with her scythe. "Minotaurs! Three of them, coming that way, I saw Uncle Bir- I mean Uncle Qrow flying overhead, but he wasn't attacking."
"Minotaurs?" He asked, setting the girl on the ground and giving her a look.
"They're, uh, big bull man thingies with huge horns and-"
"As mine were, then." He cut her off, ashen armor forming around him at an order and sword's weight settling into his hand comfortably. He remembered fighting demons of the same name, and pictured creatures similar in type if not scope to that. "Arc, you are yet in command. Give your orders."
"But I'm not-"
"Ready? Perhaps not, though I would argue that you are ready enough. We shall soon put to test that idea, however, so fret not." The Undead interrupted gently, offering a small nod of his now masked head in reassurance and then raising his hand. "This blade in my hand has felled Grimm, warriors, gods and dragons. Command it, and show your worth as a leader. Defeat should be an impossibility with me on your side."
"...Professor, take the far right flank." He ordered, surprising the Undead though he got an explanation shortly as the man continued to give his orders. "Cut through from there and across the flanks. Fold them up with you on their backs and us on their fronts. Yang and Pyrrha, I want you in the center, hold the Minotaurs with me and let the professor cut through. Ren, far left, fire support with Weiss. Weiss, can your glyphs support us?"
"Yes, but I need more-"
"The glyphs you use to climb things work through gravity manipulation, right?" He asked as Qrow appeared, falling from a nearby tree and rising with his chest heaving from effort and his sword across his shoulders. The man started to speak, and Jaune cut him off, "Go find Blake, make sure she's alright. If there are Grimm there, I'm worried they could be elsewhere."
"What are you-"
"He is in command." Deacon interrupted with a roll of his shoulders at the Huntsman's look. "And you are the fastest, so he is right to send you for her."
"Fine. Don't fuck it up, blondie, and I'll go get the lost little kitten back for us." The man sighed and turned, blinking away in a flash of feathers as the small bird he could become took to the air and soared high through the trees in search of her.
Turning, he strode away and forward, off the path and into the sparser trees and low, thick brush. The latter he simply stepped through, no amount of bramble and twigs able to twine his great legs or hinder his goliath strength. And putting himself forward like this, he could hope that the Minotaurs would be drawn to him rather than his students.
Even if that would unintentionally invert the blonde knight's plan, it was the safer option.
Sure enough, under a minute later, a form as large as his own and covered in spined white armor and swirling patterns of red came bursting through a tree, looking like some manner of depraved cross between an armored knight and a demonic Minotaur. The leading Minotaur hefted the tree it had burst through with a bellow and hurled it towards the students ahead of its charging fellows. The children easily evaded it and leapt into combat with those two, ducking, dodging and lashing out wherever able to cut into soft flesh between armored Grimm plates.
Like a well built machine, the more durable drew the attention of the beasts while their damage dealing companions circled and cut into muscle, tendon and whatever other weaknesses could be managed.
He left them to it and hefted his blade in two hands, leaping into the fight with the one that had hurled the tree. It bellowed in rage as he swept forward, sword held back and low to cut up and into its chest, aiming to end the bout as soon as possible and move to aid his fellows. But the creature's eye glinted and it leaned back and away, the blade whistling through the air before his bestial form.
He caught the momentum easily and brought his arm back in one smooth motion and stepped forward to thrust his great blade into the Grimm. Its white armored arm came up and caught it though, the blade punching into its forearm and sticking there. The beast bellowed but capitalized, wrenching the armor up and forcing an opening in his guard for a lacking of his weapon, its free hand lashing out and catching across his helmet in an attempt to force him back.
His grip didn't waver though and in short order he wrenched the blade back, cleaving through its armor, flesh and bone of its hand in one long ploughing blow. The creature bellowed a wet shriek and lowered its head, ramming into his chest in an attempt to gore him and now he let his sword fall to the side, turning to ash far before it hit the ground. Wrapping one arm around its neck, he let the creature push him back and gripped one of its horns, snapping it off and turning it in his hand to plunge it into the base of its skull.
With a weak wheeze, the creature sagged and he pushed it off him, waiting and watching just long enough to see the smoke begin to waft from between its large overlapping plates.
"Weiss, no!" He turned at the young woman's shriek to search for the source of the young reaper's voice and swiftly found it.
The Reaper had buried her blade in the back of the Grimm and hung from its back now, the weapon stuck deep within the dying beast while she pelted it with ineffective blows. Jaune and Ren joined her, burying their blades into its hide in an effort to stop it. And in its hands Weiss, face strained and red as Aura sparked and the creature tried to pull her in two.
"In the name of Anora Londo, prepare to rain holy fire, Silver Guardians!" He bellowed, armor vanishing in a blink and pooling to either side of him, the form of half a dozen half-formed knights appearing with great bows drawn and Dragonslayer Arrows pulled to their ears. "Loose in the name of the Last God!"
A dozen of the massive arrows hurtled through the air with pinpoint precision and draconic strength, ripping one arm free of the Grimm and boring through its back and out its chest across its torso. The force hurled it over the woman and away, the Schnee falling free while the archers turned on the second Grimm, on its knees and on the way to its deathbed already.
A volley of ashen bolts the size of men sent it along more swiftly, though.
"I-I'm alright." The young woman assured them as they surrounded her, her partner letting her lean on her shoulder as she rose, a dainty hand accepting Myrtenaster from Jaune when he held it out. "W-What was that, though? The way they moved, it was like they were tactical."
"They broke right by us, didn't even hesitate, and went for our back line." Jaune explained, eyes hard as he turned to the ancient warrior. To his surprise, there was no self-doubt in those eyes as they met his. No blame or guilt, where a novice leader ought to have felt spades of both over a near failure like that. "Something is wrong here, professor. These Grimm weren't behaving like, well, Grimm."
"Hm… Are you wounded, Miss Schnee?" The woman grimaced and laid a hand on her side just below the slim curve of her small breasts, and he caught her meaning easily. Kneeling, he laid a hand on her chest and ignored her flushing, "By the power of the Goddess, the flesh is knit and the bone is founded."
"Ah!" The girl gasped and flushed for it and where his hand was and he withdrew, kneeling before her and offering a small nod of apology for where he'd had to touch. "Thank you, professor. I could have survived it, but broken ribs would hinder us. My ankle feels cracked as well. Would you mind…?"
"At your request." A hand was laid on her calf and another spell murmured and she was good as she had been before the fight, standing on the town power while he rose. "Fast march, one more mile and we rest. Ashen Knights!" The forms of a trio of Black Knights, armor not fully formed and edges glowing cool and orange, formed behind him and he ordered, "One to the front, two to the far flanks."
"Sir?"
"You did very well today, Mister Arc." He assured the blonde, "But now we are at risk. Something is odd here, and I know not what. For now, I request you cede command back to me until we reach the settlement."
"Of course, sir."
"They may have information regarding the Grimm behaving so much more intelligently as well." Pyrrha offered gently, stepping between the blonde knight and the larger Lord to meet his gaze. "Whatever this is, they will need warriors of a caliber to solve it. I know it is a delay, but…"
"We are s'posed to make a show of doing jobs." Yang pointed out, arm bleeding from a small cut. He turned towards her and she waved him off, "Pain feeds my Semblance, Prof. So thanks for the thought, but might need a little sting if we get jumped."
"I will consider what we do once we reach the settlement then." He rumbled, leaving the young maiden alone if it was her wish. Seeing Qrow and the young Faunus emerge, he offered them a small nod and raised his voice to carry around them. "For now, we move on. Be wary, and be ready for combat at the shortest of notices."
Whatever the case here, he suspected they would soon find a small quest to adequately mask their greater one. As had been planned,really, though he made a note to keep his guard up more. Not one of his precious little students could come to harm for his inability to reach them.
Not one.
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SD Phantom :
'Amicable'.