"Unfortunately, the call to march came too late." Lord Rouge finished quietly, sipping at his glass of the fruit wine Tai Yang had brought out for them all. It was rich, tangy and bitter all at the same time, and tingled his throat. But it was alright, and made for a decent distraction from Rouge's story. "By the time we arrived… Well, all we could do was seek vengeance."
"And you got it?"
"We did." Rouge nodded, running a hand through his beard and looking across the low table at Jaune with a thin, almost proud, smile. "Lord Arc, too. Felled one or two of the Grimm himself, and saved one of our number in the doing."
"Oh?" Tai Yang smirked and leaned back, lounging comfortably on the long, dark seat of his pseudo-throne. He dipped his cup towards Jaune before he took a drink and grunted, "First time in the fight, too, yeah?"
"Y-Yes, Sir."
"Tai." He corrected, rolling his eyes amusedly, "You're my superior, Lord Arc."
"Ah, right…" He grimaced, leaning back on his own spot on the long seat and frowning thinly. Past the dull ache in his chest, he murmured, "I'm just getting used to all this. You know? And, well… With everything that just happened…"
"I went to Ansel, once or twice." Tai Yang murmured, "you're the smith's son, yeah?"
"Yeah."
"He was a decent man. I met him a few times, years ago. Back when I was your age, before I settled in here." Tai Yang nodded, "I'm glad to meet you, finally. Circumstances aside. If I may… How did he die?"
"Defending our temple." Jaune answered, stealing a long swallow of wine and then adding, "Along with everyone else that called Ansel home. Except… Well, except for me. I was away, with friends and good food."
"No one blames you, Arc." Rouge sighed, "Take the time you need. At least here."
"Yeah…"
"Onto other stuff then!" Ruby suddenly squawked, appearing at Jaune's shoulders with a blast of petals, a rush of flowery air, and a swear of surprise Jaune managed to choke down while he caught his cup. "Cuz this is sad, Father, and I don't like it. Besides, we need to get stuff taken care of."
"Ruby?"
"Mhm."
"You startled Lord Arc."
"Ah." She turned, standing just over his shoulder, and smiled pleasantly. "Sorry about that! I can move super quick, so I spook people a lot."
"Which is why she's been told not to do it…"
"Yeah, but…" Ruby shrugged, "The Gods gave me my Light. Would be kinda wrong not to use it, wouldn't it?"
Before anyone could answer, Jaune watched her sort of… Melt, into a flowing ball of petals and red. It surged around the table to another spot on the couch, one of the ones left open beside Tai, and stopped. Then it sort of popped, arms and legs emerging in a second as the petals reformed her and she returned, sitting beside the man and grabbing her cup of water to sip at with a little smile.
"As much as she definitely needs to learn not to startle people, because it is rude…" Tai Yang sighed, earning a meek little shrug from the dainty young woman at his side before he turned to look at them to either end of the seat's curved end-cap. "Ansel wasn't the only one to call about Grimm. And you said you fought Beowolves?"
"Aye, we did."
"We sent word about Nachzehrers." Tai grunted, "Further south."
"Nachzerhers?" The word was thick in Jaune's tongue, and hard to pronounce without slurring it messily. Shaking his head he asked, "What are those?"
"Rarer Grimm." Lord Rouge explained quietly, "Peasants call the Ghouls. Or flesh-eaters."
"They tend to haunt battlefields." Tai Yang explained simply, "Or where battles are boiling. They'll ambush patrols, drag off wounded men trying to get away from the fight, whatever they can get away with. Then they eat them, and… Change."
"Change?"
"They get bigger." Ruby explained simply, "Bigger, sometimes armored, big horns and teeth… And they get smarter, too."
"Bigger ones are as smart as a man." Tai explained quietly, "But they're vain, selfish things. They'll kill their own for failing them, and lash out when something doesn't go to plan. And if you're smart, it's easy to bait them. The pack to the south has at least twenty of the bastards, various sizes. But one of the smart ones, too."
"How can you tell?"
"Grimm are stupid, Lord Arc." Tai Yang explained with a shrug, "Normally, they'll run straight into anyone they see. Works well against peasants and merchants. Less against Wanderers or Knight companies. But these ones are clever. They always avoid me if they can manage it. And the time I did catch them, a handful attacked me while the others ran."
"A retreat." Lord Rouge murmured, "Tactical… They must have an alpha, then."
"Must, yeah." Tai Yang nodded, "Ruby can fight, too, but against that many? I wasn't willing to risk her. Even if I did, there'd only be so much land she and I could cover. But with a Knight company here?"
"We can patrol." Jaune muttered, drawing all their eyes to him. When Lord Rouge gestured for him to go on, Jaune swallowed a drink of wine and tried his best to think out how he'd do it, "Narrow down a list of their likely lairs, places they could hide, and places they can feed. We could… Destroy some of them, then send Knights to the ones we leave, wherever we think it'd be best to fight them, to try and catch them."
"That's… Actually exactly my plan." Tai Yang blinked, then folded his arms across his chest and smiled, "Lord Rouge, I think we might have something of a tactician in the makings."
"W-What?"
"As do I." Lord Rouge murmured, something… Odd flickering across his face before he snorted and shrugged. "Just as well, if he's to lead a patrol."
"What?!"
"I have a map of the region, with several likely lairs on it." Tai nodded and rose, ignoring Jaune's confusion and turning. "I'll fetch it. You can use it to assign routes."
"I'll see to the rest of the men." Rouge grunted and stood, "Send it with Arc when you send him off."
"Wait, what's-" Lord Rouge just chuckled and waved him off, dropping off the low stage and striding towards the door. Confused, Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose and grunted, "I am so confused right now!"
"What about?" He squawked a shout and fell out of his seat, and Ruby giggled at him for it. Shaking her head and standing over him, she leaned over to look down at him and cocked her head, "Why are you confused? Father has a map, and you're leading a patrol. Which of those was too complicated for you?"
"Ugh." He sighed, laying on the floor, "I'm going to die…"
"What?" Ruby blinked, "Now I'm confused. You look just fine to me."
XxX----XxX----XxX
Tai Yang came back less than ten minutes later, with a thick roll of old parchment rolled up and wrapped in linen under his arm. It was yellow-edged and pockmarked by tiny holes born out of old age, and Tai handed it to him like it was made of glass. Jaune took it as such, gently tucking it under his arm and turning to meet the blonde's luminescent eyes.
"Careful with that." He said firmly, gently tapping the end of it sticking out from under Jaune's arm, "I made it myself, and spent years to do it. I want it back."
"I'll get it to Lord Rouge." He promised and grimaced thinly before he sighed and said, "But… I can't promise anything else. Not when we're fighting Grimm."
"Don't go around and make promises you can't keep." The man smiled, clapping him on the shoulder and turning away from him, looking across the hall where Ruby was sitting at a table and working at a long sort of spear she had laid out on it, "Honest men are good men. Keep at it, Arc."
"I will." He nodded and chuckled, "Honesty is… Kind of all I have."
"Better that than a lot else." Tai nodded and gently nudged him away, bobbing his head towards the door, "Get going. And good hunting out there."
"Yeah." He nodded, "Thank you."
Outside, the sky had darkened courtesy of a broken bank of dark gray clouds drifting across the sky. It was broken by dozens of little holes, and thin spots where the sun lit them in a dull gray, and light spattered across the entirety of Patch for it. From so high up, he could even see the dappling stretch out across the fields around the town. Beyond the fields, the leaves of the trees rolled in the wind, some of them tearing free and fluttering up into the air as he watched.
It was a sight to see…
But he had work to do, so he adjusted his shoulders a bit, shifted the shield on his arm, and made his way back down through the village.
Cardin was waiting by the gate when he reached it, and stepped forward with a nod at his package, "The map?"
"Mhm." Jaune nodded, "Lord Rouge told you to wait?"
"In a manner of speaking." Cardin shrugged and smirked under the rim of his kettle-helm. "Shall I lead you to him, Lieutenant?"
"I'm sorry?!"
"Oh, you can apologize after you order me to drill the men while you sleep in." Cardin slapped him on the shoulder and tugged him to walk beside him. As they walked, he explained, "Lord Rouge drew men and women from the third, fourth and fifth cohorts and formed up a sixth and seventh. The seventh will be headed by Holly Thyme. You know her?"
"Short, blonde?"
"The same." Cardin nodded, "The sixth is yours, by your right of noble title."
"But-"
"Your father Commandered a Cohort as his own, personal regiment." Cardin laid a hand on his breastplate to stop him and turned to meet his eyes, "As did his father, and his before him. It's a tradition in your family, Brother, and Lord Rouge is honoring it. Not just for honor, either, I'd wager."
"What do you mean?"
"The House of Arc is old, storied and famous." Cardin shrugged, "You are its sole male heir, in a family which prioritizes them, legitimized by your father's ring and the Head of Records, Oobleck himself. The Rouge House, however, is small, and young. And has very few allies."
"So he's giving me command early to…" Jaune shrugged, "Make me owe him something?"
"To an extent." Cardin nodded, "But more so to… Make you see him as someone to rely on. To trust."
"I already trust him?"
"In battle, sure." Cardin nodded, turning and leading Jaune along, "But if you had access to your family's Lien, and he wanted to go in on a business venture, would you trust him with much of your wealth right now?"
"I… Don't know."
"Exactly." Cardin clapped him on the shoulder again and pointed at him, "You don't know. Lord Rouge wants you to know, and wants you to know an answer that works better for him as well. Follow?"
"I suppose…" It all seemed so silly, really. Why couldn't Lord Rouge just say all of this then? And why would Jaune not just look at whatever business, or whatever else, he wanted Jaune to come in on? With a sigh, Jaune said, "I suppose I don't have a choice, then. Is Dove along with you, too?"
"Naturally." Cardin nodded, "Rouge gave you both of us, and me as your Second."
"Why you?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
"Because you're louder than Dove?"
"Ass." Cardin grunted and then grunted and shrugged, "Actually, you're part of the way there. I'm bigger and louder. Better for corralling the unruly. The kinds your name and title won't bring in line, at least."
"Ah." So, a bully, then. If one with an official posting for it. Nodding curtly, Jaune said, "I want you to meet me in the evenings, then. To teach me what I need to know."
"Why evenings?"
"Deery tutors me in the mornings."
"A-Ah…" The larger man grunted and fell silent, frowning and dipping his head, and Jaune sighed.
"Cardin, I… I understand why you… Why you don't like her." Jaune sighed, "But-"
"I can be professional, Arc." He sighed, "When I'm made to. Is it an order, then? To put up with the animal?"
For a long time, Jaune considered making it one. If only to save himself a headache, and her some bruises. But, finally, he shook his head and said, "No. If I make you work with her, it'll only end up with one of you hurt. Better to keep you to apart."
"Sounds like a headache for you."
"Yeah, but that's my problem." He shrugged, "I will order you not to hurt her again, though. Or anyone else."
"Anyone?"
"Pass the word." He grunted, voice low and stomach churning as he pushed himself to step into the command that had been thrust onto him. Cardin turned to him dutifully, and he said, "None that want to serve under my command are to abuse the Chastened. Ever. Physically or otherwise."
"They won't like that…" Cardin grumbled, "Especially if you mean the bed-warming."
"Forcing them to debase themselves, and hurting them, will only push them into our enemy's hands." Jaune argued simply, turning to meet Cardin's gaze more fully. "The second a Faunus reaches out to a young Chastened, covered in bruises and on her way to a night of earning more, that Faunus learns everything the Chastened knows. That will cost lives, Cardin."
"Even so." Cardin rumbled, "It will be hard to convince them… To obey, or to do it without holding a grudge against you."
"Look, I'm not saying to cut it all." Jaune granted, even as it made him sick. Ignoring the bile in his throat and trying his best to talk like the noble he was supposed to be, he went on, "Take a Chastened to bed, strike one that's… that's being uppity, or skirting their work. Only not so often, or so freely."
"Still, it's their right."
"Look, taking one to bed once or twice in a week is different to demanding their constancy, like I've seen some do. And punishing someone failing their tasks every day is different to rodding one if they so much as take water while they work." Jaune explained with a sigh, "I just want us to have a better reputation, for security's sake."
"I'll curtail the worst of it then." Cardin nodded, sounding more resigned to what Jaune was demanding than convinced by his arguments. Which was the nature of command, he supposed. A point reinforced by the man's sarcastically drawled, "By your word, my Lord."
"Oh, we are not doing that."
"Oh, but we are." Cardin grunted, smirking roguishly, "Especially with you throwing me under the wagon and forcing me to go tell our Brothers and Sisters to not be so handsy with the Chastened."
"I…" Jaune blinked and waved him off, "Fair enough, I suppose."
"Aye." He grunted, "Fair enough."
Finally, they reached Lord Rouge's larger command tent, flanked to either side by their wagons and, in front of those, heavily armed Knights. The wagons were rowed alongside each other, three to either side, and thronged by Chastened and Knights alike, who worked to unload food and load up longer lasting, fresher provisions while others set to work cooking. Or just trotted off to eat, in most of the knights' cases. The more heavily equipped Knights were the nes normally mounted on horse-back, but for now, they were serving guard duty.
Which Jaune wasn't sure they liked, compared to riding around, judging by the glare the one that stepped forward shot him. "Business?"
"I'm to deliver a map to Lord Rouge." Jaune answered quietly, Cardin just behind him. "And, uh, speak with him as well."
"Hmph. Wait." He turned and stepped to the tent-flap to poke his head inside and say something Jaune couldn't hear. A moment later he stepped back and turned to Jaune, "You are permitted to enter, Brother."
"Thank you." He nodded and added, "Brother."
Inside, the tent was far less spartan than he'd grown used to. A long wooden table ran almost from end to end, with a large, fur bedroll to one side and a desk and chair to the other. The desk was covered in papers, letters and old maps of further out terrain. The table was thronged by food, mostly fruits, cheeses and breads, the kind you could leave out without spoiling right away. All set out on silver plates and trays and bowls, with silver and brass cutlery alongside it. A trunk under it was partially open, its brass fittings old and worn but still glinting in the light of the candles and torches that lit the space.
"Arc." Lord Rouge grunted, looking up from his food, and the book he was reading, to pay him a nod. "The map?"
"Yes, Sir." He nodded and raised it, then grimaced and corrected himself, "Er, I mean Captain. Right?"
"Better than Sir." He chuckled, "Leave it over there. I would speak with you."
"About the cohort?" Rouge raised an eyebrow, and Jaune shrugged and explained, his shield across his front and free hand resting comfortably on its rim. "Brother Winchester met me at the gate, and informed me."
"Ah." He hummed and nodded, running a hand through his beard to clear it of crumbs and nodding again. "Good. I intend to organize your patrol along an easier route, back the way we came, in the forest, and then out towards the sea and to whatever sites Tai Yang marked on his map, which will be marked on a local map for you to use come tomorrow afternoon, once my Chastened are done scribing the copies. Your command is untested, and as such, I give you the safest of the routes. Is that agreeable?"
"I…" Honestly, Jaune didn't even want that. But ultimately, he nodded and said, "You would know better than I, my Captain."
"Good." He nodded, "Get some rest. The hour grows late. You're to meet outside my tent, where your cohort will be prepared, come morning."
"I understand." He nodded and half-turned, adding a polite, "Good night, then, if it pleases you."
"And to you." He nodded, turning back to his book while Jaune slipped back outside.
Sighing, Jaune turned towards his tent, more than ready to get some rest. It had been a long day…