"What is four times six, divided by three?"
"Eight." He answered, ripping off a hunk of his bread and dipping it in the soup they'd been served for lunch.
"Excellent." Deery smiled, sitting beside him on the low log that ringed the fire and turning in her book to find another problem to test him with. "Perhaps something more challenging, you've gotten every one so far… Ah. Nineteen times five, divided by seven?"
"Oh, that's not fair." He complained, "There's no even numbers!"
"No, there aren't." She smiled, "This is, perhaps, a chance to test your knowledge on remainders. Hmm?"
"I hate remainders…" He groaned, chewing on a bite of pork and potato while he worked it out in his head - Deery despised using tools since, as she said, there was no guarantee he'd always have them. Finally, he tried, "Thirteen and… Thirteen and four?"
"The phrasing would be 'point four'." She chided, "And no, but close. Thirteen point six, not four. The first digit past zero is five, as you no doubt realized, but the second is seven. Which would raise the round to six, not four."
"Ah…" He grimaced, "Damn."
"Don't be upset, Master." She smiled and closed her book, sliding it into a leather bag full of others like it, from history to courses on writing and literature, and cinched it tightly. "Your letters have come along splendidly, and you got all but one of the history questions right. You should be proud."
"Yeah." He nodded and smiled, "Thanks, Deery."
"You don't have to thank me." She chuckled, "I am yours. You command, you need, and so I do."
"I know, but… Still." He smiled, "Thanks, Deery."
"Arc." He turned and looked up at Cardin, looming over him and staring pointedly away. Away from him, and away from Deery, too. Jaune frowned for it, but let it go - he couldn't push the man for more.
"It's time?"
"It is." He nodded and turned away, "I'll get the cohort into formation."
"Good plan." He nodded, watching the man leave before turning to the almost bemused Faunus and smiling apologetically. "We'll have to continue later, Deery."
"Of course. Duty calls, after all." She smiled as she stood, sliding her book bag into her leather bag smoothly, laying the leather fold that protected the insides over the top and cinching a leather cord around it to keep it taut.
As she left, he sighed and stood, rolling his shoulder as he turned to follow behind Winchester.
By the time he reached the front gate of Ansel, Cardin had already formed the cohort up into four ranks of five knights. The formation was loose, though. Relaxed, even. Most of the knights were turned, talking to one another while one knelt and read from a small book and another stood, watching the clouds. He heard a grunt and turned, making his way over to Cardin who was standing in the shadow of the gate itself.
"Why are they wearing packs?" He asked as he reached the larger man, gesturing at the dark, cloth and leather bags they wore, straps tied from one shoulder around the opposite hip and back up, to the bottom. Even Cardin had one, slung over his shoulder's armor carefully, where he could shrug it off easily.
"We're to march out of the woods, to the plains." Cardin explained, "Then, back again."
"Ah." They'd get there with the sunset, then. And walking back in the dark with Grimm about? Not something he fancied. Then, he grimaced and murmured, "I, uh, don't have a pack…"
"You're the commander." Cardin chuckled, "Not carrying a pack is one of the perks, my Lord."
"But where will I get my food from?"
"That would be my duty, Master." He turned to see Deery approaching with a larger backpack, one with a wooden frame and a wooden bottom. It was almost like the kind he'd seen gatherers use to lug in wood and forage from the forest, but colored a dark, Preying Eagle, blue.
"But…" He turned, shaking his head and making his mail clink as he did, "Deery, that's too dangerous."
"I marched with the dispatch." She pointed out, "And for the same reason. I was required to."
"But-"
"I hate to do it, Arc, but I have to agree with the animal." He shot Cardin a glare and he grimaced and sighed. "Whatever you want to call her, she belongs to you. Her job is to stay with you."
"But it's too-"
"I will march in the rear, Lord Arc. Where it is the safest." Deery cut him off, stepping forward and laying a hand on his shoulder. She smiled gently and cocked her head in that almost-coy way of hers and added, "And, if it helps, I would wish to come even if I wasn't compelled to."
"A-Ah…" He couldn't help but flush and turned, coughing to clear his throat. "Well… Fine then. I guess it can't be helped."
"No, Master." She demured as she slipped by him, bumping into his shoulder as she went, "It can't."
"B-But you stay with me!" He called after her as she joined the assembled Knights, "Where I can protect you!"
She turned to pay him a nod and a smile, and he sighed as she turned to continue on her way.
"You should put some more discipline into her, Brother." Cardin said, stepping up to his shoulder. He sighed and turned an unamused look on the man and Winchester held up his free hand, the one not holding his shield, and defended himself, "This isn't about… What I mean is, if the men see her being so familiar with you, then they will act the same."
"And that's bad…?"
"The men must respect you, or they'll disobey you. In a fight, that could get someone killed very, very easily." Cardin grunted, laying a hand on his shoulder, "I'm not saying… I'm not saying drag her over your knee and rod her in front of the men. I'm saying… Control her."
"Control her…?"
"Take command of her. Take command of the men." Cardin grunted, face softening a bit as he added, "If you insist on doing it your way, this is fine. But do it. For your sake, and for all our sakes, too."
"Peter always said discipline was important." Jaune murmured, "Guess you're saying the same?"
"I am." He nodded and added, "Brother."
"Alright…" He couldn't argue with Cardin - if only because he was certain Cardin knew more about these kinds of things than he did. But he did growl a short, hot, "Don't call her an animal."
"Hpmh…"
"Not to her face." He offered quietly, "At least not to her face."
"Fine, that's fair." Cardin sighed, turning to pick up Jaune's new round-shield, freshly painted with his crest, and offering it to him. "Not to her face."
"Thanks…"
"Of course, First."
"Hah hah." Jaune rolled his eyes and adjusted the shield in his hand, "Get the men in order then, Second."
"As you say." Cardin chuckled, turning and bellowing, "Fall in for march!"
The soldiers didn't respond, but they did fall quiet, straightening, ordering and tightening their formation quickly. Almost mechanically. At an order from Cardin, they pivoted, turning smoothly on the spot and waiting while he and Cardin moved to the side of the formation. Deery joined them a second later, standing just behind Jaune, nearer to the rear, and Cardin turned to meet Jaune's eyes.
"At your word," he rumbled, "First."
Jaune nodded and turned, raising his voice to call out, "Cohort - forward, march!"
XxX----XxX----XxX
'From blood, right. From right, just action.'
Such is the motto of the House of Arc, a fact I only learned in the months and years following my adoption into it.
Supposedly, it's meant to say that from the Arc's blood, they get the right of nobility. And through that, they're meant to act justly. Act nobly. Act… Well, for good, in short. That's what Deery taught me, through that first march to Ansel. That long, wet march. I asked her what it meant, once, when I was pushed into my first command.
She just smiled in that way of hers, and cocked her head and answered, 'I should think it is up to you, to decide what you wish it to mean.'
I wonder if, now, she'd tell me I lived up to that…
XxX----XxX----XxX
"It's quiet out here." Jaune said as the sun began to dip dangerously low in the sky off to their side, casting the world in long, stretching shadows and washes of ruddy orange and red. It was beautiful, and cast the already warm leaves of the trees in a light that made them look almost like fall had already come and gone.
"If you say that it's too quiet, Brother…" Cardin growled from beside him, "Rank be damned, I'll clock you."
"N-Noted." He chuckled, shaking his head and changing the subject quickly, "The rainy season is well and truly over, now."
"Mhm." Cardin grunted, "Fall, then."
"Yeah…" He'd been seeing the tinges of ruddy colors to some of the leaves for the last week or so, now. They were weeks out yet, but the air would get cooler all the while and, by a month out, the cool of fall would have truly settled in. And storms would be on the way to herald the winter.
He hated the winter…
Turning, he grunted, "Deery?"
She seemed to materialize at his shoulder, hands gripping the straps over her shoulders, and smile warm, "My Lord?"
"Do you mind giving me some water?"
"Of course, Lord." She reached back, hand slipping into a pouch on the side of the pack, and drew out a simple leather waterskin with the deftness of someone that had rehearsed the action for days. She handed it to him with a respectful bob of her head, "Here you are."
"Thanks."
"You don't need to thank me…"
"No." He chuckled, "I don't."
She only sighed and withdrew, leaving him to take a drink from the water as they walked. Turning, he offered it to Cardin who took it and took a drink as well. While he did, Jaune watched the Knights and grimaced.
"Should we…" He took the waterskin back and finished, quietly, "Let them drink?"
"They're your men, Arc." Cardin chuckled, rolling his shield-side shoulder and grunting. "If you want to hand out water, you can. We'll need to send your Chastened into the forest to refill skins regardless, when we camp."
"Ah…" He turned, mouth open to ask Deery if she wouldn't mind, and Cardin's words occurred to him. If the men didn't respect him, that would cause problems. Dangerous problems. Nodding, he turned and snapped, "Brother Dove!"
"Yes, my First?" The knight grunted. He was marching on the forward, outer edge, of the formation and turned his head to meet Jaune's gaze.
"Come." The man fell out smoothly, taking the next stride at an angle to clear the formation and turning to wait for Jaune to reach him, which served as the rank he fell into, marching at Jaune's side while he held out the water skin. "Carry this. Take Deery around the formation, offer water."
"Yes, First." Dove nodded, taking the skin and turning to grunt, "Follow me, Chastened."
"As you say."
It took about thirty minutes for Dover to circle around the formation with Deery, handing out water and letting the Knights pass the skin along. He could hear them mumbling their thanks, grateful even for a Chastened to water them after such a long walk, with another hour ahead of them. After a while, though, Dove returned with his Chastened in tow, and several empty waterskins in his hands.
"The Brothers and Sisters are satisfied, First." He reported, "With permission, I would take your chastened to collect water and come to meet the cohort at the end of the forest path."
"I don't like the idea of you breaking off with Grimm out there…"
"It should be safe, First." Cardin advised, "We came in along this road. Chastened broke off and were foraging all the while, as is common practice."
"I never saw them."
"The Chastened rode in the rear, Lord." Deery explained in her quieter, meek voice, the one she tended to use when other knights were around and she didn't want to risk offending them. He didn't like it, it made him feel… Off, in a way, but he didn't dwell on it. Instead, he listened, "We were often given pack animals and sent into the forest to gather what we could find. Wood, forage, and, yes, water."
"I see." With that in mind, Jaune turned to Dove and nodded, "Take four with you."
"Yes, First."
"Deery, give me your pack."
"But-"
"There may be Grimm out there." He cut her off, turning a hard eye on her, trying to be firm the way Cardin wanted him to be. "I don't want you dragged down by a heavy pack if they come after you. And I don't want my Knights to get caught out because you're slowed down, either."
Couching it that way, even the Knights couldn't disagree with him - he was taking the weight to protect them, after all.
"Very well, Lord." She grimaced but shrugged off the pack, helping it onto his shoulders as they walked. It was awkward, but he didn't want to call the march to a pause just for this - that seemed improper, somehow.
With that settled, Dove pulled off the men Jaune had ordered he take, and they slipped into the trees. Jaune watched them go for a while, walking at a diagonal line alongside their formation, into the forest but following the road towards its edge as well. But, eventually, they vanished into the stretching shadows and rolling forest.
He grimaced, feeling… Unsure, somehow, and turned to continue on.
"You did well." Cardin offered lowly, "Command comes to you naturally."
"Not really." He shrugged, "I just… Copied how Port talks- Talked, I mean. And listened to what you said earlier."
"Still aches, eh?"
"Yeah." He flushed and ducked his head, considering his words, or even if he should speak them, for a long time. Eventually, though, he went on, "It's… I don't know. He wasn't even my father, but I don't know when I'll be over it. Meanwhile, I'm mostly past my real father's death."
"You only knew him a short time." Cardin said, "Blood binds you, but… Well, It's hard to put it to words."
"Yeah…" Jaune snorted, "You're telling me."
"Yeah, fair." Cardinn sighed, "Don't feel bad, though. I love him, but I'd weep the death of any of my brothers over the death of my Uncle Sven. Blood ties or not, I just… I don't know him. No context to feel anything."
"Yeah, I can sympathize. Believe me, brother." Jaune nodded as he saw the break in the forest ahead of them. "I see the break."
"As do I." Cardin grunted, raising his voice and calling out, "Prepare to break the march! You have your tasks assigned already, see to them!"
"Yes, Second!" He heard most of the cohort shout out, before the forest fell silent once again.
Once they reached the end of the road, Jaune ordered them to set up camp just off to the side of the break in the trees. There was a bit of a curve inwards in the trees, which would shield them from the wind, and they set up their tents there. Under Cardin's suggestion, he scattered five of his Knights along the treeline beside sheltered torches, to keep a look out.
With that done, he erected his own tent, one he'd have all to himself, and sat down in it to read some of the texts Deery had brought along.
After twenty minutes, he heard heavy boots slamming into the earth before his tent flap was yanked open and Cardin leaned in to snap, "Up, Arc! There's been an attack!"
"What?!" He snapped, closing the book and pitching it to the side. He'd taken his helmet off to read, along with the gambeson and coif, and left them behind to hurry out.
It was dark by now, but the tents that circled his were then circled by torches, and a fire had been built beside his tent. All of which cast enough light to see the two fire-litarmored forms kneeling beside the fire and heaving for breath while others surrounded them, watching the trees with their weapons drawn.
A third armored form was on the ground, leaning over another figure.
This one without armor…
"Deery!" He hissed, storming over and falling beside the woman with a heavy clank of his armor shifting.
"Jaune…" She groaned, rolling to look up at him and grimacing as the Knight leaning over her pulled a bandage taut around her waist. It was already turning a deep scarlet to match the cloak thrown over her other side and arm, and he could hear the pain in her voice as she reached up to him. "I-I'm sorry…"
"Why?" He asked, catching he hand, "Why would you apologize?"
"She used a weapon that wasn't granted to her." Another Knight said as she came over, holding her hammer aloft, its head glowing red-hot from the fire. Kneeling, she yanked the cloak aside and pressed it down into the ragged stump just below her shoulder.
She screamed, but all he could think to ask was, "W-What?"
"It's a death sentence." Cardin hissed at his side, yanking him back, out of Deery's grip, and meeting his gaze. Jaune flinched and Cardin cursed and knelt to lay a hand on her good shoulder, "Why would you do that?"
"To save us." The Knight tending to her snapped, "Ghouls ambushed us on the way back. Took down two of us. She took up one of their swords to help us fend them off. They took the corpses and fled."
"Ambushed…"
"I'm fine." Dove grunted, sinkin to the floor to catch his breath when Cardin looked up, eyes wild and mad. "Focus, brother."
"R-Right…" Cardin turned to him and asked, "Orders, First?"
"What?" He shook himself and stood, turning to watch the forest and gritting his teeth. Deery was hurt, but… But he had a job to do. He could feel guilty later, but for now, he had to keep her safe. Her and everyone else. "Double the guard! I don't want anything getting close to camp before morning! Two man teams, around the torches! Add more if we need more torches for postings!"
"You heard him!" Cardin snarled like a feral animal as he stood and drew his weapon, "Alexander, with me! You're on watch with me, after I sort out the other groups."
"I can-"
"Stay with your Chastened." Cardin cut him off, turning to him with hard eyes but a more knowing expression than he'd expected. "I'll take first watch, and organize a second. You can take it. We don't have the men to spare otherwise."
"Got it." He nodded, letting the more experienced man lead. Cardin grunted and left him behind, storming off to organize everything. Turning, Jaune knelt by Deery and held her hand while he watched the other knight tie off a bandage around her ruined arm. "How is it?"
"It'll hold." She sighed, "Until the trial, at the least…"
"Trial?"
"Lord Rouge will have to try her, for taking up unpermitted arms." She murmured, voice just audible over the background sound of Cardin snapping out orders. "You'll have to speak for her."
"I see…"
"I will as well." Dove grunted, "She saved my life."
Jaune nodded but didn't answer, kneeling and holding his Chastened's hand. She was asleep, or unconscious at least, but even so it tightened around his. Her stomach was bloodied, and her arm gone. And he could only see shallow breath in her body, too.
Why did it feel like the gods wanted him to suffer?