After Black Cat left, Jaune couldn't manage to sleep a wink - anxiety and guilty regret kept him awake in spite of how tired he was. A lot of people were going to die tomorrow, win or lose, and he might very well be among them. Even assuming his plans worked, they would die, and that was a big assumption based on a lot of luck. And that was assuming the Grimm waited until tomorrow to attack, so they'd have the time to get everything ready properly, which was less than guaranteed, which made it even harder to relax now.
So, instead, he just lay there, hands sweaty and heart pounding in his chest, until he heard a quiet knock at his door.
"Come in." He sighed, sitting up and straightening his trousers before he stood.
"Jaune?" Ruby poked her head in, then let out a relieved breath and pushed the door open with a tiny, sheepish little smile. "Sorry, was just worried you might be, you know, um, busy…"
"With?"
"What all the other Knights were busy with last night." She scoffed, shaking her head, "And a lot of the militia, too… And, um, Dad, too."
"What are you-" He blinked as he put the pieces together and palmed his face. "Ah. Uh, no, I'm not… What do you need?"
"It's almost dawn." She answered, one hand massaging the bicep of the other arm in an effort to help her relax - a habit he recognized from a couple of the other younger Knights. "And… Our scouts spotted Grimm, coming our way. The skirmishers are in the fields right now, waiting for the first few to show up so they can whittle them down."
"Alright." He sighed and stood, reaching for his undershirt and flicking her a look.
Ruby wasn't wearing her normal clothes, now. Instead she was wearing a pair of well-fitted trousers, light sandals, and an equally well-fitted, sleeveless leather bodice. She had a cloak and hood, too, old and tattered at the bottom fringe, with a wide hood pooled deeply around her shoulders. Which all looked good on her, but he suspected that wasn't the point, and the actual point only made him more anxious.
He'd hoped she wouldn't fight, too…
"Are you ready?" She asked, quiet and nervous. "For this, I mean. N-Not to, you know, fight. You're obviously not in your armor, yet, so-"
"No." He answered quietly, pulling is gambeson on and pulling the laces to tighten it up. "I'm really not. But the Gods have sent us this test, so… Are you ready?"
"N-No." She murmured, "I've fought Grimm, I mean, b-but never like this. It's always been l-little packs, me and dad and maybe someone else. Not, you know, not battles."
"Yeah." He'd been in a few himself, already, but nothing like what he was expecting here. Even as relatively small as, rationally, he knew the forces were, it all felt like so much… More, somehow. But seeing the anxiety on the young woman's face, he couldn't help but offer a quiet, "We can do this, Ruby."
"You think so?"
"I know so." He lied, smiling warmly. "We have you and your father, and good defenses besides. We can do this."
"Y-Yeah…" She let out a shaky breath and relaxed, a bit, nodding more firmly. "Yeah. We can."
He nodded and turned as the door opened and his Chastened came in, looking as tired as he was but dutifully coming over to help him get into his armor more quickly. He murmured his thanks, but they didn't respond. But then, they rarely offered more than a 'Yes, Lord' when they did, so he supposed that it didn't really matter. For a moment, while they checked the last fastenings of his mail, his eyes lingered on Crocea Mors, his father's sword, leaned safely against the wall beside the head of his bed.
But he didn't feel ready to draw it. Not yet…
Maybe he would after this.
He had barely entered the Great Hall when Cardin found him, shoving a roundshield into his arms and grunting, "C'mon. We need to head down, get into place. Grimm're comin' faster than we expected them to."
"Damn." He grunted, laying hand on his the head of his belted hammer and following the larger man. "We have time?"
"Less than we had…" Cardin grunted, pushing open the doors along with another few men and women, mostly militia-members armed with light shields and spears, and they all started to head along the torch-lit roads. "But aye, we should."
"And where's-"
"My Brother is with the wounded, ready to leave when the girl gives them the word." Cardin cut him off agitatedly, then flicked him a look and sighed. "Sorry, Brother, I just… I don't like sendin' him away like this. Makes me anxious."
"Yeah." He sighed, "I get that…"
They walked in silence after that, past buildings with their windows shut and their doors barricaded by crates and rubbish, and gave the dozen or so horse-drawn carts and wagons the village had managed to scrape together. A few militia had been dedicated to them, along with a number of their own mounted Knights and his sister's, but their numbers were pitifully small. As were the number of villagers they would escort to the forest's edge. Most of the men and women had elected to stay, and were milling about the carts and horses saying goodbye to their elders, their wounded friends, and their children.
At least, if all went poorly, they would survive… Hopefully.
Finally, they came to the gate, where almost three dozen Knights were assembled in a neat formation, Lord Rouge limping along in front of them with Tai Yang at his side. Almost fifty men and women were scattered behind them, dressed in whatever padding and leather they could find, and carried makeshift spears, sharpened shovels, and the occasional, rare, proper long-spear obviously taken from his sister's fallen - or retreating - Cavaliers. They were motley band, but his own men and women were barely any better, with damaged chain, dented plate, and an assortment of shields gathered from the militia's stores or made over the last day's work.
But, he hoped, they'd manage.
"Lord Arc." Lord Rouge said as he and Cardin joined the wounded commander by the mostly closed gate, allowing the skirmishers to trickle back in. "Glad you made it - we've minutes to spare."
"Everyone's ready?"
"As they can be, yes, and aware of your plans." He nodded, laying a hand on a simple horn at his waist. "I will give the signals as needed, from behind our lines. About all I'm good for, being honest."
"You could retreat with the others." Jaune offered automatically, "They could use a steady-"
"And let you hog all the glory?" The man scoffed, smirking roguishly, "I think not, Brother. I think not."
He opened his mouth to say something, but a scout rushing through the door cut his words off, screaming, "Grimm, from the tree-line! Dozens!"
"Fall in!" Lord Rouge called out, waving for the men holding the gate to pull it open. "Fall in and advance!"
Jaune and Cardin joined the front rank at each other's side as it advanced, his Brothers opening a place for him right in their center. He locked his shield as he fell into formation with them and advanced as the gate opened, allowing them out into the open area just outside the gate. They marched quickly and formed up in a semi-circle just outside the gate, their formation's armored core supported to either side by the militia's long, warding spears of the militia to either side.
Ahead of them, a few men and women were running along the fence, kicking the metal rods they had forged into the ground more firmly in a few, scattered spots. And, past them, the wretched looking Ghouls shuffled toward them, flanking a few larger Ursai for protection as they went. Lastly, behind even those, a taller Ghoul stood atop a massive, fallen tree. It was huge and imposing, covered in spikes as long as Jaune's arms and standing hunched over under the weight of its own massive jaws and curling, spiny horns, watched them all warily, flanked by two more Ursa who were only barely even larger than the Ghoul they were seemingly protecting.
Their leader - it had to be.
"Missiles!" Jaune bellowed, raising his hammer as the skirmishers of the village formed up inside their protective circle. He waited a moment, as they came even further into range, and snapped, "Loose!"
The sling-stones sailed high and came down with a long series of echoing thwacks, thuds, and annoyed snarls, but only a few Ghouls fell. Another volley produced the same, and the Ghoul on the tree seemed satisfied that it could seen their defenses, and what they had. It straightened, standing taller and rearing back its head before it finally bellowed a long, bone-chillin roar that grated, like a nail dragged along the naked flat of a blade.
When it did, the Grimm took off at full speed, loping towards them with reckless abandon as Jaune raised his hammer and swung it down, "Free!"
More stones and rarer arrows whistled overhead and came down into the charging line of Grimm, cutting down some of the weaker Ghouls. As they fell, the next volley whistled by, lost in the murmured prayers and shifting metal of his brothers and sisters bracing, but it fell past the Grimm, the arc too close for them to fire as the Grimm reached the wooden fence, avoiding the scattered clusters of iron rods, leaping over the stretches of bare wood instead while Jaune watched.
And smiled.
As the groups of Grimm leapt over the stretches of naked wood, the ground suddenly gave way, hidden wood planks shattering with thunderous cracks and startled yelps and snarls from the beasts. Which turned to screams of bestial pain as they were impaled on the dozens of pit-spikes waiting on them, filling the wide holes with Grimm bodies and ichorous smoke. A quarter of the Grimm died there, either impaled, crushed under the weight of their fellows, or trampled as they tried to stop and were run down by those behind, and the black smoke washed across the field as his Knights and the militia cheered, holding their weapons high and drowning out the monsters.
Until it was cut off by another shrill, bellowing, echoing scream.
Most of the Grimm had died, leaving only a few Ursai and a scattering of Ghouls, but they charged them with expected reckless abandon. He was so focused on sheltering behind his shield when the Ghoul slammed into it, he almost missed the next few ranks of Grimm emerged from the forest, charging across the field towards them with feral, reckless, bestial rage. There were more now than there had been before, dozens of Ghouls of every size charging them down, but all he could do was grit his teeth as the signal horn finally blared from behind their line.
He shoved his shield forward to push the Ghoul clawing at it back and brought his hammer up and down with a meaty, skull-crunching 'thwack'. The Ghoul collapsed mutely, but he was shoved back by the impact of a larger one as it threw itself against his shield. He was thrown back hard enough to hit the shield behind him and hiss, shaking it off as the Ghoul turned, clawing across the face of the man on his flank before Jaune could bring his hammer down on its hip. As it staggered back and to his right, Cardin's Executioner came around, crushing its head entirely as Jaune stepped forward and thrust the rim of his shield into the throat of a charging Ghoul, crushing it with its own charge.
But even as it fell, another, small one leapt up and onto his shield, jerking him back and trying to pull him out of formation.
Cardin shoved it off with the rim of his shield and turned, crushing back a grappler that leapt for him in the same movement. On his other side, another Ghoul leapt onto a man's shoulder as his axe came down on an Ursa's flank. He couldn't shake it off, though, and was dragged forward by its weight as the bulk of the Grimm finally slammed against their shield-line.
For the next few minutes, it was all Jaune could do not to fall and to keep his shield up against the claws coming in. A Ghoul leapt and he snapped his shield out to break its leap and send it back, then brought his hammer around into a shoulder as another tried to push in. It shattered and he ignored it as it scrambled away and became someone else's problem, instead focusing on the next, larger one as it came, his shield cracking a bit as its mighty, meaty blow landed.
Then, a spear punched into it from behind him and he let out a breath, watching a flow of red flit and flutter over him.
Ruby materialized infrequently, landing on top of larger Grimm and burying knives, daggers and spears in them before flashing back over their armored line to resupply and coming back. As she worked, he brought his shield in and turned, caving in another Grimm's skull with his hammer and then he felt a hand on his shoulder and stepped to the side as Tai Yang slid by him.
Where Ruby flowed like water and acted like a scalpel, cutting right where she needed to, Tai Yang threw himself in like a madman. His fist crushed one, and then he stepped in and slammed a fist up into an Ursa's jaw. It shattered with a spray of black blood and teeth, and the monster staggered back as Ruby appeared, knees bracing on his shoulders and knife flashing around to carve open its throat. The Chief was already onto the next one, though, gripping a Ghoul by the throat and nearly ripping its head off entirely before hurling it into another with enough force to kill both.
Even so, he could hear men and women screaming, and with the Light-Warrior carving a swathe in front of him, he could see their second line buckling. Most of their first had already been killed, hurt, or fallen back, exhausted, and he was tempted to do the same.
But, with a snarl, he turned and brought his hammer up and down on a Ghoul trying to circle around Tai Yang's back.
It died with a snarl and Jaune heard the second horn and stood, backing away and bellowing, "Back! Fall back!"
Cardin took up the call, shoving his weight roughly against the shield-line behind them and bellowing, "Back! Pull back!"
His Knights held a moment longer, allowing the Militia and skirmishers to pull away first, before their block began backing away in formation. Even then, they were fighting, and now their flanks were open - and Jaune heard and saw men and women fal for it. Some were lifted bodily by groups of Ghouls, dragged behind their line to be mauled while their comrades could only watch. Even so, their block stepped in through the gate while Jaune swung his hammer, arm throbbing as he tried to ward off the Ghouls in front of him.
But, as they tried to reform, Jaune spotted movement out on the field and turned.
A dozen cavalry, mixed between his sister's Cavaliers and a handful of his own Knights, came screaming into the flank of the Grimm like an unexpected thunderbolt. And brought similar results, their long-spears impaling the Grimm beside them and their horses trampling the Ghouls in front of them. But the Grimm's mass was too great, and the horses were quickly surrounded, his Knights and the Cavaliers trading their broken spears out for swords, axes and whatever else and desperately hacking at them as their horses were torn apart, screaming all the while.
His Knights, confused and faced with the sight, buckled and backed away.
"For the Gods!" He heard a second before he realized the words were coming from himself. "Forward!"
Faced with a breaking line, and the slaughter that entailed, Jaune charged, hammer coming up and down on a Ghoul before his shield batted it aside and he pressed forward. Cardin was with him all the while, Executioner crushing another as he and the others surged forward, the plan abandoned.
He ducked a swipe and slammed the hilt of his grip into its sternum hard enough to drive the wind out of it, then left it to another Knight whose axe bisected its head. The next collapsed under the weight of his hammer's head as it came in to meet its face, and he stepped over it as a third leapt for him. It landed on his shield, but the shield broke, half of it falling away and sending the Grimm sprawling in surprise. Another hammer came down on its chest before its owner was bowled over by two more and Jaune turned, bringing his hammer down on one's spine as the woman screamed. Before he could kill the second, though, a claw caught him by the arm and yanked him around, hurling him high and away with all the rage and force a Grimm could hold.
He hit the ground and lay, groaning and throbbing across every bruised inch of his body as the titanic Alpha lumbered over him, glaring down on him with hateful red eyes. He raised what was left of his shield and its claw snapped out, shearing it away along with some of his armor.
And some of his forearm, too.
Before it could come down on him, though, Jaune felt cold wash over his side and, materializing from the Grimm's own shadow, Black Cat surged up.
Her sword carved up its thigh, flicking and dancing between its horns and spines as it went, trailing black blood and drawing a snarl from it. Its arm swept to the side and she ducked so low her rear brush the ground, then she twisted and drove her short-sword up and into its arm-pit, all the way to the hilt. Bellowing, the Grimm spun and grabbed her arm as she tried to yank the sword out. It lifted her bodily and Ruby appeared in a flash of red, burying a knife in one of its eyes and another in its throat.
It staggered, dropping the Faunus, and Tai Yang appeared on its flank, snapping a fist down into its bloodied leg while Black Cat dragged him away through the mud and dirt.
Finally, as it fell, he staggered upright and watched the last dregs of Grimm being surrounded by his Knights, the militia, and even the skirmishers who had come out, surrounding the fighting and pitching arrows and stones in where they could. Only a few cavalry were still riding, pulling away on limping, bloodied horses and cradling their arms against their chests. One, he saw, slumped and fell from his horse as it limped away, dragging along in the mud as it went.
But the Grimm were confused, leaderless now, and easily being surrounded by the angry villagers and the exhausted Knights.
In the sudden quiet, Tai Yang turned to the masked woman and frowned, "A Faunus…?"
"A Faunus." She nodded, stepping back behind Jaune as cold washed over him again. He turned and watched the shadows melt away like ice, and just managed to hear, "This was still stupid, win or lose."
He only sighed, turned back to the other two and said, "So… We won?"
"Yeah." Tai Yang chuckled, turning to look at the mess that was his gate. "We did."
Jaune laughed, bright and loud…
And collapsed.