Ember Legacy, Volume 3

Chapter 21: Befriending a Wyrm

Western Reaches of Vale

"No, I would not want to live in a world without dragons, as I would not want to live in a world without magic, for that is a world without mystery, and that is a world without faith."

~ R.A. Salvatore, Streams of Silver

"Of all the questions you could ask," Coco stated amusedly from where she strode at the head of their little column. "All the vastness of mystery surrounding Dragons, the legends and lore that have built up for so many millennia… That's what you want to know first?" She cut an imposing figure in her elegant long-sleeved tunic, trousers, and high-heeled boots, along with several beaded necklaces, all in a theme of various russet hues to match her hair and namesake.

"Yep!" Nora replied cheerfully, walking alongside with her warhammer slung over her shoulder and a carefree grin on her face.

"Fine," the Bronze sighed. "Yes, we can have sex as Dragons. And yes, for the males, it means they are accordingly… how did you put it… 'well-hung'."

"Damn," the orange-haired warrior giggled. "Guess we shouldn't be saying 'hung like a horse' anymore, then, huh? More like, 'hung like a Dragon'?"

"Must we be present for this conversation?" a brightly-flushed Jeanne complained from the rear.

"I wholeheartedly agree," Pyrrha murmured, her own face a rather bright crimson. She was directly behind the pair, the Knights steadfastly remaining close by to protect Ren. Not that the half-Elf truly needed the protection, but Nora thought it was sweet anyway.

"If you don't wanna listen, blondie," Nora snickered over her shoulder, "then just go back to staring at Pyrrha's ass as a distraction."

The column paused as a crash sounded from behind. Turning, they observed a very flustered and mortified Jeanne planted face-down in the dirt.

"I tripped," the blonde squire mumbled.

"Er… would you… like a hand up, Jeanne?" her redheaded Knight inquired politely. If anything her face now matched her hair admirably.

"No, thank you. I'm just gonna stay down here. You guys go to Vale, I'll catch up."

"Oh, don't be like that, Jeannie," Nora laughed. She planted the head of her hammer on the ground, shaft sticking upright, and walked over to haul her fellow warrior upright.

Jeanne dusted herself off, unable to look anyone in the eye.

Sighing, the pink-clad woman laid a hand on her arm. "I'm sorry, I know my teasing gets a little out of hand… but that's just because I love you guys, okay?"

"Yeah?" the Knight-in-training asked hesitantly, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Seriously, I've never had friends as close as all of you, and Ruby, Yang, Weiss, Blake… All of you guys, it's like…" Nora stared up at the dense tree canopy thoughtfully. "Kinda like family. Yeah, that's it. Family."

Ren stepped up and wrapped his arm around the shorter girl in a warm, one-armed hug. "I'm impressed, Nora. I daresay I've not ever heard you include anyone in your family outside of myself."

"Aww, don't you worry, Renny," she exclaimed, wrapping her lover up in a tight hug. "You'll never be replaced."

"Of course, Nora," he smiled gently, resting his chin on her head.

"Er, I do not want to break up the heartwarming moment," their redheaded companion interjected softly. "But I do recall you mentioning your lineage before, Nora, how your mother was a warrior, just the same as your grandmother…"

"Yeah, she was," Nora replied, sobering suddenly. Ren's arms tightened around her protectively, but she gave a wan smile as she reached up on her tiptoes to brush her lips against his. "It's okay," she whispered before letting him go.

The orange-haired girl resumed her walking, tossing Magnhild back over her shoulder once more before continuing the conversation. "All my family were warriors, actually. At least, my two younger sisters, Neela and Numa, were in training." She smiled fondly, a far-off look in her turquoise eyes. "They were twins, took after my pop, though, instead of the way I do after mom. Anyway, I was off adventuring, this was before I met Ren, and…" She swallowed past the familiar lump, working very hard to keep her sunny mask in place. "It was a very large Orc war party," she finished quietly. "There wasn't anything left of the village."

Her companions were silent as they walked behind her. What could be said to that, really? Sorry was such an inadequate comfort, and she'd heard it all before, numerous times over the years.

"Interestingly enough," her half-Elven boyfriend spoke up, "we hailed from the same village without ever having known each other. It's how we met, visiting the ruins on the one-year anniversary of the tragedy."

"Yep!" Nora stated, her voice full of cheer once more. "And we've been with each other ever since!" She turned slightly to regard the somber-looking Coco. "'Course, took me a bit of convincing for me to bed him. He likes playing hard to get."

"Nora," he sighed affectionately.

Grinning widely, she turned in a half circle as she walked, shooting him a lecherous wink. "But once I did, he came to appreciate my talents."

Ren shook his head, unable to hide the broad smile. "And I continue to do so," he replied warmly.

"You two are so cute," Pyrrha laughed lightly. "It is marvelous to see such love in a world so full of dangers as we face."

"That's why I get so frustrated with you two!" Nora snarked back, throwing her free hand up in the air as she walked backwards. "I mean, I kinda get it, honor and rules and blah blah blah, but seriously! What's it gonna take for you two to get busy already!" She paused at the radiant blushes that covered both of her friend's faces. "Uh, and I only say that as your friend and I really, really want you both to be happy…"

"Face forward, imp," Coco snickered, pulling her around by her shoulder. "You'll trip."

"Eh, won't be the first time."

"In any case," the Bronze Dragon continued, tilting her strangely-shaded spectacles down to glance over her shoulder briefly. "I know some of what they are going through. Aside from the constraints of their noble Order, oftentimes we Dragons fall under the same dilemma."

"Ooooh, really?" she asked, eyes sparkling at the prospect of juicy gossip. Dragon gossip, no less! "Like what? With who? Do you have a lover you pine over?"

"No, not I," Coco laughed. "But I've known a few Dragons who fall in love outside our species."

"Wait, why is that a bad thing?"

"Well…" The brunette looked ahead, her lips pursed thoughtfully. "Understand, we are a very long-lived race, and bear very few hatchlings. It is not uncommon for a mated pair to only produce one offspring over the single century that we are able to bear them."

"That doesn't sound very conducive to propagating the Dragon race," Ren murmured thoughtfully.

"It isn't," Coco agreed. "And so oftentimes we are… strongly encouraged… by the elders to mate, even if we do not have the inclination to do so." She smiled softly. "I haven't been given any such ultimatum, but Bronzes aren't as focused on their lineage as those less-populous lines."

"Well, that sucks," Nora declared firmly. "You should be able to be with whoever you want to."

The Bronze laughed and shrugged nonchalantly. "It hasn't come up one way or the other. My brothers are older in any case, and they are unmated as well. As a matriarchal society, we actually tend to have more female Dragons than males."

"I must say, I'm learning much about the Dragon race over our trek," Ren commented. "I appreciate your being so open with us."

"Eh, no worries," she replied with a casual wave of her hand. "Figured Yang or Ruby would have opened up to you, though."

"Well, we didn't always know they were Dragons," Nora chuckled. "And then after we did know, it was kinda more us coming to terms with it, y'know? The fact that they were still who they were, just, way more cooler."

All of them joined in the laughter at that. "Yes, way cooler," Coco agreed.

"Can I ask something?" Jeanne spoke up hesitantly from the rear.

"Of course you can."

"Um… so if Dragons falling in love outside of their species is kinda… frowned upon… What does that mean for Yang and Weiss?" Jeanne frowned as she kicked at a rock in her path. "Or Ruby and Blake? I mean, yeah they're not together or anything, but I think they both wanna be, if Blake can learn to accept Ruby for what she is…"

Coco sighed and paused in her walking, She crossed her arms and regarded the others levelly from behind her concealing glasses.

"Look, I can't speak to this for Yang," she finally stated. "We were hatchlings together when her mom brought her to the Aerie, so in humanoid terms, she's pretty much my sister. But…" She frowned as she looked down at the ground. "She can be so fucking stubborn sometimes."

Giving herself a shake, Coco turned and resumed their passage through the thick forest towards the Kingdom of Vale.

"She made a deal, and that's all I can really say about it," the Bronze finally relented. "Between her and her Matriarch. The bargain allowed her to roam Remnant looking for her lost blood sister, Ruby, and now that she's found her… Well. That's up to her."

Nora frowned heavily as she pondered the implications of that statement. To her, it sounded as if Yang were one of the Dragons to be encouraged to eschew love outside her species.

"That sucks," she finally murmured.

Coco gave her an understanding look. "Yeah," she agreed simply.

"Right, well…" Nora paused at a bellow that sounded from ahead. It was deep and earth-shaking.

"What in Oum's name was that?" Jeanne squeaked as she slid her sword from its sheath.

"Ogre," the Bronze reported tersely, her head cocked to the side. "More than one, actually… And I hear combat of some sort. Likely there's someone in trouble."

"Then we should assist," Pyrrha replied firmly.

"You sure about that, My Lady?" the brunette asked respectfully. "You have the Orb in your possession, and the journey ahead is long still."

"It matters not." Pyrrha resolutely hefted her sword and shield as she strode forward. "I cannot as a Knight allow another to fall prey to monsters while I stand by idly."

Jeanne shrugged as she followed in her Knight's footsteps. "It's why we do what we do, after all," she added with a smirk.

"In any case, it's been way too quiet," Nora added, hefting her hammer with an eager grin. "We haven't had a decent fight in two days!"

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Ren sighed humorously.

Coco chuckled as she trailed behind the group now. "Don't get me wrong, I'm always up for a good fight. Just wanted to make sure we were all in this together."

"We always are," Nora reassured her with a wink.

Before long they'd broken through the treeline and into a large clearing that surrounded what seemed to be a small, palisaded village. Said rough wooden walls were not holding up very well against the determined assault by the group of eight Ogres.

"Alright, imp," Coco laughed gaily as all five of them broke out into a trot. "Let's see what you've got."

"You betcha," she grinned in reply, her words dripping with anticipatory violence.

Nora put on a burst of speed just as the first of the oversized monsters noticed the approaching group of adventurers.

You're first, then, beastie, she giggled to herself.

The towering bipedal creature, rolls of lard-encasing grey flesh hanging over its rough rope belt adorned with skulls, turned and swung its club with surprising speed for its size. The pink-armored warrior laughed gaily as she skipped aside in her sprint.

"Gotta do better than that!" she called out cheerfully. As she raced past, her hammer swung in a broad arc, smashing into the back of its knee and causing it to immediately topple onto its face with a bellow of pain.

She spied Jeanne racing in to finish off the beast, and so turned back just in time to dodge another club that impacted the ground where she'd been standing.

"Not bad!" she laughed heartily. With another swing of Magnhild, she shattered the club in two before the Ogre could retrieve it. "But not quite fast enough!"

The look on its face was almost comical in its confusion, but it was quickly replaced by one of agony as her hammer sailed into its midsection next, doubling the Ogre over. Nora grinned widely as she was obligingly presented with the top of the monster's bald head.

Not one to pass up such a gift, she brought her hammer down hard, spattering herself and the ground around her with visceral gore, bright blood and grey brain matter coating her armor.

"Ew, and I just got the stink out from the last Ogre!" she complained mildly. Turning, Nora sought out her companions, only to spy Coco standing nearby nonchalantly. One Ogre lay behind her, its arm ripped off and head caved in more surely than if it had been hit with her own warhammer.

And bearing down upon the Bronze was the last standing Ogre, bellowing in fury as it charged.

Nora hefted her hammer, poised to intervene when she decided to instead see how her new friend and kin fought. Her mouth dropped open as Coco caught the descending club one-handed, bringing the beast's charge to a halt.

The brunette smirked up at the beast. "Prepare to die," she stated with dark humor lacing her words. Twisting, she snatched the club from the Ogre's hands. The Bronze handled the weapon, twice her height, as if it were a twig, swinging it in a fierce uppercut that took the towering beast in the gut.

It went flying across the meadow, thirty yards at least, until it flopped bonelessly to the earth, its insides shattered and liquified.

Coco turned and spied the orange-haired woman watching her. "If you're gonna fight, do it with style," she stated, smirk still in place. It slipped off her face slowly as Nora stood stock-still, staring with wide eyes.

"Um, you okay there, imp?"

The pink-clad warrior began trembling in place, vibrating with an intensity that put hummingbirds to shame, as she finally opened her mouth with an ear-splitting squeal.

"OH MY FREAKING OUM YOU ARE SUCH A BADASS!"

"That was indeed impressive," Ren smiled as he walked up, staff resting on his shoulder. He immediately closed with Nora and wrapped an arm around her middle from behind, slowing her frantic bouncing. "Easy, Nora…"

"Right, right, sorry, I just… Did you see that?"

"I did, yes."

Nora wore a broad smile on her face as she stuck a proud thumb at the snickering brunette. "And I'm related to her!"

"Yes, Nora," the half-Elven Cleric laughed lightly. "Yes, you are."

o o o

The village council was suitably appreciative of their efforts, and though both Pyrrha and Jeanne eschewed any sort of monetary reward for coming to their rescue (much to the chagrin of Nora), they were still offered what hospitality they could provide. The modest settlement boasted a small tavern with rooms for them to stay in, and the grateful innkeeper put together a large dinner for them to enjoy, as well as a promise to ply them with as many beverages as they might desire.

After the surprisingly tasty meal, the five of them gathered before the roaring fireplace on comfortable chairs and couches. Coco sat by herself, while a freshly-washed Nora shared a cozy loveseat with her boyfriend. The two Mistralian Knights sat across the way on another small couch, and they all felt considerably more relaxed than at any point so far in their journey.

"Hey, Coco," Jeanne murmured after some time, staring into the depths of her mug. "So, if you grew up with Yang… what was she like as a… a hatchling? Was she pretty much like she is now?"

"Pretty much," the brunette chuckled, tossing back the remnants of her mead. "Bit more reckless, though. Gods, the trouble we'd get into…"

"Oooh, storytime!" Nora giggled, bouncing in her seat where she was snuggled up next to Ren. "C'mon, Coco, give us some dirt on her!"

"Okay, okay," she laughed in reply, brow furrowed briefly in thought. "So here's one… Alright, as you may or may not know, Dragons don't manifest the ability to change into Human form until they are a decade old, usually. Well, the both of us managed it at the same time, which just meant we could escape our mothers' watchful eyes all the easier…"

Coco signalled to the waitress for another mead, which was quickly supplied to her. She smiled her thanks and took a quick drag from the frothy brew, wiping her mouth on her sleeve before continuing. "Also, Dragon's diets are pretty varied and all, but the hatchlings prefer certain foods before we're able to eat meat. Stuff like chicken eggs, greens, milled oats, that sort of thing."

Nora screwed up her nose. "Uncooked?"

"Of course not!" Coco laughed, shaking her head. "Yuck. No, my mom is an awesome cook, she always made the best… Well. Anyways, so at the Aerie we kept some chickens around, though they were kept way in the back and away from the open spaces." She grinned slightly. "Apparently, chickens tend to freak out and not produce eggs when they see actual Dragons flying about."

"I wonder why," Pyrrha remarked dryly, smiling over the rim of her glass of green Mistralian wine.

"So, Yang had this brilliant idea to go steal some of the eggs." The brunette frowned briefly. "Actually, I don't really recall the reasoning, she just wanted to take them. Always was a thrill-seeker, and me, being the good friend I was, readily agreed."

Nora took a quick glance around the group. All of them, even Ren, were listening attentively and with humor, imagining the pair of transformed adolescent Dragons creeping through a passageway to pilfer eggs from chickens.

"Well, we managed to get in, no problem, and stuffed our clothes with the eggs so it wouldn't be obvious we took them. The both of were giggling like loons, racing back through the passageway, when all of the sudden we ran into my dad." Coco grinned widely, though it was tinged with certain chagrin. "Literally."

"Oh, no," Pyrrha snickered, covering her mouth.

"Oh, yes," the brunette laughed. "Both of us ended up on our asses in front of him, and we quickly scrambled to our feet to face him. Now," she held up a finger, "my dad is a pretty serious Dragon for a Bronze, if anybody would need one word to describe him it would be solemn. So he's standing there, just giving us the stink-eye, obviously wondering what we were in such a hurry for… and then he looks down."

Jeanne by this point was turning red with laughter, falling over slightly in her seat as her frame shook. Pyrrha was in much the same state, and the two ended up leaning against one another in their shared mirth.

"And right there at our feet," Coco continued through her suppressed chuckles. "Pooling in a big, wet puddle, were the remains of all the eggs we'd stolen. One great big, yellow, sticky mess, littered with fragments of eggshells."

"Ew!" Nora giggled. "I bet that felt nasty!"

"Oh, it was unbelievably so," Coco agreed merrily. "Wet and icky and just… But we didn't budge, either of us, Yang and I just stood there like nothing at all was wrong. And my dad, he just looks us over, not even blinking an eye, and gave us a nod. 'Chickens have been productive,' he finally said. 'Yes, sir,' I replied. And then, with another nod, he simply walked away."

"Oh my Oum," Nora laughed, clutching at her belly. Even Ren was snickering by this point, the normally stoic half-Elf shaking his head in sympathy.

"Well, we got in all sorts of trouble with our mothers," the Bronze admitted. "The both of them, somehow they just knew what we'd been up to, and were waiting for us as soon as we entered our chambers to wash up. Gods, the lecture we got, our ears were ringing for hours afterwards."

They sat for at least another good ten minutes before they were done with their merriment, finally all sitting upright and wiping the tears from their eyes with soft sighs.

As the evening progressed, and the five of them got further into their drinks, their conversation turned towards the philosophical. Ren opened up some on his time with the Order of Oum before he became a Cleric, and Nora watched him speak with a soft look on her face.

"There haven't been many who took my path," the normally-reserved man admitted. "In all of the recorded history of the Order, only a dozen or so have taken the vows of the clergy. I suppose, for many, once you are used to the violence, it becomes difficult to settle for a more… sedate way of life."

"I dunno, Ren," Jeanne slurred, peering into the bottom of her mug. "With this group, not much sedate about it."

"True enough," the raven-haired man agreed with a slight smile. "Still, I have always believed Oum has had a purpose for me. He led Ruby, Weiss, and the two of you to Nora and myself for a reason."

"Do you miss it at all?" Pyrrha asked softly, swirling her wine around in her glass. "The militancy?"

"Not at all," Ren smiled once more, this time wider. "In any case, were I still with the Order, I never would have met Nora, and that would have been unthinkable."

"Such a sweetie," Nora giggled, snuggling up tighter into his side. She turned to see Coco staring sightlessly into the fire, a faraway look in her eyes. "Hey, watcha thinkin' about, Coco?"

The brunette gave herself a shake and turned with a half-smile. "Nothing, really. Just… pondering the past, I suppose."

"Your past, or something broader than that?" the redheaded Knight asked insightfully.

"Yes, broader indeed…" Coco turned back to the fire, her brown eyes shining in the flickering light now that she'd removed her oddly-darkened glasses. "Did you know that, when the world of Remnant was young and the moon unbroken still, Dragons were as numerous in the sky as flocks of birds… We soared about, laying claim to everything our shadows crossed…"

As she trailed off musingly, the others stirred. Nora wasn't used to this melancholy side of her new friend, she was normally so confident and bold. Jeanne placed her mug in front of her on her lap and wrapped her hands around it.

"What happened?" the blonde asked breathlessly.

Coco let out a short, rueful chuckle. "What eventually happens with all the races. We got too big, too full of ourselves, and tore ourselves apart. Humanoids, small and comparatively pathetic, rose up to fill the vacuum." She turned to face the others with a small smirk. "No offence."

"None taken," Ren murmured. "I suppose our history of the world is rather more recent, the only Dragon wars we have ever learned about was the one against Ember."

The brunette nodded slowly. "That was the last time Dragon fought against Dragon on any sort of scale, and even then it was only perhaps a dozen on each side. And every single Dragon involved perished." Sighing softly, Coco took a long pull from what was left of her perhaps tenth mug of mead that evening. "It had been perhaps a couple of millennia before that since we'd fought. Large-scale fights such as those are devastating for a race that struggles to remain at a stable number. We are not Orcs or Goblins who breed in vast numbers to support their warlike tendencies."

"I can understand why Dragons would not lightly take to fighting amongst yourselves," the Cleric returned.

"Indeed, even as vast as the chasm of hatred that exists between the Reds and the Golds, the Greens and the Silvers… We Dragons have long memories as a race, and such hard-earned lessons are ingrained upon us."

"Do Dragons, then, tend not to involve themselves in the matters of us humanoids?" Pyrrha inquired.

Coco shrugged. "Usually not. Yeah, you'll find an occasional Red who's brewing up some trouble to further their own gains, or the odd Bronze like myself just out and about for adventure, but for the most part we tend to stick to ourselves. Still," she sighed, "I fear, sometimes, that we will be left behind, eventually just fading into legend and obscurity."

There wasn't much any of them could say to that, the mood having turned definitively more somber. Nora gave herself a shake and lurched to her feet, dragging Ren up with her.

"Whelp, on that note, I'm taking this gorgeous man to bed. 'Night all, see ya in the morning."

"Good night Nora, Ren," Pyrrha smiled genially. Jeanne gave them both a sloppy salute from where she slouched with her eyes now half-closed.

Coco stretched languidly as she rose. "I think I'm gonna go take a walk, clear my head. You two have fun, but don't keep the whole damn tavern up, yeah?"

The orange-haired woman grinned widely as she leaned in. "That's what Circle of Silence spells are for," she stage-whispered.

The brunette barked out a surprised laugh and shook her head, waving over her shoulder as she walked away. "'Night, imp."

Nora had intended on dragging her lover up the stairs with her, but as it turned out, she required steadying herself. "Whooo," she giggled. "I think I had a few too many, Renny…"

"It's what you get for trying to keep up with a Dragon, love," the half-Elf smiled gently, one arm wrapped around her as they staggered towards their room. While the other three girls were assigned to a common room filled with cots, she and Ren were thoughtfully given a small room all to themselves.

"But I'm part Dragon," she argued. With a wavering finger, she reached up to tap him on the nose, narrowly missing poking him in the eye. "Boop," she giggled.

"That may be the case," he agreed. "Evidently, you got the strength without the stamina, however."

By that point, they'd entered their room, and Nora twisted with impressive dexterity for her inebriated state, pushing Ren inside while slamming the door shut behind her. "Izzat a challenge?" she asked mischievously, her hands rapidly undoing the buckles on her pink-dyed leather armor.

The raven-haired man grinned back, showing the rare humor he usually only displayed for her alone as he sat on the edge of the narrow bed. "Oh, I don't know, are you sure you're… up for it?"

Snickering, Nora shucked her armor off in record time, Ren watching avidly the whole while. By the time she was naked, her head had cleared up considerably.

Impending sexytimes with her lover always had a way of giving her focus.

"Now, then," she purred as she sauntered forward. "What was that about being… up?"

With a lecherous grin, she reached down and wrapped a firm hand around his manhood. He gave a groan and pulled her onto his lap, attacking her lips with abandon.

Nora chuckled deeply as she returned the kiss, allowing the outwardly reticent man to take control as she straddled him where he sat. Finally, though, they broke apart, panting heavily.

She reached up to cup his face in both hands, pulling him in so that their foreheads touched. "I love you, Ren."

"And I love you, Nora," he murmured, his hands on her waist. A brief grin was her only warning as he quickly turned, flipping Nora onto her back on the bed with a shriek.

"Renny," she panted as he worked his way down her neck. "Spell."

With an irritated grunt, the Cleric lifted his head up and murmured a few arcane words. Like a shroud, the silence enclosed them in a bubble, reflecting the sounds they made back upon them and blocking out any other noise.

As he continued his way down, Nora considered that she actually quite liked the effect, the sounds of their lovemaking becoming somehow more real, more tangible.

And that was the last coherent thought she had for quite some time that evening.

o o o

Later the next day, many hours after the group had departed, thanking their hosts for their generous hospitality, a half-Orc dressed in simple, worn travelling clothes crested the rise of a hill past the village. He walked towards the setting sun, in the opposite direction from where the adventuring party had left.

Before long he was halted by several spear shafts that were thrust in his face.

"Gruumsh take your balls," he spat out in the guttural language of the Orcs who faced him. "Do you not fucking recognize me yet, you worthless curs?"

"Go fuck an Elf," one of them growled back before removing his spear. "You look just like one anyways."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries involving copulating with several unsavory races, the half-Orc was allowed to pass. He continued on past the resting forms of numerous Orcs, most of them slumbering but some pacing about or sharpening weapons.

Eventually, he spotted the one he was looking for, gazing out past the trees at the small village where he'd just come from. The Orc was a massive specimen of his race, broadly muscled and with dark green skin. The massive shoulders of his crude plate armor bore several spikes, one of which on each side had a decapitated head impaled, dripping blood upon him still. The one on the left, mouth open in a rictus of agony, was that of an Elven female, ugly in his eyes with fair skin and long blonde hair, while the other head was that of a Halfling male missing the bottom part of his face, brown tousled hair matted with blood.

"What news?" the Warboss rumbled without turning around or disturbing the flies that buzzed around him like a shroud.

"Some of our prey were spotted," he grunted in return. "They stayed in that village, left this mornin' and headin' due east."

"Still movin' back to Vale, then," the massive Orc mused, turning to face him finally. A scar went from the bridge of his nose down his left cheek, narrowly missing his eye. His small, dark, beady eyes glittered with an intelligence rarely found in those of his race.

"The host can bypass the village easy," the scout reported confidently.

But the Warboss shook his head. "Nope, the boys need ta have a little fun, gettin' restless followin' these turds all over this Chernoggar-cursed land, Gruumsh take 'em." He turned back once more to gaze out at the peaceful-seeming village. "We'll raze it," he declared firmly.

Without further discussion, the Orc hefted his battleaxe over his head and gave a fierce shout, rousing the hundreds of Orcs who accompanied his war party. "Alright, you lazy curs! Get yer asses up! We gots a nice, soft town of weaklings ta take!"

With a roar, the host rose to their feet as one, grabbing various weapons and hoisting it over their heads. Down at the bottom of the valley, the villagers quailed as they heard the war cries, knowing all too well what it entailed.

The Orc Warboss swung his axe down, pointing it at the unsubstantially-walled village before them. "No mercy for the weaklings!" he bellowed, and his host charged alongside him to inflict the death and destruction their race revelled in.

A/N: Decided to keep the first of volume three in the viewpoint of JNPR. Next up, though, we'll check in with RWBY and see how they're doing.

Props for my very patient Betas, KellyConnely and CaliopeGrant, and many hugs to all of my lovely readers and reviewers! AntonSlavik020, Darkstar6195, bankerrtx01, carpenter656, RatedRSuperStar87, kaiju62, Ninjapandas0010, AndJrew76, Boombox94, FoxyFoxation, djjohns94, Kinnix Wolf, love all you guys!

Stay shiny!