Chapter 7: Wetland Warfare

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"Man, how much longer before Jaune saves Summer?" Sun demanded. "This is getting ridiculous."

"Well, at least Vomit Boy's enemies are pretty weak," Yang pointed out. "I mean, sure, the guys with chainsaws are kinda tough, but he can still handle them, no problem."

"Yeah!" Nora said with a smile, as the lights began to dim. "These villagers have nothing on our Fearless Leader! What's the worst they can do, throw some captured Grimm at him?"

The episode began where the last had left off, with Jaune making his way back to the path leading to the church. To his surprise, he found that a side trail branched off of the pathway, heading off to his left. The Huntsman followed this trail, until he found himself standing in front of a wooden walkway that gradually descended along the side of a cliff near the church. Far below the cliffs was a giant body of murky gray water.

"Huh. A lake," Jaune murmured quietly. "I wonder if these villagers are fishermen too?"

"So this was a community of farmers, miners, and possibly fishermen," Pyrrha commented, before frowning. "I still can't think of anything that would cause such simple villagers to commit such gruesome acts of violence!"

"It could be a Chill," Tai suggested. "That's a Grimm capable of possessing humans and Faunus, and uses them to attack others," he explained as the students in the audience looked to him for an explanation.

"It is possible, but unlikely," Ms. Goodwitch stated. "These villagers are capable of strategy and speech. The host of a Chill just shambles around like a zombie, and can only repeat the last word they said, over and over."

Jaune looked around, but there were no other pathways that he could see.

"Well," he said with a shrug, "I guess there's no way to go but down." He started towards the walkway, only for his attention to be caught by a piece of paper nailed to a fence post to the left of the wooden path down the cliffs. Curious, the Huntsman approached to see what was being displayed, and found it to be a notice of some kind, which he read aloud: "Forest and the Huntsman have escaped captivity. While losing Mr. Hemlock would be an inconvenience, retaining the Huntsman is still our highest priority. Only through him can we bring about world peace, at least according to Lord Pastel."

"Leave it to a sadistic cult to believe murder and mutilation can bring about peace," Blake muttered. "Not even the White Fang, with how far it has fallen, is naive enough to believe that."

"Fortunately, we do not need him alive in order to put him to use, so feel free to tear him limb from limb." Jaune continued to read, blanching at this declaration. "Since he has come here to retrieve his daughter, I have decided to lock the church where she is being held. Anyone who needs access inside the church must first get approval from Lord Pastel. The key is on the other side of the lake, but know this, Spawn of Ozma-" the Huntsman froze for a second as he realized the notice was now directly addressing him, "You will never make it across that body of water alive. The beast Lord Pastel has released into those dark waters is sure to rip you apart, and then our new world order can finally be brought about." Jaune shook his head as he stepped away from the notice, before looking back down at the lake, a weary expression on his face. "Oh boy, I can hardly wait to see what's waiting for me in there," he said faux-enthusiastically.

"Well, it sounds as though this cult will be throwing Grimm at Jaune after all," Ren commented, causing Nora to lower her head sheepishly.

"What kind of Grimm do you think it'll be?" Ruby asked nervously.

"Well, it ain't gonna be a Leviathan, or another Grimm that size, that's for sure," Qrow assured them. "But there's plenty of other Grimm who call the water home, and all of them are still very dangerous."

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