The Blind Tiger Speakeasy
Episode 2: Black Lamb
Jaune groaned as he opened his eyes. Sunlight beamed through a single window next to the bed he was laying on. The groggy teenage boy sat up in the bed and yawned before standing up and looking around for his clothes. He could not find them however, and he had looked everywhere. Under the bed, in the closet, by the night stand. Eventually Jaune gave up, and opened the door to his room only to be surprised by a girl wearing a grey skirt and a golfer's hat. She had black hair and large violet eyes. Her face was cute and round, and her nose was somewhat small. Jaune also assessed the clothes she was holding, but a glance told them that they weren't his.
"Uhhh hi. Jonathan told me that you might need some new clothes because your old ones were, and I quote, "Bootleg and all full of holes, covered in fluids like an experienced flapper, and more droopy than a lackey high on Tea."" The girl said as she handed Jaune the clothes she had been holding. It seemed his earlier assessment had been completely wrong. Jaune accepted the clothes. It was a pair of slacks with overalls, a white freshly pressed dress shirt, dress shoes, and black socks.
"Thank you… uhm… what's your name? I don't think I saw you at the Blind Tiger yesterday." Jaune said, assuming the girl in front of him was a part of the posse.
"My name is Lily, and I am not a part of that… That… gang of misfits. Murderers. That is why you will never see me go there, no matter how strong their alcohol is." Lily said, causing Jaune to look around nervously.
"Yeahhh…" Right. He had killed people. The memories flooded back to the young blonde in an instant. Jaune scratched the back of his head before looking back at the girl.
"Thanks. Tell Jonathan that I appreciate the sentiment." Lily smiled. Jaune nodded and walked into the room, Lily following him and sitting down on the bed.
"Finally someone who appreciates my work around here! Wait a minute how do you know about the Tiger?" Lily said as she narrowed her eyes at Jaune as he began putting on the slacks that Jonathan had provided him. Jaune looked at her.
"I'm a new recruit, I guess. Uhh… oh yeah I joined yesterday. That's about it." Jaune said as he put on the dress shirt and began to button it up. Lily stared at Jaune.
"What did you do to get mixed up with a crowd like that?" Lily asked. Jaune chuckled.
"It's a long story."
|S·P·E·A·K—E·A·S·Y|
Ruby was not having a good day. The thoughts from the day prior had racked her mind in more ways than one. Jaune had lied. To her, to her friends, to his team, and Ruby understood this. What she didn't understand was her own reaction. She had gotten so angry… so… Yang, at that moment that even Yang herself had criticized her afterwards. The thought of Jaune running away plagued her the young girl's mind as she poked at her food at the table with her teammates. Her friends.
"RUBY!" Ruby yelped and dropped her fork on the floor before turning to Yang.
"Yannnggg! Why did you do that?" Ruby whined.
"Weiss has been trying to talk to you for the past 5 minutes. You didn't notice?" Yang asked as she gave Ruby a concerned look. Ruby glanced towards Weiss, who had her arms crossed, to confirm if what Yang had claimed was indeed true.
"Yang is right Ruby, I have been trying to talk to you and you seemed to be completely spaced out. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but ever since you yelled at Jaune yesterday, which was shocking to say the least, you haven't been you. Are you alright?" Weiss asked. Ruby sighed and looked away from her.
"No. I feel angry at myself for not listening. I kinda dwelt on what Jaune did and not why. I should have talked to him… I should have listened. Instead I pulled a Yang." Ruby said dejectedly as she looked downward at her food.
"Hey wait a minute I don't… nevermind." Yang grumbled. She turned over to Ruby and wrapped her arm around her neck.
"Don't be so hard on yourself. I'm sure Jaune is okay, although I don't think any of us handled it well. It has come to my attention, after a day thinking, that I was being a hypocrite by judging the blonde goofball so harshly when I've done some pretty suggestive things to a certain club owner. I was actually going to address this while I was talking to him but you, my dear sister, had quite the way with words—"
"THAT IS NOT HELPING YANG." Ruby said loudly while punching her sister's arm. Yang put on a sheepish grin before apologizing.
"What are we talking about?" Weiss screamed in terror as a orange—haired crazy person appeared from underneath the table.
"B-by Monty, Nora! Don't do that!" Weiss stammered as she recovered. Nora simply smiled and sat next to Weiss. Ren and Pyrrha came and sat down at the table with team RWBY. Things became awkward extremely fast.
"About yesterday." Ren started. Ruby tensed up.
"Ruby, I did not approve of what you said to my friend. Jaune didn't deserve such harsh words, from any of you. The fact that he, a civilian, decided that he'd rather cheat his way into a prodigious academy rather than sit around idly doing nothing as people suffered is a quality lacking in many people, even some of the students here. While I don't approve of the way he entered Beacon, I do approve of his motives. And he, while not the brightest person, led us greatly and was more than a leader to us. He was a friend. A friend that we wanted to talk to, and console in his time of need. A friend we wanted to give contact information to so we can always be in touch. A friend who was in need." Ren said as he looked away from Ruby, a somber look on his face. Nora looked at Ren sadly and nodded, their secret understanding of the feeling of loneliness helping them visualize the pain Jaune could be going through.
This didn't help Ruby with not crying at all, as she buried her head in her hands and let a few silent tears fall.
"I…I'm sorry… I was just angry. I overreacted… I know, but I never wanted to hurt Jaune. Not in the slightest." Pyrrha slightly glared at Ruby.
"You should have thought of that when you decided to scream at him." Pyrrha spat with much more acid in her voice than she intended. Yang decided then to intervene.
"Woahhhh, slow down guys. I don't want this to become the "Make My Sister Cry" Games. Yes her reaction was overblown but so was mine and Weiss'. Its too late to change what we said. But its not late to start doing something about it." Yang said, staring directly at Pyrrha. The gladiator sighed.
"I'm sorry. It's just that… me and Jaune were close. So close he decided that he told me about his transcripts. For a second I was concerned about that because of the issues of legal problems and how what he did was illegal, but it would be hard for a blind person to not see the valour in his ways and reasoning." Pyrrha stated. She frowned as a familiar tug in her chest pushed her close to tears.
"Jaune knew what he was doing, he knew the gamble he had made, he knew the dealer he was fooling. It's his own fault he got expelled… no one else's." Pyrrha said through grit teeth.
"That is not as true as you may think, Ms. Nikos." Chimed a new voice. Team RWBY and what remained of JNPR all looked up towards the familiar sound of a man sipping coffee. Weiss was the first to speak.
"Headmaster Ozpin… what do you mean by that?" The white haired girl asked. Ozpin smiled.
"His parents called me directly. They told me everything on Jaune's transcripts were false." Weiss looked away from Ozpin.
"So his parents told him out… that is understandable." Weiss murmured to herself as thoughts of her father began to drift into her mind.
"Also, let me clear up misconceptions about Jaune's condition. He has not been expelled." Team RWBY and NPR gasped.
"He's not? Then why isn't he here?" Yang asked, to which Ozpin replied to with a smirk on his lips and a sip of his favorite brew.
"Jaune is currently being retrained by some old associates of mine. He has been given a month of working with them, and if he shows exceptional improvement with them, he will be back here as if nothing occurred." Ozpin said as he turned away from his students.
"But remember girls, and , events like this often change people, and Jaune will most likely be no exception." With that, Ozpin left the kids to their thoughts, smiling with how cool he had just made himself look.
|S·P·E·A·K—E·A·S·Y|
Jaune sat idly at the table. He had finished talking to Lily, and was now waiting for Jonathan to finish his pancakes.
"So, Jwanf, You anf I—hol' on." Jonathan swallowed the mouthful of pancake in his face before continuing.
"You and I have some work to do today. And yes, I know you just got back from killin' ol' Sirgil, but us at the Tiger never rest. We always got work to do, always on the move, moseying along, tappin' our feet and tweedlin' our dees. Ah, to thirst for adventure and annotation of everyday musings and meaningless trifles, stifling and rife with things meant to pass time for the carless." Jonathan said as he stood up, on foot on the chair he was sitting in and the other planted on the ground. He put his hand on his chest and began to speak once more.
"But fear not, young lad! For I have been to the promised land, the resonance and irrefutable vision of greatness we, human and faunus alike, strive for. To abhor an anchor is to cast away the ship, my dear friend. Always remember what you strive for and what the Tiger stands for! You'll be learning about that soon enough." Jonathan said as he stuffed his mouth full of pancakes before pouring syrup in his coffee and drinking it. Jaune stared at him.
"Do you do that often?"
"wwhf?" Jonathan raised an eyebrow and tilted one of his cat ears.
"I mean… do you monologue like you just did often?" Jaune reiterated. Jonathan swallowed his pancakes and drunk his syrup coffee.
"Monologue? I do not monologue, my dear Jaune. I make poems. Beautiful works of vocal art." Jonathan said in a haughty, upstage tone. Jaune chuckled.
"Anyway, today we have a job to do. Quinton wants you to be there since he said you have an iota of potential. I don't know what that means. And he said make sure your bring that chip and that file the 'Headmaster' gave to you." Jonathan said before wiping his face with a napkin and putting his plate and cup in the sink. Jonathan turned around and gave Jaune a wide smile.
"Let's go! Grab your hat!" Jonathan said, gesturing towards a coatrack sitting right outside the kitchen next to the hallway that lead to the front door. There were two styles of hat; a black trilby and what seemed to be a worn leather porkpie. Jonathan grabbed the porkpie hat, so Jaune grabbed the trilby and put it on.
"Looking rrriigghhhttt proper! Let's go Jaune-o!" Jonathan said as he opened the front door and walked to the car. Jaune followed suit, and waited for Jonathan to unlock the door.
"What exactly are we going to be doing?" Jaune asked as he opened the passenger seat door of the vehicle, which was an old model 4 wheeler truck with a dark blue paintjob.
"Oh a little bit of this, a little bit of that. It won't be as intense as your first day on the job. Probably." Jonathan said as he started the engine of the old truck and pulled out of the driveway of Jonathan's house. Jaune raised an eyebrow. Something wasn't right.
"Hey Jonathan, where's Lily?" Jaune asked. Jonathan adjusted the rear view mirror and used it to look at Jaune for a second. He started laughing.
"She's back at my place. Duh. Where else would she wander off to?"
"I don't know, I talked to her for about 10 minutes. I know nothing about her." Jonathan smiled.
"Good. The less you know about her the better. Anyway, do you have the file and the chip?" Jaune nodded.
"I took the envelope out of the file, since it's the only thing addressed to the Blind Tiger, and I have the chip on my pocket." Jaune said. Jonathan tipped his hat.
"Good, we don't want Quinton getting angry. He's quite intimidating when he is." Jonathan said. Jaune sat back in his seat and let out a nervous breath. Quinton. That guy was psychotic to say the least. Jaune could safely say that he was not looking forward to their new job. Jaune leaned against the passenger door and looked out of the window.
Various buildings and structures were passing by in what seemed to be the blink of an eye. All types of people blending into a indistinct smear as Jonathan obliterated the speed limit. He took a sharp turn, sending Jaune jolting to the right.
"Hey Jonathan, for the remainder of this drive, can you please steer like a sane person and follow the speed limit?" Jaune asked.
"Too late, we are here!" Jonathan said as he stopped the car abruptly, sending Jaune's face into the windshield.
"That's what you get for not wearing a seatbelt." Jonathan quipped.
"You aren't wearing one either!" Jaune retorted. Jonathan simply tipped his hat and opened the drivers side door.
"Well, I wasn't the one who went flying into the windshield now was I?" He said, his trademark grin plastered on his face. Jaune frowned and looked away in defeat. He then noticed where they were. An old abandoned building.
"I hope this doesn't become the norm…" Jaune said to himself as he got out of the truck and closed the door. The two walked towards the abandoned building and stood by the entrance, which was nothing but a rectangular opening in the wall where two doors might have went. Jonathan walked in first, followed by a wary Jaune trailing not too far behind him.
The two males weaved through rubble and the remains of old tech and furniture as they progressed towards a central goal, one that Jaune knew nothing about. Eventually the two came to a wooden door.
"Alright Jaune, this is it. Your real work starts today! Make sure you have your chip with you and out in the open, ditto?" Jonathan said before turning and knocking on the wooden door 4 times, pausing for a few seconds, then knocking on the door 5 more times in a heart beat sort of way. Jaune reached into his pocket and pulled out the chip Ozpin had given him.
Just as he did this, the wooden door slowly creaked open revealing a man wearing a black, gold trimmed suit with a dark grey dress shirt on beneath the jacket. The man was bald and dark skinned, and his hands were decorated with various tattoos and rings. The bald dark skinned man smiled.
"Jonathan, it's been too long. How have you been?" The man said in a suave, well-mannered tone. Jonathan smiled and raised the tip of his porkpie hat.
"I've been around, providing wares and liquor for Carol and her comrades. You know, the standard. What about you, Tom? You been alright?" Jonathan said as he leaned against a wall.
"Things have been rough over in these parts lately with Roman and the Fang running around stealing dust that we buy. Ruining our business. But the thing about Roman is, to us… he's as good as untouchable." Tom said as he turned around and signaled for the two to follow him.
Jaune glanced at Jonathan, who simply smiled and followed Tom. Jaune sighed and did the same. The trio walked down a narrow hallway that bulged outward into a larger hallway, the walls now decorated with various paintings. There was a flight of stairs that descended into an unknown area of the building. Tom wasted no time however, and walked down the flight of stairs, Jonathan following close behind the man.
"So, Jaune. I know you may be confused as to where exactly you are, but worry not! This place is our little city on the hill, a getaway, if you will. After a successful mission we come here to truly experience the Blind Tiger, and all of its fine spirits! This my friend, is the Black Lamb!" Jonathan exclaimed as they reached the bottom of the staircase.
Jaune was stricken with awe.
Before him were dozens of tables, each one polished mahogany, shining in the glorious light of a crystal chandelier hanging above them. Four decorated pillars shot up into the ceiling, each of them connected to each other by a series of red ribbons. 2 bars lay on both sides of the colossal room, each one of them stacked with any type of alcohol a alcoholic could frothily dream of. From Hard whiskey all the way down to refined white wine, they had it all. In front of everything sat a humongous stage. A drum set, mic, and three guitar stands stood shining on the impressive work of architecture. Jaune was at a loss for words.
"I see you have finally made it. Jonathan, Tom, imbecile." A familiar voice spoke from on of the bars. Jaune narrowed his eyes as Quinton came from behind the counter. He was wearing a full blue pinstripe suit with a blue homburg on.
"Hey Quinton. Nice to see you are still as stuffy as usual." Jonathan said as he tipped his hat. Quinton scoffed at this.
"Fool, only someone as dimwitted as you would think true fashion is "stuffy"." Quinton said as he adjusted his glasses and fixed his tie. He looked over to Jaune.
"Mr. Arc, I assume you have your Black Lamb chip? Along with the files I was supposed to go through?" He asked. Jaune nodded and handed him the chip and the envelope. Quinton eyed it.
"What's this? I was told you were supposed to have a complete file. This is an envelope." Quinton said as he raised an eyebrow at Jaune.
"Yeah, I looked through the file and threw out what wasn't important. My "official" expulsion notice and my semester report card. All of what's in that envelope should be important things from Ozpin himself. It does have his signature on it." Jaune pointed out. Quinton hummed to himself before walking to a table and setting the envelope down. He took off his suit jacket and put on the back of a chair and sat down in it. Quinton picked up the envelope and pulled a knife out of nowhere and opened it.
"Ooooh! What's inside, is it something miraculous? Or is it a drag, like you?" Jonathan said while nudging Quinton's arm, to which he replied to with a glare. Jonathan backed away with his hands up in a surrender position. Quinton ceased his glare and turned to Jaune. He looked down at the envelope and pulled out a single folded paper from it. He eyed the paper closely.
"I see. Everything checks out then. I was expecting paperwork, but luckily Ozpin is quick to the punch." Quinton said as he neatly folded the paper and put it in his suit jacket. He stood up and walked towards Jaune and handed him back the BL chip.
"Do not lose this chip. It is the only way you'll be able to get in the Black Lamb and converse with more…" Quinton glances over to Jonathan in disgust.
"… Tact folk." He said as he walked passed Jaune. The blond boy stared down at the chip in his hand, it feeling heavier than it ever had before at the moment. He looked back up at Quinton, who was pouring himself a drink.
"Mr. Arc, I will have you know that this next month will be vigorous. I will be teaching you all of the basics of combat and eloquence, so that by the time you leave our establishment and returned to more morally sound work, you will have skills that surpass all of those naïve little brats at Beacon. And to get you prepared for this, I did what I promised would get done. I have crafted you a fine work of art. It only took me 18 hours to do so." Quinton said as he drunk whatever alcohol he had just poured into his glass. He leaned downward and reached for something hidden behind the bar counter. He pulled out a briefcase and walked over to the table he had previously been sitting at.
"Take a look, tell me what you think." Jaune nodded at this and reached for the briefcase. He opened it and was pleasantly surprised by what he saw.
"It is a high impact long neck rifle and a gentleman's cane combination, with a brilliant oak finish. It fires a deadly bullet that splits into nine smaller projectiles when it makes contact with its target and is extremely effective against humans. They also rip apart Grimm with ease, but wasting these bullets on anything that isn't a King Taiju or bigger is absolutely ridiculous." Quinton said as he watched Jaune pick up the weapon. The cane felt so effortlessly easy to maneuver.
"Also, here." Quinton pulls a .44 magnum out from inside of a secret holster in his shirt.
"My favorite pistol. I named it Clyde, because I appreciate the classics. Do NOT squander these things I am giving you, Mr. Arc. I would not take kindly to it."
"I won't dissapoint you Quinton!" Jaune says with vigor and newfound hope as he looked at his new weapons.
"Good, because your official conditioning starts today." Quinton said as he put on his suit jacket and pushed in the chair. Jaune stared at the man. He then pieced two and two together.
He was going to die by the hands of a madman.
Hello, my fellow gentlemen and fair ladies. I bring to you a new, albeit short Episode detailing the aftermath of Jaune's little "outing" with Quinton and Garrold. The next chapter is going to be a long one, so be ready for it. Thank you all for the support, and I will allocate myself in your general area later. Ta Ta.