Beacon Academy, Vale, Months before the Second Semester

"Lastly, we have Mistral's Team SSSN, led by one Sun Wukong, marking Haven's third team to participate in the Vytal Festival. With that, I think we've covered all the participants for the upcoming tournament, James." Ozpin leaned back in his chair as he spoke with a holographic projection of James Ironwood. The two headmasters had parsed out the list of participants for the upcoming Vytal Tournament in Vale, as part of their security preparations.

"Indeed. Status update on my end: the new line of Atlesian Knights and the Paladin will be ready for some presentations around the time Atlas' own will be heading for Vale. A good show for the people should keep spirits high and hopefully demoralize our would be adversaries." James Ironwood spoke in a grim, serious tone. This wasn't the time for levity or lighthearted banter with his long time associate. If they failed to plan for their enemies' moves, who knew what would happen.

"I wish you wouldn't be so heavy-handed James. A show of force like that may indeed lift some morale…" Before Ozpin could have continued, Ironwood interrupted him with a slight roll of his eyes.

"'But it could also stoke fears as to Atlas' true intentions with the upcoming festival'. I know, I know Ozpin, we've been over this before. It's worth the risk: you've already got some criminal element brazenly stealing massive amounts of Dust right under our noses for who knows what reason. I'd rather scare some folks rather than make it seem like we're ready to be pushed around."

Ozpin took a moment as he considered his ally's argument, before he calmly readjusted his glasses. "We'll simply have to disagree here… and I'll simply just have to let you bring your toys, James. Not much I can do to stop you, is there?" Ozpin asked, a smile finally slipped onto his face, one that was quickly matched by the Atlas Academy Headmaster.

"No, there isn't.." James reached over off of the hologram and pulled a coffee mug to his own lips. "Mmmm… sent over some good brew Ozpin."

"It helps me relax in these trying times James. I feel overwhelmed with just my work as the Headmaster of Beacon, so I have to imagine that you're set to snap at any moment with all your extra responsibilities." The two men laughed slightly as they drank from their respective brews, relieved sighs escaped their lips before they set their mugs aside.

"Well, as much fun as it is to just sit and chat, if we're done here I think it's best that we call it a-" James Ironwood was interrupted as the doors to Ozpin's office opened. In walked a woman, employed by Beacon Academy if her dress was any indication, with a heavy blushed painted across her features. Gripped in her hands was a white envelope, sealed with a red wax stamp.

"H-Headmaster Ozpin, Headmaster Ironwood." She stammered slightly as she quickly curtsied to the two men, both of whom raised their brows as they watched her.

"Miss May, is something the matter?" The bespectacled Headmaster asked, somewhat perturbed by the interruption.

"Oh nothing's the matter sir, nothing at all…" May said, somewhat dreamily, before she shook her head. "I-I-I mean, no sir, nothing's wrong, it's just, well, you've received a… a letter." She held up the envelope and showed it to Ozpin and Ironwood, both of whom wore surprised expressions.

"A letter? Really? Why not send a message straight to your scroll?" Ironwood inquired as his hologram leaned forward onto a desk, while Ozpin rubbed his chin.

"Unless it was something they didn't want potentially intercepted over the network. Miss May, did the man who delivered this letter give any indication as to why he brought it? Was it Qrow?"

"Yes sir and no sir. He said that it was a request for a team to participate in the Vytal Festival, Headmaster." Both Headmasters at that point just blanched in disbelief, each leaned forward against their respective desks..

"Okay… well, give the letter here Miss May. Thank you for being so… timely. You're dismissed." Miss May rushed out a nod and a curtsy as she turned on her heels back towards the door, her blush still displayed prominently on her features. "... A request to participate in the Festival?" Ozpin quickly unsealed the letter as he raised his coffee mug to his lips.

"Seems something pretty banal to go through the hassle of sending through a letter instead of sending a message over a scroll. Hardly seems worth the effort if you ask-"

Ironwood's thoughts were interrupted quite suddenly as Ozpin choked on his coffee, eyes widened in surprise and glued to the parchment in his hand as he beat a fist against his chest. Without a single drop of coffee spilled onto his desk, Ozpin swallowed and took deep breaths as he read and re-read the contents of the letter.

"Ozpin, what's gotten into you?" The general was astounded; never before had he seen Ozpin react to something in such a manner. Ozpin took a moment to gather his breath and reread the contents of the letter one last time, before he spoke aloud.

"To the current Headmaster of Beacon Academy. I would like to extend my greetings to you and whatever audience may be gathered to read this letter on behalf of… the people of The Frontier. For the past one hundred years, the people of The Frontier have been struggling against the Grimm in order to hold onto humanity's enclave on the Unknown Continent and I am proud to say that we've met with smashing success. While it was touch and go for many of the early decades, our home of Morioh is now more populous and secure than it has ever been.

"It has long since been the dream of our huntsmen and huntresses, the people of Morioh, to reunite with the rest of humanity, and it has been decided that we are ready to reach out and make that connection. Having learned about the Vytal Festival during one of my outings to the rest of the world, held in Vale at the time, funnily enough, it has been decided by myself and my closest advisers that this would represent a prime opportunity for The Frontier to show it's best to the other kingdoms..

"I do hope to hear back from you as soon as possible, and hopefully with an affirmation to our simple request: that the Frontier Hunters be allowed to send a team of our choosing to the Vytal Festival to compete, interact with the youths of the continent and to show the spirit of The Frontier to the rest of the world.

"Yours truly, Joseph Joestar, 3rd Head of The Frontier." Ozpin concluded as he leaned back in his chair, the letter slipped from his grasp as he reached a hand up and placed it against his forehead. A look of wonder, shock and awe played across his face as he took in this information.

The Frontier. Could it be true?

Ozpin was snapped from his thoughts by a scoff from Ironwood, who just shook his head. "Guess it wouldn't be a Vytal Festival if we didn't get some nonsense thrown our way." James clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth as he leaned back in his own chair. "Think hard about that name Ozpin; where have you heard of Joseph Joestar before?"

Ozpin blinked a few times as he stroked his chin. Joseph Joestar, Joseph Joestar…"Ah!" Ozpin snapped his fingers. "The character from Stroheim's biography."

"Yep." James sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "Looks like someone got a copy of 'The Post War World' and decided they wanted to have a bit of fun with you." The Atlesian general glared at the letter as he spoke. "I swear, if I could I'd round up every last copy of that book and throw them into the ocean."

"You have to admit, it's an interesting read." Ozpin offered as he released a slight sigh of disappointment.

"It's an interesting read because it's pure nonsense, Ozpin. Stroheim claimed that he watched a 19 year old launch himself and some age-defying, millennia-old monstrosity into the stratosphere with a volcanic eruption! The early augmentations were always thought to be a risk, but the degree they messed with that poor fool's head was insane."

"Well, let's see if our little prankster decided to stick around. I'm sure the both of us could use a bit of a laugh after all this serious business." Ozpin muttered slightly as he reached for his scroll, tapping a few commands into it. "Miss May, is our guest still-"

"Ooooooh~" Ozpin and Ironwood both blushed heavily as the low moan rang through Ozpin's scroll. "S-S-Sir, please, we shouldn't be doing this in such a public place. My boss, he's only-"

"Only in a very important meeting that will be sure to take up his time, especially considering the message I was asked to deliver, mademoiselle. I'm sure you and I can take the time to get to know each other while he contemplates it." A low, masculine voice with a lilting accent was heard soon after, and a feminine giggle followed it.

"Mmmm, but, it's so… so indecent, sir. It's barely noon." Ozpin pulled at his collar slightly as his face turned a dark red, Ironwood's jaw unhinged as he stared at the device.

"Anytime is a wonderful time for love, mon chér. Also, please, do not refer to me so formally. I would love to hear that wonderful voice of yours sing my name." A scandalized gasp echoed from the scroll.

"J-Jean Pierre~"

"Please, my dear, call me-"

"Miss May!" Ozpin shouted suddenly, as a loud ruckus could be heard some way from his door and immediately from his scroll.

"OH OZPIN, I MEAN PROFESSOR, I MEAN HEADMASTER, SIR! What can I do for you!?" The sound of the scroll on the other end of the call being jostled around echoed as May's voice became clearer.

"Is our… guest still with us?" Ozpin asked sternly, a bit of laughter accompanied by a quiet 'that was quick' heard on the other end of the line, while May offered only a quick affirmative. "Excellent. Would you mind sending him in? General Ironwood and I would like to have a word with him." Ozpin deactivated his scroll and placed it to the side. Ozpin brought both hands up and cupped his face, a deep groan echoed slightly from his hands as he fought to diminish the color on his face.

"Sounds like our guest is quite… colorful." James spoke with a clearly displeased tone to his voice, as he readjusted his collar. "Let's see if yellow is one of those colors." The general whispered under his breath as his holographic image turned so that it faced the door, Ozpin nodded his head as he kept his gaze locked on the entrance to his office.

What stepped through those doors wasn't what either of the two Headmasters had expected.

Though nearly half a foot shorter than either of them, the man's silver hair gave him a good few inches in the appearance of his height: a tall, flat-topped pillar of hair rose from a slightly receding hairline. From his ears hung two ruby red earrings of two-halves of one heart, dangling from his ears and swinging with each movement of his head. A tight-fitting black shirt with red strings criss-crossing the front of his chest and gold trimmings on the holes around the shirt's shoulders, all of which accentuated the man's very muscular physique. A pair of beige pants that flowed into a simple pair of boots completed the look of this very strange, blue-eyed and pale stranger.

"Bonjour, mes amis." The lilting, yet masculine, accent of the man met their ears as he bowed deeply to them. The posture and attitude of the man suggested a very brash confidence, though one that had been tempered over years of experience and age. As he rose out of his bow with a practiced flourish, he gave the two of them a winning smile as he approached.

"I'd like to thank you for having taken this into consideration so quickly. The sooner we get this business settled, the sooner we can begin making preparations." As he approached the desk, he slapped his forehead slightly and a chuckle escaped his lips. "Ah, but of course, how rude of me. I haven't even properly introduced myself to you gentlemen." Once more, he bowed before them. "My name is Jean Pierre Polnareff, though my friends refer to me as Polnareff."

The two older men had just gaped and stared at the stranger who had so casually strolled into Ozpin's office. The charm offensive put on by this very bizarre young man had disarmed the frustration of the two headmasters, if only to have replaced it with confusion and curiosity. Ozpin had recovered first between the two of them, as he coughed into his fist to try to knock Ironwood out of his own surprised state.

"Yes… well… thank you for your very kind words, Mr. Jean Pierre. It was hardly an issue for us to take the letter you brought into consideration as soon as possible. It presented a very… interesting set of possibilities." Despite his previous annoyance, Ozpin had not found it in himself to address Jean Pierre more harshly than that. He had expected the would be prankster to have ran for the hills, or to have tried to avoid his and Ironwood's reprisal through begging. Yet, here he stood, congenial and friendly, as he gave the two of them a very understanding look.

He didn't believe the young man or his letter a bit, even still, yet he couldn't quite bring himself to dislike a man of his demeanor.

"Ah, I understand completely, my good men. It has been quite some time since The Frontier has made official contact with any of the Four Kingdoms. I would apologize on behalf of the people of Morioh, but I'm sure you all understand: the sheer mass of Grimm in between our city and the rest of the world would've been nearly impossible to overcome or circumvent even a short fifteen years ago." Jean Pierre's expression turned to a joyous grin as he spread his arms out towards the two men. "Which is what makes this little meeting of ours so joyous, no?"

"Yes… joyous…" Ironwood muttered under his breath as he recovered from the initial shock of Jean Pierre's entrance, the Atlesian general stared him down as he leaned forward on his own desk. "Not at all unbelievable or in anyway total nonsense."

"James…" Ozpin turned to look at the holographic projection of his friend, as Jean Pierre just placed a hand to his chest.

"Pardon, monsieur?"

"You think you're the first man to have ever walked up to an Academy headmaster or a member of one of the governing councils, claiming to be from the Frontier? We've been dealing with this sort of nonsense ever since the Frontier was officially lost one hundred years ago. Hell, you tipped your hand by using that ridiculous character from Stroheim's biography in your letter." Jean Pierre quickly grasped what Ironwood had insinuated and, though an annoyed expression briefly crossed his features, his face and tone quickly took on an apologetic edge.

"Ah, I see, you have your doubts. However, I must implore you both to believe me. This letter comes from my leader and close friend, Joseph Joestar. The Frontier is ready to rejoin the rest of humanity, and we wish to do so through this festival of peace and brotherhood you have set up during our absence. You must believe our sincerity." Ironwood seemed ready to lash out further, however, a raised hand from Ozpin silenced the Atlesian headmaster.

"Please understand our position. This is a rather fantastical claim you're presenting. It could be a cover for any number of things you might actually wish to do… some more dangerous than a simple lie or joke gone too far." Ozpin's tone calmed both Ironwood and Jean Pierre, the latter nodded in understanding.

"Of course. I supposed we should have suspected as much. There was just so much excitement when the decision was made I suppose we overlooked the reality of the situation." Jean Pierre scratched his chin lightly as he looked at the two headmasters. "Is there anything I might be able to do to prove to you that I'm telling you the truth?"

Ozpin hummed to himself as the bespectacled headmaster thought on this. As he sipped from his coffee, a flash of inspiration struck. With a small smile, Ozpin waved a hand towards Ironwood.

"As my associate here said, we have trouble believing you because the name of your leader in the letter is the same as a character from a… let's call it controversial, biography from the old Mantle days." Ironwood rolled his eyes at the description, yet Ozpin continued. "However, there was one phenomena in it that I found to be quite interesting. The idea described to Stroheim by Joseph Joestar and the other Frontier hunters as… what was it, Stand Power?

"If you can demonstrate this Stand Power for us, Jean Pierre, then Ironwood and I will consider our concerns moot and your message the honest to Dust truth." Ozpin spoke with a calm certainty as he looked Jean Pierre in the eyes. It had been a more even-handed approach than what Ironwood would have offered, to be sure; instead of a show of casual disregard while he threw the good man out, Ozpin decided to give him a chance to own up to his lie or embarrass himself if he attempted to-

"Oh, is that all? I can do that quite easily!"

Ozpin's smile fell into a slight frown as he arched an eyebrow. "Oh, is that so?" Ozpin exchanged a short glance with Ironwood, who nodded back to him slowly. The two, wordlessly, had agreed to expect some sort of trickery involving this man's semblance.

"Indeed it is! I was worried that you might ask for something that would pose a little bit of a challenge, but this will work just fine!" Jean Pierre gave a wide smile as he reached into his pants pockets and pulled out four silver coins. He juggled them in between his fingers for effect, his gaze never left either Ozpin's or Ironwood's the entire time.

"I'll have to ask you all to watch carefully, as while I would gladly indulge in repeat performances, time is of the essence, no?" Ozpin resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he nodded at Jean Pierre, all the while he brought his mug of coffee to his lips. Jean Pierre, with a wild grin and a confident flash in his eyes, tossed the coins up into the air.

"[Silver Chariot]!"

This time, Ozpin's coffee did end up splattered all across his desk while Ironwood just gaped and muttered incoherently.


Beacon Academy, Vale, First Day of The Second Semester

"Jaune! Hey Jaune, over here!"

The blond knight turned his head towards the sound of Ruby's voice, and grinned as he spotted JNPR's sister team, Team RWBY, as they ran over in his direction. His team took notice as he waved back at them, Ren, Nora and Pyrrha smiled as they saw the bundle of paper gripped in the hands of the all-girl team.

"Hey there RWBY." Jaune greeted his other group of friends as they walked up, but flinched when he saw the insulted expression on Yang's face.

"What? So we're just chopped liver compared to Ruby? Jaune, I thought we were friends!" Yang crossed her arms, Weiss and Blake followed up with some disgruntled huffs of their own.

"W-W, no! Of course I wanted to say hi to you all too, I just said RWBY because I meant your team, not Ruby, but I meant Ruby too, don't get me wrong, but don't think that I meant her more than you all, it's just-" Jaune's rambling went on for a solid minute before Yang broke out into a fit of laughter, one that was met with a pair of grins from Blake and Weiss.

"Ah don't worry Vomit Boy, we're just messin' with you." A solid punch was thrown into Jaune's arm, as the knight just smiled sheepishly and rubbed at the pain.

"R-Right, pretty funny guys." Jaune said with a bit of a laugh as he nodded at the papers the girls held. "You guys got your schedules too?" At that, Team JNPR brandished their own set of schedules.

"Yep yep!" Ruby said with a wide grin as the group of teens huddled together. "Figured we could quickly look over our schedules to see what classes we'll have together."

"You know, try to maintain this feeling of excitement for the new semester before school wears us down and we all start wishing for the next break." Blake added afterward with a slight roll of her eyes. Despite the joke and generally jovial air around the two teams, the group shared a sigh as they realized the truth of Blake's little quip.

"Sounds about right, unfortunately." Pyrrha offered with a small smile, while Nora just nodded in vigorous agreement and Ren gave his own calm affirmation.

"If we have Port again, I'm not writing notes for you all again. I've done my time. I deserve a break!" Weiss stamped her foot to emphasize her point, the rest of RWBY chuckled a bit nervously.

"I… suppose we still do owe you, don't we Weiss-Queen?" The blond bombshell quickly raised a finger to her nose. "Not it!"

"Not it!" Ruby called out close behind, a finger pressed to her button nose, as Blake just blinked in confusion.

"Wait, what?" The black-haired ninja looked at the rest of her friends, who all gave her pitying looks.

"Looks like you're the one taking notes for Port this semester Blake. Enjoy; he really likes to go over how he wrestles the Grimm into submission." Weiss said with a roll of her eyes, while Blake narrowed her amber eyes after she realized what had just transpired.

"How is that fair? I didn't even know what you two were doing!"

"Gotta react a bit faster there Blakey. How can you call yourself a ninja if you get outclassed by Ruby and me." Yang offered with a smug shrug of her shoulders, one that was quickly copied by Ruby.

"Seriously, you're giving the secret ninja villages a baaaad name, Blake." Nora reprimanded her friend with a wag of her finger.

"Nora, if they're secret, how do you know about them?" Ren raised a questioning eyebrow at Nora, as the orange-haired, pancake loving huntress just looked side to side conspiratorially before she leaned close to Ren.

"They're really, really bad at being secret."

"Ah, of course." Ren nodded his head, as if that explained everything, while everyone else just laughed at the two's antics. Blake, who had glared at the two sisters on her team through the exchange, just smiled a bit in response.

"Well, hopefully we won't actually have Port this semester." She said, with some hope, as she raised the schedule to eye level. "Grimm Studies II, Port… literally the first class of the day." Blake dropped her schedule from her hands, which freed them up as she palmed her face and allowed long, pained groan of disappointment to escape her lips.

"Weeell aside from that, let's see what other classes we have on the schedule." Ruby moved the group along from Blake's misfortune, as the seven remaining huntsmen and huntresses went over their schedules. "History with Oobleck, check. Sparring class with Goodwitch, so far so standard. Special Topics, interesting. Flora and Fauna of the…"

"Wait, what?" The group had spoken in near perfect unison, as even Blake picked her schedule up to confirm with them.

"Special Topics… that's new." Pyrrha said slowly as she tilted her head to the side.

"No professor listed either. All it has besides the room and time is this little asterisk here." Jaune pointed out the star-shaped symbol next to the class, trailing his finger down the page to find the matching one. "'Free period until further notice'." The blond knight quoted the schedule as he just stared at the page in confusion.

"Well, hey, I mean, free period. Certainly not gonna look my nose down at that." Yang offered with a grin, as she tried to just shrug off the odd addition to their schedule.

"You think anyone else has this on their schedule?" Ruby asked with a blink of her silver eyes, before the bell rang and signaled their first class.

"I'm sure we can ask around in between classes. For now, let's just make sure we aren't nearly late… even if it is Port." The group agreed and immediately made for class.

To the sister teams' continued confusion, they did in fact find that the student body of Beacon Academy had this anomalous 'Special Topics' somewhere on their schedule. Some had it earlier in the day, some had it later, but every student they came across, and the students those students had asked previously, had the class somewhere on their schedule. Older students, like Velvet, even confirmed for them that they hadn't seen something like this happen before.

This hadn't been the end to the confusion for teams RWBY and JNPR. If it had just been this, the teams might've passed it off as some special lecture series or class that had popped up as an experiment on Ozpin's behalf. However, that weirdness was topped of by the way the teachers of their various classes had acted. The whole lot of them acted, if not like total weirdos, then at least slightly off the entire day. Port had been his portly self, as always, but the man seemed even more incorrigible than before. His frame buzzed with a nearly visible excitement as he moved through his lecture. Amazingly enough, it seemed as though Port was distracted from his own stories, rather than having been distracted by them.

Goodwitch had limited herself to having had caught the first year body's eye. The woman, previously content to let spars go on until a suitable winner and loser was decided, had put their spars on a timer for the various classes she had taught that day. By the end of the day, every first year student in Beacon Academy had been through a set of matches and Goodwitch had taken a seemingly prodigious set of notes on each one of the students in their various fights. Her body language was stiff, more so than usual, even if she managed to keep her composure as far as her attitude was concerned, unlike the increasingly excited Port.

This had repeated with professor after professor, class after class. Some were excited, some were tense, some were out and out nervous, but all tried their best to keep their composure and, when prompted, didn't tell any students just what was up. This continued all the way to the end of Team RWBY and JNPR's school day with Oobleck's class. Oobleck still buzzed through his lecture at a barely comprehensible speed as per usual, and yet he seemed the most conflicted out of all the professors. The man seemed equal parts excited and nervous, his mood switched rapidly from a very thrilled up to a very anxious down..

As class approached its end, it seemed Weiss had finally had enough of the professors' attitudes.

"Doctor Oobleck?" Weiss raised her hand and called out to Oobleck, who paused in his lecture and turned his attention to her.

"Yes, Miss Schnee? Do you have a question about the material?" The history professor asked quickly, as he looked at Weiss from over the rim of his glasses.

"Not, so much the material, Doctor." Weiss admitted somewhat sheepishly, as Oobleck seemed ready to continue on with the lecture. "It's about the behavior of the Beacon staff today." Oobleck seemed to pause as Weiss spoke, the man arched an eyebrow as he motioned her to continue. "Everyone's noticed it by now: the entire staff has been acting… off, like something's wrong or that they know something we don't. No one's given us any answers as to why yet, and, well, that's been something of a concern." Weiss finished as she sat back in her chair, arms crossed as she looked Oobleck in the eye.

The green haired man stared back at Weiss, before he turned his gaze to the rest of the class. "I assume this is true for the rest of you as well?" Oobleck was met with a slow round of agreement from the rest of the students, save the especially slow or uncaring. Oobleck seemed to take a moment to think as he took a deep drink from his thermos. Before long, the man released a deep sigh as he rubbed his forehead. "I figured as much. The news has been a bit of a shock to most of our systems; even those of us with particularly strong poker faces haven't had much luck in keeping our… feelings about this down. I can't imagine how a man like Port's been handling it."

A distant, very Port-esque shout of excitement suddenly erupted from down the hall, which surprised most of the class. Oobleck, on the other hand, just shook his head as he took another drink from his thermos.

"Ozpin wanted this to come as more of a surprise. Although he didn't strictly order us to keep it from you, it was generally agreed upon that if you heard the news early, your natural reaction would be to disregard it immediately as nonsense… a not entirely incorrect reaction, mind you, but still, hardly a helpful one." Oobleck took a long, hard swig of his thermos and smacked his lips as it ran dry.

"How many of you have heard of The Frontier?"

A low mutter broke out in the class. Less than a fourth of the students raised their hands confidently, while another tenth warily raised their own. The rest, comprised of students like Jaune, Cardin, Ruby, Nora and Yang, seemed utterly ignorant.

"Not surprising; for many of you, this would be considered old history, barely worth your attention. To keep it brief: The Frontier was a collection of human and Faunus colonies in the Grimmlands on the Unknown Continent. Everyone wanted this new land, for various reasons. As an example; Vacuo was already in the process of becoming the desert we know it as today and wanted greener pastures the unclaimed continent promised.

"Aside from any kingdom specific reasons, the four kingdoms wanted this land simply to keep it out of the hands of the other kingdoms. This was in the time leading up to the Great War, and tensions were quite high. All the kingdoms were looking for whatever advantage they could get over the others." Oobleck explained calmly as he set his empty thermos to the side and leaned back against his desk.

"One hundred years ago, all contact with The Frontier went dark. None of the Four Kingdoms received so much as a letter from any of their colonies. When the Kingdoms attempted to send parties to figure out what happened, what they found was… discouraging, to say the very least." Oobleck calmly plucked his glasses from his face as he produced a small cloth. "Roving bands of Grimm, tens of thousands strong, with some sources going so far to guess that they totaled somewhere in the hundreds of thousands." As Oobleck cleaned the lens of his glasses, the previously uninformed members of the class erupted into a series of shocked murmurs, while the rest just nodded along to a story they knew, or at least, were familiar with.

"In the end, the Four Kingdoms had come to the decision that The Frontier had been swallowed back up by the Grimmlands, and that any human presence beyond their own borders had been effectively lost. Only the pair of islands off the southern coast remain in Vale's hands, the last remnant of humanity's attempts to colonize that dreaded place" Oobleck placed his glassed back on his face once satisfied with his handiwork, as he turned his gaze back to the class. "Yesterday, Ozpin informed the staff of Beacon Academy that he had allowed a team of Frontier huntsmen to participate in the Vytal Festival. They're set to arrive within the week."

The reaction of the class was mixed, to say the least. Some, like Ruby, were excited; a story of humanity having had survived such tremendous odds was up their alley. Others were in shocked disbelief, the turn of events being a bit more for them to chew. There was one reaction, however, that few in the class expected.

"What? Excuse me?" Weiss scoffed as she absorbed what Oobleck had just said, the white haired teen shook her head in disbelief. "You're joking, right? You're kidding? Ozpin, of all people, actually bought into that nonsense?"

The student body gathered in the lecture hall snapped their heads towards Weiss, surprised at the normally polite heiress' reaction.

"Weiss! How could you say something like that? This is something to be happy about, right?" Ruby asked in disbelief, as a number of other students nodded their head in confused agreement. Weiss, on the other hand, could only roll her eyes at their reaction.

"Please. Everyone in Atlas has already had their fill of this Frontier nonsense. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that most people outside of old-Mantle wouldn't know better, but i would figure someone as educated as an Academy Headmaster would be at least minimally aware of The Post War World." Several students blinked in confusion at Weiss' proclamation.

"Uh, Doctor Oobleck, what's Weiss talking about?" Jaune asked the green-haired professor, whose gaze was locked on the white-haired heiress.

"Miss Schnee, it seems you're quite familiar with the topic at hand. Tell the class about Rudol von Stroheim's The Post War World. There'll be some credit in it for you." Oobleck offered with a small nod to Weiss who, after some consideration, sighed with a shake of her head.

"Fine. Sixty years ago, an officer from old Mantle, Rudol von Stroheim, came before the governing council and claimed to have made contact with The Frontier through a set of huntsmen and huntresses he had met while on a secret assignment. The Four Kingdoms were in between the Great War and the Faunus Rights Revolution, and the peace established at Vytal was tenuous at best. There wasn't a lot to hope for in those days, so the idea that The Frontier was still alive and ready to get back in touch with the Four Kingdoms was considered a sign of good fortune.

"Stroheim helped his case by presenting fantastic and alluring claims about what he had witnessed with these hunters. Tales of strange powers that could grow vines from people's hands,allow them to manipulate life energy and summon a being that could manipulate, of all things, bubbles. All set against a trio of ancient, Grimm-like monsters that had been set on destroying all human life on Remnant that Stroheim merely referred to as 'The Pillar Men'. All junk that eventually ended up in his biography"

"Wow… that sounds… SO! COOL!" Yang suddenly exclaimed as she turned to an equally excited Ruby. "Sis, we have to get this book, it sounds amazing!"

"I know right?!" The silver eyed teen practically squealed with excitement, as Weiss just coughed loudly to draw the attention back to her.

"ANYWAY!... Mantle agreed to send Stroheim out to the Grimmlands with a small army, so that he could re-establish contact with The Frontier, using a set of directions he claimed to have gotten from these hunters." Weiss said with a disgusted click of her tongue, as the class listened in to the tale.

"So I'm guessing they didn't find The Frontier?" Weiss snapped her head towards Jaune's question, the blond knight yelped in surprise as he ducked behind his partner.

"No they didn't, you dolt. All they found in that wasteland was hordes of Grimm. The army that Mantle sent out was decimated, only Stroheim and a small group of soldiers survived to make it back. In a time when Mantle was already on the verge of collapsing into just Atlas, this was a travesty. Stroheim tried to save face by publishing his story as a biography, to convince people he wasn't crazy." Weiss rolled her eyes as she said this. "The only thing he did was convince everyone he was absolutely crazy."

"Plus, when you read it, you start to realize that it reads like a pretty cliche adventure story." The class turned to Blake as she spoke up. Those who knew the black-haired faunus weren't all that shocked that the well read young woman had read this book herself. "I mean, the mysterious woman that Joseph Joestar meets turns out to be his long-lost mother? What a twist."

"Spoilers, jeez!" The sisters of team RWBY yelled as they glared Blake, who just playfully rolled her eyes at her partner and leader's antics.

"What Miss Schnee and Belladonna have said here is quite accurate." Oobleck stepped in, which drew the class' attention back to him. "Ever since Stroheim there's been a strong bias towards dismissing any claims of The Frontier in all the Four Kingdoms. Any attempt to follow up on them has either been met with a scam, an outright lie or more Grimm." Oobleck stated calmly, as he cast his gaze across the entire class.

"However, both Ozpin and General Ironwood claim to have sound reasons for believing this claim." If Weiss had seemed ready to interrupt, the mention of General James Ironwood had quickly silenced her. "If these two are right, then this is quite the historic moment for Remnant… for better or worse."

"Doctor?" Ruby called out cautiously as she raised her hand. "What could be bad about it? Isn't it great news that people might've survived out there?"

Oobleck sighed as he reached his hands up to rub at his forehead. "Yes, Miss Rose. It is good news in and of itself. However, there is so much more to this news than that, and so much more to these people that we must consider." Oobleck removed himself from his desk and paced in front of the class, the gazes of his students locked onto him.

"Consider for a moment, The Great War. A consequence of it was the Color Tradition: all of you in this room have been given names that signifies a color. Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Cardin Winchester, Pyrrha Nikos, et cetera, et cetera. The people of The Frontier, if they have survived, never participated in the war. Having never been a part of The Great War, the Frontier, therefore, wouldn't have this new tradition. From a purely historical perspective, it will be fascinating to see all the ways in which The Frontier's separation has preserved old traditions.

"However, the Color Tradition wasn't the only consequence of The Great War. From that war, we also have our principle belief in individualism and our understanding in how counter-intuitive conflict between the kingdoms truly is in the face of the Grimm. The Vytal Festival, which these outsiders wish to participate in, was born of that conflict and the desire for peace it created.

"Then there's the Faunus Rights Revolution, which these people may have very well never even heard of…" Many in the class went dead silent as Oobleck laid this out. Team RWBY turned their gazes towards Blake, whose eyes had widened slightly at the insinuation Oobleck had just made. Her bow twitched as she heard hushed whispers from Cardin Winchester and his team, an undercurrent of excitement at the prospect that made Blake snarl.

"A whole community of Cardin Winchesters. Fantastic…" The black-haired Faunus muttered under her breath, just loud enough for the rest of Team RWBY to hear.

"I'm not saying these people will be worse than us simply because their culture hasn't experienced what ours has. To believe that is to demonstrate an ignorance of the highest level, and a withering, disappointing arrogance. However, there can be no denying that the people of The Frontier, if they are still alive, will be very different from us. That will be a reason to celebrate as a curiosity…" Oobleck sighed wearily as he lowered his head, "-and a reason for us to be very, very cautious."

The bell rang, and class was dismissed. As students got up and got ready to leave, Yang noticed that Ruby was still at her seat, her normally energetic sister seemingly in deep thought.

"Yang?" Ruby whispered a bit as she got up and turned to her sister. "You don't think that what Blake and Oobleck said is…"

"Hey, don't worry so much about it Rubes." Yang said with a grin as she rubbed the top of her sister's head, much to the latter's annoyance. "Maybe these guys will be world-class jerks like Oobleck and Blake think they might be, maybe they won't be. No point in getting worked about it till we meet 'em, right? Besides, I doubt these guys could possibly be the kind of jerks that those two downers think they could be."

"You think so?" Ruby asked, a small smile at the corner of her lips. In truth, Yang hadn't been sure herself. Politics, history, race issues, these were more her partner's bread and butter, and Weiss' to a different extent. As far as she knew, Blake was right and they were gonna be in for something completely horrific in the next week.

However, she knew why her sister was upset. The young girl who cherished stories of heroes and the deeds thereof, who wanted to be a huntress so that she could protect people and save them from the Grimm, wanted to believe in this story. That these people who, against all odds, survived the Grimm and thrived... that they could show that there was still hope for not only humanity's continued survival against the Grimm, but for more than that. That there was reason to hope for a better future.

She didn't want to believe that these people could potentially be worse than the Grimm. Brothers be damned if Yang was going to step all over Ruby's hopes and dreams or let anyone else try.

"Absolutely." Yang made sure she hadn't left even a trace of her own doubt in her voice as she gently patted her sister on the shoulder. "I mean could you imagine a bunch of jerks like Cardin or Torchwick being able to stomach those kinda odds? Forget surviving a hundred years, they'd be dead in a week. Only the really heroic type could do something like this." As the two sisters turned to leave the classroom and head back to their dorms to change, Ruby just gave her sister a grateful smile.

"Thanks Yang."

"No problem Rubes."


Morioh, The Frontier

Josuke grimaced a bit as he rubbed his ears. They felt extremely hot to the touch, almost to the point that they felt like they had been burned.

'Great. Hopefully I'm not coming down with something'. The pompadoured teen thought somewhat sourly, as the other three men in the room turned their attention to him.

"Something the matter, Josuke?" Koichi asked with a concerned edge to his voice. Okuyasu nodded with his smaller friend, while the third man just watched impassively from his own seat.

"No, no. Ears are just feeling a little hot is all." Josuke waved his friends off, who just sighed slightly at their leader.

Sat in front of the three teens was a man who easily stood at six feet and three inches standing up, with an extremely muscular build that suggested many, many years as part of the Morioh Hunters as well as simple, good breeding. Pale skin and short, black hair contrasted well off each other and helped his green eyes, inherited from a coastal-Mistrali grandmother, pop.

The uniform the man wore was in stark contrast to the three young men sat before him: while Koichi, Josuke and Okuyasu wore some variation of a black or green button up jacket with matching slacks and simple, but useful, boots, Jotaro's jacket and slacks were white. The difference in color and style of the uniform clearly marked him as an experienced, superior huntsman, a bit of Mantlean influence in the melting pot that Morioh had become. Studded throughout his jacket and on a simple, white hat that he wore were metal buttons and trinkets, gained over time from missions in The Frontier and from his journey through Remnant twelve years earlier.

Kujo Jotaro was a known quantity in The Frontier; easily the most powerful huntsman in Morioh and, generally, accepted as the logical successor to his grandfather, Joseph Joestar. To Josuke and in the fullness of time his team, Kujo Jotaro was just Jotaro, the man who had helped them mold their Stands and was, to Josuke, a close… friend.

"Get yourself checked out after this, then. We wouldn't want you to come down with something at a moment like this." The trio of young men blinked at the grim seriousness of Jotaro's tone. Although not that far off from his usual tone of of voice, the three had long since keyed in to when Jotaro was being more serious than usual. Before they could have asked what was up, the older huntsman continued. "Now then, for the past couple months, Joseph Joestar has been in contact with the Headmaster of Beacon Academy in the Kingdom of Vale." This quickly ensured he had the three teen's absolute attention, as they all leaned forward in response to this news.

"If you all remember the Vytal Festival from my stories, it's set to take place in Vale this year." A slight pause as Jotaro took in the three's reaction. Satisfied when he saw that they understood him, he continued. "All the arrangements have been made and confirmed: The Frontier is being allowed to send a team of hunters to attend the Festival and compete in the tournament."

"No way!" The three huntsmen practically leaped forward from their seat, only the relative close-quarters of the room kept them from doing so. Jotaro, for his part, only nodded

"I'm sure the three of you understand just how important this moment is for The Frontier. A good showing from us would go a long way towards convincing the rest of the world that we're ready and worthy of being a part of the rest of Remnant again. In addition, having the upcoming generations of hunters from all four kingdoms interacting with ours would be a good way of establishing future relations. For these reasons, we want to send our very best team of young hunters, if not our best hunters, to ensure that we make the most of this opportunity.

"You three are at the top of that list; on behalf of Morioh and The Frontier Hunters, we want to send you three to Vale."

"WHAAAAAAAT?!" The team of three screamed aloud as they took in what Jotaro had just offered them, which caused the older huntsman to flinch slightly. Okuyasu and Koichi each had amazed, overjoyed expressions on their faces, while Josuke seemed a bit more shocked and surprised than his two teammates.

"No way, no way, we got picked to go out to one of the Four Kingdoms?! " Okuyasu was positively giddy, even more so than Koichi, as he stood up from his seat and turned to his friend.

"We'll get to go see one of the major cities on the continent. Oh my gosh, this is amazing! Most people don't even get to see the outside of the Grimmlands, but we'll get to go right to the heart of one of the kingdoms. Maybe we'll get to see an airship!" Koichi was up on his feet alongside Okuyasu, as the two teens turned began to feed off the other's excitement.

"Forget the airships Koichi, we'll get to see those giant buildings. Five, no, ten stories high!" The scarred teen raised his hands far up above his head in an exaggerated swing, while Koichi nodded his head vigorously.

"Not to mention that stadium that Jotaro told us about, the flying one! Can you even imagine that kind of sight, and we got picked to see it out of all the other teams in Morioh! I'm so happy!" A slightly creepy expression crossed Koichi's face as the boy was overtaken by his own joy, Okuyasu just laughed and laughed as he wrapped an arm around Koichi's shoulders and swung him around a bit, being mindful of the other occupants in the room.

"Josuke! How friggin' awesome is this?!" Okuyasu finally turned with Koichi still gripped in the crook of his arm, when both boys suddenly deflated. "Errr, Josuke?"

Josuke sat in his own seat still, his eyes stared off to the side of the room slightly as he chewed on his bottom lip. Far from the exuberant excitement of his team, Josuke seemed far more subdued and even conflicted.

"Josuke?" His teammates called out, their voices uncertain, as their leader just sighed.

"Jotaro… is it alright if I have some time to think this over?" Josuke's gaze met Jotaro's as the older man stared him down slightly.

"Of course, it'd be irresponsible of us if we forced you to make a decision immediately. I will tell you, though; our ride will be arriving in the outskirts in a few days. I wouldn't recommend waiting until the last second to make up your mind." Josuke understood this and, with a wave to Okuyasu and Koichi, quickly excused himself from the room. It was quiet for a few minutes after Josuke left, before Koichi just sighed, worked his way out of Okuyasu's grip and took a seat.

"I guess we didn't consider what Josuke would think about this. Got a little bit wrapped up in the excitement of it all... " Koichi muttered as he sat back in his seat while a feeling of guilt ate at his gut. "Obviously he wouldn't just jump on this... it wouldn't be right to him." Okuyasu nodded in agreement, the scarred teen sat down and supported his head in his hand.

"Yeah, kind of a dumb move on our part." Koichi frowned, but nodded in agreement with Okuyasu.

"You don't think he'll feel guilty if he doesn't accept, do you? I wouldn't want him to feel like he let us down."

"Well technically he would be letting us down just a little bit." Okuyasu stated flatly, as Koichi just glared at him. "What? It's the truth."

"I swear, you're so dumb sometimes Okuyasu…"

"Josuke will make the decision he feels is best for Morioh. That's all we can ask of our huntsmen and huntresses." Jotaro sighed as he reached into a pocket in his jacket, from which he pulled out a package of coffee-flavored gum. "Yare yare, but who knows what he'll decide is for the best.

"A shame too, the old man was pretty excited for you all."


Josuke walked around the city of Morioh for a while, hands behind his head as he took his time. The offer Jotaro had made not even fifteen minutes earlier still weighed heavily on his mind, and he felt that he needed some time. He hadn't wished to return home either: his thoughts would have drifted if he was home alone for too long, and he wanted to make this decision cleanly… or at least, as cleanly as he could.

However, in the end Josuke found that there was nothing Morioh needed from him at that moment. No walls has broken down that could have used his Stand to fix, no one was seriously injured that required the help he could have provided and generally... things just seemed to be okay for Morioh, with or without him. The things that helped keep Josuke busy in his off time ,that made him feel like he was still doing his part for Morioh, were all fine.

So, as the clock ran down, Josuke found himself at the entrance to his family's house: a small, one floor, three bedroom, one bathroom affair, done in a minimalist architectural style that had become the norm in Morioh after The Reckoning. With a heavy heart, Josuke opened the door to his home and stepped inside.

His mother's shoes had still been nowhere to be found. She had probably still been out on her own scouting mission, if Josuke had to guess. In a well practiced routine, Josuke carefully kicked his own boots off at the threshold of the house and stepped inside. He practically glided across the floor to one of the back rooms and cracked open the door.

From the window, a light shined into the room. To the right was a closet with various uniforms, studded with minor awards and commendations, which were hung and pressed neatly. So much care had been taken to ensure that they'd be preserved for many years to come. To the left, a series of family photographs hung on the wall, various portraits of himself, his mother and an older man, as they all sat or stood together.

In the back of the room was the family shrine, where a single photograph sat atop it. The photo was of a kindly old man with graying hair who, distantly, shared a few of Josuke's own features.

Higashikata Ryohei. A middling huntsman of Morioh and Josuke's grandfather.

Josuke stood in front of the old shrine and sighed, as he clapped his hands and bowed his head. Josuke hung around the room for a moment, before he finally departed and made his way to the living room.

As Josuke collapsed on the couch, the dark atmosphere of his family home was all that surrounded him. The sounds of crickets signaled the approach of dusk, but otherwise, the room was silent for the young man. As he feared, being in his own home, so near his grandfather's old room, caused Josuke's thoughts to take an altogether unpleasant turn.

'What am I even thinking…' Josuke sighed as he palmed his face in his hands while his thoughts lobbed accusation after accusation at him. 'I've honestly been considering running off from Morioh after everything that happened, after what I promised him. "Oh, sorry gramps, I would've stuck around Morioh and helped protect the city you gave your life for, that you loved so much and wanted our family to be able to live in peace in, but you know, now seemed as good a time as any to go off and play tourist in Vale."

'"Well yeah, obviously I'd be leaving mom, the only family I have left, behind to do this. I mean, sure I promised you I'd protect her, but it'd just figure I'd eventually abandon her, right? Really, you shouldn't be surprised in the slightest. I mean, I am his son, after all. Just in the genes at this point I guess..."' Josuke groaned into his hands as he shook his head.

"Just great…" The pompadoured teen muttered amidst a weary sigh as he lifted his face out of his hands and propped up his chin on them. Suddenly, he heard the sounds of footsteps outside of his home. He perked his ears up as he tried to identify the owner and, after a moment, a small smile crossed his lips.

The door creaked open, a feminine yawn sounded out and a pair of light footsteps strode into the threshold of the house. Josuke turned his head in time to see the form of his mother, Higashikata Tomoko, as she stretched, yawned and kicked the door closed behind her. A woman in her mid-thirties, she had short, black hair that was kept in line by a hair band that had kept errant strands away from her, admittedly still quite attractive, face. Of average build and height, Tomoko was a woman that still saw a few wolf calls from time to time, much to the chagrin of the poor fools who had made the attempt.

Her manner of dress was simple, a uniform much like other huntsmen and huntresses wore, with a few signs of her seniority. As she cracked open an eye to take in the sight of her home, she had caught a glimpse of Josuke. Her lips immediately turned up into a smile as she kicked off her shoes and walked over to her son.

"Good evening, Josuke." Tomoko said with a slight laugh as she threw her arms around her son in a loose hug, much to Josuke's own embarrassment. "I wasn't expecting you back before I was, but it's a good surprise. Now I won't have to sit around worrying about my poor, poor son and his team, out on their own in the wilderness." The woman laughed slightly as she stood up and walked over to the small kitchen that was attached to the living room.

"It's good to see you too mom. I have to admit, I was a bit worried when I saw that you didn't beat me back here a few days ago." Tomoko scoffed at her son as she turned on her heel to face him, a faux-annoyed look on her face as she regarded her only child.

"Please, I'm not some helpless old lady yet. I've still got plenty of kick in me. You should remember that, son." Josuke just chuckled as his mother used her foot to pry open the icebox.

"Don't worry mom, I remember. No one should mess with you, or else. I haven't forgotten." He said with a light chuckle and a roll off his eyes, one that hadn't been returned by his mother, as she stood silently in the kitchen.

"Is that so?" She asked, a dangerous edge to her voice that Josuke recognized all too well as 'you're in for it now, you brat'. He swallowed a nervous lump in his throat as he turned to face his mother, and saw that she had, in her hand, a snack cake with a bite taken out of it. "Then would you explain why exactly it is you keep eating my snack cakes?" Josuke paled a bit as his mother slowly stalked towards him. "These aren't easy to get Josuke! I have to wait for the scouts to get back from the outskirts with these, and that's if those islands have even gotten any in! I really look forward to having them whenever I get the rare chance to! So why do I have to constantly remind my dear, sweet, only child that he needs to STOP EATING THEM!"

"Wait, wait, wait, wait! Mom, look, it's just one bite right? I just wanted a quick bite after some dinner, that's all. Nothing to get worked up about, right?" Josuke quickly brought his hands up to defend himself as his mother stared him down. Tomoko frowned at her son for a few seconds before she sighed, reached out a hand and flicked her son's ear.

"You're lucky I'm so happy to see you right now, otherwise you'd get it, brat." Neither of them could help the grins that formed on their faces as this familiar routine slowly played out. Tomoko yawned a bit as she stuffed part of the snack cake into her mouth as she walked back to the kitchen. "So, tell me, what have you gotten up to while you've been back?"

"Nothing much honestly. My team's round was pretty quiet. No one's needed me to fix anything or anyone up, so these past couple days have been just us relaxing." Josuke spoke as he yawned slight and stretched out on the couch.

"So pretty 'great' then, right?" Tomoko smiled as she pulled out stuff for dinner. Josuke started to nod, before his body went a bit stiff. The teen's mind flickered to that bombshell Jotaro dropped on his team. Josuke kept his face turned away from his mother to hide his frown, as he just nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders.

"Y-Yeah, totally…" Josuke immediately cursed that small stumble, as the sounds from the kitchen immediately stopped.

"Is that so? You don't sound too certain of that Josuke." The pompadoured teen inwardly cursed as he heard his mother turn of her feet back towards the living room, bullets of sweat started to run down Josuke's face as he just tried to laugh it off.

"No, i-it's been a great day mom, nothing that you need to worry about." Tomoko's footsteps approached the back of the couch, Josuke practically felt his mother hover over him as she leaned down.

"Josuke…."

"Okay okay okay okay! I'll talk!" Josuke jumped up from the couch to face his mother who just stood there behind the couch, her arms crossed over her chest expectantly as she looked at him with a cocked eyebrow.

'Jeez, are all moms this scary…' Josuke thought to himself as he bit his bottom lip.

"Earlier today, Jotaro called us in for an important meeting. He told us that the Headmaster overseeing the Vytal Festival has agreed to let The Frontier send a team and that we're the team that Jotaro and the others want to send." Tomoko blinked a few times, surprise etched all across her face as she stared at her son. Before long, a wide grin broke out across her face as she leaped forward and wrapped her son up in a hug.

"Oooooh Josuke! That's amazing news! That's absolutely wonderful! You've been working so hard with Okuyasu and Koichi and it's all paid off. You're going to go to Vale to represent Morioh? Oh, wait till everyone hears about this! OOOOH! I'm going to rub this in SOOOO many faces! Those old hags aren't going to believe it!" Tomoko laughed and laughed as she hopped in place. "Oh I'm so proud of you!" Tomoko finally looked up at her considerably taller son and her celebration quickly died down as she took in his expression

"Yeeaaah… about that…" Josuke muttered as he pulled a hand free from his mother's hug and scratched his cheek. "You see… I may have told Jotaro that I needed some time to think about this."

"... Uh huh…" Tomoko said in a low tone as let go of her son and crossed her arms again, her brow furrowed as she looked up to him.

"... And while I was sitting around here, I may have come to the decision that I shouldn't go to Vale." Tomoko blinked at Josuke as he said this, the pompadoured teen did his best to not meet his mother's gaze.

"... I see…" That had been all the warning Josuke had received, before he suddenly found his ear gripped in his mother's fist, as Higashikata Tomoko bodily dragged Josuke down to her eye level. "Josuke… my dearest son, my most darling and only child… tell your mother why you decided to make such a boneheaded decision, would you? Please?" The sickeningly sweet tone his mother used disguised the fact that this was an unquestionable demand, and that if he knew what was good for him, he'd comply.

Josuke, in that particular moment, hadn't known what was good for him, however.

"M-Mom! Listen, I made this decision myself, because I think it's what's best for my team and Morioh. I don't have to tell you wh-AAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!" Tomoko turned Josuke's ear in her fist, which elicited a sharp, very unmanly scream of pain from the teenager.

"Tell me or I'll rip your ear off, Josuke." Josuke's gaze met Tomoko's as he had sought to call his mother's bluff.

"You wouldn't! You know I can't fix that..." Josuke's assertion died on his tongue as he saw the look in Tomoko's eye, the pompadoured teen bit his bottom lip slightly. "O-Okay, but you couldn't, right? I mean, I'm not my Stand, but I'm still tough." At that, Tomoko sighed slightly and let go of Josuke's ear, the teen internally celebrated this minor victory.

Up until a ghostly limb appeared from his mother's arm and grabbed his ear.

'Oh Dust! She would and she can!' Josuke's mind flew into a panic as he raised his hands in a placating manner.

"Okay okay okay okay I'll talk, I'll talk! Just please, don't have your Stand tear my ear off, I still need it!" Satisfied that she had gotten her son's cooperation, Tomoko dismissed her Stand's arm, but quickly replaced its spot on her ear with her own hand again.

"Good, so I'll ask you again. What on Remnant convinced you to make such a boneheaded decision Josuke? This is the opportunity that we've all been dreaming of ever since Jonathan Joestar brought The Frontier together in Morioh. Why would you do something so stupid as to shoot that opportunity down?"

Josuke sighed as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Look… when gramps died, I promised that I'd look after you and Morioh, alright? Gramps loved this town and he loved us too. He did everything he could in order to help everyone, to protect the two of us... and he gave his life to do so. If I left you and Morioh just so I could run off to Vale, then I'd just be scum. That's why I decided not to go, alright?"

"Josuke…" When his mother had finally let go of his ear, Josuke sighed in relief. He knew that if he just explained it, she would understand. His grandfather had meant a lot to them, and-

-And her Stand appeared, grabbed Josuke by the collar and shook him so hard he was at risk of whiplash.

"Aaaaah! Mom!? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

"What the Hell am I doing? You should feel lucky that your grandfather isn't alive to hear you spout that kind of nonsense! If he were here right now he'd rip your pompadour out by the roots and then force feed you it if he heard you say something so utterly stupid! You're supposed to be the smart one on your team Josuke, or has Okuyasu finally passed you up?

"Morioh's been counting on an opportunity like this for decades! This is something we all want and need! If you went out to Vale and did the best you could in the Vytal Festival Tournament you'd help us all so much! You'd be doing more than you could just hanging around here going off to scout out the Grimm, for Dust's sake! Oh, and by the way, let's not forget that I'm a grown-ass woman and perfectly capable of taking care of myself. So I don't need my sixteen year old son feeling like he has to sit at home and watch me like I'm the child in this relationship!

"You're so much smarter than this Josuke, I don't understand why you would think that your grandfather wouldn't think you'd be helping-"

"What if that's not the reason I'd want to go?!"

Josuke's question snapped Tomoko out of her temper-fueled rant as she just stared at her son, the young man's eyes met hers with an equal level of frustration as he took deep, steadying breaths.

"E-Excuse me?" Tomoko asked, somewhat shocked, as Josuke just looked down to the side, his visage slowly overcome by shame.

"... What if I'm not thinking of Morioh or The Frontier when I think about going to Vale? What if I'm not thinking about how much help this would be, or how much good it'd do? What if I'm not thinking of the old man?" Tomoko blinked as Josuke rattled off these questions, as the single-mother caught a glimpse of her son's eyes.

Amidst the shame, the disappointment, the frustration and anger, she caught a shine of something else in those blue eyes of his. A spark of excitement that bordered on manic. Of wanderlust and desire. It snapped into place for Tomoko, even before Josuke spoke up.

"... What if the only reasons I can think of wanting to go to Vale are stupid and selfish ones."

Higashikata Josuke may have been one of the better behaved young men Tomoko had ever met in her entire life, a relief for the single mother to be sure, he may have been a responsible and able leader for his team and may have been one of the strongest huntsmen of his generation. However, past all that, he was still just a sixteen year old boy. One who desperately wanted to go on an adventure and see the world he'd only ever read about.

And that desire disgusted him.

"Josuke…" As Tomoko dismissed her Stand and placed her hands on his cheeks, the teen huntsmen didn't flinch. As he turned his head to face her, he saw a smile on his mother's face, a mix of pride, love and slight amusement danced across her eyes as she looked up to her only son.

"Listen to me. There's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to be selfish sometimes, okay?" Josuke scoffed as he turned his gaze away from her, but found his mother's grip on his face insistent as she kept him faced towards her. He grimaced slightly as he sought to pull away. "Sixteen years ago, I had my own decision to make."

That stopped Josuke dead in his tracks.

Tomoko smiled slightly as she lightly pat her son on the cheek. "I could've acted like I was supposed to, been a good young woman and model huntress. Probably find some man I didn't love or didn't really want to be with, and just let the opportunity I was presented with slide from my grasp. I would've been respected and I would've never had to deal with the looks and the words from some rotten old crones...

"Then there was the alternative, you know." Tomoko chuckled slightly as she shook her head. "A lot of people would think it was an easy choice… and for me, it was." Tomoko stuck her tongue out slightly as she laughed a bit. "I decided I was going to be selfish. I was going to be with the man I loved, even if it was only for a little bit, and I didn't give a rat's ass what anyone was going to think of it if they ever found out. So long as I kept doing my job, so long as I ensured that my selfish little desires didn't get in the way of doing my part for Morioh... then I was fine with being selfish, for once.

"And you know what Josuke? I wouldn't change that decision for anything. Not even if it took away all the lonely nights and not even if it gave me all the respect of all the dusty old crones in all of Remnant. Because thanks to that decision, I got to spend some of the best time of my life with the only man I've ever loved besides your grandfather… and I had you." Josuke stared at his mother with wide eyes as she pat his cheeks slightly.

"You, my son, who I could never be prouder of. There are so many mothers who have to worry about what their sons are up to whenever they get back from their assignments and laze about town. The only time I ever have to worry about you is when you're out there in the wilds… and even then, I know you can take care of yourself. You're so caring too, so much like your father and grandfather: you do everything you can to help the people around you, and you're so wonderful to your friends and, well, pretty much anyone you've ever met who didn't insult your hair." Tomoko laughed slightly as a few tears pricked at the corner of her eyes.

"Josuke, your grandfather would be so proud of you." Josuke's breath hitched at this, while Tomoko barreled on through. "He'd be so happy to know you took his example to heart, and that you became such an amazing huntsman, that you've led your team so well and that you're so highly regarded that they'd want to send you to Vale to participate in the Vytal Festival. Hell, he'd probably be shouting about it to anyone who'd' stand to hear him ramble for weeks on end. He'd be so happy with the man you've become, so proud of the huntsman that you are. Everything good and decent and noble that he loved about Morioh, he'd see in you.

"He'd also want you to be happy, Josuke." She gave a firm nod of her head as she stared him right in the eyes. "If you told him that you only wanted to go to Vale because it was something you wanted for yourself, he'd say you'd damn well earned it and send you off with a pat on your back. He'd want you to be able to do something and be something you wanted, and if that happened to also help Morioh, that'd just be icing on the cake. Because as much as Morioh was a part of his dream, you being happy was an even bigger part of it. Because he loved you almost as I much as I love you." Tomoko chuckled slightly as she winked at her son. "Almost."

Josuke simply stood there as he took that all in, his pompadour hung over his eyes in such a way that shadows obscured sight of them. Tomoko just smiled and walked forward and wrapped her son up in a hug. She turned her head away as she did so while her only child hugged her back, his frame shook a couple times as they stood there. The single mother just smiled to herself; her son was too old and too cool to do something like cry in front of his mother.

After a moment, the Higashikatas pulled back from their hug while Josuke wiped his sleeve across his eyes. "I-I'm…" Josuke blushed slightly as his voice cracked, as the teen quickly regained his composure. "I'm going to take over the bathroom real quick, okay?" Without having missed a beat, Josuke ran for the bathroom and quickly closed the door behind him, which had left Tomoko in the living room as she shook her head at her son's antics.

Tomoko didn't have to wait long for Josuke to come back out, and she hadn't been surprised to see that his face had been wet, as if dabbed by a wet cloth, and that he'd tidied up his hair from when she'd practically throttled him. What she was surprised by was when her son had walked right past her, towards the threshold of their house.

"So… I was thinking. I need to tell Jotaro my decision as soon as possible. It isn't right that I hold up all this by making them wait any longer." Josuke seemed nervous as he fiddled with the strings to his boots, even as he tossed a small grin over his shoulder to his mother. "After all, there's probably still a lot of preparations we need to make if we're going to head to Vale, right?"

Tomoko just beamed at him as she vigorously nodded her head. "Absolutely Josuke. It'd be irresponsible for you to leave Jotaro and your team hanging on this when you've finally made up your mind."

"I know, I know." Josuke said with a slight laugh as he pulled at the laces of his boots. He seemed to hesitate when he had secured them, his head turned away from Tomoko as he looked out towards the door. "Mom… you sure this is going to be alright?"

Tomoko just rolled her eyes and walked up to her son. She took a hold of his collar and lifted him up to his feet while she fiddled with his uniform to make sure he'd be presentable.

"Josuke… it's going to be just great." A wide grin broke out on both of their faces as Tomoko slapped her son on his shoulder and pushed him towards the door. "Now get going. Tell Jotaro and Jolyne I said hello."

"Right, right." Josuke called out over his shoulder as he left the building. Tomoko stood there in the threshold of the house for a moment, before she took a shuddering breath and sighed.

It was going to be hard. She'd long since come to terms with the fact that her son was, by all means, a man and that her time with him was bound to get shorter and shorter. The fact that the moment had come now, and in the form of such a long journey, was still a shock. She chuckled hoarsely, a few tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked out the door.

It was going to be hard to accept that her only child, her precious son, the only part of Joseph Joestar she had and the one thing she couldn't stand to lose, was ready to move on with his life.

However, as she stood there, Tomoko couldn't help but smile too. She'd done her job, and she raised that boy well. Not one word she'd just spoken to him had been a lie or a half-truth: she couldn't have been prouder of her son if she tried

When she was ready, when she was finished crying over her how her baby boy had grown up, over how he was a man now, she'd be ready to brag. Tomoko hadn't been able to help but laugh at the thought; oh yes, when the time came to rub her son's success into some people's faces, Tomoko knew of some choice old hags who'd top her list..

"For now, I think I'll have some of that brat's juice. Teach him a lesson before he goes off to Vale." Tomoko smiled as she wiped away her tears and made for the ice box.

After all, there had been two snack cakes in there when she had left.

- To Be Continued - Welcome to Vale (Act 2)


A/N: Did you know? The phrase 'Mantle's science is the greatest in the world' appears no less than 57 times in Rudol von Stroheim's The Post War World. Many contribute this as one reason among many that the biography didn't see much spread outside of Mantle and Atlas.