Reviewer Acknowledgements

Guest 4- Thank you! The feedback is greatly appreciated.

Johnjohn1970- Thank you, and yes Echo is going to be shipped with Penny due to a request.

W- I do not want to write in Echo having feelings for Jaune. As stated earlier in the story, she sees him as only her brother, and I intend to keep it that way. (But yes, I am evil in the part where I like to kill off characters for plot reasons and because I suck at writing completely new characters.)

C0de- Thanks, I like the flare idea and the possibility of failure to get on the 5p team. & Funny, I would think we already had the SCP. It's like a moving Bermuda Triangle.

0-0-0-0

By the time we arrived at Beacon, there were already four stretchers waiting and plenty of medical personnel. I turned the Bullhead so the doors were facing them and touched down while opening the doors. The four injured students were immediately pulled from the ride and rushed off to the ICU of the infirmary. Sadly, they also left behind small splotches of blood and venom on the floor.

"Alright everyone, please bring your sap samples to Professor Peach right away. After that you are excused from further classes. You are dismissed." Goodwitch walked off after the injured students and everyone else went off to Professor Peach's room.

I huffed. "Thanks everyone, for helping me clean my ship."

I stood on the other side. "Oh, you're welcome. Anything to help the person who just took out a huge fucking swarm of Arachne and their queen. You're just so awesome and I hope to be like you one day."

Back to the other side. "Oh, you surely will one day. But I will have gotten even further in my training! I will not stagnate!"

Back again. "Well gosh darn it! Our fierce battle for supremacy may never come then. Oh well, see you later."

The click of metal against stone met my ears and a sip was heard. "Most times when we find a student talking to themselves, it isn't like this Miss Arc. Are you not going to bring your Bullhead to the Hangar Bay?"

I rolled my eyes and looked over at Ozpin. "Yes, I was just about to do that. I was just saying how at least some of them could have helped me clean this mess up." I pointed to the spots of blood and venom starting to dry, becoming a slight crust on the floor.

"Are you not worried about your fellow classmates? Arachne venom can be extremely lethal." He tapped his cane twice and there was a fizzling sound behind me. I turned around and saw that the blood and venom that had been there disappeared.

I shook my head and looked back to him. "No, I am not worried about them. Beacon infirmary will take care of them and they weren't bitten by the most venomous Arachne sub-species, so there's no chance of them dying unless they were allergic to the venom."

A brow raised and he took a sip of his mug. "And how do you know that they weren't bitten by Arachne Caustics?"

I cracked my neck and stretched my arms above my head, hearing and feeling a nice pop in my elbows. "As I said while talking to myself, I took out most of the swarm and the queen. I can only assume that Professor Goodwitch took out the rest on her way to Deku's team and to the Bullhead. That, and Caustics only nest up in mountain caves where they can create pools of venom to spawn their children, supposedly. They don't want rain water or loose dirt to get into their spawning pools."

He nodded. "You are absolutely correct. I am surprised that you know about them this much, Port hasn't been teaching the first years about Arachne. He only now got to telling the second years about them in detail. You take your studies very seriously I see."

I nodded and leaned against the Bullhead. "Yes, I take my studies seriously. I also read very much ahead of where we are in class, to be prepared. It never hurts to be prepared. Question."

"Answer." This stupid smirk came and went from his lips as he took a sip of coffee to hide it.

"Alright then, smart ass. Do I get extra credit for taking out the queen? Sure, she was super easy, but I also had to deal with her little minions. I need to fill up on Dust and clean all my shit, so that should constitute me getting more points in Port's class, right?" I looked at him hopefully.

He just stood there impassively. Seconds later he spoke again. "I'll see what I can do. I will talk to Peter later today. Have a good day." He walked off, seemingly in a random direction with no destination in mind. I hopped back into Air Echo and looked back to where he was, or actually had been at this point. He just disappeared.

"Cryptic bullshit Ozpin. Cryptic bullshit." I kicked the engines back on and brought her around to the hangar, landing her back on my pad. When I exited, I was met by Rouge.

"Nice going out there. I heard that you flew a rescue mission for some Arachne victims." He patted my shoulder. "We got some stuff in for you earlier while you were out. Paint and stuff, said it's already paid for."

I rolled my neck out. "Yeah, while I was in Vale yesterday I went and bought it all. The cleaning stuff will go permanently in the ship for messes. I'm coming back in tomorrow to do the painting. But right now, I think I'm heading to the forge. I have to do some weapon upkeep."

He took a look at my weapons and saw how dirty they were. "I hear ya there. See ya tomorrow then." He waved me off as I entered the elevator and closed the door.

They really need to get another tune for this thing. Every time I get in it I only hear the same song. The doors opened and I went off to the forge. As I opened the doors, I was almost run over by a red blur coming in from behind. "Oh my gosh I am so sorry. I was just coming in for… Echo! What are you doing here today? I thought that we were coming in here Sunday?"

"Yes, Ruby, we still are. I just had to do some upkeep on my weapons. Cleaning and sharpening, refilling on Dust. Arachne are pains in the butt." She followed me in to a bench and I got started in sharpening Jolder. "So, what did you come in here for? And what's the rush?"

She perked up when she remembered what she was in here for. "Oh yeah! I came in to fix a few of Crescent Rose's pistons. They got sap in them from the trees."

"And why couldn't you do that in your room? I am ninety nine percent sure that you can do that without being here in the forge."

Ruby pouted. "Because Weiss doesn't want anything in the room to get sap on it. She doesn't believe me when I say I can clean my baby without getting a mess anywhere. I can clean her perfectly without any messes, 'cause I'm a big girl!" She puffed out her chest. "I drink milk!"

I chuckled and ruffled her hair. "That you do, Rubes. You should probably get to working on that so Weiss doesn't berate you for staying here too long."

"You're right! Thanks Echo!" She bolted off to an empty bench and got to work on cleaning her snyther rifle. She worked with extreme precision, cleaning out pistons and then bringing them back up to pressure in seconds.

I finished with Jolder and brought over a fire Dust crystal. They lasted much longer than powdered Dust, but were much more expensive. Thankfully, I had already made the sockets for two crystals in Jolder and we got extreme student discounts for anything we used in the forge. We just pay for what we use before we leave, and everything's good. Sadly, Sol and Luna weren't big enough for crystal use, so I had to fill them back up with powdered Dust. They were faster to sharpen than Jolder was, and I was soon ready to leave. Ruby joined me on the way out and we paid for the materials we used.

On our way back to the dorms, she kept looking back up to me every once and awhile. She probably thought she was being sneaky with her glances, but I saw her every time in my peripherals. She wasn't that much shorter than me, so it was like she thought I was her sister's height. "What is it, Ruby?"

She jumped when she realized that I caught onto her. "Well, um, I was just wanting to ask…"

I rolled my hand, as if telling her to go ahead. "Yes?"

"CanyoutellmemoreaboutJaune?!" She spouted out before she hid her face with her hood. She was barely distinguishable from her hood with how red her face was.

I stopped, and she stuttered to a stop just slightly behind me. "Pardon?"

"Could you, maybe, tell me more about Jaune…?" She was fidgeting with the hood of her cloak and twiddling her thumbs together while looking at the ground.

"Ruby, do you possibly like Jaune? As in, more than a friend kind of like?" She just nodded, probably not trusting herself to speak. I sighed internally. She was actually another person that I wouldn't mind being with Jaune, besides Pyrrha. She was quirky and socially awkward and she just clicked with him. It was no surprised that she considered him her first friend in Beacon, and me her second despite me meeting her first. "You have some tough competition then, Strawberry."

She looked at me. "What do you mean?"

I motioned for her to follow me, and we walked to the gardens. We sat down on a bench out of the way, in a section that people didn't normally walk through. "I'm just going to lay it on you. He is as dense as a Goliath's skull, maybe thicker. That, and Pyrrha is also holding her own flame for my brother." I looked her in her silver eyes. "Do you think you're willing to go up against these odds?"

She looked aghast at the information before looking down to her feet and muttering to herself. When she finished, she looked up to me with a spark in her eyes. "Yeah! I'm totally going to win, Pyrrha doesn't even drink milk like I do! She won't even know what hit her!" She stood up and made to leave before remembering why she asked me to tell her about him in the first place. "So, what kinds of things does he like? I have to have an edge against Pyrrha."

I leaned back and gave it a long hard thought. "Well, he likes it when girls find his 'charms' charming, laugh at his jokes, don't treat him like he's a kicked puppy. He likes acoustic guitar, I'm pretty sure he brought that to Beacon from Ansel. So, he wants to serenade someone I guess, who it is only time will tell. I told him to stop making advances on Weiss, because that road only leads to disaster for him. He likes Pumpkin Pete, not the cereal as much now, but the mascot. His hoodie is actually one that he had to send in fifty box tops for, it has Pumpkin Pete's head on the chest. He probably loves that jacket as much as he loves Crocea Mors. He loves tales of knights and princesses, he used to say that he wanted to be a knight and protect all of his sisters. I also have it on pretty good authority that he's going to be taking training from Pyrrha soon, so you could possibly get in on that to even out the playing field."

Her eyes spun at the onslaught of information and she just held her finger up to tell me to stop. "So, let me get this straight. Pumpkin Pete, knights and princesses, train with him, treat him like he's a person, like him for him?"

"Summarily, yes. He also likes to dance. You should probably learn how to move and fight in heels, you could probably ask Weiss to help with that. And with that out of the way, you need to have a talk with your sister. If she threatens Jaune at all, she will be missing more than half of her hair when I'm done with her, and she will be doing nothing to stop me. If Jaune hurts you, I will hurt him myself and do not need your sister to kill him. He would probably beat himself up if he hurts anyone, but my part would be only to further instate on how he messed up." I realized I was rambling and stopped myself. "Do I make myself clear? Speak to Yang and make it know that you like Jaune maybe more than friends and that she will answer to me if she even looks at him like she will drag him away."

She bobbed her head up and down. "Yes, crystal clear! Thank you Echo, you're the best!" She gave me a quick hug and dashed off to the dorms.

"Ruby!" She stopped and looked back to me. "Jaune and Pyrrha are on the dorm's roof right now. If you get there in time, you may be able to slide in easily to the sparring lessons." She just nodded again and was off. I draped myself across the bench and closed my eyes. Looks like I have an update for Ozpin on the shipping. Many more orders of fluff were to be expected, maybe some thorns of envy holding the ships back.

I stayed there for a few hours just relaxing. When I heard the sound of shoes hitting the stones, I took a glance at my scroll. It was almost dinner time. I looked up and saw that it was Cardin making his way to me. I groaned inwardly and got up, brushing my clothes off. He stopped in front of me, looking awkward and playing with his hands behind his back. He had switched to a hoodie and some sweat pants with sneakers. When he didn't say anything for a minute, I made to move past him, but a quiet 'wait' stopped me. "What is it, Winchester? Come to bother me?"

He sighed and sat down on the bench that I previously occupied. "I'm sorry." I stood there, visibly stunned. Here was Cardin Winchester, the biggest bully in our year, apologizing to me. "Could you sit down, I don't really like speaking to people standing over me. I sat down, still quiet. "Thanks." He looked up to the sky. "I just wanted to say sorry again, for everything I did. Jaune really saved my ass earlier today, if you didn't already hear. I was probably going to be killed by that Ursa if he didn't step in to protect me. Really got me thinking about why I wanted to be a hunter, you know? At first, it was a family thing. Keeping the Winchester family strong and in business. My dad and mom really wanted me to beat the Faunus in everything, and they drilled that into me. I guess I just… lost myself over time. Then, I just wanted to be stronger and more powerful than anyone around me when my sister was attacked by White Fang during a rally. She… didn't make it."

I was reeling. Cardin had a reason to hate the Faunus just like Weiss. He was indoctrinated into it by his family, and he had lost a loved one to the White Fang. "Wait, how long ago was this? How old was your sister?"

He swallowed heavily and pulled out his wallet. He handed me a picture and pointed to this small brown headed child. "That's her. She was four, and it was four years ago here in Vale. She didn't even make it to the hospital in time." He looked like he was about to start crying, his shoulders shaking heavily and moisture gathering at the corners of his eyes.

"Was it at Plunket Mall? Right before the holidays?" I was asking because that was the only rally that I knew of during that time.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" He looked at me and swallowed heavily again.

"I was there that day." A shocked look flittered across his face before a look of rage came over it. "And no, I wasn't there to participate in the rally. I was there to buy some presents for my family back in Ansel. I helped the security and police deescalate the situation by taking in the members of the White Fang that were there. There weren't any other Huntsman or Huntresses nearby when everything went down, so I figured why not?" I slumped my shoulders. "Well, you can't save everyone. I knew that already, but it really hit me that day. I'm sorry I couldn't save your sister Cardin."

He looked back up to the sky and shuddered, taking in a deep breath. "You must have been, what, twelve at the time?" He let out a few breathy chuckles, holding back his sobs. "My mom was devastated; my dad drank even more. But they both talked about this kid that saved them. I never really made the connection, they said it was a girl and she wore these cat headphone things." He got up and kneeled in front of me. "Thank you, for trying your best and saving my parents at least. They're all I have left really."

"No." I stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. "You also have your team now. They're just as much as your family now as your blood relatives. This must have taken a lot of effort for you Cardin." He looked up at the use of his first name. I was smiling now. "What say you to burying the hatchet and working together from now on? You're going to have to work on your teammates, tell them to stop the racism, and then foster the bonds that grow between you and them. It'll be hard, harder than coming to me and apologizing to me. But, it will be so worth it when you are all stronger for it." I held my arm out for him to help him up and he grasped it at the forearm.

"That sounds great, Echo. See you in class on Monday." With that he walked off, looking at the picture of his sister again before putting it in his pocket and whistling a tune. He looked happy now, like a weight was lifted off his shoulders.

I waited at the bench for a few minutes before heading off to the mess hall for dinner. I didn't really feel like making anything today, after all. I ate my dinner at the usual table, and Team CFVY met me when I was halfway done. We exchanged pleasant conversation for the rest of the meal and I bid them good night before heading off to the dorms. I made a quick detour to put my equipment in my locker first though. I didn't want to bring it to the room again and take up space. I pocketed my key and walked to the room with a light spring in my step, ready to start tomorrow.

When I swiped my scroll across the door and entered, I was greeted by everyone sitting on their beds and staring at me. "Well, this isn't creepy at all anyone. Anybody think this would be a good scene for a horror movie?"

Jaune groaned. "Humor won't help in this situation sis. Sit down. Pyrrha wanted us all to be here for the big announcement."

I took a seat on the futon and kicked off my boots, moving the blanket out of the way before my clothes brushed up against it and got it dirty. "So, bro, what's up? You going to tell us that you secretly have the hots for Yang and have had scandalous dreams about her?"

He blushed and stammered. "N-no! Not anything like that!" He took a second to calm himself down and continued. "I just wanted to tell everyone that… I didn't get into Beacon the right way."

Nora tilted her head. "What do you mean by that Jaune-Jaune? Did you ninja your way in and secretly hack into the computers, putting really good credentials into the system?"

He winced and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "That isn't too far off, actually. You all know how Cardin and his team have been controlling me for the fast few days?" We just nodded and he continued. "Well, he found out that I lied my way into Beacon and held that over my head. I had forged transcripts that got me into Beacon." He looked over to Ren and Nora. "Do you guys hate me for lying to you all for this long? Do you think I don't belong here?"

Nora just laughed. "Hah! Our fearless leader thinks he doesn't belong here!" She launched herself at Jaune and wrapped him in a tight hug. "Of course you belong here, Jaune! If you weren't here, then we wouldn't be Team JNPER! Nothing would be right, and that would make me sad! And it would make Ren sad too, though he wouldn't really show it. But I know that he would be crying on the inside to know that you were gone!" She let go of Jaune and he took in a deep breath of air, going from blue to red, then back to a reddish white.

He looked to Ren and Ren just got up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Jaune, you belong here. We wouldn't have it any other way." He went back to his bed and sat down.

"See Jaune, I told you that they wouldn't be mad with you." Pyrrha got up and sat beside him, rubbing a hand in circular motions on his upper back. It appeared to calm him down slightly. "You just have to put trust in your team at times like these, and they will have your back all the way." She looked to the three of us. "I have convinced Jaune to let me train him, and Ruby has as well. Would any of you like to help?"

Ren simply nodded and Nora got a gleam in her eye. "We will be the best training buddies ever Jaune! Sure, your muscles will scream at you to kill them after I'm done, but that only means that it's working!" She stage whispered to him. "Don't try any of Ren's health drinks. They're really bad."

I shook my head. "While I would love to help him, I can't really do much more than what he's already getting with you all. Ren's aura training, Nora's exercises for muscle building, sparring with Ruby and Pyrrha for training in speed and style. Ren knows more than me about aura control, Nora knows about exercise more, Ruby is faster than me without a full charge of my semblance and I don't fight sword and board like Jaune does so Pyrrha is the closest to him."

"You could help him with tactics." Pyrrha spoke up, looking over at Jaune. "You both could work together on making the team better together overall with stronger cooperation moves."

I smiled at her and Jaune. "That I could. But it all depends on whether Jaune wants my help. I'm not just going to push myself into helping him if he doesn't want it."

He just looked at everyone before looking back to Pyrrha again. She gave him a slight nod, and he did a few cycled breaths. "Echo, would you help me with team tactics. You're really good and I'm surprised that Ozpin didn't make you team leader instead of me, 'cause that would have been the smarter choice and…"

I cut him off by walking up to him and covering his lips with a finger. "Jaune, I would love to help you with tactics. But, as a stipulation, you have to work on your confidence. And I mean real confidence, not the fake bravado you put on to impress the ladies. You're a great brother and a great leader. Ozpin would not have let you into Beacon if he didn't see the potential you have."

His eyes widened and he started to cough after he accidentally breathed in some spit. "Wait, OZPIN KNOWS ABOUT THE FAKE TRANSCRIPTS?!"

I reeled back and rubbed at my ears. "Yeah. Jaune, he has been headmaster for a long time. Even Goodwitch knows, along with the rest of the professors. I confronted him about it on the first night we were in the dorms and I couldn't fall back to sleep. He knows that you are a leader Jaune, he let you in knowing that you could make it. And look at you now! You're the leader of your own team, and you're friends with the second strongest team in the first years!" I put my hands on his shoulders and looked him deep in the eyes. "Jaune Miles Arc, believe in your own abilities and your teammates."

He stared back for a long time before clapping a hand to my arm. "I will. And I'll believe in my sister as well, because while she's just a student like the rest of us she seems to always know what to do." He smiled and brought me in for a hug. "Thanks, sis, for telling me. And for helping me even though you don't have to."

"Team Hug!" Nora yelled before she jumped the two of us, knocking us back onto Jaune's bed. Ren shook his head but joined in anyways. Pyrrha looked slightly uncomfortable sitting slightly off to the side before Nora dragged her into the hug, smushing her against Jaune and I. "I love you guys."

"We love you to Nora, but I think you should let us go. Jaune's turning blue." She let go and Jaune took a deep breath after seeing death's door for the second time that night. "We should go to sleep, or at least I know I will. I'm going to be in the hangar all day tomorrow working on Air Echo, so if you need me you know where to find me." I went into the bathroom while carrying a new pair of underwear and some sleep shorts, coming out after changing into them and throwing the dirty clothes into the hamper. "Good night guys."

"Night." They all said before they did their stuff to get ready for bed. I clsoed my eyes and shut the noise out, falling asleep rather quickly.

0-0

While Jaune was getting out of his clothes to put on his sleep clothes, a Dust crystal fell out of the pocket of his hoodie. Reaching down and picking it up off the floor, he examined it in front of his face. "Where did this come from?"

There was a knock on the bathroom door. "Did you say something Jaune?" Pyrrha was waiting on him to get out so she could take a shower and get ready to sleep.

Jaune quickly stripped himself of his normal clothes and hopped into his sleep clothes before opening the door and showing the crystal to Pyrrha. "Yeah, I did. When I was taking off my hoodie this fell out of the pocket. I don't remember putting it there or even picking it up. Do you know what kind of Dust it is?"

Pyrrha took the crystal out of his hand and rotated it, trying to identify it with the knowledge she had. "No, I have no idea what kind of Dust this is. Perhaps on Monday when we go into Professor Peach's room you can leave it on her desk to analyze. It might earn you extra credit." She handed it back to him.

A grin formed on his face. "Yeah, that sounds awesome!" He put it in the top drawer of the nightstand next to his bed, and Nora was eyeing it suspiciously.

"Nora." Her attention turned to Ren, who was sitting on his bed with his legs crossed, doing his nightly meditation before bed. "Don't even think about it."

"Aww." She sighed dejectedly but listened to Ren. Her final thoughts before going to sleep were, "I will find out what that Dust does if it's the last thing I'll ever do."

Since Pyrrha was the last out of the bathroom and the last to get into bed, it was her turn to turn off the light. She did so and moved slowly into her bed. She was happy today. Her leader came clean to their team and wanted their help in growing stronger. She swore to herself to thank Headmaster Ozpin later for letting Jaune be their leader. She thought about Jaune a little longer, about how she would help train him in sparring, teach him in studies, maybe go on a date with him like a normal girl…

She drifted off to sleep like the rest of the team, unaware of the dark force roiling in the Grimm lands.

0-0

Salem was angry. It was understandable, as one of her pieces had just been reported as eliminated. She had made sure to keep them under the radar, an unknown to her enemies. But they had found him somehow. She needed to know. So, she called upon her piece in Vale. The soon to be whole Fall Maiden. "Cinder, I have another task for you."

"Yes, Mistress."

0-0-0

When I woke up, I was uncomfortable for some reason. It wasn't too hot or too cold in the room, it wasn't too bright, I hadn't woken up on the wrong side of the futon. But something was off. I sat there for a few minutes trying to figure out what it was, but I just couldn't find what was bothering me so much. I stopped trying to figure it out when my stomach growled, demanding that I feed it something before going off to work today. I got up and stretched before throwing on some of my old clothes that I didn't mind getting dirty with paint.

I made sure to leave the room quietly, bringing my scroll and my key with. I didn't bother wearing my headphones today, as I would be in the hangar basically all day unless things didn't go to plan or things got spend up. Going into the common room's kitchen, I grabbed myself some bread and put two slices into the toaster and while those were toasting I made a quick fried egg. The toast popped up and I put orange jam on one and the egg on the other before eating them both. The egg could have been better, I admit.

When I left to head off to the elevator, I bumped into Team CRDL heading out into Vale. Cardin's teammates looked like they were about to start ragging on me but Cardin stopped them. "Guys, how about we stop that. It isn't helping anyone and it certainly isn't helping us." They grudgingly accepted and moved off. I smiled and punched Carding in the shoulder playfully.

"Thanks Cardin. Have a good day." He nodded and went off after his team, giving me a quick wave. Cardin was one of the quickest 180s I have ever witnessed, but certainly not the fastest. That was reserved by one video game character. It still made me feel good though, to know that he was going to work on fixing his tendencies and those of his teammates. I returned to my journey to the elevator and wasn't interrupted any further.

Rouge saw me come in and showed me the stuff they used to paint their airships whenever they got a new one or one needed a touchup due to a Nevermore or some bad weather. They had spray cans and aerosol cans and lines for turning paint in buckets to sprayable paint. They had already laid out the materials I would be using today so I thanked them for that before donning a painter's mask and getting to work. First, the fast-drying primer layer which took me about thirty minutes with some help getting to hard to reach areas.

I took off my shoes and socks, deciding to go from bottom to top for the green layer. After making sure the primer was completely dry, I prepped the green paint and masked off a few areas that the other guys had missed in their prep phases before I got here, such as the landing gear area. The green layer took longer than thirty minutes to get done and dry, and it was only the first layer of green that I was doing. When I had gotten to the top of the Bullhead I jumped and made a quick spray to get the spot where I had been standing. I shot the breeze with a few of the engineers that were around, along with some pilots that were getting ready to go on shift for their transport duty to Vale and some third and fourth year missions.

There were no fourth years on campus, but that was because they left Beacon to stay in the Huntsman and Huntress living areas in Vale near the end of third year. They still got professional pilots to bring them to where they needed to be, but they were told to truly fend for themselves in all other matters. They learned in the field rather than in a classroom and were given grades based upon the report Beacon was sent by those who hired them. I got back to work after making sure the paint was dry again and finished up the second layer. I just sat there waiting for the paint to dry before putting on the tape for the patterns, because I didn't want to pull up tape and get paint along with it. That would look weird.

While I was waiting, Nora and Ren showed up. Nora was amazed at all the airships that were currently docked and on pads. Ren simply gazed around, no real emotion showing on his face. He had to pull Nora back a few times to make sure she didn't go running off and damage something. "Hello Echo. How is your project going?"

I pointed to my Bullhead. "It's going just fine. I just wish the paint dried faster so I didn't have to wait as long. I should be done in about, eh, four hours? Maybe slightly longer." I looked at Nora who was struggling to get out of Ren's surprisingly strong grip to get to the Bullhead in question. "What brings you two here? Other than me of course."

"Well, Nora and I heard about the spa that you told Pyrrha about and Nora decided that she wanted to help you so that we could all go there later today." Nora stopped struggling and stood straight with a small salute. "She likes painting."

I raised an eyebrow at the two but shrugged. "I guess it'll work. This layer is almost done drying, and I need to put on tape to make the patterns. Nora, have you head of geometric paint designs?"

"Yeparoonie!" She pulled out her scroll and showed me a few pictures of ones she had done. "This is one that I made in my previous room before coming to Beacon, and this is one that I did three years ago and this is one…" She rambled on about the ones she showed me and I stopped her at the one that I was going to do.

"I'm going to do this one, the one that looks like shard of glass put back together with spaces in between." She just nodded and grabbed a roll of tape. "I want the shapes to be decently sized on the Bullhead, nothing too big or too small. Here, I'll show you about the size I want them." I took four large strips of tape from a different roll and laid them on the Bullhead, forming a space that was about three-fourths my size height wise.

"Got it boss!" She threw another salute to me and got to work. I was working on the other side and the top while she got the bottom. With her help, it only took us ten minutes to get the tape down and then I handed her a spray can that I had prepped earlier with the Neon Blue paint along with a painter's mask. "Spray and pray!" She laughed maniacally before lunging into work, spraying at anything within arm's reach. She moved quickly but laid down an even layer all around wherever she went.

As I was working on my portion, I was talking to Ren. "Did you feel anything off this morning? Like there was something that just went horribly off of plan, but you just couldn't find out what it was?"

He thought for a second before shrugging. "No, nothing stuck out to me. Perhaps it was just your mind tricking you, or you had a dream that you couldn't remember that ended terribly. Nora has those sometimes." Nora peeked around the Bullhead and waved. Ren waved back and she got back to work.

I finished up the side and got to work on the top. "Maybe you're right. It's that, or it's getting to be that time." He grimaced and I laughed. "No worries, if it really does turn out that that's the case, then I'll tell you guys. Don't want anyone on the team feeling off about me. Have you heard anything about those guys that got bitten yesterday?"

Nora zipped to stand beside Ren. "Yeah! They're doing great now, with some help from the docs and nurses and aura infusions they should be out and ready to kick Grimm butt by tomorrow!" She flexed her arms and it looked like she was smiling beneath her mask. She also had a few blue streaks in her orange hair.

"That's good to hear." I dropped down after finishing the top. "Now we have to wait on this layer to dry before the final blue layer, then the sealer layer. Then I have to make sure everything still runs at one-hundred percent. Don't want paint in places it shouldn't be. Get comfortable, this'll take some time." Nora produced her headphones and started to listen to music while Ren sat down on a bench and started to meditate. I decided to follow Ren's example and meditate as well.

We passed the time waiting in a nice state of quiet, all three of us tuning out the sounds around us. It was a nice time of team bonding. My scroll beeped and I stopped meditating. It was a message from Ozpin.

'Another Dust shop has been robbed. No money was taken, only the Dust. If you could investigate when you get the chance. I have already sent a message to the VPD telling them you would be there within the next few days.'

'Sure, I'll be there tomorrow after I'm done in the forge.' After sending the message I saw that it was about time to get the next layer on. I prodded Nora and she jumped up, ready to get back to work. This layer went on faster because I wasn't talking to Ren. When we got done, I stepped back to admire our handiwork. IT looked like it was missing something. "Nora, what is it missing?"

She tapped her finger against her chin before darting around it, looking at it from every angle. She slammed her right fist into an open palm. "A symbol! Like my hammer or Ren's flower or Pyrrha's spear thing or Jaune's double moonbows."

It dawned upon me that I hadn't even made my Huntress emblem. I had spent all this time training and working at this, and I hadn't even made something that said my stuff was mine with just a simple design. It didn't take me long to decide what I wanted to do. When the layer dried, I got to work with a brush and the green paint. My symbol went on both sides of the tail, a symbol that looked like the Arc crest but with two extra arcs below the normal two. It made it look like sound waves in old cartoons. It was a way of incorporating my adopted family into my own emblem.

We let that dry and then peeled off the tape before spraying on the protective sealant. It gave it a nice metallic shine when it finished drying. "Wow, I can't wait to show this to Team RWBY! It's so pretty! And it's so you, Echo."

I smiled and gave her a one-armed hug. "Yeah, I agree with you Nora. I don't think Weiss will like it that much, though. Probably clashes with her aesthetic of clean and simple colors. But who cares? It's mine, and it say that I'm ready to kick butts and take names!"

She laughed with me and we went up to the dorms to get changed before heading into Vale. While we were waiting on everyone else to get ready I snacked on some crackers instead of fixing something for lunch, because we would be getting something to eat after the spa and I didn't want to ruin my appetite this early. When we got together we decided to run by our lockers and get our weapons for protection should we need it. I only went with my gloves though, no need to be carrying around Jolder and my swords when we went out like this in a group. I also made sure to grab my headphones from the room.

We decided to just take a normal transport airship down instead of taking Air Echo. I didn't want to just leave it somewhere in Vale only guarded by some security. Ozpin knows that it wouldn't be enough if someone really wanted to steal it. I made sure that Jaune remembered to take a pill before we boarded, and he didn't throw up or look queasy once. Ren told him that he would learn to control his aura to the point where he wouldn't need motion sickness pills anymore and Jaune just nodded gratefully.

When we landed, I showed them the way to the spa. It was in a fairly out of sight area, at least in the sense that tourists wouldn't know about it on their first visit to Vale. It was run by a lizard Faunus, which is one of the reasons I recommended it in the first place. That, and it was just a really good spa. "Echo! It is good to see you again darling. You haven't come by in a few months and I was starting to worry about you." The owner came up and hug me, which I returned with just as much vigor.

"It's good to see you too, Oralie." I stepped back and motioned to the group gathered behind me. "These are my friends and teammates from Beacon. Starting with Team RWBY, we have Ruby Rose, our very own Grimm reaper."

Ruby gave a little curtsy and smiled. "Nice to meet you!"

"Then there's her partner Weiss Schnee." I pointed to Weiss who looked like she had just swallowed a whole lemon. "Don't worry about her, she'll behave herself. There's Blake Belladonna, our resident bookworm." Blake just gave a small wave. "And finally, there's Yang Xiao Long, Ruby's sister."

"Nice to meet you." Yang held out a hand for a shake and Oralie just hugged her. She was a hugging type of person.

She looked over to my team and her face scrunched up for a moment. "Oh my word. You're Pyrrha Nikos. My son just absolutely adores you."

Pyrrha put on her show smile. "That's nice to hear ma'am. It's always nice to learn I'm being a positive influence."

Oralie just shook her head and tsked at Pyrrha. "Miss Nikos, you can just call me Oralie, there's no need to call me ma'am. It makes me feel old. And you have just got to relax. No need for fake smiles here." She opened her arms for a hug and motioned for Pyrrha to come in. "Come here and give me a hug."

Pyrrha adopted a real smile and gave her a hug that lasted just a few seconds longer than normal. "Thank you, Oralie. It is nice to know that. You may also call me Pyrrha. It's what my friends call me."

"We get enough famous people in here that we have a no fake smiles policy. When they walk out, it's one-hundred percent genuine smiles guaranteed or your money back!" She pointed over to the wall where she had some pictures hung up of her and a few famous actors, actresses, and other assortments of famous people smiling at the camera. She made a stage whisper to Pyrrha. "I've been trying to get Echo to get a picture with me for it since that time years ago, but she refuses me every time."

"And I'll keep refusing, since I don't want to be up there or recognized for anything that I did before Beacon. That was just a girl in the right place at the right time. I even told the police that I didn't want to be fully mentioned. Let me have my mediocre Huntress life please." I rolled my eyes and huffed before continuing on. "Since you already know Pyrrha, let me introduce you to Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie."

"Hi!" Nora rushed up to her and gave her a huge hug that got her to laugh.

"This girlie has some serious strength. And she likes her hugs! I can tell we'll get along swimmingly Nora." After extracting herself from Nora's arms she stepped up to Ren. "So, you're the quiet one of the group. I can just tell by the look in your eyes. My husband is the same way."

"Of course, Oralie." He stuck his hand out and gave her a respectful handshake.

I did a fake drumroll. "And last, but certainly not least, is our fearless leader and my brother, Jaune Arc!" He just gave an awkward wave and scratched at the back of his head.

"Oh, your sister has told me so much about you." He looked shocked for a moment. "Nothing but good things, I assure you. The perfect older brother, at least in her eyes." He looked over to me and I just smiled. "So, what can I do for you all today? Just a regular session, or a deluxe?"

Everyone looked at me, deciding to go for what I decided on. "Let's go with the deluxe today. Pyrrha here needs to relax and it's team bonding today. No hold barred in search of the ultimate relaxation!"

"Okay, that's nine deluxe. How will you all be paying?" I just handed her my card. She swiped it and handed it back to me. "If you will all follow me then." What followed after we changed into the spa robes and cleaned ourselves off initially was nothing short of heaven. Full body massages, manicures and pedicures, hot tubs and mud baths while wearing face masks with cucumbers.

Weiss took the longest to relax, but once she did she was practically out of it. Jaune talked about life in Ansel while Pyrrha talked about life in Mistral, the nice parts of it at least. Nora and Ren told us all about their journeys, leaving out the beginnings for obvious reasons. I talked about life in Vale, what it was like working for Otto and living alone as a ten-year-old. Ruby and Yang talked about Patch, and their dad, Qrow and Zwei. Blake and Weiss were quiet though, they obviously didn't want to talk about their past, and we didn't pressure for them after Yang tried to and was stopped by icy glares.

We left extremely satisfied. Weiss said that she might even come back every now and again for the excellent service. We headed to a nearby diner that had super great milkshakes and to die for fries. After eating our fill, we got back on an airship to Beacon. Jaune had forgotten to take a pill and just about threw up, but Pyrrha started to rub his back in little circles while channeling aura to help with the motion sickness. We parted ways when we entered the dorm, Ruby's team deciding to watch a movie while our team went to go to bed. We were asleep within minutes due to how relaxed we were.

0-0

Roman Torchwick, Master Criminal and The Finest Gentleman Thief, was in one of his many hideaways within the city of Vale. He was planning yet another heist to gather Dust for his newest 'employer'. He was also busy in gathering information for her. This morning, she had told him to be on the lookout for anyone that might look like they knew too much. If he didn't deliver within the month, she would burn his balls over an open flame. Literally. Thankfully, he had some competent help in this little endeavor.

"Neo, anything yet?" He tapped his cane against the table before lighting a cigar using his personal lighter.

A short lady with pink and brown hair came out of the shadows wile twirling around a parasol. 'Nothing yet, Roman. It's only been a day.' She signed to him.

"Yeah, it's only been a day, but that also means that I only have twenty-seven more days before I have to fear for my balls. I kinda like them, if you haven't noticed."

She rolled her eyes. 'Yes, you make sure to tell me every day how much you love them. You aren't exactly the quietest in your personal times.'

Roman balked. He was sure that he had soundproofed that room! "No matter. Just get back out there and tell me if you find anyone."

'You owe me four gallons of ice cream when this is all over.' She left before he could say anything, shattering into a million little glass shards that disappeared after a brief second.

"Freaking ice cream lover…" he trailed off before going back to his diagrams. He had much more Dust to steal and not all that much time. "I really wish I knew her damn endgame here."

0-0-0

After waking up and going through my morning routines, I grabbed my gloves and my new kit and headed down to the forge to meet with Ruby. She was eagerly waiting outside the doors with a massive grin on her face. She was bouncing backwards and forwards on her feet. "Yes! You're finally here! Let's get this thing done!" She dragged me, or at least tried to, into the forge and dropped a diagram on the table in front of us. "Let me introduce you to the Hurt and Pain blueprint one point oh!"

I studied it and saw that each knuckle was separate and linked to its own Dust type. The Dust storage was properly protected and sealed, designed to be opened even in the middle of battle. Material had to be added to my gloves to make them long enough for the metal parts, but I knew how to sew so it was no problem. "Looks great Rubes. This shouldn't take all that long with both of us working on it. You get to working on the guard and storage while I lengthen the gloves. We can etch and get the knuckles done when everything else is ready."

She nodded and got to work while I got a needle and some thread along with some high-quality cloth in the same shade as my current gloves. I wrapped the cloth around my arm up to my elbow and cut out the section, using the cut out portion to cut out another equal portion. I lined up the stitching on the sides and stitched the end on before stitching along the inside to seal everything up. Making sure everything still felt right, I repeated the process on the other glove. Ruby walked up to me and showed me the first guard and knuckles.

"Is that good enough?" She looked confident in her work. Like she knew the answer already.

Which she did.

"Yeah, it's perfect." She did a little dance and went to work on the second one. I welded the guard onto the current one using the best materials we had, just to make sure it would stay on. I gave it a good test tug and nearly ripped the cloth part. Yep, it was on just right. The knuckles were easy to replace, I just had to take out the old ones and put the new ones in after laying down the Dust lines. Neutral Dust and a needle worked their way in and out of the cloth in straight lines, coming down from the guard to the places where the knuckles would be. Neutral Dust didn't have a charge unless it was touching another form of Dust along with a person's aura, so it was the perfect conductor for my knuckles.

After finishing the lines, I etched in Dust to the knuckles, connecting them to the lines I sewed in the gloves. The knuckles had vent holes for the Dust to channel out of once they reached the bit. Ruby handed me the other guard and I duplicated the process. After putting on the finishing touches of my new emblem I put them on and did a few test jabs. They were noticeably heavier than before, but that meant more weight in my hand to hand attacks. The guards were also thicker and longer, for better defense.

"Thanks for all the help Ruby. I got to head into Vale again right now, but I tell you what. I'm going to pick up some strawberry cookies on my way back to pay you back for this." She squealed in excitement and gave me a huge hug before dashing off to wherever she was going now. I paid for the stuff and went to my locker to get my weapons. After that, it was a short ride to Vale and a long walk to the Dust shop.

When I reached it, I took a look at the police tape hanging around and the few cops standing about. The glass was shattered outwards towards the street, broken from the inside. It didn't go that far and I couldn't see any bullet casings, so it was probably broken either by a grunt in show of power, or Roman smashed it with his cane. There wasn't any blood outside, so there was definitely no body thrown out the window. "Hey, you shouldn't be here kid."

I looked to the police officer that said that. He was about five seven, five eight, had this ridiculous facial hair for a cop, and was eating a donut. "I was told by Headmaster Ozpin that I was expected down here sometime soon. Today seemed to be a good day to be here."

He burped and wiped some crumbs away from his mouth. He tilted his head to speak into his radio. "Hey, uh, dispatch, we have a kid here saying she was told by the Headmaster of Beacon… Yeah. Short, girl, pink hair, swords, axe, a pair of cat ear headphones." He listened to the person and his eyebrows shot up. "You mean that this is her? Dang. Alright, thanks for the info." He looked back at me. "Okay, you're clear. Just don't touch anything without talking to us first."

"I'll need a pair of gloves." He handed me a pair of nitrile gloves and I took off my now gauntlets to put them on before putting my gauntlets back on. "Thanks. I'll try not to touch anything unless I need to." I walked past the police tape and into the store. Everything seemed perfectly fine in here, except for some glass that found its way inside. There weren't any crime markers on the floor, the ones present were placed next to the cash register and the Dust dispensers. The cash was still in the register, looking like it hadn't even been touched. The crystal displays and dispensers were completely empty though, not even an ounce of Dust left.

I checked the back of the store and found that the place had been emptied out. A small gouge in the floor piqued my interest. I kneeled down and inspected it. It looked like someone had put a chainsaw down here and let it run for a second. Fucking Banesaw. I'm surprised he's running with Roman. Then again, Adam is out of the picture, so it makes sense. I look at the floor of the main shop and spot a few round spots leading up to the register. Roman's cane left those marks, probably fired a flare and didn't clean it before putting it on these floors.

I walked out and tore off the gloves that had been handed to me. "Thanks, I got what I needed. I'll be out of your hair now."

The officer didn't say anything as I walked away. Then, right as soon as I was about to turn the corner, I got this feeling I was being watched. It was nowhere near Port's level, but it was still like a blade was pressed against me. I whipped around, drawing my blades, looking for whoever was there. I caught sight of two black tails of hair go around the corner. Neo was on my case now. Roman would know. I snorted and put my swords back in their scabbards. Time to tell Ozpin what I know. But first, getting Ruby's cookies and a well-deserved bath to get that feeling out of my skin.

0-0

Roman was a busy man now, having just successfully robbed another Dust store. He was directing the animals, telling then where to put the Dust they had gotten in the haul. "Come on, we don't have all day for this, you stupid animals! No! Put the red Dust in the red container! It's so fucking simple a mouse could do it!" If you couldn't tell, he needed better help. These guys and gals were dumber than a sack of bricks.

Neo came out of the shadows with a grin stuck to her face. 'I have good news! For you and your boys.'

"Good, something good actually happening to distract me from these incompetent stains. What is it?"

'I found this little girlie that likes to snoop around crime scenes.' Neo held up her scroll to show Roman a picture of the girl. It was from the back, but he knows that he had seen those weapons somewhere before… 'They didn't say her name, but they knew who she was. Ozpin sent her.'

"Well, that is great news, Neo! I'm buying you eight gallons of ice cream for that!" he dialed up Cinder's number and it was answered after one ring.

"What is it? This better be good Torchwick."

He looked at the picture of the girl again. "We have someone who we think is snooping around for Ozpin.

The clacking of something was heard over the scroll and Cinder practically purred. "Good. Send me a picture and information. You're safe… for now." She hung up.

"Neo, if you would do the honors?" She nodded and hit the send button on her scroll. "Now to find out who this little trouble seeker is." He dialed up another number. "Hey, Junior, we need to talk."

0-0

It was getting to be later in the day and Echo still hadn't returned. Ruby had said that she was going down to Vale for something and that she was going to be bringing back some cookies. This had assuaged Team JNPER's fears somewhat, but they were still there. None more than Jaune Arc, though. He kept on remembering what Oralie said yesterday about Echo saying he was the best big brother in her eyes. He was currently pacing in the room, with Pyrrha and Ren watching him. Nora was tossing something from one hand to another.

"Jaune, you need to calm down. She's only been gone for three hours. You said yourself that she is a capable Huntress in training, I am sure that she can fight her way out of a bad situation." Pyrrha was currently trying to calm her partner down. Ren was just content to watch him as he thought about what might possibly be holding their teammate up.

Nora jumped up, the mystery object still in her hands. "If you're so worried, how about we go and find her!? We could probably find her in no time flat if we really search hard."

Jaune stopped and thought about it. "Yeah, we could. We tried messaging her, but she didn't pick up so the next thing to do is organize a search party. Pyrrha, you're with me searching the north end of Vale and Ren and Nora will search the south end. We meet up in an hour if we don't find her. If you find her, message the others where you are." The others exchanged looks but nodded.

Ren finally noticed that Nora had something in her hands. "Nora, what is that?"

She tried to hide it behind her back and pretend it was nothing, but Ren kept on staring at her. She broke under his gaze and held her hand up. "It's that Dust crystal Jaune found yesterday. I was just tossing it around!"

"Nora, put it back in the drawer. It isn't yours to mess with."

"Yeah, well, Jaune said he didn't put it there either and he doesn't know what it really is, so it doesn't really belong to him either."

Jaune stepped forward and held his hand out. "Nora, please give me the Dust back so we can go look for my sister."

Nora thought about it for a second before chucking the crystal at the door, which was open and allowing Echo entrance to the room. "Never COPPER!"

"What is going…?" Echo looked up just in time to see a Dust crystal collide with her face. When it hit, there was a bright flash of light that blinded everyone, including Team RWBY who had their door open due to the fact that Ruby had just received cookies from Echo. When everyone got their eyesight back, they looked to the door and saw that Echo had disappeared.

"Oh my gosh! Nora!"

"I swear, I did not know that that was going to happen." She held up her hands straight up into the air.

"Well, maybe you should…" The lecture was stopped when they heard the shifting of clothes against metal. Everyone looked down to see that Echo had not disappeared entirely. In her place was a toddler, probably not even four years old.

Jaune stopped dead where he was standing and made a few choking noises. "Oh, dear Oum, I'm going to be so dead."

The young girl looked up to him and smiled brightly. "Daddy!"

And on that day, let it be known, that Jaune Arc fainted by being called daddy.