Blake sat in a chair as she read one of the books she had found in the study. The book she was currently reading was written by one of her favorite authors. While it wasn't as good as their recent work the story was still a good read. In a chair across from her Weiss was reading a piece of classical literature while Rona sat at a table taking notes from a book on aura research and applications. Blake had been surprised that there was a book like that in the study but she remembered how Nigel didn't seem worried at the fact his young cousins were in his home with out their parents. She got the impression that extended members of the Godin family came and went as they pleased so having a variety of books in the study for them to read was important. It was also supported from when Nigel had said his mother liked having guests over. Most likely the woman wanted people to enjoy them selves when they visited.

Before she had found the book she was currently reading she had found a photo album that had pictures from what Blake assumed were the family reunions. In the photos it showed Nigel's family along with their cousins, if the facial similarities were any thing to go by, playing games and eating together. There were a few minor celebrities there so it was safe to assume that the family reunions were open to friends of the family. Among the family members were also people wearing uniforms from different security agencies. A few she had come across before coming to Beacon. In different pictures it showed them eating with each other, seemed to be trading tips or even fighting each other to probably see which agency trained their employees better. In one picture it showed Susan, the woman from Caroline's staff they met, pressing her foot down on a mans neck as she pulled one of his arms up and twisted it. If Nigel was taught by her it was easy to see why the woman intimidated him.

Blake had put the photo album back and gone back to looking for an interesting book to read. When she found it she had sat down and spent the next 3 hours reading it. As she turned the page and started on the next chapter, the door to the study opened and Jojo walked in with Trudy following her. Blake and Weiss looked up from their and watched them while Rona just kept writing her notes. Jojo walked up the steps to the rail post at the top of the steps before she grabbed the head piece and twisted it before the top opened on a hinge. Blake didn't see what Jojo did but she heard a pair of clicks before she closed the head piece. One of the bookshelves moved from it position and Jojo ran over to it with Trudy running after her. Jojo then pulled the bookshelf further out revealing a pair of slide poles that went down through the floor. Both girls took a step and slid down the poles while music that would fit an old live action super hero show played as the bookshelf closed behind them. Weiss looked at the bookshelf before she shook her head and went back to reading.

"It would seem that it was an understatement when Caroline said her uncle had an interest in being a superhero" Trudy said.

"Certainly seems like it" Blake said as she wondered if there were any other hidden doors were in the mansion.

She decided that it wasn't important and if there were others Trudy, Nora, Parkin or even Ruby would want to find them. As she went back to her book all three of them heard the sound of a phone ringing. None of them moved to check their scrolls since it probably wasn't any of their ring tones.

"It's not me" Weiss said as she read her book.

"It's not me either" Blake said shaking her head.

Rona looked around before she got up from her seat and walked over to the railing. She checked the underside before she found a hidden button and pressed it. With a click a top section of the railing lifted and when Rona lifted it off there was a phone inside. Not showing any surprise Rona picked up the receiver and held it up to her ear.

"This is the Godin study, Rona speaking. How can I help you" Rona answered.

While Blake couldn't hear who it was on the other end Rona didn't give any indication that it was a stranger.

"Yes, they came here but they went through a hidden door behind a book shelf" Rona said.

A reply came from the other end before she hung up the phone and closed the cover for the phone.

"Dinner is ready and we're to meet up in the dining room" Rona said.

Blake and Weiss put down their books on a table before they got up and the three of them left the study.


Nigel walked through the hallway as he made a mental checklist of where every one was. The only person unaccounted for was Parkin and he was not in the mood to imagine what she what trouble she would cause in his home. As he turned a corner he spotted his brother walking towards him.

"Mathew, have you seen Parkin around" Nigel asked.

"Um... I think I saw her heading towards the garage" Mathew said.

"Thanks. Head on to the dinning room. I'll catch up" Nigel said.

Mathew nodded and continued walking down the hallway. Nigel watched him go before he sighed and started making his way to the garage. Hopefully Parkin wasn't doing any thing to the cars. When he reached the garage he looked inside. Closest to the door was a red painted SUV, not some thing on for a family to have. Next to it was a 4 person streamlined in silver paint. Nigel remembered that one being bought before he left, he hadn't gotten a chance to drive it though. Next in the line was a modified hatchback in green and red paint with a roll cage, bull bars, 4 bucket seats and a 4 headlamps that produced such a high amount of light they could blind a pack of Beowulfs. The last car was a 2 door car with 2 seats in the front and a bench seat in the back, 4 headlamps on the front and music notes on the hubcap (AN: for appearance think of a 68 Pontiac GTO). The paint job on it was black with a pearlescent paint pattern on it that made Nigel think of an Ursa. Well, the first thing that came to mind was the fact that when he left for Beacon, the car was originally painted purple with a pair of white stripes.

"Parkin, are you in here" Nigel asked.

"Over here" Parkin said as she stuck her hand out from underneath the car at the end.

Nigel shook his head as he walked over to the car.

"Why are you under there" Nigel asked.

"I wanted to take a look" Parkin said as she got out from under the car.

"Why" Nigel asked as he looked down at her.

"Curiosity" she said looking up at him "the SUV and the GT in the middle are normal but the hatchback turned rally car and this one look like custom jobs. You going to help a lady up" Parkin asked raising her hands.

Nigel looked at her before he sighed, grabbed her arms and pulled her up.

"I take it they belong to your dad" Parkin asked as she got to her feet.

"Not really. The SUV is just for family use. The rally car and the GT belong to mom" Nigel said shrugging his shoulders.

Parkin looked at him before she looked at the two cars in question then back at him.

"My mom's a bit of a gear head which she got from grandpa" Nigel said closing his eyes "aunty told me that on the day he found out he skipped to his favorite bar and bought every one 6 rounds of drinks."

"That must have been an odd sight for some one to see" Parkin said with a smirk.

"I guess. There aren't any pictures of it so I can only imagine" Nigel said.

"And the last one" Parkin asked.

"That one? It's mine" Nigel said as he opened his eyes and looked at the car.

Parkin stared at him as she thought about to ask next.

"O.k, two questions. First, why do you have a muscle car? You don't seem the type. To top it off some of those parts I've only seen on stunt cars" Parkin asked a little surprised.

Nigel turned to face her wondering why he didn't seem the type to have a muscle car. He'd ask but he figured that the answer would probably annoy him.

"After working as a mechanic my grandpa opened a small custom car shop. When he found out I was going to be accepted into Beacon he made it as a gift to me" Nigel said before he looked at the car again "it wasn't that color before but around the time I left I heard he was sending a few vehicles to a car show. I guess he decided to repaint mine and send it in. Either that or he made a new one for some reason."

"You should probably ask him about that but more importantly my last question. If you have a car why, the hell isn't it in Vale" Parkin yelled as she glared at him "we could do a lot more shopping and not have to walk around all the time."

Nigel looked at her before she shook his head.

"The main word there is 'we'. 'I' have no reason for the car to be in Vale. All the places I visit in the city are in walking distance of the airship docks and I have no problem with taking a bus" Nigel said.

Parkin mumbled as she crossed her arms. Nigel figured that she accepted his answer but knew she'd probably bring the topic of his car up later. Parkin seemed to think of some thing then looked at him.

"Can I drive" she asked.

Apparently later was now.

"I thought you said you only had two question" Nigel asked.

"Hey, when a lady's asking a guy questions she can have more than two. It's our prerogative and all that" Parkin said with a smirk "So, can I drive it?"

Nigel closed his eyes and shook his head.

"No. I'm not letting you drive my car. Do you even have a license" Nigel asked.

"No, but it's not like it'd keep me from driving" Parkin said.

"True enough but I'm still not letting you drive my car" Nigel said as he opened his eyes and walked out of the garage "Come on. Dinner's ready."

"Fine" Parkin said as she followed after him "so, where's the little red button?"

"Why would you think my car as a little red button" Nigel asked.

He already guessed that she was asking because she planned to try and take his car out for a drive at some point.

"Nigel, it's a custom made muscle car a gear head gave to his grandson. It has to have a little red button" Parkin said with a smile.

"Parkin, I'm telling you now that there's no little red button on my car" Nigel said.

"You said on your car, that must mean there's one inside of it" Parkin said smiling.

"My car does not have a little red button" Nigel said.

"When I saw under there I saw a red and black hose with the words 'Warning: do not cut. Hazardous chemicals inside'" Parkin said trying to get him to admit the truth.

"I'm a musician, not a car guy. I have no idea what that hose connects to" Nigel said trying not to yell.

"Liar, I don't think your grandpa would give you a car without telling you how to maintain it and what parts are in it" Parkin as her smile turned into a scowl.

Nigel grit his teeth as he kept focused on not getting angry with Parkin. It wouldn't be proper for him to yell at a guest while they were in his home. He also had no interest in being scolded by his mother for doing it.

"I swear that there's no little red button in the car so drop it Parkin" Nigel said as they walked to the dining room.

"You swear huh? Then swear on Little Baby" Parkin said.

"I'm not swearing on my guitar" Nigel said looking back at her.

"Ha" Parkin yelled pointing a finger at him "that right there proves that I'm right."

Nigel started growling at her as he started wondering how he could get her to stop.

"Hey Nigel, No growling at our guests. Mom's going to get angry if she finds out" a voice said.

Nigel looked ahead and saw Jojo looking at them from the dinning room door before she went inside. Nigel snorted and shook his head as he picked up the pace.

"Hey, we're not done" Parkin said as she walked faster to catch up.

"Yes we are" Nigel said as he walked into the dinning room.

The dinning room was large enough for several to people to eat. On the walls were shelves that held cook books or decorative plates while at the wall opposite of the door were windows that showed the front yard. In the center of the room was a large table with plates and cutlery already in place a turn able top piece with several trays and plates with different foods on it. Nigel's cousins and his little brother were already at their seats as Jojo sat down at the table. Nora and Trudy seemed to be looking over the food and were deciding what to eat first while Ren reminded them to wait for every one to arrive. Off to one side of the room Caroline was talking to Weiss. Ruby was sitting next to Yang who turned to look at Parkin and Nigel.

"Some thing up" Yang asked.

"He wont tell me where the booster button in his car is" Parkin said as she walked to the table and took a seat.

"What kind of car" Yang.

Before he could answer Parkin did.

"It's a black muscle car with pearlescent paint on it. He keeps saying there's no little red button on it but I think there is one" Parkin said with a scowl as she leaned back in her seat.

Yang looked at Parkin before she turned to look at Jojo.

"Hey, does Nigel's car have some sort of booster on it" Yang asked.

Jojo seemed to think about before she turned to face her elder brother. He quickly shook his head and drew his thumb across his neck to tell her to drop the subject. When she gave him an evil smile he knew that she might make it worse.

"Wouldn't know but when grandpa gives out cars to friends and family he normally puts on unexpected extras" Jojo said turning towards Yang.

Parkin sat up straight as both she and Yang paid attention to the girl.

"Like what" Parkin asked.

"Well, a car he gave to one of our cousins had tire shredders and another had an air gun that fired mini smoke grenades hidden in the trunk. There was this one time when a cousin of ours pushed a button with out knowing what it did and a pair of machine guns came up out of the front of the car behind the headlights" Jojo said with a smile.

Parkin and Yang stared at the girl before they turned towards Nigel who was using both hands to cover his face.

"Your car has hidden machine guns in it" Trudy asked as she looked at him from her spot next to Nora.

Apparently the talk of possible spy cars had caught her attention. Nigel knew, she was going to start asking questions now.

"There is nothing weird about my car. My grandfather just has eccentric tastes when it comes to making vehicles" Nigel said from behind his hands.

"You shouldn't mess with them like that" Mathew said as he looked at his sister.

"Where's the fun in that" Jojo said wit hmph as she crossed her arms.

Trudy looked at the youngest Godin son and blinked.

"She lied" Trudy asked.

"Um… er, not exactly" Mathew said as he became nervous "grandpa does make custom cars but he doesn't put any thing odd in them if he thinks there's a chance he'll get sued for it. T-t-the first two examples were for a police academy to use in their classes and the last one was for some military competition."

Parkin closed her eyes and shook her head at the information.

"Well, damn. That mean that I shouldn't expect his car to have any cool add ons" Parkin said with a sigh.

Nigel lowed his hands and mouthed the words thank you to his brother who just smiled. As he calmed down and started wondering if Parkin would still try to sneak his car out for a joy ride Pyrrha, Jaune, Blake and Rona walked into the dinning room. As they took their seats Nigel saw Blake take notice of a trey with some well cooked tuna fillets. He figured she paid more attention to that because she preferred it over the other food there.

He did a quick check to make sure all of his friends where there and figured his parents were in the kitchen. He saw his aunt and Weiss finish their discussion and take their seats as another person entered the room behind him. He looked back and saw that they had long red hair and green eyes while they wore a blue t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans while slippers were on her feet. She had a head set on and was texting on her scroll. It would be safe to assume that she was a few years older than him.

"Hey, how long have you been here" Nigel asked.

"All day" the young woman said not looking up from her scroll.

"What? I've been away for a few months and when I come home you don't even say hi? I'm hurt. Where's the love for your little brother" Nigel said as he made a face of mock pain.

She didn't give a response as she gave him a one armed hug. Nigel just smiled and hugged her back. When she broke it she walked to an empty seat next to Caroline and sat down. Nigel walked over to an empty seat and sat down between Trudy and Yang.

"Who's that" Trudy asked.

"Her? That's Amy, my big sister" Nigel said with a smile.

"She's not exactly friendly is she" Yang muttered as she looked at the young woman.

She didn't have any similar facial characteristics like the rest of his family so Yang assumed that his elder sister was adopted. Caroline said some thing to her and she took her head set off but didn't put down her scroll.

"I guess but she's been like that for as long as I can remember. It doesn't really bother me" Nigel said shrugging his shoulders.

Yang looked at him then at his elder sister before she shook her head. If he was fine with his sister being like that it wasn't in her place to bring it up.

William and Catherine walked out of a door leading to the kitchen pushing a pair of carts that had different drinks on them before they went around the table offering the people who were already seated some thing to drink. When they finished the two of them took the last remaining seats.

"Dig in every one" Catherine said.

With that the family and their guests started eating. As Nigel guessed, the first thing Blake took was one of the tuna fillets.

"Some thing I've been wondering about. Did Nigel always have an aptitude for playing guitars growing up" Pyrrha asked as she took a chicken leg from a bowl.

Catherine thought about the question and shook her head.

"Growing up Nigel was able to play most instruments decently enough and he's not bad when it comes to playing the piano" Catherine said.

Nigel glanced at Rona who gave no indication of asking how well he could play. He figured she either didn't care or that she'd ask later.

"After the guitar the next instrument he's good at playing is the harp" Jojo said with a smile.

At that bit of information Nigel glared at his little sister as Parkin choked a little on her food. He really did not need it getting out that he played the harp.

"Now that's some thing I think we need to see" Jaune said with a smile.

With that the focus of Nigel's anger was turned towards Jaune.

"That's a wonderful idea" Caroline said happily "Nigel, I do enjoy listening to you play the harp. Would you play for us after dinner?"

Nigel smiled as he faced his aunt.

"Yes auntie. I'd love to" Nigel said while thinking 'Arc, I am going to kill you.'

He decided he'd put Jaune through an even harder training session once they got back to Beacon then started thinking on how to punish his sister. Parkin smiled at Nigel as she guessed what was going through his head before turning towards his mother.

"How did you and your husband meet" Parkin asked.

"Oh, there's not to much to tell there" Catherine said as she remembered back "me, my father and a couple of his friends used to have a band years back and we regularly played in the bar where William worked. We would talk to each other during breaks, which led to us dating and you can guess the rest."

"And father still questions how it is that you worked in a bar for 5 years and had a hard time remembering more than 3 cocktail recipes but can remember more than 20 species of sunflowers" Caroline said looking at her brother in law.

"I gave him a bad drink more than 20 years ago. He should be over it by now" William muttered before he gulped down some of the drink in his glass.

Catherine looked at the two deciding that she'd change the subject.

"How are your classes going Nigel" Catherine asked.

"Well enough I suppose. I'm not failing any thing although I've started practicing a lot more in order to do well in the combat training class" Nigel said.

"Hey, is that the class were Yang punched your face in" Jaclyn asked looking at her cousin

Nigel sighed and closed his eyes.

"It wasn't during class and she did not punch my face in" Nigel said.

"Came close to it though" Parkin said as she looked at her teammate "If need be we can check the recording."

Nigel opened his eyes and looked at her. He didn't remember her having a camera or using her scroll to record the fight. But then again during the match his attention was more on Yang and trying not to get k.o'd.

"I thought you didn't record the match" Nigel said.

"Yeah, I didn't but that doesn't mean some one else didn't record it" Parkin said smiling.

"Parkin, I don't think they need to see Yang punch out Nigel" Blake said looking at her.

At that Jaclyn and Jojo both raised their hands.

"I do" Jaclyn said with a smile on her face.

"Same here" Jojo said nodding.

"It would be interesting to see how well his fighting has improved" William said nodding in agreement with the two girls.

Nigel looked at them before he muttered "my family" and went back to eating. They'd have a nice meal, listen to him play the harp then watch a recording of him getting beat up by Yang. So good to know how they felt about him.


Yang yawned as she walked down the stairs and made her way to the kitchen. She had been sleeping well until she had an odd dream. She was walking through an office building armed with only a bowling pin looking for a killer. When she reached a chain link fence that was in the building a large cat jumped at the fence in an attempt to get her. That was when she woke up muttering some thing about a puma. It was an odd dream and she wondered why she had it in the first place. (AN: Yeah, after TLR I felt the urge to put that in.)

Seeing that she wouldn't be going back to sleep any time soon she figured she might as well get some thing to drink before going back to bed. As she neared the kitchen she smelled some thing being cooked and when she opened the door and saw Catherine sitting at a table reading a book. Hearing the door open the woman looked up at Yang.

"Good morning Yang. Not sleeping well" Catherine asked.

"I was sleeping o.k but I had an odd dream" Yang said as she walked into the kitchen.

"Want to talk about it" Catherine said.

Yang smiled and shook her head.

"Thanks but I don't think it's important. Probably just some random dream" Yang said.

Catherine smiled as she nodded.

"Alright" Catherine said before she pointed to a wall mounted cabinet "the glasses are in the cabinet over there."

Yang walked over to the cabinet and got a glass out before she went to the fridge and poured her self some water from a pitcher.

"What are you doing up" Yang asked as she put the pitcher back in the fridge and closed the door.

When Yang woke up she looked at the clock and saw that it was about 5:10 am. She figured that most of the people would still be asleep.

"It's not unusual for farmers to start their days at sun up and that holds true around here. One of the farms needed help so William, Nigel, Jojo and Mathew left to help out. They normally come home tired or hungry so I'm making some thing for them to munch on" Catherine said.

Yang nodded as she thought about it. Even though the Godin's lived in a mansion they seemed to have no problem with helping out the farms in the area. Most likely it was a habit from them living in the town so long. As she thought about the Godin children helping out with farmers another thought came to mind.

"I know it's not in my place to pry but why does Amy seem so unsocial" Yang asked.

During dinner she hadn't made any attempt to talk with her brother or interact with the guests from Beacon. When it was over the young woman left and Yang assumed she went to her room. Yang watched as Catherine closed her book and laid it on the table.

"I'd assume that she might not be happy here" Catherine said shaking her head. She seemed sad having to have given that answer "has Nigel talked about her?"

"Not really. At least not with me but he might have talked about her more with his team" Yang said before she drank some water.

"Well there's not much to say I guess. As I'm sure you can tell, she's adopted. Her parents were friends of me and William while we were her godparents. When they died she joined our family" Catherine said.

"How'd they die" Yang asked.

"Well, Amy and her parents lived in a city further away from here. To protect it from Grimm the city had large walls with an automated defense system. There was a car accident which took out the power system for one of the city gates. A group of Grimm, I'm not sure what kind, saw that the gate was open and rushed it. The snipers on the wall opened fire but one of the Grimm managed to get inside and you can guess what happened after that" Catherine said.

Yang thought about it as she nodded. While rare such stories weren't unheard off. The best Hunters, police or soldiers could hope to do in such a situation was to keep casualties to a minimum or kill the Grimm before they could kill any one.

"Not soon after she joined our family and here we are. William tries his best but he's the type who wears his emotions on his sleeve. If he's happy, he smiles, if he's sad, he cries. Dad says that's why he's no good at poker" Catherine said with a small smile before she lost it "because of how she is he's had a hard time interacting with her."

"What about Nigel, Jojo and Mathew" Yang asked.

"Jojo and Mathew treat her like any one else I guess. As for Nigel, I was actually pregnant with him when Amy's parents died. He was an infant when she was a child and regardless of how she acts he's grown up seeing her as his sister even if they don't share blood. I'm the same way actually. The moment she came here she became my daughter. Even though she didn't take the name Godin I loved and raised her the same way I did my biological children" Catherine said as her smile came back.

Yang thought about that before she smiled and looked at her glass. She was reminded of Summer Rose. Even though Yang was the daughter of Tai Long and another woman, Summer cared for her the same as she cared for Ruby. It made Yang happy to know there were more people like that in the world.

"Is some thing wrong" Catherine asked.

Yang looked up from the glass and saw that the woman looked a little worried.

"Sorry. I was just feeling nostalgic" Yang said giving a small shake of her head.

"Do you want to talk about it" Catherine asked.

"I'm good but thanks for asking" Yang said before she finished drinking the water and put the glass in the sink.

"O.k. The food will be done soon if you'd like to have some thing to eat" Catherine said smiling at her.

Yang shook her head as she walked to the door.

"Thanks but I think I'm ready to get back to bed" Yang said.

"Alright, I'll see you later then" Catherine said.

Yang nodded as she left the kitchen and headed back towards the stairs. As she walked through the hallway she heard the front door open and saw Nigel along with his younger sister and brother walk in wearing wet clothes and tracking some mud in behind them from their shoes and pants.

"O.k you two, get washed up before you head to bed. I don't want to hear mom complain about finding mud in your beds" Nigel said.

A nod came from the two siblings as they headed up the stairs.

"What were you guys doing" Yang asked as she reached him.

Nigel turned to face her and shrugged his shoulders.

"Nothing much really. Some equipment at one of the farms broke down and they needed helping moving things around. Unfortunately the timer on their field watering machinery was set to the wrong time and we got doused by it" Nigel said as he pulled a piece of straw out of his hair "what are you doing up?"

"I couldn't sleep so I got a drink and talked to your mother" Yang said as she walked to the stairs.

"About what" Nigel asked sounding a little nervous.

"Oh just some baby pictures of you I found in the study" Yang said as she walked up the stairs to the next floor.

At that Nigel ran down the hallway, presumably, to the kitchen to talk to his mother. She heard the words 'what did you talk to Yang about' echo down the hallway which caused her to smile.


Nigel slept peacefully in his bed. His old room, the furniture and the various objects he hadn't seen since he left for Beacon had been a great comfort. He needed it after his failed attempt at interrogating his mother on what she and Yang talked about before he came home earlier. All he got were giggles and answers that shed no light on the discussion and just made him more nervous. He could only guess she was enjoying her time messing with him. When he saw that he wouldn't be able to get a straight answer from her he grabbed some thing to eat, took a shower and went to bed.

As he slept he heard the sound of birds chirping outside his window. He was brought out of his sleep faster by the smell of a raspberry scented shampoo. That was because only one person came to mind that he knew who used shampoo that smelled like that. Knowing her she was probably up to some thing. He yawned but didn't bother opening his eyes figuring it'd be best to be on the side of caution.

"Parkin, are you naked" Nigel asked.

"Tube top and shorts but I can remedy that if you want" he heard Parkin.

He opened his eyes to see her lying down next to him. He then turned his head and looked around. She was the only person he saw in his room.

"Where's Trudy" Nigel asked turning back to face Parkin.

Parkin had an annoyed look and snorted.

"I'm kinda insulted that you'd rather her be in your bed" Parkin said.

"The last time you were in my bed she was to and on that topic, why are you in my bed again" Nigel asked.

"Technically, this is my first time in this bed and as for being here, well-" Parkin said before they both heard the sound of the doorknob being turned.

At that sound she quickly moved closer to Nigel, and snuggled up to him as the door opened. Seeing her action Nigel's eyes went wide before he looked up to see who was at the door.

"Hey Nigel, breakfast is" William said as he stuck in his head into the room and looked at his son who, from his view point, seemed to have a naked girl in his bed, "er… um, yeah, o.k. I'll leave you two alone. Just be sure to eat some thing later" the man said as he closed the door behind him.

A few seconds later Parkin started laughing.

"Sweet Oum that was good. I was waiting here a little more than an hour for some one to open the door" Parkin said as she laughed.

Nigel looked at her before he pushed her out of his bed and onto the floor which caused her to stop laughing.

"How rude. You shouldn't push a lady out of bed like that" Parkin said as she glared at him.

Nigel didn't say any thing as he got out of bed, opened his room door and ran down the hallway chasing after his dad. Suffice to say it took awhile to get his dad to accept that Nigel hadn't slept with Parkin. A little longer after that to get the man to accept that Nigel wasn't lying about which way he swung.


Parkin walked through the room that had the swimming pool heading towards the backyard. As she walked she saw that all of team JNPR were there but only Nora, Ren and Pyrrha were in the water. Jaune was standing off to the side saying that he wanted to do some stretches before getting into the pool. Parkin figured he probably didn't want to show off any poor swimming skills to Pyrrha. Of coarse, if he was going to be like that Parkin felt that she had to step in. As she walked past him she quickly pushed an arm out which hit Jaune in the back knocking him forward and with a slightly girl scream, he fell into the pool. Parkin let out a chuckle as she heard Pyrrha call out Jaune's name while Nora laughed.

Parkin soon left the room and walked onto a patio and looked around. Yang was lieing down on a hammock underneath an umbrella with a glass of pink lemonade on a table next to her. Not to far off was Catherine who was grilling some chicken, burgers and hot dogs. Further off Parkin saw a group of trees that were inside the walls that went around the mansion and a yellow flag sticking up over the tree tops. Mathew had said earlier that the flag marked the location of a tree house his grandfather had built there years ago. After hearing that Trudy ran off to go take a look at it. Parkin looked off to the right and saw Nigel and Ruby standing next to the guitars he had shown them yesterday.

Nigel picked up Lone Gunman and loaded a pair of blanks into it. He tested the first trigger and when he saw that it worked he checked the other one. When he saw sure that it was good to fire he loaded a few rounds into it. He held it up with the bottom of the guitar against his shoulders before he looked to the side and saw Jojo pushing a clay pigeon launcher over to them.

"You ready" Nigel asked.

"When you are" Jojo said looking at her brother.

Nigel nodded before he looked at Ruby.

"If you would" Nigel said.

Ruby smiled before she called out pull.

Jojo aimed the launcher up and launched one of the disks. Nigel quickly raised the guitar as he tracked the movement of the clay pigeon. His first shot missed it but the second got it as it neared the trees. Ruby called out again and Jojo fired off another clay pigeon. This time his first shot clipped it and the target was knocked out of the sky.

"Hmm, I thought you were going to miss that one" Jojo said.

"I'll probably miss on the next shot though. Shoot high" Nigel said as he put the guitars strap around his shoulder and repositioned his legs.

Jojo nodded and did as he brother instructed. When she was ready she looked at Ruby. Ruby smiled and told the younger girl to fire. With that another disk was sent out of the launcher. Nigel fired off three shots butt all three missed even with him attempting to adjust his aim as the disk flew.

"Maybe you'd have better luck with bird shot" Ruby said as the disk hit a tree and broke.

"Probably" Nigel said as he removed the remaining bullets.

He turned and placed them on the table which had the other guitar connected to a laptop and different types of bullets. He then took Lone Gunman and put it on the table before he picked up Thunder Dragon. Like before he loaded some blanks into it before he started typing on the laptop. When he finished he made sure the cord was long enough before he put the shoulder strap on and took his position. He played a few notes and the blanks were fired. He then typed on the laptop again and when he played a few lines the blanks were fired off in a pattern. He then grabbed some bird shot shells and loaded them into the guitar.

"You wont need to say when to fire Ruby. Jojo knows what song I chose" Nigel said.

Ruby looked at him and nodded. He looked at Jojo who gave a nod showing that she was ready. He then took a guitar pick out of his pocket and started playing. As he played Jojo aimed the launcher up towards the air and fired. As the disk flew Nigel hit a note and the guitar fired. Most of the slugs missed but one hit bringing the disk down. As Jojo got ready to fire off the next disk Ruby saw Jaclyn and Daniel push another pair of launcher up next to her. Nigel didn't seem to notice them so she figured he was more focused on playing. Jojo smiled at them and nodded which caused the two cousins to fire their launches up in the air along with her.

"Crap" Nigel said seeing three targets fly through the air.

He repositioned his legs and picked up the tempo of his playing to get the guitar to fire faster in order to hit all the targets. He hit all three targets before he stopped playing and glared at the members of his family. He put the guitar pick on the table and took off the guitars shoulder strap.

"Hold onto this for me would you" Nigel said handing the guitar to Ruby.

She nodded as she took it from him.

"Book it" Jojo yelled as she ran to the right side of the mansion with her cousins following and turned a corner with Nigel chasing after.

About two seconds later Nigel came running back with wet clothes followed by the other three who were armed with water balloons and squirt guns. She watched them go before she realized she was still holding the guitar. She then looked at the table which still had some shot gun shells and remembered that the guitar was still loaded. She started adjusting the shoulder strap as she took a quick look around to make sure no one was watching.

"I don't think he'd mind if I tried to fire it my self once or twice" Ruby said to her self as she put the guitar strap on.

She then picked up the guitar pick as she positioned her legs like Nigel had. She remembered which strings his left hand was on the guitar when he fired off a few shots. She let out a breath as she raised her hand readying to play a few notes.

"Why does it seem so right for you to be playing a electric guitar" a voice said behind Ruby causing her to jump.

She looked back and saw a smiling Parkin standing behind her.

"… you wont tell him will you" Ruby asked scared that she'd get in trouble.

Parkin looked at her before she turned and pointed behind her. Ruby looked and saw Yang, who had wet clothes and the remains of a water balloon in her hair, chasing after the four Godins.

"I don't think he'll notice but I suggest we go fast" Parkin said as she walked past Ruby.

"We" Ruby asked a little confused.

"I wont tell if you don't" Parkin said as she stood behind one of the launchers.

Ruby smiled at Parkin happy to know that she wouldn't tell Nigel. Ruby brought her hand up again and faced forward as Parkin fired off a target. Ruby quickly brought down her hand and the guitar fired.


Nigel checked over his clothes as he walked down the stairs. The sun was setting and it was time to head out. When he reached the bottom he saw the others waiting for him. With the exception of him self his family had already left and headed into town.

"Is there any thing we should know before hand" Pyrrha asked once he reached the first floor.

He thought about it and shook his head. There wasn't any thing of major to note in regards to the festival and if any thing had changed he would have been told.

"Nothing really. Just don't get into any trouble" Nigel said as he walked to the front door and opened it "the gate will be unlocked incase any one decides to come back early."

The others nodded as they all left mansion and headed down the driveway. As they walked they could already hear music coming from the town. They left mansion and entered the town as Nigel led them to a street that had a sign saying that the road was closed for vehicles. The group walked onto the street and saw that several stands selling food and a couple of items were set up along with some booths that had some games. Nigel gave the o.k and the group either broke off to look around on their one or walked off with some one else. As they walked off he looked to his side and saw Yang standing next to him.

"Some thing up Yang" Nigel asked.

"Nope. Just waiting for you to show me around. I'm your guest here you know" Yang said with a smile.

Nigel smiled back and started walking with Yang walking next to him. As they checked out the booths Nigel did the gentlemanly thing and bought a couple of snacks for Yang when they caught her eye, or her nose as the case may be. As the two of them walked down the street to see the next group of booths Nigel heard a familiar voice.

"Lookie there, the musical wipe out's managed to get him self a date" the voice said.

Nigel looked at saw Jordan sitting on top of a dunk tank. For a moment Nigel thought about jumping over the table at the booth and drowning his former bully but he was better than that. Doing that wouldn't be the proper thing to do. At least not in public where there were witnesses anyway.

"Just ignore the jerk" Yang said as they walked past him.

Nigel nodded as he walked together with Yang. There wasn't really much that could be done to ruin the moment.

"Guess she must have confidence issues if she's dating him. I can't see her being a natural blond and that's a really bad hair style to go with" Jordan said.

At that Yang stopped and clenched her fists. As Nigel watched her he started wondering if he should call Ruby. She probably had a way to calm her big sister down but Nigel wasn't sure if that'd be best at the moment. Yang turned around and started walking back to the booth while Nigel jogged ahead.

"Bucket please" Nigel said once he reached the table.

He placed some money on the table and the person on the other side picked up a bucket of balls and handed it to Nigel.

"Here you go Yang" Nigel said.

He placed the bucket on the table as Yang stood next to him. Yang didn't say any thing as she picked up one of the balls.

"You may have a good punch but I doubt you could hit the broad si-" Jordan got out before Yang hit the target and sent him into the water.

Nigel just smiled as he watched them cough and splash in the water.


Jaune munched on cinnamon bun as he walked among the crowd with Pyrrha next to him who was carrying a small bag. The red head had found some jewelry she liked and bought them after Jaune had said he thought they'd look good on her. As the two walked together Jaune had been on the receiving end of a few envious looks from a few guys they had passed. He didn't really understand why they had given him such looks. He did get an idea though when he had thought about how it might look from their point of view. An idiot looking blond enjoying a festival with a girl as attractive as Pyrrha, most would assume that the two of them were dating. At that thought a blush came to his face and when Pyrrha asked what was wrong he looked away and said he was fine.

"Well, look at the couple out on a date" a voice said.

Jaune's face went red and he looked to see William standing inside of a booth with some bottles stacked up behind him. Hanging from around the booth were several types of stuffed animals.

"We're not on a date" Jaune said nervously.

"Really? The two of you really would make a cute couple" William said as he laughed at Jaune's reaction.

At that both Jaune and Pyrrha's faces went red. William kneeled down, opened a box and took out a ball before he tossed it to Jaune. Jaune caught the ball and looked at William a little confused.

"For a friend of my son it's on the house" William said with a smile.

Jaune looked at the ball before he took a breath and rotated it in his hand. He then let out his breath and threw the ball as hard as he could. With a clang the ball hit the bottles knocking them all down.

"Nicely done" William said as he got a stuffed bear with a red bow tie down from among the group and handed it to Jaune.

Jaune looked at it and thought of some thing before he turned towards Pyrrha and handed her the bear.

"Here Pyrrha, for you" Jaune said.

Pyrrha looked at the bear before she smiled and took it from him.

"Thank you Jaune" Pyrrha said with a smile.

"Aw, ain't that sweet. Never a camera around when you need one huh" William said smiling.

Both Jaune and Pyrrha jumped a little remembering that they were being watched.

"Get going you two and have a good night" William said waving them on.

"You to Mr. Godin" Jaune said as he started walking with Pyrrha following him.

As the two walked they came to an area where several types of foods were being served and a stage had been set up. On the stage Jaune saw Weiss singing with a group of musicians, Jojo among them playing a violin, while Caroline conducted. He figured that Caroline had talked Weiss into singing during the festival and had some how gotten Jojo to join in. He saw Ruby eating different types of cookies while Yang sat next to her.

At another table he saw Parkin and Trudy sitting at a table with Ren and Nora. To his surprise Jaune saw Nora eating pancakes and wondered where she got them from. As he watched he saw the hammer wielding bomber grab some of the cotton candy Trudy was eating, wrap a pancake around it and eat it in one go. That caused Jaune to wonder if Nora would start running around due to a sugar rush. At another table he saw Blake reading a book while Rona was looking at different types of, what Jaune assumed, were bookmarkers that she had picked up.

He then spotted Nigel sitting at a table surrounded by people he had spotted around the town. From the way Nigel was talking and moving his arms he figured that he was talking to them about his time at Beacon. A few smiled and others asked questions which Nigel happily answered. As he watched them Jaune started thinking about home and the people there.

"Are you o.k Jaune" Pyrrha asked from his side.

Jaune snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Pyrrha.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine" Jaune said before he shook his head "I think I'll head back early and get some sleep."

"Alright but are you sure you're o.k" Pyrrha asked.

"I'm sure. I'll talk to you later" Jaune said as he turned and headed back the way they came.

Pyrrha watched him go wondering what was wrong. She then decided she'd ask later and maybe he'd answer. When she turned around she saw Parkin looking at her.

"Some thing up squire vomit" Parkin asked.

"Do you have to call him that" Pyrrha asked.

"When he's stronger I'll start calling him sir vomit but I think that's a fair bit away. Back on topic though, some thing wrong with him" Parkin asked.

Pyrrha shook her head.

"No, at least that's what he said" Pyrrha said shaking her head.

Parkin looked at her before she sighed and shook her head.

"As different as guys are there are times when they're similar to girls. Some times if they say there's nothing wrong and want to be left alone, they want some one to push and ask" Parkin said.

"How can you be so sure that's what he wants" Pyrrha asked.

"I'm not a mind reader but I do enjoy watching people. A hobby I picked up from my dad but that's not important here. With what we know of the blond leader he's nervous and the type that if you don't pry then you're going to have to wait for him to speak on what ever's bugging him" Parkin said.

Pyrrha thought about what Parkin had said. Yes, she wondered what was bugging Jaune but she also wanted to give him his space.

"Well, if you're not going to chase after him then you could always hang around here and I could try to embarrass you big red" Parkin said with an evil smile.

With that thought in mind Pyrrha didn't need to think on the subject any more. She turned around and made her way back to the mansion. When she reached it she opened the front door and walked inside wondering where she should look for him. The most likely spot would be the room he was given. If he wasn't there she'd check the other rooms for him. She made a quick stop at her own room to put the jewelry and the teddy bear on her bed before she walked back into the hallway.

"Are you in there" Pyrrha asked as she knocked on the door to Jaune's room.

When she didn't hear an answer she turned the doorknob and looked inside to see the room was empty.

'Maybe he's in the study' Pyrrha thought as she closed the door and started walking.

As she walked down the hallway she went past the stairs that led up and heard the sound of wind blowing. She stopped and looked up the stairs to see a partially open door. She remembered Nigel telling them that there was a garden on the roof. Thinking that Jaune might be up there she walked up the stairs. She opened the door the rest of the way and looked outside. There were several plant beds with flowers in bloom as well as small trees and bushes in pots. Sitting on a nearby bench was Jaune who was looking out at the town.

"What are you doing here Pyrrha" Jaune asked looking at her.

"I was worried so I came to check on you" Pyrrha said as she walked over to the bench and sat down next to him.

"I'm fine. Really, I am" Jaune said.

"Jaune, I'm your friend. Tell me what's wrong" Pyrrha said as she looked at him.

Jaune looked back at her before he sighed and gave up. Pyrrha wasn't going to leave until she knew what was wrong with him.

"It's really nothing. I just started thinking about home" Jaune said as he looked back towards the town.

"Why did that upset you" Pyrrha asked.

"Seeing how the people around here treated Nigel I started wondering how I'd be treated if I visited home. Would they think I was there because I ran away or would they think I had come back stronger? Back home I wasn't exactly one of the strongest fighters around and I don't want to disappoint the people who expect so much of me" Jaune said as he hung his head down.

Pyrrha looked at Jaune before she put her hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"I don't think they'd be disappointed with you" Pyrrha said.

"How can you be so sure" Jaune asked as he looked up at her.

"You're grades have improved haven't they? To add to that you're a lot more confident when you fight. Think about it. If you compared how you were when you left home to how you are now, have you improved" Pyrrha asked.

Jaune thought about it before he came to a decision and smiled at her.

"Yeah, I think I'm stronger than I was before. Thanks for cheering me up Pyrrha" Jaune said.

"No problem Jaune" Pyrrha said as she smiled back.

"I think I'll stick around here a little while longer. Why don't you head back and join up with the others" Jaune asked.

Pyrrha shook her head and leaned back against the bench.

"I'm fine where I am. Besides, some one should keep you company" Pyrrha said.

Jaune looked at her before he shrugged his shoulders and the two of them looked out at the town as music echoed from it.


Nigel shifted his bag as he walked out of his home with his aunt and mother, who was carrying Little Baby's guitar case, following behind him. The others had enjoyed last night and it was time for them to go back to Beacon. They had gotten some souvenirs and Ruby had even gotten some cookies from Nigel's mother that she said tasted like chocolate dipped strawberries. Nigel wasn't sure since Ruby had refused letting any one else eat them so he'd have to take her word on it. Once he was outside he turned around and faced Catherine and Caroline.

"I expect you to continue doing well in your classes and not get into trouble" Catherine said.

"I will mom" Nigel said as he hugged her.

When he broke the hug he looked at her.

"Is some thing wrong" Catherine asked as she looked at her son.

"Catherine, hand it over" Caroline said pointing at the guitar case.

Catherine looked at the object in her hands before looking at her little sister.

"Do I have to" Catherine whined as she hugged it to her chest.

"Mom/Catherine" both Nigel and Caroline said.

"O.k. Fine, here" Catherine said as she handed the guitar case to her son.

"Thanks" Nigel said as he took it "before I go there's one more thing."

"What's that" Catherine asked.

"Marcus, dad and a couple of other people have been placing bets on me" Nigel.

"They what" both of the elder Godin sisters yelled.

"Apparently the pool's really personal since they're betting on what kind of girlfriend I'll get" Nigel said shaking his head.

Both sisters looked at him before they yelled William and went back into the mansion. Nigel just smiled as he turned and ran down the driveway.

"Go go go" Nigel yelled as he caught up to his friends.

Before any of them could ask what was going on they all heard the sound of a man screaming.

"What was that" Blake asked.

"Oh, just my dad getting what's coming to him" Nigel said as he laughed.