"Neptune?" Weiss stared at the boy in momentary confusion, his appearance completely unexpected in their current predicament.
"Weiss?" Neptune looked similarly shocked.
"Uhm, we're here too," Blake said, bemused at the interaction.
"You know these people, boy?" The cop asked gruffly. Neptune snapped back into focus, at the man's words.
"Yes sir," Neptune replied, an utterly foreign air of professionalism permeating his voice, " If they said they didn't start it then they didn't. They're good people."
Neptune's apparent superior mulled over the vote of confidence for a moment before nodding in acceptance.
"Well, we still need a statement."
"That won't be a problem, sir," Ren responded calmly.
The ninja stated the chain of events, his friends corroborating his story to the letter. Satisfied, the officer prepared to head back. Neptune however, had other intentions.
"Sir, would you mind if I stayed back? I'd like to catch up with these guys if I could."
"As long as you're back by the hour, we still have stuff to do."
"Yes sir!" With that, the officer pulled away, leaving Neptune to his friends. The group sauntered towards downtown Haven, Neptune bubbling with questions about their adventures since the fall of Beacon. He was particularly fascinated with Penny, a sense of decorum the only thing keeping him from ogling the robot.
"And then my father gave me this!" Weiss said excitedly, brandishing Neuschnee. She had been displaying the weapon at any given opportunity While Yang and Blake had quickly tired of her fascination of the blade, but Weiss had finally found a like minded individual with Ruby. The two had spent practically every waking hour sparring since they reunited, attempting to push the limits of the strange sword. However, even the red headed weapons fanatic hadn't quenched Weiss's desire to show off her ancestral weapon.
Blake rolled her eyes dramatically at Yang, who stifled a giggle. They both knew of Weiss's crush on Neptune, which only inflamed her desire to babble. While Neptune was maintaining a polite demeanor, it was obvious that the weapons talk was quickly becoming too much for him; however, neither Blake nor Yang were particularly keen on saving the blue haired warrior. Instead, his salvation came in the form of a short transmission emanating from a radio at his waist.
"Kid, get back to the precinct, we've had another sighting. All hands," Neptune's reaction was immediate.
"Yes sir!" Neptune bolted unceremoniously from the group, leaving a befuddled Weiss in his wake. Blake and Yang had to once again stifle giggles as Weiss stuttered to a stop.
"Well kids, now that your friends gone, how about we check out Haven?" Qrow asked. They had reached the edge of the city, and Qrow had spotted some very interesting barmaids through the window of a tavern. "Yeah, how about you guys go gather information. Or just explore the city, you deserve it," Without waiting for a response Qrow bolted to the tavern, draining his flask as he walked.
"Well then," Yang said as she glowered at her departing uncle, "what do you guys want to do?" They quickly found their party to be split. Ruby, Weiss, and Jaune wanted look around the city. The rest wanted to rest and eat. Ruby and Yang led their respective parties away, relaxed and happy for the first time in months.
Ruby quickly regretted her decision. Weiss had immediately taken control of their group, pulling them from shop to shop. They weren't the fun kind of shops of either; Ruby hadn't seen a single weapon shop! Jaune seemed content to wander aimlessly around from shop to shop, but Ruby was getting a headache. Currently, She and Jaune were stood outside another clothing store; Weiss was busy inside fawning over the exotic goods. She had promised not to buy much, it would really hamper their travel, but that didn't change the fact that Ruby had three different bags next to her.
"You alright?" Jaune asked, noticing Ruby's consternation.
"I don't know," she began, " I thought we would be looking at cooler stuff. Experiencing the city and all that."
"Then tell Weiss," Jaune replied nonchalantly, " you are the leader after all."
Ruby shifted uncomfortably at the suggestion. She was technically the leader, but that was for fights and stuff. In everyday life, Weiss made it very clear who the boss was. Ruby wished Yang was there, she had always been better at this stuff. Ruby resigned herself to the shopping tour, staring blithely at a shop across the road. A digital display hung next to the door of the little store, flipping slowly through various messages. One particular frame caught Ruby's attention, the display of wanted criminals.
"Ruby, where you going?" Jaune called, jogging after his friend once he noticed her crossing the street.
"Just checking these guys out, you never know when you…"Ruby's face went pale, her sentence stuttering to a halt.
"What is it?" Jaune asked in confusion, but Ruby was ignoring him. Whipping out her scroll, the redhead was impossibly grateful for Haven's functioning communication system. Shakily, she dialed her uncle, who finally managed to respond after what must have been the last of a beer.
"What is it?" He slurred slightly into the scroll.
"Uncle Qrow! Is this who I think it is?" Ruby turned her phone to face the board.
"That's an ad for potato chips, Ruby."
"Just give it a minute," Ruby snapped. She continued to point her scroll at the display as it cycled through its screens. When the wanted posters rolled back around, the choked sound of shock that came from Qrow was more than enough confirmation.
"Has Yang seen this?"
"Wait, what -" Jaune began.
"Now is not the time, Jaune!" Ruby barked, shocking her friend into silence. Obviously worried, she turned her attention back to her uncle, " I don't know I'm not with her. Do you know how many of these there are?"
"Too many," Qrow muttered angrily, "I'll take the East side, you three take the West. Let me know if you find her. She CANNOT see that Ruby; it would cause a lot of problems we don't need."
Ruby nodded her understanding and rapidly stowed her scroll. Without a word Ruby disappeared in a flurry of rose petals, returning a few seconds later holding a disheveled and confused Weiss.
"Ruby, what's going on?" asked Jaune, a clear note of frustration in his voice, "Who is that?" His question was met by a cold, angry stare he had never seen on Ruby.
"It's Yang's mom."
"Yang! Nora! Guys?!" Ruby's search had proven ineffective. There was simply too much ground to cover, and she had already seen at least a dozen different displays. Time was quickly running out, and Ruby didn't want to think of the fallout. At the very least, Yang's head would be out of the game during a crucial part of their quest. At the very worst, Yang could actually end up finding Raven. Based on Qrow's stories and knowing Yang's personality, that could only end in explosions. Ruby's musings were interrupted by a huffing and puffing Jaune, followed closely by Weiss.
"We haven't seen them," Weiss said, anticipating Ruby's question.
"Well then go search -"
"WHAT THE HELL!" The scream was followed by what could best described by a destination. Ruby knew that voice, and I sinking in her gut told her she was too late. Still, she needed to at least mitigate the damage.
Sprinting to the sound, Ruby was met with quite the spectacle a nervous looking Blake stood next to an equally startled Ren and Nora. The girl they were staring at could barely be called Yang anymore; engulfed in aura fueled flames, Yang stood with her fist planted firmly through an all too familiar display screen. Dark red eyes seemed to stare right through Ruby, smoldering with an anger Yang hadn't shown in years.
"Yang I -" Ruby's words were cut off as Yang leapt past her, using Penny to boost her travel.
"Yang wait!" Ruby dashed ahead of her irate sister, intent on calming her down. Tentatively, she put her hand out towards her sister. Yang puffed like a bull, but respected her little sister enough to not push her out of the way.
"She isn't worth it! We have a job to do, and we can't waste time worrying about her!"
"That's not your call!" Yang barked, "I deserve answers!"
"Yang, I know you want answers but this isn't the time. Qrow's word will have to be enough. Raven maybe a bit, uhm, rough around the edges but he said she isn't evil."
"She's on a freaking wanted poster, Ruby! Either something's changed or Qrow's spouting bullshit!" Ruby cringed at the language, she had never heard Yang so venomous, "whatever it is, I deserve to find out."
Yang stepped around her protesting sister, ignoring her pleas. Blades rocketed from Penny, pulling her and Yang to their unknown destination.
"Yang, no!" Ruby hung her head in defeat. This was going to be really bad, she would have to check with Uncle qrow to see what to do next.
Neptune heaved a heavy sigh, shifting yet another stack of paperwork. While he certainly enjoyed his internship with the Haven police department, there was still a lot of less than desirable tasks. Mostly it was just the mountains of red tape. Belatedly, The young man returned to his work.
"Come on, I just need a minute!" Muffled shouting filtered through Neptune's door breaking his concentration. The noise steadily became louder and closer, until it seemed to be right outside his door.
"IT'LL JUST BE A MINUTE!"
That comment was followed by a horrific crash as the door to Neptune's office imbedded itself in his wall.
"Uh,Yang?" The blonde's face transformed from one of consternation to a sickly sweet mask of happiness.
"Hi, Neptune," said the blonde cordially, her crimson eyes betraying her voice, " I was just wondering if you could give me some information."