Chapter Twenty Nine

Return

"Alrighty. Your arm's all good to go," Hayley told Jace, "Take good care of it and it'll do everything you need it to."

"Got it. Thanks again." Jace said to her.

A full day and night after their celebration, JKDW, SLVR and Genesis were about to return to Beacon. Their night was filled with laughs, light-hearted jokes, alcohol-fueled kissing in the couples of the group, and a game to see how much Jace could drink, something Genesis wasn't a fan of. After Jace had gained two hundred lien from bets on when he would pass out, which he never did, they had theorized that he could not get drunk due to the dust inside of him which neutralized it much like it did to keep him from getting sick. Jace had received countless kisses from Alyss so she could taste what the drinks tasted like, which her favorite was a type of cherry vodka Jace tried. That kiss lasted more than just a few seconds, and it also turned into Jace's favorite drink as well.

They all had enjoyed themselves, some in more ways than one.

"I'll remind him to oil the joints and stuff every week or so to be safe." Alyss assured Hayley.

"And I'll tell our friend when he asks about it." Jace said.

"I guess I'll be surprised if he happens to show up in Calm," Hayley said, "See you both later. Take care of yourselves."

"You too, Hayley."

Jace and Alyss left the mechanic's workshop and slowly walked toward the airdocks, enjoying their last moments in the quiet, peaceful, and beautiful village of Pyne. Alyss had a rough day after their party, dealing with a hangover from one too many cherry sunrises. As Bell said, before Jace had even drank Genesis' vodka, she had been through four large glasses of her favorite drink along with Jace drinking a couple of his own. She wouldn't be telling her mother about that anytime soon.

"Despite what happened with my arm, this mission was great." Jace said.

"Yeah, it was. I just wish we could've done more to help." Alyss replied.

"Me too, Kitten. But after this, I think I heard from Coco that we could go on more through the year after this first one. We can help then if we go. Maybe without the loss of my arm this time."

"That would definitely be better, but I'd rather wait until they actually have us go on missions." Alyss said.

They finally arrived at the airdocks and Haile was there to see them off. He have them both a hug and rubbed both their ears, causing both of them to purr. "Stay safe, kids. Please don't give me a heart attack and lose something else."

Jace grinned and laughed. "I won't. I promise."

"I'll make sure of that." Alyss assured him.

"Good," Haile released them both and sighed, "I guess I'll see you later, Jace. Be careful, behave yourself, and have fun."

"I will. See you later, dad."

Jace and Alyss stepped onto the large bullhead and Gilan poked his head from the open doors. "I'll be back here as soon as we give our report. Then we can go see Halt."

Haile nodded. "Alright. I look forward to helping Emowyn's uncle and hopefully her dad too."

Gilan nodded back with a grin and closed the doors, then he took a seat. "Alright, I don't think you all have to go meet Ozpin or anything. But he might want to talk to you, Jace." He said and the bullhead took off slowly into the air.

Jace nodded. "Same with Ironwood, probably. People think he's so stern and doesn't bother with a lot of people, but he cares and he's protective of his students even if they're former students."

"I think that's a reason dad likes working for him." Genesis remarked through gritted teeth as he clenched his eyes shut.

"I guess he'll probably want to see if you're alright himself." Raine said.

Jace shrugged. "Maybe if he's not too busy."

"I know exactly what I'm doin' when we get back." Auron said for himself.

"What would that be?" Alex asked him.

"Making jerky?" Aulin suggested.

"Yep. Then tomorrow, I'm hangin' out with Shyla."


The bullhead landed at Beacon's airdocks and the doors opened, much to Genesis' relief. They looked out and saw Ozpin standing a small distance away, then he started walking toward them. The bullhead powered down and everyone stepped out of it. When Ozpin arrived, he gave a smile to them.

"With you returning, that is every freshman accounted for. Mister Daturas, miss Strife, if you'll wait in my office I will be with you shortly," The two Rangers nodded and left the group, "And if you all don't mind, I would like to speak with Jace for a moment."

Everyone left them, with Alyss giving Jace a quick kiss on the cheek, and Jace gave Ozpin a smile of his own. "Thank you for letting me stay here, sir. It means a lot to me."

"You don't have to thank me. You have miss Timber to truly thank, but I'm sure you already have more than enough," Ozpin looked over the prosthetic arm and nodded, "It seems she did an excellent job. I'm glad it was built so quickly."

"Me too sir. Does Ironwood know we're back?"

Ozpin nodded. "He does, but he has been busy helping with security for the festival. With Stalkers on the loose in the kingdom, I asked for a bit of assistance to make sure things are safe.

"My dad and a couple of Rangers are gonna take care of some of them around Pyne and Calm. I just hope they're careful."

"I have faith that they will be," Ozpin said, "I have to ask, how are you taking this?"

"I had a hard time accepting that I accepted it so easily if that makes sense," Jace replied, sighing a bit, "Dad said it's nothing like what I've been through because this arm makes it normal with how I can feel and produce heat for it. But... the main reason I'm okay is because of Alyss. With everything I told her about what happened to me, she makes me feel normal. I'm okay."

Ozpin smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "I am glad to hear it. Now, go to your dorm and rest. After your flight and the explanations you'll have to give in the near future, I'm sure you will need it."


"I am sooo glad to be back in my own bed…" Jace sighed and fell back in it, splaying his arms out. Auron was already fast at work with preparing jerky and the other three of the team just went to their room.

"Are you just gonna lay there all day?" Alyss asked him.

"I will of you lay with me." Jace replied, holding a hand out to her.

Alyss shook her head. "You know we'll have to get food later."

Jace sighed. "I know... I wonder if Tyr and the others know about this yet..." He said, raising his prosthetic arm and looking at its palm.

"Depends on if Gen's team had to say why he wasn't here for a week." Raine said.

"Yeah... I might go get that out of the way, actually."

"When do you wanna do that?" Alyss asked him.

"Right now before I get lazy and forget." Jace said, standing up from his bed.

"Want some company?"

Jace grinned. "Of course. Both of you can come if you want."

Raine shook her head. "I'm good. I'm tired, so I might just take a nap."

"Alright. See you later, then." Jace said, then he and Alyss left the room.

When they shut the door and looked down the hall, they saw General Ironwood appear at the other end at the stairs, flanked by two of his men. Jace and Alyss walked down the hall and met Ironwood halfway. "Hello sir. How are you doing?" Jace asked him.

"I'm... well, considering the news of what happened to a former student," Ironwood replied, "I didn't know Stalkers were in Vale. I... I wish I would have known so I could have had a warning out in the mission description," His gaze dropped to Jace's prosthetic, "That looks very impressive. May I take a closer look?"

Jace nodded and held the arm out. "I don't mind. I figured you'd want to see it since you have prosthetics too."

"How did you know that?" Ironwood asked as he looked over Jace's arm.

"Ozpin said something about it when I was in the hospital in Pyne." Jace replied.

"This is very well made. I know you couldn't have received it from Atlas in such a short amount of time..." Ironwood said, marveling at the craftsmanship of it, "I can feel heat through the metal..."

"It has a heating element in the shoulder. It can produce heat and let me feel too. I can feel things all the way up to the shoulder..." Jace heard doors opening and he looked to the left, seeing the doors of RWBY and JNPR open with Ruby and Nora poking their heads out of their respective rooms, wide-eyed at seeing Jace's arm. Jace grinned a bit and waved with his other hand and they waved back slowly. He turned to Alyss and saw the small grin on her face, "Can you go explain?"

"Yeah, I can," Alyss nodded, "Be back in a bit."

Alyss walked past them and to the two teams' rooms. She told Nora to gather her team and go over to RWBY's room. When Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ren stepped out, each looking confused by Nora's urging, they saw Jace and each, even Ren, went wide-eyed at seeing his arm and they hurried over to their friends' room.

"This is better than some of the most well known prosthetic engineers' works. It rivals my own engineer's," Ironwood said in awe, "Who made this?"

"A fifteen year-old girl. Her name is Hayley Timber, from Calm." Jace answered.

"A fifteen year-old girl built this herself?" Ironwood asked in disbelief and Jace nodded, "I believe I will need to meet her. I may offer her a position at my labs with doctor Seabolte, my engineer."

Jace grinned. "We knew you would want to do that."

"I was coming over to see for myself. It seems you're doing remarkably well dealing with your loss. I hope you continue to never lose your motivation or hope."

"Thank you, sir. I was about to go talk to Tyr about this. I'm glad I got to talk with you and let you know I'm alright too."

Ironwood stepped back from Jace and he sighed. "I hate to see young people with prosthetics. I know it's hell to deal with one and students like you and Tyr have enough on your minds with your training and social lives."

"I was really lucky to be able to get this," Jace said, "Hayley's dad was one of the wagon drivers and he keeps saying he caused the Grimm to be drawn to us with his attitude with us. He told Vivi to tell Hayley when she went back to Calm for help. And she came and did it in three days for free. Then Alyss... She just makes me feel normal after everything. She's what helped me deal with it so well. That, and remembering why I'm doing this."

"I think you're proving to be a great Huntsman already with your attitude," Ironwood told him, "You're dealing with your injury leagues better than I have in the past with mine. I think I'll leave you to talk to Tyr. Once again, I am glad to see you alright."


"Is your friend okay?" Shyla asked, cruising through the streets of Vale with Auron in his truck.

"Considerin' everything, he's doin' great. Better than how most people do with losin' a limb," Auron answered her, "His girlfriend really helped 'im out with it. If you'd meet 'em, they're basically a couple o' kittens. They love it when someone rubs their ears."

"Oh, th-they're Faunus?" Shyla asked, a bit uneasy.

"Yeah, they are..." They came to a stop at a red light and Auron looked over at her, "You don't have anything against Faunus do you?"

Shyla shook her head. "I-it's not that... It's just that I grew up with so much news saying stuff about the White Fang and violent protests that I got really scared. I never knew any Faunus and I still don't because of that. Recently..." She gulped and took a shaky breath as the light turned green and Auron continued down the street, "a couple of months ago, me and my friend were attacked on the streets... The guy kept making advances and we tried to just walk away... b-but he shot her in the back..."

From the tone of her voice, Auron could tell she was on the verge of tears. He pulled over on the side of the road and turned the truck off, giving her his full attention. "Wh-when he walked up to us, h-he said something about us getting wh-what we deserve for ignoring him... Then a Faunus jumped in and knocked him out. He s-stood over us with his back turned, looking like he was protecting us. I saw his claws and I was scared... Then he said we needed to get Amy to the hospital. W-we didn't have time for an ambulance... s-so he picked her up and we ran. After that, I never saw him again. I never got to thank him for saving our lives. I've been trying to work past my fear of Faunus ever since then. I-I'm done being afraid of every Faunus because of a few."

"There's some bad people in the world. A lot of 'em are dumbasses like the guy you got away from," Auron looked over at her and gave a smile, "This is somethin' Jace said to us before. "Don't stare too long into the sun that you forget the rest of the sky". You can't keep focusin' on the bad. You gotta look at the good."

"That's one of the smartest things I've heard," Shyla admitted, calming herself down, "I-I want to be able to meet more Faunus."

"I'm sure they'd be happy to meet ya. There's three on my team. Jace, Alyss, an' Raine. It'd probably be best for you to tell 'em all that."

"Yeah... I hope they wouldn't hold anything against me for it."

"You ain't gotta worry about a thing. They won't do that. Now, where do you wanna go?"

Shyla thought for a few moments before answering. "We can go get some food. Then I want to see your rifle."

Auron grinned. "Okay. We can go to Beacon for the rifle so I can take it apart for ya. Let's go get some food. What do you want?"


"I did not expect to see you with a prosthetic, even though Nika and the others told me what happened..." Tyr said to Jace. APCT was out in the city the day before and Jace decided to let them be and enjoy their day without him inserting himself into it. So, he waited until the next day in the cafeteria to tell them about everything.

"I'm just lucky I didn't die," Jace replied, "It was tough to deal with how easily I took it. What I went through before just made me almost shrug it off. Gods, this is gonna get annoying for everyone to hear all the time, but if it wasn't for Alyss," He looked at his girlfriend with a smile, sitting next to him and holding his hand, "then I'd be depressed and if it wasn't for Hayley and Alyss, I might've just quit. But both of them helped out a lot and I can't thank them enough."

"Both of you are just so good together." Terra told them both.

"Fucking adorable, really." Paige remarked.

"It's the purring, isn't it?" Alyss asked, grinning at the nods the two gave.

"You've never seen the pouncing." Jace said.

"I'm sure Raine has fun with that." Ashe said.

"I haven't tried pouncing on her yet," Alyss replied, "But Auron's like a tree. The only one I can really pounce on is Jace."

"Unless I'm really expecting it," Jace laughed, "The morning we chose our missions, she tried to wake me up with one but I was already awake."

"He caught me and pulled me down in the bed." Alyss added.

"It must be fun over in your dorm, then," Paige said, "We don't have any cat Faunus in our team to do that stuff."

Jace and Alyss laughed at that. "Well, that all depends on the Faunus' nature. I'm playful, so I like pouncing and scritches." Alyss said.

"I just like the scritches." Jace said.

"I need to try something with both of you sometime..." Terra said with a smirk.

"I swear to Oum if you say catnip..." Jace stared at her, crossing his arms.

"Nothing like that, don't worry," Terra assured him, "I'm just wondering if you'd go after stuff like a laser pointer or those cat toy things."

"Mom never tried with me." Alyss said.

Jace's ears flattened a bit and he shook his head. "Laser pointers, yeah. Gen had me chasing after a dot when we were kids and I slammed into a wall."

"That sounds hilarious." Terra grinned.

"I won't lie and say it wasn't fun, but hitting the wall hurt. Gen hasn't tried that in years."

Terra laughed. "That's good to know."

"Just don't remind Gen," Jace told her, "Or tell Aulin," He looked back over at Tyr and sighed at his expression, "What's wrong, Tyr?

"I just... wish you didn't require a prosthetic like me. But, at the very least you can feel with it." Tyr replied.

Jace hummed a bit as he thought of something. "Y'know, I have Hayley's number," He said, "I can give her a call and tell her about you. You'd probably have to pay, but she'd be happy to make you a new prosthetic that can feel and produce heat."

Tyr thought about that for a few moments, looking at his own prosthetic. "I believe... I would like that. I would be grateful, Jace."

Jace waved it off. "It's no problem. I like to help my friends. I'll give her a call later."


"This is great work for what you said you had to work with..." Shyla said to Auron, looking over every part of Last Call as it was taken apart and laid out on the table in his team's room, "You said you forged the barrel, lever, and the ammo tube yourself, right?"

Auron nodded, grinning. "Yep. My dad saved up lien for years from collectin' scrap an' sellin' it for junk. He got a lot since where we live used to be a battlefield back durin' the Great War. He made a real high-end forge with that lien. Then I used some o' the best scrap I could find for it. I actually got some good iron for the blade an' burn dust for the barrel. Then I ordered the inner parts I needed an' I got Last Call."

"If you ever need any replacements, I could get a discount at Century Arms for you," Shyla offered, "It looks like you take care of it pretty well too."

"Yeah, I usually oil everything once a week. That, then there's my revolvers."

"Did you make those too?"

Auron shook his head. "No, I got 'em at a gun show awhile back. Five hundred lien for each, but I talked 'em down to seven fifty to get both."

"Expensive, really. But for double-barrel revolvers of that size, it's a good price."

"It gave me somethin' to do while I waited for the forge to heat up," Auron said, grabbing one of his revolvers. He started spinning it around the middle finger of his right hand. He reversed the spin and kept it going for a few moments before tossing it into the air, catching it effortlessly on his left index finger, "I got pretty good at doin' this."

"That's amazing..." Shyla said, mesmerized by how easy Auron made it look, "Aren't you worried you might accidentally pull the trigger?"

Auron stopped spinning it and shook his head. "Here, see this little switch-lookin' thing?" He held it out, pointing to a small piece of metal under the hammer, "That's the safety. The way it is now, I can't fire it. But if I move it outta the way..." He pulled the hammer back a bit and moved the safety, then lightly let the hammer press against the firing pin, "Now it can be shot," He pulled the hammer back, put the safety in, then pulled the trigger. The hammer made a click when it struck the safety and the gun didn't go off.

"Even as a weapon designer, I've never seen a revolver with a safety switch," Shyla remarked, taking one that Auron offered her, "It's really cool, to be honest."

"They've been with me everywhere I've been except class," Auron said, "An' besides. They're single-action. Can't shoot 'em if I don't pull the hammers back first."

"Then why do they have safety switches?"

"Hell if I know. I guess it's if I change my mind on shootin' somethin', but I can just ease the hammers back down. Thought about takin' 'em off."

"I'm sure whoever made them at Savage Arms wanted whoever bought them to be absolutely safe." Shyla laughed.

"Maybe. But I don't really need 'em to be that safe. I actually thought o' makin' both of 'em break-action."

"Like a double-barrel shotgun?" Shyla asked.

"You got it."

Shyla grinned and looked from Auron to the weapon that leaned against the wall next to the far bed. "Who's is that?"

"That's Jace's. Curious?"

"A little bit... That's a big magazine."

"I thought about fixin' this up to have a mag to it," Auron said as he worked to put his weapon back together, "Faster to reload in a fight, y'know."

"I don't suppose you'd wanna load one round at a time of you're fighting an Ursa, right?"

"Nope."

After a few moments, the door opened and Jace and Alyss came in. "Oh, you must be Shyla." Jace said.

The young woman nodded a bit nervously. "That's me. Shyla Lynn. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Jace Reznor."

"And I'm Alyssia Wystar," Alyss greeted, "Just call me Alyss. Nice to meet you too."

"Now you gotta meet Raine," Auron said to Shyla, "She's out with her girlfriend right now while she's here."

"Is her girlfriend not a student?" Shyla asked him.

"No, she's a Ranger an' Raine's an apprentice Ranger. Her girlfriend is assigned to the council an' Beacon." Auron answered.

"And she's right behind Jace."

"Mother of Light!" Jace yelled, jumping and turning around to face his grinning partner, "I knew I should've closed the door."

Raine laughed. "That'll never get old."

"Did you follow us or something?" Alyss asked the diminutive apprentice.

Raine shrugged. "Kinda."

Auron laughed for a few moments and turned back to Shyla. "That's Raine."

"Raine Daturas," Raine greeted, "Good to meet you, Shyla."

"You too." Shyla said.

"It was really nice of you to do that for Auron at the dance." Alyss said to her.

Shyla smiled and her face flushed a bit. "I didn't want him to feel bad that I said no at first, so I just went back after I talked to General Ironwood. It was pretty fun."

"I'm glad I met ya," Auron said to her, "Today's been fun."

"Yeah... I'm glad I met you too," Shyla said, then turned her reddening face to Jace, "I hope you're doing okay. Auron told me what happened."

"I'm doing fine, you don't have to worry," Jace said, "It's thanks to this awesome girl that I am." He finished, kissing Alyss on the cheek.

"He always says that when someone asks how he's doin' after that," Auron said, "I ain't denyin' it, though."

"That's good," Shyla said, "Your prosthetic looks amazingly done."

Jace grinned. "Thanks. The girl that did it is pretty amazing."

"If you don't mind..." Shyla started nervously, looking back to the weapon she saw before, "Can I see your sword?"


"Are you excited to get some more apples?" Alyss asked Jace.

"Maybe as excited as you are to get more cherries." Jace said with a grin.

"Sooo... really excited?"

"Oh yeah. And I'm excited for the cherries too."

They stepped into the garage Jace shared with Yang and Jace rolled his motorcycle out. "I kinda wish Caitlyn would stop moving her stand around. But it makes sense she does so she can make more lien."

"Gives me more of a chance to get used to riding Titan though, right?" Alyss said with a smile, "Hopefully we can find them easy."

"Mabari told me all the spots where she usually sets it up and the schedule she has them there, so we should be able to." Jace replied and moved to close the garage.

"Keep that open!"

Jace stopped and turned as Alyss called out to the arrivals. "Hi Yang. Hi Weiss." She greeted them.

"What's goin' on, guys?" Yang asked them.

"Just going to buy our apples and cherries." Alyss answered her.

"I still don't see how you both like those so much." Weiss remarked.

"My taste buds are sensitive and cherries are awesome enough as they are." Alyss answered.

"And dad gave me an apple when he took me in as a kid. That's why I like them so much," Jace said, "And the ones from Calm are so good. Have you guys ever tried them?"

"I haven't, no," Weiss said, "I may have to now."

"I'll try to save a couple," Jace offered, "I guess you two are heading somewhere too?"

"Well..." Weiss blushed and looked down as Yang grinned.

"I'm takin' her on a date," She told them, "To a good restaurant."

"Oh, how long have you been dating?" Alyss asked them.

"A week," Weiss answered, "It just... happened, in a way."

"We kinda started arguing about schoolwork," Yang said, rubbing the back of her neck now, "She kinda slipped."

"I said that maybe if she would actually accept help from the one that loves her, then she would be able to finish it much faster." Weiss said.

"I didn't expect her to love me, y'know?" Yang said, "I mean, someone from her background bein' with someone like me sounds like a fairy tale."

Jace laughed. "Can't be a fairy tale if it's actually happening, can it?" He asked.

"Guess not." Yang laughed as well.

"Well, we're happy for you both," Alyss told them with a smile, "I think we should let you get to it."

"Have fun, guys." Jace said to them.

Jace and Alyss hopped on Titan and Jace started it up, then drove from the garages. "Do you think I should've warned Weiss about the... vibrations?" Alyss asked.

"Yang probably already did," Jace said, "Or she might not have told her to let it be a surprise like Raine did with you."

"Someone might be getting smacked later," Alyss laughed, "I don't think Weiss would want the embarrassment that comes with it."

"I don't know if you just made a pun or not." Jace said with a laugh.

"What do you mean?" Alyss asked, not understanding. It took her a few moments as she went over what she had said in her mind and she started laughing more, "Oh gods, I didn't mean that!"

They drove through several streets before they found the stand that the dog Faunus family occupied. All three of them were there, which Jace smiled at. With every visit he made, he grew to be friends with them all. His smile vanished as he prepared to tell them about the mission. He pulled Titan to a stop a bit further down the street so the engine wouldn't bother their ears when he started it again. The couple stepped off of it, stowing their helmets, and walked toward the stand where the family waved at them. They waved back and after a few moments, they arrived.

"Hello Jace. It's been awhile," Caitlyn greeted him, "I was starting to wonder what happened to you."

"Well..." Jace cleared his throat, "Something... did happen to me."

"What happened?" Jack asked him.

Jace sighed and rolled the sleeve of his jacket up on his left arm, showing the prosthetic to them. "I lost my arm."

"How did that happen?" Mabari asked, concern in his voice for his young friend.

"Are you alright?" Caitlyn asked.

"I'm okay. I've said it a lot, but I'm more than okay," Jace replied, "I lost it when a Stalker snuck up behind me. I'll save details right now, but I got rushed to Pyne after our chaperone went back to Calm for an ambulance."

"She also told a prosthetic mechanic about him because her dad asked Vivi to," Alyss continued, "The mechanic's dad was one of the wagon drivers. He felt horrible because he blames himself."

"That's Hayley Timber, right?" Mabari asked, "I heard about her a few times when I was in Calm before."

"Yeah, that's her," Jace nodded, "Because her dad felt so bad, she made this for me for free in three days. And Alyss helped me through it so much just by being with me."

"It's..." Caitlyn shook her head, "terrible that you had to go through that... It must have been so hard."

"Honestly..." Jace sighed, "I've been through worse. I plan on telling you guys about that sometime soon. But I've been through a lot worse and I just accepted this after I woke up. And like I said, Aly helped me deal with it. She made me feel normal."

"We won't pry," Mabari said, "If it's really bad, just take your time."

"Your arm is so cool looking..." Jack said quietly, "It's like my favorite character's in a show I like."

"That's really cool," Jace said, grinning, "Maybe I should watch it sometime."

"Maybe we should go ahead and buy our things," Alyss suggested, "Before we forget."

"That might be for the best," Jace laughed, "Yeah, we want the usual."

Caitlyn nodded and gave a returning grin. "You're lucky I keep these back for you now. Their popularity skyrocketed lately."

"Thanks, Caitlyn," Jace said and took the bag of apples from her, then Alyss took the small container of cherries, "I guess business has been good for you?"

"Yeah!" Jack chirped, "A lot of people buy fruits now. Even humans do."

"Did they not buy your fruits before?" Alyss asked.

"No, they haven't," Mabari replied, "I'm guessing it has something to do with our ears and tail."

"People are dumb." Jace sighed.

"So, how much are these?" Alyss asked, motioning with her tub of cherries.

"Oh, don't worry about that this time," Caitlyn told her, "It's how I want to say that I'm glad you're okay. Let's all hope nothing bad like that happens again."