Nora slowed down on her jog as she spotted her partner already standing on their combined rendezvous point. The neon signs of the convenience store behind him were turned on for the night right before she came to a halt, hands on the waist as she recovered her breath.

"Hey… Found anything?" The words came out raspy between puffs of air. Nora cleared her throat, it was actually sore from screaming when calling their missing friend's name for the entire afternoon; it had been years since the last time she felt that way as a consequence of talking too much.

Ren replied with a simple shake of head. Nora had to squint while looking up to him because of the store's bright lights behind them leaking to the outside - of course he didn't find anything, he wouldn't be standing with that posture if he did.

"Right..." She averted her eyes. Catching the last tip of the sun being hidden by Vale's cliffs. "Pyrrha hasn't shown up yet?"

The shake of his head this time was accompanied by a weak negative hum. She followed his example, deciding to only reply to that with a soundless nod of acknowledgment.

The silence made her uneasy. Ren's silences almost never made her uneasy. After all of those years together she could read him like a book, and judging by how he had his arms crossed with fingers gripping a bit too tightly on his upper arms, that wasn't his usual calm quietness.

Nora shifted her weight between her feet, discreetly scooting an inch closer to her partner. "It wasn't your fault, you know?"

She kept staring up to him until Ren gave in and met her gaze - which, as usual, didn't take long. And, as usual, it also didn't take long for him to soften up. It wasn't any big change in his expression, but his body visibly lost a bit of its tension.

He simply nodded once more in understanding, and a smile tugged at her lips. He was still worried, of course, but she didn't need too many words to tell him no one blamed him for the mess that had happened earlier, and he didn't need too many words to comprehend that.

It took nearly fifteen minutes for their third teammate to finally show up, when all the residual light left after the sunset had already faded and the cold of the coastal city was starting to sweep the streets.

"Where have you been?" Nora's voice cracked, partially from worry and partially from her dry throat.

"I'm sorry. I… I walked all the way back to the airport, looking at every corner. I thought that he would have found his way there and would be waiting..." Pyrrha trailed off, not bothering to finish her sentence since her search had been unsuccessful. "What about you guys?"

"Nothing from the vet's direction… Asked some people at the dog park if they saw a lost retriever running by…" Nora started, hugging herself. "I don't think he went in that direction though..."

"Nothing inside or around the gardens." Ren said after a few seconds of silence. "I searched until they had to close the gates..."

"What do we do now?" Nora directed her question towards their temporary leader.

Pyrrha shook her head, mouth pressed in a thin line. "... Wait?"

"Here?"

"Where else? We are close to the last spot we saw him." She motioned with her head to the botanical gardens on the other side of the street. "He might pick up a scent trail and end up back here… Unless we decide to walk around for another search."

The three stayed silent, not agreeing or disagreeing. Of course, they wanted to keep looking, but after hours of non-stop walking they were all exhausted, even if no one would admit it, and they were also hungry. They didn't have the chance to even order the hot dogs earlier because of all of that confusion. Nora's stomach was the one to remind the three of them with an audible growl.

"Maybe… we should consider heading back to Beacon for the night." Ren was the one to suggest, so quietly the girls almost didn't catch it.

"But- but what if he's looking for us? We can't just leave..." Pyrrha protested. "He can't get in an airship to go back to Beacon without us!"

"Pyrrha, hey..." Nora started the moment she realized her friend was too close to breaking down. Placing a comforting hand on Pyrrha's shoulder, Nora continued. "Jaune is out there. He's out there but he still has his huge aura, he still has his brain with all those crazy strategies of his, he's still a person and our fearless leader under all that fluff." She managed to crack a small smile. "If there's someone who can handle this situation, it's him."

"I-" It took Pyrrha a second for her to speak. "Yes… You're right, I'm sorry. I'm just worried."

Nora waved her apology away. "We all are… But I don't think he would like to know we spent an entire night in a place like this… just for him." She looked around at where they stood, an empty bag of potato chips tumbled down the greasy sidewalk, the neon signs of the convenience store flickered over the dull, full of fingerprints glass front, showing inside a cashier that was probably not paid enough to worry about the three strange kids just doing nothing at their entryway.

"Alright." Pyrrha took a deep breath, only opening her eyes after all the air was released; something she had done a lot while making decisions during her time as the team leader. "We go. Get some food, some rest… a shower… But then we come back to look for him on the first flight of the day, alright?"

Ren nodded firmly to the plan. "The earlier we start tomorrow, the better."

The girls didn't contain the surprise of hearing Ren of all people agreeing that much with something that involved getting up early.

"Alright!" Nora laced one arm with Ren's and the other to Pyrrha's, pulling the two down the sidewalk. "We will look and we will take him back!"

The vehicle suddenly came to a stop, Jaune perking up from his prone position. He could hear that weirdo shouting order from outside the vehicle and the sound of shuffling feet. When the door opened several minutes later a completely new woman was standing in front of him. Her eyes were narrow and her hair was pulled into a tight bun, not to mention the permanent snooty look her face was stuck in. They weren't dressed like the goons from earlier, instead they wore a gold-colored uniform with an apron.

One of the thugs had gone in from behind her though, taking Jaune's leash and unhooking the cage door. He hopped out, realizing he was inside a large garage with the door closed. So he wasn't escaping this way at least. He could also hear dogs barking not far away, and the place smelled like other canines too. Just where was he anyway?

"Welcome to the start of your new life!" Aurum announced.

"Do you kidnap dogs often?" Jaune growled low.

"Oh hush." Aurum went in to pat his head, only for his eyes to go wide. "FLEAS!" He shrieked and pulled away like Jaune was poisonous. It took him a minute to compose himself again. "The tour will have to wait. Get him out of those rags and into a tub this instant!"

"Yes sir." The man attempted to pull the hoodie off of Jaune's body.

"Oh no! My hoodie is off limits!" Jaune snarled but couldn't bite back with the muzzle still on. Instead he squirmed and yanked pulling the man off balance. He nearly got away when the woman came in with a pair of scissors. He yelped and fought even harder, only for the man to flip him into a headlock. He was too dazed to register what the snipping sounds meant until the precious shirt was yanked away from his torso.

Shaking his head Jaune looked up in horror as that woman held the hoodie at arms length like it was a piece of garbage. A huge slit running the entire length of the shirt was now cut across the rabbit's face, and he couldn't help but pray that Ren would be able to fix it.

"See? That wasn't so hard." Aurum took the hoodie and waved it in front of Jaune's face. "Soon you'll see that I'm only trying to help you. By removing the memories of your old life I can make you a champion!"

"I don't want to be a champion! I want to go home!" Jaune tried one last time to throw the man off but he only clamped his arm down tighter. He gagged from nearly having his airway closed off.

Aurum took the hoodie in both hands, pulling the fabric in two different directions. It was like time slowed down in that moment as the result was a loud ripping noise. The precious gift from Ren had just been torn apart, and this freak wasn't done. He continued shredding the thing until nothing was left but unrecognizable strips of black fabric.

"See darling? Much better without that rag." He waded it up and handed it to one of his workers. "Dispose of that please. I'm tired of seeing it."

"Yes sir." The man walked through a doorway far out of Jaunes reach. He could vaguely hear that Aurum guy giving new orders to his subordinates but Jaune had stopped listening. How could this be happening? He was literally kidnapped, his only piece of clothing destroyed, and nobody could understand him. This was hands down the worst day of his life-

A powerful spray of cold water snapped him back to reality. At some point he had been led out of the garage and into a fancy metal wash bin. At least he'd say that if he wasn't being sprayed down! He yelped and struggled but his leash was tied tight to a hook above his head.

"Cold! Cold! Cold! Stop spraying me you witch-"

"Hold still!" The groomer shouted in an odd accent. The thug stepped forward further solidifying her threat. Jaune growled but ultimately gave in, looking down to the basin floor shivering as the woman scrubbed his fur with a second coating of shampoo. "Dang fleas. Such a pain to get rid of…" The woman mumbled under her breath. Jaune didn't like the sound of that, but the sooner he cooperated the sooner this lady would finish. Once that happened he could finally start looking for a means to escape. He had to focus on the end goal.

So he held his breath as the groomer sprayed all the shampoo off of his body, patted him dry with a towel and led him to a metal table. Sadly the woman wasn't stopping at a measly bath, deciding to give him a full makeover. Nail tripping, hair clipping, a blowdry with a dryer that was too hot. No part of him was safe from her shears. By the time she was finished all his fur was trimmed to a perfectly even length.

"Perfection." She nodded pleased with her handiwork. "Take him back to Master Ville. I'm sure he'll be very pleased." The thug nodded and grabbed his leash, unhooking him from that table prison and leading him out of the room. They stepped onto a short path outside, the sun having set already casting the entire estate into darkness, only lit by the hundreds of lights around the largest building. He'd been here for a while then, but at least he knew where a door was now.

The blonde didn't have time to search for other ways out, as his attention was now on what he assumed was the main house. Well, mansion would be more appropriate, as the entire structure was huge. It was gothic in design with some modern angles and curves thrown into the architecture. It was an odd combination that somehow worked.

The large wooden door swung open in front of him, revealing a massive interior room. It was the front entrance with a huge staircase in the middle leading up to the second floor.

"Oh my stars he's gorgeous!" Aurum stepped forward and looked Jaune up and down like he was a rare piece of art. "It's a shame you don't have any pedigree papers, but I've still got a number of uses for you."

"Does any of those include letting me go?" Jaune tried asking but it came out as a softer growl.

"Come now. It's time for the grand tour!" Aurum took the leash and began leading Jaune around the first floor.

They passed more rooms than Jaune could count. A massive sitting area with a beautiful fireplace, a huge dining room with more chairs then his eyesight would allow him to count. There were gaudily framed pictures hung all over the hallways, and the gold and grey - or whatever color it was that he couldn't see - combination of everything was just blending all of the rooms together now. How did anyone navigate this maze?

"This is the agility course arena. All of my champion agility dogs practice here, which will include you too." Aurum said as they entered a massive room. It was like a gymnasium, but maybe triple the size of the standard school one. There were obstacles all over the place, ranging from tunnels to weaves and even jumping fences. Aurum was quick to lead him upstairs after that to a very different kind of room.

"And here is my closet!" Aurum opened a door on the second floor and waved his hand towards the clothing. It was a full-sized room filled with thousands of clothing articles. It was like looking into a retail store. "And over here is where your clothes will be found. Of course, only the best for my champion goldens."

"Probably frilly stupid stuff." Jaune grumbled.

"You know, I think this is where we shall start tomorrow. Oh, you'll look great in my newest suit!"

"You want to use me as an accessory?!" Jaune tried to gawk but the muzzle was still keeping his mouth shut. They soon returned to the first floor farther away from the main hall. A worker was standing outside, also wearing a golden apron and waiting for orders.

"And this is where you will sleep! As long as you stay in my good graces that is." He passed the leash off to the woman. "Put him in his kennel for the night. I want him to be well-rested for tomorrow."

"Yes, sir." She gently pulled Jaune into the new room, a line of seven large kennels with one golden retriever in each of them. She led him to the farthest one. Finally removing his muzzle before pushing Jaune inside. He sniffed the kennel, smelling both laundry detergent and the faint scent of another dog. Aurum had been keeping a different retriever here recently. The only question now was what happened to it?

Taking another step inside he got a better look at his living space. A rather large, cushioned dog bed with a fuzzy blanket was provided for him to sleep in. The opposite corner had an enclosed dog house looking thing, which Jaune quickly realized was meant to be a bathroom stall complete with fake grass. His water bowl was plated gold, and he even had some brand new stuffed toys to chew on.

Another servant soon entered the kennel, delivering the meals for that evening. She slid another shiny bowl through the slit in the kennel door before moving onto the next dog. He sniffed it, realizing it was diced beef with a small side of kibble and rice.

Despite his completely empty stomach he honestly couldn't bring himself to eat at the moment, instead he took a seat and facing the wall. He wanted Ren's food, and to eat it around his friends like always. He missed Nora's continuous chatter as the group sat in the dorm's kitchen, all laughing and enjoying each other's company. Then Pyrrha would sit down and have a brushing session with him, which he feared he'd never experience again. That just further reminded him of how exposed he currently was. Jaune wanted his hoodie back. He wanted his friends back, but nobody would listen.

His neighbor whimpered lightly after a while, prompting Jaune to look over. The dog, his name being 'Pyrite' according to the plaque at the back of his cage, was watching him and sniffing the air carefully. He could practically hear the dog asking "Are you okay?"

"No. I just want to get out of here." Jaune whined. Pyrite whimpered worriedly, pawing at the bars between them wanting to comfort his new friend. He sighed, looking at his uneaten dish of food. Standing up he pushed the bowl over to the bars where his roommate could reach it. Thankfully the food was a wonderful distraction, and Pyrite quickly moved onto trying to pull the pieces of meat through the bars.

Jaune took the chance to bury himself under the blanket in the bed, twirling around several times trying to get comfortable. It wasn't the same without Pyrrha to snuggle next to, and he couldn't get comfortable without the scent of his friends close by. Jaune felt lonely and oddly scared despite knowing he was safe for the time being. He needed to get out of here and find his friends, and he needed to do it soon.

They had hydrated their dry sore throats, had eased their grumbling stomachs with some nibbles of food, had refreshed their bodies with warm showers, but when it was time to rest, they quickly found out it wasn't going to be an easy task.

Their legs ached from all the walking, their eyes burned to the presence of light and their thoughts were scrambled with exhaustion. But no matter how tired they were, how relieving being in their beds was supposed to be, no one inside the JNPR dorm room was capable of relaxing.

Though at some point the occasional ruffle of sheets being adjusted slowly but gradually became less frequent as the night went on. Pyrrha guessed the sleep had finally caught up with her friends. Ren could probably make himself sleep if he knew he was going to need the energy early in the morning, and Nora had never been the one to have too much trouble sleeping either. Pyrrha, on the other hand, no matter how many times she told herself she needed the rest for the search, wasn't so lucky.

During the few seconds her thoughts started to become less discernible to give space to sleep, it wouldn't take long for a spike of anxiety to make her more awake than ever. Jaune wasn't there, and it was impossible to ignore the fact.

Before today she would only wake up a few times to the movement of his tail wagging or legs lightly scratching the sheets in response to a dream - she would then stretch her hand forward to give him some calming head pats, most of the time it worked, others backfired and only made his tail wag faster - but now not having Jaune to occupy his fourth of the bed made the simple act of closing her eyes a burden.

She never expected to one day consider her twin-sized bed too spacious, not being able to find a comfortable position herself while her mind kept going back and forth between repeating to herself Nora's words of comfort about how he was very capable of handling himself, and between a series of terrible scenarios about what he could have been going through, each one worse than the last.

So when the light from outside started to infiltrate the curtains, her alarm going off and effortlessly waking up the occupants of the room in the first ring, she didn't care she had only managed some blinks of rest. Pyrrha got up from the bed with a hummed good morning from her friends and the need for sleep still being the last thing on her mind. They had a long day ahead of them.

Jaune awoke easily from the very light sleep he finally managed to fall into. The other dogs were starting to yip and bark happily as one of the servants walked in with breakfast. They once again slid a fresh bowl under the door, presenting Jaune with his food. He could feel his empty stomach grumbling as the scent of food hit his nostrils, and this time he couldn't ignore the meal. If escape was the end goal he'd need all the energy he could get, and he had plans for today.

Approaching the bowl he realized it was diced pork instead, along with a side of rice and kibble like the other night. He gobbled up the food quickly, being sure to leave the kibble untouched. It tasted like juicy cardboard, but he had grown accustomed to the flavor at this point. Regardless, it wasn't hard to finish off everything that wasn't dog food.

Sitting back, he waited for the other canines to finish hoping more humans would come soon. Thankfully they did. A middle-aged Faunus with malamute ears took Pyrite out of his cage, the dog wagging his tail happily as the man hooked a leash to his collar.

"This must be Jaune…" The former knight looked over at hearing what was meant to be a mumble. A younger woman in her late twenties was standing on the other side of the bars, reading a tablet scroll and playing with a leash in her free hand. She had shoulder-length wavy brown hair that was held back loosely in a low ponytail, and she wore the same fanny pack uniform as the man that just took Pyrite.

She finally looked up at Jaune and smiled warmly, leaning over a bit to seem less threatening. He started to feel even more exposed under her gaze, scrunching up hoping to hide himself. Maybe he should wear the blanket today?

"Why good morning Jaune." She said in a higher-pitched baby talk voice. "Don't be shy. I promise I won't hurt you." Her smile was warm, and Jaune tried to shake the thought off. Right, she wasn't looking at an exposed teenage boy. She only saw a fluffy scared dog that she had to work with, and he needed to cooperate with her if he wanted to get out of here. Taking a deep breath he attempted to ignore that naked feeling, sitting a little more confidently hoping to please her.

"That's right Jaune! Good dog! You sure are a handsome boy! Yes, you are."

"Uhhhh…. thanks?" Jaune tilted his head sideways unsure what to make of the comment. No one had ever spoken to him like this beforehand, but he decided to play along, lightly wagging his tail to show he was friendly. She opened the kennel door and stepped inside, leaning down so she was closer to his eye level and holding her hand out with a biscuit in it.

"It's okay baby. I won't hurt you." She said gently.

"I figure you'd have a hard time at least." Jaune chuckled internally. It would take a literal Ursa, and a very persistent one, to break through his aura, and he found that out the hard way.

"Can we be friends? That's it, come here Jaune." She made a clicking noise with her tongue and tried to usher him closer. He played along and walked over, ignoring the treat entirely and taking a seat. He needed to gain their trust. If they trusted him these people wouldn't feel the need to muzzle him anymore, and they may bring him to more areas of the mansion. Hopefully easier places to escape from.

"Yes, such a good boy! No nasty boys here! You're not mean like the others were saying. Just scared." She gently patted his head before slipping a high-quality leather leash around his neck. Jaune did see the name 'Skylar' embroidered into her uniform shirt. That must be her name then.

She hooked her leash to his collar, standing up and turning, showing a rather odd feature. A brown tail was protruding from under her shirt. The tail was bushier near the end, but light in shade near the base. So this woman was a Faunus, some type of dog maybe?

She started leading him out the same door the other dogs had gone through. They entered a hallway, at the far end was the gymnasium he saw last night, but the woman instead took him to a smaller side room. It was empty save for a small table and chair in the corner, a speaker on the ceiling and large mirrors lining one of the walls. The woman set her scroll down and looked to Jaune carefully. She pulled out another dog treat and held it in front of his face.

"Sit." She said firmly. Jaune just internally shrugged and obeyed. "Good boy." Skylar praised and tried handing him the treat, only Jaune moved his head back not wanting to touch it. She quirked her eyebrows curiously at his reaction. "I guess you aren't food motivated."

"I'm 'get the heck out of here' motivated." He huffed knowing she wouldn't understand him.

"Lie down." Jaune did as instructed before she could really start moving her arm down. Her tail wagged a little bit in surprise. "That's amazing! How about roll over." He practically yawned performing that easy task. "Shake? Play dead? Heel? Stay?" He did every single command as she said them.

"What is your assessment, Miss Nimbus?" Aurum's annoying voice came out over the speaker.

"Oh, well, he is extremely well trained and he's showing no signs of aggression. He should be safe to continue working with."

"Excellent!" Aurum burst through one of the mirrors, which turned out to be a hidden door. "I knew that bringing in a dog Faunus like you would be an excellent idea!"

"T-thank you sir, but actually I'm a hyena-"

"Yes yes, whatever." He waved his hand to stop her. "The point is you can speak their language. Animal to animal and all that."

Jaune had to do a double-take on that one. That sounded… really offensive, and in front of his Faunus employee nonetheless. He looked to Skylar questioningly, only to see her smiling as if this was normal.

"Chop chop now! I want to have him upstairs and changed pronto. We have some mock interviews to practice." The man flipped his scarf and strutted out of the room.

"Of course sir." The trainer nodded and walked Jaune along after him.

"You are seriously okay with that?" Jaune whimpered and looked up to the girl questioningly. Her face hid any unsaid emotions, but her tail was hanging limply now lacking the excitement from their one on one session. He looked ahead and huffed, watching the pompous jerk as they all ascended the staircase. He couldn't tell if Aurum was intentionally racist like Cardin, or if he was just extremely clueless. Either way he clearly needed some sense slapped into him.

"This is humiliating." Jaune grumbled as Skylar tied an ascot around his neck. Honestly, Jaune would rather go naked than wear the getup Aurum wanted. He was forced into what was supposedly a purple suit with sparkly gold lining and trim. The sleeves had fluffy lace sticking out around the cuffs, and the lace accents continued around the neck the tail of the suit.

"You're looking handsome Jaune." Skylar smiled sympathetically.

"Please just kill me now and get it over with…" Jaune whimpered and tried to hide his head between some clothing still on their hangers. Sure he needed to gain their trust. He knew pretending to be obedient was the plan, but by the gods this was more than he could bear! Even worse than when his sisters stuck him in dresses as a little kid.

"Is he ready yet?" Aurum called from the entryway.

"Just finished sir." Skylar responded. She tugged the leash finally coaxing Jaune to start moving. They stepped out into the mock interview set and Jaune's jaw completely dropped. He was dressed in the same outfit as Aurum. They dressed him to look like that idiot!

"He looks fabulous!" Aurum looked Jaune over much to his dismay. "See, I knew the purple would complement the gold wonderfully."

"Of course sir." Skylar nodded.

"If you like looking stupid." Jaune growled.

"He will behave for the training session yes?" Aurum gave Jaune an irritated look at his growling.

"We'll start as you do with the other dogs and go from there." The trainer decided. She gave Jaune a reassuring pat on the head before giving the leash to Aurum and taking a step back.

"Jaune heel." Aurum said sternly and started to walk forward. Jaune trudged onward with his head low trying not to break under the humiliation. Gods he hated this guy. Aurum took a seat on a comfortable looking chair and pointed towards an X on the ground.

"Sit."

"... fine." Jaune ultimately obliged though he made his frustration known through huffs and agitated movements. Aurum took a seat in the chair but wasn't pleased with Jaune's behavior.

"Ms. Nimbus, he is acting up!"

"He's following your commands though." She tried to defend him.

"Yes, but his energy is all wrong. He can't be acting this grouchy during an interview. I need him to be poised and elegant!"

"Yeah, you aren't getting much better than this. Take it or leave it." Jaune growled. Skylar took his leash and began leading him in several large circles. The blonde heeled obediently, but he couldn't drop the bad mood over his outfit.

"I don't think he's comfortable with the clothing." Skylar commented. "He wasn't acting like this before I put it on."

"But I know for a fact this dog can wear clothing without problems." Aurum rapped his foot.

"He may not be used to things this thick and heavy. I think he'll be better about it with a week or so to get used to the clothes." Jaune just huffed unhappily.

"Seriously doubt that."

Aurum took a moment to think before shrugging. "Very well. I'll have you work with him on the clothing issue, but I want him to walk elegantly by the end of the week."

"Yes, sir." She nodded before starting to lead Jaune back to the closet.

"Before that though, I'd like to see him on the agility course." Skylar paused, looking down at Jaune before agreeing.

"We'll see how he does."

"Hopefully better than he did with this." He could hear Aurum grumbling.

"As long as I don't have to look like you." Jaune thought as Skylar shut the door and began undressing him.

"You did well Jaune. You're a very good boy." She rubbed his head reassuringly, much to his surprise. "I don't know what's gotten into Mr. Ville today. Usually, he's a little more patient with new dogs." She said the last part more to herself than Jaune.

"Really? I have a feeling he's always like this." Jaune couldn't vocally disagree so he just huffed. Skylar removed the rest of the suit coat much to Jaune's relief. He never realized he'd miss being naked this much.

They didn't dwell long in the closet thankfully, and the two were soon standing in the large agility arena. She took him to a section away from all the other dogs where she could work with him privately.

Skylar brought him in front of a jumping obstacle and tried walking Jaune to it. "Come on boy! Jump over!" She encouraged hoping he'd make the leap. Jaune just rolled his eyes and did as told, jumping over the obstacle like it was nothing. "Good boy Jaune! That was so good!" She ruffled his ears giving him all the praise she could.

"It was just a jump. I've done harder things."

She rushed him towards several more jumps, each one he cleared easily. Skylar looked down at him thoughtfully.

"It's like you've done this before." She mumbled.

"Honestly, no, but it seems pretty simple." He wagged his tail a few times waiting for the next order. She took him away from the starting jumps over to a segment with poles standing in close together lines. Unhooking the leash she led Jaune over.

"Let's go, boy. Weave!" He hesitated a second, realizing this would be a good chance to run. At the same time though he knew where precisely one door in this gym was and it led further into the mansion. He'd need to spot check the room for an emergency exit.

Jaune approached the poles, having slightly more difficulty with the movement he'd never practiced, but able to weave through them like she asked. Skylar didn't stop after that, showing him to a curved pipe of sorts. He ran through the thing without issue, emerging on the other side just in time to clear another hurdle.

"Good boy!" Skylar got down on her knees and ruffled his face. "I knew it. You were already trained in this!"

"No, I just speak the same language." He did the closest thing to shrugging his shoulders could manage, unable to stop his tail from wagging at the praise. Okay, maybe this Skylar lady wasn't so bad.

"Bravo, darling! Bravo!" Aurum clapped, ruining the nice moment.

"Mr. Ville, he's a trained agility dog. Just where did you find him?" He waved her off like her inquiry meant nothing.

"I pay you to train dogs, not ask silly questions."

"Y-Yes sir, sorry sir."

"Why do you put up with this?!" Jaune gaped at her subordination.

"Take him on the official course. I want to see his time on a real run." He pointed over to the large course near the center of the gym.

Skylar agreed readily and brought Jaune to the starting point. He had a much better view of the full building, and could see two separate emergency exits. There was one he could easily get to if he changed trajectory before hitting the see-saw. He could do this!

"Let's go Jaune!" Skylar shouted running side by side with him. Over the first hurdle, then climbing the over and under obstacles. As he jumped through a tire hoop an annoying ringtone loudly went off on the sidelines. Aurum was quick to answer his phone.

"Karen darling! So wonderful to hear from you!" Aurum smiled fakely. Whoever was on the other end was pissed, quickly falling into a shouting tirade.

Wait, why did that screeching sound familiar?

"Yes yes, I'll pay for your dental surgery… the redhead did what?" Jaune perked his ears trying to listen in as he hit his second hurdle.

"Yes, your payment will be given in full… farewell, darling! Tell your adorable children I said hi!" He hung up the phone only to completely deflate. Aurum let out an angry sigh and shook his head. "Devils! All three of them."

Jaune slowed his pace trying to process what he just heard. A familiar angry woman, something about a redhead and dental surgery, and two children…

…

Wait…

"It was YOU!" Jaune completely turned away from the see-saw, but not to rush towards the exit. He had a new target and he wasn't letting him go!

"AYEEE!" Aurum screamed seeing the oncoming canine. Jaune charged, just stopping short of biting his ankle, angrily barking and snarling a few feet away.

"YOU HIRED THAT STUPID MOM AND HER KIDS DIDNT YOU!? What did you do to my friends?! Which redhead was she talking about?!" He snapped and snarled, only to be tackled by several bodyguards and a fresh muzzle slapped on his face.

"Jaune stop!" Skylar rushed forward only to freeze when Aurum stomped his foot angrily.

"How dare you! You need to be taught a lesson mutt! Lock him up in the lower kennels!"

"Wait!" Skylar tried to protect him. "Maybe something spooked him! I'm sure-"

"You will be quiet if you want to keep your job!" Aurum pointed to her warningly. It was only then that Jaune started coming down from his tantrum and realized what had happened.

He just screwed up his own escape plan.

"...aw crap baskets."

It felt like a terrible déjà vu. A team of three arriving at Beacon empty-handed, feet dragging over the floor because they didn't have the energy left for firmer steps. If there was a difference to pinpoint from when they arrived at the dorms yesterday, it was the fact they were way more tired after their sleepless night and an entire day of searching that they eventually had to admit was leading nowhere.

It was unsettling, seeing Ren hold an expression for so long, especially such a distressed one, and seeing Nora being that quiet, unfocused eyes pointed to the ground since they stepped into the academy. At least Pyrrha's eyes were dry now.

When they were about to open the door to their room to face another long and restless night, their attention was brought to their neighbors' own door as it was suddenly being flung open.

"It's them! They're here!" Ruby stared at them with wide eyes, the rest of the team gathered by the doorframe right after the announcement. "Where have you been?! We haven't heard from you since yesterday morning!"

Pyrrha exchanged a glance with her teammates. They had nothing to hide from the girls in front of them, and weren't planning to, especially after seeing they were genuinely worried. Still, there was a second of silence and awkward shuffling; they didn't know how to exactly share this kind of news.

Blake was the first one to notice, asking carefully. "Where is Jaune?"

Blankly, Nora let it out. "We lost him."

"What do you mean lost him?! Did something happen at the vet?!"

Pyrrha let out a breath. Rubbing the exhaustion off her eyes, she started. "It's a long story…"

"Okay. So here's what we have!" Ruby slapped on the table her scroll with a map of Vale pulled up. "Jaune was last seen close to the botanical gardens. Besides going inside, he could have run to these three other streets." She zoomed the map with a flick of her fingers. "One leads to the dog park area, and you said he probably wouldn't want to go back there right?"

"Right." Nora nodded. "And I asked the people there and no one saw a loose dog pass by."

Ruby hummed in acknowledgment, tapping her chin. "That leaves the two other paths… They both eventually lead to downtown Vale… If Jaune had run far enough he probably would end up in parts of town we are familiar with."

"Yes…That's why I walked all the way back to the airport." Pyrrha started quietly. "If he ended up downtown he would know that's a place we would go eventually. But there was no sign of him."

Ruby bit the inside of her cheek, staring at the map deep in thought. The present integrants of team JNPR exchanged worried glances. Jaune wasn't a regular lost dog, he was still as smart as he had been as a human, so they could assume he would be able to direct himself if he found a familiar part of Vale, even more so now with his exceptional hearing and sense of smell.

"I don't think Jaune is still wandering around the city, he could easily smell his path back to the gardens, or the airport, if so… So my best guess is..." Ruby pondered for a second. "Since Jaune clearly doesn't look like a stray, someone could have found him and is keeping him until they can find the owners, or he was taken by the city's pound."

"Oh, gods! I hope he's not in one of the pounds." Pyrrha shivered. "That can't be a good place for him to be."

Ruby had to agree. "At least with the collar and leash he had and his hoodie it's clear that he's supposed to be someone's lost dog." She did her best to assure. "They would know someone is looking for him."

"If he was taken that would explain why he still hasn't found his way back yet…" Ren concluded.

"Yeah, and since he doesn't have a collar with contacts or a microchip, there's no way to reach the owners." Ruby closed her scroll, getting up from her chair. "We need missing posters! And to look into the pounds."

"Alright." Pyrrha got up from her seat with such speed the chair almost tilted back, tapping her pockets for her scroll. "I can try to find the pound's phone number, and we'll make the posters. Nora, you have pictures, right?"

"Oh no, no!" Ruby took the scroll from Pyrrha's hands with a rose-scented swipe. "Yang is almost done heating up dinner, so no leaving for any of you until you have eaten something and after you rest too!"

"Who's leaving?" Weiss surged from the doorframe that led to the kitchen area, carrying a stack of plates to set in the table, Blake following close behind with a jar of juice and glasses.

"No one is leaving. Right?" Ruby insisted. Any protest Pyrrha and her team could have had dismantled right there under the silver stare.

"Girls, you didn't need to-" Pyrrha started, sitting down as the plates were placed in front of them. Ruby was quick to cut her with a wave of her hand, handing the scroll back to its owner.

"Don't worry about it, guys. Jaune is our friend too, so we'll do what we can to help." Ruby got supportive hums of agreement from her teammates. "Even if that means tying you guys to your chairs so you can eat!"

That got some quiet chuckles from the JNPR members, so Ruby took that as a good sign.

"No need for tying. I'm starving!" Nora finally admitted, grabbing one of the glasses and pouring juice for herself and her teammates.

"Good! You eat and at least try to get some rest after. We have plans for tomorrow!"

Glynda didn't usually open emails at this hour of the night, she even tried to leave her scroll aside so her mind could at last disconnect from work after going to bed, silencing the device aside from contacts that were of extreme importance, like the headmaster and the council.

So when her scroll buzzed roughly over her nightstand, she had to do a double-take at the sender's email, until her tired brain finally processed the information.

Right. On the list of contacts she wouldn't dare silence because urgent matters with them could arrive at any hour, there was one that wasn't like the others, and she had forgotten about giving them the same priority as some of her work contacts.

Mainly because every time she thought about that specific team's situation, a bad feeling would sink in her stomach, but partially because she hoped Pyrrha Nikos message would be "He's back to normal!" or something of the sort so Glynda could cross that off the list of Things To Worry About.

Really, it was Ozpin's doing and she would swear she was more preoccupied with the consequences of the strange behavior of his magic than the headmaster himself.

That school would crumble without her really.

Unfortunately, the email didn't contain the good news she was hoping to receive. Rubbing her eyes to get rid of the burn the light of the scroll caused, she read the cluttered with apologies for contacting her so late message for a third time to make sure she had understood it right.

And yes she had. Somehow, team JNPR's situation got even more complicated than before.

With her vision already adjusted to the brightness of the screen, Glynda reached for her glasses over the nightstand. After that she wasn't going to find sleep again easily anyway, so better reply to those poor kids.

Don't worry about the missed classes, she would notify the teachers to send them what was assigned during the day. Sure, take team RWBY to help, it's not like saying no to that team in particular would mean anything to them. And yes, she could arrange for the academy's copy place to open earlier for them to print missing posters.

And please, notify me if you need help with anything else.

Glynda got a reply just moments later. Just as many apologies for the late hour as the previous email, but now accompanied by just as many thanks.

This was getting even more out of hand, and she needed to speak with Ozpin about it as soon as she could.

PorterHawk here! We got a few questions last chapter as to why Jaune got vaccinated and what that would mean for his health, so I'm here to explain!

So it's true that you shouldn't give a human animal vaccines, but Jaune currently isn't human. He's physically a dog, meaning he is susceptible to Parvo and distemper like any other canine. The vaccines are a weaker/dead version of those viruses which will be exposed to his white blood cells so they can build up appropriate antibodies without making him sick (in case he catches the live viruses). The vaccines don't actually linger inside the body, so if he ever becomes human again it won't have any effect on his human form, the same way that his past human vaccines aren't harming his current dog body.

Plus for all Pyrrha knows Jaune will never be human again, so it seemed like a smart decision.

CH10 art:

favDOTme/ddq6dgn