Author's Notes: So I've rewritten all of Tock's dialogue and thoughts to more closely resemble a real Scottish Accent. So if you have the time let me know what you think of the change and how I can improve the Fic.
Climbing back down the mountain and hiking through a forest wasn't Qrow's idea of a good time but it gave him a chance to realize just how long it's been since he had last traveled with someone else. Granted it was due mostly to preference, but it sure was a lonely experience that made him rather homesick at times. However being able to transform into a crow, Dammit Oz I thought Yang had a bad sense of humor, meant that he could just avoid many of the pitfalls and boring parts about cross country travel which was a much needed positive in the face of his semblance which was Bad Luck. To make matters worse he had no way of turning it off and therefore traveling alone was the safest option for everyone around him and it was something that he just learned to live with. That all being said it would be a complete lie to say that now and then he didn't wish for a traveling buddy, preferably one that could keep up with him, cared about people, wanted to do what was right and didn't have a stick in their ass unlike that Winter chick, I swear there will be a reckoning if I ever find out who started that awful rumor about the two of us being a secret couple.
Maria at first glance could very well be considered his ideal partner, she was smart and had the wit to back it up, could easily keep up with him, had a semblance that protected her from his, cared deeply about helping people and could drink him under the table. The fact that she was an absolute beauty also really helped, however, even someone like he understood that it was a horrible idea trying to romance someone currently working through trauma and as one could imagine getting your eyes cut out and being left for dead was rather traumatic.
The fire and fury that she showed back in the village where he found her had slowly died out with every step every mile closer to Vale and more importantly the halls of Beacon. Doubt was beginning to seep into her mind… no that wasn't exactly true, Qrow thought to himself has the pair continued their journey. It would be more accurate to say that the doubt was already there hidden just underneath all that anger. He wanted to help her but he had no idea how to do it, he didn't even know where to start. When Raven left he helped Taiyang by being just as rightfully angry as he was and when Summer died he helped the poor guy again by first mourning and crying with him and later on by reminding him that his daughters needed a father and that he still had a best friend who wasn't going anywhere. But in both of those situations, he was able to help because he was also hurt by the actions of his bitch of a sister and the loss of their captain. He understood the pain they were going through because he was going through it as well. But in Maria's case, he had no way of understanding what she was feeling right now, though perhaps he didn't need to. He took a moment to look over his shoulder and saw Maria waking just behind him and using her Semblance to know exactly where he and everything around them was, Spatial Awareness is a hell of superpower maybe is Summer had it she'd… at that moment Qrow felt like the biggest fucking idiot in the whole goddamned world of Remnant, She'd want you to focus on saving her daughters instead of thinking of pointless What If's.
"Hey, since we're traveling together do you mind answering a couple of questions? Even if you don't want to answer I'll still answer your questions!" He offered.
"How much longer till we reach Beacon?" She asked.
"Well I'd reckon that we should get there by around…," he quickly ran some mental calculations keeping in mind that his companion was still blind despite her Semblance and while his Semblance was a dick. "We could get there in around five to seven days assuming nothing comes up that might delay us and trust me, something will happen." A Bullhead is coming to pick us up so we should get there in around half that time.
"Well, that's just fanfuckingtastic… fine what do you want to know?" she answered.
"Those people back in that mountain village seemed to like you, in fact, they were ready to fight me to protect you."
Maria quickly whispered something under her breath that Qrow could only barely make out, "Those idiots…"
Pretending like he heard nothing the Huntsman continued, "Now I've seen appreciation before it usually the offer of a place to stay for the night, a meal and occasionally a one night stand but that village… They love you, they legitimately love you and frankly, I'm a little jealous. So what's the story?"
She was silent for a bit which didn't worry the dusty old crow at all since was more than happy to wait for her and she didn't have to wait long, "That village doesn't appear on any map and the only way for most people to get there is to stumble upon by accident as I did or already know where it is. They are on their own and if a horde of Grimm were to descend upon them they would wipe out the settlement and no one would know."
"So you were protecting them?"
"I saved them... from a rouge huntsman."
He instantly understood the cruel irony of the situation but wisely chose not to comment on it, Getting mistaken for the very asshole you just sent packing damn and I thought I had bad luck, "It must've taken a long time to earn their trust afterward, so why did you stick around instead of moving on on the next big gig?" Qrow asked as he thought back to his sister for just a moment.
"That village was a wellspring of negativity. If I moved on the Grimm would move in and I think we've both seen how that ends. Honestly, when that scaly bitch showed up with her crew and called me a rogue huntsman, I laughed at them and at how absurd the whole situation was. After everything I had done for that settlement she felt like a bad joke or some kind of bullshit plot contrivance penned by a third rate hack of a wannabe author, I was going to kick her ass and go back to the village where I'd tell them the funny story of the losers I'd just meet… then I lost and she was one laughing," Maria stopped walking and just stood there trying her best to rein in her emotions but she kept thinking back to the moment when the blade touched her eyes and everything went dark with the last thing she ever saw being that damned smile on her attacker's face… followed by laughter.
She sensed Qrow stepping close to her and instinctually took one step back, stopping when he didn't follow instead he stood at a distance and began softly talking, "When I was a student in Beacon I was a part of a team called STRQ. Summer Rose was the leader and easily the kindest most sincere person I ever had the pleasure of knowing... she had Silver Eyes," this instantly caught her attention.
"Summer is dead now, killed on the orders of the very same person that wanted you gone."
"Salem," Maria spoke that name with such venom as tired to imagine what kind of foul circumstances led to the creation of such an evil being.
"And now they are in Vale looking for Summer's daughter, my niece Ruby. I know that we are asking a lot from you but please, help me keep her safe."
The Atlesian Knight-130 was an outdated model of mass-produced combat droids that had managed to retain a considerable bit of popularity even after being replaced by its frankly superior successor the Atlesian Knight-200. The secret behind the 130's ability to remain profitable was its cheapness and how easy it was to maintain their body and modify behavior to create different combat scenarios for solo and team practice. An example of this would the droid that was now facing off against Ruby Rose in the arena as Penny watched from the sidelines using a computer console to make adjustments to the machine and the field itself, the robot had been given one command and had all of it performance parameters had been optimized to achieve the singular goal of Dodging.
The mechanical knight kept its eyes on the hooded girl and the odd weapon in her hands while searching through its limited database for the specs of that particular instrument of death to better determine how to best achieve its designated goal but, it came up with nothing. The girl moved her hands and pointed the device away from the machine which in turn caused its built-in processor to go into overdrive to try and predict what was going to happen, and then something shot out of the weapon, the 130's retinal scanners caught sight of an unidentified flying object moving rapidly towards it from an odd angle. The machine didn't even try to calculate the possible trajectory before it began moving in the opposite direction in a bid to complete its objective of avoidance only for its audio sensors to pick up the sound of the object picking up speed and moving closer and closer, the droid attempted to juke the object but the sound of metal tearing into metal filled the room as contact was made and its right arm fell off.
"Aw man, I missed!" Ruby lamented as she prepared Jaune's new weapon to fire again.
"It is a rather difficult weapon to use but there are plenty of historical examples of weapons that work using the same principles with five such weapons being right here in Beacon and even one being used by a professor." Penny helpfully stated.
"Really? Which professor is it? I could use some advice right now," asked Ruby as she fired the weapon again this time cutting off a portion of the Droid's head and shutting it down. Penny then pressed a few buttons and another model of the 130s came out to replace its failed brethren.
"The Professor's name is Anne Greene who coincidentally is also the Huntress overseeing Team JNPR mission! I shall try calling Jaune to advise him to ask her for lessons," Penny went silent as her internal scroll sent the Pirate a message, a few seconds later she began speaking again, "He didn't answer so I left him a message. Would you like to try disabling multiple droids?"
"Penny! I'm still trying to hit one moving target!"
The door to the room suddenly opened up and Weiss Schnee quickly walked in, "Oh Ruby and even Penny! I didn't expect to see either of you here, how are you feeling? Is there anything wrong?"
"I'm in optimal shape, Weiss!" Penny happily exclaimed.
"I'm okay Weiss," Ruby spoke exasperatedly, "I'm fine!"
Weiss seemed completely unbothered by Ruby's attitude, in fact, it almost seemed as though she expected it which caught Penny's attention as the Heiress moved towards the back of the room, "Don't mind me, I'm just looking for a shard of Dust that I lost here and look! Here it is just tucked away in this corner!" She held up a piece of Ice Dust and moved back towards the door. "Well, Ruby if there is anything you need help with-"
"I'll be sure to call you or Yang or Blake," Ruby cut her off, which oddly enough didn't seem to bother Wiess at all; she looked oddly pleased with the answer.
"Well, take care!" Wiess then left the room with a strange and content smile on her face.
The moment the door closed Penny turned to Ruby, "That was odd."
"It's not just her! Blake and especially Yang have been constantly checking up on me trying to make sure that I'm safe and it's infuriating! And the worst part is that no one will tell me what's wrong and yes I have asked them and they just keep denying that anything is going on!" she took a moment to calm herself down, "Penny I'm sorry for-"
"You have nothing to apologize for Friend Ruby, I'm happy that you felt comfortable enough around me to vent your frustrations to me."
Ruby put Jaune's new weapon down and used her semblance to quickly move over next to Penny and pulled her friend in for a hug while completely failing to notice the door opening up again and Mercury Black walking in.
"Um, am I interrupting anything here or would the two of you like to be alone?" Mercury politely asked not wanting to be a bother.
Ruby in turn kindly used her semblance to quickly move to the other side of the room while nicely screaming, "Where did you come from!?"
"Mercury came in shortly after Weiss left, you simply didn't notice him since you were busy embracing me, which is an activity that I would very much like to get back to." Penny shot him a look as she said that last part.
In turn, he scratched his head and began an apology," I'm sorry it's just that I've been having trouble with my weapon," He pulled up one of his pant's legs revealing the metal prosthetics underneath which quickly captured the Weaponsmith's attention, "And I've heard that the two of you are the best around. So how about you help me and in return, I'll listen to you vent," he offered looking at Ruby before turning to Penny, "And I'll help get the others off of your back giving you two a little privacy."
"Deal!"
In Beacon there were very few places that could be called truly private, even in the Emerald Forest, there were many spots and in some cases entire sections that were under the constant and paranoid surveillance of a rightfully fearful old man. Most of these cameras and microphones were hidden and thanks to Ozpin's years of experience, they have remained secret for years at least until Cinder through the use of a backdoor program created by Watts was able to find them. Afterward, all it took was a bit of basic deduction and she had been able to find one of those of the rare and extremely precious rooms that were truly off of the grid.
It was in one such room that she was making herself comfortable as Mercury gave his report, "Either Ruby's entire team has suddenly taken an unhealthy interest in her wellbeing or they think something is up."
"Tell me then, do you think they know about the Silver Eyes?" She asked him.
Mercury gave it some thought before answering out of a habit is picked up from his father and perhaps the only good thing he learned from that dead piece of filth, "Jaune and Ruby are best friends but even if they weren't their two teams are close to each other and on top of that he is stupidly heroic," Which is weird considering the missing the arm but maybe he gets off on danger would explain his marriage to a bounty hunter, "And for reasons that I don't think anyone will ever understand that wannabe pirate and that cosplaying crocodile do seem to care about each other," How did they even meet?!, "So if we assume that Tock told him about her job then it isn't a question of whether he'd tell someone in RWBY and given oddly protective Yang, Weiss and Blake are being of their little leader, yeah. They know and they expect something is going to happen and happen soon."
The Villainess smiled, "Perfect! I do believe it's time for step two." She picked up a scroll and activated the voice changer and was about to dial a number when she noticed the confused and unsatisfied look on Mercury's face, Emerald feels the same as him but she's been trying to hide it, I better fill them in when she gets back. With that in mind, she dialed a number on the scroll.
"Hello again my dear employer, how are you this most excellent of days?" the slimy voice of Peter spoke through the microphone, his tone carrying with it the stench of unearned confidence.
"You told me that you found and delivered the message to Tock, you even promised me that she would soon contact me and yet here I am calling you instead!"
"What do mean she hasn't?! L-look here, it not my fault that the animal was too stupid to make a call! It's not my fault I was just following your instructions!"
"My instructions were to find her and re-establish contact, you half-assed your job then patted yourself on the back and before you bring it up I already know about your juvenile attempt to try and trick her into thinking you have a hostage but guess what! She already knows it's fake!"
"H-how can you possibly know that?"
"Did you think that we would allow you to do whatever you pleased in this city without keeping tabs on you? My Mistress Salem paid good money for your services," out of the corner of her eye she could see that Mercury had a look of complete shock on his face as he tried to understand why she would give away the name of their boss to a complete nobody, Patience you'll see why "But Salem is nothing if not merciful so you will do well to listen."
In the kingdom of Vale in the district of Bloomsbury there is a street simply named the 14th that is generally avoided by the populace due to its rather gloomy reputation which was the result of its proximity to the sealed train station which formerly existed to shuttle people to the now empty and perpetually tragic settlement on Mount Glenn. However not all was dreary on that lonesome road for there existed a pleasant home where there lived a lovely family named the Darlings who brought joy to everyone around them... then the Breach happened and what positivity remained on 14th street ran away to escape the Grimm and hasn't bothered to return.
What the Darlings did not know and would thankfully never learn was that their home, which miraculously had been spared from the destruction, now served as a base of operations to a very unruly group of ruffians.
"That Bitch!," screamed Peter as he threw a bottle of cheap wine at the wall and sent a pair of twins known only as the Twins ducking to avoid the shards of glass flying through the living room as a result of their leader's outburst. The pair ran out of the room as he picked up another bottle and threw that one as well, "I should have never let Belle talk me into accepting this fucking job!" His hand reached out to find another bottle but there were none in reach, he scanned the room looking for something else to throw and spotted a couple of champagne glasses that the Twins had been using to drink beer with and since they were no longer in the room no one would object to their destruction. However, he would not be able to grab the expensive crystal unless he wanted to get up from his seat on the couch and walk across the living room to where they had been but that was too much effort for him until his Aura Flared up and his shadow came to life stretching itself towards the fragile containers pushing one of them close enough for him to grab. "Everyone get down here!" within moments all the members of the Lost Boys had gathered in front of their leader who was still sitting on the couch agitated, holding the glass in his hand and absentmindedly looking for a good target to aim at as he ignored the glare the Twins were giving him.
"What's the problem?" Peter's second in command Belle spoke, her presence did little to help the nervous atmosphere in the room and her insectile wings, which marked her as a Faunus, were bristling with an agitation which made everything worse.
"Tock hasn't made any attempt to contact our employer even though she and her crew were searching for that bitch," Peter answered, finally deciding to crush the glass in his hand as aura coated it to prevent cuts.
Slightly spoke up, "Then just send her the arm me and Curly stole,"
"They somehow already know that we don't have her husband," he said as his shadow moved across the room and started pushing the second glass towards himself.
"And that is our problem because? We've completed our job, let's just cut our losses and get out of this damn kingdom and crash in Vacuo for a bit or we can run some errands for Lil' Miss Malachite if we want some extra cash," Belle shot back.
The still half-filled glass cup finished its journey across the room and was picked up by Peter who considered throwing it at his lieutenant but shuddered at the thought of her retaliation so he threw it at Slightly instead."
"What the fu-"
"She is going to report our crimes and location to the cops who I honestly don't care about and if that was it we wouldn't be having this conversation. But our boss has also threatened to tell the Academy which I very much care about and if we try to run or nothing changes by the end of tomorrow we are effectively screwed so this is what we are going to do. Slightly you and Curly are going back to that settlement and grabbing that bastard, I don't care how you do it, take the Twins with you in case there is a fight. Everyone else is coming with me to confront that Scaly Whore."
"I thought you said that we'd be reported if we left Vale," Curly pointed out.
"Just do what I fucking tell you and leave it to me to clear it with that bitch," Peter shot back, We should have bailed on this job the moment that bastard Hazel told us we'd be taking orders from someone else… Who is this Salem and why does she need one guy to hire us and someone else to give us instructions? "Anyone else with stupid questions?"
"And if Tock doesn't play along?" the tall pale and grinning figure of Nibs asked as he fingered the grip of his favorite knife.
"That's what Jaune is for, now get what you need and get ready, we'll get the boy tonight and tomorrow confront Tock, Tootles find a place where we won't be disturbed and another place to dump a few bodies, just in case."
"How are we going to do this?" Cecco asked his captain as she brandished her blades and slowly paced around the sparing room of the Pit.
"Well, ah wis thinking that we could go a' proper lik' 'n' dae this one at a time pure winner versus pure winner, foremaist ye 'n' me then Turley against Mason 'n' finally th' pure winner o' that versus me."
"Oh damn! Are you just gonna let her talk to you like that?" Mason shouted from the sidelines as Turely largely ignored the trash talk choosing to focus on sharpening his machetes while secretly humming the theme song of a cartoon he had binged watched the nite before.
Cecco didn't say anything instead hefting his hammer onto his shoulder and walking up to her as she took up a fencer's stance ready lunge at a moment's notice, it was a favorite trick of her's that was responsible for many a victory but it was also something he was familiar with and most importantly the range was a known factor that he could take advantage of, it wasn't going to be easy but it was possible to pull a win. He ended his approach just on the edge of the safe zone, a little closer and he'd get a second belly button, Here is the tricky part if she thinks something up then she'll close the gap and I'll get poked with a sword. But maybe… He took the hammer into both hands and looked at his captain who stared back at him confused as to what was taking so long for the fight to start. This can work, and with a smile, he chucked the hammer right at her face. For one fraction of a second she was surprised her body freezing up but in the very next fraction her lifetime of training kicked in and her body began to move not away from the hammer but towards and under it, in one fluid motion she kicked off of the ground rocketing towards her crewmate in an attempt to skewer him, only to find that he was just out of reach. Cecco, on the other hand, was ready for her and was already moving towards her blind spot with a combat knife in hand.
Both Mason and Turley dropped everything that they were doing and began rising to their feet as he raised the blade into the air, taking a sweet second to just drink in the look of disbelief on Tock's face. This proved to be a mistake.
At that moment she processed the situation and made a decision that normally would have been a monumentally stupid idea and perhaps it still was but it was the only one she could come up with at the time. Abandoning any chance of a proper landing she instead began rotating her body allowing her to swing her cutlass upwards at Cecco who had foolishly given her the time. He saw the sword coming towards him and made the decision to move the knife to block the blade but the force of the blow forced him backward as Tock fell prone onto the floor. The writing was on the wall as he knew that she'd easily overpower him once she got up so in one last act of desperation Cecco threw his weapon at the captain who was barely able to raise her rapier to block the projectile which struck with enough force to knock the sword out of her hand. It was a small victory which he relished, however, this left him with no weapon while Tock was now back on her feet with a vicious hacker at the ready, he could go for the hammer still on the floor but everyone in the room knew that he'd never make it in time.
"Looks like you got me, Captain," he spoke, feeling rather satisfied with how things turned out. Talking hammers with that Nora gal has upped my game but it feels like I'm still missing something.
"Goddamn Cecco! Ah dinnae care if ye dinnae lik' thaim guns yer getting one! Ye hear a'm buying ye a gun 'n' yer gonnae learn tae use it 'n' love it!" she declared with a laugh, "Ah mean throwing th' hammer ah git bit th' claymore tae? c'moan!"
"But I nearly got you!"
"'N' if ye hud a gun ye would've won!"
"Touche," he admitted while the two of them picked up their respective weapons as the next two took to the ring.
"So tell me, old friend," Mason spoke while aiming his rifle at his dual-wielding frenemy "Did you get any faster since our last fight or will this be a repeat performance?"
"Last time I tripped and you fucking know it!" Turley shot back.
"You tripping was all according to my plan."
"God, you read too many comic books." Turley gave one of his machetes a playful twirl before suddenly dashing to the side as his sparring partner raised his rifle and opened fire.
*RRRIIING*
Tock could barely hear the scroll over the sound of gunfire and tried to ignore it at first but a thought kept remerging, What if it is important? Most circumstances that was a ridiculous argument full of holes however there was nothing about Tock's situation that could ever be considered normal. Dammit! Forcefully tearing her eyes away from the fight she found her scroll and discovered that an unknown number had sent her a photograph. That it? damn, a'm losing mah jobby fur nothing, well might as well see whit ah git, "Whit th' bugger is this!?"
It was an image of Jaune's stolen prosthetic arm now torn to pieces with parts melted down as though someone had taken the arm and tried to cook it in an oven. Included with the image was a message. "You think you're such a clever bitch? Well, guess what? I know what you know and now I've sent a few of my boys to let your boy toy know what I think about that." Soon another text was sent, this time it was to an address that she did not recognize along with a second message "Don't even think about warning him! If we think anything is up for even a second then we'll do everything in our power to drag you down with us!"
"Shit!" She smashed her fist into the floor cracking the reinforced concrete before turning to her crew only to find that they had ended the fight and were already packing their things to go.
"Captain, what are your orders?
She thought it over for a bitter second, "We're gonnae trust Jaune tae handle himself, we're gonnae ca' his friends ower at beacon 'n' let 'em know 'n' then we're gonnae murdurr Peter 'n' ilka lest one o' his mangy punkass crew."
"Aye Aye Captain!"
Ren was barely able to raise Storm Flower in time to divert the sharpened metal point of Jaune's Rapier away from his face and he unconsciously took a step back trying to get away from the perceived danger but all it accomplished was opening himself up to another attempted stab. Fighting against his instincts he deflected the next blow and moved forward and closer, he was rewarded for his bravery with an opportunity to counterattack which he did by lashing out with the bladed pistol but he struck nothing but the air as his foe maintained the distance and began rapidly thrusting trying to find a gap in the defense. Sparks flew with every exchange as the deadly edges made contact with each other, to the untrained eye it looked as though the combatants were even but Ren knew better. He needed to break free or it was only a matter of time before Jaune would strike either too quickly to intercept or too fiercely to be parried and the result would spell disaster for himself. He needed to bait in his foe so he began to cautiously give away ground taking one calculated step after another, To think that just a second ago I was trying to get closer. The ninja took one more step back and pretended to lose his footing for just one second, which Jaune immediately took advantage of the perceived moment of weakness with a fierce stab meant to break through any defense but it hit nothing but empty space as Ren went low and attacked his captain's leg with a mighty sweep knocking the pirate to the ground. Pushing his advantage he closed the distance intending to end the fight only for Jaune to lift his sword and point it right at Ren who nearly ran right into it and was driven back leaving him helpless to watch as Jaune picked himself off of the ground never moving the tip of his blade away from Ren who was smiling, The Captain took advantage of his weapon's superior reach and used it as a barrier which I nearly ran into... he has improved. The two circled each other for a bit before charging and filling the sky with the song of steel on steel.
The people of the settlement were awestruck by the shine of the evening sun reflecting off of the weapons and the speed by which the huntsmen moved, to them it looked like some sort of complex dance whose steps were impossible to learn. They weren't too far off, as while the two were sparring with each other they weren't competing rather they were putting on a show for the people. A performance to reward the workers after a hard day of labor while they waited for dinner to be served and entertain the children as well and it was working. Being able to see two defenders of the settlement in action without the risk of attack was doing wonders for the morale of the citizens, just the presence of the Huntsmen alone was bringing peace of mind to the brave men and women whose actions were helping humanity and Fuanus Kind expand beyond the walls of the Kingdoms.
Eventually, the dinner bell rang and the fight died down as everyone turned their attention to satisfying their stomachs, while the rest of Jaune's team ran up to them accompanied by the Professor who had been watching with approval, "You guys were great! Especially you captain! No offense Ren you were fantastic as always and hot! God, you're so hot!" Nora apologetically spoke to her boyfriend while not attempting to hide how she intensely was checking him out.
"None taken," Ren replied to his girlfriend while calmly stretching to show off a little.
Turning back to her captain she began speaking so quickly that it was hard to believe that she had spent most of the day lifting logs to help rebuild the settlement, "Honestly Jaune when you started spending time with Tock I would have never thought you had been training not that I doubt you or anything but come on you married a Huntress and this was your honeymoon! You're supposed to be spending as much time as possible banging your bride though given who she is maybe she was banging you, is that something you're into? I mean you really can't tell who's a top or bottom unless you sleep with them or they tell you and even then they may not know themselves which is why it's important to experiment or at least that's what I've heard. So maybe you're into it and just didn't know it until she- Oooh! That's a good idea! How about it Ren? Are you down for some role-reversal?"
"Only after we've done some proper research into it," he responded.
"Thanks, Renny-Poo! You're the best!" She didn't waste any time tackling-hugging her boyfriend who in turn immediately returned the embrace as some of the settlers watched approvingly as the pair walked towards the dinner tables holding hands.
Jaune turned away from the couple and looked to his partner 'Was it really such a big deal?"
"How can you even say something like that is beyond me kid," Professor Anne Greene spoke up, "You've helped save their homes from a Grimm attack and been spending as much time as possible trying to help rebuild, trust me when I say you are all getting high marks on this assignment."
"She's right Jaune, you've got to stop being so hard on yourself," Pyrrha glanced briefly at the stump of her friend's arm and a brief wave of shame overtook her as she remembered his early days at the academy "Jaune you're a fine leader and no one can honestly say anything differently."
"Are you sure about that miss?" a stranger suddenly spoke.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" The Professor angrily turned to face the speaker coming face to face with a man of average height with dusty blond hair and wearing a grey suit, altogether the man had the look of a civilian but not one who was local. Apart from his somewhat tired but still admittedly handsome appearance, he was unremarkable, that is if he didn't look like an older Jaune Arc.
"Dad!? What are you saying?" A confused and shocked Jaune asked, eliciting surprise from his professor and partner.
"I could ask you the same thing young man, what are you doing continuing this charade of yours? Seriously if you had any sense of responsibility you would leave this career to your more able-bodied colleagues and come home already, you're only slowing them down," the man crudely stated, earning a vindictive glare from Pyrrha who tried to say something but was cut off by the Professor.
"Well as a Professor in Beacon and the Professional Huntress in charge of this mission," Anne spoke while letting her dislike for this man seep into every syllable, "I must disagree with you. Your son has continuously demonstrated considerable skill in his fights and has shown great aptitude for leadership so I am happy to say I have no idea what you are talking about."
Jaune's father chuckled, "Well then let me spell it out for you, a cripple has no right to play hero especially when there are lives at stake, as a professional and professor you of all people should know that. But given the Breach, I'd suppose it fair to say that I'm expecting too much of Beacon."
Pyrrha then jumped in "How dare you! You weren't there at the mouth of the Breach! You didn't fight the Grimm through the streets and alleyways saving as many people as you could but, Jaune did! He fought the Grimm and won, he searched the city for survivors and saved them! He isn't playing hero, he is one and you are-!"
Jaune grabbed Pyrrha, pulled her aside and turned to his father, "Could you give us a minute dad?"
"Sure," he answered dismissively.
"Pyrrha why don't you get the others and head back to our room?"
"Jaune what's going on with you!? Why are you just letting him walk over you like that?" She demanded to know as the professor watched the pair with concern while his father seemed to be glaring at them both.
"Please just trust me on this one, I know what I'm doing," he assured her.
"Fine, but you better not even think about handling this on your own Jaune. You've grown so much, don't throw it all away because of this... man. Please promise me that you'll let us help you."
"Thank you Pyrrha, I won't let you down not this time or ever again." he watched for a bit as she left before turning back to his father, "Can we talk? Somewhere elsewhere we won't be interrupted?"
His father looked surprised for a second before giving a smile that could only be called sleazy "Sure that would be great, perfect even." he then pushed past the upset professor and joined his son walking towards the edges of the settlement and began working their way behind the various buildings which were now becoming rather dark and secluded thanks to the setting sun.
"So tell me, dad, how did you even get here?"
"I hitched a ride with some gentlemen who were passing by."
"Really? They were just passing by an area that has recently suffered a Grimm attack? It will be dark soon, where were they planning on staying?" Jaune stopped walking and gave his father a hard look, "How did you even find me?"
The man tensed up for a second and his eyes briefly darted about taking in his surroundings focusing particularly on the buildings as though he was looking for something and only relaxing when he didn't find it, "I thought we were going to discuss your shameful lack of self-awareness and yet all you seem to want to do is talk about other people."
Ignoring his father's comments Jaune continued their walk "Alright then if you want to talk about me let's talk, why didn't you approach me after the Breach? I'd understand if you weren't in Vale at the time-"
"Then why are you asking me such a pointless question especially when you already know the answer to it? I didn't talk to you in Vale because I wasn't in Vale at the time so I couldn't possibly try and talk some sense into you then."
Their walk finally ended with Jaune stopping behind one of the buildings but not turning around to face his dad rather leaving himself completely exposed as the sun finally dipped below the horizon and night overtook the sky leaving the two alone on the edge of the settlement. While he wasn't looking at this father, the man reached into his pocket and pulled out a syringe filled with some unknown fluid and walked over to Jaune clasping one hand over the boy's mouth as he stabbed the needle into the pirate's neck only for the thin metal to bounce harmlessly off of Jaune's aura as the Huntsman reached into his coat, pulled out a pistol and point it at his attacker's leg.
*BANG*
With a cry of pain, the man fell backward, his aura barely stopping the bullet which left a mark as the buccaneer turned around and pointed the smoking gun at him. "First off, drop the disguise then put your hands where I can see them and drop to the ground."
Just like that his father was gone, replaced by a stout young Faunus with brown feathers in his hair and arms dressed in street clothes and glaring daggers at him, gripping his bruised leg with one hand and clenching the broken syringe in the other. "I don't know how the fuck you figured me out but it doesn't matter, I wasn't the only one to come and we brought with us a guy who can attract Grimm so you better play nice or-!"
*BANG*
He was cut off by a bullet impacting his chest as his target looked at him with scorn, "After you bastards attacked this village the first time we worked together with the settlers to come up with a disaster plan so right now most of them are in their homes. Furthermore, my team and I switched rooms after you broke in and this building is where we are staying now and finally my father supported my dreams so don't you dare prance around with his face and talk that kind of shit to me!"
Slightly picked himself up and pulled out a dagger and a hatchet, "This could have been easy but now I'm going to make you a quadruple amputee-!"
*BANG*
Slightly's aura absorbed yet another hit as Jaune put the pistol away, drew out his sword and pointed it right at the would-be-kidnapper who was rubbing their sore chest, "You messed with a Pirate and now you're walking the plank."
Author's Notes: So I'm going to start the Rewrite a little early but only focusing on fixing the spelling, grammar and consistency so I can better focus on the most important things. Once it starts properly I'll upload a placeholder that will tell you about what has changed and will be removed once I am done!
Also, I will never apologize for ending the chapter on a one-liner.
