Jaune grunted loudly as his body was blown backwards and into a tree. He felt his entire world shake violently as he stared dumbly at the beast in front of him. It was a Ursa Major, a rather big one, perhaps as big as the one in the Forever Falls. His grip tightened onto his blade, his shield brought up to guard him, his stance low. "Naga." His voice stern and cold.

"Yes?" Came the non plussed answer, the dragon boy currently in the middle of beheading two beowolves, his blade slicing effortlessly through their unarmored hides.

"I hate you, I just want you to know that." It had been a few weeks since their conversation with team NPR, and their request to accept training from Pyrrha. Since then they had yet to find any towns, and had run into Grimm multiple times a day. All because Naga just couldn't shut his mouth.

"What why!?" Faux shock and hurt on his features as he placed his hand sordidly to his chest.

This earned a groan from Blanche, "Because you don't know when to shut up, ever since we were kids you just couldn't help but to test fate." Her body currently in motion, her fist slamming dutifully into the ground as she ripped through the armored plated brain case of a once living Ursa minor.

"I did no such thing!" He said, once again in false offense. His body suddenly swapping places with a rather small Ursa, who found a new hole in it's chest courtesy of Naga's glaive penetrating through from it's back. "All I said was that it had been too easy! We could use more of a challenge! And honestly, I still stand by…"

"Shut up!" He was cut off in stereo, as both Jaune and Blanche begged him to just stop talking for once.

"Don't, don't ever tempt fate again please. I'm begging you!" Jaune was obviously tired, they'd been fighting so much during the day, yet for some reason never ran into issues at night, though Pyrrha had definitely put them through the ringer. On one hand, he lo… enjoyed seeing her… and his team frequently. On the other hand though, she was a slave driver! It was insane, the things she had them do, a shudder came overtook his body as he thought about it briefly.

Although, he couldn't really argue with the results. That and the constant live combat had really gotten him to improve. An Ursa claw reared back and attempted to crush him beneath. In response he sidestepped, using his shield not to block, but parry the blow. Using the beast's own momentum against it, he caused it to stumble down and nearly trip. He took this opportunity to cleave the beast in twain, relieving it from it's much needed head. One of the things he'd learned, or rather gained was confidence.

He had been lacking it, but being forced to literally fight for his life every day, and having others fight by his side 24/7 and having them to train with did wonders to him. Was he as good as his peers in beacon? Not by a long shot! He had a lot of work to do to catch up, but he didn't feel lost anymore.

No longer did he feel like a fish out of water, instead he found his river, he could get there he just knew it. A small smile graced his face as he stared back the remaining grimm, their leader vanquished, all sense of bravery faltered as they fled.

"Man! This is great! All that training from your girlfriend and team have been helping out a ton! I can use my semblance way more often now. I need to get something nice for Nora and Ren, their advice on aura control has been a godsend! Especially with Nora's help on when to expend it." Naga's smile was nearly splitting his face from ear to ear.

It was true, both him and Blanche had also improved, it seemed that the other team had taken notice of NPR's late night sessions and they'd thrown their two cents in as well. Blanche was way better at using her muscles now, what with Nora and Yang's advice on how to throw a punch and control her insane strength better. And with Ren and Nora's help they'd gotten a lot of advice in controlling their aura and when to really use it. Then there was Weiss and Pyrrha.

By this point, Weiss had already made up with Jaune, she realized that she had reacted far too selfishly and fast and hadn't given him time to defend himself. Though their relationship wasn't great to start with, they both felt they could make amends.

Their assistance with stances and combat motions helped a ton! The trio felt like they could take on the world, and honestly it felt like they had. There was still one problem though, Jaune had yet to find his semblance. Though, everytime he fought, everytime he was hit, or something shook him. He felt like he was getting closer, like there was a well in his chest that was just waiting to burst open.

With the adrenaline still pumping; Jauen couldn't help but fall to his knees, his arms raised above. "YEEEEESSSS!" His excitement boiling over, he had done it. Sure he'd killed a Major before, but this time it felt different, he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He felt like he had handled it on his own, and it was different this time. He wasn't sure if he could take one prior to leaving Beacon, but now, he wasn't sure if it was the skill he gained or the confidence. Either way he felt good, the only other time he'd felt this way was when he saved Cardin.

One cleared throat later, and a sideways glance at his compatriots, clearly showed he'd been doing it for far too long. He gave them a sheepish grin, red tinting his cheeks as he scratched the back of his neck. "Hah… uh sorry."

"No, don't be." Blanche gave a muted grin, "That was pretty big." Naga nodded besides her.

"Ya man, don't sweat it, you did a great job!" A massive grin spread across Naga's face as he nodded along.

Jaune couldn't help but feel even more embarrassed, the only person who praised him this much was Pyrrha, and even then he wasn't used to it. Sucking in some air, he got up and dusted himself off.

After several minutes of rest, Jaune reached for his backpack. From it he pulled a map that the duo had with them "So, at least according to the map, we should be at a town soon."

Naga and Blanche gathered behind the seated Jaune, his fingers pointed at the small words, Seraumont, that appeared on the map.

Naga cocked his left eyebrow, "That's of course, if we're going the right way." He said, pulling out his compass and a map. "I uh… I think we're going the right way. Just uhm, gimme a moment alright?"

Both Jaune and Blanche watched him, patiently at first, as he proceeded to scramble around, putting the map on the ground and the compass on top to keep it from flittering away. His eyes glanced towards one end of the map and the other.

Blanche gave him a look, though Naga wasn't paying attention, her eyes squinted and her left dimple tilted downwards. She shouldn't have let him navigate, they were probably lost in god knows where.

However, before she could voice her complaint, Naga spoke up. "Aha! Okay, I now where we are, we're' actually not all that far from the town it looks like. Shouldn't be more than half a day's trek.

His eyes flush with elation, though the other two weren't quite so sure. Still, they nodded, hopefully they'd find a town.

To their utmost surprise, Naga wasn't lying to them, or at least he wasn't unintentionally lying to them. They sure enough found a town, the name was Shion.

It took Jaune all of a second to snap his fingers, "OH! I actually know where we are! My family and I used to camp out here all the time!" This caused Naga to stare at him for a moment.

"Didn't you say you had like 4 sisters or something?" Blanche spoke aloud, she couldn't help admire the town, it was definitely a step up from the slums they came from at least.

"Seven actually…" Jaune's voice squeaked out a little bit, this caused both Blanche and Naga to shift a little, their eyes widening at the realization. Though instead of mocking, Naga couldn't help but release an exasperated sigh.

"That sounds tough… but also nice." Shaking himself from his lost thoughts he motioned forward. Not wanting to dwell on his own thoughts, he proceeded to push forward. "Right, well, we should get going, I think it's best that we go settle down."

"Right… right, there's a tavern not far from here." Jaune motioned for them to follow. He had always loved this Shion, whenever his family came to camp out in the area, they'd always drop by for supplies. The people were friendly and he'd never run into problems with them before.

As they made their way through the town, Blanche couldn't help but notice the lack of stares she was getting, that was curious. Whenever, they'd gone out before, people would frequently stare at her jaw. This, this was nice, it was good to see that not everyone cared about little differences.

As they made their way forward they came across a large building, which from first appearances, appeared to be a bar. Though as they entered they realized that the interior was nicer than any bar they'd come across. The finish was properly done, and while there was a bar inside, it seemed to also have a front desk as well as other amenities, including stares which seemed to lead up to what they could only guess as additional rooms.

Soon a soft voice called out to them, "Hello Darlings, how can I help you today?" The originator of the voice was an elderly woman, her hair short and trimmed to just below her ears, greyed from age.

"Ah yes, we're looking to rent a room for the night, if you have a three bed room that'd be great." Jaune spoke first.

"Mmm." The inn keeper hummed in acknowledgement, soon she began skimming through her ledger and nodded. "Sure do." She paused, taking a glance at the ragged adventurer trio. "How long do you plan on staying?"

The three of them looked at one another, Naga began checking his wallet, to see the funds they had. Grimacing he held up one finger, they probably couldn't afford more than a single night.

"Uhm, only tonight, we just want to try to freshen up a little." Jaune hadn't gone over the details of their adventure, he didn't want anyone feeling bad or, like he was attempting to gain sympathy.

The Innkeeper nodded, "I'll tell you what, most of the rooms have been booked up anyways by a couple of our regulars. We can afford to let ya lot stay here for three days, for the price of one." She hummed again, "That'd be 40 lien."

This was a huge savings for them, and the trio couldn't help but feel shocked, though before either of the boys could say something stupid, Blanche decided to chime in. "Thank you, we'll accept your kindness." She gave a curt nod.

Naga, walked forward, pulling a few lien cards to hand over to the innkeeper. Though as he did so she gave him a once over, "Deary, weren't you already staying here?" She asked, her head tilted in confusion.

Naga stopped for a few moments, his lips thinning and his eyes half closing. "No? I'm sorry, we just got into town?" He wasn't the only one confused, as both Jaune and Blanche mumbled in agreement.

"Hmm, yes yes I see that now, you're slightly taller, and you're lacking in the bust department." She paused a little and then turned back to him, "Not that there's anything wrong with that."

This definitely caused Naga to stop, he realized what had happened, she thought he was a girl. He wanted to say something, but was soon stopped by Blanche, who was doing her damndest not to break out into laughter. "It's okay ma'am, 'she's' used to it by now." A small giggle escaped her throat. "Now come on lil sis, you need to pay up."

Naga shot her a fierce glare, his eyes dulled over, and a frown upon his face. Though, he figured there was no winning this one, so he just paid the innkeeper, who proceeded to give them their keys. "It's room 602, should be on the third floor." The trio nodded in confirmation, and began to head upwards.

It didn't take them long to reach the door, "Hey you guys go on ahead of me, I'm going to get something to eat." The only response he got was a mummer of exhaustion as the two nodded their heads and headed inside.

Making his way down he got a better look at the bar, there sure were a lot of people, she did say that most of the rooms had been filled up. But he hadn't expected most of them to be down here, it seemed that there was a party going on. Though, he couldn't ignore the strange feeling like he had seen a few of these people before.

As he made his way down, the strangest sight caught his attention, it was Naga, but he had just left Naga upstairs. Making his way towards him, he reached out and called his name.

"Naga, weren't you just up stairs, how'd you get down so quickly?" His confusion, suddenly turned into more confusion as the person, it didn't take him long to realize that it wasn't Naga, for one it was a girl. Two the hair style was slightly different, while it was also swept to the right, she didn't have the odd braid thing Naga had going on. Instead it was just cut short, and she didnt' have the dread bun that Naga had either, she simply had a long pony tail.

Other than that, she was the spitting image of his friend, they both had the same darkened skin, though instead of having amethyst eyes, like Naga. Her's were much closer to lapis lazuli, and now that he got a better look she was wearing a small jacket, and actually wearing it, unlike Naga who for some reason had it stitched to his vest. She had dark black shorts on too, ones that barely made it past her thighs. And instead of having the fancy shoes Naga loved so much, she had heavy looking grieves that appeared to be made out of some metal. He also noticed what appeared to be scales running down the latter part of her legs.

Then there was the biggest difference, she had a tail! A tail longer than her, which wasn't saying much, she had to be shorter than Nora, but that tail definitely made up for it. The tail wasn't something he'd normally bring much attention to, but this time he had to. What appeared to be segmented blades linked through and latched knot by chains and leather, ran down the second half of it. The best way he could describe it, would be something out of a science fiction horror movie, possibly about insect looking black aliens.

Though, his studying of her ended shortly after noticing the bladed tail, because soon after he found said blades uncomfortably close to him. She had stood up, and he was sure now that she was smaller than Nora, not by much but she was.

She didn't seem to be in a good mood, though she was polite enough not to slide her tail too close to his neck. He couldn't help but feel, that for someone so tiny she was ever so slightly terrifying. 'What is it with short girls and being terrifying.' His thoughts were interrupted again as she spoke.

"Did you call me Naga?" Her lips thinned, her eyes burning a whole through his head. "Why do you know that name, why did you think I was him?"

Okay that was interesting, he hadn't mentioned Naga's sex before. Oh… oh crap, the thought hit him hard, 'She's his missing sister! No wonder they look the same.'

Now one might say that Jaune was dense, and they'd be right, but he wasn't that dense. He always had an inkling that Pyrrha had been interested in him even before the dance. He just never thought he'd be good enough, she was amazing, she was kind, awesome, helpful and just an amazing person. He couldn't give a damn about her achievements, that didn't matter to him, no she was just the absolute best.

"I'm waiting…" Her arm's were crossed now and the tail had inched just a bit closer.

Oh crap he got distracted again, well either way, he could see clues, and it didn't take a genius to realize that she was the spitting image of his friend minus a few things. Though, before he could respond a new voice entered the fray.

"Well well~ What do we have here?" Jaune froze, he recognized that voice, "Lamy! It looks like you found one of those kids I was talking about! Remind me to give you a raise!" It was Deib, which only meant that…

"You don't pay me. Also… you mentioned one of them looked like me right?"

Deib nodded, he hadn't pointed that out last time, though Jaune wish he had. Though his attention was soon brought back to Lamy? Was that her name? He wasn't sure, that was an odd name and didn't fit with what Naga's family theme seemed to be.

"So… where is he?" Her tone was dangerous, and despite being posed as a question, it definitely wasn't one.

Jaune had to think his way out of this, and quickly, though before he could.

"Hey Jaune, did ya order yet?" Naga and Blanche had come down stairs. And as eloquently as Jaune could, he only had one response.

"Oh crap baskets."

Sorry about the delay! I've been swamped by a bunch of personal things and work recently. I've been more active on my Ao3 account and I'm debating putting my short story, Lil JNPR on Fanfiction instead of just my tumblr and Ao3.

Either way, it won't take this long to get the next chapter done I promise, and it'll be longer. I wanted to combine them,b ut the next chapter is going to be mostly action and I kinda wanna tackle that on it's own.