On a Broken Throne

by in the eyes of the beholder

Argus was a failure. Ironwood's paranoia made manifest in the form of a military quarantine around all of Solitas. they didn't have many options and he needed to keep the relic, and more importantly his friends, safe. And what could be safer than the Arc family castle?

1. Chapter 1

"Damn it!" Jaune fist slammed into the metal plating of the Manta, it bent around his hand with a scream of protest. The knight's blood pounded in his ears as the diminutive Atlas woman's words settled like lead in his stomach. "Are you telling me all this was pointless?" his voice was quiet. Its tone sent nervous shivers down Weiss's spine.

The woman, Cordovin, for the first time since meeting her, offered a look of sympathy to their ragtag group. She had just finished explaining to them the full scope of the military state that Atlas had become. Ironwood's reaction to the fall of Beacon having been far worse than they originally imagined. The entire continent of Solitas had been sealed off from the rest of the world. All air traffic was either detained or shot out of the sky. All sea travel and shipping were closely monitored to the point of needing a military convoy to even approach Atlas waters. She even admitted that their communications with Mainland Atlas were restricted to a single large commincay every six months. "I'm sorry, young man." Cordova's words sounded sincere. "But the only way you're getting to Atlas will not return for six months."

"Wait" Weiss tore her eyes away from Jaune's shaking form and stared down at the Atlesain specialist. "You were going to fly me to Atlas. Why… i don't understand… " she shook her head in confusion. She had escaped Atlas once. She knew Ironwood had crippled the dust trade but she had no idea that he had dragged all of Solitas into his paranoia. Wiess hadn't had much contact with greater Atlas from the gilded birdcage her father called a manor. She had only been let out when she was required to make an appearance at social functions or to sing on demand like a songbird. Worry for Klein lanced through her. The man had smuggled her off of Solitas and he might be rotting in some Atlesian prison because of her.

"No, Ms. Schnee." Cordovin explained. "You were to meet up with the fleet and be returned to Atlas proper. Unfortunately the ship has fled to the fleet early, due to the grimm, and is currently out of range of the communications tower... the one you shut down." the woman's gaze flickered to Yang and Blake. Yang crossed her arms and returned the glare full force while Blake's ears flattened under the shorter woman's gaze. A long sad sigh slipped out past Cordovin's lips. "I'm also afraid that you must vacate Argus as well."

"What!" Yang practically exploded. "What do you mean we have to leave? Do you know what we went through to get here?"

"You're right." Cordova said. "I don't know what it took for you to get here." The woman's voice was tampered by years of military service. She spoke with a finality that Weiss had heard many times with her own sister. "But i do know that you can't stay here. I can overlook many things for the right reasons. And if i was the only one who knew of your involvement with the stolen airship we would be having a very different conversation right now." she held up the tracker she had ripped out of the stolen manta. "But your actions have put this city in danger. I'll admit that my response was not ideal in this scenario. However, I cannot ignore the fact that i must put the city's best interests above my own. And the fact remains that you endangered this city's security through your actions."

"So… so after all that… we just leave?" Ruby whimpered. The girl whose voice was usually so full of hope and life sounded so... defeated, in that moment. Jaune's blood boiled with frustration. He had spent months traveling with the diminutive reaper and to hear her like that…

The knight's gaze drank in the sight of his friends. Ren and Nora were leaning heavily against each other. Their silhouettes plunged into a deep gray as Ren desperately tried to suppress himself and Nora. But even then it was clear that he was barely holding them together. Yang had all but engulfed Ruby as she held her sister close. Blake's ears were flat against her head as she rubbed circles into Yangs back. There were no tears between them but he knew Ruby, and he knew those tears were damn close. Oscar, Maria and Qrow were arguing quietly. Without Ozpin, Oscar wore his emotions on his sleeve, he could tell the boy was close to a breakdown. Qrow and Maria were snarling like animals, arguing over the safety of the relic that was still clipped to Ruby's belt.

Finally his eyes landed on Weiss. Jaune felt his pulse skip painfully at the sight of her. There was a tremor in her arms. Her hands were clasped tightly together as she stood ramrod straight. Her face was torn between guilt and relief.

Ever since Weiss had returned old wounds stirred just beneath his skin. For a time, he thought those old emotions and feelings had withered into obscurity. When Weiss appeared with Yang in Haven he was genuinely happy to see the girl was safe. They may not have been very close but they had formed a tentative friendship after the dance.

Then she nearly died in his arms.

The fear that had coursed through his chest had gouged open old wounds and dragged those old feelings to the surface like oil on water. The fallout from Haven had seen Jaune sticking closer to the ex-heiress. Seeing her physically moving and laughing with her team had done wonders to soothe his frayed nerves. Then the panic and fear had returned tenfold when they had been attacked on the train and her team had stayed behind to protect the relic while his team had cared for the civilians. The huntsman hired to protect the train had told him that his friends had probably not survived. Surprisingly it was Nora who had to hold him back after he decked the man. Of course, she still threatened to break the man's legs and he was tempted to let her do it.

A part of Jaune wondered what their next step was. For a moment he let this train of thought run its course. The Atlas situation was like a shot to the kidneys. Like someone had dumped cold water on his shoulders. They couldn't stay in Argus and they needed a place to recover and lick their wounds. They had an extremely dangerous relic that needed to be kept safe. He needed to really think about what they did have and what he could do with the options they had. The first blessing in disguise was actually the time frame between now and the next shipment. Six months was nothing to scoff at after all. There was a lot that could happen both good and bad.

Then there was Maria and Qrow to consider. Two more positives. Maria and Qrow were the best hunters of two different generations. Qrow was leagues and bounds ahead of everyone currently standing on the cliffside. He was also technically a teacher at signal as well. Maria had been the huntress who he had based his own weapon off of. Maria had experience they all lacked. She was, definitively, the best huntress of her generation. Her knowledge and experience would be invaluable.

Jaune blinked as an image of a stone fortress set into a mountain side briefly surfaced to the forefront of his mind. It was one of those thoughts that made him feel like he had just been struck by an ursa at full tilt. In his defense it wasn't like this had been an option before. Or even something to be considered. It was also one of the few things he hadn't told his team about. It wasn't like it was important, or common knowledge to anyone outside his immediate family. His friends would be safe there. The relic would be safe there and no one knew about it but him. Cinder didn't know he existed, she probably didn't even know his name. That meant Salem didn't know he existed. A lot could happen in those six months if they got there and decided to wait it out. It would be a gambol, Atlas could fall in that time and they would have no way of knowing. They would be mostly isolated… but for the first time in almost two years they might actually be safe. With his resolution steeled the knight pulled out his scroll and brought up the coordinates he needed and headed towards the still arguing hunters.

He paused as he passed Weiss. Whether or not she noticed him before he gently laid a hand on her lower back he didn't know. She felt stiff under his fingers. In truth he didn't know what to do so he did what felt natural to him and let his semblance flow in her. She looked at him then. He saw her visibly relax and even felt her lean into his fingers. Her mask shattered for a moment. "It'll be ok Weiss." he tried to give her a reassuring smile, he really did.

Jaune stepped past her, his hand lingering on her back for a moment as he pulled away and made his way over to Maria and shoved the scroll into her hands. The covers on the woman's bug like eyes slanting in thought before she nodded at the knight in front of her.

---

Jaune blinked awake as the airship gave a violent shudder as it caught some bad turbulence. He vaguely wondered how long he had been asleep for and grimaced at the vague sensation of his stomach turning as his motion sickness reared its head. Gently he coaxed his aura to surround his inner ears. A technique Goodwitch had taught him that allowed his inner ear to sync back up with the rest of his body and alleviate the most extreme parts of his ailment. He wasn't going to be throwing up on Yang's shoes anytime soon but the gentle shaking from the manta still made him uneasy.

He was leaning up against the side of the Manta's interior, his sleeping bag unzipped and tossed over himself for warmth. To his right tucked under the makeshift blanket was Weiss Schnee. Her head was down and her eyes were closed but he doubted she was asleep. Across from him was Ruby and Yang who were snug against the side of a crate of the meager supplies they had managed to scavenge before they left Argus. Blake was resting on top of the crate staring out of the window. Ren and Nora had taken refuge against the back wall, Nora was asleep using Ren's shoulder as a pillow while Ren was using his pack as an improvised headrest. Maria was flying and Qrow was in the passenger seat with a flask in his hand and his head in the other. Oscar had taken refuge tucked into a corner of the craft with his cane clutched against his chest.

"Hey, kid." Jaune shifted a little under his sleeping bag as he turned to face Qrow. "You finally gonna clue me in to where we're going?" Qrow was staring at him now.

The knight tried to slip out from under the sleeping bag as carefully as he could as to not disturb Weiss. A futile effort on his part as Weiss's eyes had snapped open and groggily tracked him as he made his way over to Qrow. Jaune paid it no mind as he pulled out his scroll and threw up a map on the Manta's display. "This..." he pointed to a small red dot on the map, "Is the Arc private hangar. We can hide the airship there until we need it again. After that we take the 'family bus' to here." his finger hovered over a small black dot not far from the hanger. "This is the town of Dale. We stop in, pick up as many supplies as we can fit in the bus and head north."

Qrow scowled at the blond man in front of him. "And where exactly are we going? There's nothing up there except a few Fjords and the wild lands. And with the relic strapped to Ruby we'll be up to our necks in Grimm." Qrow took a drag from his flask.

"The Arc family castle." Jaune shrugged. "It's the best option i can think of right now."

Qrow narrowed his eyes at the knight. "Your family has a castle? Like, 'dungeons and dragons', 'fairy tale princess locked in a tower,' castle?" he said, taking a swig from his broken flask.

"No." Jaune shook his head. "More like a fortress in the middle of nowhere that's been passed down the Arc family for generations. One that my great grandparents converted into home for the family, though we only spend a few months there every year. It has a forge, training rooms, running water, heat and power. But most importantly? A massive underground vault that only I have the key to." Jaune rested his hand on Crocea Mors' hilt. "Until we can get to Atlas or get in contact with Ironwood we don't have a lot of options."

Qrow snorted before leaning back in his chair. "You mean we don't have any options." the old crow yelped when a gloved hand struck him in the ear.

"That's enough out of you." the old reaper chastised. "At least he's trying to come up with solutions to our problems. All you've done is complain and drink yourself stupid since we left. If you don't shape up I won't hesitate to bend you over my knee like an unruly child." The old huntresses glare may be mechanical but that didn't make it any less fierce. Jaune was briefly reminded of his own grandmother. Bunny Arc had been a force of nature right up until the day of her death at seventy six. Qrow, for his part, just mumbled under his breath and glared out the window. Jaune felt Maria touch his arm in a comforting gesture. "Now, young man, What can you tell me about where we are going, hmm?"

Jaune nodded at her. "There aren't a lot of grimm around the Fortress so it's pretty safe though I can't guarantee that since the relic might attract them. It's pretty stocked up with everything we should need, things like meat, clothing and dust we can pick up in Dale or go hunting for in the woods. We're going to need to pick up winter gear. We're farther north than Argus so winter is going to hit us harder. We should be fine since the living areas are so heavily insulated, though we may need to start hoarding firewood."

"A lot of guest rooms, I take it?" Maria asked, with amusement in her voice.

Jaune smiled as images in his sisters flashed through his mind. "Three sets of twins."

Maria's barking laugh reminded him of his grandmother again. "You must have had quite the interesting childhood" Maria waved him away. "Get some rest. The thing about traveling is there's not much else to do while you're doing it." Jaune nodded before he headed back to where he had been resting besides Weiss.

The ex-heiress had been keeping her eyes glued to his back this whole time. Her face was set in a small frown as he shifted back underneath the sleeping bag he had shared with her. She really should have bought one at some point but between crashing, kidnapping and almost dying she supposed she hadn't had the time… or the lien for that matter.

Weiss, for all her grandstanding and confidence, wasn't as composed as people thought she was. In truth she was probably the biggest coward on the team. Her fears gnawed at her constantly when she allowed herself time for her mind to rest. Ever since Haven and her near death at the hands of that monster there were times when her fear felt all consuming. A crushing weight on her chest that paralized her limbs and forced iron into her lungs. Then the pain of what was taken from her… her loss. She hadn't said anything about this to her team as she didn't see the need to burden them with her weakness. A stupid notion some small part of her knew, but when she went to explain herself to them she found that she couldn't find the words.

The words seemed to hold themselves back as she took in the state of her team after Haven. It was the little things she noticed. How Yangs' arm shook before seemingly every fight. Ruby whimpered in her sleep. Blake tossed and turned like wild when Yang didn't find her way into her bed. She was no better, practically waking up screaming a few nights a week. She knew Jaune's team was no different. Ren and Nora were now glued far more at the waist then they ever had before. One day she had walked in on them wrapped loosely around each other on a couch at an Inn. it would have been heartwarming if not for the fact that Nora was crying into Ren's chest. Oscar had started to tense whenever anyone moved too quickly around him. Almost like he was expecting an attack around every corner. How much of that was the result of Haven or Ozpin's soul, she didn't know.

Jaune had changed as well. She found herself missing the old Jaune more than she ever thought she would. He used to smile and laugh with an air of light hearted joy. Now he only laughed when it seemed appropriate. Smiled a smile that never seemed to reach as far as it used to. Obsessively sharpened his sword whenever he had spare time. At night when they were supposed to be resting he would train until well after midnight. She had run across this at his sisters home. A nightmare had woken her from sleep and she had trudged down to the kitchens looking for water when she had heard the sound of his sword swings through a crack in the rear door. She had found Saphron gazing worriedly, chewing on her nails as she watched her brother swing his weapon in perfect form as he meticulously trained.

She had even caught the hushed argument between the siblings the next day. Saffron had apparently asked Ren if that was normal for huntsmen. When he had told her that it was normal for Jaune but not normal in general. The enraged woman had dragged her brother into the back yard and slammed the door shut. It had been awkward for the few who had been around to hear the muted sounds of a family argument. She remembered standing next to Ren as the boy looked on with a conflicted look on his face. The sounds of borderline screaming making her distinctly uncomfortable. Eventually they had come back inside, but they didn't say a word to each other the next day.

"Jaune…" Weiss shook herself from her thoughts as Jaune looked at her. "Where are we going?"

Jaune looked sheepish at her question. "Promise you won't be mad?"

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why would I be mad?" she echoed.

He swallowed nervously. "Well, remember how you told us about the Shnee manor and how you hated it there?" she nodded. "W-well we needed a place to stay and somewhere to store the relic. A-also it was the only place i could think of where w-we would be safe so…" he stammered out before he gave a tiered sigh and looked away from her.

Gently she grabbed the sleeve of his hoodie underneath the sheet. "Is it… some type of manor?" an uncomfortable feeling of apprehension swelled within her abdomen at the thought. Had she escaped one cold, lonely manor only to be dragged to another? That couldn't be true, she reminded herself. Weiss had her team and she had seen the picture of Jaune and his family in his sister's home. From what she had seen was a far cry from the sheer amount of contempt that permeated any portraits of her own family. The klinking of liquor bottles still rang in her ears.

"Not exactly." Jaune deflected as he leaned back against the airship's interior. "Look, you should get some rest, even Blake managed to settle down." The cat faunus had curled up against Ruby while he had been talking with Maria and Qrow.

For a few long moments there was nothing but the gentle hum of the manta's engines. The sound was comforting to his addled mind. The whole day had been taxing for all parties involved at the massive screw up in Argus. In truth, he hoped and prayed to whatever deities that were left on Remnant that this wasn't a huge mistake. Another huge mistake on his part. Jaune had been the one to come up with the plan to steal the manta in the first place and it had nearly cost the city everything. It had nearly cost him his sister and his nephew. If they had permanently disabled or damaged that massive machine then they wouldn't have been able to fight off the grimm that had invaded right after. Saph, Terra, Adrian and who knows how many innocent people would have died because of his arrogance. That thought alone sobered him. The weight of how close he had come to losing his family crashed into him like a truck. Like ice was being poured down his spine. His hands twitched crushed the urge to sharpen Crocea Mors. As much as he desired the calming effect it had on him he didn't want to disturb his friends.

Weiss had felt the insanity of the day finally begin to catch up with her as she felt her head dip onto Jaune's shoulder. Barely registering the blond tense briefly before relaxing. She drew far more comfort from the weight gently leaning back into her than she cared to admit. She remembered a time when she used to lean on Winter in a similar manner, but those memories were marred with the sight or sound of her Parents fighting. This was different, this was… warm.

---

The manta's interior was bathed in the bright glow of the morning sun as it streamed in through the glass of the cockpit. Weiss groaned as she sat up from where she had been laying on the ground. Her mind was still not as fully awake as her body. Last she remembered was falling asleep on Jaune, not her side. As she searched blearily for the knight she took in the rest of the airship. Ren and Nora were still asleep. Yang was beginning to roll off of Ruby and stretch. Ruby was still curled around Blake as both of them began to stir. Oscar had vacated his corner. Finally she noticed Jaune was leaning over Qrows seat as he fiddled with something on the manta's Display. Oscar was standing besides him talking to Qrow and Maria seemed to be speaking with Jaune as she gestured towards the screen.

With a shudder and a lurch, Wiess felt the airship begin to descend. She saw Jaune cross his arms and nod out the window, apparently satisfied with something. The lurch was apparently enough to shake their teams into a more alert state as they all began to rise and walk towards the huge windows for a peak outside. Weiss had walked up behind Jaune as their friends surrounded them. A confused mermer rippled through them as a hangar grew larger ahead of them. The building was enormous, a large white metal rectangle trimmed in copper. The Arc family crest displayed prominently on a set of double sliding doors. All set against a forest of pine, yew and oak. The tops of the trees a bright white from snow.

"I… you... what is that!" Ruby exploded as she pointed her adorably shaking finger between Jaune and the hangar. Silver eyes comically wide.

Jaune winced and began to nervously rub the back of his head. "Uh.." he floundered as several pairs of eyes zeroed in on the dork in white armor. "Well… Weiss's family aren't the only ones that like to put their family crest on everything." Weiss glared but she couldn't deny it. Her father had made sure the dust company's crest was stamped on everything they produced.

"Looks like Vomit-boy's been holding out on us." For the first time since the Apathy, Yang smiled a toothy grin.

Jaune grimaced at the teasing that smile promised. "Technically…." he mumbled. "That's not important right… we're just really old and…" he stammered before coughing into his fist.

"So we came all this way for a dirty old hangar?" Nora tilted her head in confusion while blinking owlishly.

"No!" Jaune cried as Qrow laughed. He didn't know what the old man found so funny but glowered at him anyway. "My family owns some property near here… it was all i could think of on short notice." he finished lamely before sighing in defeat. "Also, I'm a little sick of sleeping out in the cold. Especially this close to winter." Jaune grumbled. Ruby, Ren and Nora all looked haunted at the idea of camping through another winter outdoors. So many frozen… everythings!

As the manta approached, the double doors started to screech open with a great metallic whine. The manta slipped in as the doors stopped moving with the sound of a bang. The hanger was illuminated in the harsh light of the morning sun. For the most part it was a wide open warehouse like building. Tools, airship parts and a massive six wheeled military transport vehicle made up the bulk of the interior. The transport was the same off white as the hangar with the Arc crest detailed on the massive hood. Jaune cringed at this, having forgotten how much his family really did like to put the damn crest on everything. A large two story living space was built into the side of the hangar.

Jaune threw open the cargo bay door as a familiar chill swept through the manta. Earning several screeches of protest from the two teams. Blake having the most violent reaction as she practically draped herself over Yang in an attempt to keep warm. She even went as far as to jump like a startled cat. Ruby's teeth started to chatter as she, Ren and Nora immediately dove for their heavier traveling clothes. Weiss tossed Jaune's sleeping bag over Yang, Blake and herself. She wasn't as bothered as everyone else. Winters in Solitas were much colder than this though she had to admit she did feel a chill up her legs.

"Wait here." Jaune said as he made his way towards the small living area, he shivered as he passed over the threshold of the small apartment his parents had set up just in case they ever arrived after sunset and didn't feel like making the journey to the family castle in the dark. It was pretty basic, just a few large couches and a small kitchenette. He made his way over to a large closet and began grabbing armfuls of his sister's jackets and tossing them on one of the couches. It really was a lucky break that he had seven sisters and over half of the two teams were female. Hopefully they would all find something to wear. He paused as he came across two particular items of clothing in his rummaging.

The first was his father's cloak. It was a heavy woolen material the same Arc white as his armor. The hood was lined with a dark gray fur that felt soft to the touch. Memories of his Father, Alexander Arc, started to bubble to the front of his mind. A sharp pain struck his heart as he realized it had been years since he had even spoken to the man. The image of him riding on his father's shoulders and laughing as a child flitting through his head.

He threw the cloak over his shoulders and clasped it together in the front. The clasp was a gold disk with his father's personal symbol embedded into the metal. A hammer and sword crossed in front of an anvil. He felt the heavy weight of the cloak settle on his shoulders with a sense of finality. He couldn't afford to make another mistake. He had already made too many. Stealing from the military, rushing Cinder at Haven… Pyrrha. His nails dug into his palms painfully.

Turning to the second much smaller cloak, it was Perfect for Maria. It was his grandmother's cloak. Dark blue with a white rabbit emblem stitched into the breast. His grandmother had been a kind woman at heart, but she would have berated him if he didn't offer the older huntress her old cloak. Also he figured the strange old woman would get a kick out of it.

Finally he made his way over to a safe in the floor under one of the couches. Jaune dialed in the combination and reached inside the safe to pull out several small metal shields. Each shield engraved with his family crest. He stuffed them in a pouch sewn into his father's cloak before he replaced the couch and grabbed the pile of jackets. He paused at the door to grab three sets of keys off from there where they had been hanging on a wall.

---

"Wait here."

Weiss watched Jaune walk away towards what looked like a living area. Her pale eyes glued to his retreating back until he vanished behind a door. Blake had slid off of Yang and was now cocooned in Jaune's sleeping bag with only her bright yellow eyes visible. She was still shaking terribly. Weiss figured since she was Managerian she wasn't used to dealing with the extreme cold the northern parts of Anima offered. There was already a few feet of snow on the ground outside the hangar and it was only october.

"Why is it so cold!" Ruby's outraged cry echoed through the large hangar.

Yang chuckled at the little reaper's expense. "Maybe you wouldn't be so cold if you were wearing this great new invention called Pants!" she broke out into a full bellied laugh at Ruby's horrified expression. As if the very idea of anything less than a combat skirt was sacrilege. Weiss found herself agreeing with Ruby on that.

Maria hobbled out of the manta before looking around with an appreciative eye. "Well, we are closer to the 'dragon's spine.' so it would be a little colder here than in Argus." Qrow had wandered over to the massive military transport and was kicking the tires as he circled around it. Nora had bounced her way down the cargo ramp and was looking around with a smile on her face.

Ruby vanished in an burst of rose petals and was zipping around the open hangar before materializing at Weiss's side. "Did you know about this!" Ruby asked, a wide grin splayed across her face. Weiss recoiled at the question.

"Of course not!" came her indignant huff. "Why would I know about this?" In truth she knew about the Arcs in passing. She knew that they had once been a very prestigious family. Their name once carried more weight than her own but had declined somewhat in the decades after the great war. They also weren't Atlesian. So there was no way her father would have spared the Lien to reach out to them. Her father had married into the name and didn't even have his Aura unlocked so she doubted he even knew the name Arc for its huntsmen prestige.

"To be fair." Blake's muffled voice cut in from the microcosm of a blanket she now called home. "This feels like something you would know about." a single yellow eye and exactly one cat ear fixated on her.

Weiss scoffed. It's not like all wealthy people knew each other. How was she supposed to know Jaune lived such a lifestyle? For all intents and purposes he had looked like a bum before now. He wore a hoodie with a cereal mascot on it and raggedy old jeans as part of his combat armor. A hoodie, she would add, that he won from sending in box tops for a prize. Not that she would care if he had money. The Jaune she knew was too much of an adorable dolt to even grasp… wait…

Adorable?

Before that line of reasoning began to spiral into dangerous territory Yang began excitedly tapping on her arm. When she saw what the blond woman was pointing at her jaw dropped a little. She could feel Ruby begin to vibrate when she saw what Jaune was wearing. He looked like a knight out of a children's fairy tale. Something about the armor and the way he carried himself with a bundle of cloth slung over his cloaked shoulders and the way he let it drape across his right half really cemented the valiant knight look.

Weiss stopped dead as she felt some primal part of her brain practically purr at an image of a knight pulling her close to his side and draping his cloak across her small frame. The rails on her hypothetical train of thought vanished from under her.

Jaune had made his way back to the airship and walked towards Maria. The old woman was observing him with her bug like eyes squinting against the light. When he drew near he produced his grandmother's cloak and held it out to Maria. The old huntress cackled with glee as she ran her gloved hands across its fabric. Maria stopped as her hands passed over the bunny symbol before her cackling redoubled and she gave Jaune a large toothy grin. "You're Bunny's grandchild, aren't you? Bunny Arc?"

Jaune eyes widened in shock at the elderly reaper. "You knew my grandmother?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes, though, I knew her as Bunny Wrath. She and I grew up not far from each other." Maria settled the cloak over her shaw and tightened the clasp as she spoke. "I was there the day she met your grandfather, Harold. I'll tell you the story sometime when we're not busy being fugitives." she patted his arm before walking towards the 'bus.'

It was about that time that Mt. Ruby erupted with a triumphant screech. "I told you capes were cool!" Ruby was everywhere at once as she inspected the cloak, lifting up the fabric and draping it over herself in glee before vanishing and reappearing in gusts of rose petals to inspect the rest of the cloak.

Jaune batted the blur away as he handed Yang the bundle of jackets for her to sort out. The blond brawler took far too much pleasure in picking jackets for her teammates. Blake immediately snatched the largest and warmest coat for herself. The fact that it was bright orange and fell down past her knees seemingly meant nothing as she pulled the hood over her cat ears and tightened the string. It was official. Blake Belladonna was not a cold weather feline.

---

The modified Atlesian Heavy Supply Transport Vehicle, or as it was known to the Arcs, the 'Family Bus,' was a lumbering hulk of military engineering. It tore through the terrain placed in front of it with little regard for fact that the nearest actual road was still a few miles away. Eight of the ten occupants of the rather comfortable interior held on for dear life, and in Yang's case, actual limb, as the Bus tore through the countryside. The only occupants not terrified was the old woman, who had seemingly fallen asleep in the passenger seat, and the Blond man who drove the death trap. Weiss vaguely wondered how Jaune was the one driving. She had thought the man had motion sickness. She was getting motion sick with as much as the cabin pivoted and bounced unexpectedly.

Jaune, meanwhile, was far too focused on staying on course. While he was sure it felt like he was just trekking in the general direction of the town to his friends. In reality he was keeping his eye open for orange and red markers to make sure he was still on the right trail. They only needed to make it a few more clicks before they hit an actual road. He may have complained at the time but he thanked the gods his grandfather had taken the time to teach him how to drive. He almost smirked at the memory of a thirteen year old scraggly blond kid being lectured on how to drive a stick shift.

He was glad, for once, of the violent rocking of the Bus. It kept his friends occupied. The last week has been hard on everyone. Hopefully Jaune could keep throwing distractions at them to keep them occupied. He had been lucky in avoiding questions up until now but Yang and Ruby were nothing if not persistent. He could feel the pressure building behind that particular Dam. hopefully he could keep it contained until they got the relic stowed away. Said relic was stashed in a compartment under the driver's seat. Jaune felt a little safer with it hidden and not displayed on Ruby like the big neon blue sign that it was.

A sigh of relief passed through Jaune's lips as they crested a hill and the machine slowed to a crawl. The familiar sight of Dale coming into view. Mountains stood like sentinels above a massive crystal clear lake. Tucked into the shadow of one of the mountains was a small town. The mainstreet of the town ran parallel to the lake side littered with small docks. cozy wooden structures pockmarked the hillside while sturdier brick and mortar claimed the mainstreet. Smoke rose out of chimneys and everything was covered in a light dusting of snow but green still stubbornly poked out from the white. Nature's defiance was on full display. All in all, it looked like something out of a postcard for an Atlesian ski resort at peak season.

The reactions from his team were typical. Ruby was pressed against the glass of the windshield with a wide grin across her face. Weiss was nodding appreciatively and Nora was shaking a bemused Ren. Yang had dragged Blake over to a window both of their scrolls out. Oscar was frowning as he stared at the town. Maria was still asleep and Qrow looked confused. There were no walls around the town. Anything this far from a major city would usually be armed to the fangs with as much defense as they could muster.

The remainder of the journey to Dale was much smoother. There was a collective sigh of relief when they hit actual roads and left the vaguely defined trails behind. It was an interesting experience for Weiss as they drove into Dale. People waved as they passed, children played in the snowy lots between buildings. The subtle layer of misery that was omnipresent in the cities was nowhere to be found in the idyllic town. Maria took particular interest in a specialty machine shop they passed, even going so far as to point it out to Yang by tapping her prosthetic arm and pointing to it.

Soon enough Jaune pulled them into a spot outside a grocer and piled out of the transport. They all crowded around Jaune with expectant eyes. If this whole farce wasn't his idea he would have been nervous. Instead he pulled out the small plaques with his family crest on them and started handing them out Qrow, Ruby, Ren, Weiss and Yang. mostly due to the fact that he only had so many shields. "This," he held up one of the plaques for emphasis, "Is my family seal. Just show this to whoever owns the store and tell them to put it on the family tab. If they ask where you got it just tell them I gave it to you. If they still question it, just message me on my scroll and I'll come sort it out."

"Uh... Jaune, what are we supposed to be getting?" Ruby questioned as she turned the Shield over in her hands.

"It would be helpful if we knew what kind of supplies we needed." Ren spoke up from his place to Jaune's right. "Or where we are going for that matter."

Jaune started to panic. He didn't want to tell his friends about the family castle just yet but he also didn't want to outright lie. Half Truths, he decided. After all, what's the real difference between a castle and a cabin? They both had four walls, were usually surrounded by vacant land and they even started with a C! "The family ca-cabin!" ok, maybe it was closer to quarter truths. He began rubbing the back of his neck and mentally cursed.

Weiss narrowed her eyes at Jaune, as mild suspicion lurched in her chest. Back on the manta he had deflected the same question. The knight had also mentioned something about her manor. Could he have been talking about a cabin in the woods? She had to admit it was probably a large cabin due to the size of his family. If he was worried about size it wasn't like they hadn't all bunked together at some point. Still, she felt as if he was hiding something. This was Jaune, however. She doubted he would hide something big from them. Not after he found out the extent of Ozpin's own lies.

That primal part of Weiss brain threw images of comfy fireplaces and sweater clad blonds to the forefront of her mind again. It took far more willpower than she was comfortable with to combat the rising flush of her cheeks.

"So what do we need?" Blake, or rather the orange monstrosity that had eaten Blake, asked.

"Food mostly." Jaune crossed his arms in thought. The Castle had everything they realistically needed. Even clothes if they wanted to be stringy. Between his seven sisters he was confident everyone could find something to wear. It helped that most of his friends were women but since Lien wasn't an issue anymore he supposed it wouldn't hurt too bad for his friends to go a little wild with their purchases. If they missed anything, Dale was only half a day's travel by the bus. "Everyone should get warmer clothes. Winters up here are almost as bad as Atlas. Ammunition and medical supplies should be restocked."

"How long are we planning on staying?" Nora asked.

Everyone except Jaune looked expectantly at Qrow and Oscar. The farm boy began to sweat under the scrutiny and Qrow had a sour look on his face. "Don't look at me." Qrow held up his hands in defeat. "That shit show back in Argus was my last straw. With Oz gone all I've got is a broken flask. This is his show now." the drunk gestured lazily at Jaune who scowled in return.

"I don't know how long we'll be staying at the… cabin, but it's better than wandering in the woods until we can figure out what to do. You heard Cordova. We're not getting into Atlas anytime soon." Jaune withered a bit under the scrutiny of his friends but he stood by his decision to bring them here.

An uncomfortable silence descended on the party as they were reminded just why they were there in the first place. Cordovin's words hanging around them like a taught noose. Atlas had seemed so close and now they were stuck in Anima with no plan, no back up and a very dangerous artifact that attracted Grimm like flies to a neon blue bug zapper. Jaune took a deep steadying breath before fixing his friends with determined stare.

"Qrow, Nora, Ren…" they couldn't afford to just stand around all day. The longer the relic was out in the open the more Grimm it would inevitably attract. "Head into the market and grab as much supplies as you can carry. Ren, you're on medical needs. Qrow can get the food and Nora can grab the ammunition." to his surprise, Qrow made no move to protest. Though Jaune pulled him aside as he left and told him in no uncertain terms that he wouldn't be able to buy alcohol with the shield. Qrow grumbled but didn't protest. He could always use his own money to buy some. Jaune made a mental note not to let Qrow know about the bar one of his great uncles had built into the castle's cellar… or the bar in the smoking rooms… or the bar in the bar room.

He ended up sending Weiss to the dust shop with instructions to tell the owner to prepare a few months worth of lightning dust for the generators. A single fuel cell would last them for about three weeks and there were already enough stocked up at the castle for another three months but his dad had always told him it was 'better to have and not need, then need and not have.' also he figured that she would be the best choice to know what they'd need dust wise. Ruby and Blake he sent ahead to a clothing store that specializes in huntsmen gear. He told all his friends to stop by and grab some heavy clothing.

---

Yang and Maria walked into the specialty mechanics shop that Maria had pointed out to her. She eyed the nasty gash in her prosthetic. The metal looked warped and melted around the edges of the 'scar.' She was apprehensive about letting some small town mechanic take a look at her arm but her fears were being outweighed by the amount of issues she had been having. The major problem being the amount of pain she was feeling in the port that separated the flesh of her upper arm and the metal of the prosthetic. It was something she noticed after the train crash. When her arm port got too cold it would spike pain through the nerves that were still connected. The nerves that allowed her arm to move were also the same ones causing her pain.

Yang winced as the smell of heavy tobacco hit her nose. The shop itself was fairly stereotypical. Lathes, mills, mechanical forge hammers and many other specialty machines littered the workshop. The only interesting thing to note was the huge circular fireplace, wood crackled fiercely in the hearth and she subconsciously took a step closer to the heat source. A balding man with a massive graying beard was snoozing in a chair by the fire. A bottle of something was clutched over his massive gut. His cheeks were red and she could smell the booze from where she stood in the doorway. She did find it weird that his fingers were blue, a stark contrast against the white of his tanned skin.

Maria scowled as she walked over and made her displeasure known to the sleeping man. She took her cane and wrapped him on the forehead with the skull of her cane. The man, jostled from the impact, fell off of the chair he had been napping in with an angry shout. Angry orange eyes turned on Maria. "Blast ye she-devil! Don't ya know it be bad luck to be waking a man from his sleep?" The man's voice was gruff.

"You'll find out just how bad your luck is if you keep up that tone with me." Maria was waving a finger in the man's face in what seemed like a practiced motion. The shutters in her bug like eyes narrowed in contempt.

The man narrowed his own eyes at her but he seemed to be roaming over the old reapers prosthetic eyes now. After a few moments Yang saw his attention flick over to her arm with the same appraising look. Finally he stood on surprisingly sturdy legs. "Polendina's work?" he gestured at Maria's prosthetic.

The old huntress relaxed at his question. "You're familiar?" Maria asked in a sceptical voice. The man laughed uproariously, his belly shaking with mirth.

"Familiar? Him an' my brother an' me grew up together. The three of us have forgotten more about practical engineering than you'll ever know." the man grinned broadly, showing off crooked yellow teeth. "Name's Brok, by the way, an' this here's me shop." Maria and Yang introduced themselves. "Now, what can i do for you?"

"Well, I need my arm looked at." Yang said as she presented her prosthetic for him to look at. "And she needs her eyes checked out."

Brok stepped forward before grasping Yang's mechanical arm. Completely ignoring the gaping chunks of mutilated metal and instead started rotating it and testing its flexibility and range of motion in areas like the fingers and wrist. He popped her cannon out her wrist and back in again a few times before rolling up her sleeve and detaching the arm, earning a hiss of pain from Yang. Brok narrowed his eyes at this before setting the arm down checking the connection ports in her stump. "Stupid girl. Didn't no one explain shit to ya when you got this?" Brok grumbled as he walked over towards the hearth.

"Excuse me?" Yang swore at the man.

Brok stomped backover to Yang with what looked like a burlap sack in his hands. He pressed into Yang's connection port and told the blond woman to hold it there. "Well, there's good news and bad news. Good news is the damage is just cosmetic and it'll be a fairly easy fix. Bad news is that yer an idiot, I can't fix that." Yang looked ready to explode. "Now, I can fix yer arm but if yer gonna be here for any longer than a week then you'll need a winter overhaul. That's not really good news or bad news, More... financial news. Be a bit pricey but if ya don't do it you'll risk damaging the nerves in your arm."

"Why?" she asked, confused.

"Think of it like stickin' yer tongue to a cold piece of metal. Sept in this case the cold piece of metal is your socket and yer tongue is the nerves in your arm. Oh, an instead of a sticky cold it feels like someone stuck a red hot poker in yer arm." Yang winced at the description. "A winter overhaul should help. It's fairly simple, and shouldn't take too long. just putting silicone in the joints to keep a better seal, really. And I'll go ahead and put a heater in the socket so ya don't go freezing to death cause the metal in yer arm gave ya hypothermia. Any other modifications ya think ya might need?"

Yang looked down at the arm resting on the wooden workbench and frowned. Maybe she should get it modified. The metal was strong but Adam showed it could still be fairly fragile since she couldn't protect it with her aura like she could her other arm. "Do you think you could replicate it?"

Brok frowned in thought before shaking his head. "Not right now, no. 'm short the right components for something that complicated. Ever since we lost contact with Atlas we've had to order supplies from Mistral. It'd take months to find then order the right parts. No, the best I could do is light modification work and repair."

Yang nodded and stared at her prosthetic. She had the arm for months at this point but beyond painting it she never really had a good look at it like she had now. It really wasn't that different from her old arm size wise. Hesitantly she reached into the pocket of her leather pants. Even though she never used it she still kept Ember Celica's twin on her. She just never had the heart to throw it away. She always justified it as keeping a backup just in case. Also the arm was far harder to reload after use then her weapon. With this in mind she laid the gauntlet on the counter besides her arm. "Do you think you could remove the cannon from the arm and work this onto the outside?"

Brok looked giddy at the prospect as snatched up her weapon. Deploying it in his hands he began turning the gauntlet over to take in every little detail. The gleam in the man's eye reminded her of how Ruby used to look when her latest weapons magazine would come in. He chuckled before giving Yang a toothy grin. "It would be my genuine pleasure. After I replace the plates in your arm I'll take some measurements. Leave this with me and I'll see what I can do. Haven't had a job like this since Joan still worked here."

Yang jumped as she remembered the shield Jaune had given her and pulled it out and handed it to Brok. the engineer tensed as he grabbed the shield. "Jaune told me to show this to whoever owns the shops we visit. I wonder why he never told us he worked at a machine shop."

"Jaune? That gangly seed sop never worked here. He worked over at the blacksmith shop with my brother. His sister Joan was the one who worked here." Brok held up the shield in his blue fingers. "And ya said Jaune gave this to ya?" he crossed his arms over his chest before glaring at Yang and Maria. "Just who are ya that ya know Jaune but not Joan? Those twins are nearly glued at the hip."

Yang's eyes bugged out at the word twins. "I didn't know Jaune had a twin." Brok just popped his thumb at the wall to his right and Yang turned to stare at the picture that hung there. The blond brawler's mood soared as she absorbed every detail of the picture. There was Jaune, who looked far more noodly than she remembered, as he stared pleadingly at the camera. His head was squashed into the side of a tall girl who looked like she was having way too much fun keeping him in a headlock. They'd looked identical, right down to the baggie hoodie with a giant rabbit face on the front. The only difference between them was that Joan had long braided blond hair and was covered in oil smudges while Jaune was wearing a heavy leather smith's apron.

Jaune had never mentioned he was a twin. Jaune never mentioned he had a cute twin. Was it her birthday? Yang felt like it was her birthday.

---

The trip from Dale to the castle was relatively short. They had left Dale at around noon. Jaune was setting a decent pace as the bus roamed over well trodden earth. Actually having a road to travel on was far better than the old livestock paths that lead from the hanger. The cabin was bathed in a reddish glow from the evening sun as it sank lower in the sky. The occupants of the cabin were mostly quiet. Most of them had chosen to try and rest while Ruby and Nora were pressed against the glass windows watching the mountain scenery roll by. Weiss was sitting by Jaune in the passenger seat. The Heiress had taken to watching the road ahead, seemingly enjoying the quiet ride if the small smile she wore was any indication.

Jaune's stomach twisted the closer they got to the family castle. He didn't know why he was so nervous about seeing it again. He didn't even know why he kept calling it a cabin. He really didn't have any reason to keep it a secret but the idea of telling them was just… strange. He had told people in the past about it, old friends back in Ansel, they had never believed him though. They laughed him off, saying that he should pick something more believable next time he tried to lie to them. This made him apprehensive about telling people the full scope of his family legacy. Most just assuming the Arcs were just an old quirky family.

He could see it now. A small speck in the distance set into a huge mountainside, slowly growing larger as the bus continued steadily drawing near. He wondered who would be the first to see it. Which of his friends would be the first to point it out. Jaune's fingers began to drum nervously across the pale leather of the steering wheel. The apprehension in his chest twisting into painful little knots.

Surprisingly, or maybe unsurprisingly, it was Nora who spotted it first. The bomber bounded out of her seat and pressed herself against the windshield with a large grin on her face. "Is that it? Is that the cabin?" she shook Jaune's arm and pointed excitedly at the rapidly growing spec. His friends began to stir and groggily tried to peer around the ginger bomber. With the group's attention now thoroughly focused on the spec Jaune figured that now was probably a good time to come clean.

He didn't, but it was probably the right time.

"You grew up in a freaking castle!?" Ruby's voice echoed as she frantically shook the knight by his shoulders. Her and Nora were bouncing on their heals as they stared up at the massive structure. The rest of his friends were staring slack jawed as well. Maria looked unsurprised but was eyeing the castle with an approving stare. Qrow was shocked as well, not realising the full scope of the statement 'my family owns a castle.' his flask slipped from his fingers as he stared up at the massive iron gate that towered over them. He had been expecting something much smaller than this. Something closer to the old barracks that lined the borders of Vale.

The Arc family castle was a truly massive fortress. Three guard towers built into the perimeter walls. The main structure was three levels and resembled a large L in shape. A heavy blue sloping roof with two massive towers jutting out from both sides. Balconies and large windows littered the front of the structure. The whole fortress was built with its back fitted snugly against the side of a sheer cliff face. The stonework that made up the exterior of the castle was almost as white as the snow around it.

Weiss honestly didn't know what to think as she stared up at the looming castle. Jaune had told them all he was taking them to a cabin. This was not a cabin, this was the farthest thing from a cabin! At first she had thought it was a manor. He had asked about her own manor on the manta and that had brought with it a feeling of apprehension. But this? This had her mind grinding to a halt as she considered the implications. Was… was Jaune some kind of royalty? People just don't own a castle. Atlesian elites were some of the wealthiest people on Remnant but she knew for a fact none of them owned a castle, palace or anything like this. The only families she had ever met that owned something like that was the few times she had met a few lesser members of the Mistralian royal family.

"Ruby!" Jaune grabbed the little reaper by her wrists to stop her from trying to literally wring the answers out of him. "I didn't grow up here. I grew up in Ansel. We only spent a few months here a year, I swear!"

"Back up Vomit boy. You said this was a cabin." Yang was by her sister now, her hand pointing accusingly at Jaune and the other at the castle. "that is not a cabin!"

Jaune had his hands held placatingly in front of him as he backed away from his slowly advancing friends. He felt like he was surrounded by beowolves. One weakness and they would pounce. "It's kind of like a cabin." he desperately tried to think of something… anything that would get him out of this. "It has four walls, surrounded by nature and there's definitely wood in there… " he finished lamely.

"Jauney!" came the exasperated cry of Nora.

"Would you have believed me if i told you?" When in doubt, deflect. "And just how am i supposed to fit 'by the way my family has an ancestral castle' into casual conversation?" the narrowed eyes of his friends was probably the best indicator of just what they thought of his explanation.

"You didn't tell us you had a twin either." Yang crossed her arms and mockingly glared at him.

"Yeah!" Ruby pointed another accusingly adorable finger at him. "Wait, what?"

Yang pulled out her scroll and brought up the image of Jaune with his Twin sister Joan to show to the rest of her team. Nora looked ready to burst as she begged Yang to send her a copy. The pink bomber was practically bouncing as she drank in every detail. "Oh my gods, Jaune's the ugly twin!" This earned an indignant squawk from the knight and a sympathetic chuckle from Ren.

"Hey, I am not the ugly twin!"

Weiss stepped up next to Ruby to get a good look at the picture. While she refused to comment on the attractiveness of the blond knight she did have to admit seeing an equally noodly female version of him raised her spirits a bit.

Surprisingly it was Qrow who stepped in to calm the group of women down. "Alright, give the kid a break." he turned to Jaune and cocked his thumb at the castle. "You said it had a place to keep the relic right? So let's get inside before that thing attracts the Grimm." the old crow was right. They could interrogate him later after the big blue pain in the ass was safely locked away under a literal mountain.

---

Weiss didn't know what to expect upon entering the castle. She had wondered if it would be anything like her own manor back in Atlas. She was pleasantly surprised that, despite its almost oppressive looming presence on the outside, the inside felt warm and welcoming. She half expected the decore to be all whites and gold like the Jaune's family crest but she was proved wrong when they finally made it into what she assumed was the foyer. Where her own manor had been decorated like a frozen wasteland of icy blues and white, the castle was steeped in warm browns, greens, well worn and ancient looking furniture and paintings lined the walls. A far cry from the tacky and hollow feeling she had always experienced when visiting her father's business associates homes.

The foyer itself was a large square open room with paintings and suits of armor littering the walls. A large set of double doors sat off to her right with more smaller wooden doors leading off straight ahead. The door they had just come through, the one that led to the garage that she assumed had been a barn or a stable at one point judging from the stalls she had seen lining it's walls. It was still freezing, though Jaune had said that, that would change in a few hours once the heaters had warmed up and started to pump hot air throughout the massive structure.

"I just need to grab one more thing before we head to the vault." Jaune said as he walked towards the set of wooden double doors. They followed and he pushed them open. The sight beyond them caused her to gasp. The room he had led them into was sight to behold. A massive rectangular room that was lined with paintings, busts and a collection of ancient looking weapons. For every painting or bust a weapon sat just below it. The paintings looked to be oil, every frame containing shocks of blond hair, blue eyes and many faces both male and female that looked shockingly similar to the man that had led them there. A red carpet ran down the middle of the room that led to several steps up to an elevated platform. There, standing guard over the room like silent sentinels were two of what Weiss could only describe as thrones. Two massive marble chairs that were adorned with gold trim and the Arc crest inlaid in stark relief against the white of the marble. A large crack split the larger of the two thrones. It started from a hole a few feet below the crest. About chest height if she had to guess.

"Jaune?" Weiss stepped up to the knight before grabbing him by the arm and forcing him to turn to the rest of their friends. His head cocking to the side with a questioning stare. "Are these all…" she gestured around them with a silent question.

The gears in Jaune's head seemed to turn as he took in the myriad of shocked faces of his friends. "Oh." he said as he rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, so you remember how i used to talk about the Arc legacy?" Weiss, as well as the rest of them, nodded. "Well, this is it. Every picture you see is an Arc. the weapons they used and the time of their births, deaths, husbands, wives, pretty much their whole lives."

"I remember you saying that you came from an old family but… i don't even know where to begin…" Ren's calm tone echoed around the room.

"Just how old is your family?" Ruby asked from where she had wandered over to gush over a great axe that hung below a full sized painting of a man that could be an older bearded Jaune if he put on a few hundred pounds of muscle.

The knight shrugged. "Eight hundred years, give or take a few decades." Nora bounded up to him and began to point excitedly at the thrones at the end of the room, an eager smile splitting her face. He rolled his eyes at her antics. "Yes Nora, you can sit on the throne." he said flatly.

The mad bomber wasted no time before bounding over to the throne and stood in front of it. She stilled, smoothed out her pink skirt before regally, or what she assumed was regally, seating herself in the smaller of the two thrones. A look of satisfaction crossing her face as she smiled down at them. "Ren?" Nora finally said in a quiet voice. "I'm Queen of the castle!" she bellowed/sang, her voice echoing across the hall.

Ren chuckled as he stepped up to Jaune and put a hand on his leader's shoulder, an easy smile turning the corners of his lips. "I think you just made Nora's year. Thank you, my friend." the green ninja made his way towards his long time friend who was currently laughing wildly from her perch. Jaune smiled at them, a part of him glad he could make the bubbly bomber as happy as she was in that moment.

Weiss was a little overwhelmed by what she was hearing. Her own family only dated back a few decades before the great war and that made many people consider them an old family since records from before that time were few and far between. But this? This was something else, something she couldn't quite find a proper name for. Jaune's family dated back almost a millennium. There was little doubt that he was royalty if the thrones were anything to go by. She vaguely wondered if Dr. Oobleck would have a heart attack if the green haired man set foot in this room. The amount of history that bleed from every corner was enough to peak her own curiosity. She had little doubt that there was a library somewhere in this place and a part of her desperately hoped there were records there she could peruse like she used to do with her great grandfather's journals back at Shnee manor.

"You said you needed to grab something, right?" Weiss asked from where she stood beside Jaune. "What was it?"

Her question snapped Jaune from his daze where he had been happily watching his teammates talk animatedly over the throne. "Oh, right." he said as he stepped over to two marble pedestals that stood besides the thrones. Resting on top of the pedestals were two golden signet rings. Simple band of gold with the Arc crest embossed on a flat surface that took the shape of a shield. The larger of the two rings seemed rather plain looking next to the smaller one which had a large finely cut sapphire embedded into its center. Weiss thought they looked gorgeous and desperately wanted to place on her own finger just to see what it would look like.

She was a bit surprised when Jaune plucked the ring from where it had been resting on top of the plinth and slipped off his glove before putting it on his right index finger. He held it up and inspected it for a moment before turning to Weiss. "So, how does it look?" he asked her.

"It looks very… natural on your finger." she didn't really know what to say. The ring did seem to fit the blond perfectly but she supposed it was his family ring. He nodded with a small smile gracing his lips.

"Thanks." Jaune ran his thumb over the ring as if to wipe off some invisible smudge before turning and heading towards the door with Weiss and their friends trailing after him. They made their way through a small maze of corridors. The cold still permeated the home, the cool air wafting from the vents almost creating a slight breeze with how long some of the hallways were. Eventually they arrived at another set of double doors. Just like before Jaune threw open the doors with a casual ease.

A giddy shiver ran up Weiss's spine as she took in the room. Her prayers seemingly being answered as she took in perhaps the coziest looking library she had ever seen. Fanning out in a semicircle from the door were dozens of bookcases stacked to the brim with ancient looking tomes. Down the middle of the room directly across from the door were a series of old comfortable looking couches and chairs with a large round wooden coffee table which sat in front of an ornately decorated marble fireplace. All of it sat atop a thick forest green carpet. From somewhere to Weiss's left she heard a soft distinctly feline squeal from her cat eared friend and she couldn't help agreeing with her assessment.

Jaune stopped in the middle of the room before turning to face them. "Look, it's gonna be really cold in the vault. If you want you can wait up here and get a fire started to warm up a bit. Those heaters are gonna take a while to kick on and we don't all need to go down." In truth Jaune hoped at least some of them would agree. For some reason taking all of them into the vault felt oddly personal considering it was his family's private business and all. He was relieved when Blake was the first to volunteer, that meant Yang wouldn't come either. He could tell his fellow blond was disappointed but she begrudgingly agreed with her partner. Maria was next, waving him off and muttering about her 'old bones needing heat.' Ren and Nora agreed to remain behind as well. He couldn't say he was disappointed, he trusted his team and would have gladly taken them but Ren just smiled and dragged Nora towards the fireplace. Oscar ducked out as well, stating in no uncertain terms that he wanted nothing to do with the relic for the time being.

That left Weiss, Ruby and Qrow. Ruby stepped up almost immediately. She was bound and determined to see the damn thing hidden, he knew that already since it was still clipped to her waist. When he looked at Weiss she just crossed her arms at him, as if she was daring him to object to her presence. He didn't but it made the knight chuckle. He was plain unsurprised at Qrow not backing down. The man probably wanted to wash his hands of the whole mess but Jaune suspected he was just here out of obligation to Ruby more than anything else.

"So." Yang said from the fireplace where she had started to build a small fire out of the wood that sat next to the fireplace. "Where is this vault anyway, you gotta pull a secret lever to open it or something?" Jaune awkwardly let out a small cough as he rubbed the back of his head. The grin that bloomed across the brawlers face was almost painful. "No, no way! Is there really?"

All eyes were on the knight as he stepped over to the fireplace and ran his hand down the side. He paused a quarter of the way down and everyone heard a small click. The bookshelf next to the fireplace gave a small hiss as it slid forward and swung outward with a groan of protesting hinges. Behind it was an opening to a staircase that spiraled down into darkness. Besides the opening was a fuse box that Jaune opened and flipped the breakers. Light erupted from the darkness accompanied by the gentle hum of electricity.

Ren walked forward and peered down the stairs before laying a hand on Jaune's shoulder. "Jaune, i think we all need to have a serious discussion about cliches at some point."

"I wasn't even alive when this was built!" he threw his hands in the air with an exasperated huff. "How is this my fault?"

Ruby bounded up to his other side and stared up at him with mirth dancing through her silver eyes. "You have to admit they had style though. Any other secret passages we should know about?"

Jaune sighed in defeat before giving Ruby a goofy smile. "A few, you should be more worried about the ghosts. They're harmless… mostly."

Nora giggled from where she had slumped on one of the couches. "There aren't really any ghosts. Right, fearless leader?" Jaune just smirked at her and began his trek down the spiral stairs with Weiss and Ruby in toe. "Fearless leader?" she called after him. No answer. "Jaune?" she sounded a little worried now. "Jaune!"

Weiss lightly smacked Jaune on the shoulder. "That was mean." the smile on her face betrayed her true feelings. Her heart fluttering lightly when he grinned back at her. For a moment the old Jaune had peeked through in that smile. She would never admit this to anyone but she missed the way he used to grin at her.

The walk down the stairs took longer than Jaune remembered. He had only been down here a few times with his Father and Grandfather. The last time he had been down here was when he was sixteen and his father had wanted to show him how to properly open the actual vault.

Soon enough they came to the bottom of the stairs and were greeted by a large medieval looking metal door. It had no door knob or handle of kind. There wasn't even a lock that Weiss could see from where she was standing. Just a smooth metal surface with a few indentations and metal bands that ran across its surface. Jaune was apparently unfazed by this as he stepped up and pushed his fist into one of the indentations. It took Weiss a second to realize he had stuck his ring into it. He twisted his fist and she could hear a symphony of pins and tumblers begin to fall into place before the door swung back with an ominous groan.

"You know." Qrow started. "I've seen some crazy shit in my time kid, but that? That was just creepy." he said before taking a drag from his broken flask only to find it empty.

Well, at least they could agree on one thing that day.

Weiss felt her jaw drop as they entered the cavernous room that lay beyond the door. This must have been a treasury of some kind because from one wall to the next were rows upon rows of dark wooden display cases that housed a glittering assortment of gold and jewels. Some of the jewelry alone would have had the Atlesian elite frothing at the mouth. Set against the back wall was an ornately carved door that looked like a knight standing guard. Along the walls were ancient looking statues. The statues looked to be carved from a variety of materials from common stone to worn looking marble. She recognized some of the statues as figures from myths, and fairy tales. As well as the various gods and goddesses from Mistralian and Vacuan legends.

Her own family was widely considered the wealthiest on remnant and even they didn't have anything that would even approach this level of opulence. Some of the pieces looked priceless, which they probably were. Her own eyes were drawn to a small silver pendant with three teardrop shaped sapphires hanging from it's silver rings.

Ruby and Qrow were just as floored as Weiss if they're own shocked expressions were anything to go by. "Did your family slay a dragon or something? This is… this is… i don't even know what this is!" The reaper's hands were gesturing wildly at the hoard as she bounced in her heels in front of Jaune. Weiss knew Jaune had always leaned into the knight in shining armor look and she always figured it was just Jaune being Jaune. Now her friend's choice of weapon and armor made a bit more sense to her. She also wondered if maybe someone in his family really might have slain a dragon. It would certainly explain the literal vault full treasure they were currently standing in.

"No dragons, Ruby, I swear." he walked over to the necklace Weiss had been less than subtly eyeing and picked it before looking at a small metal plaque that was nailed into the front. "This was… my great, something, grandmother's dowry." he squinted at the name written in elegant cursive. "Crystal Arc, formerly Crystal Rivers. That's what most of the stuff in here is. We Arks have always been a large family. My Great Aunt Rouge had twelve kids and each of them had at least four or five a piece. I'm actually related to most of Dale in one way or another. The rest is just odds and ends we picked up over the years or made by one of my ancestors."

"So what about you, kid, Planning on having a gaggle of brats yourself one of these days?" Qrow snatched up a gold ring and was running it between his fingers.

Weiss watched as the smile that had been on Jaune's face as he talked about his family slowly dropped away. A small ball of lead dropped into her stomach at the clouded look that overcame his features as he stared at Qrow. "let's just get this over with for now." even Ruby must have noticed the change in her friend as well because she kept shooting Weiss worrying glances. Jaune handed the necklace to Weiss before making his way over to the knight that stood guard in front of the door.

"You said that you had the only key, right? So where is it, Some kind of password or something, you know, 'speak friend and enter' type deal?" Qrow asked. Jaune just rolled his eyes. This wasn't some magical door to the damn underworld.

"It's right here." he said as he drew Crocea Mors from its sheath.

"Wait, you had that blacksmith alter your weapon back in Anima. Will it still work?" Jaune just blinked at Ruby's worried tone, his eyebrows knotting in confusion.

"What are you talking about? I just had the shield upgraded a bit." Jaune glanced down at his shield still in its collapsed form. "Crocea Mors is just the sword. The shield is just a shield, Ruby." Jaune flipped his sword into a reverse grip and sheathed it into the empty scabbard of the knight before twisting it and pushing the whole door backwards. The floor directly behind Jaune began to rumble before it split to reveal another steeply sloping staircase. He stood in front of the stairs and faced them with apprehension clearly displayed on his face. "I'm sorry, but you guys aren't allowed past here."

Ruby rested her hand protectively on the relic. "Why not? I mean, we're already down here."

Jaune grimaced and glanced behind him. "This is the entrance to the crypt of the lost Arcs. I didn't mind bringing you down here because none of this stuff really matters." he gestured at the room off handedly. "But this is different. This is kinda… sacred to my family. The only reason I know about it is because I'm the next head of the family." he let out a long heavy sigh. "I know this is hard to understand Ruby, but I need you to respect this. This is important to me."

Ruby and Qrow shared a look as if trying to have a silent conversation. A tense silence surrounded them as they stared each other down. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, it was Weiss who made the first move. She stood in front of Ruby and held out her hand. "Weiss?" Ruby asked, hesitantly,

"It'll be ok Ruby. Jaune's never given us a reason to not trust him and I doubt he ever will." gently the ex-heiress pried the relic from her partner's hands. Qrow made no move to stop her as she handed the relic over to their blond friend. Jaune gave Weiss a small grateful smile before he turned and made his way down the dark steps. The floor sealing up behind him.

The overwhelming silence returned to the group as they stood awkwardly around the vault. Ruby was fidgeting with her cloak as she fixed her silver eyes on the floor where Jaune had been standing moments before. Qrow had suddenly found the coin he had been playing with far more interesting than anything else in the vault.

"So what do you think about all this?" Ruby turned towards her partner and asked.

"About what, Ruby?" Weiss had been inspecting a golden bracelet that had caught her eye. She set it down and turned towards the reaper.

"This!" she waved her hand by her head. "This place... Jaune... everything!" the little reaper huffed and sat down on one the many displays. "I'm not the only one who thinks this is weird, right? I mean, why didn't he tell us about this? Did he think we'd treat him differently or something?"

Qrow just shrugged. "It's like the kid said. How do you tell people about all this without sounding crazy? He told me about it back on the manta and I didn't believe him. I thought it was gonna be like a big vacation house with a huge safe. Not some crazy underground vault like back at Beacon."

"But Weiss brought up stuff like this all the time." Ruby shot back at her uncle. "And we believed her."

Weiss palmed her head in annoyance. "This is different Ruby. " Ruby went quiet again. "Besides, it wouldn't have made much of a difference even if we had known."

Ruby frowned but she eventually conceded the point. "I guess not. I'm just…" she looked down, her bangs covering her silver eyes. "a little tired of people keeping secrets" Guilt gnawed at Weiss at her best friend's words. Her hand drifted down to cover where she had been impaled. She had her own secrets she was keeping.

Qrow stepped up besides the little reaper and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "We all are kiddo."

---

Jaune was shrouded in darkness as the entrance to the crypt closed behind him. Slowly a blue glow bathed the passageway as the dust crystals embedded in the ceiling began to hum with power. For a long moment he stood motionless in the glow, the weight of the relic in his hand bore down on him. The relic of knowledge, any question he could dream of and it would have the answer. All he had to do was say it's name and ask… the temptation was crushing but for the life of him he couldn't think of a single thing that he wanted to ask. Well, maybe that wasn't exactly true. He had a million things he wanted to know. But the truth was that all of those questions would only bring more pain. Or at least, the ones that mattered would.

As he made his way down the passage the stone work slowly started to turn cavernous the farther he retreated into the mountain. The smooth floor and walls became rocky and uneven. The dust crystals set meticulously into the ceiling became more and more sporadic, looking less set and more grown into the walls.

Jaune stopped when he came to a row of shelves that were carved into the wall. Resting on each shelf was a weapon, shattered or broken in cerimonial fashion. What he had told Ruby was true. Though they were kept secure in the vault above the jewelry and gold were merely trinkets his family had secured throughout the years and held little, if any, true value to the family. No, these were the true treasures of the Arc line. The weapons of those that had fallen in battle. The weapons of friends and companions that had sacrificed everything so that others could live. The family portraits in the throne room were simply the Arcs that had survived into old age and died, fat and content. It spoke volumes that the throne room only contained a few dozen portraits for a family renowned to have so many children with each generation.

He couldn't help but to look at every shelf he passed. Hundreds of weapons laid interred in this tomb. The true legacy of bloodshed and lost lives. There were no plaques of gold or intricate cursive. Just a name chiseled into stone and old weapons left to rust while the bodies were interred behind them. But they were more precious than all the gold and silver on remnant to Jaune. He remembered when his father had first showed him this place. How he had led him down here and how the man had talked about their history and the scars the family had inadvertently left on all of Remnant. He remembered how his father had had such... contempt in his voice. So different from its normally soft tones.

Back then, he didn't understand why his father had always seemed so adamant that Jaune not follow in his family's footsteps. He had taken Jaune down to the crypt specifically to try and imprint upon him why he should reject his heritage. Why he should give up on being a huntsmen like so many of his family before him. The man had even gone so far as to forbid his grandfather to train him in his youth. Jaune still remembered standing outside his father's study as he and his grandfather shouted at each other. It was one of his worst memories as a child. Sure, he still loved his father dearly, but he never forgave him for that. If anything that day had only strengthened his resolve.

He understood now why his father had been so determined that he give up his dream. The harsh realities of the life of a huntsmen had crashed into him when Beacon fell. When he had called his family after the fall his father had sounded so relieved to hear his voice. Jaune had a long talk with his father that day. Everything they had come to a head in that conversation. He had even thought about taking Ren and Nora to Ansel. Unfortunately, that got thrown out the window when his father had tried to get him to leave them and return home alone.

He hadn't spoken to the man since.

Finally, after walking for what felt like an hour, Jaune reached the last chamber of the crypt. A large circular cavern that rose for countless feet above him. Hundreds of broken weapons placed on hewed stone shelves that rose all the way up to the large glowing dust crystal in the caverns roof. In the center of the chamber a large stone sarcophagus stood on a raised platform. On its surface was a carving of a man laid on his back. Regal clothing and a crown were carved in breathtaking detail. The only strange thing was that the carving's face looked like it had been worn away by the elements long ago. It was a stark contrast to the detail of the rest of the lid. In the carving's grip was the handle of a broken long sword. The rest of the pieces either missing or placed where they would be if the blade was whole. This was the first Arc. A man who's true name had been lost to the sands of history but who's remains guarded the family's most loved lost souls.

It had been here, in this chamber, where Jaune had cemented his dreams of becoming a huntsman. Where his father's attempt at dissuading him had backfired so spectacularly. When he stood here he didn't feel the shame and disgust his father felt. Jaune felt the calling that so many of his ancestors had felt before him. The call to defend those that couldn't defend themselves. To serve a purpose greater than himself. He felt that same feeling, though now it was much different than the desire to be a hero he had felt back then. Now it was simply the desire to protect those dear to him.

Jaune took a deep breath, slowly letting it out he made his way over the massive coffin. Taking the relic he let it drift from his hand and watched as it settled over the hands of the carving. He would be back soon, he knew that. He had already decided to place the remains of Pyrrha's weapons in the crypt. It was a decision he had made almost two years ago when he had broken down Akouo and Milo for metal to use in his shield and armor. As far as he was concerned Pyrrha had been family and with her sacrifice she deserved to be here as much as any member of his family.

Jaune felt the weight on his shoulders lift just a little as he left.

With the relic secured, or at least as secured as it was going to be without some magic door to hide it behind, Jaune made his way back to the main vault. He was surprised to see Weiss, Ruby and Qrow waiting for him. He was lucky he came back when he did. He walked in to see Ruby wielding the broken leg of a display like a battle axe as she threatened to beat her uncle senseless as the man used Weiss as a human shield. Apparently Qrow had taken to flipping a gold coin he had found to pass the time. Something about the sound setting the reaper off. His awkward cough had made the three freeze like deer in headlights and Ruby to drop the improvised club on Qrow's foot, which caused Qrow to fall backwards into another display case whose contents were scattered across the room.

With a small laugh and a heavy sigh he walked past the dynamic trio and retrieved his sword from the statue. He sheathed it and made his way out of the vault and patiently waited by the door to lock it after Weiss, Ruby and Qrow followed with a guilty expression on their faces. He didn't miss it when Qrow attempted to subtly pocket the coin but for the life of him he couldn't find it within himself to care about some old gold junk.

The walk back to the library was blessedly short. He was thankful to Blake and Yang that they were able to get a fire going in the hearth and the room was comfortably warm. Most of the group was curled up on the various couches and chairs that surrounded the fireplace. They had even gone so far as to find quilts and blankets that Ren told him they nabbed from a nearby linen closet that Maria had found. Jaune gratefully accepted a spare quilt from Nora as he flopped down in his favorite high backed chair which sat directly to the right of the fireplace and was turned just slightly to face the rest of the couches.

"Is it done?" Maria asked. Jaune nodded and then leaned his head back on the chair and closed his eyes.

"Good." Yang piped up from where she had been cuddled up with Blake. "One less thing to worry about."

Silence descended on the group with the only sound being the gentle crackle of the fire in the hearth. Exhaustion was quickly catching up with them between the warmth of the fire and the day they spent crammed in the bus, there were a lot of dropping eyes amongst them.

"So…" Ruby spoke up from where she and Weiss had settled across from Nora and Ren. "is anyone gonna talk about the goliath in the room?"

Jaune sighed, he felt like he had been doing that a lot lately, and rubbed his temples. "Ruby, I swear if this is about the castle…" he trailed off but refused to look at the little reaper.

"She's just curious, Jaune." Yang came to her sister's defense. "We all are."

"What's there to say?" he shot back. "At the end of the day it's just a really big, really old house."

"It is not!" Nora cut in. "it's a freaking castle!"

"So?" Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose. "Weiss lived in a mansion. How is this any different?"

"Well, to be fair, she was an heiress. What does that make you?" Blake said.

"A prince?" Jaune sent a weak glare at Nora.

"What do you want from me?" Jaune crossed his arms over his chest. "A freaking lecture?"

Maria chuckled. "I think i might enjoy that, actually."

Jaune rolled his eyes before gesturing to the book shelves to his left. "You want a family history, there it is." he deadpanned. "Enjoy." he was surprised when Maria hopped up from the couch and waddled her way over to the bookshelf, humming to herself as she went.

"But you are a prince, right?" Yang had an evil grin on her face.

"He didn't deny it." Blake egged her partner on.

Jaune refocused his glare on them. "Keep this up and i won't tell you where Saph hid her special literature." he smirked when Blake's ears twitched. Got you. "And i'm not a prince." he added for good measure.

"I wasn't talking about the castle…" several sets of eyes turned to stare at the little reaper as she spoke up. "I was talking about what we should do next."

Jaune felt a ball of unease drop into his stomach when they all looked back at him expectantly. "Well?" Yang said. "What's the plan, Vomit-boy?"

Jaune's hand began tapping nervously against the leather of his chair. Finally he threw his hands up in defeat. "I don't have a plan, Yang. No, actually, this is the plan." he gestured wildly around him. "This is it. This is all I have." he slumped further back against his chair. "I got nothin'."

"Hiding, then. That's our plan?" Ren's calm voice cut across the room.

Jaune scoffed. "If we wanted to hide we could have just gone back to Haven or, hell, even Vacuo wouldn't have been a bad choice. No this isn't about hiding. It's about survival at this point." he tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice and failed miserably.

"What do you mean?" he stared dumbfounded at Ruby. she… she couldn't be that naive, could she?

"What do i… Ruby, you can't be serious, right?" he sighed and rubbed his temple with his right hand. He loved the girl to death but this was getting ridiculous. "The whole reason we needed to get to Atlas was to, essentially, put as many defenses between Salem and the relic as possible." Jaune's voice was starting to rise as his tangent started. "And that plan went up in smoke back at Argus. Now, all there is between Salem and the relic is… us. Seven people who barely qualify as huntsmen, an old woman, a drunk and a literal mountain. That's it. No back up, no Atlas military, no… anything!" Weiss jumped as Jaune stood and slammed his fist into his chair knocking it over with a loud bang. She felt worry grip her chest as he started to pace in front of the fire.

"I'm not the only one who thinks this is crazy, right? Chasing that bitch halfway across Remnant to stop her from blowing up another huntsmen academy was one thing, but this? You have to admit this is insane." Jaune stopped and turned to face the worried faces of his friends. "I mean, we just put ourselves in the cross hairs of a millennia old pissing match between our immortal wizard headmaster and his queen of the grimm ex-wife!" he knew he was yelling now, but he didn't care. "And who did we learn this from? Not from Ozpin… or Ozma… or whatever the hell his real name is! Who, bye the way, reincarnated into the body of a fourteen year old farm boy. No, we learned all this from a literal genie in a bottle!" Oscar seemed to curl in on himself as he spit those last few words. Jaune's fingers cracked and shook as he clenched them into fists at his sides.

The room was deathly silent until finally the knight spoke again. "The worst part…" his voice broke slightly as he took a breath to steady himself. "The worst part is that all of this has happened before. Ozpin said it himself. Lionheart wasn't the first person to betray him. He was just the latest one. So what does that say about the rest of us? How many of us have there been before? How many pawns has he had over the last few thousand years? My family's older than the kingdoms so am I even the first Arc? Ruby was dragged into this because of her eyes just like her mom. Are Qrow and Raven even the first people he's turned into fucking Birds? Was Pyrrha..." Jaune swallowed hard as he thought about his partner's death. How, with everything that had happened and everything they had learned, her death felt meaningless and hollow. Just how many Pyrrha's had there been… how many people had pointlessly thrown away their lives to propagate a war that no one knew about. How many families like Ruby's had been torn apart because of Ozpin's failure?

His eyes landed on Oscars withdrawn form and he felt his blood begin to pound in his ears. "And the one person who has all the answers is hiding behind the body of a child, like a coward!" it was Argus all over again as he stalked towards Oscar. The boy's eyes went wide in panic as he scrambled off the couch and back towards the far wall. Qrow stepped between the advancing knight with his hand on his weapon and his face set into a grim line.

"Jaune!" Weiss stood between the pair as Yang and Blake jumped up from their spots on the couch. "Look at me." her voice was calm as she put her hands on both sides of his face and forced him to focus solely on herself. She looked… afraid. "You need to calm down." she said in a soothing tone. Her right hand slowly moving from his face to grasp his wrist. He looked down when he realized she had latched on to his right wrist. His hand was wrapped around the hilt of a partially drawn Crocea Mors. Had he really been about to attack Oscar?

Weiss felt Jaune go slack as his hand dropped to his side. His whole body seemed to deflate as he whispered an apology to Oscar. His face was twisted with regret as he moved out of her grasp. Her own hands clasped over her stomach as she stared worriedly at his back. She'd only seen Jaune this angry once before, back in Argus. She had failed to stop him back then from going after Oscar. She hoped this wasn't going to become a recurring thing between the two of them.

Yang stepped up to her fellow blond, shoving him back she glared at him. "What's your damage?"

Jaune narrowed his eyes at the brawler. "Look, i'm sorry alright. Just drop it." he turned his back on her and reached down to upright the chair he had knocked over.

Yang's eyes flashed red as she grabbed his shoulder and spun him back around to face them. "No!" she exploded. "You've been acting like a jerk towards Oscar even before Argus. What's your problem with him?"

"Drop. it." he growled between clenched teeth, returning her glare with one of his own.

Ren stood and tried to get in between the two. "That's enough! Fighting amongst ourselves won't solve anything." he placed his hands on both of their chests and tried to push them away from each other. Unfortunately for Ren, it was like trying to move two incredibly angry mountains and neither seemed to budge despite his best efforts.

"But she's right, Ren." Ruby said. "It's unfair to Oscar. He didn't ask to get involved with this. He didn't have a choice."

"So what the hell's your problem?" Yang pushed further. "What did Oscar do that pissed you off so much that you'd just attack him?"

"Nothing!" Jaune snapped. "He didn't do anything. It's not him that I'm angry at." he pushed forward until he was almost nose to nose with Yang. "you want to know why i'm so angry? Fine! It's because every time I look at Oscar all I can see is that bastard!" he bellowed in her face. "All I see is the reason that Pyrrha's dead! All I see is the reason my team nearly fractured into a million pieces! The reason Nora would cry herself to sleep for months! The reason Blake ran and Weiss was trapped in that hell hole! The reason you lost your arm! The reason Ruby was unconscious for two weeks!" his voice rose with every word and Yang flinched like she had been slapped. "I've tried, Yang." Jaune's voice broke and came out as a horse whisper. "I've tried to get past this and just see him for Oscar but I can't. Every time I look at him I just see Ozpin… and I hate Ozpin for what he did…" the knight's legs buckled as he fell back into his chair. His breathing was erratic, like he had just run a marathon. The anguish was written across his face plain as day.

Weiss was taken aback by the venom in Jaune's voice as he made his declaration. She honestly didn't believe Jaune was capable of that level of malice for anyone besides Cinder. To hear the words fall from her normally goofy friend was… disturbing. The rest of her team had similar looks of shock on their faces. The only ones who weren't shocked were Ren and Nora. if anything they didn't look surprised by his words. Did… did they know how Jaune felt about Ozpin? It made sense, they were his team after all.

"But… but Cinder…" Ruby tried weakly but stopped when Maria laid a hand on her shoulder.

The old huntress stepped into the middle of the room and turned to address them in her best calming grandmotherly tone. "I believe we should put a pin in this discussion until we've all had a chance to calm down. It's been a long few days for us all and I think some rest would do us all a world of good." she turned to Jaune. "I assume there's bedrooms for us all to stay in?" he nodded mutley. "Good."

Jaune stood and pulled the grate down over the fire so it could burn out without setting the library ablaze. Grabbing his pack from where he'd thrown it he made his way past them towards the door. "Jaune, I…" Yang tried to say something as he passed her but he ignored it. He led them down a short hall and up a spiral staircase to a landing with seven doors that lead down a long hallway with a set of large oak double doors at the end and another staircase that lead up next the one they came from.

"There should be sheets and blankets in the closets." he told them. "The room at the end's my parents' room and the rest are my sisters'" he turned and made his way towards the second staircase. "If you need me i'll be right up the stairs."

"Wait!" he paused when Ruby grabbed his arm with a worried look in her eyes. "Where are you going?" He gave her a weak smile.

He really did appreciate how worried she was for him but he felt like he needed to distance himself from the main group for a bit. He glanced at his team. Nora looked ready to grab him as well and Ren just gave him a small understanding nod. "It's alright Ruby. I was going to stay in my grandparents' bedroom. I won't be far." he reached out and patted her head. A motion he used to do to reassure his younger sisters.

Jaune turned and made his way up the stairs. He opened the door to the room and flipped on the lights. The room was large and rectangular with four large rectangular windows along the right wall. The windows gave an impressive view of the surrounding mountains, forests and even in the darkness you could still make out a small lake that sat serenely off in the distance. A large oak desk sat in front of the windows, an ornate lamp and computer on its surface. To his left was another fireplace with a green couch that sat in front of it. The couch was flanked by two high back leather chairs. Two bookshelves were built into the wall on either side of the fireplace and were stacked to bursting with old tomes. Along the back wall was a king sized mattress that sat on an oak bed frame. To its left was a massive walk-in closet with an armor and weapon stand that sat by the entrance.

Jaune closed the door and leaned his head against it with a weary sigh. "Great job Jaune." he said to himself. "Yelling at your friends like that, what the hell were you thinking?" he felt bad about yelling at Yang like that, but the woman really needed to learn when to leave well enough alone. He also felt disgusted with how he treated Oscar. It had been a sore spot for him ever since the kid had shown up all those weeks ago. Ever since team RWBY had been reunited they had been treating Oscar as an unofficial member of JNPR. Ruby even jokingly calling them team ORNJ with the kid as his new partner. He scowled at that thought. Oscar wasn't his partner, he never would be. His partner died two years ago and just up and replacing her was an insult to Pyrrha's memory. No, he didn't have a partner now and that was the way it would stay.

Jaune turned and walked deeper into his new room. He threw his father's cloak on the couch as he passed and made his way over to the armor stand and began to loosen the straps that held his armor in place before slipping them onto the stand. He rested Crocea Mors on the two prongs of the weapon stand before changing out of his hoodie, tossing it aside. Leaving him in his white undershirt and jeans. He grabbed some sheets from the closet and made the bed, throwing a heavy comforter and quilt on top.

He had just reached down to undo his shoelaces when there was a knock at the door. He had only been up here about twenty minutes and he doubted they would need something in that time. He hoped it wasn't Yang, Jaune didn't think he could deal with the brawler right now. It could be Ren or Nora wanting to talk, not that he felt up for that either. When he opened the door it was the last person he expected to darken his doorstep. Qrow Branwen stood slouched outside his room with a contemplative look on his face. "What do you want Qrow?" he said with no small amount of exasperation in his voice.

The old man took a deep breath before placing a heavy hand on his shoulder. "You and I need to have a chat kid. Especially since you look like I need a drink." he gestured over his shoulder with his head. "I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess there's a bar here somewhere."

Jaune leveled a glare at the old crow. As much as he hated to admit it, a drink sounded great right about now. He sighed and moved past the old man and down the stairs. If he was gonna drink he wasn't going to touch that swill Qrow called liquor. Fortunately for Qrow, Jaune's grandfather had excellent taste when it came to alcohol and kept a fully stocked bar in the smoking lounge. Now he just had to remember which one...

---

A/N

I don't really have much to put here. I can't really say when the next chapter will be out. What i can tell you is that this originally started out as a christmas oneshot for a friend. That one shot still exists but i'm holding onto it for a few months. Anyway, I couldn't find a beta so hopefully it didn't get to preachy at the end. I always thought there should be far more conflict between Jaune and Ozpin/Oscar so I hope I can do that little plot thread justice. I'm fairly new to this Fandom so if you have questions or just want to talk feel free to PM me.

Edit 1: do not drink and write kiddos. I just had to go back and replace all the Arks… with Arc. because i am a dumbass and you should not be like me.

Edit 2: so... apparently the line breaks in google docs don't translate well to FFN. wonderful news.