Christmas Notice:

I am going to be taking two weeks off this year starting from Monday 20th December (Next Week) and returning to writing on Monday 3rd January. I normally only take a single week off, but I've been feeling that the quality of my writing has deteriorated somewhat in the last few months and I want to take the time to address why, read through my works, read some actual books for a change and basically rejuvenate myself before coming back stronger than ever.

Thanks for understanding. Merry Christmas to all while I'm not uploading!

Cover Art: Curbizzle

Chapter 45

With the dust having changed hands and Miltia recovering from her broken arm, it was agreed upon by all that they should stay the hell away from gang affairs for a few days. Let the dust settle as it were. Even Bon-Hwa seemed to agree as he'd requested any future meetings between them take place after two days' passing. That was something they were only too happy to grant him.

So it was that Jaune found himself spending the day in the city, relaxing at a pub with a glass of amaretto in one hand and half a burger in the other. It was a weekday, so inviting Dove out wasn't on the cards. He wasn't sure he would have anyway. Dove was far too perceptive and would have wanted to know where all the bruises came from. He wasn't the only one, and Jaune picked a spot away from Qrow's usual haunts for much the same reason. Qrow liked his dive bars, his quiet spots, while this was a big chain in the middle of a busy high street. Not so packed at two in the afternoon on a Thursday, but still far enough out of Qrow's comfort zone to avoid him.

The rhythmic click of billiard balls connecting echoed with the muttered chatter of the TV, set to a level too low to be heard by anyone not at the bar. In the corner, a one-armed bandit jingled and jangled with an obnoxiously peppy tune as a drunk chased his lost money in the wheels. The air was thick with smoke, and even if he'd never seen the point of picking up such a bad habit there was something comfortable about the smell. Welcoming.

Tipping back the dregs of his amaretto, he let the crystalline glass clink down on the woodwork tellingly. The single overworked woman, a student by her age, behind the bar acknowledged him with a glance before taking someone's current order down. She looked tired and annoyed, neither of which were conductive to the job. Our service is better, Jaune thought, then dismissed such pointless thoughts.

"What can I get ya?"

"Double amaretto with ice."

"You want anything with it? Cola? Orange?"

Sebastian would have thrown up at such a suggestion and Jaune almost had the same reaction. This was what you got for coming to a national chain and not a bar where the people working there new their drink. "On its own, thank you." He slid enough lien and then some over the table. "Keep the rest."

A smile, a snatch of her hand and finally some quick service. Jaune accepted his glass and shook the ice and liquor around. The whole point was to mix the thick and heavy liquor with water from the ice, dilute it gently. Sebastian called it `unlocking the flavour` but to Jaune, it was taking the edge off. Making it more palatable and less an affront on all the senses.

That didn't stop it being a cheap brand.

When did I become so anal? he had to wonder. He sipped again and this time had to fight back the pursing of his lips. Quality was quality, and this cheap supermarket stuff wasn't that. It's not snobbery if it's true. I guess these kinds of places are just about cheap drinks and food.

Different places; different standards. It was a show of just how seriously Hei had taken his hospitality. The man really had loved his drink, to the point that it had rub off on Jaune and most others in the Xiong Clan.

"Investigations continue into the murder of a huntress in the docking district of the city." Lisa looked good on TV. It was weird to see the flat-faced and very serious woman on the screen and think that was his jocular and always-smiling housemate.

Why did they always make news anchors look so serious and miserable all the time? Probably for this purpose, when they were reporting tragedy, so that no one would get up in their faces about not showing enough sympathy.

Jaune sipped his drink and watched, fatigue creeping in but little else as he listened to his own murder being discussed in front of him for what had to be the tenth time now.

"Investigations continue into the event that cost a huntress her life. Local police forces today released a statement defying the White Fang's claim that they were responsible, stating that no White Fang forces were in the area. Police Chief Mira Ash went on to state that while the investigation is ongoing, criminal elements within the city are primary suspects. The police have, again, called on any witnesses to step forward and make contact. The number is on your screen now. In other news, the Vytal Festival-"

The television flickered and switched screens. Suddenly, it was horse racing, and that gathered more interest from the patrons. The fast-paced commentator babbled out which was in the lead, while Jaune turned his attention away and finished his drink. It was amazing how few people cared about Meg's death. Amazing, but not surprising.

It was the same as what she'd said to him – that he'd be nothing more than a news report when she was done with him, that no one would mourn his passing, and no one would question her for it.

You weren't wrong about that, Meg. Only who would be the footnote…

"Fancy meeting you here…"

Jaune froze. There were a lot of people he didn't want to see right now. Dove, Ruby, Qrow, Bon-Hwa, Oobleck, Velvet and many, many more. Somehow, he'd been found by someone who trumped even that lengthy list. To be fair, he hadn't expected Cinder of all people to come hunt him down.

The murderous woman wore an attractive red dress with golden highlights, and her fingernails were painted black. Her golden eyes smouldered past them as she feigned surprise, then smiled. "We really must stop bumping into one another, Jaune. Enjoying your day off?"

Shit. What was she doing here? Why? Had he done something wrong-? Jaune thought for a second whether he had, but she'd granted him time off and surely that was free to use however he wanted.

"Recovering," he said, stiffly. "Been a busy few days."

"I wasn't criticising. You've more than earned a break from what I hear. I'm taking one as well. Care to join me for a drink?"

There were times where the truth wasn't the best answer. This had to be one of them. Jaune nodded and waved the waitress down, collecting a fresh amaretto for himself. Cinder ordered a white wine spritzer, which only went to show how much of a barbarian she truly was.

He followed her to a secluded table near the back of the place, between a pillar and a locked door leading outside. It was a table for two, private and out the way of the bar where most of the patrons were congregating. Cinder took one of the padded benches and Jaune sat across from her, set his drink down and waited for her to speak. Cinder smiled and took a sip of her drink. Her pleasure died as she sucked her lips in and eyed the tall glass as if it were a snake.

"The drinks aren't the best here," Jaune said.

"You tell me that now. Ngh." Cinder laughed it off breezily. "I suppose this will teach me to appreciate your brand of hospitality. Where do you get your drinks from?"

"Ordered from specialists. Each one is hand-picked."

"Sounds time consuming. Wherever do you find the time for it alongside running your other business?"

At least she was being subtle. Sort of. "They're one and the same. We have a reputation for hospitality, and that includes with our… business associates. We're known for it."

Cinder frowned. "Doesn't that mean they know where you're based? I'd have thought that would cause problems."

Why did Cinder care? Since when? Jaune sipped his drink and hummed as if he were thinking. Well, he was, but not about the answer. Cinder had only ever been demands and instruction in the past, so this change was… what? Welcome? Hardly. Surprising? A little. Concerning? More than just a little.

"There has been one incident, but most of the time people respect business. There is a lot of reputation involved. No one wants to be seen as untrustworthy, or then no one will do business with you."

"I can imagine." Cinder set her finger on the rim of her glass and slowly ran it around. It squeaked faintly. "It turns out I might have run into that little problem myself."

"Oh?"

"I have been… trying to deal with your associates in my own time. Recruit more people to my – our - cause." Her cause. It certainly wasn't his. "Unfortunately, people have been rather cagey around me of late. It appears my methods might have been a little… hasty…"

"Heavy-handed, you mean." Jaune said without thinking.

Cinder's eyes burned and his throat seized up. It was the alcohol making him loose-lipped, and now he'd gone and insulted her. Jaune tensed, ready for reprisal, but Cinder chuckled and let it go with a quiet "Perhaps."

I can't believe I got away with that. Jaune set his drink down and pushed it away with his fingers. Time to cut down on you. Damn.

"This is why I'm here in a sense," she admitted. "You are… I won't say unafraid-" A teasing glint of her eyes. She'd caught his fear. "-but you are more open to saying what is on your mind. I… need that. Right now."

Need, not appreciate and certainly not that she liked it.

"Don't you have Roman for that?"

Her lips twisted. "Roman is a coward and a sycophant. He would tell me the sky is pink if he thought it what I wanted to hear. I don't need platitudes. I need solutions."

"Did he deliver on time?"

"Hm? Oh yes, he managed to transport your goods without losing them. A miracle in itself." Cinder rolled her eyes scornfully. "Perhaps he can be a delivery driver in the future. His current job obviously doesn't suit him."

"May I ask why you still keep him around?"

"Hmph." Cinder snorted. "He may be useless but his associate, Neo, is not. Beyond that, I'm not sure. Sunk cost fallacy? He's useless, but at least he isn't less than useless. Let's not- no, let's talk about him." She leaned forward. "Did you know it was Roman who pushed me to make an example of your previous leader?"

Hot fire rushed through Jaune's blood. His entire body trembled. "I… I did not."

"Of course not. I recruited him first," Cinder said, "And then I instructed him to find us assistance. Muscle. He suggested your people and he promised to bring you on board. Simple, I thought. Effective. And then he came back telling me I had been rejected."

"And you came to us yourself…"

"I did," she admitted, then leaned over the table to whisper, "but such was not my immediate reaction. Do you know what my immediate thoughts were?"

Jaune swallowed. "Anger?"

"Anger? Hm. My reputation is worse than I imagined." Cinder sat back again. "No. My immediate reaction was to let you go. I instructed Roman to find someone else."

"What…?"

"You're not the holy grail of grunts, Jaune, nor the sole provider in Vale. You said no. It seemed easier to me at the time to shrug and move on, find someone else, than waste time. Why should I? When one goes to the supermarket and finds they lack bread, you don't burn the place down in a rage. You try the next store."

It… made sense. The picture Cinder painted was nothing short of common sense, and yet it hadn't happened that way. She'd come, killed Hei and forced them to serve her. "Why didn't that happen here?" he asked hoarsely. "Why did you… do what you did…"

"Because someone convinced me to."

"Roman…" Jaune growled.

"Roman," she agreed. "He argued that your group were the only ones he had an in with, the only connections he had. To hear him, there was no one else I might go to. Or more realistically, no one else he hadn't already burned his bridges with. That was my mistake – using him as my representative. I had a fresh reputation, a clean slate, and instead of using that I trusted an idiot to tarnish my name. He then told me that if I went in person and – in his words – "applied a little force" that Hei would buckle, and you and your friends would come under my employ."

"That son of a bitch…"

"Indeed. I believed him at the time. Why would I not? He had yet to prove himself well and truly incompetent at the time. I came, I spoke to Hei and, unfortunately, he called what I had duly hoped would be a bluff on my part. Of course, as a leader, you understand why I could not walk away after that. I had to make a point of things."

"You certainly made your point," Jaune hissed.

"And alienated you and yours, I realise." Cinder sighed. "And none of this would have happened if Roman had the guts to talk back to me and tell me the truth. Which, I may add, I did not say he could not. If it isn't clear by the fact he still lives after this much failure, I am not the type to turn to instant termination of one's contract when they upset me."

If she was trying to deflect blame for Hei's murder, she was doing a poor job. He wasn't sure she was, though. Cinder had as good as said she'd done it, but with the added context he could at least understand why Roman was at fault. The only thing this had done was increase his already incandescent dislike for the man. Kind of impressive all things considered. The twins would be frothing with rage when he told them.

"What's the point of all this?" Jaune asked sharply. "Get to the point."

"See?" Cinder chuckled. "This is what I want. Loyalty, fear, but not to the point that it renders you a slavish and incapable little minion. What I want, Jaune. No, what I need, is someone to assist me in reaching out to other gangs. I need someone who has a reputation for integrity, for hospitality, to both sit me down in front of important people, but also show me how to win them over."

"You want, what, a teacher?"

"More of an example. I am powerful – more powerful than you know – but I'm also wise enough to know that not all problems can be solved through force. That's why I recruited Roman. Now, he's useless and while I'm pleased you have proven otherwise, I would prefer if I didn't have to rely on idiots like Roman in the past."

If you wanted a job doing properly, do it yourself. That was what Cinder wanted. The skills necessary to handle this on her own and not cause an incident like she had here. Did he want to give her that? In a way, it was the only thing keeping him useful.

On the other hand, if she retracted her protection from Roman then him and the twins could go after him for what he'd brought on Hei. Revenge was tempting. Darkly so. Jaune had never thought himself someone who would ever care about it, but this felt close enough to justice to count.

I could bring Cinder along on a few deals. It wouldn't hurt as long as she keeps her mouth shut and having a huntress on hand would offer us a lot of security. Even more so now that she's lent us Mercury.

"If I agreed to this…" He watched her smirk grow. "If I agreed, you'd have to understand you would be following my lead."

Her eyebrows rose.

"Learning from me. It's just that if you speak out of hand, you could collapse every bit of good will I have. Then you'd not only learn nothing, but I'd be of less use to you. There might be a very real time where I have to tell you to shut up. Maybe even harshly. Can you handle that?"

"Without setting you on fire?" she asked teasingly.

Jaune nodded. He was serious.

"I'm not that sensitive," Cinder said, almost petulant. "I have been a student before, and I recognise respect to a teacher. So long as you do not let it go to your head or get ideas about our relationship, I agree. What exactly did you have in mind?"

"You'd be my bodyguard and business associate. It'll let you listen in and see how things are done, and meet important people, but obviously a bodyguard shouldn't be speaking out or trying to take control."

"Of course not. I think that is suitable. I'm content to watch silently and learn." Her eyes sparkled. "For a while. We can discuss how to expand on that later. But…" she said, tapping the table. "I think the real question now is – what do you want?"

Jaune was caught off-guard. "Me?"

"You. I could demand this, order this, but then I wouldn't really be learning, would I? You're doing me a favour. I'm not above returning that. What is it you want?"

Love, riches, fame, to become a huntsman. All of those came to mind, but he dismissed them just as quickly. They'd all be cursed coming from her. Besides, he wasn't doing all too bad on any of those on his own. Hei had taught him the value of stepping up and taking control of his own life, and he could work to achieve his spot in Beacon. There was something Cinder could offer that he couldn't otherwise get, however.

"Roman. I want Roman."

"Hmmmm." Far from upset, Cinder shivered with pleasure. "I thought you might. Well, Jaune, allow me to let you in on a little secret." Her hand touched his as she leaned in to whisper into his ear. "I need his associate, but I don't need him. In a few weeks I'll be borrowing Neo. Hold on until then, and after that I won't shed any tears if he were to suffer a little… accident." Drawing back, she winked his way. "So, do we have a deal?"

He shook her hand.

/-/

"You made a deal with the devil?" Miltia's arm was in a sling, and she didn't look happy about it, nor at hearing what Jaune had been up to in his free time. "Did that bitch huntress hit your head a few times?"

"More than a few. She was trying to rearrange my brain."

"Maybe I should try as well."

"You think I shouldn't have?"

Miltia sagged and it was Melanie who answered. "Not like you had a choice, is it? Cinder can say it as nicely as she wants but a request is as good as a command. Though, maybe this is good for us. If she wants to learn how to not be a colossal bitch, I'm all for it."

Not quite the words he would have used. Not quite wrong, either. "I'll be honest, I did it more for the chance to get at Roman. And because I'm worried about our strength with you two out for a while."

"I'm not out, I-" Jaune reached over to squeeze Miltia's hand. "Ow! Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

"You're out," he said flatly. Miltia glared bloody murder, while Melanie giggled. "We have a lot of enemies right now. The Laurette family is upset with us, the Circus have attached us and I've a feeling the Atlas Aristocrats aren't going to be happy when they see us being buddy-buddy with a contingent from Mistral."

"Not at all. The Atlas gangs want Vale."

"As does the Mistral ones," Melanie added. "It's an all you can eat buffer with Vale on the table."

Which was still a mess as far as Jaune could tell. Mistral and Atlas were acting like gobbling Vale up was a foregone conclusion, and the harsh truth was that Jaune couldn't disagree with them. No one was putting up a front against them, and it certainly wasn't going to be his job. Honestly, the best I can do is either stay neutral or pick a side. I've an in with Mistral since those two from the docks want to meet me again.

"What other terrible things are going through that head of yours?" Melanie asked.

"Mistral and Atlas," he said. "I was wondering if we should pick a side."

"Ugh." Melanie slumped back. "I'd say to stay neutral but that's a no-go at this point. Mistral, though? Argh. I can see why you'd want to side with them but… ugh. I thought we'd gotten away from that."

"Mom is probably laughing herself hoarse," Miltia spat.

"Anything I should know?" Jaune asked.

"Family business." Melanie said it in a clear `don't ask` manner, and Jaune was smart enough to take that for what it was. "Honestly, yeah, Mistral is probably the safe bet right now. Atlas gangs are good, but there's a lot of distance involved. Plus, we already have an in with one of Mistral's biggest gangs. If we're going to be someone's bitches, might as well be those high up."

"The… uh…" Jaune wracked his mind. "Shoryu-Nayuta? They're a big thing, then?"

"Big." Miltia confirmed. "Merger of two once-rival gangs, the Shoryu and the Nayuta. They were like oil and water. Always at each other's throats until, on a star-crossed morning, the two lovers united."

"Romeo and Juliet?"

"Nah. They united at a bar to discuss how to take a gang down that they hated even more than they hated one another. The story goes that after a whole lot of drinking, eating and arguing they decided to work together to smash the other. Then, they kinda realised they enjoyed working together. The leaders got on once they put down their weapons and shared a couple of drinks. The rest is history."

Nice story. Never underestimate the ability for alcohol to close rifts would be the moral, Jaune supposed. He wouldn't let it work between him and Cinder no matter how much she tried.

"I'll take Cinder to meet with the Shoryu-Nayuta."

"Is that a good idea? If she pisses them off…"

"Then maybe they kill her." Jaune's shrug made his feelings on that clear, and after a second's thought the twins grinned too. "Either the meeting goes well, she learns something, and I get to face them with a huntress at my back, or it goes poorly, and Cinder gets herself into a fight. Besides, those two from Mistral seemed bloodthirsty enough. They might get on with her."

And if not? Well, that might be one less problem for them.

"My options are limited on Cinder. But not," Jaune said hungrily, "with Roman."

The twins shared his enthusiasm, smiling ferally. "How long did Cinder say we had to wait?"

"A little while, but after that? He's ours to deal with."

"He dies." Miltia stated it simply and firmly. "I'll accept nothing less. Cinder was the one to kill Hei, but she wouldn't have even shown up if not for him. That's not saying I believe her excuse, but obviously he was the one to rat us out to her. He came here first to demand our compliance. He's responsible."

"I feel the same way." Melanie said. "He's a thief; he's slippery. Anything less than offing him and he'll find a way to weasel out of it and stab us in the back. He's dangerous."

"We're dangerous." Jaune said, throwing in his vote. If Meg had been forced upon him and the assassin had been self-defence, this instance would have no such excuse. It would be premeditated murder. "And I agree. Roman crossed the line. He got Hei killed. There's only one way to answer for that."

The Xiong would not forget those who insulted it.

This is not the beginning of a torrid friendship between Cinder and Jaune. Not even close. Anyway, no update of this next week as I'll be taking time off to read, listen to podcasts and improve my skills as a writer. Think of it as a training trip more than time off lol.

Next Chapter: 6th January

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur