AN: In no way am I connected to Rooster Teeth

Mercury was satisfied that Talaria still didn't breathe fire. However, he was no closer to finding out anything different about her.

He had made good time and was expecting to see Winding Willow Way in about an hour. He checked the time, deduced that most of the students would be in class and called Ozpin.

"Good morning Mercury. I was expecting this call yesterday."

"Had I known exactly what you did, I would have said my question yesterday," Mercury replied casually. "This is pushing irresponsibility to a new territory and you've left me with the accountability." It was quite impressive actually, if not a little annoying.

Though, I think even Ironwood would agree whatever happened was completely Ozpin's fault. Didn't he learn his lesson with Raven?

Ozpin waited patiently until he finished. "I gifted Talaria with the same amount of magic I gave Qrow. However, the stipulation is that it is initially triggered when her or her pack is in danger."

Mercury considered. What was done was done and there was no need to harp on about it. Instead, he considered the implications. "Okay and a family of Huntsmen and Huntresses means that the magic is going to be triggered sooner rather than later. Any idea what form this takes?"

Talaria was gliding from tree branch to tree branch. She was paying little attention to Mercury.

"None. It will be very situational."

That was even worse. "How about multiple uses?"

"Whatever gift she uses will remain with her. The magic will not leave."

Maybe Ozpin didn't bring it up because he either didn't want to remove it or he couldn't. I bet it's the latter.

"So if she learns to spit venom, that will be become permanent."

"To a degree. She has to make the choice to use it and, with such a wide range of possibilities, we won't know anything until it is triggered."

Mercury idly wondered if it was worth sneaking back to Beacon to prank the old wizard himself. He would send a message to Yang; this was something the family needed to know.

"So. Any ideas?"

"I would assume not shapeshifting."

Definitely not shapeshifting.

That's smoke. Smoke like that is rarely good news.

"Hang on a minute. I'll be right back."

Talaria picked up on his change of tone. Her stance became sharper. As Mercury broke into a run, she flew at his pace. She gurgled a general query.

"Check it out and stay out of sight."

Talaria snapped her understanding and took to the skies. She was above his view in a second.

Mercury took off at a run. Winding Willow Way did not have walls or anything physical to keep out the Grimm. He had seen nothing specific to keep out the Grimm, so the twenty six years this village had managed to survive was quite impressive. There had only been three Huntsmen here in those years.

Once at the edge of the forest, Mercury hopped onto the last tree, waiting for Talaria's report. The smoke may be high, but he couldn't actually see anything burning. A look through the binoculars explained why; there was very little left to burn.

It was very obvious that the destruction was due to a bandit tribe, not Grimm.

In fact, Mercury couldn't see any evidence of Grimm. That was unusual. Bandits normally used the same tactics as sharks; quick initial strikes against the prey, then wait around until they die. The only difference was that one was blood loss and the other was fear.

So. What happened here? Which tribe is responsible for this?

Mercury had quizzed Qrow on bandit tribes. They didn't have official established territories but fights among different tribes were common. Unless there was a détente of some sort, they would normally fight if they came across each other. Very rarely, they did join and become a stronger force but that tended to be between smaller ones that were just skimming by.

There were currently three tribes on Anima, the Branwen tribe included.

While this was a small number compared to the size of the continent, Mercury suspected that they were far larger than the norm, especially if any Undesirables had found their way there.

Talaria returned.

{Nest destroyed. No prey alive.}

Mercury wasn't surprised to hear that. "Okay." He hopped down from his perch and brought his scroll back up. "Winding Willow Way is gone Ozpin. First look suggests it was bandits."

"Are they there now?"

"Not that me or Talaria can see." He began to head into the village. "I'll message you a report later." He hung up.

This must have happened several hours ago. The sole building still burning was obviously the town centre and was far bigger than everything else. And yet…

Mercury knelt down next to one particular body. The slash across the neck was ear to ear, nearly decapitating her. The weapon suggested the victim was a Huntress, especially as she had a few Dust cartridges.

The interesting fact here was that she was dead for at least a day, given the weather recently.

So. What happened here? Unrelated or did bandits pose as protectors and bring it down from the inside? If any Undesirables did join the bandits, and there's no doubt some did, I can think of a few with very damaging Semblances.

The majority of the Undesirables had been caught. There were still some loose though; at least ten if not more. Ironwood hadn't been able to recover the prison data that had been lost but Mercury had been told of four that were in Salem's inner circle.

He had never seen them. Not in LiaGuard and not in the Realm of Darkness. That left the question of where they went.

There could be more. Probably was.

However, there was nothing to suggest they were in the tribes.

There were no survivors. Talaria even flew under collapsed debris to check. The only thing left in this village were bodies.

Mercury's foot stepped onto a photo frame. The glass was already smashed. Out of morbid curiosity, he picked it up.

It was a typical family photo. A mother, father and two children, one around eleven or twelve and a baby.

Wait.

"Talaria, did you see any human hatchlings? The ones too young to walk."

Talaria growled a 'no'.

So where's the baby gone? The rest of the family are here and I haven't seen a baby at all.

A more thorough check of the ruins stated the same: there was no body of a baby. No body parts or anything resembling a baby's corpse. That was…odd. For a more complete picture, Mercury gathered what photos and drawings he could find and compared those to the bodies. With the exception of one (a young woman he had seen attending Shade), every one was accounted for.

Every one. Except that baby.

Maybe they put it up for adoption somewhere?

Mercury doubted it. The photo had been taken fairly recently; the older child looked a similar age to his corpse. There were other options, such as the tribe taking it, but nothing to point in any direction. All he could state with some conviction was that the baby's dead or alive body wasn't here.

There were no other babies in the village at the time, but somehow Mercury didn't think it was coincidence that the baby missing had silver eyes. The entire family had, yet the elders had been killed and it appeared that the youngest had been adopted.

Right. The next village isn't for another three days at my pace. That village, or city, is still in contact so it should still be standing. I'll find out when I get there.

Mercury would bet good money he was going to be seeing a lot of destruction on his trip.

And in a week's time, I'll meet the Apathy. Can't wait.

Crime in Vale had stopped; almost completely.

No Huntsman had disappeared from Mistral for a month.

Qrow did not like this. The last time this happened had been at the Vytal Festival and what had happened there had been disastrous.

The next Vytal Festival was at the end of this year and was in Haven. Where the Spring Maiden would be right next the Relic of Knowledge and where the Headmaster was almost certainly a mole.

Maybe I just ground her…not that she'll listen. And technically Mercury is still grounded. Come to think of it, I don't think there will ever be a time he's not…

Qrow did have access to the GPS on Mercury's scroll. He hadn't yet used it, but it was a comfort.

While they had a rough computer code to prevent another robot takeover like before, there was little progress on how they had managed to remove Mercury's number from other scrolls, especially ones they had never been near.

Qrow may be a little less concerned about the General's army being in Haven than at Beacon but it did not mean he was happy about it.

Again, he read through the official list for Huntsman. So many dead and missing.

Hang on. These two missions are in Atlas and that one is listed in Vacuo. That's new and very worrying.

Qrow considered. He had no interest in returning to Atlas so soon, which left investigating the death of Trent Harrier in Vacuo. It could just be coincidence, death was a very real and common occupational hazard, but…

It didn't feel right.

Qrow: What happened with Jonas and Robin?

It might be a while before James answered, so Qrow began to plan his route to Vacuo. He was a known and respected entity there but it wasn't the kind of place that dealt with gossip. Taking the public transport was not as much of a problem as it was on Anima or Atlas.

James: Jonas was a legitimate accident. Robin is still being investigated

It took a lot to convince James that there was nothing going on behind the scenes, so Qrow could trust the decision on Jonas. However, Robin had died before Jonas so clearly there was something there.

Again though, Vale seems to be fine…Save for the drop in crime rates.

There were three known students in Beacon that had been caught by that drug ring and they were nearly fully treated and independent. Either there had only been those three or the others hadn't visited the infirmary for the new program (which most of the students didn't know the purpose of) and were hiding their condition very well. The list Mercury sent through from his stealth job suggested otherwise: there were only the three known names.

That drug ring appeared to have left Vale. There was no sign of them.

It was far too quiet.

The main worry for Qrow wasn't that the Undesirables or the known mass murderers weren't doing anything; it was that the 'new' criminals weren't active. The children that grew to be monsters; those that recently chose to be thieves…Where had they gone? Even Roman Torchwick hadn't been seen for over a month.

He would accept that the old hands had connections. But the 'freshmen' shouldn't.

Somehow, someone is getting to them before they attract any kind of legal attention. How are they doing that?

Dr Watts and Venus Solgale (thought to be Bleu) had had very respected jobs in Atlas. Qrow wasn't sure why Dr Watts left but Venus had left long before anyone had connected her to the Solgales. It makes sense that Atlas had a lot of moles and people that would accept bribes, but everywhere should.

But access to official and not official documents didn't explain this.

I highly doubt it, but maybe Vacuo can give me some answers. Underhill would be a good place to start.

Talaria was asleep in his hood. She kept watch at night for him, so often spent the morning sleeping.

Mercury's eyes scanned around, pulling the headphones out of his human ears. The remains of his coyote ears had picked up movement that sounded too large for the local wildlife. It could be a Grimm, but they only moved that quickly when they were hunting or drawn.

His normal vision struggled with the trees and shrubs on either side of the path. The only movement was the rustling in the wind.

I know they're not close but…There.

His Grimm vision (barely) showed a pack of Beowolves dashing south. They were over a hundred metres away so he was slightly surprised he had heard and seen them at all but…

They're hunting. Whatever they're hunting is too far away for me to see.

So. Did he go and check on the prey or did he ignore it and move on?

Well, I'm only an hour or so from the city and someone may be looking for their prey so…

Mercury ran after the Grimm.

He didn't kill them straight away though. He had seen a river not too far in this direction on the map and he wasn't sure which direction they would head. This pack had four Alpha Beowolves; they were certainly intelligent enough not to just charge at the target.

The Grimm ignored him.

Great. The kids were climbing the bank and one of them is stuck. How to do this?

The first thing to do was to kill the Grimm. These kids (his inexperienced mind put them at around six or seven years old) weren't going to calm down until they saw that. They were certainly screaming now but must not have been a few moments ago.

Maybe it was the Grimm?

Out of curiosity, Mercury mentally ordered the Grimm back.

They didn't even look at him.

Mercury spun around the trunk of the tree, twisting his leg so the closest Alpha Beowolf was decapitated.

Okay, so what's different? I didn't put much will into that command and I don't think sending them away is going to help this situation. More will just come until these kids calm down. I've also only tried it with weaker Grimm; maybe Alpha and higher are too strong. That doesn't explain why the other lower Grimm didn't respond.

The small pack he had followed weren't a problem.

He made sure to keep his momentum so he could leap across the river and deal with a second pack within a matter of seconds.

The other Grimm kept their distance, but they were also out of sight of the kids.

Mercury looked back at them.

The one on the ground was staring at him with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. The other was still dangling slightly above the rushing water of the river; he must have a stronger grip on that root than Mercury thought.

"Hi." Mercury mostly ignored the kid next to him. He knelt down and checked the root. The part he could see didn't look like it was going to snap anytime soon, but the end the kid was holding was quite thin. "Names?"

There was a blank pause before the kid next to him spoke. "I-I'm Gray. Dean he…It was an accident-"

"I'm Mercury." Talaria chittered. "This little one's Talaria."

"Err…hi?"

Gray was looking at Mercury. He didn't see the Grimm pack of lower Beowolves and Ursa behind him. The pack was staying away for now.

The side of the river was too far away for Mercury to swing down and push the kid up. He was also too far down for him to reach and pull up.

Guardian form is a little overkill and I don't really want to expose it now so…

"Right. Talaria." The dragon turned her head to look at him. Mercury unclipped Pandora from his belt and focused on the green Dust within. A long vine began to extend from the end. "Wrap this around him. Gamma."

Talaria nodded, snapped up the vine and flew down.

"Okay Dean. Just relax. She's not going to hurt you. She's just going to get that around you so I can pull you up."

Gamma was the name Mercury has assigned to this particular manoeuvre. Talaria would wrap the vine around the chest and shoulders; it was to lift from a drop, not to restrain. While Talaria had had practice, she had never used it in an actual situation before.

"Wow."

Mercury smiled a little.

In the corner of his eye, he could see the pack were still distant. Gray was fascinated by Talaria and had calmed down quite a bit. He was no longer as bright in Grimm vision. Dean was unchanged.

Leave.

The pack turned as one to look at him. The Beowolves turned around and ran back into the wilderness, but the Ursa remained.

If I can get Dean up, I should be able to get rid of them without drawing attention to them.

Talaria carefully used her claws to tuck the end underneath a crossover. She cawed up when she was done.

"Good girl."

The thing about aura was that it could be applied to anything, such as a food fight. In this situation, Mercury could pull back on the vine without fear of it snapping.

"Dean, I need you to let go now." Mercury didn't need that; he could just pull him loose. However, neither of these kids had their aura unlocked so Dean would have serious friction burns if he did. That would be a little awkward to explain to their parents.

"A-Are you sure?" Dean hadn't looked up from the rushing water less than a foot below him.

"I'm sure."

Talaria remained hovering next to the kid. She chattered. Dean didn't move. After tilting her head a little, she dived down to about a foot above the water and glided swiftly for several more feet before pulling up.

Dean's head darted after Talaria.

People eyes sometimes follow movement. Smart girl.

Talaria flew up and landed next to Mercury's hand. Dean's eyes had followed her all the way.

"Dean?" Mercury prompted.

Dean stared at him.

"Let go. I've got you."

Mercury must have been convincing. Dean let go then.

It wasn't a strain. He didn't weigh much. Even so, Mercury took care to pull up slowly and steadily. Talaria landed on the ground, keeping watch on Dean.

After a few pulls, Mercury stopped.

"Dean, reach out and grab hold of the edge when you can, okay?"

"Okay." That was far firmer than anything before.

"You're doing great Dean," Gray stated.

Dean was almost calm now. Mercury gripped the vine itself and pulled it up, centimetre by centimetre. When he saw fingertips trying to snag the grass, he stopped. If Dean was successful, Mercury could just tug hard.

No luck.

Another few milimetres.

Dean had a grip. He wouldn't be able to pull himself up, but he would have an anchor to twist his body so he wouldn't smack against the side.

Ursa. Leave.

Maybe it was the more willpower or maybe it was because neither of the kids were scared anymore. Maybe it was something else altogether.

The Ursa silently spun and pounded back into the wild.

Talaria tapped on the ground. There were no Grimm visible.

Mercury pulled far more quickly. Finally, Dean was safely on solid ground. With a flicker of aura, the vines vanished.

He paid little attention to the kids now. Instead, he checked his scroll.

Let's see…Nothing on the map to be a worry…

Jaune: What time is best to call you tonight?

Mercury frowned. Normally, they just called as soon as they could. Jaune must be in Combat Class right now but Mercury didn't have those kinds of problems. What was the problem with calling him between classes?

Mercury: Try 7. I'm staying in Faymarsh tonight. Anything interesting here?

Jaune had been camping around this area. He should know where it was and what there was to do.

"Uh…Sir?"

Mercury blinked and looked at Gray. "Yes? And just 'Mercury' is fine." He didn't like that now any more than when Winky called him that.

His scroll buzzed. He ignored it.

"Are you a Huntsman?" His head was tilted. There was none of the fear that had gripped him before. Gray appeared the same.

"I am and you're not supposed to be outside the city, are you?"

Their faces went red and avoided his eyes as they spluttered a response. Mercury could understand that they were saying they were allowed, but it was obvious they were lying.

And I thought Ruby was bad.

"Come on. I'll take you home."

Maybe they were a little shook up. They followed him back onto the road towards the city. They didn't complain.

"Could you not tell my parents?"

"Or mine?"

For the most part. "What have you learned today?"

They answered together: ""Don't play near the river.""

"A good lesson. Anything else?"

"Umm…" Gray appeared to think it over.

"I need to learn how to swim," Dean replied with more confidence.

"I think even the strongest swimmer would have struggled with that river." Mercury would almost call it rapids. Even he would have struggled. "It's not what I want to hear though." He sounded like Tai and Qrow, Mercury noted amused.

Gray's eyes dropped to the dirt path. "Don't go out of the city and not tell anyone."

Good grief, these kids are even more idiotic than I thought.

"That's it."

Gray groaned. "Dad's going to kill me."

Mercury knew that feeling well.

Dean eyes flickered to him again. He didn't say anything more. Gray lapsed into silence as well.

That was fine. Besides, it was only a five minute walk to the city.

Mercury's scroll had buzzed because Pyrrha had sent a video. The thumbnail suggested the location was Glynda's classroom, so this might be today's Combat Class.

But why has she sent this?

It probably had something to do with what Jaune wanted to talk about.

"Gray!"

Gray groaned.

Mercury watched as the older boy ran towards them. There was some resemblance; they had the same nose and ears. He grabbed Gray, almost shaking him.

"Where the hell have you been?! Mum's furious!"

Gray flinched but didn't pull away or say anything.

Is that normal?

The teenager opened his mouth to continue his tirade when he caught sight of Mercury. He stared. Mercury tilted his head in response, but Dean spoke before he could.

"He said his name was Mercury."

The teenager straightened. "Mercury? As in Mercury Crawford?"

So not the Vytal Festival. Definitely the web videos.

This was a downside that Mercury was well aware of, but he had thought that it would be better than being entirely unknown. Ironwood had been such a threat before because Mercury was an unknown and a student death is easy to explain. If he were a familiar face, more people would ask questions should something happen to him and with a Grimm aura animal that he would use if necessary, he wasn't going to remain unknown for long anyway. This way, people had less reason to fear him.

People tended to be more helpful using civility, not fear.

"That's me."

It was like a switch had been thrown. All of a sudden, there was little anger in the teen and the two younger boys no longer seemed tense.

"Awesome!"

"Wicked!"

I'm looking forward to going to villages without good CCT connection…

At least they weren't asking for an autograph.

Talaria chittered quietly from inside his hood. She was laughing.

"Don't suppose you could show me around?" They obviously weren't leaving anytime soon, so he was going to make some use of them. While there were no buildings more than three storey high, there weren't any signs and the city/town was slightly bigger than he had expected.

Dean almost bounced. "Sure thing!" He pointed north. "There's a library that way. The top floor's like a dome; you can see everything from there."

Mercury could make out the building and even the reflection of the sunlight off the glass. "Lead the way."

Why are most kids such motormouths?

Mercury kept listening as they walked along, but he was mainly focused on the landmarks and useful buildings. The town had a place of worship, a school and a town centre (even if it doubled as a library) so it technically was counted as a city by Anima definition. To Mercury, it didn't feel big enough for the definition. It was half the size of Vale.

The view from that library dome was pretty good. It certainly helped his mental map.

"Nice."

Ash (the teenager's name) grinned and began pointing. "We call them 'the Tunnels'. Best indoor market for miles. There's a small shopping centre there; best place for CDs and the rest." He frowned. "How long are you staying?"

Mercury hadn't been planning to stay long, but there was an idea forming in his head. He could get to Haven whenever he wanted so time wasn't a problem.

"You said this college was well known for electronics and…'toys' was your word?"

"…Yes? So?"

"So if I wanted to…I don't know…learn how to make a camera or something, that would be the place to go?"

The confusion cleared. "Yeah, it's great. I know a guy who learned how to make a computer chip that automatically erases any photo of him."

That technology sounds very easy to abuse, but perfect. I could buy things like listening devices or a camera for Talaria but that would leave a trail. This way though…

"Then I might be here a while. Any hotels or inns?"

"Over there."

Mercury narrowed his eyes. He blinked. The background faded as colours appeared.

That is definitely Raven. I should probably warn them about that. For someone who loathes Ozpin, she seems to love the ability to shapeshift.

There didn't appear to be much more interesting in this vision. One light that was a little smaller than most (maybe a kid) was quite bright but that could be anything.

His vision returned to normal.

Mercury knew quite a bit about engineering. If he could learn about electronics and even chemistry and/or physics if he was lucky, then he could use Pandora to its full potential.

Jaune stared at the scroll.

"She's probably wrong. It was just nothing. A fluke."

Weiss and Melody gave him unimpressed looks. He didn't look at Pyrrha.

"Just call him," Weiss stated bluntly.

Jaune winced. He checked the time: five past seven. He selected the contact and clicked ring. When he heard the beeps, he put it on speaker and placed it back on the bed.

It rang twice.

"Hey Jaune."

"Hi Mercury. How's your trip been so far?"

"Pretty good, all things considered. So what's the problem there?"

Jaune hesitated.

Melody spoke up. "Have you seen the video yet?"

"Yes." Mercury didn't say anything else. He wasn't going to make it easy.

"What do you think?"

"Any luck with your Semblance so far?"

"No," Jaune replied, wincing a little.

"Don't worry too much about that Jaune. It took me over a decade." Mercury was quiet for a moment as the others exchanged amazed looks. "When was your aura unlocked?"

"…Initiation." It took Mercury ten years to find his Semblance? That did relax Jaune a little.

"Well, so much for the easy way. Okay, is your entire team there?"

"We are," Pyrrha assured him.

"Great. Now be quiet for a bit. Jaune, close your eyes."

Jaune did not like where this was going. "Why?"

"Humour me for five minutes."

This was getting ridiculous.

Jaune sighed and closed his eyes. "Okay. What next?"

"I want you to think. One memory or loads, whichever feels right. Don't pick it based on whether it's happy or sad. Think of what defines who you are. Be honest with yourself. Reach inside and then reach out."

A little unsure about the last part, Jaune decided to ignore it for now. Think about himself…He could do that part.

Defines who I am…

Be honest.

Jaune thought. It wasn't easy. He had had a very routine life with his parents. His time at Beacon had been very simple in comparison to his friends. He was…Well, no longer the worst fighter in the class but he was still miles behind everyone else and-

"You want to do what's best for your team and you've only been with them a day."

Jaune took a deep breath.

Okay. Ignore where I am in comparison to everyone else. Focus on me.

He knew what he was bad at.

What was he good at? He was a pretty good dancer, he tried to be easy to talk to and…

"I can rely on you two to look after these miscreants."

Jaune had joined Beacon because he wanted to be a hero.

"Doesn't mean I deserve to be one."

He left home because he was sick of being the only boy in a family of girls; of being their toy sometimes. But they genuinely loved him and he had ignored that. Maybe he should give them a call once in a while.

And his parents…

Jaune deepened his breathing.

He had been a bit of a jerk to parents recently. For quite a while actually. But Beacon and his team felt far more like home than home ever had.

He had wanted to be a hero. He wanted to help people; he wanted to be…

Jaune wanted to be more than he was.

"It's not about how you start. You train; you make yourself strong enough. You never gave up. That is a Huntsman."

Who was he?

Jaune may not have started his desired life with good intentions. He had been a little selfish and naïve but…

Well, I'm still naïve and idiotic but I know what I want. So what I fall? I can get up. That's my best ability. Getting knocked down and getting back up again. As long as I can keep fighting, I can keep protecting. My friends, my family, everyone. I made a choice and I'm working for it.

I am going to keep my friends safe. My team depend on me and I will not let them down. I may be a disappointment at times but I will not let myself become a failure.

"Jaune." Was that Pyrrha? "Open your eyes."

Jaune opened his eyes.

What-

It flickered out of existence.

"What was that?"

Melody tilted her head as she thought. "A cougar. I'm sure."

"Cougar? What was that?"

Mercury was chuckling. "That, Jaune, was an aura animal. Something that Aura Wielders create."

"But-"

Weiss continued. "From the books in the library, Aura Wielders have greater control and potential uses for their aura. They are normally separated into two categories from the individual's choice: Warriors and Healers, though these can overlap so the general term Wielder is normally used. Even those with the lowest potential were capable of creating two aura animals: a Simple and a Guardian form."

"But-"

"So that's what Ozpin did with those books," Mercury mused. "And before you comment Jaune, the aura animals created by an Aura Wielder differ from a Schnee summoning in that Wielder's can possess their Simple and Guardian forms entirely."

"Mercury. You know me. All of you know me."

"I agree with the cougar."

"So do I," Melody tagged on.

"Can you help train him, Ares?" Weiss asked.

There was a brief pause. "I'm not sure. Much of an Aura Wielder's development is based on the person. All the research I did into it showed how varied each one was, most likely due to different personalities."

Pyrrha showed him her scroll.

It was definitely a big cat of some kind. Something completely white with an air of grace and power. It stood strong and confident.

"Then we'll see you at Haven, Mercury."

His teammates smiled at him.

"I look forward to it."