UGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH Army is making my life difficult to be quite frank. I continuously have no time, less than two days off before I have to go back in for another five. This has killed my writing schedule and it sucks. Well anyways, I got my A Level results back! YAAAAAAAAAAY Jk it wasn't that good. Ya'll can probably hazard a guess where I live from that snippet of information.

So here's my results: 4 As, 1 B, 1 D

Overall 81/90 points. Some people will understand what that means.

Welp, not as great as I'd hoped, but not that bad either. Either way, it means that I'm freed from the stress of worrying about results and now instead I have to worry about University applications.

Chapter 29

Mountain Glenn

The four girls sat, huddled together around the fire, staring expectantly at Jaye. He sat on his bedroll, facing them, head propped up on his cheek, and flipped a knife in his hand (Seriously, where does he get them from?). Jaye sighed.

'It's a long story, are you sure you want to hear it?' He asked the four eager faces, and they nodded rapidly. Ruby and Yang were eating from a large popcorn bag, and Blake was swiping bits from time to time. He sighed again, staring disbelievingly at the bowl of popcorn, scratching the back of his head.

'Really? Popcorn?' He asked, and the two sisters shrugged.

'It's entertainment! Sort of! That means popcorn!' Ruby declared, shoving another handful into her mouth. Yang nodded vigorously, her hand buried in the bag. Jaye sighed again, slapping a palm into his face.

'Well, whatever. Do what you want I guess. Where do I start?'

No seriously, where? It's a long story, but it's not that bad I guess. This covers all 19, going 20 years of my life, and you guys are going to have to sit through this.

*Clears throat* So, nearly 20 years ago, in the beginning of time, the benevolent me was born, for all the world to see! And thus began the dawn of the universe.

Kidding. I'll cut to the chase. I was an assassin. I killed people. Now I don't. The end.

Yeah sorry, that wasn't funny. My early life was nothing special. Was born pretty late in the year. Grew up in a pretty strict family, had a pretty boring life. Two siblings; older brother, younger sister. I studied, went through this horrible cycle of initially bad grades that only improved at the end of each year when I could muster up the willpower to study. A lot of people attribute that to my birth month. I think I'm just highly motivated to do nothing. I was a pretty normal kid, no one of any concern. One thing though; unlike the rest of my family, I had an incredible battle sense. Started martial arts around 8, eventually training in nearly 13 different styles over the next 5 years. I specialized mainly in a few, the ones I liked best basically, weaving in moves and tactics from the other styles that I could apply. I had a pretty strong talent for combat, and fighting was incredibly easy for me. Well, easy isn't the right word, more like quick to pick up, but you get the idea. It was fairly simple for me to get good at hand to hand combat, but I'm honestly a bit of a coward. I like to stay on the safe side, so I learned to fight with sword and shield. Parents played a part in that too. They understood the need for combat ability, but they felt better if I had a blade and shield between me and my enemies. Kept me a little further from enemy weapons. Picked up dual sword combat afterwards when I felt I needed a better offensive option. In the end, I still flourished more in the hand to hand side, but to appease my parents, I just stuck with weapons.

I first entered Signal Academy when I was 14, and I stayed there for a year. Built my swords, Excalibur and Caliburn, and my shield, Hesperides, there. Fought the other kids and the older ones, ending with a record of 33 wins, two draws, and zero losses. In the end it bored me, so I left. Or so I tell everyone. Or at least, everyone who's bothered to ask.

Truth is, my parents died on the way back from a business trip. Grimm attack. Crashed the plane. Pretty brutal but…at least I wasn't there to witness it. That sucked. I kinda hated my parents. But still loved them, cuz well…you know what I mean right? You love em but you still hate em? Meh, they're parents, what do you expect? Well, either way, the main reason I still fight with weapons is sort of a remembrance of them. They let me build and customize them anyway. Named them myself too, since my mom nicknamed me her little "King Arthur". Anyways, not the point.

That was a shocker, you know? I was pretty torn up about it. They were well to do, hardworking people. We weren't rich but…we had more than others did. They held pretty important jobs, but not important enough to protect them from Grimm attacks I guess. Funny thing is, even after the news came, I didn't really think about it much. I always felt like I'd come back during summer break and meet them. I came home to an empty house.

My siblings? Taken, by the government. Three kids, living by themselves? Course they wouldn't let that happen. So, we were shipped off to foster homes. As for our inheritance, a couple of nasty legal shitbags got in the way. We had no idea what we were doing, and after dumbly signing a few papers, we had nothing left. Our estate, my parents' life savings? Gone. My guess is that we were on their potential list of people to swindle. They probably placed us on the list since our parents had jobs that would probably get them killed in "accidents". I couldn't prove anything of course, so in the end they got away with it. I ditched my foster family, and took to the streets. Anything was better than having to call random strangers "mother", "father", and "sister".

I lived on the streets for a month before I met Kamina. He was a weird kid, a year younger than me, but we had a helluva lot of fun together. We did everything we could to survive. Went and saw my siblings a bunch of times too. From afar, didn't want them knowing I was on the streets. They seemed pretty okay with their new homes, so I'm happy for them I guess.

When I was 16, we joined the Faction. It wasn't uncommon for dirty street rats to be picked up to be used as messengers, or runners for drugs or other merchandise that would be too risky to be brought out. We were supposed to run those jobs, and we did for a few weeks. Then, one of our handlers pissed me off, and in the ensuing fight, we killed him. That would usually have gotten us executed, but they changed their mind when the grandmaster saw us fight. In the end, Kamina and I were introduced to a member of the Faction to work with. That was how we first met Indigo. She was 19 at the time, and had built up a solid reputation as both an assassin and an information broker. She was a cunning person, and under her, we flourished. Shortly after, Damian was picked up too, and placed on our team when he killed an assassin for the Faction. They valued our skills, and our unique and powerful semblances, and in the end, we became the top ranked team in the Faction in the span of a few months, simply by taking on an impossible job that would have gotten any other team killed. We stayed a team for two years, amassing money and infamy amongst other crime syndicates and other teams. Went to see my siblings in that time too. Helped them out with some financial issues, and a few obnoxious gang "protection" pushers that thought they were easy pickings. Safe to say, their bodies were never found. Unfortunately, I never found out if my parents' deaths were really an accident, or something else. I guess I'll never know, but it isn't going to stop me from trying to find out.

We were big shots, we were the best. Indigo and I had gotten together about four months after we first met, and we bought a house together after the first year of our partnership in the Faction. I was 17, she was 20. We lived together, happy, for the next year, and our team stayed strong. It seemed like nothing could break us.

Then it all fell apart.

Two years into our team and new life, in the beginning of my 18th year, Kamina had gotten a tip from one of our past jobs about a deal with Jacques Schnee that involved Faunus labor. As members of the Faction, it wasn't our job to care unless Schnee hired us, which he didn't. But Kamina was soft, and easily angered. He went after Schnee, alone, and thanks to that was caught and sent to the dust mines. We only discovered this after a week of searching, and by then the trail had gone cold. In November of my 18th year, almost a year later, we finally found a lead on his whereabouts, but it was too late. Once we'd gotten to the mine, it had been nearly destroyed, and half the slaves had escaped, with a few dying in the blast. Kamina was on the list of deceased. He was gone. Or so we thought.

It broke us. That was the trigger that started it all. Damian was the first to go. He left the moment Kamina was pronounced dead, moving on to other branches of the Faction across the continents to God knows where. I left the Faction after that. I couldn't take it. In January of my 19th year, I left. The house, the team, Indigo, everything. It was too much for me to handle. I faked my death, and just…sort of…roamed. I had money, so why not? I was attacked, of course, when my faked death was discovered, and assassins were sent after me. I kept on the move, just running and fighting. I went all the way to Atlas and back. Ten months after, in about November last year, I accidentally slipped up, and got caught by Ozpin in downtown Vale when I stole about a thousand credits from a cashier when he wasn't looking. I had no idea he'd had his eye on me all the way.

I knew who he was of course, and what he was capable of. I wasn't sure I could beat him, so it was either come here or go to juvie, so not like I had much of a choice. So, I came here, and my time since then was spent with you guys. I was still being hunted though, and they knew I was at Beacon. Of course, they couldn't get in and risk their current state of tolerance with the Huntsmen.

So, we struck a deal. A deal where I would fight a champion of their choosing. If I lost, I died. If I won, they'd leave me alone. Of course, it wasn't an actual match, it was just a way of trying to find out if their current best and brightest could tough it in the ring with me. They were satisfied with his performance, and they agreed to leave me alone, aside from maybe the odd job or two. They gave me a marker. A marker is proof, signed with both my blood, and the blood of the grandmaster. This binds the soul, and is honored regardless of allegiance, or motives. It ensured my…somewhat conditional freedom, and ensured the safety of those I hold dear. Including the four of you.

So that leads us to today. Now, Kamina is a hero amongst the Faunus. He fights for them, and destroys labor camps and illegal slave trade. He stays in that violent, bloody world because he has something to fight for. I admire him, honestly. That fight put him through hell, but he's still fighting. I wish I had that kind of courage.

Indigo? She's still an information broker and part-time assassin for the Faction. Rest assured, she won't be hired to take out any of the five of us. The marker ensures that. For anyone else, well, they're fair game, but I doubt anyone else here is important enough to be kidnapped or assassinated. Well, maybe Weiss. But don't be too worried, ice queen. She chose to stay there, even when I left. I'm grateful to her, don't get me wrong. I wouldn't have survived this long without her. But she chose to remain in that world because it's all she knows. Far as I know, she still cries herself to sleep every night, the faces of those she's killed come to haunt her as she sleeps. I loved that about her. It made her seem so much more…human. She was everything I needed, everything I could ask for. But now, she's everything I'm trying to escape from. You can call this an excuse, you can call it running away, but I believe that this is the right choice. At least for now, she's not ready to move on from that place. She doesn't believe that she has a place anywhere else except there. It was the first place she found acceptance, and in sort of a weird, twisted way, it's dear to her.

Then again, I could say the same about myself. They'll stay with me, for as long as I live, as a constant reminder of all that I was. I'll remember my time with my team fondly, regardless of how they are now. But now, they're something that I cannot live with, something I cannot accept. They go against everything I want now, and that's why I've chosen to stay with the four of you.

'Any questions?' Jaye asked the four girls, staring wide-eyed at him. Ruby had bunched her fists under her chin, staring starry-eyed at him. Yang was finishing off the popcorn, Blake was adjusting her bow, and Weiss was giving him a look of disbelief. She held up a hand, touching a finger to her forehead.

'Okay, let me get this straight.' She said, rubbing her temples. Jaye turned to her curiously, and she let her hands fall to her lap. 'You were part of a rich family, your parents died, you got swindled of your money, you ditched your foster home, joined the criminal underground, killed people for a living, your best friend died but not really, you left Indigo, and now you're living an upstanding life as a model citizen?'

'Not exactly how I'd put it, but yes, that just about sums it up.'

'And you expect us to believe that?'

'Yeah, pretty much.'

Weiss stared at him incredulously. Jaye shrugged, leaning over to steal a handful of popcorn before Yang dumped the rest into her stomach. Ruby continued watching in awe, and Blake tied off her bow with a flourish.

'It does add up though.' Blake interjected, making some final adjustments to her hair ornament. 'His skill in battle does suggest a greater experience in life or death situations than we have. And Indigo has in part confirmed certain areas of this story herself. The existence of the "Faction", their team, the premature declaration of Kamina's death, as well as their relationship, to name a few.'

'Then that makes him a criminal.' Weiss crossed her arms haughtily, turning to face the dark-haired boy. 'Shouldn't we be reporting him to the police?'

Yang shrugged non-committally. 'If we did that, we'd have to turn in Blake too. The White Fang ARE technically criminals you know.'

Weiss held up a hand carelessly, turning her cheek. 'That and this are entirely separate matters. Blake has proved her loyalty to us. Jaye has not. In fact, he has brought more trouble to the team than Blake ever did.'

Yang stared at the white-haired girl in disbelief, and Ruby turned to them nervously.

'But he has, hasn't he?' She cut in softly. The girls turned to her, and she shrank in on herself a little. Finding her courage, Ruby sat up a little straighter, nervously twiddling her thumbs.

'Jaye helped Jaune. He even asked me to talk to Jaune during the incident with Cardin. He also helped out during the Ursa attack and saved Jaune's life!' She defended, and Yang nodded in agreement.

'Yeah! He even helped us figure out Torchwick's plans! AND he fought with us against the giant robot! And on top of that, we just fought through a whole horde of grimm, alongside him.' She said, putting her foot down. 'I think he's more than proved himself.'

Weiss rolled her eyes. 'True. But he's also caused assassins to attack us, placed tension between members of the team, hid the truth from us, has an incredibly hard to believe backstory, shady connections, a questionable personality, not to mention the potential DANGER that comes from having someone of his background around us, AND he's barely told us anything about himself!'

'Uh, what did I just do?' Jaye cut in, and Weiss whirled on him.

'After a LOT of prodding! You didn't even do it willingly, neither have you really worked with us as a team! We barely know anything about you!' She yelled, jabbing a finger in his face, turning to the girls. 'Does anyone even know what his favorite color is?'

'It's blue.' Jaye piped in, and Weiss shot him a glare. Blake cleared her throat loudly.

'Umm, actually, aside from the assassins part, I've basically caused all the same problems as well.' She said, rubbing her knuckles. 'I don't see why you have to treat him differently.'

Weiss scoffed, crossing her arms, pacing around the fire. She sat down on her bedroll in a huff, crossing her legs over each other.

'There's a difference between you and him. The events, while the same, are on an entirely different scale, and you're far more readable than he is.' She picked at her nails haughtily. 'He was an assassin. You were an activist. He's part of the criminal underworld. You were part of a…misguided organization for justice. You caused tension because we were worried about you. He caused tension by beating Yang up. Need I continue?'

Yang raised her hands defensively. 'Look, it's all said and done. None of us are holding anything against him. One way or another, we're working together for the next four years. So, we've got four years to get to know him.'

She threw an arm over the silent boy, ruffling his hair. Jaye looked skeptically at the girls, and Ruby thrust a finger into the air.

'Well, I think that just about covers everything! Your fearless leader hereby declares this case to be closed!' She grinned, and Zwei barked in agreement, hopping into Jaye's lap. He scratched the dog behind the ears, and jumped as Doctor Oobleck zipped out of nowhere into the middle of the group.

'Very good children, you've all finished with your evening meal. Now, off to bed all of you! Ruby, if you would.' He declared, zipping back out of sight. Ruby resumed her position beside a hole in the wall, giving her an overwatch over the building and its surroundings. Jaye kicked his feet up onto a nearby rock, throwing his hands behind his head. He stared up at the ceiling, watching the dust and rubble trickle down in the light of the fire. He glanced over at Yang, her blonde hair glimmering in the firelight, before turning his eyes to the flame.

The tongues of fire danced wildly, flickering in the slight breeze that blew through every so often. The wisps of fire curled about each other, devouring the wood like termites. He tossed another stick in, watching the sparks fly. He summoned a little ice into his hand, curling the cold air around his fingertips. He watched as the ice began to melt, slowly, dripping onto his gloves, as the fire danced in the background. He glanced back at Yang again, returning his gaze to the ice dancing in his palm. He gathered his aura in his palm, and a crystalline figure shot up. Little ice Yang stood in his palm, hands on her hips, and he watched it quietly. He felt water run down his hands, and watched as the figure began to melt in his palm. He held still, letting it fall, until the figure was gone.

Clenching his fist, he rolled over, and tried to get some sleep, the warmth of the fire brushing against his cold back.

There you go. Now everything's been laid out on the table for you. Hope ya'll understand the characters better, and I hope you'll enjoy it as we continue!