Happy Friday! I come bearing JNPR cuteness, Neptune's awful luck, and Phoenix trying so very hard.

30. Restless

"Ugh."

Ao Guang looked up as Nora dumped an armful of logs on the growing pile. He wagged his tail and barked hopefully at her.

"Sorry Guang. We've gotta do more a little more work before we can play, okay?"

His ears drooped. Beside him, Freya yawned. "Do we really have to carry all of this?" she asked, nudging the pile with her forepaw.

Guang flicked his tail. "That's what Ren said."

Just then, his rider emerged from the woods with even more logs. "This should be enough." He glanced at Nora. "What do you think?"

"Yes, please! This is so boring!"

Ren smiled. "It is sort of our fault they had to move and leave the old stockpile behind."

"That was a rescue mission!" Nora poked him in the forehead, making him go cross-eyed. "A super important rescue mission."

Ao Guang crouched down so that his rider could pile the logs onto the basket he carried on his back. They were much heavier than Ren, but he didn't have to fly with them, which made it a little easier. Nora was right, though—this was boring.

Freya dragged her feet on the way back, huffing at Guang whenever he jumped over a log or ran in a little circle around her. By the time they got back to camp and Ren undid the basket harness, he was vibrating in place, itching to run. He bounded between two tents, then skidded to a stop with a small squeak.

Cyclone glared at him.

Ao Guang hastily slunk away, checking behind himself every few steps. He hid behind Ren as soon as he reached him, poking his head out from behind his rider's back.

Ren reached up and scratched behind his ear. "Careful. They're letting us stay here, we don't want to start any trouble." Guang nodded frantic agreement. He definitely didn't want any trouble with Cyclone. He hadn't thought any dragon could be scarier than Mudslide and Barracuda.

Nora noticed what they were doing, snickered, and joined Guang behind Ren. When his rider tried to turn around she jumped on him, throwing both arms around his neck and hanging off him. "Hi!"

"Hello."

Guang barked expectantly and nudged Ren with his nose. Between the dragon and Nora, he almost fell over, but managed to throw out his arms and keep his balance. "Alright, we can play for a bit if you'd like."

Ren was tired, so they played fetch—he sat with his back to Freya and threw a stick, and Ao Guang and Nora competed to see who could grab it first. Guang almost always won. They only stopped when Nora dived for the stick and grabbed it just as he picked it up, leaving her dangling from it with both hands while he crossed his eyes to try and figure out why the stick had gotten so heavy all of a sudden. Both were out of breath, but that didn't stop either of them from pouncing on the other two.

Freya let Ao Guang pin her with his forepaws, yawning and flicking him lazily with her tail. Ren was knocked backwards by Nora's hug, and the two of them ended up sprawled in the grass—her laughing helplessly, him smiling a sleepy, contented smile.

Then Guang spotted Twiggy, standing between two tents and watching them. He felt like he'd just been caught stealing from another dragon's stall. There was a flush of guilt and shame, and his ears drooped before he could stop them. He'd been happy for a moment, he'd been happy because he forgot, and Twiggy always looked so sad...

Ao Guang charged at his smallest sister, half-tackling her and licking at her face. She squirmed, then batted at his head with one paw. "Hey!"

He jumped off and greeted Pyrrha, sniffing and purring quietly in her ear. Then he licked Jaune, barked at all three of them, and sat down on his haunches. Freya reached them a moment later, padding towards them with her tail dragging in the dirt. She'd been even more tired than usual, lately. Nora hugged Pyrrha and Jaune, squishing the two of them together.

There was a single golden instant where Ao Guang was convinced that Titan was about to walk up to them and complete the circle. Then came the pang, when he remembered. It had been two weeks since they'd arrived at Raven's camp, now, but those moments still hadn't gone away. They were just a little weaker every time. The realization hurt a little less... and the feeling of wholeness was a little more distant. Only an echo.

Guang shook his head, hard. He didn't want to think about that right now.

Nora glanced between Jaune and Pyrrha. "How are the chores?" she asked, suddenly unusually subdued.

Jaune shrugged. "Okay. It feels kind of... uh..."

"...Boring?"

He turned a bit pink. "Well, yeah. It's just weird to be sitting around like this. I thought we'd be doing something after Cinder..." He trailed off, rubbing at the back of his neck.

"Yeah." Nora bounced in place. "I figured by now we'd all be on another daring rescue mission, not hauling firewood for Yang's mom."

"Which, sidenote—" Jaune held up a finger. "Was that, like... did I miss something?"

Ren smiled. "No, Jaune. We were just as surprised as you."

"Oh, good!"

For a moment, the tension eased. Then Pyrrha said, "I hate waiting like this."

Twiggy whined and pressed her nose against Pyrrha's back. Jaune draped an arm over her shoulders.

Ren cleared his throat. "I think we're all a bit..."

"Antsy?" suggested Nora.

"Exactly."

"It's not just that." Pyrrha petted Twiggy's head absentmindedly, running a thumb over one of her ears. "I need to do something."

He couldn't help it. Ao Guang let out an anxious warble, his tail curling downward. Ren ran a hand along his neck to soothe him.

Pyrrha looked at the ground. "I'm sorry."

Jaune shook his head and said, so softly that Guang almost didn't hear it, "Don't be."

"Um... excuse me?" Nimbus padded closer, his tail flicking back and forth. "Sorry to bother you..."

The old water dragon turned her head, one ear rotating in his direction. Her eyes kept staring directly ahead. "You're one of the hatchlings."

"Well, um... we're not hatchlings, but..."

She snorted. "Young ones, then." Her ear twitched again. "What is your name?"

"I'm Nimbus."

"Aphotia." She extended her neck, stopping with her head several feet to his left. Then she waited patiently. Nimbus tried to touch his nose to hers, but he accidentally bumped into her jaw instead.

"Sorry!" he blurted as he pulled back.

"Don't be." Her ears perked up in interest. "Are you blind, as well?"

"Not really." Nimbus pawed at the ground, embarrassed. "One of my eyes likes to wander, so things get kind of blurry sometimes."

"You had a question for me?"

"Yes!" He fidgeted some more. "I noticed you never bump into anything walking around the camp, and I wondered if you knew any tricks?"

"Hmm." Aphotia pondered that a moment, her head tilting to one side. "It's difficult to explain. I've always had to remember where everything is, or use my paws and tail to feel around for obstacles. It's a matter of practice."

"Oh." Nimbus had never thought of using his tail to judge distances before, but he wasn't sure if it would help much. His eyesight was blurriest when he was nervous or afraid, usually when he didn't have time to feel around. "If you don't mind me asking, what do you do in the air?"

"I've only ever flown twice in my life. Once when I was very young, and my rider was still trying to hide my blindness from our teachers. And once when we fled from Haven together. I crashed badly both times."

Nimbus whimpered, horrified. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said anything!"

Aphotia flicked her tail dismissively. "I don't miss it. I'm quite good at swimming, and I prefer the water to the air anyway."

"Right..." Nimbus curled his wings around himself. "I'm still sorry."

"Don't be." She reached out with one paw until she touched his shoulder, then butted it gently with her head. "I think I have an answer to your original question. The trick is, in my experience, to know what your strengths are. There are many places under the sea where there is no light—the deepest places, underground caves that are flooded for miles. I can navigate them in a way no other water dragon ever could."

"I don't know if I have strengths like that." Nimbus felt his head fins droop slightly.

"You do," said Aphotia, with unwavering confidence. "It's only a matter of finding them." She made an amused chuffing sound. "And, if you're anything like I was at your age, drowning out the doubts that others have placed upon you."

Nimbus hesitated. "I guess... I'm pretty good at flying." Their professors had said so, even though he used to crash sometimes when everything got too blurry.

"There you are." Aphotia bobbed her head in an exaggerated nod. "And my second piece of advice is that, when you must face your weaknesses, you need to trust your rider to compliment you." She flared her wings a bit haughtily. "Mine sometimes makes himself useful by describing our surroundings. It's good to give them something to do—it lets them feel important."

Nimbus giggled, then clamped his jaws shut.

"I heard that." Aphotia flicked him gently with her tail. "Run along, youngling. If I know Vernal, you and your riders have work to do."

Storm bent her neck and strained against the ropes around her chest, heaving a wooden pole the size of a tree upright. Jade struggled beside her with her tongue hanging out. Ingle, a scarred old fire dragon with both his horns missing, held the base of the pole steady. Then he guided it into the hole that their riders had dug and let it drop. He tapped it with his paw. When it didn't even wobble, he rumbled in satisfaction.

"Okay," Ruby said, wiping sweat off her forehead. "What now?"

Ingrid, the dragon's rider, waved her hand. "Nothin'. Too late to do another one before it gets dark."

"Oh." Ruby glanced at the tops of the poles—there were three of them now, forming most of a square. She had to crane her neck all the way back. "What's this for, exactly?"

"Tents. Drape a sheet of canvas over this, and you've got one big enough for half the tribe and their dragons. Use the right color and it'll blend right into the forest. In the wintertime, if there's council riders around, we can't light a fire. So we pack everyone into a tent like this, and fire dragons like Ingle here—" she gave his hindquarters an affectionate pat, "—turn it into a damn sauna. Reeks like hell, but better than freezing to death."

"Hate winter," Ingle grumbled. "Dark all the time."

"Speaking of dark." Ingrid waved a hand. "Bugger off before somebody sees you idling around. You've done your fair share for the day."

So Storm and Jade and their riders trotted off to find somewhere to hide. It had taken a while, but eventually they'd learned the best way to survive at Raven's camp—find someone besides Vernal and Cyclone, and ask them what they needed help with. Under Ingrid's supervision they had mostly played around while their riders dug holes, then spent a few minutes hauling on logs with Ingle. That was much better than being glared at by Cyclone all day. So long as they helped out, most of the tribe were friendly enough—even some of the scarier looking dragons.

"Vernal probably wouldn't find us in the woods, would she?" Jade asked.

"I don't think so, and it's almost dinner anyway." That was an informal rule in the Branwen camp—once the sun set, work was over and everyone ate together. Mostly because Raven didn't like people lighting too many fires, in case a dragon flew overhead and they needed to go dark.

They didn't get far before Emerald started to fidget uncomfortably. "I should probably look for Mercury."

"Oh." Ruby looked at the ground. "Okay."

Storm looked at Jade. Jade nodded, then grabbed the back of Emerald's shirt and hoisted her onto her back. "Hey!"

"No," she said, and marched into the woods with Storm. Ruby tried to smother her laughter with her hand, but it didn't work all that well.

They curled up under a tree full of bright red blossoms, circling both their riders. Storm put her head in Ruby's lap and purred when she started scratching under her chin. Jade butted Emerald with her nose until she got the same treatment.

Everything was quiet and still. Storm's eyes went half-lidded, and she sighed contentedly.

Ruby broke the silence. "Hey, um... have you been avoiding me?"

Emerald jumped. "No! No, that's just—no."

Ruby, Storm, and even Jade gave her skeptical looks.

"...Maybe a little." Emerald ducked her head so that her face was mostly hidden behind Jade's ear. "I just didn't know if I should... if you'd want me around."

"Of course I do." Ruby tilted her head to one side. "You know I already forgave you, right?"

"Uh, no?"

"Well... it hurt a little bit, but I know you were trying to do what's best for dragons. And that's definitely not the council."

"...Oh." Emerald sagged against Jade's flank. "Yeah, I... I'm glad."

"I think I am too." Ruby shifted her hand to hit a spot right behind the corner of her jaw, and Storm just about melted. "It's honestly kind of a relief to be doing something, instead of everyone telling us to wait until we're older."

"So... we're okay?"

"Duh! I still wish you'd let us help earlier, but I'm not mad at you."

Emerald smiled softly, even shyly. Her mouth opened to say something, and she leaned almost imperceptibly towards Ruby.

Then her hand went still where it had been petting Jade. She flicked an ear, startled, and that jolted Emerald out of whatever trance she'd been in. The smile vanished, and she directed an intense stare towards a nearby rock.

Storm looked at Ruby, her head tilted to one side in confusion. Her rider's eyes were wide. She mouthed the words, 'Help me!' Storm warbled in alarm. How was she supposed to know how this human stuff worked?! Ruby looked from Emerald to Storm and back, her whole body vibrating anxiously. Then she lunged, grabbing Emerald around the shoulders in a tight hug.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing!" Ruby let go like she'd just been burned and started petting Storm again. "Just... um... showing you that we're okay!"

"...Right." Emerald looked away again.

Storm hadn't felt this out of her depth since she was a hatchling—why did they keep going from happy and smiling to tense and awkward? And how did they do it so fast?!

By now, Neptune was used to eating around the fire. Everyone sat near it, the whole camp arranged in a messy circle, dragons and their riders jumbled together. Even Raven would be there, sometimes talking to older rogues, or laughing at their jokes... though she always kept slightly apart from it. Aloof.

Except, apparently, sometimes Raven ate separately. When she had guests. And tonight, they were her guests.

Raven normally entertained people in their tent. Since there were almost twenty of them, counting their professors and most of CRDL, that... wasn't really an option. So Vernal led them to a quiet corner of the camp, and a smaller fire around which they all sat. Raven flicked a hand towards Professor Goodwitch.

"This is your plan. You might as well explain."

Goodwitch stood up. "Your dragons have all been making excellent progress in combat training." Vernal snorted, and Raven shot her a quelling look. "With that said... I don't know what Cinder has planned, but it's going to involve confronting the council directly at some point. You are in dire need of real combat experience. Normally this would wait until your third year, but we don't have the luxury of time. And considering recent events, I suspect there are quite a few low level Grimm infestations that aren't being dealt with."

Professor Port beamed at them. "That's where you come in!"

"Wait." Weiss raised an eyebrow. "We're being hunted by the council... and you want us to go around checking mission boards?"

"No need for that." Raven picked up a small stack of papers and dropped it at Port's feet. "Settlements this far from the kingdoms aren't picky about who gets rid of the Grimm, as long as it gets done. We have an understanding with a few of them. They sell us supplies and don't get chatty about it, we make their woods a little less dangerous."

"We picked up some kiddie missions for you," said Vernal. "The kind you hardly need dragons for in the first place."

"Gather round!" Port flicked through the fliers. "Oh-ho! I haven't seen a Beringel in years!"

Goodwitch pinched the bridge of her nose. "That is not a low level mission, Peter."

"Ah, yes. Well..."

She took several mission fliers from him and skimmed them. "One aquatic Grimm," she said, "one amphibious... we'll need to split the water dragons."

Neptune had a sudden sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"I'll take one group," Port said, "and you can ride along with another. That still leaves two more... Unless we break them into teams of five?"

Raven's lip curled. "If you want them to get combat experience with those, you'll need at least four groups. Vernal and I can each lead one." Hearing that, Vernal grimaced.

Things got very loud very quickly, as everyone started clamoring over groups. Neptune mostly just listened. Then Goodwitch came over to him with a pair of fliers and a look on her face that was almost sympathetic. The sinking feeling turned into full-blown dread.

"Mister Vasilias. Unfortunately, there are only two water dragons in this group that would be able to give chase to a Grimm under water."

Oh no.

"I'll be taking Mister Lie and Mister Thrush to deal with the aquatic Grimm, and I'd prefer to work with you as well."

Neptune could hear his own heartbeat. "I can't... I mean..."

Raven had been listening. "If you're going to be squeamish about combat, you chose the wrong line of work," she said, looking at him like he was something distasteful. "But it's the water dragon that needs to be there, not you. It doesn't really matter who rides her."

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Beside him, he felt Sun tense slightly. All of a sudden he knew he was about to offer. And that... Neptune couldn't stand that. Couldn't make him leave Huo, couldn't do that to Nymph, couldn't risk him getting hurt and it being all his fault.

"I'll do it!" The words came out in a rush. "I'll go with you."

Goodwitch gave him a smile he could swear was approving. "Excellent. I look forward to continuing your education."

"Muh. Minn-nite."

Yang had never felt the need to describe a dragon as cryptic before now. Phoenix hadn't explained anything—she'd just jabbed her tail at the woods and, if she'd interpreted it right, told her to go there at midnight. Now the moon was out, and she was standing next to Fang with both hands shoved into her pockets. She shivered.

Somewhere in the trees to her right, there was a brief scuffle. A harsh whisper, too quiet to make out. Yang glanced at Fang. He bared his teeth and jerked his head towards the source of the noise. She gave him a thumbs-up and led the way. They circled around a massive oak tree. Stopped. Stared.

Phoenix stood there with her back to them, her neck fully extended. Her teeth clamped down on the back of Raven's shirt. Slowly, she started to pull—

"Let go!" Raven snapped, bopping Phoenix sharply on the nose. She reared up, and Raven's boots left the ground for a moment. Seams popped. Then the dragon dropped her a few paces in front of Yang and neatly blocked her escape with her body.

Yang opened her mouth. Closed it.

"Talk," Phoenix said, nudging her rider. Raven shot her a venomous look.

"I'm going to bed," Yang decided. She turned around—and Phoenix darted forward, barring her way with a forepaw.

"Nno! Talk."

Yang looked at Fang. He shifted from foot to foot, his eyes wide and slightly panicked. "Help me," she hissed. He warbled uncertainly. Then Phoenix barked at him once, and he backed away.

Traitor.

Phoenix coiled around them both, forming a wall with her own body. Raven stood there, one hand braced against her hip. Yang stood there, her arms folded. Neither said a word.

The dragon growled and poked Raven expectantly with her tail.

"Meddling reptile."

"Phoenix, please let us leave," Yang said. She was doing her best not to shout—the dragon probably had good intentions, but this was not happening now. Or ever, if she could help it.

Phoenix glared at Raven. "Talk!" Another jab with her tail. "Ssay... ssay..."

Raven grimaced. "Alright! Alright." Her lips pressed together, like she'd just bitten into something sour. "You... you have a place here. If you want it."

Yang stared at her. "Seriously?"

"Yes."

"No, no." She put up a hand. "I mean... seriously? Why the hell would I want to stay here?"

"You found me—"

"I wasn't looking for you!" A nudge from Fang made her drop her voice just as she was about to break into a shout. "I wasn't... you just show up out of nowhere, and you think that's okay? It's not okay! Where were you when I kept asking Qrow? Where were you when I actually needed you?"

"You didn't."

"Excuse me?!"

"You didn't need me." Raven gestured at their surroundings. "These people? Dragons? They need something I can give them. You..." She trailed off. Phoenix prodded her with her tail. "Stop that."

"You're right." Yang shoved her hands in her pockets. "I don't need you."

"Except to protect your ragtag little band. To train and teach you." Phoenix whacked Raven's shoulder. "I said, stop that."

"I have friends for that. If we weren't welcome here, we'd figure something else out. But it's worth putting up with you if Ruby and the others get somewhere to stay out of it."

Raven didn't flinch. "You're young. You've never had to face the real world before. I can help—"

"The real world." Her tone was flat. It felt like every word was stretching a gigantic rubber band, the rubber thinning, ready to snap. "Yeah. Never heard of it. It's not like we've lost anyone, or anything. Not like you have." She sneered a little on the last words.

Raven finally reacted. "You know nothing."

"And whose fault is that?!"

"I lost the two best friends I've ever had, along with my brother, to Ozpin's impotent scheming. You have no idea—"

"Please. You brought that on yourself."

"I had a responsibility to fight against the council!"

"And you chose to leave them out of it!" Yang ran a hand through her hair. "You keep talking like it was this horrible, inevitable thing, but it was you! Dad and Uncle Qrow hate the council just as much as you do."

"They sided with Ozpin."

"Ozpin protects dragons!"

"Only when it's convenient. Only when he can still keep his precious position at Beacon."

"He did everything he could!"

"Cold comfort for the dragons that were just too difficult to help." She jabbed a finger towards the camp. "There are dozens of them right over there. The lost causes. He didn't think it was worth the effort, but I do."

That stopped her. She remembered Tornado, the horrible howling as every dragon on the campus thrashed and fought to save him, and Ozpin just stood there...

Fang pawed at the ground. "Nuh. Nneed... both."

Raven glared at him. "What?"

"Ozz... Ruh. Rrroww-guh. Nneed..." Fang huffed, frustrated.

"Together." Yang felt her blood heating up again. "He means you could have worked together."

"That spineless—"

"Bullshit!"

"You—"

"No! That is bullshit!" Yang stalked forward and waved a finger in Raven's face. She slapped it away and glared.

"Don't think you can talk to me like—"

"I'll talk to you however I want! You keep calling Ozpin spineless when he died protecting us. And Fang's right, you could have worked with him. Someone inside the system trying to make it better... and someone outside it to protect everyone else."

"The old man—" Fang growled, drowning out whatever it was she was trying to say.

"You know what I think? I think you wanted an excuse."

"An excuse?"

"Yeah." Yang set her jaw. "It's hard for Uncle Qrow. I don't know what it was like, not really, but I know he had to work really hard to get where he is now. And you? You never even tried. I think meeting Summer... dad... me... it scared you. And your big crusade was just an excuse to get the hell away from them, instead of dealing with it."

It felt good to say it. Felt even better, in a horribly sick sort of way, to see that she'd finally managed to hurt Raven.

"You have no idea..."

"Nope. Neither do you." Yang turned away and patted Fang's neck. "Come on." Then, over her shoulder, "Next time you actually face something that scares you, instead of running away? Then you can lecture me about the real world."

Phoenix whined—a soft, sad sound that followed Yang all the way back to the camp. Raven didn't say a word.