Bit shorter but I hope you all enjoy it!

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Chapter 24

"You look like you've been up all night." Qrow had only just entered Ozpin's office but the dark circles under the older man's eyes made the lack of sleep rather obvious. "I could say the same to you." came the response along with a good natured smile.

"After hearing what Jaune created? Been flying all night." Qrow gave a shrug, the life of a Huntsman had a tendency to rob one of countless hours of sleep. No point in getting upset over it. "I take it that's the same reason you're finishing what I can only assume to be your ninth cup of coffee?"

Ozpin chuckled, "Unfortunately not, the situation has changed." he took a sip from his mug "And I'll have you know this is only my Fifth cup." Qrow could only mimic his mentor's chuckle, of course the "situation changed", wouldn't be much of a situation if it remained static.

"So what's happened now?" Qrow could guess it had something to do with Jaune or the White-Fang assassin he turned into Grimm. It was not a comforting thought knowing that Jaune could spread his… condition. Was it really a good idea to let him be living around other students? Maybe that was unfair, Oz still seemed to trust the kid so he would let it go. For now.

"Take a look." Ozpin said while handing him a scroll with a video of Jaune, it was a short video but it gave Qrow a good idea of what was happening. "I take it by the voices in the back that this was not one of your drones recordings?" He didn't need an answer, this was clearly an amatuear recording which meant there was a good chance it was already posted online.

"Any idea how many people have seen it already?" It had only been one day, maybe they could still cover it up somehow. Call it a hoax or something, maybe some "secret" trailer for a movie that'll be cancelled before coming out. Anything would be better than the public becoming aware of the existence of human-like Grimm, or the potential for infiltration they possessed.

"Well the CCTV has already contacted me concerning a video they received late last night." Qrow sighed heavily at Ozpin's words, of course the media already had it. Maybe that was for the better though, even if they had a bad habit of sticking their noses where they didn't belong it wasn't like they were idiots. They edited every video given to the public and every speech was careful written to shine the best light possible on the hunters, all in hopes of counteracting negativity.

"I'm thinking of having Jaune appear with me in the interview." Ozpin said while taking his scroll back, showing no reaction to the dumbfounded look Qrow knew would be spreading on his face. "Seriously? I thought the whole idea was to keep him hidden?"

"To keep his Grimm side hidden" Ozpin corrected, "Jaune himself is in an incredibly unique situation, a situation that admittedly could make our work much harder for us." Qrow nodded in agreement, that much was obvious.

"But also has the potential to be not just a great Huntsman, but a powerful symbol for Hunter's to rally behind." Qrow raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised "You really think he's ready for that kind of responsibility?" The kid was tough sure but he was still just that, a kid.

The silver haired man chuckled again "Oh goodness no, maybe one day but not today. All I mean to do with this interview is settle some public worries while introducing a talented young Huntsman to the public." That made sense, showing the public new Hunters helped keep the image of safety even if the Grimm tore at their numbers regularly.

"So does that mean you don't need me today?" Qrow asked hopefully, would he finally be able to get a drink at his favorite bar? A man should never have to go weeks without being able to visit his second home, just isn't right.

"Well actually, I have to head straight to the CCTV station which means Glynda will be busy here in my place" Ozpin stood up and tucked his scroll away. "and Jaune seemingly decided to spent the night hunting grimm in the Emerald forest. He has yet to return."

Qrow held back his disappointment just barely, seeing exactly where the silver tongued bastard was going. "I'll see if I can't find the little brat and get him to the news station for you." Then he could finally get his drink.

"Perfect, I appreciate it Qrow" Ozpin said with a kind smile while he made his way to the elevator. "Oh and could you bring the rest of team RASY after you've dropped off Jaune? Thank you again." The smile continued just as the door closed, leaving Qrow to sigh dramatically to himself.

"Never gonna get my drink…" he mumbled to himself while reaching for his flask, only to find it empty.

"...Gonna be one of those days."

\-/

"Why didn't you tell me it was morning?! We're going to be late!" Jaune cried out while bounding through the Emerald forest, praying he didn't have Miss Goodwitch first period. He was confident he could make up some excuse to Port or Oobleck for being late but everytime he tried to with Glynda he found his words shrivel and die under her glare.

You were the one who wandered into a cave, can't really tell the time with no sun, stars or the moon. Whitback sounded surprisingly calm considering how much it enjoyed class, being the little information sponge it was Jaune had thought it would hate being late.

"When did yo-" He stopped as aura infused flesh made contact with his shield, Whitback having noticed the movement and raised the defense in the knick of time.

"Who?!" Jaune expected to see a White-fang assassin with some kind of camouflage semblance but was surprised to see one of his classmates. How he failed to sense the teen was beyond Jaune, especially with the strip of bright pink acting like a beacon in the boy's black hair.

Ren's stance changed the instant their eyes met, his hands coming up to show empty palms. "I am. Unbelievably sorry." His tone was calm but filled with remorse "I could hear the movement but couldn't sense your Aura and assumed you were Grimm."He explained with an oddly monotone voice for the embarrassed look on his face.

Jaune tilted his head slightly "You couldn't sense my Aura?" Didn't that mean he knew something was wrong? Wouldn't that mean Ren knew he wasn't a normal student? So why was he just standing their with the same neutral expression he held in class?

"Not even this close, honestly I didn't expect to find a first year able to hide their presence better than Blake. Impressive." He offered with a small smile.

"Thanks…" Jaune honestly had no idea it was even possible to hide your Aura, did Whitback know? The quiet snickering in the back of his head said it most likely knew very well. '...I really needed to pay more attention in class.' He thought to himself with a sigh.

"Mind if I ask what the rush was for?" Ren broke the silence before it had a chance to stretch on, reminding Jaune why he was barreling through the forest in the first place. "Oh right! Do you know what time it is?!" he asked before a lightbulb flickered on in his head. "Wait… Why aren't you in first period?"

"Didn't you hear? first period was cancelled, you should've gotten a message on your scroll." Jaune quickly reached for his scroll, sliding it free from it's slot in his armor and pressing the home button. "No battery… Of course." he let out a frustrated sigh, of course it would die without having a chance to charge all night.

As much of a relief not being late was, Jaune now had nothing to do but go back to his dorm where he assumed best case his team was waiting to question him. Worst case he'd find himself without a team and possibly in much bigger trouble with Ozpin and/or James

"Thanks for the heads up." Jaune muttered while continuing on his way to the school, his thoughts feeling like they were knitting themselves into a knot. He knew the only option he had was to simply go talk to his team, to go and talk with Yang, but he was afraid of how she might look at him.

The look she gave him kept playing in his head, she was afraid of him, thought he was a monster. Would she always look at him with that sickly sweet scent emanating from her? Would anybody do any different if they knew what he really was? He wasn't so sure.

Even Weiss had that scent of fear about her, though not as powerful as Yang's it still encouraged the idea that people would naturally fear Jaune for what he was. Could he really blame them?

Thinking back, he could also remember being afraid of Whitback when they first met. He stopped just at the edge of the forest, his thoughts keeping him from moving forward.

Ruby was afraid too, and so was James, the two people who had accepted him naturally wanted to be afraid when they first met. But just like he had learned to see Whitback for the living being it was, so too had James and Ruby learned to accept and even rely on him for the asset he could be.

Didn't that mean Yang could learn to accept him as well? Ruby had done so in moments but James took years, it only made sense that Yang would be different too right?

Nodding to himself, Jaune looked forward and nearly fell backwards with a surprised yelp coming from him. "Morning kiddo, ya miss me?" Qrow said with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face inches from the startled Jaune.

"What is it people and sneaking up on me today? Gonna give me a heart attack…" It took Jaune a moment to calm himself while Qrow continued to laugh to himself. "Maybe you just have bad luck?" He offered with a shrug.

"Yea, only when you're around… So what are you doing at beacon? Thought you were supposed to be on some super secret mission or something." Jaune asked while attempting to continue towards the school, stopping when Qrow stepped in front of him.

"I'm at beacon because a certain Grimm Hybrid that shall remain nameless was drawing the attention of a certain terrorist organization that shall also remain nameless." Jaune turned away, embarrassment and shame keeping him from meeting the older man's eyes.

"And now I am here in front of you because the situation I was expecting to walk into has changed so drastically that I'm starting to believe you're somehow deathly allergic to a boring day." His tone was more chastising than actually angry but it made Jaune feel like a child none-the-less.

"Sorry…" He mumbled awkwardly, what else could he say? He knew the situation had spiraled but he didn't know how to stop it, he tried to do the right thing and apparently only succeeding in making everyone's lives much harder. "I tried my best…"

"Cheer up kiddo" Qrow ruffled Jaune's hair "You stopped a disaster from happening last night, had you not been there who knows how bad things would have got." Jaune could only shake his head, had he not been in Vale to begin with the whole situation could have been avoided.

"People died before I could stop it. Someone's family didn't come home last night because of mistakes I made…" He hated thinking about it but the thoughts continued to circle around his head. What if he was faster? What if he could have convinced Lucy to stay before she ran?

What if he had just killed her?

"Enough of that, it's impossible to know the consequences of your actions until after they come to bite you in the ass. Trust me" He pulled a flask from his pocket, giving it a shake and frowning before continuing without drinking. "Sometimes no matter how hard you try, things just don't go to plan."

"... I know…" Jaune mumbled, somehow feeling both a little better and so much worse.

"Now come on, I didn't come here just to make you feel bad." Qrow said while placing his flask back before turning and motioning for Jaune to follow "you have somewhere you need to be."

"Huh?" Jaune responded smartly, following Qrow past the school towards the bullheads meant to take students over the forest into downtown Vale. "That little stunt you pulled last night drew more than a bit of attention." What he had done last night? He didn't expose his own Grimm aspects so what was the issue?

"Are Grimm attacks so uncommon in the city?" Jaune asked curiously, of course what had happened was a tragedy but he never convinced himself it wasn't happening everywhere on a regular basis. It was just much easier to push into the back of his mind when it wasn't happening around him.

"Most Grimm can't pass for a person and appear right inside the city." Qrow handed Jaune his scroll, a video of him fighting Lucy playing on it. "I guess some of the bystanders were recording me." he failed to see the big deal, he had personally seen Grimm under the sea that could tear any Hunter to pieces, why was this one so dangerous?

"You're not looking at the big picture." Qrow insisted while they made their way into an almost empty bullhead, the pilot being the only other person on board who recognized the older Huntsman and took off without a word. "What do you mean bigger picture? There are loads stronger Grimm than Lucy was!"

"It wasn't the strongest Grimm sure, and you even proved that by slaying it." He offered with something of a softer expression, before it quickly hardened again "But the average person hasn't seen anything stronger than your average Hunter. They haven't seen something they couldn't recognize immediately as Grimm, something that makes them look over their shoulder and second guess their neighbors."

"Something that makes people afraid." Jaune realized what Qrow was getting at, even if Lucy wasn't the strongest, it was still adept at wielding the Grimm's most powerful weapon whether she knew it or not. "...But that still doesn't explain where we're going." Jaune pointed out, somehow feeling worse about how the previous evening had gone.

"Well if you think of killing Grimm as the "fun" part of being a Hunter, then damage control would have to be the "shit" part." Jaune only tilted his head, unsure what damage control meant and only further confused by the unsure expression's Qrow had.

"Negativity was produced among the public and it's the duty of the Hunters to mitigate it as much as possible…" He tried to explain as best as possible "Even if it means jumping through some hoops in the process."

"What are these "Hoops"." Jaune narrowed his gaze at the man, not caring if he could actually see it but trusting he would feel it, somehow. The sarcastic drunkard was never unsure of what he was saying, what could get him so tongue tied now?

"Have you ever wanted to be on tv?"

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And so Ozpin continue's his planning with new pawns on the board and Qrow struggles to find a moments rest among the machinations of the two immortals of remnant. Honestly speaking I felt like this chapter was much longer than it turned out to be, not really sure why but despite not a whole lot happening I'm quite pleased with this chapter. Please do not hesitate to tell me if I got some rose tinted glasses or something and this isn't up to par! Not much else to say, If you have any questions, comments, concerns or compliments please leave me a review! Enjoy your morning/evening!

Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh, Awesome to hear! Like i've said before I still don't have friends who like rwby to make sure im loyal so it helps a lot to hear I'm doing good! Strange about the mother thing but make's sense such a long story would have some inconsistencies, I will probably try to keep it with her considering summer her true mom (calling her mom and all) but still have an intense interest in finding out why Raven did what she did. Thank you so much for the lexicon! despite the years on this site I don't read a whole bunch so my internal knowledge on the community here is very limited. It's also a relief to hear my characters or COC (which sounds like the one I'm trying to go for ie: stretching characters personalities in new ways via external stimuli). Sorry for the ramble, hope you liked this chapter too! Hope I continue to hear form ya!

KiseKhan, Encourages me greatly to continue when I hear someone enjoys my work! thank you so much! And I will very much keep that in mind because you are very much right in assuming James knows that about Jaune! But i feel Jaune give's most people that impression without James needing to emphasis it, that being said if there ends up being a situation where someone is judging Jaune before meeting him in front of James I feel words will definitely be said! Thanks again for the review and confirmation, hope you continue to enjoy my work!