Captain's Log:

Oh, where do I even begin? Well, I suppose that I should start by bringing up how last week the woman that Tock blinded just showed up at Beacon without warning and I don't think I need to explain how that turned out. Honestly, it's nothing short of a miracle how no one got hurt though not due to a lack of trying from Maria and I can't blame her, I don't think anyone would be able to remain calm if they were in her shoes. It's just mind-boggling to think that all of this is essentially a literal bloody misunderstanding between two people who both thought the other was a villain but oh no, that would be too easy, too simple to understand!

As it turned out misunderstanding was a part of some kind of greater conspiracy against… Vale? Beacon? Huntsman? I don't know! I'm still trying to figure out how did a branch of the White Fang become involved! And of course, I can't forget the mercs or how they claimed to be working for Salem which is yet another thing that I'm completely clueless about just like Ruby had no idea that her eyes apparently have superpowers! Why do silver-colored eyes have powers in the first place and how are they different from Semblances!? Why and how did Ruby's dad know about those powers and why didn't he tell her anything until now? Do slivered eye warriors need to be trained by other slivered eye warriors? Is that why Maria was brought here to Beacon!? Why are they being hunted in the first place?

I don't know and it's frustrating. The worst part is that it feels like Glynda knows something and I'm certain that Ozpin and Ruby's drunk uncle Qrow know something as well and have known for a while… I can understand the need for secrecy but all of this is leaving a bad taste in my mouth. It's not just me either, Professor Ann Greene has been in a bad mood all week and giving Glynda and Ozpin nothing but disdainful glares when not angrily confronting them both. I think I even overheard her once threaten to go to the other professors about… whatever Ozpin and Glynda are hiding and spill the beans but they were able to talk her out of it.

I need to get out of this tense atmosphere, so today I'm going to hang out with Tock while returning the swords she accidentally left behind. Also, I'll be taking the still-unnamed hook that Ruby made for me to get some practice in before the Vytal Festival which hasn't been canceled for reasons I cannot comprehend. Sure it means that I'll be missing classes but won't be able to focus until I get some answers and Tock was talking to Ozpin before Maria showed up. I have no idea what they were talking about must be important since Oz gave Tock a house, how cool is that?

Jaune closed his captain's log and stood up from his bed, he then put on his shoes and then texted the rest of his team to see if there was anything they wanted while he was out. He brewed a cup of coffee as they replied back. He was given a small grocery list and was wired the money to pay for everything including the bus fare by the time he was finished with the drink. He then took a brief moment to plan out his route, then grabbed the bag containing the swords that Tock had accidentally left behind during the escape from Maria and another case that had the prosthetic hook arm Ruby had made for him before going through the door. Once outside he took a brief moment to quickly look around the hallway to see if he could spot any of his friends, in particular, he was hoping to either talk to Ruby or Yang. It wasn't for anything important or urgent, Thank the Brothers, rather it was because he had heard that Ruby started training with Maria and he was curious about both the woman and the training. Unfortunately for him it seemed that his curiosity would have to practice a bit of patience today, Oh well, she'll tell me when she wants to and Maria isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Then with a shrug, he started walking and would have kept walking until he reached the Bullhead station but then he heard something concerning as he passed by one of the dorm rooms.

"Hel-"

Jaune stopped walking, Was that a voice I just heard? But what were they trying to say? Hel? Were they trying to say Help? He looked in the direction the voice had come from and found himself staring at the closed front door of a dorm room. He looked at the room number and tried to recall which team was using it but drew a blank, I could use some Aura to boost my hearing… Under normal circumstances that was a thought that would have never crossed his mind but things hadn't been normal for a while and if someone was asking for help then that wasn't something he could ignore. Jaune closed his eyes and flared up his Aura before sending the power towards his ears and then, he listened. It was still faint but thanks to the amplification he could now make out two voices and sort of piece together what they were saying to each other…

"People are starting to notice and it won't be long before rumors start, knock it off," Said a male voice that did sound familiar to Jaune but it wasn't enough for him to pin down who the owner was.

"I'm just doing what Cinder ordered me to do, what am I supposed to do? Not follow her orders?" Replied a female voice that likewise tickled at his memory but the name that was mentioned was helping him narrow down the field.

"She asked you to get close and to glean information from them, creeping around in the gym is not the same thing and you know it! Face it, you've been screwing up a lot lately and now my track record looks better than yours! What happened Em, you're better than this?"

"I-I-I'm just in a bit of a slump, that's all. Besides, I'm not the only one who gets sidetracked, and don't try to deny it! I know May likes to give you handies out in the o-"

Jaune stopped listening, all he wanted to know was if someone needed help and if got his answer, he even had a pretty good idea who those two were. The guy called her Em and the only person I know who uses that name is Mercury so he must have been talking to Emerald which would explain why she said Cinder. It was clear now that all he heard was part of an argument that didn't concern him and a bit of gossip about May and Mercury that he didn't care for… Okay so there was admittedly a part of him that did want to know more but that was a small part that was quickly crushed by the weight of common decency. So he pushed the conversation out of his head and continued to walk, except that pushing out the conversation was proving harder than he first expected. A certain part of that conversation just kept replaying in his head; I'm just doing what Cinder ordered me to do. She asked you to get close and to glean information from them.

It would have been easy to just assume that he had misheard or that the two of them had simply been talking about spying on other teams for the Vytal Festival, it was something that even he had done. But then why was Emerald asked to get close? What could they have possibly learned that they couldn't have picked up during Sparring? He thought back to the first time they had Combat Class with the foreign students, Pyrrha fought in a 1 vs 4 match against CRDL and dominated them. Afterward, Professor Goodwitch checked the time and then announced that they had room for one more match, Mercury volunteered and asked to fight Pyrrha who accepted. But then he gave up after only a brief exchange… but he seemed oddly satisfied? Jaune couldn't say for sure, that match had been a couple of months ago and it was hard trying to recall a small detail like that.

So he changed gears and tried to think about that team as a whole and drew a near-complete blank, he had interacted with every member at least once but those situations were few and far in between and were almost always one on one. Except for Emerald and Mercury who were never too far from each other, he rarely saw the team hanging out together even to study, and even when they were together, they were usually acting rather sneaky or just arguing. That team is more dysfunctional than RWBY was at the start. But they must be doing something right, otherwise, they would have never been sent here. It wouldn't matter how talented they are, Haven has plenty of rising stars and there is really nothing at stake at the Vytal Festival so they must be here because they deserve to be here. He wasn't truly convinced just yet but there wasn't anything he could do, the only evidence he had of any foul play was a tiny piece of a greater conversation and even then he was lacking the context to make any sense of it.

"This is ridiculous," Jaune whispered to no one but himself as he arrived at the Bullhead station just in time to board the vehicle with a handful of over students who were also headed into Vale for their own reasons. As he sat down he made another effort to push that conversation out of his head but the knot in his gut refused to let go and a well-developed sense of caution was telling him to examine it closer but, what could he do? Well, what do I know about these people? And who are the "Them," that Emerald was supposed to get close to? It was an impossible task trying to recall every single person that Emerald had hung out with but he was able to recall a few instances where he either saw her with someone or someone mentioned her presence, The members of RWBY, Penny, Velvet, Coco, Pyrrha, and even Nora noticed Emerald hanging around them in the past. There were most likely more instances but he would have to ask around to find out about them and whether or not it was a coincidence that everyone she talked to was a woman. But was it worth it? Was a bad feeling really worth engaging in what was honestly stalker-like behavior?

No! Absolutely Not! Under almost any situation the answer would be a resounding no and he lacked any reason to think that this situation was one of the few exceptions. All this nonsense is messing with my head. The doors of the Bullhead closed and the vehicle took off a scant few seconds later, it would take a bit of time for it to land in Vale which left Jaune with nothing but his thoughts to keep him company. Naturally, this meant that his mind began to wonder, and unsurprisingly it wandered right back to the enigma that refused to be put away just yet. Okay, let's try and figure something out. For some reason, Emerald was asked or ordered to hang out with the Huntresses of Beacon, why? If it was for the Vytal festival then why only the Huntresses? Sure RWBY are prodigies and Pyrrha is Pyrrha but there are also plenty of skilled Huntsmen… Maybe it's a personal decision? He tried to recall what he knew about them on an individual level and it was admittedly not a lot but it was something and he started with the leader of Team CMSN, Cinder Fall. He knew that she was an ambitious woman, he knew that she had the skills, brains, and looks to achieve virtually anything that she wanted. But he could see that she also had a very standoffish personality and that she sometimes treated her teammates like they were her employees rather than equals. I've also seen her cackling like she's planning something nefarious like a Saturday morning cartoon villain but, I suppose that everyone has their little quirks.

Next, came Mercury and it was no debate that the guy was confident to a fault, Seriously who challenges Pyrrha Freaking Nikos on a whim!? But Jaune had also seen Mercury fight others and knew that the guy also had the skills to back up his arrogance, Though sometimes I get the feeling that he's trying to impress people by trying to act cool. I wonder if he had many friends growing up, maybe he ought to try showing off his legs? People around love cool weapons and Ruby told me that the guy got cybernetic legs with guns built inside them! Seriously, that's almost too cool! It was also obvious that he cared about Emerald despite how often they argued or perhaps they argued so much because they were worried about each other but were both afraid to look "Soft," Which raises some questions, personal questions that I have no business asking.

Then came Emerald and that was a girl who was both painfully easy to read and difficult at the same time, for example, everyone could see that she had a one-sided crush on her team leader and that she was trying to emulate the woman. It was also easy to see that she appreciated Mercury's concern and was just as concerned for his well-being, But why did they have to be such Tsunderes? And everyone could see that Emerald recently developed a barely concealed fetish for people who can bench press her, Which is why she's been hitting the gym more often. However, apart from that, there wasn't much he or really anyone else could say about her. She wasn't very open about herself and if she wanted to keep a secret then no one would even be able to tell that she was ever doing it, If I hadn't overheard that conversation then I would have never realized that she had been acting on orders… that's a little unsettling.

There was one more member on that Team but he knew nothing about her, she was never around. Her absence was so frequent that he only knew that she existed because he had seen her with her team exactly once. Apart from that, he'd seen her a few more times afterward but she was always on her scroll texting someone, he had also seen her fight Russel once and that petite girl dressed in gothic lolita had annihilated him, Though he did seem to enjoy it. And that was it, he did not even know what her name was or why was it that he had never ever heard her speak a single syllable… By the time the Bullhead arrived in Vale and began landing procedures he had concluded, "Team CSMN seems to be just another team of weirdos just a bit more dysfunctional than the average." Then again it's not like I have the right to judge them when I'm running dressed as a pirate who's now married to a crocodile woman who also cosplays as a pirate! By the brothers, at one point I even considered getting a pet parrot or monkey just to complete the look, how shallow is that? Jaune laughed, what else could he do?

Jaune's mind was made up by the time he stepped out of the vehicle, he wasn't going to investigate further. Sure, there was still a very persistent voice in the back of his head demanding answers but it was small and he was sure that it would fade away before the day was done. Besides, he had far more important things to do right now than obsess over a partial conversation that he overheard without any context, spending time with Tock was infinitely more important. Not to mention that he was meeting her someplace he'd never been before so he really couldn't afford to get distracted lest he finds himself lost. So he pulled up his scroll and was about to type in the address that Tock had given him when for the second time that day his attention was grabbed by a voice he did not recognize.

"Excuse Mr. Hook! Can you help me?"

Mr. Hook? Are they talking to me? But I don't have a.., Jaune glanced at the cheap civilian prosthetic that he was currently wearing that had a "Hand," made out of two blunt hooks. Okay so I am Mr. Hook but who's talking? Looking around he quickly spotted someone dressed in a rather… unique manner emerging from the crowd of the Bullhead station who seemed to be walking towards him while waving, Is he waving at me? Jaune quickly looked around to see if there was someone else waving back at the guy but everyone else seemed to be busy with their own business or staring at the man in bewildered fascination. Okay, so the guy really is talking to me, and judging by his… clothes, he must be some kind of Huntsman or someone pretending to be one, either way, let's find out what he wants. Jaune then turned to face the stranger and with a friendly smile asked, "Can I- What the fuck?"

Now it must be understood that Jaune wasn't not trying to be rude, he did want to know if he could help this hopefully friendly stranger. The problem was that now the stranger was close enough that Jaune could take in just how bizarre the man's outfit was and the confidence that he wore it. The man in question was around the same height as Jaune, was perhaps a little older, tan, and had a reasonably handsome face with a lovely smile to go with it, sadly his clothes made him stand out like a sore thumb even by Huntsmen standards. Even the simplest piece of clothing which in this case was a black shirt had a bizarre element to it, in this case, it was too small for his body and left his belly button exposed and it only got more outlandish from there. He also wore a black pair of pants that were tight in some rather odd places and loose in none of the places a normal person would want it to be while also having false tears exposing bright red bits of fabric underneath. On his feet were a pair of red shoes the same shade as the pants and looked neither like boots nor sneakers and on his chest, he wore a black vest/jacket whose sleeves had been replaced by black and red fringe that ended in wooden beads. On his waist was a black loincloth that seemed to serve no purpose and also had fringe ending in some more wooden beads, there was also a necklace of what Jaune assumed were oversized teeth but it seemed trite when compared to everything else. Completing the look was a multitude of wristbands that looked fine but Jaune wasn't sure whether it was because they were fine or because they were by far the normal-looking things on this stranger.

Speaking of the stranger it would not be too hard to imagine him being rather offended by Jaune's frankly rude slip of the tongue. However if he was offended then the man was one hell of an actor since the smile never left his face, "It's okay, plenty of people have told me that I look kind of weird but I think I pull it off just fine."

"Well I'm new in town and I'm looking for the Neverland pub, my GPS says that it's supposed to

It took a moment for Jaune to even realize that the man had spoken, the outfit was just so distracting that it made it hard to notice anything else, "Y-Yes! Yes ahh… did you need something?."

be close to 41 Kensington Gardens. However, my Scroll has been acting a little wonky after an Elder Creep spat some water at me and knocked the darn thing right out of my hands."

The name of the pub sounded familiar to Jaune and a quick peek at his scroll showed that it was in an area that he had passed through a few times during past visits to Tock, "Oh, I know where that is!" He then pointed down the road, "When you get to that stoplight over there, cross the street and then take a left. You'll find yourself at a Trolley stop that will take you to the gardens, once there all you have to do is take another left and just keep walking till you get there.

"Down the road, cross the street, take left, trolley to the gardens, take another left, and then walk?"

"That's exactly right, and if you are still lost. Remember that there is a CCT terminal right here at this Bullhead station that will sync your scroll with Vale's network, it won't magically fix your Scroll but it should help," he pointed toward the terminal in question.

The man glanced towards it, "Thanks but I think I can find my way there now, thanks, Mr. Hook!"

"You're welcom-!"

The man turned around and walked away before Jaune could finish which annoyed him just a little but it was a small thing that was quickly forgotten, unlike the man whose appearance made him unforgettable. "Honestly, where did he even get those… clothes- WHAT IS THAT!?" The thing that Jaune and quite a few other people were staring at in complete disbelief was the man's hair or at least they thought that it was hair, How did I miss something like that!? The answer to Jaune's silent question was the man's clothes, when seen from the front it made it very hard to notice anything else but the view from behind was a different story. From behind his clothes seemed almost normal which allowed the eyes to wander a bit and anyone unfortunate enough to gaze slightly upward was damned to witness a warning to the dangers of unrestrained creativity in the realm of fashion. To keep it as simple as possible, the stranger's hair looked like he had one day walked into a barbershop and couldn't decide if he wanted an afro or a mohawk dyed bright red, so he chose both and then added two more mohawks for good measure.

Jaune had quite a few things he wanted to do today and there were only so many hours to do them, on top of that he had a scaly babe waiting for him. He knew on an intellectual level that there was nothing really wrong with the stranger's appearance, after all, he could be from a place where dressing that way was normal. Even if that wasn't the case, this was how the man chose to express himself and that was his right as long as he wasn't hurting anyone. There was no denying it, Jaune was being rude by staring and by continuing to stare as the man walked away. However, at the same time, there was no one in the world who would blame the young man for what he was doing, much less hold it against his character.

The Emerald Forest was breathtakingly beautiful in a way that almost seemed unreal, the trees were tall, proud, evergreen, and their leaves reflected the sunlight in a manner akin to precious gems. There were crystal clear rivers, lakes, rolling hillsides, misty mountains, deep caverns, meadows, and every single one of them was teeming with all manner of flora and animal life that would take several lifetimes to truly catalog and study. And as if that wasn't enough, the Emerald Forest was also the home of the ruins of an ancient civilization, crumbling walls, cracked staircases, empty dwellings, a temple to a forgotten pantheon, a castle with its dignity intact, and the promise of undiscovered artifacts that might grant insight into the past. When taken in altogether the Emerald Forest seemed less like a real place and more like the setting of a fairy tale, it wasn't too hard to imagine a knight on horseback seeking the counsel of a wise and crafty witch to defeat a tyrant who had locked a maiden in a tower against her will.

It was almost tragic how Ruby's and so many other people's introduction to the forest was by catapult, sure it gave them all a bird's eye view of the place and theoretically allowed them to take it all in. However, it is difficult to appreciate the beauty of anything while your body is stumbling through the sky as the ground rapidly rises to meet you and you only have but a moment to avoid a painful crash. After she had landed she couldn't take the time to appreciate what was going on around her, after all, initiation had a time limit and she desperately wanted to go to school with her sister. Even when she had succeeded in that goal, the only time she had ever entered the forest was either as part of classes or to practice and during neither did she take the chance to witness the beauty around her.

"So, have you taken it all in?"

Ruby opened her eyes, in front of her was Maria sitting cross-legged on the grassy floor of the Emerald forest. The light shining through the foliage bathed the older woman in an almost ethereal glow that made her almost look like a character from the stories that Ruby heard as a child but she couldn't appreciate the situation. There were too many questions running through her head and the fact that Maria wouldn't let her bring her scythe Crescent Rose didn't help calm her down. The silly thing was that Ruby knew she was perfectly safe even without her pride and joy, she couldn't see them but she knew that Dad and uncle Qrow were just out of sight and keeping a close eye on her. She was objectively safer now than she would have been with just her weapon but it would have still helped her relax, But Maria wouldn't have asked me to leave my weapon behind if it wasn't for a good reason.

"You're feeling a little anxious?" asked Maria.

"Sorry, there is still a lot that I'm trying to take in, did… did mom also go through this?"

"I don't know, I'd imagine that everyone reacts a bit differently to this kind of knowledge. My father became curious until it turned into fear while I was proud until it became arrogance. Hopefully, you'll learn the lessons we failed to learn."

"Thanks but I was actually talking about the training."

"Oh, that?" Maria shrugged, "I've just been making shit up as I go."

"What!? Then why did you ask me to leave my precious baby behind!?"

"Sorry but if there was a proper way to train people like you and me then it was lost to time but I do have good news."

"You still haven't answered my question." Said Ruby trying her best to remain patient with this stranger but the tone of her voice betrayed her.

Oddly enough that tone seemed to please Maria, "That's part of the good news, you're becoming emotional which is necessary if you want to use those eyes."

"How does becoming emotional help with anything?"

Maria wasn't sure what to say, not because she didn't have an answer for Ruby but rather she didn't know how to word in a way that the girl could understand. Maria's own father had also struggled to find a good comparison that his daughter would understand, And now I'm in his shoes except that this girl is a complete stranger but, she is a Huntress-in-training so there may be a way to cross the gap "What determines a person's Semblance or rather what seems to be the most likely answer?"

Ruby was confused by the question, not because she didn't know the answer but rather because she wasn't sure about what the answer had anything to do with this, "Well, the leading theory is that Sembalances are a reflection of some aspect of the user's personality, specifically its a reflection of their coping mechanism. For example, I want to be able to save as many people as I can so my Semblance is speed."

"Very good, and likewise your eyes are also connected to your emotions and to your bonds. The power within those eyes responds towards the love we have for that we want to protect." How is a desire to save people a personality trait? Wanting to be able to help those in need isn't special, it's normal, it's how we managed to survive against the Grimm. This girl is either lying to me about her Semblance or she's misunderstood it completely… I'll have to talk with Qrow and Taiyang about this. While we're at it, we should also talk to other members of her team and figure out where they need improvement.

Ruby thought it over, on the surface what Maria was saying did make sense but Ruby did think of her loved ones even in battle and her eyes never did anything, There has got to be more to this. "Then why hasn't it worked for me? You compared it to Semblances and those are things that you need to discover on your own like how I activated mine for the first time when I went to hug Qrow."

Maria raised a hand and held up two fingers, "Two things, the first is that your story sounds utterly adorable, and I want to hear the whole thing later. The second is that you're right, just like a Semblance you have to subconsciously trigger this ability before you can really train it. Fortunately for us, we know exactly what it is that we are trying to trigger and I know the conditions needed to trigger it. This forest has everything that we need so all we have to do is get you in the right mindset."

"And then what?"

"And then we get some Grimm here and see if you can Sliver eye them to death!"

Ruby slowly stood up and carefully considered her words, "ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS!?" She began pacing back and forth, "Vale was attacked! My friends were attacked! You attacked the wife of my best friend who admittedly attacked you first so I suppose that's fair."

"Thanks for being understanding," Maria quickly interjected while trying to hide her growing smile.

"You're welcome, but also what the actual hell!?"

"I can see that you're upset, and that's good."

"HOW IS THAT-!" Ruby forced herself to be quiet despite how she wanted to scream at the woman some more, She doesn't deserve it, these past couple of months aren't her fault. Inside of the girl was a floodgate holding back a tidal wave of emotions that had been building up for years and she could feel that there was a threshold that she was rapidly approaching. She didn't know what would happen if she crossed and she didn't want to find out. I need to cut this session short, "I would like to apollo-!" She was cut off by the sound of heavy footsteps, too heavy to belong to a person. It only took a moment for her to determine the direction the sound was coming from and another moment to spot a figure heading right towards her, That's definitely a Grimm of some kind.

"Well, sounds like we've been blessed with some fortunate company. Here's your chance to practice, let em have it!"

Ruby felt an urge to snap at the woman but she quickly forced it back down, Not now. Not ever. "What should I do?" The Grimm was getting closer and while much of its body was hidden behind foliage and shadow, Ruby thanks to her huntress training was able to catch glimpses of the thing, it's either a Beowolf or an Ursa.

Maria stood up for the first time and walked over to Ruby's side, "Think of your loved ones and don't be afraid to let your emotions flow, in fact, that is exactly what you want to happen."

"What?! What does any of that mean?" Ruby could feel her frustration rising despite her attempts to remain calm and as a direct result, an Ursa Minor emerged into open view. The Grimm then took a moment to stare down the two women perhaps in an attempt to intimidate them before dropping down to all fours and rushing to close the distance.

"Look at the beast but don't think about it! Think about the people who love you, focus on the thought of them, the way they make you feel. Focus!"

Ruby had her eyes locked on the monster as it came closer and she was trying her hardest to think about everyone she knew and loved instead of the rapidly approaching Ursa but nothing was happening! She knew all too well the wonderful things she felt from the ones she considered important to her but had no idea how warm feelings were supposed to destroy Grimm, it was ridiculous! But she also now knew for a fact that these things were real and that she was supposed to be able to do them, So Why Isn't Anything Happening!? The Ursa was nearly upon them and it leaped forward with its clawed paws and open maw ready and eager to rip and tear the two women to pieces.

Then two things happened at once with a third thing following shortly afterward, the first was that Ruby gave up and used her Semblance to take her and Maria away from the immediate danger. The second was that Taiyang and Qrow emerged from their hiding places to confront the Grimm and the third was said Grimm dying after taking a Scythe to the gut and an armored fist to the face.

"That was too close," Qrow said as he looked around for any other Grimm.

Taiyang opened and closed his hands a few times, it had been years since he wore the gauntlets and now they felt foreign to him despite how he had built them himself. "This is all my fault."

Qrow placed a hand on the shoulder of a man who was his brother in all ways but blood, "Hey, I thought I was supposed to be the gloomy one."

"I'm being serious, sliver eyes can't work unless you're open with your emotions and she's holding back."

Qrow nodded, "She's been holding in a lot ever since Summer… we're both to blame. We should have realized that she was taking it too well, we should have noticed that she was just trying not to be a burden, and then when we take everything that's happened lately into account… shit."

Taiyang pulled out his scroll, "I think it's time we all went in for some long-overdue family therapy."

Qrow scratched the back of his head and chuckled, "Man I feel bad for whoever is gonna try and take our case, you could write a book just about our issues with Raven."

"Uuggghhh, what did I ever see in your bitch of a sister?" Taiyang groaned in agreement.

"You thought she was and I quote; fucking hot."

Taiyang groaned some more, "And she still is but the brothers-be-damned is she the poster girl for the idea that beauty is only skin deep! I thank whatever powers are out there that she left Yang behind when she bailed, it would break my heart to imagine what a shitty mom Raven would be to her."

Qrow reached into one of his pockets, pulled out a flask containing alcohol, and began to pour the contents out. As he did so he noticed the puzzled look his brother-in-law was giving him, "What? You and I both know that the psych is going to have a problem with my drinking, I'm just getting ahead of the curve." The two men shared an earnest laugh before leaving to find Ruby and Maria.

The house that Ozpin had generously given to Tock and her crew wasn't extravagant by any stretch of the imagination but it was cozy and it was within walking distance of several places of interest including a hub of public transportation. It was often said that location was the most important factor when buying or selling property, if that was true then this cozy one-story house inside a quaint neighborhood, with a driveway, and a larger than normal backyard was literally too good to be true! There had to be a catch and it didn't take Jaune very long to find it.

"So, did you install those yourself?" Jaune asked while looking at a security camera on the front porch.

Tock glanced at the camera, "Nope, that wis thare whin we moved in 'n' thir's mair ben. A'm bonny sure that thare is yin ben ilka room though we haven't yit fun yin in th' bath." She then grabbed his shoulder and gently led him inside, "Cheers fur takin wae me back mah swords, ye kin lea thaim ower thare." She pointed over to the couch in the living room.

"You want me to leave them on top of your couch?"

"Aye, ye brought yer freish arm, didnae ye? Na sense in putting mah weapons awa' whin we're aff tae be sparring in a bawherr bit. By th' wey, whit dae ye lik' oan yer pizza?"

"Sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, and west Mistral sausage."

"That doesn't sound hauf ill, noo let's git oan wi' th' tour!" Tock then took his hand and began to show off the house in a manner that was contagiously energetic even though there wasn't much to show off. There was a bedroom for every member of Tock's crew including herself, a wide living room, a cute kitchen that was connected to an equally cute dining room, and it was all modestly and practically furnished. It was clear that once upon a time this house had been intended to go to a proper family which raised some question about how it even ended in Ozpin's possession in the first place but that was a question that Jaune wasn't too interested in learning the answer to.

"'N' that's aboot it, ye git ony questions?"

"Yeah, I was actually wondering where the others were?"

"Thay figured that th' twa o' us wanted tae be alone fur a while," she nodded her head towards her bedroom to make it clear to him what she meant. "Ah tried tae explain ye weren't spending th' nicht 'ere bit it juist made thaim think ye wur comin' in fur a quickie, whilk we kin dae if yi'll waant, bit ainlie efter we blether."

It wasn't too long ago that even the suggestion of sex would have thrown Jaune off but after a while, he had gotten used to Tock's teasing. That being said, he'd quickly become putty in her hands if she decided to crank it up a notch or two but she didn't and he appreciated that but at the same time he didn't just want to dive into a heavy subject right off the bat, "So where did they go?"

"Och, they're keekin aroond fur a guid howf."

"No offense but what is an howf?"

Tock smacked herself on the forehead, "Sorry, ah shuid hae said pub. They're keekin fur a pub."

"That reminds me, on my way here a really funny-looking guy asked me for help finding the Neverland pub."

"Whit wis sae funny aboot him?"

"Well, for starters the guy had an afro and three red mohawks at the same time."

"Wis he an' a' sportin' a pointless loincloth that hud in fringe wi' wooden beads oan th' end?"

"You've seen him?"

"Seen him? A've fought that guy multiple times in th' bygane! He's a bounty hunter by th' name o' Rufio wha used tae run wi' th' Lost Wee Jimmies bit left efter Peter teuk ower. He an' a' haes a hoverboard that's an' a' a gun bit ah hae na idea howfur he git it." Tock then grabbed her scroll and began dialing, "We're jammy he decided tae blether tae ye."

Jaune's eyes went wide and his mind immediately turned to his friend Ruby, "We've got to warn them!"

"That's whit a'm daein' richt noo, cawin Oz tae tell him tae git his bahookie ower tae th' neverland pu-!"

A familiar voice could be heard over the scroll, "Tock is there something wrong?"

"Rufio, he is yin o' th' guys ah tellt ye aboot. Dae ye mind?"

Jaune leaned in closer, "Are you talking to Ozpin?"

Tock quickly covered the speaker, "Aye, a'm, cuid ye dae me a favor 'n' tiext mah wee jimmies tae let thaim ken whit happened?" She didn't need to ask him twice, he had pulled out his scroll almost as soon as the words left her mouth and that brought a smile to her face. She then took her hand off of the speaker and continued her conversation, "Jaune juist tellt me that he bolted intae Rufio 'n' that th' guy wis keekin fur th' neverland howf, mah guys wull catch up wi` yers thare."

"I'll get in contact with James who will send reinforcements, are you going to confront Rufio yourself?" asked Ozpin.

"If that's whit Jaune wantae-," she never finished that sentence, there was no point as Jaune was already in the process of taking his civilian prosthetic arm off and replacing it with the one Ruby had made for him. "We'll catch up wi` ye thare."

There were many things Rufio naturally did not expect to see upon exiting the Neverland pub, for example, he would be quite surprised if upon stepping outside he was greeted by the sight of a parade passing through. Another example of something he would not expect to find would be a crowd of armed Atlas Soldiers and Knights politely informing him that he was being taken into custody and that they were asking for his cooperation while pointing weapons at him in order to incentivize it. So imagine his surprise when he stepped outside and found that the latter example wasn't an example at all but rather something that was happening right now!

"Put your hands in the air and get on the ground," ordered a soldier in armor that had red highlights rather than the usual blue.

Rufio didn't pay any attention to that soldier, he was too focused on the presence of some familiar faces to care about anything that man had to say. For starters, there was the man standing right in front of him, "Well well well, I didn't think I'd run into Cecco here in all places and I see that you're still swinging that hammer around."

Cecco didn't say anything.

Rufio looked to the left, "Ah Mason and Turley, you know I still have trouble remembering which one is which, perhaps you should try standing out more."

"Fuck you," Mason said as Turley remained silent.

Rufio then looked to the right, "And Mr. Hook, I would have never pegged you for a Huntsman, least of all a well-connected one."

"A'm 'ere tae hurdie!"

Rufio sighed and looked right at Tock who was standing by Jaune's side, "I didn't miss you, I just ignored you because I don't like you."

"Weel awa' an' bile yer heid tae!"

"I have no idea what you just said."

"She told you to go fuck yourself," said Jaune before adding, "We've got you fully surrounded, are you going to come peacefully, or is there going to be a problem?"

Rufio looked Jaune right in the eyes and then smirked, "Okay then… I surrender." He then put both his hands in the air, got on the ground, and made absolutely no attempt to resist the soldiers coming to handcuff him. The smirk stayed on his face during the entire process after all, what reason did he have to be upset when everything was going according to plan?