Jaune was able to find his stuff pretty easily. It was scattered here and there, but not too far apart that he spent forever looking for them. He just had to retrace his steps. Once he gathered his stuff, he sprinted to catch up with the others.

Grimm had made it inside the walls now, mostly flocking to the mines.. Jaune told himself it was a strange natural phenomenon, their animalistic instincts telling them to find warmth, and not because of the screams of those trapped inside.

Mercury had found it funny. Jaune had not. The next meal he made was going to have something spicy added to it. That, Jaune swore. Teach him a little empathy. Imagining Mercury's face when that happened was enough to make Jaune smile. Seeing the Faunus workers made his lips lower into a more somber expression.

When he'd caught up with the group, they were helping the surviving Faunus. Adam was heralding them into a bullhead, the White Fang inside giving out blankets and food to those who got on. Several of them had brands on them, not even the children having been spared the cruelty.

Mercury was helping the Faunus as they got onto the bullheads, while Marcus watched from a distance, Danny on his back. His was tapping away at the ice impatiently as he waited for the White Fang to finish. His eyes showed no signs of surprise at how badly the Faunus were treated.

Jaune hurriedly went to help, assisting the White Fang hand out supplies. They seemed uncomfortable around Jaune and Mercury, keeping their conversations short and to the point.

"They act like we're the ones responsible for their shitty lives," Mercury muttered, his annoyance clear. "Honestly, they claim to fight racism, then they're racist towards us."

"I'm sure they're just stressed," Jaune said optimistically. "They've been through a lot."

Jaune didn't blame them for being untrusting. A human had just come through and killed many of them. Why would they want to accept a human after that?

To think, all of this could've been avoided if he hadn't stopped Marcus from killing Danny. So many lives lost because of him. Because he hadn't wanted to dirty his hands.

The bullhead lifts off into the air, taking several of the now refugees with it. Adam motions for Marcus to bring Danny to another bullhead, the same one they came on. The assassin carries Danny to the bullhead and drops him with a thud.

"We need to leave," Adam said, gazing at the burning remains of the lodges and Dust mines. "Atlas will be sending reinforcements soon."

Marcus hummed. "Grimm should be finishing of the guards too. It's surprising they haven't already finished. I wonder who the general will send. I heard there's a Schnee as part of the Ace Ops. If you still want a chance to kill a Schnee, we'd have to wait."

"It wouldn't be worth it," Adam scowled. "I've already lost too many men."

Marcus followed Adam's gaze, unbothered by the destruction. In fact, he seemed intrigued by it. That behavior was why Jaune hated him. Such apathy to his actions was something that Jaune had a personal responsibility to stop.

"Come on," Marcus called, having finished his conversation with Adam. Casually kicking Danny's unconscious and burnt body out his way, he snapped repeatedly. "We need to go."

While Marcus was strong, he couldn't handle an army on his own. At least, not one that wasn't Grimm. Now that Jaune thought about it, why had he never seen Marcus use his semblance in a fight? He was able to steal semblances. That was quite possibly the most dangerous power on Remnant.

There must be a reason he didn't use it. Maybe he was weakened when he used it. If so, Jaune may be able to use his semblance as bait. Take advantage of that weakness.

Jaune mentally scolded himself as he got on the ship. Acting like he knew a way to catch Marcus off guard. It was such an arrogant way to think. Marcus was stronger than most huntsmen, while Jaune was at the level of an academy student at best. He couldn't even beat Mercury most of the time.

Still…

An ominous feeling tingles down his spine. Worrying, yet also expected. The upcoming inevitable outcome of his situation that he'd lived in for almost two years.

As the bullhead took off, Jaune stared at the destruction left behind. Despite shooting aura through his limbs his body still felt cold and his semblance tightened in his soul.

Making it back to the White Fang base is anticlimactic. Danny remains unconscious the entire trip, his aura not helping much with the burns he'd given himself. His skin is blistered and raw, his arm specifically a bright red that is worse than any other burn he's ever seen before. Jaune was sure he'd lose feeling in his remaining arm because of how much he'd damaged himself.

Quickly after arriving, Adam and Marcus took the unconscious man into one of the rooms. The next few hours are spent waiting for Danny to awaken. Jaune waits outside the room while Mercury wanders off. The White Fang members that had gone to the mine had split up, half returning to Mistral, with the rest escorting the refugees to Menagerie. Those that were here opted to ignore Jaune and do their own thing. Jaune didn't mind; he didn't feel like talking.

Vacuo's living conditions were harsh at the best of times, Atlas was obvious as to why they couldn't stay there, Mistral had just about everyone involved in crime one way or another. Vale would've been the best option had it not already had a booming population. Menagerie was the only place the Faunus could go while still having a chance for upward mobility without resulting to crime.

That was depressing.

He's snapped out of his thoughts by Adam yelling at Danny. He must've woken up then. As Adam's muffled voice came out of the room, he couldn't help but cringe slightly. In Jaune's opinion, Adam sounded like if bad cop forgot how to do his job.

Even though Jaune couldn't see Adam's face, he could tell he was tired just from his voice. Tired and angry. Danny had killed more White Fang members than Jaune had realized, leaving nothing but ashes and the bubbling metal of their weapons.

Jaune opened the door, allowing him a glimpse into the room. Danny sits tied into a chair; his blonde hair matted with sweat. His remaining arm is handcuffed to the arm of the chair as well, pinning it directly against the metal.

"Why were you there?" Adam hissed. "How'd you know we were coming?"

Danny spat a glob of blood at him. "Wouldn't you like to know, Taurus?" His remark earned him a fist to the gut. "Come on, now. At least act civilized. You're reminding of Atlas right now."

"You're not very good at this," Marcus said, amusement creeping into his voice. "I can take over if you want."

"Go ahead," Adam said, leaving the room. His hand wraps around the hilt of his sword, gripping it tightly. The door swings open, forcing Jaune to move out of the way. Adam takes a moment to regard him, before ultimately deciding to not say anything.

Marcus watched him leave, not seeming to have expected him to take up his offer. Shrugging, he pulled out a knife and put it under Danny's fingernail. Then he slammed on it, prying the nail off. Danny grunted in pain, gritting his teeth in an attempt to not let his pain show.

Torture was disgusting in Jaune's opinion, not that he could do anything to stop Marcus. Trying to put a bullet in the back of his head would just earn him a beating. That was the excuse Jaune told himself, not liking the small bit of satisfaction he received that the monster who'd killed so many people was getting his comeuppance.

Asking Marcus about what Danny had been doing for the past two years had revealed he'd been working as a mercenary for hire. Over thirty confirmed kills so far, not counting those of the people of Mosspost nor the Faunus he'd just killed at the mines.

"I'll be honest," Marcus drawled, prying off another nail. "I really don't care about how the Schnee's knew how we were coming. I'm much more interested in your semblance," Marcus repeated the action, another nail being slowly pried off. "Can you imagine losing something so essential to yourself? I imagine it'd be worse than any physical pain ever could be. How about we test it?"

Marcus places his hand in the center of Danny's chest, his aura beginning to glow weakly. Eyes rolling back into his skull, Danny began seizing violently as Marcus dug his fingers against his aura. Tears stream down his face, gasping and retching for air. A moment later, Marcus let go, leaving Danny dazed.

Upon returning to his senses, Danny's eyes widened in fear, thrashing futilely against his restraints. Seems his knowledge of the rumors that Marcus could steal semblance hadn't sunk in before. Only after experiencing the power firsthand was he able to realize the implications of what Marcus could do.

As his eyes darted around the small room, Marcus leaned in close. He put his hand on Danny's face, forcing him to look him in the eyes.

"Let's make a deal. You tell me what the White Fang wants to know," Marcus put his palm on Danny's chest again. "And you won't be leaving here soulless. Pretty good deal, right?" He waited a few moments for Danny to respond. "Something the matter? Ah, I get it. You don't trust me to keep my word. Well, that guy-," he jabbed his thumb at Jaune, who hadn't bothered trying to stay hidden after he found. "-Won't be happy if I lie, so you'll be fine."

"Don't involve me in this."

"You're already involved. Have been since the moment you agreed to be trained by me."

Jaune scowled, not wanting to admit the truth. There wasn't going to be a way for him to live as a normal person, even once Marcus was dead. That just wasn't possible to after all he'd done. Though he may believe he'd done the right thing in staying close to Marcus until he was strong enough to kill him, it wasn't as if he was delusional. Staying with Marcus had been the same as agreeing to dirty his hands.

"Whatever."

Marcus rolled his eyes at Jaune's response. "So, Crispy. Do we have a deal? Or should we test it again?"

"Fine, just stay away from me!" Danny glared hatefully at him, doing his best to hide his fear. "It was the Schnee's, ok?"

"Explain."

"I don't know how they knew. They hired us to do go there once the White Fang arrived and kill everyone Faunus we came across. Draw out the White Fang get rid of an up and rising leader."

Marcus placed his palm on his chest. "Is that everything you know? It doesn't sound like much."

"It is, I swear!"

Marcus looked at him for a moment, his aura shining from a grey into a shrill white. When he's finished doing whatever made his aura change color, he walks out of the room.

"We're done. Oh, and Jaune-"

A loud crack cut him off. Jaune lowered his gun from the unsuspecting victim. Danny's head slumped against his chest.

"You killed him," Marcus looked surprised. "I didn't even tell you to."

"The White Fang would've made it much more painful. I just made it so he wouldn't suffer as much."

The excuse didn't make sense, even though it was his own. Nothing more than a lie.

"Whatever you say," Marcus smirked. "Whatever you say."

As Marcus left the room, Jaune stared at the body. He expected to feel something, remorse or guilt maybe. Instead, all he felt was a hollowness gnawing at him.

He'd been feeling that a lot recently, hadn't he?

Marcus received a call on his scroll, taking it out with a huff and answering. His face went from aloof to annoyed very quickly. The conversation was hushed, but with Jaune so close he got a front row.

A few minutes later, Marcus hung up his scroll, grinding his teeth in annoyance. Atlas had found footage of them. It was annoying, but not entirely unexpected. The White Fang had been the SDCs target, and they got an up-close viewing of his fighting skills.

Jaune didn't particularly care about that. It wouldn't help him; in fact, it might make Marcus more paranoid, and thus cause him to take less risks. It'd been bad enough that Tyrian was looking for him, but now it was going to get worse.

Their whole plan had been to kill Marcus while he was drunk, reducing the risk of them being injured. If he wasn't drunk, he became a bigger threat than they could safely deal with.

Would his semblance be enough to give them the edge they needed? Jaune wasn't sure, but it wasn't like he had another option. Marcus needed to die.

They just needed the chance to make it happen.

This is a very short chapter, but it's for a reason. I've been thinking a lot about the story and how it's gone so far. Honestly, it's mediocre at best. When I first started writing I didn't really know where I wanted this story to go. Sure, there were plenty of ideas swirling in my head, but nothing concrete. As I wrote, everything was mostly off the top of my head, building to other scenes and trying to build to important plot developments.

Which brings me to a favor I'd like to ask of you. Please reread the story and write a review about what you liked and didn't like, what didn't make sense for the characters to do, characterization, story beats, all that. I'm going to rewrite this and hopefully make it more coherent. I can barely stomach reading what I write, so it may be a while. I'm still going to be updating, but it'll be slower for a while. In the meantime, I'd recommend anything from Coeur Al'Aran, not that they need the shout out. If you're reading this, you've probably already read their works, but my favorite would have to be The Beacon Civil War. It's been a while, but it was funny from what I can remember.

Thanks for reading and reviewing. It really does mean a lot to me. And if you have any ideas, feel free to let me know.

Question of the day: Where do you think I'm taking the story so far? Like, what's the end goal of Jaune changing so much and how will things develop. Also, how strong would you say Jaune is from how I've written him in fights and how good are the equipment I've given him?

See ya!