Jaune was now at home with Lisa Lavender and the film crew. Lavender had provided refreshments and there had been a good natured, if probably professionally warm, agreement that Lisa would call Lavender by her name and Lavender would call her Lisa to avoid confusion. He had taken the opportunity to send a message to his team keeping them in the loop of what was happening.

Before starting the interview, she explained that the camera would be on him the whole time, but that at the end of the interview they would film a few reaction shots from Lisa which would be used at appropriate points of the televised interview. She also explained that only small parts of the interview would be used on television. Amber had already warned Jaune about this and Lavender had been primed to record the interview on her scroll. While it would not protect him against total stupidity, it did offer him some recourse against deliberate misquoting or distortion.

Jaune told Lisa that other members of his family had had bad experiences in the past with the press and had insisted on him taking the precaution. She seemed to accept it in good part and the cameraman had actually given him a thumbs up. Jaune tried to tell himself that giving the impression of being on your side was an important skill for journalists, but he found it hard not to trust her.

The interview started with a few softball questions about his background and family. The first minefield question came with the predicted one about what he had gone to Vale rather than Beacon.

"Haven is a great academy and three of my sisters have been there and I hope my younger sister Lavender will go there as well. However, I had neither gone through the combat school system nor did I qualify under the mustang programme or the programme for orphans. I looked at the options with members of my family and Beacon was the one school which had a scheme which allowed me to enter a training programme this year."

"Why did you not go to Combat School?"

Jaune knew that the next question needed to be answered confidently and with no sign embarrassment. "My aura was only unlocked around ten months ago and understandably no one is permitted to attend combat school with an unlocked aura."

"Why wasn't your aura unlocked at an earlier stage?"

"It's hard to say. Perhaps it was not ready to be unlocked then. After all some people reach puberty later than others so perhaps it was something like that."

"Has missing out on four years of training put you at a disadvantage at Beacon?

"Of course, it has. I have had to work hard this term to catch up and I still have a way to go. However, I spent two years helping my mother as part of the Ansel Local Grimm Defence Force and that has helped my knowledge about Grimm and how to fight them. It also taught me about tactics and conserving resources, so I started off with a few advantages. Crucially my teammates have been incredibly supportive."

Jaune saw Lisa smile and wondering what the significance of it was. He would like to think that it was an appreciation of the answer, but he wondered whether he had given her some levers to pull.

"Your team is a little unusual for Beacon, is it not?"

Jaune kept a smile going. He decided that pretending he did not know what she was getting at was stupid but wondered whether he could pre-empt some nastier follow up questions.

"Yes, I suppose we are all from Mistral. Still, I had never met any of my teammates before arriving at beacon and I can assure you that the fact that I ended up as partners with Pyrrha Nikos was not something I had planned for and the fact we ended up on the same team as Ren and Nora was simply good luck."

He rather suspected that the cutaway shot to Lisa would involve a raised eyebrow, but he did not see what else he could say.

"Since arriving in Mistral, people have gone out of their way to tell me that team Juniper are regarded as an honorary Mistralian team and indeed are perhaps the fan's favourite in Mistral."

Jaune decided that there was no good direct response to this. "I would not know about that. I have been spending most of my time this holiday with my family and would not wish to speak for anyone else."

"While you have given me a good reason why you are attending Beacon, it is more of a puzzle that your teammates did not go to Haven."

"You will have to ask them for their reasons. It is fair to say that many students at Beacon come from outside the Kingdom and that virtually all of them will say that it is good to move out of your comfort zone and that fighting people you have never encountered before at combat school or in the inter-school tournaments aids the learning process. I know Pyrrha has enjoyed fighting people she has not encountered before."

Lisa looked as though she was going to challenge him and then thought better of it.

"How much of a culture shock was it for you coming from rural Mistral to come to Beacon and spend time in Vale?"

"Less than I expected and certainly less than I feared. I try and live by my mother's precept that a stranger is usually a friend that you just have not met yet. While I know that is not always going to be the case, my own experience is that people respond to friendliness and that certainly has been the case at Beacon."

Jaune knew that in a few minutes there would be a Faunus question coming. He had to make a choice now as whether he pre-empted it or waited for it to be asked. He decided on the former approach but that he would indirectly answer the question that he wanted to answer.

"I have enjoyed meeting people from different kingdoms and backgrounds and getting to know them. My friends include third generation hunters, Atlesian aristocrats, a Faunus from the lower east side of Vale and an ex-member of the White Fang. The one thing we share is an acknowledgement that whatever our differences maybe we have a common enemy – the Grimm."

Lisa smiled at that and said, "Is that one of the things you learned at Beacon last term?"

"I knew it before. My father and mother have taught us that since we were old enough to listen. Besides which in my two years working with the LGDF I saw my mother working with Faunus and humans alike and I learnt at first hand that there are more similarities than differences."

"Is that generally true in Mistral?"

"I have spent all my life in Ansel before I went to Beacon, and I spent my adolescence being as self-absorbed as any teenager. I gather that not everyone shares my view of the world. I cannot say from my own experience the extent to which that is the case or not. I am afraid that as my teachers at Beacon could testify that two of my areas of ignorance are history and politics."

"You sound almost proud of that."

"It is more complicated. I have learnt enough to know that some knowledge of both is essential to avoid repeating past mistakes, but that an obsessive interest in both also has its dangers. There must come a point were trying to take revenge for something which happened eighty years ago becomes a waste of time and energy. I know I do not know enough to pontificate on the subject."

Lisa then changed the subject and asked, "You have met with Team Auburn this week who I gather are the top team in your year at Haven. How did you get on with them?"

"They are all good people who take pride in doing their best and I hope to get them know all better. My first meeting confirmed the impression which I had been given by my teammates at Beacon."

"Team Auburn are spending this week and next assisting the Ansel LGDF. Do you think all hunters in training should do such work?"

"Fighting Grimm in the wild is an important part of being a hunter. Indeed, around half of our third and fourth years in Beacon will be spent on secondment dealing with Grimm under the supervision of qualified hunters. However, it is for each team in consultation with the professors in charge of them to decide when the best time is to take on such missions in the first two years of training."

The interview moved on to less contentious subjects and Jaune relaxed. Lisa then did the reaction shots and Jaune was relieved to see that most of them consisted of her nodding her head or looking interested. Lavender gained more time by serving the film crew drinks, sandwiches and cakes. Lisa declined the cake but had some coffee and some cucumber sandwiches.

It was now around 6.30 and the crew packed up and said that they were going to their hotel. Lisa checked her scroll and looked puzzled.

Jaune checked his scroll as well and saw that there was a message from his mother asking him to go to the hotel and to take Lavender with him. As he was looking a second message from his mother arrived and he thought to himself, you have got to be kidding me.

/-/

Mercury was sitting listening to music on his headphones in the twin bedroom he was sharing with Emerald. He had been amused at her reaction to the first two rooms they had been shown. The first had been a double bed and the second had been twin beds next to each other. Even he had decided not to stir the pot in relation to that point. Well not entirely but he had plausible deniability when it came to smirking by claiming that he was looking forward to her complaining.

Anyway, they were now in Ansel and awaiting the arrival of a squad from Beacon whom he assumed would be given the rooms which Emerald had vetoed. Their supervising professor had gone off to the LGDF headquarters to liaise with the locals and had said not to bother waiting for him before eating. He checked the time and removed his headphones.

"Em, it is time to have dinner and to meet the locals and the nerds."

Emerald sighed and said "Fine." He sympathised to an extent as his first reaction to the hotel had been that it was rather too redneck to be a sensible place to put team VBES. The fact that he was almost certainly the best fit was hilarious and that Neptune was the next most acceptable almost as amusing. He wondered whether even Sun's good nature could deal with the likely hostility.

He knocked on the nerds' door and asked, "Are you ready to come on down?" He really had watched too much television when growing up.

Sun, replied "Give us a minute." For once he was accurate. It amused Mercury that despite it being a crisp winter day the monkey Faunus remained bare-chested, and Neptune retained his goggles.

The Antelope was rather a large hotel and Mercury wondered how it paid its way and what insanity had caused it to be built in the first place. When he walked into the bar, he began to see the answer to the first point. For so early in the evening it was already filling up nicely and clearly most of the clientele had just left work or were starting off their evening. He could see that booking them here made a sort of sense in terms of getting to know the locals. He noticed an intake of breath when the locals took in Emerald's and Neptune's hair and a further mumble when they took in Sun's tail.

He double took a little when a voice said, "Team Vibes, it is good to see you here." He turned round and a tall dorky looking blonde came over to them. Luckily Sun recognised the man first and said, "Jaune Arc, it is good to see you, mate. You met Emerald and Mercury at the nightclub. I would like to introduce you to my best bud, Neptune."

Jaune shook them all by the hand and in a loud voice called to the nearest barmaid who looked like a slightly shorter and younger female version of himself, "Lavender, could you bring my friends a jug of ale. I told you about Sun who fought with us against the White Fang in Vale."

The girl said in a loud voice, "Oh yes, he helped you kick the White Fang's butts." While clearly rehearsed, Mercury could see that the aim was to make the locals more willing to accept Sun and he saw some of the frowns vanish.

Sun responded, "Yes, that was a wild evening. Always preferred to avoid those holier than thou creeps."

Mercury had never entirely worked out in his own mind if Sun was naturally eager to please and get on with people or whether it was learned behaviour. He had the impression that at Haven people decided that they liked Sun because they could then say to themselves that they were not anti-Faunus generally, but only against those who did not try hard enough to fit in.

He and Emerald had finally agreed that it was for real, and that Neptune was telling the truth when he said that Sun had not changed since he had known him.

Sun using the tail to pour the drinks from the jug attracted people's attention, but somehow in a good way. Jaune sat down with them and said, "Apologies from my mother, but she hopes to be along later. I gather it has a busy day today and you will be needed tomorrow."

Emerald asked, "Your mother?"

"Sorry, she is the local head of the LGDF and will be deciding where you will be deployed tomorrow."

Jaune checked his scroll and said," There is a group from Beacon arriving in ten minutes and two of my sisters will join us shortly along with Arslan and Bolin. Perhaps you will have dinner with us at around eight?"

Sun said, "We will be delighted." Mercury did not mind that Sun had not consulted the team. Getting to know the locals seemed the right thing to do and he suspected that they would get better service if they were eating with a local hunter family. Besides which he they did not really have any instructions apart from solidifying their cover.

He noticed a woman approach Jaune who he thought he recognised from the trip to Vale. Sun again spared him embarrassment by saying, "Miss Lavender, what are you doing here so far from Vale?"

"Call me Lisa, Sun. I am here working on some documentaries about Mistral. With the Vytal festival coming up it seemed an excellent idea to help people in Vale understand Mistral better. It is all to easy for them to assume that it is just Mistral City and Argus."

Mercury asked, "Why Ansel in particular?"

"Our researchers suggested that it could be interesting. Could I take some film of you all here? Scenes of potential Vytal contestants hanging out together sums up the spirit of amity."

Sun said, "Sure, although you may want to wait a little. Some of Jaune's friends from Vale are joining us shortly."

Jaune said, "Perhaps we can eat in thirty minutes time? The Beacon contingent are apparently on their way from the airport."

Mercury wondered if there was more up in Ansel than he had expected. He did not think that Salem had anything planned in Mistral for the time being especially as no one seemed to know where the Spring Maiden was based. Hazel who tended to be a little more informative than the others had expressed the view that Raven Branwen and the White Fang caused enough trouble in Mistral by themselves to avoid the need for her to do little more than encourage the Grimm at a distance.

Still, he would have expected Team VBES and the Beacon contingent be greeted by one of the higher-ranking members of the LGDF or one of the hunters currently on secondment rather than the slightly insecure son. He wondered when they would be briefed about that

Just then half of team Auburn walked in accompanied by two tall blonde huntresses. Arslan looked a little less cheesed off with the world than normal and Bolin followed in her wake.

Emerald leant over to Jaune, "Are those your sisters?"

Jaune looked slightly sheepish, "Three of them are here so far."

Neptune intervened, "How many do you have, dude."

"Seven. We are a large family."

Mercury knew he would be in for some comments from Emerald tonight about the Arc family. Families just brought out the worse in her.

He noted Jaune say hello to the newcomers and then disappear into the lobby. He assumed the newcomers from Vale had also just arrived.

While liking was the wrong word for Arslan, he did enjoy her company and preferred to snark with her then about her. Besides which he felt that she was likely to be the most honest with him about what they had been sent to deal with. He poured her a drink and said, "Busy day?"

"Yes. People are scared out there. We spent out time today in the mainly Faunus villages trying to calm down nerves and fighting Grimm. Luckily Beowolfs, Boarbatusks and Ursas mainly although there was one Beringel." She glanced towards the two blonde Arcs, "The two huntresses dealt with that one. I got Bolin to film in on his scroll. Even the other Grimm took time off to watch that fight."

She turned back to him and said, "Don't drink that much tonight. I think that it will be worse tomorrow."

"What's happening out there?"

"The Branwen tribe have taken over a town just over the provincial border with the alleged help of the White Fang. Refugees are stirring up alarm among the humans about their Faunus neighbours and the Faunus are scared of what the humans will do. In the villages we were in about half the humans had gone to visit families elsewhere and the Faunus population of one village had doubled because it is the nearest village to Kulsa."

She paused and looked at Sun. Mercury decided to answer the silent question. "Jaune and a girl I assume is yet another sister broadcast very loudly that he fought the White Fang in Vale."

Arslan nodded, "Glad to have you here. We may even get to see you trying hard for a change."

Mercury ignored this one. Frankly avoiding showing how much more dangerous he and Emerald were then virtually everyone else had been one of the harder tasks this term.

Jaune then reappeared with an elderly rotund huntsman with a ridiculous moustache and four students who he had seen at the night club after the White Fang attack. The sombre green giant and the blind Vacuoan were as he remembered them and clearly looked like they could take care of themselves.

Arslan rose and greeted the newcomers. She seemed to know all of the students apart from the Vacuoan and Sun and Neptune had gone to greet him.

What did take him by surprise was the short redhead who was clearly hyperactive. The last time he had seen her she had almost been catatonic and had been sat holding the neat small guy closely.

/-/

Since joining Team CFVY Velvet had become used to some days seeming to just erupt into chaos. Coco had an ability to sweep everyone else along in her wake and only later did one ask whether this was really a clever idea. Anyway, two hours after Coco had announced her brainwave, she, Ruby, and Coco were on their way to Ansel via Mistral airport in an Adel corporate airship and Coco had been explaining again why they would not get in trouble for this.

"Ozpin did say in effect that you two were the first reserves. How can he object if I just take you to Mistral so there will be no delay if you are called upon? Besides which none of us are being saviours from Vale, we are simply providing moral support for our teammates and friends. Ozpin did not order any of us not to go and we have not taken the one person he clearly indicate should not set foot in Mistral and we did leave Blake and Weiss behind."

Velvet supposed that was true, Yang had been the one person who Ozpin had said would not be appropriate and Weiss had accepted that they did not have enough time to get clearance from Atlas for her to travel to Mistral. Blake was still bonding with her mother, and besides which had a warrant out for ger arrest in Mistral. They had left Blake and Weiss with a message to hand deliver to Ozpin's office just after he went to have his evening meal.

Ruby had asked, "Shouldn't we permission anyway or at least tell people where we are going?"

Coco had replied, "It is better this way. First it will allow Ozpin to say honestly that he could not have stopped us lending moral or even immoral support to our friends and teammates. Second, it will be a delightful surprise for Yatsuhashi and Fox when we arrive. It is also better to present Port with a fait accompli rather than force him to decide between notifying Ozpin while there is still time to stop us going and keeping silent."

The Adel private office had booked two suites for them at the Antelope using assumed names. Velvet had never been to Mistral but had heard the stories from friends and relatives. While Ansel province was not much in the news, the massacres at Kulsa and in Ansel itself were not forgotten by Faunus whose families had fled Mistral. She was now going to a place where people would see her as a small nervous Faunus with large ears who would not say boo to a goose. It did not help that she and Fox were the invisible members of the team as far as the press were concerned. She just did not look like a dangerous fighter and keeping her semblance a secret had not allowed her to counteract that impression. People at Beacon accepted that she was good at unarmed combat, but she did not have the pure destructiveness or presence which Coco and Yatsuhashi had.

Still, she was travelling with Coco and Ruby and Yatsuhashi and Fox would be around when she got there. She supposed it was true, but the problem was that she had become used in the last two terms at Beacon to having the fact that she was a Faunus being seen as unimportant. The people who had bullied her in the first two terms had been expelled (strictly sent to Atlas but the feedback was that Ironwood had cut them no slack) and while the incident with Dove and Sky had been unpleasant it had not lasted more than a few seconds and retribution had been swift.

Coco had vanished into the cabin saying that she had business calls to attend to and it was part of paying her mother for allowing them to take the flight.

Ruby asked her about her latest photography gig. Last night Velvet had taken photographs at Winchester Towers showing Lady Winchester being gracious to Team CRDL and Team LLAC who were staying there for two weeks to receive training from eight hunters who had been hired by Cardin and Lydia's great aunt Agnes. She was seen as part of the old guard in Vale and her husband had been an aide to general Lagune in the Faunus Wars.

Velvet showed the pictures to Ruby who loved the candlelit dining table and took a few seconds to notice what would strike most people in Vale first that a Lynx Faunus with unmistakeable ears and Vacuoan from the Mohawk tribe were in pride of place at the head of the table next to the old lady. There were also photographs of her speaking to Anne Harker.

Even then Ruby missed the point and said, "I thought Cardin and Lydia would have been sitting next to her as they are related."

Velvet said, "Ask Coco about that. She explains it better than me. When Dr. Oobleck said that Lady Winchester was sending a message to humans, Coco understood it more than I did. Apparently lady Winchester is in her way the finger to the W the unknown nonsense and the Humans First party."

Ruby nodded and continued to look through the photographs. She guffawed at one with Lydia and Cardin clinking champagne glasses together

Velvet looked over Ruby's shoulder and said, "Actually they seemed to be enjoying each other's company. They teased each other, but it seemed to be good natured."

"Are these being published?"

"Yes, they will be in tomorrow's Vale Times colour supplement. I will be given a by-lined credit with a photograph."

Ruby who was not altogether oblivious asked, "Is that another message?"

"Coco and Oobleck assure me it is."

Ruby then asked, "Does the photography pay well?"

"Better than I would have imagined. However, I think that it is more because of Coco."

"But you're good. Weiss tells me that you have a good eye."

Velvet sighed and said, "The first commissions from Salutations only came my way because Coco's mother agreed to give them more access if I was the photographer."

"People wouldn't employ you unless they thought you were good."

"Coco keeps telling me that. However, I suspect that the fact that I am Coco's friend means I only had to be adequate to get commissions. Actually, I am also employed because people want to be seen to employ a Faunus."

At that moment Coco reappeared and said, "Stop worrying, V. All photographers rely on lucky breaks or connections to get into the business, but only stay in it because they are good enough. If my brothers and mother did not rate you they would not have agreed to keep using you on the behind-the-scenes photoshoots."

Ruby then asked, "Why are we not flying straight to Ansel? It seems like it is nearer to Vale than Mistral is."

Coco replied, "This is primarily a business trip which I hitched us a ride on. There are things which we need to be drop off and pick up in Mistral before flying to Ansel."

/-/

Jaune checked the time. His mother had still not joined them. and Dad, Jessica, Reese, and Nadir had only joined them thirty minutes back. Dad and Jessica had their game faces on, but Reese looked exhausted.

He and Amber were acting as hosts. Dad had known Port from past adventures and seemed to get on with him well. They were already having drinking games and had gathered his brothers in law to join in. Apparently Professor Port was more of an attraction than Lisa Lavender as far as they were concerned. Amber had intercepted the two men ay the door and introduced them to Professor Port. Jaune had not realised quite what a celebrity Port was for his Vytal festival commentaries.

Nora had been talking to Emerald non-stop for an hour and the green haired woman was looking rather shell shocked. Mercury had what Amber described as an evil grin all over his face and seemed to be encouraging the reunion while Ren was just being Ren and saying little. Jaune had gathered that Emerald had been at the same orphanage as Nora and Ren for a few months and presume that Nora was reminiscing.

Neptune appeared to be trying to chat up Lisa who seemed to be taking it in her stride. Certainly, the film crew had felt no need to intervene apart from when Lisa had got them to film a five-minute interview with Neptune and Sun. Sun was being a one Faunus ambassador to Ansel and was happy to describe the fight at Junior's to the locals. He had pulled jaune over a few times and referred to him as "Your man Jaune" and boosted him for attacking the White Fang despite being unarmed.

Yatsuhashi and Fox was talking to Arslan and Nadir. Yatsuhashi had apparently known Arslan when he had been to combat school, and they seemed to be catching up on things. The twins were talking to the other two members of Team ABRN while he and Amber flitted between the groups making certain that all was going well.

Lavender had kept food coming and had co-opted her school mates as waitresses to hand round the Meze to the hunters in training. The owner of the Antelope had agreed to this in part because the full-time staff were flat out. Having so many hunters and hunters in training around had attracted more customers than normal.

The brothers-in-law had been joined by their wives and Amber whispered that she had asked them around to stop their husbands volunteering themselves as the voice of the real Mistral.

Eventually Amber pulled him to one side and said, "Go and get mother. Tell her that it will help with morale in Ansel if she is here for at least an hour. Reynard and Marian can keep the balls in the air for some time and people are noticing her absence. I would send Lavender, but she is needed here."

Jaune nodded and ran down to the LGDF. He saw his mother drinking coffee with an Oobleck like intensity and wearing a headset while Reynard was amending the map of the border to show Grimm concentrations and Marian was barking orders down her headset. The professor who had accompanied Team VBES was also on the phones and going through a small notebook.

His mother finished the call she was on. He could tell that she had been straining herself to be polite to the person on the other end of the phone. She said, "Jaune, there is no need for you to be here."

"Amber sent me. She thinks you need to make an appearance at the Antelope. People are noticing your absence and starting to worry about the significance of it. Besides which we have a journalist from Vale who is expecting to interview you shortly. Even if you just have a gin free gin and tonic you need to show yourself."

She sighed and said, "Fine. I can make thirty minutes at least. It is clear that I will not get a decision from Mistral on sending in the army or the kingdom guard tonight."

She handed over the headset to the professor from Haven and gave him instructions as to who to call next.

"How is it going out there?" asked Jaune as they walked to the Antelope.

"Just about under control for tonight, I hope. Luckily another two teams of hunters were among the refugees and as they had been paid a month in advance over the border were happy to work for free for a couple of days while I get the governor to acknowledge that there is a problem and to loosen the purse strings. What is needed is boots on the ground in Kulsa and other villages to convince the people that Mistral City does not regard Kulsa as equally disposable as Kurohari and dissuade them from burning down the Faunus quarter in its entirety"

She looked drained of energy but resumed her game face as they walked into the Antelope. He had texted Amber on the way over and she was waiting at the door.

/-/

Mercury was rather enjoying himself although he knew he would pay for it tonight when Emerald vented at him. By his standards, he had not had to stir the pot too much with Nora and Ren other than confirming that he was an orphan as well and making encouraging noises while the redhead talked at them. He had not mentioned that he had killed his father, so his lack of family was rather less tragic than the others.

He had set Nadir and Reese off by wondering out loud whether Pyrrha Nikos would join the rest of her team. They did not need any more prompting to start running their mouths off about her and alleged snobbishness, greed and selfishness compared to the rest of her team. He knew that Arslan would chew them out for it if she heard about it but spreading a little unhappiness and negativity in the world was sort of his job description.

In a similar vein, he had encouraged Neptune to pursue Lisa Lavender. However, that had been a little bit of a disappointment. Lisa seemed amused and flattered rather than annoyed and Neptune did not push things as far as to be embarrassing. Mercury wondered if the man actually preferred flirting to action which would explain a lot about him.

He had had a coded scroll message from Hazel which had told him to watch out for his party loving uncle who was making a previously unplanned visit to the area. He decided that this must be a reference to Tyrian. On the whole it confirmed his assumption that the trouble in Ansel was unplanned but indicated that Salem had decided to pour oil on troubled waters and then apply a match.

Both he and Ren decided that it was time to get more drinks in when Nora started enquiring about his and Emerald's relationship status and whether it was like her and Ren's in that they were together but not together/together.

He said to Ren, "She is a lot livelier tonight then at the nightclub. I am glad to see that."

Ren, "Thank you, Mercury. That was a hard night, but she recovers quickly."

Jaune greeted them and his younger sister handed round some sausages covered in honey. Jaune introduced them to his mother who gave off a strong aroma of coffee and was making inroads on the bar snacks and sandwiches. She thanked him for volunteering and asked him to introduce her to the rest of his team.

He decided to leave Emerald to Nora for a little longer and introduced Jaune's mother to Neptune and indirectly to Lisa Lavender. Sun joined them and Claire Arc thanked them for coming and apologised to Lisa but expressed the hope that Jaune had been on his best behaviour. She also promised an interview in the morning and an invitation to join one of the teams which were being sent out tomorrow by the LGDF.

He spotted the blind Vacuoan talking to the film crew who shrugged their shoulders and pointed the camera and sound equipment towards the main door. A moment later there were sounds of some commotion and cheering. Mercury turned to look at the new arrivals. He recognised the girl in the shades from the nightclub as well as the rabbit Faunus standing next to her wearing a tuxedo. Next in was Roman's favourite huntress in training who looked rather startled to have everyone in the bar staring at her and clearly would have preferred to be fighting something than arriving at a busy hotel bar. However, the real cheers only started when Pyrrha Nikos walked through the door.

Lisa Lavender checked to see that the cameraman and soundman had caught the entrance and then did a fist pump off camera. Clearly this was a better story than she had been expecting.

He noticed Mrs Arc hugging Jaune and mouthing "Thank you." Jaune looked astounded but then was dragged off for a team hug by Nora.