A shorter chapter than usual, but it seemed a good point to break off before the cast go out on missions. I would be interested in feedback as this is one of my more popular stories but has very few comments.

The team JNPR team hug resulted in an outbreak of scroll photography and Jaune desperately hoped that his hands had not grabbed anyone inappropriately. However, a Nora who had already had a few drinks and had then seen a friend appear unexpectedly was even more of an irresistible force than normal. He realised that somehow Ruby had been added to the hug and was relieved that Crescent Rose had not been unleashed by accident.

Pyrrha laughed good naturedly. She whispered to the others, "We had better pose for a few team photos and then ask them to allow us to have some food."

Pyrrha ignored the requests to pose for a solo photograph although she did pose for some with Arslan and Coco.

His mother was talking to the bar staff and then said to Jaune "I suggest you and your friends move into the dining room to eat and then come back here for about thirty minutes, if they feel up to it."

Coco was the nearest and after he spoke to her, she nodded at him. went over to Pyrrha and whispered in her ear. Pyrrha nodded and then Coco stood on a chair and shouted, "Thank you for such an enthusiastic welcome. We have all had a long day of travelling and are hungry and tired. We will have a quick bite to eat and then return to talk to you all. We will have an early night as there will be work to do in the morning."

As he made his way to the restaurant area, Velvet stopped him, "I would suggest that you tell Pyrrha how glad you are to see you before you ask her what she is doing here."

Jaune blushed to himself. He was, of course, puzzled by her arrival, but in reality having team JNPR together without Pyrrha would have felt wrong. He looked at Velvet and nodded at her. She smiled back at him and then moved on.

He took Velvet's advice and sat down next to Pyrrha at the table as Lavender brought in food.

Coco took Ruby aside for a moment to talk about something before she could join them.

"Pyrrha, it is great to see you here."

She blushed slightly and said, "It seemed wrong for the rest of the team to be on a mission without me."

"It is good to have the team back together. How did you all get here?"

"When I heard that Ren and Nora had been sent here, I wanted to join you all here, but I had commitments to my sponsors today and tomorrow. Coco then scrolled me letting me know that her, Ruby, and Velvet would be setting off from Beacon to Ansel and asked if I wanted to join them at Mistral airport. She suggested how I could get my sponsors to postpone. It turned out she was right."

"How did you manage that?" He knew her sponsors had been annoyed with her for reducing her hours and for not rushing to sign up extensions of the contracts.

"I told them that if I did not join you in Ansel, the tabloids would accuse me of cowardice and failing to support my team and that would devalue my use to them. I suggested to them that if they rescheduled I would mention the fact in interviews and thank them for it. If they did not release me I would apologise to the press but would explain that the reason I had not joined you was the fact that they had declined to reschedule. If they still refused I was primed to add references to how little they valued Mistral outside of the area immediately surrounding Mistral city and the built-up areas of Argus. I only needed to us that last threat on one sponsor."

He looked at her and said, "How hard was it for you to be that forceful?" Even he had recognised that there was some truth in Yang's teasing that Pyrrha was too prone for apologising and otherwise than in battle was rather shy.

She smiled, "Coco and Weiss have been bad influences on me. Besides which it was the right thing to do."

Coco, Ruby, and Velvet then joined Pyrrha, and their attention turned to dinner. Coco said, "Jaune, could you ask your mother if we can have a word with her in fifteen minutes. Let her know we are here to help and whether that involves fighting, morale boosting, propaganda or a subtle mix of all three is up to her."

He nodded and went to see his mother. She tapped her on the shoulder as she was talking to Professor Port and said, "Mum, can I have a word in private. It is urgent."

She nodded and said, "Excuse me, Professor Port. Duty calls."

In the corridor outside the bar, she checked that they were in private and said, "What is it, Jaune?"

He passed on Coco's message and saw her relax. "Tell them I will be with them in ten minutes. I hope that they will not be sorry they volunteered as I am going to take them at their word."

/-/

At Beacon Qrow and Glynda were sitting in Ozpin's office. Glynda was reporting back on her mission to Vacuo.

"Theodore promised us that he was in contact with the Summer Maiden and that as of a week ago she was safe. He still refuses to divulge her identity although he did say that she was under instructions to report to me if anything happened to him and Rumpole."

"Did he say why he would not divulge their identity to me?"

"He does not want to put you in a position where you would have to lie to Ironwood and Lionheart. He also does not trust them totally. He pointed out that the Spring maiden has vanished totally more than a decade ago. He also points out that Amber was ambushed. He did say that the current Summer maiden is still comparatively young and needs more experience."

Qrow said, "Can't say I blame him. James fundamentally believes that what is good for Atlas is good for Remnant and would prefer all the maidens to be under his protection."

Ozpin sighed and said, "That is as much reassurance as I expected Theodore to give. Did Rumpole back him up?"

"Yes. They saw me together. They refused to see Clover at the same time, but did agree to have dinner with him, Marrow, Ambassador Campion and Magenta at the embassy to discuss matters of common interest."

"Ah, making it clear that happy to be helpful, but not willing to discuss matters with Clover by himself."

"That was my understanding."

"In the meantime, I sent Professor Port to Ansel together with Mr Ren, Miss Valkyrie, Mr Alistair and Mr Daichi. Their mission is to lend aid to the Mistral LGDF, and he had been asked to talk to Nicholas Arc about Norman Bartleby AKD Roman Torchwick. Apparently Nicholas mentored his team when he competed at the Vytal Festival."

Glynda nodded, "That seems like good cover and will not attract the same attention if either me or Qrow went there."

Ozpin coughed and sipped his coffee. "I should mention that Miss Adel, Miss Scarlatina and Miss Rose have decided to go on holiday to Ansel to lend moral support to their friends and teammates. Miss Adel is apparently confident that Miss Nikos will join them."

Qrow said, "What did Taiyang have to say about that?"

"Miss Rose did not require parental permission. I have notified him as a courtesy, and he was irritated with me."

Glynda said, "When we have discussed the situation in Mistral before, you have always refused to send students there before because of the risk of insulting Mistralians? What has changed now?"

"First, the only people I have sent to Mistral are three students born in Mistral and one born in Vacuo. The fact that four friends and teammates have decided to join them of their own volition is nothing to do with Beacon deciding that Mistral needs saving. Miss Adel has made it clear to me that she is quite aware of the sensitivities in Mistral and will do her best not to upset them."

Qrow said, "Where is Yang? She would not willingly let Ruby get into danger by herself."

"Miss Adel did not invite her, and she was specifically ordered not to set foot in Mistral and the reasons for that were explained to her. I understand she is accepting an invitation to stay with Miss Schnee in Atlas and will be going there tomorrow."

"OK, I suppose. I thought she was going to Patch."

"Apparently Taiyang was open to the change of plan."

Glynda was a little more doubtful than Ozpin appeared to be of the reactions in Mistral, but it was his decision to make.

Ozpin then changed track, "Glynda, Qrow, I have been studying that photograph which Qrow brought back from Brunswick farms. I have also checked the real history of Miss Harker. I wonder whether the girl with the parasol to whom we have offered a place at Beacon to is the same girl as broke out of the juvenile detention centre with Miss Harker and the Malachites and the girl in the photograph."

Glynda and Qrow exchanged glances and Qrow said, "I would not rule it out after reading the last entries in the diary."

Ozpin sipped his coffee and said, "I find it hard to believe that I am doing this, Qrow, but I am ordering you to spend time at Junior's Club Mistralian. If you see the girl in question, follow her home in your inimitable way. Perhaps you could take your niece with you tonight. I gather she knows the two Malachites from previous visits."

He then turned to Glynda, "I have had a request from James. He would like one of the Ace-ops to meet with Mr Campion and Mr Corkran. Apparently they know each other from Vacuo. I explained that they are not on the premises at the moment, but he asked if a meeting could be arranged."

Glynda said, "Is it Marrow or Clover he wants to meet them? While I could get an invite for Clover for tomorrow night, I doubt that Marrow would be acceptable to Lady Winchester."

"That is what I would have thought, but have you seen the evening paper." He handed a copy of the paper to both Glynda and Qrow.

Qrow guffawed and said "Is that Barty in a tux?.

Glynda had a mixed set of emotions. She was glad that Lady Winchester was expressing more conciliatory view towards Faunus and had consented to being photographed eating next to one, but both Mr Corkran and Miss Harker had complicated backgrounds.

"This is rather surprising. However, it is one thing being photographed with teammates of her great niece and another having a Faunus from Atlas foisted on her."

"She did go out of her way to express her appreciation of the fact that her great niece and great nephew had teammates from outside Vale. Besides which you can tell her that she is helping diplomatic relations with Atlas and that otherwise you might be unable to attend dinner tomorrow with her."

"I will ask if he can visit his two friends but will not insist on a dinner invitation. If she offers then that will be fine. Do you know why she invited the press last night?"

"Dr Oobleck suggests that she is distancing herself from her nephew. She finds his brand of anti-Faunus rhetoric rather crass for her taste. It is not that she is pro-Faunus. She has got to the age where she has more in common with the opponents of her youth who are still alive then the people who claim to be the successors of her supporters and allies."

/-/

Mercury and Emerald made it to their room just before midnight. Mrs. Arc had insisted that all the huntsman and huntresses in training be at the LGDF headquarters by eight in the morning including the four unofficial ones. Admittedly Pyrrha and Ruby had left the bar at ten in any event and the others had left around eleven. Team VBES had lasted for longer, Sun and Neptune were natural party people and Mercury had justified it to himself as research and Emerald had decided she may as well observe as well.

Mercury looked at Emerald and tried to persuade himself to hold his tongue. No good could come of forcing her to face up to her contradictions. Unfortunately, one of the lessons he had learnt from his father was to never let go of anyone's weakness and to never show your own. He would have expected that Emerald's time on the streets and in the orphanage would have the same effect, but for some reason it had not taught her to hide her emotions. The other thing he knew was that if Emerald started ranting, he would be unable to resist winding her up

The trouble with Emerald was that she was desperate for affection, friendship and even love, but did not believe she was worthy of them or trusted anyone who offered them. This was, as far as he was concerned, the only reason she doted so much on Cinder who told her she was useful and had value but never treated her with affection. He decided to defer informing her that she conformed to the treat them mean and keep them keen stereotype.

Emerald said "What an evening. It made me want to vomit."

"I thought you and Nora were bonding well. I did not know that your old orphanage had an institutional song before. I loved your face when she asked if we two were together/together"

She threw a pillow at him and then for good measure added a knife. His aura instinctively reacted to the latter as she knew it would. Living with a sociopathic assassin for a father did wonders for one's ability to flare one's aura with minimal warning.

He tried to placate her by saying, "Seriously Emerald, was she that much of a motormouth when you first knew her? I am not surprised that Ren guy is silent."

Emerald said, "No, she was one of the quiet ones then who everyone knew you should leave alone. The others warned me about her on the first day. Not out of any goodwill, but because upsetting her risked involving collateral damage."

"Ah, bat-shit crazy. Perhaps we should introduce her to Tyrian?"

She nearly took the bait of shipping Tyrian and Nora but decided to move on to the next irritation, "Can you imagine what it must be like at the Arc family home? Good night, Amber; Good night, Lavender; Good night Jaune boy, …. Urggh. I am surprised that the sisters and Yawn did not sing Edelweiss when they took Team Auburn home with them."

He laughed at that but the imp of the perverse in him prompted him to say, "Feeling jealous, are you? If you want, I will wish you goodnight when we go to sleep. Actually, let's wait until we are back at the castle, good night, Uncle Tyrian; good night, Uncle Art; good night, granny Salem."

She stuck her tongue out at him and moved on to her next grievance, "And as for how all the locals reacted when Perfect Pyrrha walked in. Honestly, they must all think the sun shines out of her butt."

"I did not know that you and Reese had so much in common. Seriously, we may dislike her, but she is good at what she does, and it is stupid to pretend otherwise."

Emerald said, "I get that. However, she is so polite to everybody. No one can be that nice"

"And what did you make of the clothes horse?"

"Arrogant bitch, but if you are wealthy and famous you may as well enjoy it. Would enjoy beating her in a fight but at least she is not a milquetoast. Not certain what to make of the rabbit and the blind guy on her team although the giant looks useful."

"The bunny is the daughter of one of the people in the top ten of Watts's list of the envious and untalented who held him back in Atlas. Think he may even be in the top three after Ironwood and Polendina. She is probably a weapons geek."

Emerald looked with surprise at him, "I did not think Watts talked to you."

"Got that from Igor. Watts does enjoy monologuing at his minions. Blind guy has a sense of humour and seems to know where everyone is even without vision. I would not take bets on taking him by surprise."

"He knew Sun and Neptune. Perhaps they have more knowledge about him. We can interrogate them tomorrow. Call it research for the Vytal Festival."

"Fair enough, Em."

"As for the kid, can she be any more revoltingly wholesome. Ordering a pint of milk at the bar."

"Good on her for resisting the pressure to fit in, she certainly enjoyed it. Still, it is the first time I have seen milk served with a cocktail umbrella and ice in it."

/-/

In the bar below, Port and Nicholas Arc were sharing a gallon of ale.

"Nicholas, Ozpin asked me to talk to you about someone who was part of a team you mentored for a Vytal Festival a few years back."

"Happy to talk about it. Still, it was a fair time ago and if you need info surely there are people who know him better?"

"He dropped out of Haven in his third year and his teammates are all dead. Officially he disappeared off the radar."

"Why is Ozpin interested?"

"We think he has taken up a life of crime in Vale. If he is a s good as we think he is the police do not stand a chance against him. We will need to send in hunters against him and Ozpin wants to know whether he is worth trying to reform or whether we go in hard against him."

"Still, why me?"

"You are the best lead we have. Look. you spent the best part of a term and a half with him and presumably spent a lot of time with him. His team got through to the second round and he was the strongest link in it. You must have spent time with him"

"What was his name?"

Port got out his scroll and showed Nicholas some photographs. "He was called Norman Bartleby then. He goes by a different name now. We think he came from a farm in the east of Argus province."

Port then showed him a copy of the picture which Qrow had provided him showing a younger Norman.

Nicholas nodded. "Yes. I remember him. I will have to be honest with you, most of the Haven teachers did not expect much out of that team and were not pleased when they qualified as one of the teams who merited mentors. I was appointed because they thought I deserve the chance to earn some easy money before I retired and none of the team had the connections to get anyone more qualified than I was to mentor a team which was not seen as that good."

Port said, "You must have done some good then as they did quite respectably."

"Yes. I helped on them fighting as a team. He was the best fighter and I encouraged him to develop sneakier tactics. He was excellent at fighting retreats and his reactions were first rate. His weapon was second hand but had a first-rate design."

"Do you remember much about him as a person?"

"Sum of his contradictions. Sarcastic and liked living in the city. Was a bit of a dandy. However, there was still a bit of country bumpkin about him. He seemed resigned to his fate being of going back to his home to fight Grimm and look after his family. Cheesed off that they took it for granted that he would and that they had no interest in how he did in the Vytal Festival. Only two of them turned up to watch him fight. A young cousin – probably that girl with the toy in the photo- and their grandmother."

"Do you know why he left Haven?"

"I saw one of his teammates, Dean, two years ago. He was spending time with the Ansel LGDF. He had lost contact with Norman but what he knew made for a sad story. The family farm was in an area of Argus province which had been hollowed out by severe weather, over-cultivation, and Grimm. The Argus LGDF had decided that it was a low priority because of the low population and that the best thing to do was evacuate the whole area and wait twenty years for the Grimm to disperse and the soil to recover. They offered to buy everyone out at a low rate with an option to buy back at the same price in twenty years' time."

Port looked at him, "Assume the Bartleby family declined the offer?"

"Seems that they were better farmers than their neighbours and obstinate. However, so many others accepted the offer that it made no sense for the LGDF to patrol the area regularly and the farm, although well run, could not generate the income to pay for a dedicated hunter to be assigned to it full time. The plan was that when he qualified Norman would go home and protect the farm and his cousin would then go to Haven as well."

"I assume things turned out badly?"

"Yes, he got a letter from home and left Haven within ten minutes of receiving it. He returned two weeks later with his cousin in tow. She was the only survivor, and Dean said she was traumatized. Did not say a word and he remembered her as being a sweet thing who was always chatting away. Norman was angry with the world, with the local hunters and he had the girl to support. He left Haven. Dean said that the story was that he went to work for one of the Mistral gangs."

"Do you know which one, Nick?"

"The Spiders. The story was he was doing his best to avoid getting a tattoo and trying to persuade them that an ink transfer which he could wash off would do. He had not been seen for a few years when I spoke to Dean, and no one knew if he was dead or had left the kingdom. Makes sense if he went to Vale."

Port hesitated and then showed Nicholas the mugshot of Roman Torchwick. "Probably is him. He used to wear the eyeliner back then and as I said he was a bit of a dandy."

Nicholas took a long swig from his glass and said, "Peter, I cannot say for certain which way he will jump if you try and bring him back into the fold."

Port harrumphed and then said, "It sounds as though you think it is worth trying."

"Yes, part of him is cynical and he did say that the almost inevitable fate of hunters was to die young and that if he had any sense, he should pursue a different, more lucrative, career. I cannot say that he was clearly wrong there. You and I are still going, but almost all of our contemporaries are long gone. Considering that the rest of his team are now dead."

There was another pause and another swig of ale. "However, even if he feels that looking after number one is the best choice for him, that may mean he is open to a deal. There is also a romantic side. He was prepared to go back to his home to defend it after he was granted his license and he did bring back his cousin and look after her. Certainly, Dean said he swore not to allow her into the Mistral orphanage system."

Peter nodded, "Thank you for that Nick. Can you fill me in on what your wife will want me and my students to do tomorrow?"

"It depends. She has always believed that reducing negative emotions is almost as important as killing Grimm. She is trying to get the government authorities to disperse the refugees rather than concentrate them here in Ansel. Luckily many do have family elsewhere in Mistral. For historical and geographical reasons, the two provinces did not have close ties."

Port nodded at this and said, "I understand."

Nick continued, "Her main worry is that some of the mixed villages and towns are generating unheard amounts of anger and fear. She hopes that if she can make people believe that they are not being abandoned by the rest of Mistral she can reduce the fear levels enough to allow us to pick off the Grimm and for the inhabitants to remember that humans have lived next door to Faunus since the end of the Faunus war without major problems."

Port said, "All of my students are good at fighting. I would suggest that Yatsuhashi and Velvet are used to calm down mixed villages. He is imposing enough to make any troublemaker think twice and she is good with youngsters of both species. Perhaps have Fox and Coco fighting Grimm is best. They are not from Mistral, and I do not know what the farmers here will make of her. She seemed to go down alright last night here, but this is a major town."

"I will pass those suggestions on."

"Miss Rose would prefer to fight the Grimm. She is a little shy. She gets on well with your son."

Nick laughed and said, "I had gathered. You may underestimate her appeal to the mothers and daughters here."

"You may well be right. Mr Ren and Miss Valkyrie should be kept together. Miss Nikos would also prefer to fight but if your wife needs to use her as a symbol I think she will understand. It would be better if she does a bit of both. How many hunters do you have?"

"Currently twenty-two including you and your colleague from Haven. Eight who are based here and eight who have left Kurohari and the neighbouring districts as a result of the Branwen tribe moving in and have agreed to fight at least until the payment in advance from Kurohari has been used up. Three of my daughters and myself are deputising, but my daughters have commitments elsewhere next week. Besides which my wife does not believe in making hunters work for no pay. We also Team Auburn and Vibes from Haven as well as your students. Claire has called in the pilots who are part of the reserve and activated the volunteers in the border area. We will have no problem in flying you out to where you are needed but it remains to be seen how easy it will be to move you around."

"How good are the hunter teams?"

"Solid citizens. Not Vytal Festival competitors, but excellent value for money."

Just then the bar doors opened, and Port turned to Nicholas and said, "Make those twenty-three hunters."

/-/

Back in Beacon Qrow flew in through Ozpin's window and met with him and Glynda.

"Did you know Taiyang has gone to Ansel? You must have known it was a risk."

Ozpin looked over his glasses, "An acceptable risk. Unlike you, Raven has not threatened his life and as far as I am aware does not hate him. Even if she does decide to use her semblance she is likely to ask questions first and may pass on useful information. Also, the Mistralian authorities will not regard him with suspicion."